From a sewing challenge into an acting challenge – this is the show’s format that I’ve loved and missed. Gay’s Anatomy was pretty darn good in my opinion – and that’s kind of what this blog is about so yeah, I liked it. I have to be honest, this one was fun (and you know these acting challenges can usually go one of two ways *cough* “Shakesqueer” *cough*).
Quelle surprise, the episode started with Brita being a Bitter Betty to Aiden. Guess what, your outfits were shit and that’s why you lipsynced and not her. Also, Rock’s outfits were a mess. Yes we all like her but Aiden’s looks were more polished – basic, but polished.
I’m actually quite glad that Aiden stuck up for herself. Her outfits were naff and that’s why she was in the bottom but 100% she gave it better than Brita and Rock and that’s why she didn’t lipsync. Brita seems to focus all her attention on disliking Aiden and not enough on focussing on herself in the competition.
The Mini Challenge
RuPaul appeared with a lab coat and clipboard for this week’s mini-challenge. I say challenge, it was more of a game of luck. 11 prescription pillboxes were available, each queen picked a bottle and 2 of the bottles contained a pink pill which gave them a special power. They were given the power of casting all the roles for the Gay’s Anatomy challenge.
The two fashion queens ended up getting that power – this is great for them as they essentially get to choose their character as priority and dish out the rest of the roles. Will they be shady or will they be nice little beans?
I think they distributed the parts pretty well. The only person who kicked off was Widow who didn’t get the part she wanted – there’s always one. I feel like Gigi picking Sherry for that part was the right choice but Widow clearly disagreed and had a paddy about it. But Sherry was definitely a better choice.
Aiden was also a bit confused by her role as she felt she didn’t really know who Mae West was.
The Maxi Challenge – Gay’s Anatomy
It’s a big gay acting challenge and this season we’re dipping our toes into a hospital drama. Gay’s Anatomy will see the queens play doctors, nurses, and patients in the weirdest hospital in town. To direct the queens, we had Carson Kressley.
The Rehearsals
Let’s get this bit out of the way – they didn’t really show any of Sherry’s rehearsals (unless she was in a group scene). I understand why, but it does look odd when *spoiler alert* she wins the challenge and we don’t see the process of how and why she won.
Other memorable moments – Aiden was atrociously brilliant. The faces she was pulling had me howling even though it was a mess. Brita was spitting her way through the scene but honestly, she wasn’t as funny, and Quelle Surprise, she kept blaming her ‘scene partner’ for her misfortune.
The show has been doing people dirty this year – first it zoomed in on Jackie’s beard and now a slow-mo shot of Brita spitting everywhere.
Jaida seemed to struggle with her lines. Honestly, I can’t remember much about the rehearsals other than Aiden and Brita. I remember Nicky being particularly bad. She managed to do something with the French lingo but I don’t think it was enough to be funny – you’ve still got to have personality. I can’t remember anyone else so let’s just get straight to the runway!
Category is: Planet Of The Capes
This week the queens had to show off their best caped-costumes for the judges.
Jaida Essence Hall – Boot
As always Jaida looks stunning but I’m not actually a fan of this. The cape itself is beautiful and the shoulder pads are fun but I wasn’t crazy about the hair. The bodysuit underneath was a tad boring and my drag hate has arrived – open-toed shoes with tights. Where are your toes?! Not only that but I hate when a bodysuit ends and you see the ankles before the shoe – this would have been beautiful in boots.
Brita – Boot
The lingerie elements of Brita’s look is stunning. The colour suits her and her hair and makeup look beautiful. However, that weird cut-off trumpet skirt thing is vile. It just looks like such a weird afterthought and one I’m not a fan of. Also, for a cape theme, the focus really doesn’t seem to be on the cape too much. It was just a thin bit of fabric with a hood. This could have been a toot but fell flat.
Jackie Cox – Toot
I thoroughly enjoyed this and it wasn’t an obvious dress or leotard with a cape that a lot of the queens did. The gold really suited Jackie’s skin tone and showcasing her midriff was a bold choice. With the baggy pants, Jackie still managed to create a great feminine silhouette. Also, Jackie’s hair, makeup and headpiece was beautiful this week.
Jan – Toot
I really enjoyed Jan’s presentation this week. The parachute theme was a great idea and she looks ultra-cool. The goggles and high ponytail were a great addition to the outfit and as always, Jan’s makeup was stunning.
Gigi Goode – Boot
Gigi looks beautiful – as always – but I felt this outfit was really boring compared to other looks she’s brought to the competition. The design was nice and the hair and makeup was beautiful. However, I wish she’d have put scout badges all over the cape or military emblems as that’s what I read from this look.
Heidi N Closet – Boot
I wasn’t keen on this. Heidi doesn’t look bad, it’s just basic. The outfit isn’t very connected. The cape is was pretty but had nothing to do with the leotard and boots and the wig looked like it was from a completely different era.
Crystal Methyd – Toot
Crystal smashed it this week. The theme was capes and boy did Crystal bring a cape. I thought this outfit was stunning and it perfectly summed up who Crystal was as a drag queen. This is definitely one of my favourites from the week.
