There’s a lot to get into about this episode of Canada’s Drag Race: Canada vs The World. A new frontrunner emerges after a dominant performance in the stand-up comedy challenge. A queen I thought would sail through this season finds herself at risk of elimination. And for the first time all season, both Brad Goreski and Traci Melchor are on the judging panel. (Okay, maybe that’s less notable, but I’m happy to have them both back—and with Brad’s husband Gary Janetti, too!)
But it’s hard to discuss anything else, because there’s a pall cast over this episode. Icesis Couture has quit, and for reasons that are stunningly, almost painfully, relatable.
I don’t like to discuss Drag Race spoilers much in recaps, because I know the majority of viewers prefer to remain unspoiled, and besides that, the reliability of them for any given season wildly varies. (For both vs The World seasons, for example, they’ve been notably off-base.) But they are a part of the greater Drag Race universe; casts are leaked almost the second filming of a season ends. If you follow even a couple queens on Instagram, you can hardly touch your Explore page without seeing accounts promising fresh-off-the-presses spoilers nabbed from Reddit.
And so even those who actively avoid spoilers may have stumbled on to the rumour that, yes, Canada’s Drag Race Season 2 champion Icesis Couture would be leaving the competition of her own volition this season. Speculation has run rampant as to why: would she quit to prevent being sent home by one of her fellow queens? Would she BenDeLaCreme herself? Might she actually be a mole, as a throwback to a theory about Bebe Zahara Benet’s All Stars 3 run that had the fandom shook almost five years ago?
In truth, Icesis quits because she’s tired. She jumped back into the competition too quickly out of a fear of missing out on working with these fierce, fabulous fellow All Stars, and she has burned herself out. And so, in a moment so quiet that it almost doesn’t feel real, Icesis leaves Canada vs The World.
Credit: Courtesy World of Wonder
There was a lot of chatter online when Icesis’s casting was first rumoured, then later officially announced. Surely she wouldn’t be coming back this soon, after she just won? As I mentioned in a previous recap, some fans insisted that Icesis would actually be hosting, with Brooke Lynn Hytes competing instead. But Icesis’s performance has been so strong so far, with some in the fandom even decrying her “robbery” in the Weather Ball challenge last week. (I did agree that I would’ve put her in the top two with Silky Nutmeg Ganache.) Suffice it to say that any quibbles with having her come back were largely silenced.
But it turns out those fears were well founded. After a decent rehearsal with Brad and Gary, Icesis starts her next day in the competition with tears in her eyes. She admits she’s not feeling like herself, and doesn’t want to talk. It isn’t until Ra’Jah O’Hara comes over that she fully opens up: she falls into her sister and starts crying, expressing how exhausted she is. “Physically and mentally, I can’t keep up,” Icesis explains. “I just need a break for a minute, and I think I jumped back into it too soon.”
Save a quick expression of concern from Victoria Scone that Icesis might regret the decision, her fellow Canada vs The World queens are tremendously supportive of Icesis’s choice. Silky notes that as someone on her third run in the competition, she completely understands needing to take the time. And so, with little ceremony whatsoever, Icesis whisks herself away and out of the competition, leaving Silky to lead the remaining cast in a prayer to find peace after.
I don’t want to in any way disrespect the other queens’ work, because as we’re about to get into, they put on one hell of a show in the Comedy Night for the World challenge. But it’s such a tremendous shame to lose Icesis here. From her hilarious Donatella Versace Snatch Game, to her stunning fashions on the runway, to her excellent “Sk8er Boi” lip sync, she gave us a ton to love in a very short period of time. The season will feel just a bit less exciting without her drag, her personality and her infectious enthusiasm.
Credit: Courtesy World of Wonder
As many a queen has said over the years: on with the show! (And this one has an in-person crowd, thank goodness—may we forever be rid of the COVID-era audience-free comedy challenges.) Ra’Jah’s up first, and despite my concerns after her rehearsal with Brad and Gary, she does relatively well! There’s too much setup; she almost feels like the host of the event, not a performer. But she gets some laughs, and on a weaker night, she likely would be safe. The same cannot be said for Vanity Milan, who bungles the promise of her strong rehearsal by relying too heavily on her notes. She’s got a lot of punchlines, but they rely on the same relative structure and comparisons between Brits and Canadians. She gets diminishing returns, to say the least.
