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Month: August 2020 (Page 1 of 2)

Watchable the week of Aug. 31, 2020

August 31, 2020 /

SHOW OF THE WEEK: The Sounds (Sept. 3, Acorn TV)

Rachelle Lefevre and Matt Whelan as Maggie and Tom Cabbott in “The Sounds.” PHOTO CREDIT: CBC

I sat down last weekend to watch a few episodes of “The Sounds,” just to get a feel for the show, and couldn’t stop until I had binged all eight. The twists just keep coming in this Canadian-New Zealand co-production, set in the latter country’s breathtakingly beautiful Marlborough Sounds area.

The star of the show is Canadian actor Rachelle Lefevre, whom you likely recognize from one of her many TV credits (“Under the Dome,” “Mary Kills People”) or even the “Twilight” films. The series begins and ends with her and she is our main point of reference throughout. She’s Canadian Maggie Cabbott, come to the small New Zealand town of Pelorus to join her Canadian husband Tom (played by New Zealand actor Matt Whelan), to escape his rich, predatory father and open a sustainable fishery. And then Tom disappears while out kayaking and we’re off to the races.

Maggie proves herself to be much more than just a grieving spouse as the series progresses and her secrets (and Tom’s) are laid bare. But the mostly friendly townsfolk of Pelorus also have things to hide, including local police officer Jack McGregor (Australian actor Matt Nable), who becomes Maggie’s main ally as she finds her footing.

Canadian actor Emily Piggford (“The Girlfriend Experience”) co-stars as a tenacious investigator sent to Pelorus by Tom’s family, who suspect Maggie had something to do with his disappearance.

The series is a crime drama and psychological thriller, but also an exploration of relationships. It touches on betrayal, loyalty, the idea of doing bad things for love, the damage wrought by keeping secrets and whether we ever really know the people we’re closest to. But beyond all that, it’s just a compelling watch. And if you don’t catch it on Acorn, you’ll have another chance to see it when it debuts on CBC on Oct. 5.

Away (Sept. 4, Netflix)

Hilary Swank as astronaut Emma Green in “Away.” PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy of Netflix

Hilary Swank is back — although she never really went away. It’s just that nothing she’s done recently has thrust her into public consciousness the way her Oscar-winning roles in “Million Dollar Baby” and “Boys Don’t Cry” did.

That could change with this big-budget Netflix drama, in which Swank plays astronaut Emma Green, leader of an international mission to Mars. Swank does excellent work portraying a woman who’s reached the pinnacle of her career with all the responsibility that entails, but who is also a wife and mother who’s leaving her family behind for three years. The sacrifice becomes even starker when Emma’s husband, sidelined astronaut Matt Green (the wonderful Josh Charles), has a crisis back home and Emma can only offer encouragement via video chat (a predicament sure to resonate with many people who’ve faced similar conundrums during the COVID-19 pandemic).

Of course, Emma isn’t alone on the mission. The capable supporting cast includes Ato Essandoh (“Chicago Med”) as Ghanaian-British crew member Kwesi; Ray Panthaki (“Marcella”) as Indian astronaut Ram; Vivian Wu as Chinese colleague Lu; and Mark Ivanir (“Homeland”) as the thorn in Emma’s side, Russian astronaut Misha.

The show balances the drama of keeping the spacecraft functioning (there’s a spacewalk in an early episode that I found tense as hell, even though I knew there was no way the series would let its lead drift off into space) with the emotional pull of the crew members’ lives back home.

Emma’s family, including daughter Alexis (Talitha Bateman), gets the lion’s share of the attention, but that doesn’t make the other astronauts’ stories any less poignant. There’s a plot line involving Lu and a forbidden relationship that brought me to tears.

It’s the humanity that very much tethers “Away” to Earth.

The Boys (Sept. 4, Amazon Prime Video)

Don’t worry, there will be blood as this tale of vigilantes battling evil superheroes returns for its second season. In fact, cast member Laz Alonso (Mother’s Milk) told Global News there would be a “lot more blood” this season. I’m still catching up on all the episodes, but I can confirm the sight of at least one exploding head.

At the end of Season 1, the Boys had uncovered evil corporation Vought’s dirty secret, that the world’s superheroes were not born that way but were nurtured into their superpowers with Compound V. Also, Butcher (Karl Urban) found out that his wife Becca (Shantel VanSanten) was still alive and raising the child she had against her will with corrupt supe Homelander (Antony Starr).

As Season 2 begins, what’s left of the Boys — Hughie (Jack Quaid), MM and Frenchie (Tomer Capon) — are in hiding, along with their superhero friend Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara). Butcher is missing and the Boys’ mission to expose the secret of Compound V and destroy the superheroes is stalled — or is it?

There’s a new threat not just to the Boys but to the world, in the form of superterrorists or supervillains. Homelander is riding high on the fact the superheroes have been admitted into the military, but Vought boss Stan Edgar (the fabulous Giancarlo Esposito) slows his roll. And there’s Edgar’s new hand-picked member of the Seven, Stormfront (Aya Cash), to contend with.

I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that Butcher won’t stay missing for long. The show wouldn’t be the same without him.

As always, the darkness of the series is lifted by its moments of comedy. There’s one segment I particularly enjoyed involving the Deep (Chace Crawford), a hallucinogenic drug and his gills.

Odd and Ends

Abubakar Salim and Amanda Collin in “Raised By Wolves.” PHOTO CREDIT: HBO Max/Bell Media

There is lots more to watch this week, most of which I didn’t have time to prescreen. I did get to watch a couple of episodes of “Raised by Wolves” (Sept. 3, Crave), the new sci-fi series executive-produced and partially directed by famed movie-maker Ridley Scott (“Alien,” “Gladiator,” “Blade Runner”). It’s set on an alien planet where two androids, Mother (Amanda Collin) and Father (Abubakar Salim), have escaped a catastrophic war on Earth with implanted human embryos. The androids, who are raising the children to be atheists, have their mission interrupted by a space ark full of highly religious colonists also escaped from Earth, led by Marcus (Travis Fimmel of “Vikings”). The pace is indeed slow, as some critics have complained, but I also found it interesting viewing.

Disney Plus has “Earth to Ned” (Sept. 4), a talk show hosted by two extraterrestrial creatures, Ned and Cornelius, from the Jim Henson Company, which also brought us the Muppets.

If you’re following “The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons — Ever!” the episode airing Aug. 31 at 8 p.m. on ABC and Citytv is all about the man who’s both a “Bachelor” villain and hero, Nick Viall.

W Network has a couple of offerings, Season 4 of “The Good Fight” (Sept. 3) and the new Marc Cherry dramedy “Why Women Kill” (Sept. 6). Despite the promising title, this is just the same old “Desperate Housewives”-style melodrama dressed up by situating the stories in three different time periods: 1963, 1984 and 2019. It stars Ginnifer Goodwin (“Big Love,” “Once Upon a Time”), Lucy Liu (“Elementary”) and Kirby Howell-Baptiste (“The Good Place”).

