S17.E06: The Let's Get Sea Sickening Ball!

[davidcalgary29]

We return to Season 17 to see the queens celebrating, in the Werkroom, the non-elimination from the last episode. Everyone's in a magnanimous mood, although most of them joke about wanting to see eliminations, and lots of them, right now. This is a likeable cast, though, and now that Joella's gone, it's likely that most of the eliminations will cause tears of sadness and regret, however much faked for the camera. Most of them. Sam takes a moment to snipe about Suzie's lack of taste in fashion, which seems to be overkill when there are much, much greater crimes sitting around RIGHT THERE for the picking (translation: Kori and Acacia). 

The next morning, the queens gather around the table for some good-natured joking, and Hormona tempts the Dread Finger of Fate by suggesting that we may be in for a double elimination. Don't get our hopes up, Hormona! A chipper Ru breaks the mood by announcing a mini-challenge, in which the queens must transport lipsticks -- only using their mouths -- through a Ru-themed "glory hole" to one of their waiting teammates. I'm sure the queens weren't bothered at all with the thought of swapping spit with no other payoff. Also: EW. It's a fun mini-challenge, though, and I'm enjoying this season, so I'm not going to think about having to put a pre-slimed tube in my mouth. Again: EW.

Ru gives the winning team a nice cash bonus, and then announces the big news: we're having another sewing challenge, and this time it's going to be with unconventional materials! These are almost always fun, and S17's outing doesn't disappoint. This year, the queens have to craft Ouchfits out of material found in the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch", and I really hope that the challenge is more metaphorical than literal. One the queens later confides that some of the material had FOOD STUCK ON THE BACK that she had to pick up while assembling her outfit, and you'd think that would've been eaten off by creatures after being submerged in the Pacific. Also: EW.

Shenanigans erupt as the queens jostle and trample each other for prized bits of junk. And this time, it really is trash: choice shots show competitors carting away sheets of tarp, what appear to be car parts -- someone eyes a tire speculatively, before giving up -- and other enticing bits of flotsam and jetsam. The queens warn each other not to steal their prized treasure and trover. Look, it's actual junk, so they can probably relax, because none of this is remotely nice. 

Ru calls each of the queens up for a quick critique in groups of four. We only hear him provide random bits of advice to a quarter of the contestants, and see few designs; I'm glad that the editors have decided to keep some tension in the process. Hormona -- again -- is singled out by criticism by Ru, who warns her not to repeat silhouettes when she presents two okay-looking ideas. But most of the shown interactions consist of blandishments as Ru lies that "she can't wait to see" what the queens will present!

Drama erupts when Lexi leaves an ugly tarp outside in preparation for painting, and Onya and Arrietty decide to use it as a makedo dropcloth for their own ongoing projects, spraying Lexi's already ugly tarp with some smears of poop-like brown. Lexi discovers this and PANICS, running around urgently and demanding to know the identity of the vandals who ruined Her Precious. When she runs out of the Werkroom near tears, Onya guiltily admits that she and Arriety were responsible for this unwarranted hooliganism, and despite great advice that she immediately tell Lexi that it was an accident, and not sabotage, Onya claims that "it's not the right time". Yes, wait for your cue from the PAs that all cameras need to be ready for the Big Confrontation! Unfortunately, Arrietty quickly cops a plea to her role in this sartorial saga, leading to more drama and shouting. The other queens actually look quite taken aback by what they call "Spray Paintgate" (although I think "Garbagepalooza" would probably be a better fit here), which makes me think that it all really was just an accident. Probably.

It's time for the ball! There are two guest judges on the panel, neither of whom I'm familiar with, but the queens appear to be excited, so I'm game. We get three categories: "Bathing Beauties", "She Creatures", and the Eleganza Finale. Out of the gate, "Bathing Beauties" has the queens presenting a lot of very familiar silhouettes. Crystal gets blasted on the stage for recreating First Barbie, and it's a fair criticism after Starlet's impeccable presentation of the same concept. If you're not going to at least equal a concept at this stage of the competition, make another choice! Lydia is unappealing in a terrible outfit with a poor concept, and Hormona, who usually looks well-put on stage, is a pink pass. You know something's wrong when Acacia presents one of the best looks of the category, a fun latex floatie fantasy in bright, appealing colours. 

The queens move on to "She Creatures" -- each of them interpreting a different sea creature -- and it's a massive step up. Crystal is elegant as a take on a puffer fish, and inflates herself on the runway, earning praise in the process. Jewels is stunning as a Spanish Dancer -- a type of sea slug -- and her garment really is evocative of the creature. Lydia, again, interrupts the flow with a terrible outfit that looks like she won it from a carny at a cheap circus ring toss. Arrietty is a lovely lionfish, Suzie is uncommonly elegant as she waves the many arms of her octopus, and Kori is okay. Hormona decides to completely skip the assignment, Acacia is a comely crinoid, and Lexi is absolutely gorgeous as one of the best jellyfish that we've seen on the stage. Lana rounds out the group with a lovely take on what she claims to be a Mandarin Goby (fish). It's not -- I've owned one -- but it is a stunning recreation of a Blue Dragon, a highly venomous sea slug, in purple. Wonderful.