Aiden Zhane – Toot
As per, Aiden brought a pretty simple look to the runway but I actually quite like the vibe. I got The Silence of the Lambs reference straight away and I thought it was a fun idea. However, I hated that you can see her ankles. A note to all queens, I’m not a fan when a queen wears leggings and then a pump where you can see the ankles – I wish she wore boots but I did love the outfit.
Widow Von’Du – Boot
The watermelon idea was fun but this fell flat for me. The pants should have had seed details, the boot covers were bunched and the wig wasn’t a hit for me. The cape itself was fun but quite basic.
Also, the reveal of the nipple covers were kind of fun but redundant. She should have taken the bra bits off and revealed two watermelon slices – that would have had so much more impact.
Nicky Doll – Toot
This was a great look for Nicky this week. She looked very pretty. The metal outfit was stunning and it fit her perfectly. The cape was big but didn’t wow me too much although I like that she added fur and feathers to the top to give it a gladiatorial effect.
Sherry Pie – Toot
Honestly, this look was spectacular! Last week Sherry gave us Miss Trunchull, now she’s giving us Elvis Presley. The King of Rock n’ Roll loved a cape and so this was a really clever take on the challenge. Everything looked perfect, the high collar, the wig, the big belt, and of course the cape itself. I think Sherry was the only queen who really made the cape a huge feature of the outfit and not just a part of the outfit.
The Gay’s Anatomy Performance
There were a few standouts in this challenge. I think Jackie did a great job. She hammed it up perfectly. I believed her character and enjoyed her performance.
I think she did a good job in the scenes she was in and when she wasn’t acting she was reacting.
Moving on to Jan – part two of the character. I honestly think Jan did a great job. She was pure camp in this challenge.
The scenes with her and Sherry were great and the moment when she ragged Gigi out of the way during the ending was unbelievably funny.
So I guess I’ll mention Gigi – I also think she did a pretty good job. Like Jackie, Jan and Sherry, Gigi understood that this challenge had to be camp and she delivered. This is one of the challenges that could have gone so badly but didn’t.
I think Widow did an okay job. Unlike Brita who kept blaming Aiden, I do think that Heidi was hindered by Nicky’s performance. Finally, I’ll mention Heidi and Crystal.
They had a particularly bizarre character to work with and although it would be normal to judge them as a pair, I feel like Crystal stood out. She reacted to Heidi’s movements, she had great facial expressions and she really made me laugh.
Thoughts on the challenge – We’ve seen before that an acting challenge can go either way but I think this one held out pretty well. By far, my favourite character was Sherry’s this week but I think Crystal and Jan also did a great job. Aiden made me laugh for how terrible it was (but in a good way) and Jackie held her own. And that’s Gay’s Anatomy in a nutshell.
The Result
Deservedly, Sherry won this week’s challenge. Her characterization was hilarious and she had some great jokes. However, with the show wanting to edit out Sherry as much as possible, it seemed odd seeing Sherry win after the show edited out nearly all of the laughs she got from the judges. I understand that Drag Race wants to try and distance itself with her actions but it actually makes the rest of the queens look weaker if they’re losing to somebody who seemingly didn’t make the judges laugh. Though I’m sure it pains a lot of you to hear, Sherry smashed this challenge. But fear not, because of her DQ, Drag Race is giving any money she wins in the competition to the Trevor Project.
Half of the queens were in the top this week; Jan, Jackie, Gigi, Widow and (controversially) Aiden. Brita was in the bottom and man alive was she pissed that Aiden was in the top.
I don’t know what it is with Brita but she really hates Aiden. She blamed her for doing badly in the scene but in reality, Aiden was quite funny and you were messy. In Untucked she went off at Aiden and it really pissed me off. Even Nicky became a bitter bitch. In fact, the only queen that defended Aiden was Heidi – bless you my child.
In the end, Nicky and Heidi were in the bottom this week and I thought that was fair enough.
The Lipsync – Heart to Break by Kim Petras
Nicky looked pretty but she didn’t really do much. Heidi did a great job of channeling the song in her performance. Nicky just doesn’t seem much like a performer – we could tell that from her lipsync again Dahlia – anybody else and she would have gone home.
In the end it was Nicky who sashayed away and I can’t say I was surprised – she’s a fashion queen with what looks like no real performance background. Heidi decimated her in the lipsync.
How has that affected the scores?
As acting challenges go, Gay’s Anatomy was quite a good one. It wasn’t the best they’ve done but it was certainly in the top portion.
Winner: Sherry Pie – 5 Points
Top: Jan, Widow, Jackie, Gigi, Aiden– 3 Points
Safe: Crystal, Jaida – 1 Point
Bottom: Brita – 0 Points
Lipsync: – Heidi N Closet-1 Point
Eliminated: – Nicky Doll -3 Points
Thanks to Ru putting half of the queens at the top, I managed to gain a whopping 13 points this episode. Sadly, most of Tom’s picks were in the bottom so he walked away with only 2 points. That took Tom’s total to 22 points and I zoomed up to 38 points. As a lone contender, Widow is on 10 points.
