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Another day, another slay.
The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula contestants return to the workroom the morning after the extermination ceremony to rehash last night’s Floor Show results, greeted by doll and action figure versions of their hosts. Asia Consent and Maj are the episode’s first two confessional narrators, earning our Portland ghouls highly coveted solo screen time. Philadelphia-based contestant Pi comes for Asia’s challenge-winning stage look, which she notes is a different tune from what was said backstage. Maj also reveals that they voted for Pi’s Extermination to punish them for being ungrateful about being declared safe by the Boulets. The back and forth suggests that the other contestants are already carrying daggers for Asia and Majesty to prematurely knock them both out of the competition.
The Boulet Brothers inform their uglies that before they take to the stage for a Killer Doll floor show, they will play dodgeball to win a $2,500 Dolls Kill shopping spree and this episode’s challenge prize: the Doll Parts Curse, which forces one contestant to tape their hand behind their back while preparing for the floor show. Some people have hang-ups around dodgeball, which works for some of the more squeamish viewers out there. The athletic antiheroes neatly eliminate each other down to a one-on-one elimination round reffed by fifth season challenger Cynthia Doll. One of the contest’s strongest competitors gets stuck with the Courtney Love-named curse.
After the mini-challenge, Asia Consent and Pi discuss the morning’s conflict. Asia explains the sad, spoilers-y reason she doesn’t trust Pi, who extends an admittedly dubious olive branch. Asia does what’s best for us at home and chooses drama, which could cause more conflict down the line. Not to be outdone, Majesty informs a contestant that one of the other monsters is gossiping about her in a messy effort to get her disqualified. Maj’s confessionals reasonably read like they haven’t invented this thus-far unaired rumor, but this is the type of game where pageant mind tricks are powerful psychological weapons of war.
One of Portland’s dollies earns a brief shoutout during the Boulets’ personal post-Floor Show asides, and both escape the complaint that not enough misfit toys stuck to the episode’s theme. Guest judges Jennifer Tilly and Child’s Play creator Don Mancini didn’t dwell on Portland’s playthings too long, so make of that spoiler sidestep what you will. The episode’s extermination challenge is one of the show’s most infamous: an endurance challenge to be professionally pieces with thick needles. We’re not talking acupuncture, but the kind of piercing commonly associated with the kind of body suspension performance art rarely seen outside an art gallery or bondage club. It’s an intense moment that might challenge some viewers, but newbies hooked on Dragula’s focus on technical expertise and envelope-pushing antics are probably strapped in for the season’s duration.
SEE IT: The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula streams on AMC+ and Shudder.