HBO Max
Happy Pride Month! Yes, it’s June, Pride Month, which makes HBO Max’s decision to run the last four episodes of this season’s Legendary over the course of the first two weeks of the month puzzling. Why not the final four to fill out the entire month? Well, for whatever reason they decided to do that, we’ve got two episodes to recap this week so instead of the usual breakdown of each performance, we’ll go with a more general recap. Let’s hit the runway.
The Ovah! Ball
This episode’s guest judge is Adam Lambert! He certainly knows his way around a television competition series, but does he know his way around the ballroom? Adam admitted that this is his first exposure to ballroom, so hopefully his comments will be a bit more constructive than last week’s guest judge who just basically loved everything.
For the first round, the judges are scoring on two factors: the over all production, or should I say the ovah all production … think Madonna’s ‘Vogue’ performance at the MTV Video Music Awards, opulent (or opalent, for those who follow RuPaul’s Drag Race), fancy ball gowns, powered wigs, that kind of thing … and the incorporation of one of the five elements of vogue. The House of Tisci used their Superior House advantage to determine which House got which element. Shady. And in the event of a tie at the end of the night, Adam will crown the winner.
House of Balenciaga went first, with Catwalk as their element of vogue. And, surprise, Honey is back! Honey has missed the last two balls because her older sister died, but she is back in the ballroom to honor her sister. Their performances was good, but I don’t know if we saw much Catwalk, but Mother Shannon did shock us all to reveal a bald head when she took off her wig. Jameela and Leiomy both agreed that there wasn’t enough Catwalk, and they know Balenci can bring it. Megan was the most generous of the group, awarding them a 9 for performing in corsets, while Leiomy gave them a 7 because it was too safe. Their final score was a 40.
Reigning Superior House Tisci was second, and they gave themselves the element of Spins & Dips. And there were some good spins and dips but it wasn’t quite enough. Most of the judges loved Stanley opening the number on pointe, and with three 8s and two 9s, they ended the first round with 42. House of Oricci was third with Floor performance, something they felt was a strategic move because they were called out at the last ball for their lacking Floor work. And that strategy worked with Law saying it was fine but it didn’t deserve $100,000. Everyone gave them 7s but Jameela, who was feeling some kind of way about Remy’s face, and gave that an 8, so they finished in the bottom with a 36.
House of Garçons were given the Duck Walk, and they know they have to be perfect because the judges will be nitpicking every little thing. All of the judges liked their sparkly Victorian-meets-burlesque outfits and the fact that they were the first House of the night to actually spotlight their element of vogue. Four of the five judges scored 10s, but Law said he got a little bored in the middle and gave them a 9. But that put them at the top with 49. Last was the House of Mugler with the element of Hands. This is the most technical of the elements because if the movements aren’t clean and in sync, everyone will see it. The performance also pushed gender boundaries with the males portraying women and the trans woman of the group going back to her masculine beginnings, bending her own gender to be the person she always knew she was. And the performance was … stunning. Megan said this had been a rough night, but this was the performance to beat. Leiomy said it was impeccable, Adam said it was the best choreography of the night, Jameela said they would remember this performance, and Law said they DID what NEEDED to be DONE! Tens across the board, now putting Mugler in first place.
Round Two: Hand Performance
[IMAGE: LEGENDARY-S02E06-02 Caption: HBO Max]
This part of the competition was shrouded in mystery as one member from each House had to give a hand performance … inside of a colored light box, the judges only seeing a silhouette so they would not know who was performing or which House they were scoring or chopping. Of the five boxes, Green, Blue and Yellow were chopped, leaving Red and Purple. The winner was the Red box which contained Kalik Balenciaga, bringing their score of 40 up to a 50 with the extra points, now tied for first. Even after the win, the judges bickered about some of the shady chops, with a few of them upset about the Green chop from Jameela. She said either way, Kalik would have been the winner. And with the tie, it was up to Adam to determine the Superior House this week, and he based his decision — fairly, I think — on the first round performance. Miyake-Mugler werked for their 50 up front and they took home the trophy this week.
With Balenciaga and Garçons safe, that put Oricci, again, in the bottom two but it was a shock to see House of Tisci with them. (I am so sorry, Tisci, I think I jinxed you all when I said last week that you were going to have to screw up really badly to lose this competition.) Father Omari Oricci put himself into the battle round, again, to fight for his children, and Simone Tisci was chosen to battle for her House. I personally thought Simone gave more elements of vogue in the battle while Omari was like a whirling dervish, but that was enough for the judges. Jameela felt it was too close to call and judged on who she thought had the potential to win, so we threw her vote to Tisci. Law, Megan and Leimoy went with Oricci, and Leiomy had quite an attitude with Jameela for not judging solely on this battle.
And that heated exchange spilled over onto the runway as Simone stormed off stage. Law yelled at her to come back and stand with her House as a sign of good sportsmanship because that’s what ballroom is about. She did come back and let them know what she thought, and Law, Megan and Leiomy let her know that her performance in the battle did not seem like she wanted $100,000. It was very tense, and Simone walked off again. The rest of the House accepted their defeat gracefully, but I have to say it felt shady, especially after Oricci has been in the bottom more than once. There comes a point when you can’t just rely on a single battle to save your House when you can’t turn it out on the runway in the other parts of the competition.
No shade.
