RECAP: Canada’s Drag Race All Stars Episode 4
Four episodes in, “Canada’s Drag Race All Stars” is still delivering one of the strongest “Drag Race” seasons this year, and that’s really down to the cast. This week’s political attack ad challenge was fine, and the lavender runway was across-the-board lovely. But where this season is really excelling is in the dynamic between the queens, who are playing this game hard while also giving us great television. We are so fed.
Read on for my take on Episode 4 of “Canada’s Drag Race All Stars.” SPOILERS AHEAD!
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After a silly mini-challenge in which the queens had to make quick-drag versions of iconically bad design-challenge looks from previous seasons (and there have been a lot of them), the remaining six queens were split into two teams of three to film political attack ads in the bid of becoming Canada’s first drag queen Prime Minister.
This was ultimately a comedy challenge, a physical comedy challenge, a kind of reading challenge, and even to an extent an improv challenge. I don’t think any of the queens absolutely nailed this — and more than one flopped it — but we did get some good moments out of it. I’ll go over my thoughts on each queen, in addition to my take on how they’re doing in the competition overall.
Aurora Matrix
This was Aurora’s first misstep the entire season. She went all in on her padding pitch, which wasn’t a particularly funny place to start, and the whole ad never took off. Director Brooke Lynn Hytes begged Auror to let loose and do something unexpected in the final moments of her recording, and Aurora was stumped. I’ve been very impressed by Aurora all season, but I think there is truth to what Brooke and the other judges were saying here: there is power in letting go and acting a fool, and her inability to do that is going to hold her back. That was a useful note that I hope Aurora takes.
Jada Shada Hudson
I thought Jada did fine in the political challenge. Not bad, not good. But frankly, I am rarely wowwed by Jada in the challenges. In Season 3 the judges kept telling me over and over again what a star Jada is, and I suspect that in person she has an electricity about her. It just doesn’t carry over into TV, in my opinion. Where I am seeing growth is in her runways. She looked great in that lavender outfit. Was it essentially a bodysuit absolutely covered with gewgaws and other ridiculous things? Sure was, but she looked wonderful. In my opinion, Jada was the third-best performer of the night, but there was a significant gap between Nos. 2 and 3. I think she could have very easily swapped with the queen who performed best and ended up in the Bottom 3.
Makayla Couture
Specifically, Makayla. I thought Makayla had some great moments in her commercial. I loved her delivery, even if she flubbed it a few times and needed a moment to collect herself. I respected the fact that she knew exactly what she needed to do to course correct, and she did it — that is growth. She also showed some self awareness, making part of her platform the ability for Canadians to crash out with dignity. That’s funny! The judges said that Makayla kept giving her moments away to the other queens, and I’m not entirely sure what they meant by that. I do think Nearah pulled focus in the background of Makayla’s ad, redoing her cup talent. But it’s not like Makayla lacked star power. I thought she looked so incredible in that lavender runway, and showing so much of her body was a real statement for her.
Nearah Nuff
Nearah stole the show again this episode. She was very good in the attack ad, getting in solid hits on Aurora and Makayla, and leaning into the ridiculousness of it all. Her lavender runway referencing a bride was not my favorite on the stage, but she looked good. Where Nearah continues to shine is in the way she stirs the pot and tells the other queens what she actually thinks, even if it’s not strategically smart to do so. For instance, in this week’s “Untucked” segment, when Aurora started to make her pitch on why she should get the Golden Beaver, talking about how bad she wants this, how close she came last time, and how hard she’ll work if she’s spared. Nearah immediately responsded with, “All I hear is threat, threat, threat” —accurate and savage.
I suspect some viewers might be irritated at Nearah essentially orchestrating the Safe/High queens to push the two biggest threats into the B2. But I love it. These queens are playing for real money, and Nearah was absolutely correct: If the other Safe queens made it to F4 with both Aurora and Makayla, they would have looked back on that moment and realized they handed over $100,0000. She’s right, and she should say it!
Nearah was named the winner of the challenge — controversial, but I love it. The moment when she gleefully revealed the name of the queen receiving the Golden Beaver, “Let’s find out if we’re actually playing the game,” was high camp. They will never make me hate you, Nearah Nuff.
Sami Landri
I generally enjoy Sami, but I haven’t had a real moment of LOVE with Sami this season. That changed this episode. Sami was hilarious in the ad and also very funny in the work room — you can feel her becoming more confident with this group of queens, most of whom she didn’t have connections to prior to this season. Sami probably gave us the best performance in the ad, although she didn’t go as hard on her competitors, which I consider a critical part of the challenge. She was very smart to give us Glami Landri on the runway this episode, to show range. She was a strong second place for me this episode, but with only one more competitive episode before the finale, her runway to the crown is getting real short, real fast.
Tiffany Ann Co.
Bless Tiffany. She was the worst in the challenge, but in an endearing way. Her tic of saying, “5, 6, 7, 8” between each take was so charming, while also being utterly nonsensical. She had very little presence and the poop humor was too base for this venue. Also, I say this as a Tiffany fan: She really needs to start padding. I understand that drag is art, and art is subjective, and we can’t hold queens to a specific standard of beauty. But Tiffany read boy through that whole challenge, and it was distracting. She looked stunning in the lavender runway referencing a traditional Vietnamese bridal gown.
Tiffany is now fully embracing the Roxxxy Andrews “All Stars 2” method of succeeding at “All Stars” — perform so poorly that you are no threat to anyone, and get fast tracked to the finale. I don’t think that will ultimately work out well for her, especially now that Brooke Lynn Hytes announced at the end of this episode that the Golden Beaver has been retired for the remainder of the season. But it is a strategy that has taken her further than at least three competitors who were, on paper, expected to go deep in this competition.
Because Tiffany was given the Beaver, leading to a Bottom 2 of Aurora Matrix vs. Makayla Couture, who lipsynched to “Black Eye” by Allie X. Allie X has been hit or miss for me the past few years, but this song is a major hit — I’ve been waiting for it to be a lipsync on this show. Aurora and Makayla did not disappoint. They both ate this up, delivering one of the best lipysncs of not only this series, but in all of “Drag Race” for 2026. And Aurora did it all with cat prosthetics on her face!
That said, Aurora was the clear winner for me in this — she has a wonderful musicality to her performance style — and Makayla was eliminated in 6th Place. I’m sure that was challenging for her. She came into this a very big contender, and while she never really found her groove in this competition, there is no denying that she is every inch a star. I think she already showed us significant growth from her original season, and I would welcome a return from her in the future. She has an It Factor, no question. And she’s so beautiful!
What do YOU think of “Canada’s Drag Race All Stars”? Which queens are you rooting for? Drop your comments below!