History also has new shows: “Eating History” (Sept. 2), in which hosts Josh Macuga and Gary Mitchell try out actual samples of historic foods; and “The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch” (Sept. 6), in which experts search a 512-acre paranormal and UFO hot spot in Utah.

Americans get a taste this week of Canadian TV hit ‘Transplant’

August 31, 2020 /
Creator Joseph Kay on the set of “Transplant.” PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy of GAT PR

When his TV series “Transplant” debuts on American television on Sept. 1, Joseph Kay will be watching the reaction — but he won’t be doing so nervously, he says.

“Lots of times, you’re accustomed to working on something really hard for a long time and not getting seen by as many people as you’d like. Now it’s got a platform on a pretty big network for a pretty big audience and they’re making a big push, so I’m excited for people to see it. 

“I’m very curious to hear what they’re going to say.”

The “it” is Canadian medical drama “Transplant,” which debuted on Canada’s CTV in February with more than 1.3 million viewers and ended its season in May with nearly 1.7 million, an impressive number for a made-in-Canada show. On Sept. 1 at 10 p.m., it will premiere on NBC, which knows a thing or two about medical dramas as home of the venerable “ER” and more current hits like “New Amsterdam.”

Not just that, “Transplant” will air right after top-rated reality series “America’s Got Talent,” an extra vote of confidence from NBC.

Kay, who has written for Canadian dramas like “This Is Wonderland” and “This Life,” and co-created the comedy “Living in Your Car,” has had some time since the auspicious Canadian debut of “Transplant” — which stars Hamza Haq as a Syrian refugee restarting his medical career at a Toronto hospital — to consider why the show resonates with viewers.

Hamza Haq as Dr. Bashir Hamed in “Transplant.” PHOTO CREDIT: Bell Media

He puts it down to a few things: the “democratization of content” or the idea that, with the rise of streaming services and the availability of non-English-language shows on those services, people are becoming more interested in other people’s experiences; the universality of the idea of starting over, like Haq’s character Bashir; and the fact it’s a hospital show, with its inherent possibilities for life-and-death storylines.

“Also the actor who plays the main character is pretty versatile,” adds Kay. “He’s really talented and he has an amazing vulnerability to him that sort of draws people in . . . he’s a star, like he’s gonna be a Marvel superhero” someday.

(As an aside, Kay knows something about the idea of starting over. He was a corporate lawyer for two years when he realized that wasn’t what he wanted to do with his life. So he got a grant to make a short film, which gained him acceptance into the Canadian Film Centre’s Bell Media Prime Time TV writing program, and then he met playwright George F. Walker through a friend of a friend and got a job on Walker’s CBC legal drama “This Is Wonderland.”)

When Kay first started to conceptualize “Transplant” in late 2016 and early 2017, Donald Trump had just been elected U.S. president and immigration had became a political issue in the U.S. Plus, Syrian refugees were in the news in Canada, which had taken in thousands of Syrians fleeing war in their home country.

Kay, who says he worshipped “ER,” had always wanted to write a medical drama. He had begun researching the lives of medical residents when he stumbled on just how difficult it is for foreign-trained doctors to get residency spots in Canadian hospitals. “And so, at that point, I realized it was a novel way to frame a medical drama.”

He talked to as many actual refugees as he could, to “earn the right” to tell the story, a right he says he continues to try to earn by having lots of newcomers to Canada as consultants on “Transplant.”

Interestingly, “Transplant” is having its U.S. debut just as Trump seeks re-election and immigration continues to be a topic of debate, particularly with travel restricted by the COVID-19 epidemic.

When U.S. viewers watch “Transplant,” they’ll be seeing not just an immigrant as the lead character but one who is a practising Muslim.

Kay recalls, when pitching the series to CTV, discussing the fact that Bashir was the type of character who hadn’t been the focus of a network show before “and we’re not gonna pretend he’s not Muslim. We’re gonna lean into it and that’s what makes the show. That’s what gives it its fullness and its honesty, and we’re not going to be afraid of any of that stuff.”

There’s another element to “Transplant,” one that has also been mentioned in connection with Canadian hit “Schitt’s Creek,” the idea of a kinder style of TV show.

“It makes total sense,” says Kay when I suggest it. “I think we all miss ‘The West Wing,’ where it was about smart, hopeful people who wanted to make the world a better place . . . And then we had this rich history of anti-heroes, like the “Breaking Bads,” the Don Drapers and the Tony Sopranos, and on and on and on. I love all those shows, but they’re kind of glorifications of darkness.”

Bashir was pitched as a character who had faced incredible obstacles but still had hope. “He kind of gets up every day thinking, ‘You can start again today’ and that everybody can start again, and that hope sort of infuses people to care about each other . . . It’s not that there isn’t any conflict. There’s conflict, and sometimes people are selfish and shitty and all the things that we all are, but the show is infused with an optimism and a hopefulness,” Kay says.

Hope is alive in another sense for “Transplant”: the hope that the show will return to production in Montreal in the fall. Season 2 has already been green-lit by CTV and episodes are being written. It’s just a question of when shooting can safely begin given the pandemic.

“Plans are being drawn up and we just have more social distancing parameters than the average workplace, but I have every confidence it will happen,” Kay says.

In the meantime, if you have yet to see “Transplant,” or you’d just like to watch it again, CTV will re-air the first season in sync with NBC, beginning Sept. 1 at 10 p.m. It’s also available on demand and on Crave.


Shedding tears for a clown on ‘Canada’s Drag Race’

August 28, 2020 /
“Drag Race” legend Michelle Visage with Canadian judges Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman,
Brooke Lynn Hytes and Stacey McKenzie. ALL PHOTOS: Bell Media

SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU DON’T KNOW WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED ON “CANADA’S DRAG RACE” EPISODE 9, STOP NOW, COME BACK LATER.

There’s a certain irony to the fact that Canada’s favourite drag clown was eliminated from “Canada’s Drag Race” after another contestant clowned around in the lip sync.

Look, I’m as shocked as many of you. I prescreened the episode right up until the end of the lip sync (I never find out who won until the episode airs); I wrote almost an entire post based on the assumption that Rita Baga lost because I couldn’t imagine Jimbo getting sent home. Not only am I sorry to see Jimbo go, I had to start my whole friggin’ post over from scratch.

Jimbo’s crown threatened to fall off during the lip sync while Rita Baga had to tear off her long skirt.

I wasn’t jumping up and down over either lip sync performance, to be honest, but Rita seemed to get the judges onside by playing for comic effect. She tore off her long, tight skirt mid-song with the help of scissors stashed in her bodice; she made fun of the awkwardness of the foam ice on her dress; she slid across the stage on her butt.

