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HBO Max is dropping the final two episodes of the first season this week — and have officially announced a second season of slaying in the ballroom — starting with Episode 108, ‘Atlantis’, the semi-finals. At the end of the previous episode there were four Houses left standing — Lanvin, Gorgeous Gucci, Balmain and Escada — and Superior House Lanvin had to choose another House to team up with to form a Megahouse for this week’s competition, with the other two Houses becoming the second Megahouse. Lanvin’s Mother Eyricka chose Gorgeous Gucci, forming Megahouse Lagorgeous with the other two becoming Megahouse Balscada. Let the competition begin.
Category is: Tales from Atlantis
This is a Face, Runway and Vogue competition featuring three members from each Megahouse taking on one of the aspects of the challenge. For Lagorgeous, Zay Zay did the Runway looking like the creature from The Shape of Water, Makaylah did the Vogue (of course, because she is a vogue monster), and Eyricka did the Face, natch. For Balscada, Calypso presented Face, Jamari did Runway and London did Vogue. Calypso went the extra mile by pulling off her wig to really serve Face, but the wig got caught on the shoulder and sleeve of her costume, yet she didn’t miss a beat.
When all was said and done, Leiomy Maldonado said that Balscada brought heat to the ball but Calypso’s hair mishap took away from the look. And she was also disappointed with Lagorgeous because this is supposed to be a team event and Eyricka went with three Lanvin members. Law Roach had a different opinion because Lanvin had slayed this competition from the beginning and has four wins to its credit so Mother Eyricka ‘did what she had to do’ to win this competition. And it worked as Lagorgeous scored the first win of the night. With five categories, it takes three to win and secure their place in the finals.
Category is: Octo Pus Pus Party
This category was supposed to showcase connective hand performance with four members of each House always connected. At least that’s how it was described but that’s not how it turned out. One of the Houses didn’t even seem to understand the title of the category. The two teams were
- Carlos, Packrat, Jeter & Delicious – Lagorgeous
- Gravity, Jazzul, Yyoyo & Twilight – Balscada
With a category title of ‘Octo Pus Pus Party’ it seemed to suggest that the performance should somehow represent an … octopus. Balscada had the concept but the presentation was not there. At no point were the four members connected to give us an octopus. Lagorgeous, on the other hand, went completely out of the box and served up four … jellyfish. What? Even the judges were perplexed by both performances.
Megan Thee Stallion said Lagorgeous looked cute but they weren’t on beat with each other. Guest judge Tamar Braxton liked Bascada’s costumes. But Law had more than a few words for both Megahouses telling them he did not see any mega-performances. Law said they should have left blood on that runway and with a prize of $100,000 on the line, all he got was a $50 performance. His vote went to Lagorgeous only for Packrat. Jameela Jamil said Lagorgeous was out of sync so her vote went to Bascada. In the end, Bascada took this category, tying the competition one-to-one.
Category is: Merfolk Physiques
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One member from each Megahouse was selected to serve body-oddy-oddy and the two men chosen could not have been more different. For Lagorgeous the obvious choice was Gucci’s buff and beautiful Jarrell. He’s walked in a previous Body competition and … lost. His competitor this time from Balscada was Cali, decidedly not buff, but all he had to do was go out there and serve the judges his confidence.
Jameela gave Cali props for doing a great job, and Leiomy liked his performance but she said Jarrell ‘makes a girl want to go butch queen.’ Jarrell served all of his body in a very revealing outfit and there was no question that Lagorgeous was winning this round. Now it’s two-to-one, Lagorgeous.
Category is: Sea or Not to Sea
The fourth category of the night was a Tag Team Vogue competition in which two members from each Megahouse had to perform the five aspects of vogue with one soft and feminine and the other hard and dramatic. The teams consisted of:
- Shyanne & Torie — Balscada
- Packrat & Deshon – Lagorgeous
I honestly could not tell the difference between the feminine and the dramatic because both team members were going hard. The only place I could see a softer side of the performance was in the dips where one member dropped to the floor a little slower and the other basically slammed themselves into the runway. Other than that, it was hard to tell and both teams did a good job.
Jameela said she loves Shyanne and gave her vote to Balscada. Megan said Lagorgeous had more chemistry and gave her vote to them. Leiomy went with Balscada. Law was again displeased, saying neither performance was worth $100,000, more like ‘$20 and a Popeye’s chicken sandwich.’ Being the fashion maven on the panel, he gave his vote to Balscada for Shyanne’s look, putting Balscada again in a tie with Lagorgeous (how convenient, because if Lagorgeous had won there would be no need for the final category).
Category is: Rich Fish Bitch
This was a high fashion category with a twist, one that required bizarre head-to-toe ‘overness’, with an expensive and avant garde look, and each of the four Houses’ parents would be walking. So that was:
- Eyricka & Jarrell — Lagorgeous
- London & Jamari – Balscada
Balscada entered first and their looks, to me, were anything but high fashion. They would have worked better in the ‘Circus Bezerkus Ball’. They were certainly bizarre, and the colors were over-the-top, but they looked like characters out of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ instead of filthy rich society fish. Lagorgeous didn’t do much better though — and perhaps the judges should be taking the costumers to task and not the people wearing them — with Jarrell in a shimmering bodysuit and full face mask while Eyricka was like a fishy Marie Antoinette with a string of pearls hanging from her mouth. And all either of the teams did was walk up and down the runway. There was no real performance, it was just walking and slinging insults at each other. None of the judges really knew what to make of it but three of the five somehow found Balscada more engaging so that made them the winners of the night, securing both Balmain and Escada places in the finale.