Rita Baga, for my money, makes the biggest strides between her rehearsal and performance. She takes Brad’s and Gary’s notes on how to structure her set—with the character of a French-Canadian comedienne who isn’t aware this is an English crowd—and comes up with multiple riffs on her core ideas. To be honest, I’m not sure she gets as many laughs as the previous two, but her jokes are formally “better,” if that makes any sense.
She’s a distant third this week to our top two, though. Victoria is really cool and confident in her set, making casually hilarious lesbian jokes. Her delivery is her greatest strength, and I find myself wanting to hear even more of what she has by set’s end. This is true of a lot of the queens, actually: maybe it’s because time has to be spent on Icesis quitting, but most of the sets run quite short. (Also, there’s no onstage acknowledgement of Icesis’s departure, which indicates that they were likely scrambling on set to keep things going.) Regardless, it’s clearly a strong performance for Victoria.
No one quite hits the highs that Silky does, though, and it makes for a second incredibly strong week for the Season 11 and All Stars 6 alumna. She gets an immediate laugh by throwing her cards into the crowd, saying she won’t even need them after seeing the other queens’ sets. She then goes into an extended bit about visiting Brooke Lynn, only to be offered “sparkling water” instead of something harder to drink, as well as some unseasoned chicken and broccoli. Every line has something funny about it, be it a punchline or a funny delivery of a word (“the white people seasoning: thyme, basil, rosemary” almost kills me). It’s a masterful set, and it easily lands her in the top two this week, once again next to Victoria.
Credit: Courtesy World of Wonder
Rita is spared from elimination, which makes deliberations quite difficult for our top two. Silky and Ra’Jah are multi-season sisters, but Vanity makes a compelling case about the lack of platform she has versus what Ra’Jah has. She tells Silky she wants to be passed the torch, so the two of them can run the race together. Meanwhile, Victoria admits that Ra’Jah’s performance in the challenge is “categorically better than Vanity’s,” but Vanity is her UK Season 3 sister. Both have natural allegiances, and both have reasons to consider voting against them.
The lip sync this week is to Toronto’s “Your Daddy Don’t Know,” which is a terrific rock song. That might naturally disadvantage Silky, who tends to perform better on dance-focused or emotional tunes. Think of her performances in the Lip Sync Rudemption Smackdown gauntlet: the closest fans seem to agree she came to being defeated was against Jan to Pat Benatar’s “Heartbreaker.” Plus, as Victoria quickly proves, she is strong in this genre. She has moves, she has jokes (the removal of her nails!), and she has a command of the words.
But Silky is hardly one to accept a lip sync loss. She gives her all to the song, and in an epic, climactic moment, she and Victoria share a kiss. It’s an amazing lip sync by both, and it’s hard to give either an edge. But no, it’s just Victoria, in a reversal from last week. The question is, will one queen go as usual? Or will Icesis’s quit mean no elimination at all?
In the end, the judges opt not to let anyone go home, letting Icesis’s departure be the only one this week. Truthfully, this was likely more of a production decision than anything else; these short vs. The World seasons do not have any slack to work with if they want to end on a Lip Sync Smackdown for the Crown. (And, as it has been revealed in the BBC Three episode listings, it will be.) But I really enjoy everyone in this final five, and it would be a bummer to lose two queens in one episode. So I’ll happily accept the production motivation—let’s let the rest of this season be a true competition, even without one of its frontrunners.
Untucking our final thoughts
✨ Up and Down: Icesis’s departure and Rita’s relative underperformance means Canada is at real risk of losing to The World. I do think Rita will make it to the finale, but at this point—especially if we’re getting another Lip Sync Smackdown for the Crown—I don’t like her chances at a victory. Meanwhile, I would’ve put money on a Ra’Jah win this season when it began; now I think it’s really coming down to Silky or Victoria. Current bet with two episodes ago: the Dr. Rev. Silky Nutmeg Ganache will soon need to add “Queen of the Motherpucking World” to her title.