Jimbo, on the other hand, was going for sultry and sexy, but was hampered by her gown and the giant crown of Christmas paraphernalia on her head. By the end of Tegan and Sara’s “Closer” she could only use one arm at a time because the other was keeping the crown from falling off.

So here we are: the top three are Rita, Priyanka and Scarlett BoBo. Is it the top three I envisioned? No, I would have figured Jimbo, Priyanka, and either Rita or Lemon, but you know, I’m not mad about this.

Jimbo is talented as hell and, once the pandemic releases its grip on the entertainment industry, she’s going to be in high demand.

Let’s backtrack to how we ended up with a couple of ice queens battling it out for the last spot in the top three.

The episode began with a victory for Rita, her first in a mini-challenge, after the top four queens did screen tests singing comedic versions of “O Canada,” coached by comedian Sabrina Jaleez. Rita and Jimbo were definitely the funniest.

But that was child’s play compared to the maxi-challenge, creating three looks for a “snow ball,” the final one made from scratch: “Executive Holiday Party Realness,” “Apres the Apres Ski Icy Walk of Shame” and “Ice Queen Eleganza.” And the queens were walking the runway in front of legendary “RuPaul’s Drag Race” judge Michelle Visage. Cue the nerves.

As the queens prepped their outfits, much was made of the the fact that Scarlett didn’t know how to sew. You might have figured she was headed for the bottom, which was of course the point of all those references to her lack of sewing skills, but you would be wrong. Scarlett finally won a maxi-challenge. Talk about peaking at the right time!

The judges described Scarlett BoBo’s look as “rocker white walker.”

The judges were gagging for Scarlett’s ice queen look of silver hot pants and bra festooned with faux pearls, and silver and faux fur cape. It definitely wasn’t the bet sewing job, but the judges focused instead on Scarlett’s “rocker white walker” vibe. And I have to say her makeup was spectacular.

Also, her “Icy Walk of Shame” snow bunny outfit was adorable and she looked like a proper boss in her “Executive Holiday Party Realness” suit.

Personally, I preferred Priyanka’s runway overall. I know, I know, she risked Michelle Visage’s wrath by wearing a bodysuit “with stuff stuck on it” for her Ice Queen look with a paper skirt (did she learn nothing from the paper “knight” costumes in Episode 4?), but her hair and makeup were fabulous. And I loved, loved, loved the Christmas tree executive suit and the slutty morning-after-the-party look of a sweater (or was it a parka, as Michelle said) belted with a maple leaf.

Priyanka said she loves Christmas. We never would have guessed.

What didn’t I love? Everything Rita wore. Her long executive blazer was boring. The hideous nylon track suit and mullet for her walk of shame? Sure, Michelle Visage found her hilarious and called her runway “performance art,” but I didn’t get it. And I appreciate the work that went into sewing her Ice Queen gown, but it wasn’t flattering. Brooke was dead right about it needing a waist.

And what of Jimbo? To her face, the judges were mostly complimentary except that Brooke found her crown awkward and Michelle had an issue with her makeup. Privately, Brooke said she was really disappointed in Jimbo and that she had gotten too comfortable. I confess I was underwhelmed by all three of her outfits and I can’t even put my finger on why. Just didn’t love them.

Jimbo does her “Icy Walk of Shame” in a romper, moon boots and very fuzzy coat.

Every “Drag Race” episode has what you could call a teachable moment. This week’s saw the judges holding up photos of each queen as a little boy and asking them what they’d tell their younger selves.

Every queen was in tears. Every message was a variation on believing in yourself and being true to yourself. Every message also touched on past pain, whether it was Priyanka telling young Mark, “You’re gonna have a really hard time growing up because people are gonna be really mean to you”; or Scarlett, who earlier talked about watching her alcoholic stepfather beat her mother, telling young Matty that “no matter how hard it gets to keep pushing through.”

But the main takeaway for me was that these are real people with real feelings, just as on any reality competition. So if you’re cyberbullying any of these queens because you’re pissed that they won a lip sync and your favourite went home — or any of the judges because you didn’t like their comments — give your head a shake and get the fuck over yourself.

Jimbo leaves ’em laughing as she exits “Canada’s Drag Race.”

As far as exits go, Jimbo put on a great show. She dropped to her knees, screamed “Whyyyyyyyy?” and then face-planted on the stage and crawled away. The judges laughed so hard I think they might have peed themselves a little. It was a fitting farewell for a clown.

Backstage, Jimbo was proud of herself for making final four. “Drag is all around us,” she said. “It’s the costume, the character that you put on in the morning to face the world, and anyone that can fearlessly self-express and share that in the world should be commended.” And then she smeared red lipstick all around her mouth and laughed maniacally.

I can’t believe it, but next week is the finale. The top three queens have to rewrite and remix RuPaul’s “U Wear It Well.” All 12 contestants return, so expect some shade. And most important, Canada’s first Drag Superstar will be crowned. Until then . . .

Catch the “Canada’s Drag Race” finale Thursday at 9 p.m. on Crave.

Watchable the week of Aug. 24, 2020

August 24, 2020 /

SHOW OF THE WEEK: Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe (Aug. 28, Disney Plus)

Candace (Ashley Tisdale) is at the centre of the action in the new “Phineas and Ferb” movie
“Candace Against the Universe.” PHOTO CREDIT: Disney Plus

I’m coming to this stone cold as in, I had never watched a single episode of the “Phineas and Ferb” series before screening this film. What can I say? Animation isn’t a regular part of my TV diet. Nonetheless, I suspect that fans will be pleased with this movie sequel to the stepbrothers’ adventures and that non-fans like me will find it a charming introduction.

The adventure starts on familiar ground, with Candace (Ashley Tisdale) trying to ruin her little brothers’ fun, except she and Vanessa (Olivia Olson) end up being transported to another planet.

Naturally, Phineas (Vincent Martella) and Ferb (new voice actor David Errigo Jr.) set off to rescue Candace with the help of Isabella (Alyson Stoner), Baljeet (Maulik Pancholy), Buford (Bobby Gaylor) and Perry the Platypus (Dee Bradley Baker). And they’re forced to team up with evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz, voiced by series co-creator Dan Povenmire.

Every character gets a chance to stand out during the rescue mission, even Doofenshmirtz. And the fact they’re on another planet gives Povenmire and co-creator Jeff “Swampy” Marsh a new animation palette to play with, and new characters and creatures to have fun with.

Chief among these is alien ruler Super Super Big Doctor (Ali Wong), who gives Candace all the validation and attention she’s been craving, although you know what they say: be careful what you wish for.

I’m not sure if it was intentional on Povenmire’s and Marsh’s part, but some sequences will put you in mind of other pop culture properties, like “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Game of Thrones.”