That means Lanvin and Gorgeous Gucci must now separate and select one House member to go head-to-head in a final vogue battle for the last spot in the finale. After working together, it was a hard choice but Eyricka chose her secret weapon Makaylah and Jarrell went with his top voguer Jeter. And this was a battle for the ages. We saw one major battle between Makaylah and Shorty a few episodes back, and that intensity was on display this time as well. And then … Makaylah literally ran up the wall. Seriously, she climbed a pillar beside the runway like she was a cat. There’s no coming back from that, no matter how good you are. Law said ‘that is why we’re here’ and Tamar called Makaylah ‘Spider Bitch’ and Makaylah once again handed Lanvin a win, sending Gorgeous Gucci packing.
But not without some drama as Jarrell felt the need to say he saw Tamar asking Leiomy who to vote for in the second category. Both women shot back that there was no cheating going on and Leiomy dressed Jarrell down, telling him Tamar is a guest in their house and she just didn’t know the names of the Houses or the competitors. It was as simple as that. Jarrell accepted the explanation, somewhat, but it didn’t change the outcome as Balmain, Escada and Lanvin advance to the finals.
Episode 109: Heaven & Hell
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The season finale episode starts out much differently than previous episodes, taking us back to the rehearsals over several days in March of this year, just as cases of coronavirus are appearing and escalating in New York City. As the Houses and crew continued to prepare, the decision was made to tape the finale without an audience. So with a more subdued setting, the final three Houses begin the competition to become the very first ‘Legendary House’ and win $100,000.
Category is: Good & Evil
This category basically brought us back to the very beginning with the three remaining houses performing as a group in a highly choreographed number — and if you remember back to the first episode, judge Leiomy harshly criticized the very first House for being too choreographed while praising the other Houses for doing the same.
First up is Lanvin with four Superior House wins to its credit. They performed a number that was inspired by The Exorcist complete with one of them wearing a possessed Linda Blair mask. As teh demons ran around the runway, angelic Mother Eyricka appeared and saved all of their souls to complete the performance. Leiomy told the House they’ve come a long way since the first ball, they’ve worked hard and they delivered with this performance. Jameela said it has been an honor watching them. Megan called Lanvin the hardest working house in the competition and if this is what ballroom is, she wants to be a part of it. Law said he can see how Mother loves her children and they have become the team to beat tonight doing ‘what needed to be done.’
Next up is Balmain putting a spin on the category. This time everyone appears very angelic but they’re really demons in Hell … in tight, red rubber outfits. But the performance was stong, prompting positive reaction from the four judges. Leiomy said Balmain has shown growth throughout the season and they should be proud as this performance showcased everyone’s talents. Megan said she understood the story they were telling and could see that they all wanted the win. Law loved the performance saying it ‘gave us Sunday service turned into Nightmare on Gay Street.’ Jameela said Balmain’s children have done Jamari proud and this performance felt, even without an audience, that they were performing for the entire world.
Last was Escada with a group of voguing angels, and pieces of costume flying all over the place. But there were some issues besides the costumes including some sloppy work from Twilight including a limp cartwheel and an attempt to jump to his feet while on his back that didn’t quite work, but he did cover it nicely. Megan said she loves Escada and everyone is a reflection of London, telling them they deserve to be here. Leiomy loved the storyline saying this shows why they deserve to be here. Law said the costumes and story were perfect for this House, it was the most pure and angelic but the performance was soft, maybe too soft. Jameela loved it, calling them heavenly, saying Escada is a House built on love more than any other House.
And then … Escada was eliminated. Leiomy sent them off with the message that that showcase a real family and have real passion while Megan said they may not have won the competition but they’ve won in life in general. And that leaves two Houses to battle for the crown: Lanvin with four previous wins and Balmain with no Superior House wins in the competition.
Category is: Purgatory
This category featured all five House members going head-to-head one at a time in a particular element of vogue.
- Hands: Carlos v Jamari
- Catwalk: Eyricka v Cali
- Duckwalk: Torie v Makaylah
- Floor: Packrat v Gravity
- Spins & Dips: Zay Zay v Calypso
The judges didn’t have much to say before they went into a huddle to select the winner, but it was clearly heard that Lanvin seemed to not go as hard, assuming they were the clear winner judging from their past performances. It didn’t take long for them to render a decision and Jameela announced that the first ever ‘Legendary House’ is … The House of … Balmain!
I think Lanvin did get a bit too cocky and slayed themselves, but they took it in stride and said if they had to lose to anyone, they’re happy it was Balmain. And with that, the ballroom is closed until another collection of Houses returns to let us have it!
Legendary will return for a second season on HBO Max.
What did you think of the finale? Did the right House win? Tell us in the comments section below!
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