In a wild opening sequence, the Boulets pay homage to queer horror classics Little Shop of Horrors and Mommie Dearest. A cut scene from the previous episode reveals that during the extermination challenge, Loris suffered an allergic reaction which required medical attention. Perhaps it was this dedication and punk rock attitude on Loris’ part that kept her in the game? No time to cry, as the show must go on!
The surviving queens are taking the piss out of Loris for the now-iconic “Not today!” monologue. Despite this, she returns to the group, much to the chagrin of the remaining contestants. Once the sensational six are gathered, the challenge for the week is handed down, and it’s a real drag: bring your best fishy, pretty, soft drag. Dracmorda dubs this the “Basic Bitch Challenge,” and it gets basic like a fox fast. The guest judge for the week is revealed to be the one and only Biblegirl, the premier internet hate magnet herself. Drac points out how Bible has turned the hate she gets online into success, and that serves to foreshadow part two of the challenge… but first, the floor show.
Meatball serves one hell of a mug for the basic bitch ball, and brings a croquet mallet to boot. Loris has a Mean Girls flavor to her look, and for a gimmick, she throws flower petals around for a little bit of a hippie twinge. Vander’s look is, as I wrote in my notes, posh AF. Frankie’s hair is just not doing it for me in this case. The wraparound sunglasses evoke the memory of Bret “Hitman” Hart, and I’m not entirely sure that’s a good thing here. Major points, though, from ex-barista me for her gag with the pumpkin spice drink (even though, when I looked closely, it appeared to be a caramel frappuccino, and it’s frankly scary that I remember that after being out of the ‘Bucks for two plus years!). Xochi Mochi’s paint reminds me of Trixie Mattel, which may be a sign that the skinny legend’s influence was present before All Stars 3. The parasol added a softness to the look overall, and I dug it. Melissa went for a true basic bitch, complete with her puppy dog Bones Befierce, aka BB.
Part two of this week’s challenge is actually the extermination challenge, in which all six remaining monsters will participate. The girls will have to perform a lip-sync routine to Alaska Thunderfuck’s track “Nails.” During the performance, the offstage queens will heckle, boo, and even throw things at the performer. Can the girls turn the hate into a hell of a show? This sequence is a mother of a supercut, so here are my highlights, directly from my notes as I watched:
Frankie has a Freddy glove
Loris with the petals again?
VANDER WITH A WIG REVEAL
Meatball with a cartwheel
Melissa death dropping the house DOWN
Xochi was… she was there.
I don’t have much else. Before judgment is handed down, the girls are asked by the Boulets a potentially earth-shattering question: who should be eliminated? Loris doesn’t have a friend in the room, as literally every one of the five others single her out. The common thread is that while Loris has improved throughout the show, she is not on the level of the rest of the crew, and needs to, as Melissa bluntly puts it, “get the fuck out.”
Ouch.
Loris stands up for herself and says that she’s trying her best. When the question comes down the line to her, she suggests that Frankie is unpolished, and still hasn’t found that polish, even as the Boulets have suggested that she needs to step it up. Loris insinuates that she is a threat, and that’s why the other girls have targeted her. Xochi and Melissa, however, shoot that shit down immediately. Everybody hates Loris, it would seem.
Judgment begins with Meatball, who is universally praised for her Heathers-inspired outfit. The Boulets asked Meatball to step it up, and she absolutely did. Dracmorda goes as far as to say she has zero criticism for Meatball this week, and so she comes out as the clear winner this week. Melissa is dubbed “the most popular girl at Dragula High,” and earns her safety for the week with high marks, just barely missing the challenge win. Perennial achiever Vander von Odd falls to the middle of the road for the week, with the lack of cohesiveness in her reveals coming forward as the main complaint.
Frankie Doom gets compliments across the board, but is ultimately not placed as safe or high for the week. Xochi Mochi is accused of not being all there this week, though her hairpiece was a high spot for the judges. Loris, even after getting the shit kicked out of her by her cohort, is picked as Biblegirl’s favorite of the night. The problems with Loris soon spill out, including her reliance on gimmicks and reveals, her possible lack of ripeness, and the fact that she may not be on the level that Dracmorda and Swanthula need her to be at to be the World’s First Drag Supermonster.
The Boulets show their hand and tempt the girls with the next challenge: a full performance at the legendary Mother (formerly a name I won’t write here, Google it) in San Francisco, with the legendary Heklina and Peaches Christ serving as guest judges. After a load of shade and shenanigans in solo confessionals, it’s time for extermination.
A shocking double elimination plays out. Xochi Mochi gets strapped down and injected with liquid eyeliner in a gruesome kill, while Loris is put out of her misery by being transformed into a speed bump. Budget aside, I don’t know that anyone could have called the double down here, but I personally would have put Loris about Xochi. Xochi seemed done and over it, where Loris stood her ground and gave it a shot. In any case, we now have our final four, and it’s off to San Francisco for an epic penultimate challenge.