And don’t forget the music, which is a delight throughout.

The Hunt for Escobar’s Hippos (Aug. 26, 9 p.m., Smithsonian Channel)

Two of drug lord Pablo Escobar’s four hippos in a photo taken by his private photographer
at his ranch Hacienda Napoles. PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy Smithsonian Channel

Don’t tune into this documentary expecting a cute animal story, although you will glimpse a baby hippo or two. This is a cautionary tale about the harm caused when wild animals are removed from their natural habitats to serve human greed and hubris.

Although by all accounts the four hippos that drug lord Pablo Escobar illegally imported into Colombia were well cared for at his private zoo, their descendants have run amok since the original four escaped from Escobar’s Hacienda Napoles ranch. (Escobar himself was killed in 1993 and the other exotic animals at the ranch died or were shipped to zoos. There are numerous documentaries out there about Escobar, but I recommend the Netflix drama series “Narcos” and Wagner Moura’s frighteningly good portrayal of the cocaine king.)

Ever since the backlash in 2009 when the Colombian military killed Pepe, an Escobar escapee that was devouring cows, it’s been illegal to kill hippos in the country. But the remaining hippos have been thriving – and breeding – in Colombia’s lush climate and spreading into the countryside. The problem with that is they threaten the ecological balance necessary to native species like manatees and turtles, and are a threat to humans – although miraculously the hippos, which have been known to wander into towns, have yet to kill a person.

The doc focuses on the uphill battle of Colombian wildlife vet Gina Serna (whose father died in one of Escobar’s bombings) and South African conservationist Chris Hobkirk to devise a humane way to deal with the 60 or so hippos (and counting) roaming Colombia.

The answer is sterilization, but the film makes clear just how monumental a task it would be to catch and operate on dozens of dangerous animals weighing up to two tons each. In the doc, Serna and her team manage to sterilize one three-year-old female, but the surgery takes seven hours and the journey by truck to a zoo that can supervise her recovery takes another 30, including a tense roadblock in territory controlled by criminal cartels. 

Luckily the young hippo survives, but Serna says it will take millions of dollars of government money and mass education of the hippo-loving Colombians to be able to sterilize the rest – so it seems Escobar’s hippos aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

CORRECTION: The Amazing Gayl Pile (CBC Gem)

Morgan Waters as the title character in “The Amazing Gayl Pile.” PHOTO CREDIT: CBC Gem

Last week I told you that old episodes of “The Amazing Gayl Pile” were coming to CBC Gem, but I was wrong. A whole new fifth season of this oddball Canadian comedy is now available on the streaming service, subtitled “The Last Resort.” Home-shopping pitch man Gayl (Morgan Waters) has somehow survived the apocalypse and opened a resort near Orillia. Not just that, his old business partner J.D. (Andy King), Reverend Dave (Brooks Gray), Stolfi (Daniel Stolfi) and his nemesis Renee (Inessa Frantowski) have survived too.

Odds and Ends

The cast of Season 2 of “Love Island,” which takes place in a “bubble” at a hotel in Las Vegas.
PHOTO CREDIT: Robert Voets/CBS Entertainment

I’ll be honest, despite the fact I started my TV writing career with reality TV, I never took to “Love Island” last summer. Five nights a week are too much to commit to any show. I am curious, however, to see how the show will adapt with the cast sequestered in a pandemic bubble at a Las Vegas hotel, so I’ll at least check out the first episode, which debuts Aug. 24 at 8 p.m. on CTV. Subsequent episodes air Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

The bad news for Earpers is that the midseason finale of “Wynonna Earp” is already here: Aug. 30 at 10 p.m. on CTV Sci-Fi Channel. The good news is the next six episodes of Season 4 are in production so you’ll get more Wynonna eventually. If you want to read my pre-season interview with Melanie Scrofano you can find it here.

Season 2 of Amazon Prime Video’s “The Boys” doesn’t kick off till Sept. 4, but you can start building anticipation for the Toronto-shot show with “Prime Rewind: Inside the Boys” (Aug. 28), the after-show hosted by Aisha Tyler — although I guess in this case it’s more of a before-show.

HGTV stars Bryan and Sarah Baeumler have a new show rolling out on Aug. 30 at 8 p.m. “Renovation, Inc.” promises to take viewers back to how the Ontario couple built their home renovation business.

Acorn has a new legal drama streaming Aug. 24 but, instead of handling criminal cases, mother and daughter Astrid (Catherine Marchal) and Audrey Lartigues (Ophélia Kolb) practise family law in a female-centric firm in Lyon, France, in “Family Business.” Naturally, the lawyers have their own family battles to fight outside the office. The show is subtitled.

NOTE: The dates and times listed here are provided to me via press release and checked, wherever possible, against network and streaming service schedules, but please check your local listings.

‘Canada’s Drag Race’ honours the Rainbow but loses a bright light

August 21, 2020 /
Judge Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman with Elton, Rebal, Dennis, Eka and Rainer, all refugees brought to Canada via the Rainbow Railroad, on “Canada’s Drag Race” Episode 8. ALL PHOTOS: Bell Media

SPOILER ALERT: NOT READY TO KNOW WHO WON AND LOST “CANADA’S DRAG RACE” EPISODE 8? THEN SAVE THIS TO READ LATER.

Safety: that’s what “Canada’s Drag Race” made me think of this week — on a couple of levels.

First and most important is safety from harassment, violence and even murder for LGBTQ people, something Canada’s Rainbow Railroad helps provide. Five gay men who fled dangerous discrimination in their home countries with the aid of the Railroad took part in the makeover maxi-challenge.

Second, there’s the idea of safety in the “Drag Race” competition: we learned this week that no one is really safe. That’s how two frontrunners, Lemon and Rita Baga, ended up lip-syncing for their lives and Lemon got sent home.

It was a shocker — for me anyway. But that’s how things roll when you’re down to top five.

Lemon and Rita Baga in possibly the most epic lip sync of the season.

I mean, Lemon had won two maxi-challenges; Rita had won three. Priyanka has now also won two, counting this week’s; Jimbo has one. And Scarlett BoBo, who finally won a mini-challenge, has been safe week after week so it’s not like she had a target on her back either.

At this point I’m sad to see anybody go, but I had a soft spot for Lemon.

Judge Brooke Lynn Hytes said Lemon’s “bright light, quick wit and open heart give us all life.” Lemon sashayed away with gratitude, saying she started with the least amount of experience of any of the 12 queens in the competition. “To have made it this far makes me feel so accomplished and so powerful and so ready for the rest of my future,” she said.

Lemon, as far as I’m concerned, your JoJo Siwa will live on in Snatch Game herstory.

So let’s review how we got to this dramatic state of affairs.

