‘RuPaul’s Drag Race UK’ S2E9 Recap: East-End-Her? No, There’s Still one More Episode After This
Bimini Bon-Boulash must Wiminy Won-Woulash!
To paraphrase Katya on her podcast with Trixie, ‘Bimini-Bon Boulash better Wimminy-Won Woulash’. Then again, having four wins doesn’t guarantee the crown, as Gigi Goode and Shea Coulée know. But blimey, who else?
Bimini is such a refreshing presence on the show (and has been since episode one, where she simply did not deserve to lip-sync), a queen who effortlessly integrates her politics into her looks, comedy and performances.
In the latter half of the competition, she’s been so flawless, but without ever seeming too polished or put together. Bimini clearly has a lot of fun on the show, and as her main competitor Lawrence has gotten more serious and stern as we get closer to the competition, it’s only made Bimini’s silliness more endearing.
Having said that, I totally identify with Lawrence overthinking this week’s acting challenge, stumbling over her lines repeatedly and trying to hide that she’s absolutely bricking it. Lawrence has been a front-runner since E1, and post-lockdown, that pressure to pick up where she’s left off has absolutely gotten to her. Where Bimini came back recharged, Lawrence arrived a little broken, with the insecurities that have poked through since E1 arriving front-and-centre: again, much more relatable.
But it’s been hard to watch her struggle and stay petty this week with Ellie over last episode’s comedy challenge line-up, as bitterness cuts through her performances and makes it all just a little less fun. It’s almost like filming a career-defining show during a global pandemic your government is mishandling is really stressful?
Plus, een at her most defensive, Lawrence still has so much charm and charisma: we saw her really struggle during the challenge, but she pulled it together for the final cut. In fact, everyone did — for once, when the judges said this was one of the hardest acting challenges to judge ever, it felt sincere.
While the crown belongs to either Lawrence or Bimini, it’s hard to be mad at the double-shantay this ep: more time with Tayce and Ellie (who really showcased her strengths this week) is anything but a bad thing.
Everybody Loves Puppets, I Guess
Another week, another obligatory introduction of the queens discussing the badge-count before we jump into the mini-challenge.
Those tear lines. Perfection.
Honestly, I always find the puppet challenge a bit of what Denali would call a flopiana: this one had a few good jokes, but overall I remember very little of it.
It’s always cute to see how they drag up the puppets, but no reveal can quite beat the ultimate puppet-drag of the week, which was Kermit the Frog inside a giant slug costume for the US Masked Singer.
Even Tayce, the world’s most enthusiastic person, looked over it.
Between the main challenge, an Eastenders parody, and the pantomime dame runway theme, this week is an onslaught of UK cultural touchstones I’m vaguely aware of.
That means a lot of the references in the acting challenge probably flew above my head, but maybe that’s for the best: unlike the US’ oft-abysmal scripts, this one wasn’t just a re-hash of old references and well-worn one-liners. There were only two low-hanging metajokes (a shout-out to Baga Chipz’ ‘much better’ line, and a standard ‘how’s your head?’ joke)! Given we’re all still collectively scarred from ‘Breastworld’ and ‘Sex & The Kitty, Girl’, I hope the US writers are taking notes.
Michelle guides the girls through the acting challenge — specifically Lawrence, for who she has to pause the scene. He’s so nervous he loses all his lines, which throws scene partner Ellie off too.
Brandon Flowers after one kiss.
Lawrence later gets annoyed at Ellie for saying as much, but it’s the truth: time and time again, Lawrence’s insecurities have seen him shut down and his co-performers/dance group have to let it play out before he can admit he’s struggling.
That need to hide it or joke it off is, again, extremely relatable, which is probably why I find it so unpleasant to watch: I don’t want to see my own inner saboteur on Drag Race! I just want to see confident queers kill it, but it’s an unfair expectation. And, time and time again, she turns it around and outperforms most: she’s such a joy to watch.
I’ve never seen Eastenders, but if you put some Angelo Badalamenti behind these scenes, this easily could have been late S2 of Twin Peaks. The decor alone!
Catherine when she takes off her Japanese man ‘drag’ to reveal that she’s not dead.
This is Bob at the end of Laura’s bed.
This is what the actor who played James is doing now.
After the scene, we get a very wholesome moment of episode padding as the queens read out letters sent from home. Earlier, Lawrence hashes it out somewhat with Ellie, and tries to move on as best she can.
Pantomime Dame? I Hardly Even Know What That Is
This week’s runway is based off ‘pantomime dames,’ a British drag tradition where male theatre actors camp it up to take on matronly roles. Men dressed as women, very funny!
Tayce says absolutely not, and instead dresses as a blue version of Kylie’s absinthe fairy in Moulin Rouge!.
Echoes of Miss Fame’s interpretation of ‘ugliest dress ever’ in S7.
Ellie thought it was a Trixie Mattell runway, and adds in some ‘Romy and Michelle but UK royalty’ for good measure.
Ellie’s paint is so stunning. She’s so so so polished at 21!
Lawrence’s outfit gets stuck on a few things while sewing, but she, to quote Tim Gunn, makes it work.
I think the makeup is maybe a little rough (but she’s in tough company in this top four), but this outfit is great.
Bimini is possibly the most confused by the theme and thinks that Pantomime Dame was the name of the country singer on The Simpsons that Homer briefly managed. To misquote the title of a Sarah Jessica Parker-led romcom from 2011, ‘I don’t know how she got it so wrong!’.
‘I spent last night in a ditch.’
When it comes to the actual airing of the acting challenge, each queen excels. The judges put Tayce and Ellie in the bottom for not going ‘far enough’ with their characters, though the judges admit they’re really just nitpicking.
Michelle mentions that Tayce’s character was called ‘Karen’ and she didn’t play that up, which seems odd: there was one manager line, but otherwise I don’t really see it in the role.
Given that this is airing well and truly after Karen discourse folded into itself, was clearly Tayce knowing how the culture would have moved on by this point. Tacye’s taste remains unparalleled (except when it comes to her actual taste buds, which are beyond questionable).
Bimini is given her fourth win, which feels right, and Lawrence is safe. The bottom two lip-sync it out in a perfectly fine rendition of a track by Michelle Visage collaborators Steps — Ellie breaks out a lot of classic dance moves and tricks, but there’s a little trepidation with them.
Her voguing and duck-walking remind me of every white gay who thinks they can do it (hello, 21-year-old me): I think she’s still working out her performance style and it feels like she’s a bit too calculated/not necessarily feeling the moment, but there’s a lot of good stuff in there.
Tayce arguably won, but it’s nice they kept both of them: Ellie deserves her spot in the top four, as she’s been consistently great all competition even without nabbing a win.
Next week, we finish Drag Race UK, which started after S13 and will finish well before it. Short and sweet, I think it’ll be remembered as one of the show’s best: I’ve loved every bit of it.
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK is available on Stan, with episodes dropping each Friday 8AM AEDT.
Jared Richards is Junkee’s Drag Race recapper, and a freelance writer who has written for The Guardian, The Big Issue and more. He’s on Twitter.