Dragula Season 4 Episode 3 Review (TV Series, 2021)
content warning: blood, gun violence, foul language, flashing lights,
Editorial note: these Dragula reviews will feature spoilers.
This week, we’re returning to the Wild West as the Boulet Brothers emerge from a stagecoach in a flickering sepia-toned opening sketch. The Boulets are hungry and decide to duel with pistols to see who has to rustle up some dinner. It’s a quick sketch to set up the episode and it works well.
When I say we’re returning to the Wild West, I’m referring to my all-time favorite challenge on the show. In Season 2, the contestants were challenged to create and perform original ghost characters who died in a ghost town. I loved every design the contestants came up with because they went all in. The losing design on the episode (the contestant exterminated) was actually one of my favorites, but the critique of her design not being big enough was fair. That challenge gave us Abhora’s cartoon prospector, Disasterina’s schoolmarm whipping a dress filled with her students’ spirits, Victoria Elizabeth Black’s flaming fortune teller, Biqtch Puddin’s comeback moment as the drowned corpse gasping for air, and Dahli’s haunting shaman. What can I say? I prefer challenges with a wide open theme that can be twisted in so many different ways.
Back in the Boudoir, the safe contestants discuss the previous challenge. The contestants pretty much agree that Merrie Cherry should’ve been in the bottom for not being a vampire. I mean, the Boulet Brothers and I both disagree, but I get it. Merrie lets her opinions be known and not everyone is going to enjoy that. She’s pushing buttons and it’s creating some great drama on the show.
Meanwhile, the contestants are not happy with Astrud’s outburst last week. She reacted poorly to landing in the bottom two and the remaining contestants feel a mix of guilt, confusion, and disappointment about it. Astrud went from winning the first challenge to being eliminated in the second and that has everyone on edge.
The new challenge is the Weird Wild West. The contestants have to create an original look inspired by pulp Western/sci-fi comics. This is a genre I actually don’t know too well, so I’m excited to see how the contestants handle the brief. I do know the genre is literally called Weird West and can be anything from sci-fi and fantasy elements invading the frontier to absolutely brutal splatter stories like the short fiction of Joe R. Lansdale. The Boulet Brothers specify Western, sci-fi, and horror influences being required for the costumes. This is also a performance challenge, as creating a costume isn’t enough to win on this show.
This week’s guest judges are Trixie Mattel and Orville Peck. These two are perfect judges for the category. Trixie and Orville are both queer country/folk musicians, so they know about performing in this style through the queer-positive lens of Dragula. Two Western experts join two horror/sci-fi experts to judge a horror/sci-fi/Western drag challenge. Perfection.
Bitter Betty leans into the camp with her Dolly Parton meets Terminator concept. Her black and gold shotgun has guitar strings and I couldn’t stop laughing. This is joy. This character has been through hell and back, and I’m not convinced that she didn’t start the fire that burned off her skin and destroyed her yellow dress.
Koko Caine is a Wild West version of Koko Caine with a pig nose. In their Meet the Monsters interview, they basically admit that the show wanted them to identify as a zombie stripper because a zombie sex worker wasn’t broadcast friendly. Here, they are a literal sex pig. The distressing on the costume makes sense because of the challenge, but it doesn’t feel as intentional as it should for a competition.
La Zavaleta cited their inspiration as Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata in the Boudoir and it shows. This is a person ready to fight back in a sci-fi wasteland against an alien invasion. The distressed costume reads well onstage and the gatling gun arm is pure sci-fi.
Sigourney Beaver does a burlesque routine as a blue-skinned alien. Her coverup is a blue and white sparkly gown with fringe that tears away to a gold and acid green body suit with stirrups and boot covers. The design is completely different from the Bride of Frankenstein look on the season premiere, but I had the same reaction. I think the reveal is a better fit for the challenge that the outer shell and the presentation may have actually worked better without the button-down gown to start.
Saint is a human/cow hybrid as a cowboy. This look is just disturbing to me. The mask feels very much like Rorschach in Watchmen and the udders on the chest are scarier than they have any right to be. Saint puts the “Weird” in Weird West with this one.
Jade Jolie has a light up, blacklight reactive costume. The story is clearer than the character. Her character killed a cowboy alien and put his head on a spike as a trophy. For me, her actual costume doesn’t read as Western. It feels like an alternate cosmetic for a game like Apex Legends. It’s a cool look that doesn’t scream the challenge like some of the other contestants’ costumes do.
Dahli is a cyborg cowboy, complete with chrome teeth and gear prosthetics on their face. They made great use of texture to make a largely monochromatic dark green/grey costume pop onstage. The weapons and armor look good and the makeup is always on point with Dahli.
Merrie Cherry said in the Boudoir that she was going for a one-eyed Mae West character. She delivers exactly that. The red gown with beaded fringe and feather accents looks expensive onstage. Changing skin color with body paint is not easy (as proven by other less successful attempts this episode) and Merrie nails it. I think the eye makeup works onstage but doesn’t hold up in the closeup—it’s a larger set of lashes above and below both eyes that are darkened with black and silver makeup.
Hoso Terra Toma is a cactus monster. There are guns hidden inside the leaves at the end of their arms. The makeup and cactus elements look great onstage. I think the costume is a bit too simple by comparison, but I get wanting to leave the focus on the makeup and accessories.
I think the best looks this week are Bitter Betty, La Zavaleta, and Saint. Bitter Betty hit the pulp/camp elements and performed a clear character. La Zavaleta’s costume and makeup were perfect for their concept and really worked onstage. Saint actually scared me with their literal cowgirl costume.
Dragula is continuing with the Boulet Brothers getting to discuss the challenge before bringing the judges and contestants onstage. I was hoping they would. The Boulets are pleased with how Bitter Betty turned it around after facing Extermination last episode. They also like how Merrie took the notes from last week about her onstage presentation. Jade Jolie is a big question mark right now, as the Boulets aren’t convinced she is really going all out onstage.
The top contestants this week are Sigourney Beaver, La Zavaleta, Dahli, and Bitter Betty. Sigourney is praised for her looks and performance, though she’s warned to make sure her makeup details actually read from the stage and that her storytelling wasn’t entirely clear. La Zavaleta is praised for their performance onstage, especially how they played with gender expectations. Dahli is praised for their costuming and presentation, especially how weird it is. Bitter Betty is praised for fulfilling the promise they saw in her drag when they cast her on the show.
The bottom contestants this week are Saint and Koko Caine. Saint is criticized for not selling their costume enough onstage with their movements. Koko is criticized for not showing enough range in their characters onstage and for the costume being a bit too soft for the setting.
La Zavaleta is announced as the winner and receives a $1000 shopping spree to Fright Rags. I agree with the win. La Zavaleta clearly had a passion for this challenge and it showed.
While Saint and Koko Caine are up for elimination, everyone has to participate in the Extermination. They have to ride a mechanical bull onstage. The contestants really camp it up as they approach the bull.
The “everyone participates” Exterminations tend to be a lot of fun for this reason. If you’re not in the bottom, you’re proving you can perform like the Boulets want you to. You’re safe to be a total fool. That energy is infectious and usually carries over to the bottom two.
Ultimately, Koko Caine is eliminated. I am disappointed because I loved what they were doing in the contest. Their drag aesthetic is so cool. Koko even admitted throughout the episode that this was not the challenge for them. It sucks to lose someone this unique so soon.
I’m more disappointed that the opening sketch referenced catching a piggy, which spoiled who went home once Koko announced she was doing her pig character. The editing is usually less obvious than that.
The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula Season 4 premieres new episodes every Tuesday on Shudder.
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