Things got rolling with a “Drag Race” favourite, Everybody Loves Puppets; you know, where the queens take puppets of their fellow queens, drag them up and, in judge Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman’s words, “read them to filth.”

Scarlett BoBo won the mini-challenge reading a puppet of Rita Baga.

Some bull’s eyes were scored. Lemon read Priyanka for her dismal Snatch Game performance and Rita outed Jimbo for her bitching about Jeffrey’s runway critique. But it was Scarlett who won – finally! – for her takedown of Rita and her “non-existent personality.”

Things turned from jeers to tears when Jeffrey introduced the five makeover subjects: Elton from Jamaica, Rebal from Syria, Dennis from Uganda, and married couple Eka and Rainer from Indonesia, all of whom had been brought here by the Rainbow Railroad.

In Jamaica and Uganda, there are laws against same-sex relationships. But even in countries without such legislation, anti-LGBTQ attitudes endanger the lives of queer people. 

Rainer talked about how he and Eka had to move four times back home, fleeing out the emergency exit with the police at the front door. They received death threats and texts from people telling them to kill themselves. Dennis knew four queer people who were killed in his home country.

“I had to hide it, just like everybody else who lives in there,” Rebal said of Syria.

“The amount of love and appreciation that was shown to me by the Canadian people, by the community, by Rainbow Railroad and all the people who supported me, it was immense and overwhelming. It’s just amazing,” he added.

“I am proud as fuck to be Canadian. I love this country and what it stands for,” said Lemon, who was paired with Rebal for the makeover.

What she said.

Priyanka and Elton, a.k.a. Elektra, on the runway.

Elton was paired with Priyanka, his favourite Toronto drag queen. Scarlett chose Dennis as her partner; Rainer became Rita’s newest drag child and Jimbo brought out Eka’s inner “slut.”

So how did they do on the runway?

Priyanka deservedly won the challenge for turning Elton into Elektra. I loved the lime green and hot pink outfits and I especially loved the energy between the two of them. Elektra might not have her runway strut down just yet, but she’s got presence and potential. And the best part of Priyanka’s win was her prize: a $10,000 donation to the Rainbow Railroad in her name, enough to bring one LGBTQI person to safety, said Brooke.

Rainer, a.k.a. Tari Baga, and Rita didn’t leave the judges laughing with their clown costumes.

My least favourite look was Rita and Tari Baga’s mother-and-daughter “dollar-store” clown couture (to borrow a jibe from Jimbo). I also didn’t dig the colour-blocked bodysuits and fringed jackets on Scarlett and Violett BoBo, but Violett sure looked like she was having a blast up there.

Jimbo and, ahem, Bimbo both looked hot in their red latex bustiers and capes, but the judges were a bit uncomfortable with the way they played with each other’s fake boobs. Jeffrey said it was a little too “freaky-deaky sisterly kai-kai action.”

Lemon and Lime, a.k.a. Rebal, in their colour-co-ordinated 1920s looks.

But the judges saved most of their scorn for Lemon and Lime, who at least gave guest host Amanda Brugel of “The Handmaid’s Tale” a chance to say “Blessed be the fruit.” I liked the 1920s style dresses and faux fur stoles, the neon gloves and wigs. Brooke and Stacey McKenzie claimed to love all that too, but Stacey also said the runway presentation was underwhelming. And Jeffrey said Lime looked more like Lemon’s drag mother than her drag sister. (Priyanka claimed Lemon painted Lime to look older on purpose so she could be “the pretty one in the room.” I don’t know about that.)

When the bitchiness settled, it was Rita and Lemon facing off with a lip sync to Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know.”

Lemon pulled out every trick in her book, including a spin-splits combo and the first handstand of the season, but Rita just emoted the shit out of it. Plus, I feel like that “Little Miss Sunshine” crawl down the runway might have sealed the deal for Rita.

The good news: we now have a top four! Next week, the queens have to create three looks each for a “Snow Ball” and Michelle Visage is the guest host, so that sounds like fun. Until then …

You can catch “Canada’s Drag Race” Thursdays at 9 p.m. on Crave.


Watchable the week of Aug. 17, 2020

August 18, 2020 /

SHOW OF THE WEEK: The One and Only Ivan (Aug. 21, Disney Plus)

Ivan, voiced by Sam Rockwell, and his best friend Bob, voiced by a scene-stealing Danny DeVito.
PHOTO CREDIT: Disney Plus

At first I felt conflicted about how much I liked Ivan, the CGI silverback gorilla who stars in Disney’s new movie “The One and Only Ivan.” After all, should we still be anthropomorphizing animals in this day and age?

My conscience was eased by the movie’s overarching message: that animals belong in the wild, not in circuses, which is where we find Ivan and his animal friends.

Ivan, voiced by Sam Rockwell, is the star of a shopping mall big top run by Mack, played in the flesh by Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”). Ivan’s best friends are Stella, an elephant voiced by Angelina Jolie, and Bob, a stray dog voiced by Danny DeVito, who steals most of the scenes he’s in.

Ivan is mostly untroubled by his lot in life, which involves roaring and chest-beating once a day for the ever dwindling mall crowds. (“Why do they want an angry gorilla, anyway?” Ivan asks Stella. “I think humans like us one way and gorillas they see as angry,” Stella wisely replies.) And then Ruby arrives, a baby elephant who’s been separated from her parents and who stirs in Ivan memories of his own life in the wild before his captivity.

The other game-changer is Ivan’s ability to paint – a proclivity he shares with the real Ivan, a captive lowland gorilla who lived in a mall in Tacoma, Washington, for 27 years.

If you’ve read the children’s novel by Katherine Applegate that this movie is based on, also inspired by the real Ivan, you already have an idea of what happens to the film versions of Ivan, Stella, Ruby and Bob – but I won’t spoil it for you if you don’t.

This is a Disney movie, and one meant for children, so the cruelty that humans inflict on animals is suggested rather than explicitly shown.

Yes, Mack is benefiting financially by keeping animals in captivity, but it’s down to ignorance rather than a conscious desire to hurt them.

The other human stars include Ariana Greenblatt (“Avengers: Infinity Wars”) as the daughter of an animal keeper who befriends and advocates for Ivan. But the CGI animals and the loving relationships they form are the star attractions of the film. 

The A-list voice cast also includes Helen Mirren as poodle Snickers, Chaka Khan as chicken Henrietta, Phillipa Soo of “Hamilton” as parrot Thelma and Brooklynn Prince (“Home Before Dark”) as Ruby.

The film very effectively pushes all the right emotional buttons. I defy you not to cry at the end.

Odds and Ends

From left, Maxwell Simkins, Lucas Jaye, Ken Marino, Sadie Stanley, Malin Akerman
and Cree Cicchino in “The Sleepover.” PHOTO CREDIT: Claire Folger/Netflix

I’m not sure who declared this Friday “Family Movie Day,” but Netflix is offering another film on Aug. 21 meant to entertain youngsters (and their parents), “The Sleepover.” I’m not allowed to review it until Wednesday, but the gist is that two kids and their best friends have to rescue their parents after their mother, who’s actually a reformed jewel thief, is kidnapped and forced to pull one last job.

