Dragula Season 4 Episode 8 Review (TV Series, 2021)
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content warning: blood, flashing lights, foul language, grieving
Editorial note: these Dragula reviews will feature spoilers.
This week, the Boulet Brothers are going for all the nightmare fuel right from the start. The opening sketch is puppet theatre with marionettes under the big top of the circus. These puppets of Dracmorda and Swanthula look incredible, with perfectly sculpted hair, shiny latex costumes, and whiteout contacts. The mouths move, too. I’m not okay. Then they announce that it’s the “Circus of Clowns” and I want to tap out. The sketch is really well done, but I don’t do well with clowns and puppets. The only time I’ve ever had to bypass a haunted house was a particularly aggressive circus clown theme with puppet decorations. No thank you.
Back in the Boudoir, Hoso and Saint talk about how quiet it is while waiting for the Extermination results. They know that Dahli can’t be the one going home, but can’t decide between La Zavaleta and Sigourney Beaver. Dahli is super emotional after surviving the Extermination. The experience brought them right back to Season Two where they shut down at their first mistake and regretted not being able to fight through it. Sigourney enters next and confirms how terrifying the latex vacuum was.
This week’s challenge is Killer Clowns. Contestants have to design and present an original killer clown on the Main Stage that tells a story. Then, they have to participate in a cart race on location as their killer clown persona. The Boulet Brothers do acknowledge that the challenge is inspired by one of the greatest sci-fi/horror movies of all time: Killer Klowns from Outer Space. The contestants do not need to use that as their inspiration, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt knowing how much those two love that film.
There is an additional prize for surviving this week’s challenge. The Top 3 contestants are guaranteed spots in The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula Season Four World Tour. That’s a paid gig across the US and the UK. Coming out of quarantine, which shut down all live performances and shifted drag to a virtual, tip-based economy, winning a headlining spot on a major international tour is a massive prize.
In the Fright Feat, the remaining contestants compete to determine who gets to assign the different carts for the race. They have to knock each other into a dunk tank. Naturally, Merrie Cherry is brought back to stir the pot and heckle the contestants. Everyone clearly had a good time and Dahli wins the power to assign the keys.
Sigourney gets to share a little more of her story this week. She’s struggling with the recent death of her mother. She died the same week Sigourney got the call to do Dragula and it’s eating her up that her mother doesn’t get to see her do the show. Grief is hard, especially with someone that close to you and your art, and the other contestants are really there to help Sigourney in that moment.
The guest judges this week are Bob the Drag Queen and Harvey Guillen. Aside from being fans of the show, Bob the Drag Queen and Harvey Guillen are very skilled at comedy and know how to perform. It’ll be interesting to hear their feedback on this challenge.
Hoso Terra Toma scares me more than usual this week. They’ve taken inspiration from 16th century Korean exorcists, who apparently used to dress like clowns as part of their rituals. Hoso has three faces, each more terrifying than the last. The color palette screams Western clown while the costume and props show off the Korean influence. Hoso even has carousel horses hanging from their wig. The look and performance are brilliant.
Sigourney Beaver’s clown is beautiful. She’s pulling visual references from Pennywise in the hair, accessories, and color palette, but the design is all hers. I’m a little disappointed for one specific reason. She had this gnarly looking clown puppet she showed off in the Boudoir, but the Floor Show edit didn’t make it the focus of her performance. I think that puppet idea was more interesting than popping the balloons with a knife she pulled out of her garter. Imagine if Sig the Puppet gave Sigourney the knife she used to start attacking the balloons.
Dahli is terrifying as Sweet Tooth, a candy corn-colored clown that steals teeth. This concept is unhinged and I’m here for it. The drill prop looks great and the reveal of their own missing teeth with a magnifying glass makes a small detail really pop onstage. Dahli revealed a whole lot more than I ever wanted to know about their interest in clowns in the Boudoir and it’s all I can think about with their highly sexualized approach to this challenge.
Saint’s clown is a mime. Their approach to Dragula has consistently been take one step away from the expected on the challenge to stand out. This mime idea works. It’s pure horror, with the unspeaking mime crying out for help. The scars carved into their forehead and palms literally spell out “please help me.” If I’m being picky, I think the three scar prosthetics should’ve been moved around. If the forehead read “me” instead of “help,” Saint could’ve played around with “please me,” “help me,” and “help me please/please help me” in reading order. The effect is still great.
I think Hoso is the clear winner again. They had the most realized and original concept on the Main Stage. Saint’s really pops onstage in this challenge and they performed with a lot of energy.
The Boulet Brothers are much more somber in their private discussion this week. They respect this cast a lot and have been torn in a lot of ways since the Top 7. There hasn’t really been a clear bottom for the challenges in a long time and the Top 5 account for all but one of the wins this season.
With Hoso, they’re worried about their performance concepts translating to a wide audience. With Sigourney, she started out so strong in the contest but has been struggling to adjust her style to the later twists. Saint didn’t quite break out of their controlled performance style, but they did take on the physicality challenge head on this time. Dahli picked themselves up from their stumble on the Demon challenge and delivered what the Boulet Brothers expect of them.
The judging is clear from the start. Dahli won this challenge. They took the note about pacing their performance onstage and delivered something truly unhinged.
The other three contestants are on the bottom. Sigourney is so polished, but she literally got tangled up in the balloon props onstage. Hoso killed the challenge, but the judges pointed out some missing opportunities with the masks and the clarity of their storytelling. Saint had a great look to their clown, but it didn’t read as a killer clown to the judges.
Everyone is going to face the Extermination. This is the cart race set up at the start of the episode. In a nice surprise, Formelda Hyde, Astrud Aurelia, Koko Caine, and Bitter Betty return in their Killer Clown looks to mess with the final 4. It just reminds me how much I miss Koko Caine in this contest. If the Boulet Brothers do another Resurrection-type special and don’t bring Koko back, I’ll be shocked.
Meanwhile, in the race, there is a clear disparity in the quality of vehicles, with Dahli in an actual go kart and poor Hoso in a kid’s rechargeable riding jeep toy. This is very Season 2 Wasteland Weekend bungie jumping combat and it’s great TV. So is Koko vogueing at the finish line in that costume.
The Extermination is brutal. The show produced puppets of all four finalists’ Killer Clown looks, so you don’t know who is getting eliminated. Hoso and Saint are shown as the bottom 2, but the episode cuts to a “To Be Continued” screen before the results are revealed. I guess we’ll find out at The Last Supper, aka the reunion, who lived and who died.
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