G’day, g’day, g’day! Welcome to another RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under recap, where I go over all the scandals, drama and kaflamba from the brand new Stan Original series. Last week was… a lot to handle… but thankfully this week was actually one of the best episodes of Drag Race I’ve seen in a long time! Let’s get cracking.
So, where did we leave off. Ah, yes, a jar of piss and a blackface scandal. And there really isn’t any better way to put that. It’s just quite literally where we left off.
Elektra Shock is on her redemption arc, and won the last challenge, while we said goodbye to the young and super fkn talented Etc Etc, whose Aussie vulgarity didn’t quite charm the American judges.
We waste no time in this episode getting straight into the drama, and Elektra says she wants to knock Scarlet Adams right out of the competition. It’s a miracle that Ru didn’t disqualify her last week, but alas.
The battle of the dancers is coming, I can see it.
Out of nowhere, Karen from Finance humbly wishes for a mini challenge where a bunch of hot guys come out in underwear and they have to do a pop quiz of some sorts.
Keep this abstract wish of hers in mind, because it’ll play a part in the episode later.
Meanwhile, Art Simone admits that she’s in a 10-year peen drought. Or a relationship drought. I couldn’t quite tell, but the glaringly obvious fact is that she isn’t getting any.
Melbourne gays! Give Art Simone your love and affection! Stop posting lockdown nudes on Twitter and do something about this drought!
We also discover that no matter how desperate Art is, Kita Mean is never an option. I mean, there are so many better substances in the market.
And in one of the biggest shocks of my life, Aunty Donna (??) appear to give the queens a hilarious message about actual drag racing.
Honestly, as Scarlet said, this is more exciting than seeing Dannii Minogue and Kylie on screen. It’s the Aunty Donna boys!!! On Drag Race Down Under!!!! I’m still screaming.
And, like clockwork, Ru announces a mini-challenge where a bunch of hot guys come out in underwear and they have to do a pop quiz of some sorts.
Someone needs to give Karen a raise.
Out come the hot menses, and call me Kings Cross Station because I am running a train. All of these kings can get it.
The point of the mini-challenge is to guess what stuffed toy is hiding within each boys pants.
Yes, there’s a joke here about pants being stuffed with toys, but you can make it yourself.
Anyway, this was hot as fuck. I ain’t even gonna lie. Horny on main, yet again.
Maxi Shield proves to be the best at guessing what’s hiding in the shorts of hot men, and wins an advantage in the main challenge.
This week’s challenge is that the queens need to makeover six members of the New Zealand Falcons, a gay and inclusive rugby union team. It honestly warms my heart to see a whole bunch of different queers on my screen. Big yes to this. Huge yes.
Maxi gets to pick out which hot rugby player gets paired up with which queen, and she actually does a pretty good job at being fair. The whole goal here is family resemblance, which is obviously easier when the two people look similar.
Maxi’s hardest choice, however, is which player to give herself. Does she go for the hot, tall one, or the shorter, bald one that looks exactly like her? Much to think about.
Thankfully, Maxi goes with her (almost) twin Dan, and pairs the lovely Carl with Kita Mean.
Over at Elektra’s station, we discover that her rugby player is an absolute gem. He’s a legend, he does a mean walk in heels, and he fkn loves the tightness of a corset.
Is he single? One could only hope. The perfect man does exist.
The rugby boys start flipping around like attractive penguins in their newly equipped high heels, and it truly is something to witness.
Maxi is having a bit of a time with her rugby player, who is a bit new to the whole heels, makeup and drag thing. If you’d like a pic to remind you about how bad Maxi was struggling, then here you go.
And with a group shout of “run it up the guts”, the girls prepare for the main stage, and get their rugby players into the full regalia.
It’s honestly so heartwarming to see these more masculine gays embrace their femininity by entering into drag. As a queer person, this kind of teamwork and collaboration is incredibly important to witness. Everyone’s just having so much fun, my heart is full.
Maxi convinces her bearded brother in arms to shave off the legendary beard, and the likeness between them increases tenfold. It truly gave me high hopes for their performance on the main stage.
Meanwhile, Art is taking her sweet time getting her rugby player into drag. Something about eyebrows drying for three hours.
Poor thing even gets a giant pink coat at one point, because the werk room is presumably freezing. Maybe Art wanted her to freeze in the room so she could look extra snatched on the runway?
It’s runway time, and can we talk about how FKN good Ru looks in this episode?
Like, this is surely a contender for one of her best looks on the show ever.
For super fans of the series, doesn’t this feel very reminiscent of Sonique’s gingerbread costume for the messy as hell Christmas special episode?
Trans icons paving the way, yet again.
Karen from Finance pops out with her sister, Debbie from Reception, and it’s a wonderful resemblance between the pair. Not the mention the name is brilliant.
Meanwhile, Scarlet and her partner, who she names Sapphire, look a little rough around the edges.
Kita Mean comes out with her new drag sibling, Feta Mean, and my goodness it’s the best thing ever. Kita’s infectious energy has clearly caught onto Feta, and their look is just so sensational. We stan!!
Also, dying at the thought of her sibling’s first name just being Feta. I get the pun, but it just makes me want cheese.
Meanwhile, Art does a stunning job at making his sister, Craft, look like a WOMAN. The judges however failed to see the resemblance between the two, but applauded the makeup.
Elektra on the other hand was called out for her makeup job on partner Riri Action. I also don’t quite get the name? I was expecting something like Lightnina Bottle, but hey, at least I was abducted by their strange alien lewks, so I can’t complain.
Meanwhile Maxi also had a runway look…
Backstage, Art is a bit disappointed that Karen and Kita are applauded for their carbon copy looks, while she was read for filth for taking a different approach.
The difficulty with family resemblance is that it’s definitely hard to make someone look like you without wearing the exact same things. In fact, wearing colour contrasting outfits sometimes points out the glaring differences. It sure isn’t easy.
Back on the Drag Race Down Under runway, we discover that Kita is the winner of this week’s challenge (deserved), while Scarlet and Maxi are in the bottom.
This week they need to lipsync to ‘Better the Devil You Know’, one of Kylie’s best songs in my opinion, and boy is it a show.
Also, again with Kylie being on episode two while the lipsync song is on episode six? Choices.
Scarlet is dressed as a devil already, and is a trained dancer, so it’s really no mystery as to who is going to turn this one out.
And with show-stopping splits, kicks and spins, the devil was in the details with Scarlet’s lipsync performance, and so she was crowned the winner.
Unfortunately, this means that it’s a triple elimination on this week’s episode, as we say goodbye to Sydney legend Maxi Shield, and her legendary breastplate.
What an absolutely amazing showing she had on the show. I’m just so glad that the world gets to see more of this phenomenal talent that we have, and my fingers are crossed for some kind of All Stars appearance in the future.
Maxi, I’ll see you and your twins around Sydney. Hope they’re doing well.