Netflix also has animated comedy series “Hoops” out on Aug. 21. It’s about a loser of a high school basketball coach, voiced by Jake Johnson of “New Girl,” who’s desperate to turn around his failing team and get to the big leagues. There are lots of swears and raunchy humour. If you think the overuse of the word “dicks” is funny, maybe this is for you. It’s definitely not for me.

I’d love to tell you all about “Our Chemical Hearts” (Aug. 21, Amazon Prime Video), the teen romance flick based on the book by Krystal Sutherland that stars Lili Reinhart of “Riverdale” and Austin Abrams (“Euphoria”), but I wasn’t able to get my hands on the screener.

CBC Gem has the seventh annual “The Future of Film Showcase” on Aug. 21, a collection of short films by filmmakers under 40 that clocks in at just 67 minutes for all six shorts. The streaming network is also recycling the comedy web series “The Amazing Gayl Pile” (Aug. 21), which stars Morgan Waters as a Hamilton shopping channel host who tries to break into the home shopping market with an unorthodox women’s beauty product.

This week’s Watchable list is delayed till Aug. 18

August 17, 2020 /
Sam Rockwell voices Ivan in “The One and Only Ivan.” PHOTO CREDIT: Disney Plus

Folks, it’s a bit of a barren week out there in TV-land. I requested screeners for a couple of shows that never got delivered — I’m looking at you CBC Gem and Amazon Prime Video — and one I did get to preview, “The One and Only Ivan” on Disney Plus, has embargoed reviews until Tuesday morning, so rather than deliver a list without much in it on Monday I’ll post something before noon on Tuesday. Until then …

Make ’em laugh or you might go home on ‘Canada’s Drag Race’

August 14, 2020 /
From left, Jimbo, Scarlett BoBo, Rita Baga, Lemon, Ilona Verley and Priyanka in the first ever
“Drag Race” pageant on “Canada’s Drag Race.” PHOTO CREDIT: All photos Bell Media

SPOILER ALERT: DON’T WANT TO KNOW WHO WON AND LOST THIS WEEK ON CANADA’S DRAG RACE? THEN DON’T READ THIS YET.

Never mind world peace – the queens couldn’t keep the peace in the werkroom on “Canada’s Drag Race.”

Tensions were high this week, which featured the first drag pageant in “Drag Race” her-story. (And yes, the old “world peace” pageant Q&A cliche was trotted out.)

Lemon was still pissed about the four girls who said she deserved to go home last week. Ilona claimed it was because they were all jealous of Lemon.

Ilona had perhaps the funniest insult, referring privately to Rita Baga as “that old one” and “a senior citizen.” Girl, I’m pretty sure Rita’s still in her 30s. She’s mature, yes; old, no.

Scarlett BoBo was the most snappish of the queens. The fact she hadn’t yet won a challenge was weighing on her. 

She took it out on Ilona in the werkroom: something about being mad at Ilona because she rolled her eyes, I don’t really know. Priyanka called it “the ‘Seinfeld’ of all fights” because it was about nothing, and that sounds about right.

Scarlett BoBo was told her runway outfit was “magnificent.”

So would this be Scarlett’s week? After all, she was told she was “magnificent” on the runway and she did well in the pageant . . . but nope, sorry, Lemon won again, making good on her boast that she was going to “prove a lot of bitches wrong.”

Judge Brooke Lynn Hytes told Scarlett earlier that “slow and steady wins the race,” but does it? I don’t know.

“It just sucks. I’ve been trying so hard and no one sees me,” Scarlett said after Lemon’s victory, her second in a maxi-challenge.

So if you’re keeping score, that’s Rita at three wins, Lemon two, Priyanka and Jimbo at one each.

And what of fan favourite Jimbo?

The clown queen excelled in the pageant. The deal was that each queen had to play a character in the “Miss Loose Jaw” pageant. Jimbo’s was Miss Behavin’, the “the town bicycle” and “sex-positive horndoggess,” and Jimbo played it to the dirty hilt.

For example, in her intro speech, she said her life’s ambition was “to lose my gag reflex all together.” And then, after fellating the microphone, “Wow, that tastes really good . . . like strangers.”

I laughed more at that than I did at Lemon’s mime routine, clever as it was.

Judge Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman said Jimbo’s runway outfit wasn’t glamorous.
Jimbo questioned his knowledge of the English language.

Alas, Jimbo got savage reviews on the runway (the theme was Pageant Perfection) for her hot pink dress trimmed in marabou feathers, which had a skirt pouffy enough to hide a couple more drag queens underneath.

To say it wasn’t glamorous, as judge Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman did, is preposterous — she was wearing freakin’ marabou and faux diamonds and gloves — but I do agree with Brooke and Stacey McKenzie that it wasn’t a flattering shape. Nonetheless I understand why Jimbo was pissed, particularly at Jeffrey.

Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman described Lemon’s pageant look as “JonBenet Shablamsey.”

“I think he maybe needs to look up the word glamour,” Jimbo said about Jeffrey during the untuck.

She’s got a point. I mean, if Jimbo’s gown wasn’t glamour, how did Lemon’s imitation of a five-year-old pageant contestant pass that test? Maybe her interpretation of the runway theme was “genius,” as Brooke said it was, but that pouffy yellow tutu skirt wasn’t any more figure-flattering than Jimbo’s as far as I could see.

The judges told Rita Baga her runway gown was “stunning.”
“Bitch, I need this dress,” said Brooke Lynn Hytes.

My favourite gowns of the week were Rita’s cream and black strapless mermaid number (although I’m with Jimbo, the wig did look fried, perhaps not “like a grandma dunked her head in the toilet” fried, but still) and Scarlett’s nude chiffon and sequins and black lace confection.

Heck, I might have given Scarlett the whole enchilada just for her runway look, even though I didn’t find her as funny in the pageant as Lemon, but I’m not a judge, so what do I know?

And let’s revisit the pageant for a moment and pay tribute to one of the pageant judges, Michelle DuBarry, Canada’s oldest performing drag queen and at one time the world’s (sorry, the interwebs tell me somebody else took that title away from her in 2016, the bitch).

The “Canada’s Drag Race” top six with Canada’s oldest performing drag queen, Michelle DuBarry.
Wigs off to you, Madame.

“I feel like she’s lived through so many major gay events and historical moments, and she’s been there right at the front fighting for us,” Lemon said in the werkroom.

The older generation of queens, “they’re the ones who gave us the right and freedom to be our openly queer selves, so we have to make sure that we’re always giving thanks . . . because Michelle DuBarry paved the way for all of us,” added Scarlett.