✨ Silky declares Anita Wigl’it an early Miss Congeniality, and offers her “$500 Canadian dollars.” That’s NZD $576—a modest win for Ms. Wigl’it on the conversion rate!
✨ Absolutely love the Cameo-esque “Queenie Vids” mini-challenge that the queens participate in (and Ra’Jah deservedly wins). I always beat the drum for more challenges that directly relate to the modern experience of being a drag queen, and as most Drag Race alumni can tell you, that very much includes Cameos!
✨ All the queens defend Icesis’s decision to quit, but I appreciate Ra’Jah’s take in her confessional most of all: “She don’t owe us nothing.” Then, looking right into the camera: “She don’t owe y’all nothing, either.” Disappointment in not seeing Icesis on our TV screens every week is understandable; blaming her for her decision is anything but.
✨ Obsessed with Silky’s in-character pronunciations of words like “vodka soda,” “thyme” and “basil.” Give Silky a show on the Food Network, and I’m watching every single episode.
✨ I love the plaid runway category this week almost as much as I love its name: “Plaid Girls Club.” Ra’Jah sells the hell out of her “Sherlock Homegirl” look on the main stage, while Vanity goes cute (but borderline costume) in a Dionne-from-Clueless outfit. I don’t love either Rita or Silky’s looks—they’re both cute, but a mismatch for either queen or category—but Victoria is the big winner in an oversize take on a Welsh tartan pantsuit. Bonus points for the Lawrence Chaney reference!
✨ With the understanding that production around Icesis’s departure was likely stressful, Brooke Lynn’s ADR line about her quitting is very much giving RuPaul’s “winner winner, two chicken dinners!” from the AS4 finale. (That said, as a lover of America’s Next Top Model, bad ADR will always be a guilty pleasure.)
✨ Ra’Jah credits her “inner saboteur” in Mini-Untucked for deciding to put herself first in the lineup, out of fear that she’d bomb if she went later. This is something that’s been bubbling up in the back of my mind for the past couple episodes, but I wonder if Ra’Jah didn’t get enough time between AS6 and this to adjust her approach to the competition away from appealing directly to Ru. Talk of inner saboteurs isn’t going to appeal to the team behind Canada’s Drag Race as it would on the flagship American show. Contrast how she’s approaching this season to Silky, who seems to have finally hit the right balance of being herself and understanding the competition. I think, among other reasons, this is why Silky is thriving while Ra’Jah feels a bit behind her previous season’s performance.
✨ VICTORIA: “And that’s on what?”
VANITY: “Period. And you’re on your what?”
VICTORIA: “Period!”
✨ I struggle when asked who my favourite drag queen or Drag Race contestant is. I value the range of talents and aesthetics that different drag performers bring to the table too much to single one out. But through watching her two stints on Drag Race, and following her work off the show, Icesis Couture has truly become one of my all-time faves. I respond to her sense of humour, her style, her vulnerability as both an artist and individual, her connection to other queens both veteran (her castmates) and new (Makayla Couture in the CDR Season 2 prom episode) and her eagerness to compete. These are all hallmarks of what make for, in my opinion, a truly great Drag Race contestant. I’m so thrilled we got to spend even a brief time with her this season, and I’m glad that she’s found even more new fans. Though I’m rooting for all the queens left in the competition, I’ll miss Icesis dearly—and I’ll hope that someday, when she’s had a bit of a break, she’ll come back to gag us all once again.
The next episode of Canada’s Drag Race: Canada vs The World will be available to stream Friday, Dec. 16, at 9 p.m. EST on WOW Presents Plus in the U.S. and on Crave in Canada. You can subscribe to our drag newsletter, Wig!, for exclusive Drag Race content delivered straight to your inbox every Tuesday afternoon.
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