Preparations for the dinner party include a hilarious skit involving Israel and Shawn, with Shawn playing the clueless, possibly brainless butler to a T. When the supposed roast is left to thaw a little too long, Meatball, the drag terrorist from Season One, emerges from the freezer. The mayhem that ensues is a "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?"-style chase that had me belly-laughing the whole way through, right up until Meatball ends up with a thrown kitchen knife in her back. This could very well be the funniest, draggiest cold open of the series so far, and I defy the Boulet Brothers to one-up this one.
The revival scene plays out much like the first season’s, but the quip of “Who the fuck’s this?” by Dracmorda, in reference to first-exterminated Felony Dodger had my jaw dropped at the absolute shade of it all. When the Boulets arrive at the dinner table, their looks harken back to Rocky Horror Picture Show, pink triangle accoutrements and all. After a montage of the girls’ audition tapes, we get a recap of the season, and some of the wild confessionals that took place. Kendra Onixxx was even shadier than we thought, and Dahli’s read on James Majesty (“She’s not pretentious at all. She’s just a cunt.”) was a scorcher for sure.
The first order of beef from the season, that between James Majesty and Monikkie Shame, is addressed, as it is revealed that the two ran into each other at the airport before traveling to LA for filming. During the discussion, Monikkie has the nerve (and it do take nerve) to interrupt Dracmorda while she’s talking, causing a heart-stopping moment that might only be matched by “I’d like to keep it on, please.”
Kendra doubles down on her shade-throwing by tearing James a new one. James admits that her cunty personality is an act, a facade that she puts up for her character. This is all we’ll hear from Kendra for a minute, but trust me, it gets better. A location montage shows the horrors of getting ready on the go and in the elements, including Biqtch Puddin giving her look the fuck it adjustment and shaving her natural eyebrows during the slasher challenge. Dracmorda reads Biqtch for FILTH about her crying and moaning about her sacrifices following the montage, showing that few can throw shade like this queen of darkness.
Erika Klash is revealed to have suffered through more extermination challenges than any competitor thus far (she was in the bottom four of the five weeks she was in the competition, though this stat only holds up if you consider that Abhora, who also faced four exterminations, was volunteered for one, and the Wasteland Weekend extermination inside Thunderdome was mandatory for all four competitors). Dahli and Felony have learned humility through their time on the show, though Felony gets her shots in by calling Monikkie out on her chemical dependency, which James Majesty famously called out on day one.
Then comes the grilling about cast members’ incestuous pasts! Not even a joke. Erika admits that once upon a time, she had an encounter with a cousin on her father’s side of the family that ended up a little too close for some folks’ comfort. James’ alleged affair with her own brother was started by “a queen who got kicked out of DragCon” who goes nameless (the only queen that comes to mind is Tyra Sanchez, "RuPaul’s Drag Race" Season 2 champion, who made online threats against the convention and its participants). Her brother, though not actually related by blood, shares her given last name, and so the two perpetuated the rumor to stir up controversy so wild, even Eric Bischoff might think it was too much.
Disasterina mentioned in episode one that she was married to a cis woman, something of a rarity in the drag community. The discussion affirms Disasterina as queer, in the mindset and not necessarily because of her sexual preferences. Let’s call a spade a spade, Disasterina has been a grade-A fucking weirdo the whole season, and that’s a compliment. She does odd like few can, and she has more than earned her place in the medium.
Kendra is put on blast for her lack of participation in the shock rock challenge. In so many words, she only attended two practices, one of which she was several hours late for. The group did not want to make any creative decisions without 100% participation, but Kendra throws the blame upon team captain Victoria, saying it was her responsibility to contact her… which she did. In any case, one of the wildest reads come from this exchange, as Kendra asserts “you guys model, I perform,” a toss back to her previous callout of “look queens” among the cast members. Oof.
Monikkie’s time in the hot seat is not over, as some social media drama is brought forth. They don’t name names, but thanks to a little digging on Reddit, I have answers. Apparently, Monikkie used a racial slur towards Soju, the K-pop queen who would later grace season eleven of RuPaul’s Drag Race, when the two had never interacted with one another before, or at least enough to potentially leave the remark as a joke between friends and colleagues. While Monikkie insists that she doesn’t want to be a role model, she did profusely apologize for the incident, which leads Dracmorda to drop another nugget of wisdom: “This is how Trump gets elected.” In this era of cancel culture and not letting people learn and grow from mistakes, we let the real evils of the world slip past us and fuck things up harder than we could have ever expected. And for those who read Dracmorda’s quote and are upset that we got political for a minute… please tweet me @LuciaMAustin and let me explain why it’s so important that she went there. I insist.
Abhora’s behavior is called out by Erika, who asks why Abhora lied when asked who should stay between the two of them. Abhora says that it’s a defense mechanism, that people where she’s from are more or less compulsive liars. That being said, she has grown up since that incident, and knows better now.
After this last confrontation, the last words of the departed ring out. Each eliminated queen picks who they think should win. Felony Dodger says Biqtch because she is a star, plain and simple. Monikkie is torn between Biqtch and Victoria. Dahli picks Victoria, while Kendra is torn between Victoria and Biqtch as well. Abhora asks each of the finalists if they think they should win, before ultimately settling on Biqtch for her pick. Disasterina argues that Biqtch is the best performer, James is the hardest worker, and Victoria has the best visuals, and because of that, James will likely win. Erika claims to have worked alongside Biqtch in LA, and has known she’s a star from day one, and picks her to win. The finalists get their chance to share their pieces, and James wastes no time saying that she has worked hard to get to where she is, even though she’s not liked that much, either here in the competition or back home. Victoria has grown so much throughout the season, and she is only going to get better. Biqtch talks about how game-changing the show has been for her, and how she has evolved because of it.
Only one of the seven decedents didn’t name Victoria or Biqtch as their pick, which is telling of the effects the finalists have had on them. Once the exterminated queens are laid to rest once again, the finalists meet the Boulets on the balcony of the theater, and the final challenge is laid out, just like it was last season. The grand finale floor show will showcase filth, horror, and glamour, and by its end, we will have our next Drag Supermonster.