Well said.

OK, back to the competition.

Ilona Verley and Priyanka lip sync to a song by guest host Allie X.

If you saw the pageant, you wouldn’t be surprised that Ilona and Priyanka had to lip sync for their lives — the second time for both — even though the judges loved Priyanka’s beautiful gold and blue dress. Ilona’s mopey Miss Erable and Priyanka’s angry Miss Demeanour just weren’t funny.

Luckily for Priyanka, she turned on the funny during the lip sync to “Hello” by guest host Allie X (more on her later), keeping the judges laughing by waving to them and playing various air instruments. Ilona emoted the hell out of it, but I think the judges had already decided her time was up.

She was all class as she sashayed away. “This has been amazing as a non-binary person to be able to come on this show and be open about being who I am as a two-spirit Indigenous person. And I hope that my story, and just me being here and being myself, can inspire and empower other people like me.”

Amen to that Sissy.

Guest host Allie X visits Ilona Verley in the werkroom after her exit from the stage.

What really made me tear up was when Allie X came to the werkroom to give Ilona a hug and tell her how taken she was with Ilona’s “spirit and being.” It was a sweet exchange. In fact, Allie brought a sweet and generous demeanour in general to the judges’ table. And, you know, she described Rita as “a glamazon zamboni smoothing out the whole stage.” That’s some inspired critiquing right there.

Next week, the top five queens meet newcomers to Canada on the Rainbow Railroad, which helps LGBTQ people escape persecution in other countries, and give them drag makeovers. I suspect that will elicit some tears as well. Until then . . .

You can catch “Canada’s Drag Race” Thursdays at 9 p.m. on Crave.

Watchable the week of Aug. 10, 2020

August 10, 2020 /

SHOW OF THE WEEK: Lovecraft Country, Aug. 16, 9 p.m., HBO

Courtney B. Vance, Jonathan Majors and Jurnee Smollett in “Lovecraft Country.”
PHOTO CREDIT: HBO

The monsters, ghosts and other supernatural beings are not the most horrifying thing about this series, based on the 2016 novel by Matt Ruff and inspired by the “cosmic horror” stories of H.P. Lovecraft. After all, when you can be shot just for ordering a meal in a diner, monsters are just another indignity to overcome and sometimes the lesser of evils.

As star Jurnee Smollett told TV writers last week at the virtual Television Critics Association panel for the show, “Racism is such a demonic spirit, you know, it’s something that we are still fighting off.” You just have to outrun a monster, she said, whereas you don’t really know where the racism is going to come from next.

This is demonstrated by the fact the series is set not in the Jim Crow Deep South, but in the northern U.S. in the mid-1950s. As co-creator Misha Green (“Underground”) said on the same panel, “Jim Crow was everywhere at the time.”

Korean War veteran Atticus (Jonathan Majors), his high school friend Letitia (Smollett) and his uncle George (Courtney B. Vance) take a road trip from Chicago to Massachusetts, the spiritual home of Lovecraft’s stories, in search of Atticus’s father Montrose (Michael Kenneth Williams). When the monsters first show up, after the trio have already been endangered again and again by malevolent white men, it’s something of a relief.

Green, who co-created the show with Jordan Peele, an Oscar winner for his horror film “Get Out,” told the New York Times she drew on various influences to create the 10-episode series, not just horror films like “The Shining” and “Amityville Horror” but movies like “Eyes Wide Shut,” the “Indiana Jones” films and “The Goonies.” The series also references Black authors, poets and musicians, with a soundtrack that mixes period and contemporary songs.

The result is a series that’s smart, suspenseful, enjoyable and gorgeous to look at (Green had a much bigger budget for this than her slave drama “Underground”). Each episode is its own self-contained adventure but also part of a larger mythology involving Atticus’s heritage, with a recurring pair of white antagonists.

As Atticus and Letitia, both struggling to make peace with their dysfunctional families, Majors and Smollett keep the whole thing grounded and keep us, the audience, willing to follow wherever they lead.

Nahanni: River of Forgiveness (Aug. 11, 11 a.m., CBC documentary)

Members of the Mountain and Dehcho Dene nations with the moose-skin boat
they built in “Nahanni: River of Forgivness.” PHOTO CREDIT: CBC

I missed flagging this ahead of its broadcast premiere on Aug. 9, not because it wasn’t worthy but just because I was extra busy last week. In this documentary directed by Geoff Bowie, Indigenous people from both the Mountain and Dehcho Dene nations of the Northwest Territories join together for a traditional 500-kilometre journey on the Nahanni River.

It’s a way to feel closer to their ancestors, who would have made this journey every spring in boats they built themselves from moose hides. A moose-skin boat hadn’t made the trip in more than a century, which is the jumping off point for the documentary and for the journey taken by Dehcho Chief Herb Norwegian and his companions.

As suggested by the title, the trip is more than physical — although it’s also very physical, not least because the participants, of all ages, build the moose-hide boat themselves. But the journey is also about making spiritual connections with the past, building pride in identities and about healing. Everyone, from the youngest to the oldest, bears the scars of colonialism and especially the warehousing of Indigenous children in residential schools — a national disgrace that Canada still hasn’t come to grips with.

Journalist and radio host Lawrence Nayally, who’s very open about his struggles with depression and anxiety, compares the holes that the boat develops to the “empty promises” of Canada to the Dene and other Indigenous people. “It’s up for our generation to repair it and keep the dream afloat . . . And we’ve gotta do it together.”

“Nahanni: River of Forgiveness” also airs at 3 and 7 p.m. on Aug. 11 on documentary and will eventually be available on CBC Gem.

Ted Lasso (Aug. 14, Apple TV Plus)

Nick Mohammed, Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt in “Ted Lasso.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Apple TV Plus

This is a classic fish-out-of water tale with the spin that the “fish” is a minor Kansas football coach hired to manage a professional soccer team in England with absolutely no knowledge of the game or of England, for that matter. Since I don’t watch sports on TV, I’m not familiar with the character the series is based on, originated to help NBC Sports promo Premier League soccer games. Perhaps that’s why I found Jason Sudeikis as Ted more charming in the role than some other critics.

It certainly isn’t a groundbreaking comedy and, given the subject matter, it’s very much male-focused. But Hannah Waddingham (“Game of Thrones,” “Sex Education”) and Juno Temple (“Dirty John,” “Vinyl”) hold up their end as the team’s embittered owner and the girlfriend of its star player, respectively.

It’s not a spoiler alert to say that Ted, with his relentlessly sunny attitude, eventually wins over the team and its cynical fans. Whether he also wins over viewers remains to be seen.

