Hey, remember that show about Canadian drag queens we used to recap? Well, we haven’t forgotten about Canada’s Drag Race, even if we did fall way behind on the episodic check-ins. But after missing out on recapping a painful-as-always roast, a rather sweet family drag challenge with queer teens, and an odd hybrid of reunion/lip sync elimination, we’re here to give our thoughts on the finale. Our tardiness here is due partially to the holidays and partially because, as we may have mentioned once or twice, it remains one of, if not THE dullest of the franchises.
Which isn’t to say there’s anything wrong with the final three this year or even most of the other queens who competed this season. They’re mostly fun to watch and while we think Gia Metric deserved better, we have no problem setting in for a finale that has Pythia, Icesis and Kendall throwing down. As always, our complaints about CDR come down to who’s serving as the captain of this ship.
It’s interesting to note that Priyanka was brought in to conduct the final interviews with each queen; a task normally reserved for each Drag Race franchise’s host. It’s also worth noting that Priyanka crushed it. She was funny, quick, warm and asked great questions. If she was auditioning to be the next season’s host, we’d say book that bitch. We want to be clear here that we think Brooke Lynn is an extremely talented and polished queen. We just don’t think she has the warmth or the wit to host a show, which is something that’s true of 99% of entertainers. It’s a very specific skillset. Priyanka’s got it. The final pictures were pretty great too:
You can tell all of the girls adore Priyanka and respect the hell out of her. There was more warmth in these interactions than an entire season of Brooke Lynn trying to connect with them.
Canada’s Drag Race continued the tradition of showcasing a terrible song and asking the queens to make sense of it. The results were passable but predictable and if we’re being honest, we think Kendall clearly gave the most technically adept performance while Icesis gave the most focus-pulling and forceful one. Still, we couldn’t help feeling a bit bored watching three distinct queens sand down everything that makes each of them distinct in order to come out and harmonize with two other queens dressed more or less just like them. These girl group challenges have their benefits, in that they force queens to stretch themselves and to learn to perform as a group, but more and more, the end result is that the most interesting queens make themselves blander and the less interesting queens just imitate them. No tea no shade against any of these girls, who are just trying to get that crown on their heads, but we wish the final challenge asked them to express themselves more fully and individually, rather than blending all three of them together.
As tends to be the case with most Drag Race finales, there’s more weight given to the final looks and lip sync than the performances in the challenge. We’ll give each of these girls credit for turning it out and remaining true to themselves.
When your final look causes all of the judges to gasp out loud, we think that crown is pretty much guaranteed. This was a pure stunner that perfectly blended Icesis’s sometimes disturbing weirdness with the kind of high-end glamour drag the show tends to reward.
We like our Pythia a little weirder than this, but there’s no denying this is a nearly perfect execution of a jaw-dropping concept and look that remains true to her drag brand. We have issues with the cape and the body suit, which both feel a little unresolved. We also think the somewhat standard drag wig is a just-okay choice when there were more creative ways to go with this theme.
Kendall’s hair and makeup look fantastic, but we’re sorry; that dress is terrible. From the color to the placement of the embellishments to the oversized flounce, it’s just awkward and craftsy. We appreciate the desire to represent by showing off a culturally appropriate silhouette, but if you want to celebrate girls with bodacious trunks, you’ve got to actually fill out that dress. It’s just hanging off her nearly nonexistent hips and average-sized ass. Pad that shit up, girl.
They each gave their queer Canadian all for a Celine lip sync and while the results were as tight as they’ve been with each challenge this episode, our eyes kept going to Icesis throughout the number.
Those other girls are good, but she’s got the combination of talent, weirdness and pure star power (or uniqueness and charisma, if you want to be accurate about it) that Drag Race embodies.
Also: Please just give the damn job to Priyanka. She’s amazing.
We’re checking in on Drag Race Italia before this year ends, we promise. And of course we’ll be returning to the mothership when it launches a new season in January.
Our book, Legendary Children: The First Decade of RuPaul’s Drag Race and the Last Century of Queer Life, a New York Times “New and Notable” pick, praised by The Washington Post “because the world needs authenticity in its stories,” and chosen as one of the Best Books of 2020 by NPR, is on sale wherever fine books are sold!
[Photo Credit: WOW Plus via Tom and Lorenzo]
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