And so we continue our absurd coverage of the best moments of this season of RuPaul's Drag Race! Episode eight finds the queens competing to capture their essence in the form of a signature perfume. Some scents are scrumptious, while others just stink. The seven leading ladies are pared down to six, proving every rose has its thorns.
When it first started, Girls was automatically compared to Sex and the City, mainly because it was about four female friends in New York. And really that’s where the similarities, for the most part, end. All season, our characters have been messy and aimless, desperate for things that they seemingly cannot attain. And that process has been rife with ugly, rotten situations, and depressing, humiliating sex that has no place in the alternate reality of Sarah Jessica Parker's show. But last night's show—the season finale—veered into rom-com territory.
Mindy Kaling believes in the power of the rom-com. The world of The Mindy Project, Kaling’s great sitcom that FOX just picked for a second season, isn’t a romantic comedy world. But the humor of the show comes from Mindy’s expectation that those same rom-com rules will apply. Unlike in the movies, when Mindy uses the unrealistic traditions of romantic comedies to take her own romantic risks, the results are hilarious, ridiculous, painful, and embarrassing.
This season of RuPaul's Drag Race is nearing the end, as we continue our tireless illustrated recaps of every damn episode. In this episode, RuPaul pulls off a roast with the most. We find out which queens are funny-haha, and which queens are funny- uhhh. Our seven soul sisters sling shady snaps in the race for the crown and cash.
I’ve never known quite what to make of the sex scenes in Girls. While I appreciate the show’s desire to examine how flawed and awkward sex can often be, the fact that the characters so often seem unsatisfied with their sex makes it difficult to distinguish an off night from sex taking place without consent. More often than not, the scenes that are hardest to read are the ones involving Adam.
Nowhere was consent in the show more confusing that this week’s episode, which made many people pause and say, “Wait. Was that rape?”
This idea of cleansing oneself has permeated this season—and the theme continues in this episode. Our characters here aren’t particularly good at cleaning up and starting afresh, but what they are good at is self-sabotage. In this episode, "On All Four," several characters successfully take themselves out at the knees.
Last week, a woman at Adam's Alcohollics Anonymous crowd set him up with her daughter, Natalia. Surprise, surprise, the two actually hit it off. Suddenly, they're going to see romantic comedies starring Sandra Bullock, taking lunch breaks together and even attending friend’s engagement parties. Natalia seems good for Adam, mostly because she’s completely up-front about what she wants. When the two first have sex, it at first seems awkwardly negotiated. But Natalia tells Adam what she won’t do, what doesn’t work for her, and is clear about her boundaries. Adam isn’t really used to. He says, “I like how clear you are with me.” To which Natalia responds, “What other way is there?”
I've been illustrating the best moments of RuPaul's Drag Race all season long. In this week's episode, inspired by Live Aid, the remaining queens sing for their lives. The stage shrinks as dead weight becomes painfully obvious, teetering off the edges. Drag Race drags on. Here, are this week's six best moments, in cartoon majesty.
Girls, I love you. But this week's episode just didn't work.
This could be because it’s hard to keep momentum after a string of excellent episodes, but this week's uneven episode "It's Back" was built on out-of-nowhere plot points.
The episode opens with Hannah receiving a phone call from ex-boyfriend Adam which she seems nervous about.After stopping at a store to buy chips to cope with the call, she carefully counts out a specific number of chips before counting the number of times she chews them.
Hannah’s parents are visiting—her mother is attending a conference where she's excited to meet so many other women who “feel like I do about Ann Patchett.” While waiting on Hannah to meet them at their hotel for a Judy Collins performance, they give her a “Hannah cushion of 15-40 minutes.” Hannah shows up but looks pretty disheveled.
Over drinks, Hannah’s parents can tell what’s going on. Her father asks if her head is filling up with too much and she’s getting count-y again. Her mother expresses the worry she felt that Hannah’s Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) would hinder her from having a real life. This was my “what?” moment. Not that it’s unrealistic that Hannah could have OCD, but that in the scope of the show, it's never even come up before at all.
This Sunday is the season finale of HBO show Enlightened, starring Laura Dern as Amy Jellicoe, a woman who has a nervous breakdown after her self-destructive tendencies cause her life to implode. Like the show's creators, I'm afraid this may be the last-ever episode of Enlightened. I'm not sure I can describe how fantastic Enlightened is and convince you to tune in for the final show, but I’ll try my best.
Enlightened is a darkly comedic look at California new age pseudo-spirituality, corporate culture, and misguided activism. It’s also a serious look at addiction in a multitude of ways—from substance abuse to Amy’s own reliance on her newfound spirituality to temper her rage and justify her terrible behaviors.
This season of RuPaul's Drag Race soldiers on with episode five's "Snatch Game." The game promises to separate the Queens from the Jokers, as the witty and witless alike take center stage. It all happens on Drag Race! My illustrated recap of the show's six best moments is below.
This idea of cleansing oneself has permeated this season—and the theme continues in this episode. Our characters here aren’t particularly good at cleaning up and starting afresh, but what they are good at is self-sabotage. In this episode, "On All Four," several characters successfully take themselves out at the knees. 
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