Why this fight on Canada’s Drag Race is being hailed as the ‘best ever’ by fans
The Canada’s Drag Race season 4 queens are having a bob off. (BBC)
Canada’s Drag Race season four is shaping up to be one of the best of the year, as the most recent episode aired a jaw-dropping fight that has left fans shook.
The tension began in the previous week’s episode (7 December), when the queens were tasked with creating a runway look using clothes that once belonged to permanent judge, Brad Goreski.
When contestant Melinda Verga landed in the bottom three, her furious reaction shocked her competitors and became an instant meme.
She declared that the judges were using her as a “f**king punching bag” for not liking her “f**king Vivienne Westwood … inspired” look, which the judges had said was too similar to the original jacket she used to create it.
The Canadian queen said that she thought she would be in the top, as she was “feeling her goats” – not oats – adding that the critics she received made her think “f**k you, all four of you” about the judging panel. She then stormed out of the werkroom.
Melinda Verga then said that the episode’s winner, Kiki Coe, who had the power to save one of the bottom three, should not save her. However, Kiki did, and Melinda was safe from lip-syncing.
All that is before this week’s drama even began.
At the beginning of this week’s (14 December) episode, contestant Denim said the she was “confused” that Melinda had been saved from the bottom despite essentially asking to be sent home.
Melinda replied that her mindset had since drastically changed, before the editors – who deserve awards – flashed back 43 minutes earlier to show Melinda suggesting that she didn’t want to be in the competition anymore.
Tensions then hit fever pitch, as contestant Venus demanded: “You either show up and you do the f**king challenge, or go home. I just hope that you [Melinda] can’t ever say that again.”
Melinda then erupted into a rant that gradually rose in volume and chaos, shouting: “I decided not to decline! Which I was ready to! I decided not to decline because this person [Kiki Coe] showed kindness on that f**king stage! I needed to reciprocate that with gratitude!”
Still with us? Great.
The other queens then attempted to get Melinda to calm down, before she knocked a table over and stormed out of the room.
Then, randomly, contestants Aimee Yonce Shennel and Luna DuBois started arguing over which of their outfits was better. All of this, four minutes into the episode.
In a twist that no one saw coming, Melinda then won the episode, which was the infamous Snatch Game, with her impression of homophobic boxer Manny Pacquiao.
Canada’s Drag Race season four also made herstory with its Snatch Game episode, being the first version of the celebrity impersonation challenge to feature two queens mimicking the same celebrity.
Both Nearah Nuff and Kitten Kaboodle impersonated The White Lotus legend Jennifer Coolidge, with Kitten’s performance landing her in the top three.
With so much happening in just one episode, it’s unsurprising that the Drag Race fandom – including All Stars 8 queen Kandy Muse – have declared Canada’s Drag Race season four as one of the best seasons in a long while.
Canada’s Drag Race is streaming now on BBC iPlayer.
