CHAD: This episode started with the other girls “moving on” from any obligations they felt about supporting Nina through the competition -- Were you rooting for Nina? Or were you surprised that she made it this far into the season?

EVA: Well, speaking of Bjork, ever listen to the lyrics of her song “Army of Me”? That song perfectly describes that entire situation. Nina’s self defeating personality can be a heavy weight to those who want to uplift her because it seems like a never ending battle. It’s almost like talking to a wall at a certain point, and honestly, you just have to let go and stop walking her by the hand. I honestly sympathize with her cuz I used to very much be like her for most of my life, and at times that darkness can come creeping back to ruin an otherwise perfectly good moment or day. I was and still am very much rooting for Nina cuz she is amazingly talented and unique. She is bringing something entirely new to drag and despite her being eaten by her cloud of darkness, she is loveable and charming, so I wasn’t surprised at all that she made it this far. I hope she can one day get over that emotional hill cuz once she does she’ll be damn near unstoppable.

CHAD: I thought that it was interesting that Shea and Sasha were put in the position of pairing off the queens with their crew members -- were there any shady choices?

EVA: I call no shade, lol. I thought overall they were very fair. They mentioned that they paired people based on their personalities matching, but it almost seemed like they were also pairing people up based on likeness of frame and features, which is very important. I very much doubt any of the queens had a spare outfit for someone who was way out of their own build. Picture if Rizzo was paired with Alexis? Now that would have been shady.

CHAD: Do you think it was smart of Shea to pick the crew member with the closest “family resemblance”?

EVA: Yes, and plus, she lucked out a little bit, as well. There are ALL SHADES of Brown and Black people, and sadly, the makeup industry still caters very little to us in that aspect, so as a Black/Brown person it’s already a huge struggle to find even something as simple as a good foundation that comes close to matching to what your shade is, let alone contours and highlights (Not every black girl needs to do banana as a highlight *insert eyeroll*). Josh was very close to the same shade as Shea, and Shea has thankfully figured out her own colors, so it was a smart choice cuz she only had to focus on shapes and dimensions.

CHAD: Nina struggled a lot this episode because of her sewing skills. My favorite part was when she was tracing her partner’s body onto the fabric -- is that how sewing works??

EVA: Well... I’m not gonna out right say no. Let’s just say it’s not a “traditional” technique lol. When I saw him on the floor being sketched out like a damn crime scene, I about screamed out loud of laughter. Drag Race is not the best time to try out something you’ve never done before. Jeez, I really wish she would have implemented her paper/makeup technique into costumes. Now that would have been amazing! I was really hoping for that all season really, but it would have especially worked well during this episode.

CHAD: I think the makeover episodes are often a lot of fun to WATCH, but they’re generally not very fun for me to DRAW -- so much of the queens’ effort is put into making two fairly basic looks that work well together rather than a single memorable one. Which runways looks stood out to you?

EVA: Ugh, I personally hate these episodes. It’s so forced and out of place cuz you have all of these one-of-a-kind monsters who now have to water themselves down in order to match with someone else. I can definitely understand your feelings about drawing them cuz as you said, nothing memorable look-wise ever comes from these episodes. Also there is a bit of a sabotage element cuz they can really mess up your presentation in a split second, and you’re the only one that’ll get blamed. It’s so unfair... but so dramatic to watch, so I guess it makes good TV because ANYONE can get thrown in the dumpster no matter how well they do. Sasha was the only one to me that stood out cuz it was still very her without much sacrifice to her overall persona.