Odds and Ends

Bear Grylls and Team Khukuri Warriors from India in “World’s Toughest Race.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Corey Rich/Amazon

“World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji (Aug. 14, Amazon) is a new 10-episode series dubbed “the ultimate expedition race.” Unfortunately, no one is allowed to post reviews until the day it debuts, but it features 66 teams from 30 countries who race non-stop for 11 days across hundreds of miles of terrain, including mountains, jungles and oceans. It sounds exhausting and hopefully also entertaining. There are two sets of Canadian competitors: Team True North and Team Canada Adventure.

If you’ve been watching “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” for the last seven seasons (I confess, I have not), you’ll want to catch the two-part series finale beginning Aug. 12 at 9 p.m. on CTV. That same night, “World of Dance” wraps its fourth season at 7 p.m. on CTV.

Over on Global TV, “The Titan Games” ends its second season Aug. 10 at 8 p.m.

Disney Plus has the third-season premiere of “Weird But True” and the comedy “Magic Camp,” both dropping on Aug. 14.

No wind beneath one queen’s wings on ‘Canada’s Drag Race’

August 7, 2020 /
Lemon, right, tells “RuPaul’s Drag Race U.K.” alum Crystal her fortune on “Canada’s Drag Race.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Bell Media

SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU KEEP READING THIS YOU’LL FIND OUT WHO LOST AND WHO WON ON EPISODE 6 OF “CANADA’S DRAG RACE.”

I don’t need a crystal ball — or a drag queen called Crystal — to tell you this much: the competition is getting more serious on “Canada’s Drag Race.”

“This is not RuPaul’s Best Friend Race, I am not here to make friends anymore,” declared Lemon — understandable considering that four of seven queens had just voted her most deserving of sashaying away.

Luckily for Lemon, the judges didn’t pay them heed. It was BOA who got the boot after losing the lip sync to Ilona Verley — coincidentally, the queen the other three contestants deemed deserving of an exit.

It was also BOA who inspired Lemon’s unfriendly sentiments after telling Lemon she was not genuine and too quick to vocalize her love of herself. 

Sour lemons, er, grapes?

Rita Baga does “denim on denim on denim” on the “Canada’s Drag Race” runway.
PHOTO CREDIT: Bell Media

If I were the remaining queens I’d be looking out for Rita Baga. The Quebec queen has now won three maxi-challenges and could run away with — or is that “s’enfuir avec”? — the competition.

I’m not gonna lie: this episode was a bit of a come-down after the high of last week’s Snatch Game. Also, it didn’t have enough Brooke Lynn Hytes in it. It began with an improv mini-challenge. The queens had to play psychic hotline operators and give tips to a mystery caller: Crystal, the Newfoundland-born queen who was the first Canadian to compete on “RuPaul’s Drag Race U.K.”

And if you’re thinking, “Oh shit, Priyanka playing a fortune teller? After last week’s Miss Cleo disaster in Snatch Game?” I have good news: she didn’t suck. She also didn’t win. That would be Lemon. I found Jimbo and BOA funnier, not to mention ruder, but I am here for Lemon’s leopard print ensemble.

Anyhoo, the not especially Canadian maxi-challenge involved the queens splitting into teams and making law firm infomercials.

Lemon and Priyanka paired up as a variation on personal injury lawyers; in their case, “pussy protectors.”

Scarlett BoBo and Ilona, who are nicknamed the “sissies,” were sort of like divorce lawyers, but for sissies who wanted to split up. Hey, no one said these commercials had to make sense.

Rita Baga, BOA and Jimbo shoot their infomercial with the help of a couple of of pit crew members.
PHOTO CREDIT: Bell Media

Rita, Jimbo and BOA were the B.E.L.L.E.S (Bitches for Enthusiastic Lady Lawyers Entertainment Services), helping litigate against rude bachelorettes who invade drag shows. They were inspired by real-life experience. Rita said she once got a finger up the anus from a bride-to-be. First off, who does that? Second, ewwww.

As the girls were putting on their drag and sharing drag bar spectator horror stories, BOA revealed that she was once beaten unconscious, sexually assaulted and robbed by someone she brought home. “There’s violence in the queer community and it needs to stop,” she said. The other queens gave BOA shoulder squeezes and sympathy. Priyanka commended her for speaking out and educating other drag queens.

And then it was time for the runway, “Canadian Tux-She-Do,” i.e. lots and lots of denim, and the competition was back on.

Jimbo, a.k.a. Creature from the patch lagoon, on the runway.
PHOTO CREDIT: Bell Media

Jimbo once again outdid herself with a patchwork jumpsuit that covered her from the top of her head to her soles, which the judges loved. (“Creature from the patch lagoon,” quipped Brooke Lynn Hytes.) But it was Rita who took the win with a punk-inspired skirt and jacket ensemble whose pieces unzipped down to a bra and girdle.

Rita’s edge seemed to come from how much the judges loved her bilingual performance in the commercial, but — while I really liked Rita’s look — Jimbo got robbed on her outfit alone, plus she was also a standout in her commercial.

Scarlett BoBo goes big and doesn’t go home on the “Drag Race” runway.
PHOTO CREDIT: Bell Media

Compliments must also be paid to Scarlett BoBo. Loved the jacket; loved the little touches like the denim choker and denim heels; loved the neon yellow nails.

Now for the not so good looks. Ilona’s jumpsuit was boring, despite the cutout ass. Lemon’s outfit was too much and not enough at the same time: too many elements, not enough finishing. Brooke rightly called it a mess.

As for BOA, I didn’t mind the raggedy wings as much as the judges did. Brooke said they looked “half-assed and cheap.” Guest host Tom Green said BOA’s outfit looked exactly like the one he wore as “the wind” as a kid in a church play and proved it by calling his mom and having her send a photo.

(As an aside, I love how the queens gasp and cheer whenever a Canadian celeb they’ve probably never heard of is announced as guest host. Tom Green was a good sport, but could he have bedazzled his jeans or something?)

And Priyanka? I didn’t love the look, but the jacket seemed just as well tailored as BoBo’s and the thigh-high denim boots were kind of fun.

She, Scarlett and Jimbo were all declared safe, while Lemon escaped the bottom thanks to her commercial, which was my favourite out of the three.

BOA’s denim wings were not a hit with the judges on “Canada’s Drag Race.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Bell Media

That left Ilona and BOA to lip-sync to Alessia Cara’s “Scars to Your Beautiful,” and you know the rest.

“This has been an amazing experience,” BOA told the judges. “You guys have been so good to me. I’ve learned so much about myself, and I’ve made so many amazing sisters and friends, and I can’t even explain how grateful I am for this opportunity.”

And then she left them the way she came in: laughing. “I didn’t come here to make friends, I came here to make lasagne,” she said.

Next week, the top six are part of a pageant, the first in “Drag Race” her-story, Brooke says, and the runway looks particularly glam — except for one queen, who really disappoints the judges. Until then …

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