The Eleganza looks are sort of a step down from the second category, and that's unfortunate. Best of the bunch is Crystal in a pink-and-yellow striped sheath dress, Sam's too-on-the-nose Garbage Couture, and Suzie's Amelia Earhart homage. Suzie is one smart queen, and she gets a nod of admiration from me in presenting a coherent and cohesive narrative to put her outfit in the running when sewing skills alone wouldn't get her notice. Lydia completes a trio of fashion trainwrecks with an incomprehensible mess of tubes; the rest of the queens are largely forgettable, although Lexi's besmirched tarp walks the runway virtually unchanged. What!

Sam, Crystal, and Arrietty are named the tops of the week! I didn't like Arrietty's created look, but I'll give her the top for her wonderful lionfish. Arrietty wins! Okay.

And then, the judging falls apart, as Lydia, who by far had the worst looks as a collection, is declared "safe". How?! Maybe this is like that season of Project Runway, when all the judges loved Michael C's looks, even though they appeared to be complete disasters at home. I'm also guessing that Lexi escaped the bottom for her Tarp Trainwreck because the judges knew that she'd beat everyone's asses if they put her at risk for elimination when other queens "wrecked" her garment. Acacia, Hormona, and Lana are left in the bottom, and none of them really deserve to be there. Acacia is safe!

Hormona and Lana are left to lipsynch to an alright Olivia Rodrigo song, although it's not particularly great for a lipsynch on this show. Hormona does all right, although it's clear that this is just a lipsynch to her; this is one of those times when just knowing the words and emoting a bit isn't enough, and Lana beats her handily. Alas, with no more fakeouts, Hormona is told to leave the competition.

Hormona is an interesting queen. She certainly has talent, and wasn't given a favourable edit, but she had a clear point of view and a good sense of fashion. It's clear that the show felt that they could get rid of her now that there's multiple axes of drama that have developed amongst the rest of the cast (translation: Lexi), but it's sort of a shame that they kicked her off so soon, especially as some of her competitors (translation: Kori and Acacia) flounder. Yes, that is a marine pun.

Next week: it's The Snatch Game! We can only hope that the panels' sour looks accurately reflects some catastrophically memorable performances.

 

Edited February 8 by davidcalgary29

[Starchild]

Anyone else catch the Little Britain reference? Didn't know Ru was a fan.

[violet and green]

I cheered when Acacia was safe.

[Red Bridey]

I can't believe they are already doing the Snatch Game. Don't they usually wait until more queens have been eliminated? Since most of these queens are hopeless at anything other than insulting their competitors and wearing gowns I am not looking forward to this one. But more people does mean less on-camera time if and when they suck at being witty, so there's that.

[Kaboom 2.0]

Knowing that Charles Barkley is Sam's godfather makes me like her even more! 

I've said before that I like Onya but, gurl, again not admitting you did something when you clearly did is not right. I felt for Lexi and am glad she seemed to move on from it. I really don't want her to have another complete meltdown tho especially since I wouldn't trust some of the other girls to not mess with her again on purpose. 

Arrietty's win wasn't surprising to me, all three of her main challenge looks were fantastic. And finally Hormona is gone. 

I can't say I'm looking forward to this season's Snatch Game, that teaser that was shown looked...not funny.

[7-Zark-7]

Arrietty was the only one to really nail this ball, which is sad. Usually there are two or three queens who really bring it. Her second look was one of my all time ball faves.

Hormona wasn’t actually that bad, just boring, which is still a valid reason to be in the bottom of a show about drag. However, I would have put Lydia (that bathing suit is still giving me nightmares) or Kori in her place. Lana Ja’Rae was rightly placed in the bottom (although, I did feel for her when Law Roach read her).

I think Kori King is wearing the delusional crown that Joella left behind. If you are going to be a Mean Girl, you should have the cred to back it up. When Raja was out there calling girls boogers… she was Raja Gemini. Who is Kori? What does she do? She’s not a look queen. She’s not a funny queen. She’s not a lip sync assassin. She’s not a crafty/ seamstress queen. She’s not a Broadway singing and dancing queen. She’s not an intellectual/artsy club queen. She's not an influencer/ social media queen. And despite the trash talk, she’s not a true drama queen. So where does she get off coming for Hormona or anyone else? (If I'm wrong and she possesses some of these qualities, the time to show them was yesterday. The clock is ticking).

As for Tarpgate, Onya and Arrietty were in the wrong. They should have come clean the moment they realized their mistake instead of waiting for Lexi to blow her top. And boy did she. I get it but, girl, maybe don’t leave a tarp on the ground where you know people will be spray painting. This is unfortunately the second time Onya has been a little shady. Hopefully, her deceit only comes out in crafty challenges.

I have to say, five episodes in, this will not go down as one of my favorite seasons. I’m not rooting for anyone in particular to win and I think, maybe because of the youth of the cast, it feels like half of these queens weren’t ready to be on the show. A lot of them come off a little under cooked.

Edited February 11 by 7-Zark-7