Review: Canada's Drag Race, S2 E1 - Back back back again! New and improved!

Each week Toronto based comedian Chris Middleton will review the latest episode of Canada’s Drag Race. Season two premiered October 14 on Crave.

Amanda Brugel, Brad Goreski, Brooke Lynn Hytes and guest judge Caitlin Cronenberg

Halleloo everyone! I’m so excited to be back recapping Canada’s Drag Race season 2! Did you miss me?... No?... Okay…

Let's just get started. I’ve been waiting way too long for my hot Drag Race takes to be aired on a platform outside my group chats.

As the promo for this season was slowly rolling out, I noticed production had seemingly rounded out the kinks from season one. Obviously, they brought a bigger budget to match all their new sponsors, which helped (because money, famously, helps). There was nothing funnier than RuPaul saying “sickening supply of makeup from Shoppers Drug Mart”. Imagine if they replaced Anastasia Beverly Hills makeup with just a gift card to CVS. What a ride! If any Optimum points get given out as prizes, I’m going to lose it.

The Wérk Room™ got a HUGE upgrade, along with a bunch of stolen stainless steel tables from a kitchen supply store. I mean, with COVID closing all of them, glad they’re getting some good use out of them.

I’m also glad they took the “too many Toronto queens” critique to heart and . . . cast a bunch of Vancouver queens. The Brat Pack does NOT make me mad! I think all of them are great. But part of the reason I — personally — wanted more variety in where these queens come from is more versatility. There are queens working gay bars in Halifax just waiting to get on the show. The East Coast had the best COVID plan! Let them have this!!

Having queens from across Canada only makes the show better. Look at Stephanie Prince! The first prairie queen to come into the competition and absolutely soared — both with her runway and her Jollibee entrance look.

Another thing this season brings is new judges and better judging edits. Which, good! Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman went in on season one production for the way they treated him. The backlash he got was the main point of contention for a lot of season one fans, myself included. They really took extra special care to make all the judges supportive and nice. I'm here for it. If there’s anything we learned from All Stars 6, it’s you can have a season of Drag Race that isn’t bitchy and still have it be fun.

They also gave the RuPaul slot to Brooke, officially! Having her lead the runway and read the RuPaul copy was great to see. I don’t know if I could’ve taken another season of awkward guest judge runway walks and teleprompter reading. No offense, having Tom Green read the RuPaul copy was a choice that’s best not be repeated.

It’s too early to tell how the judging’s going to shake out for the rest of the season, so I won't comment just yet. Brad Goreski and Amanda Brugel were very constructive and helpful on the panel. Traci Melchor is going to be great! The fact she was relegated to "Canada's Squirrel Friend" was an underutilization of her talent which I hated for her… I will say, if these dad jokes are going to continue at the rate they’re going, that Fabricland wall’s going to be all out of material!... I’ll see myself out.

I’m excited I get to see all these queens take advantage of the improved Canada’s Drag Race. There was a lot about the first season that felt clunky and there was DEFINITELY some gross production choices with the editing. It seems they’ve taken all the fan criticism to heart to create a better experience for both us and the girls. We'll see. As we saw when the season one contracts were lifted, these girls will not be afraid to let us know!

Last thing. It’s disheartening that we can get through ONE season without someone’s leg snapping! Sorry Océane, let’s hope you don’t get ab-SCONE-ded from the competition. Okay, I’m done, see you next week!