The Ice Haus Ball
HBO Max
The eighth episode of the season featured Demi Lovato as the guest judge, and has three challenges. The first round is an all-House production called Ice War, with a wintery theme and poses and dips. Leimoy is looking for stand out poses, flawless dips that are beautiful and graceful, and no bang when they hit the floor.
House of Oricci was up first, with explorers in Africa after the Ice Age as their story. And to sell the story even more, Gillette will be on roller skates. The performance and costumes were fun, but there was maybe one post and a few dips. Jameela thought the performance was a comeback from the last episode and gave them a 10. Megan liked the performance but wanted it to be more cleanly polished, so she scored an 8. The others gave them 9s, for a total of 45. Superior House Miyake-Mugler was second and they really wanted to stand out with a bigger and better performance than last time, icy but not giving the judges a cold shoulder. And holy crap did they ever with their Ski Party story. There were poses and dips all ovah the place and then … a ski lift chair delivering one of the House members, followed by Father Arturo in a giant bubble representing an avalanche! It was completely over the top and one of the best performances of the series. All of the judges were gagging, and Leimoy was stunned into her own silent pose. It really was something that had to be seen to be believed and it earned them tens across the board — the first House this season to get back-to-back perfect scores in the first round.
Balenciaga was up third, and they wanted to incorporate fight choroegraphy into their performance. It was all very Game of Thrones ‘Winter is coming.’ Jameela, Megan and Leimoy scored 10s, loving the agressiveness, the ‘Mirror Mirror on the wall’ part at the beginning and the amazing poses. Demi wanted to see a little more combat but though it was worth a 9. During Jameela’s critique, Honey commented that there was a problem with her wardrobe and her ‘ugly ass heels’, because she’s used to performing in stilettos, and the performance didn’t come off as planned in places. Jameela said if Honey hadn’t said anything, she wouldn’t have noticed. Megan said if someone asks you if something is wrong, you better say nothing because she didn’t see it either. Leimoy don’t show when you mess up, be proud that you got through it. Law, however, was highly insulted by the comment as someone who dresses people for a living. He admonished Honey for publicly insulting the team of people who help them put their outfits together, and he’d die if someone he dressed went on stage and said something like that. He told Honey to be humble and to be kind to people. Honey tried to take the mic from Mother Shannon to respond, but she gripped it tightly and said now was now the time. But because of Honey’s comment, Law gave them a 7 which put them at 46 for the round, still good enough for second place.
House of Garçons went last, and their idea was to use the Old Way of vogue (which is pop dip & spin, the first voguing style which lead to the new way and vogue fem). They also wanted sheer catsuits with fringe representing icicles and the costume sketches looked pretty fabulous. I don’t know what happened between then and the performance, but there was no sheer material, just solid white costumes with fringe. There was a lot of posing, with a nice use of the video wall to show photos of the poses, but where were the dips? It didn’t go well with the judges. Megan liked the Old Way, but felt it was sloppy, Leiomy said it was safe, Demi didn’t feel there was enough unity, Law said the costumes were a 10 but the performance was a 4, so he added them together and divided in half for their 7, and Jameela felt it was a step down from the Ovah! Ball, but she gave them an 8 for a total of 35, putting them in last place for the round.
Round Two: 3 Fab Mice
In the next two rounds, all House members must walk, but no member can walk twice. In the 3 Fab Mice challenge, three House members must walk runway in sync, and must score tens across the board to continue to the battle part of the round. This challenge was a trainwreck, giving us something we have not seen until now: three of the four Houses — Oricci, Balenciaga (Shannon even lost a shoe!) & Garçon — were chopped, leaving Mugler the winner by default, and Law freaking out because there was no Houses to battle. But a chop is a chop and Mugler scored 10 more points taking them to 60 … making it mathematically impossible for anyone else to claim Superior House. Now it’s a battle for the bottom.
Round Three: Team Face Category
This round is all about the face: structure, skin, teeth, eyes and confidence. Mugler used their Superior House advantage to keep Mother Shannon Balenciaga out of this competition (which explains why she was in the 3 Fab Mice round) because she is certainly a threat here. And in a complete reversal of the last round, every House scored tens across the board to battle it out. Gillette Oricci went up against Stasha Garçon with Stasha winning. That pitted her against Tati Mugler, but she won again. Her next opponent was Kalik Balenciaga and he took the win, scoring 10 additional points for the House for a score of 56 and keeping them in second place.
But with a final score of 60, Miyake-Mugler was the Superior House for the second time in a row. The bottom two were Garçon and … say it with me … Oricci. Again. And again Father Omari was going to put himself on the floor for his children. And it was a close battle with Law and Jameela giving the win to Egypt Garçon, while Megan and Leiomy gave it to Oricci. It came down to Demi and she gave the ultimate win to …
The House of Garçon. The House of Oricci has finally fallen. And the judges let Omari know that while it’s noble for him to keep taking the responsibility to save the House from elimination, he’s got to have faith in his children to take the responsibility sometime. Needless to say, Omari took the loss much more gracefully than Simone Tisci.
Three Houses remain to compete in the Elektric Jungle Ball, and then it’s the season finale with Ballroom 5000. Which is your favorite House and who do you think should win? Tell us in the comments section below!
New episodes of Legendary stream Thursdays on HBO Max.
What did you think of this episode? Tell us in the comments section below!
Share this post
