Andy DehnartFrom the possible death of butterflies to a sad robot getting a hug, Big Brother 20‘s second episode and RuPaul’s Drag Race season 10’s finale left me with a lot of unanswered questions.
So here’s my recap of each, in the form of those questions.
RuPaul’s Drag Race ends, and so do some butterflies
Was Asia O’Hara’s disastrous lip sync performance the most disappointing and shocking flame-out in the show’s history?
How many butterflies died? (Asia’s answer and apology, which says she spent “months of research and rehearsing with a professional company” and will now volunteer for the ASPCA, doesn’t say.)
Did the butterflies fly away like doves during rehearsal? Where were they supposed to go? Will this be the end of trying to one-up each other with revealing hidden things in their costumes?
Beyond Asia’s performance, were these the most lackluster lip-syncs in the show’s finale history? Did Eurkea actually know the words to either song?
Was RuPaul’s decision to not choose a winner between Eureka and Aquaria a clear signal that Kameron Michaels was not going to win, because RuPaul wanted to choose between Eureka and Aquaria? Or was it just a cop-out to avoid angering their fans?
Even if Aquaria’s win was well-deserved and a fine ending, did it not still seem like the strongest season in the show’s history deflated into a limp version of itself these past three weeks?
Will the conversations that started on the reunion continue? Will they affect future seasons, and perhaps even change the show? Or nah?
Does Oprah actually watch Drag Race regularly, or just know about it from interviewing RuPaul? What about Judi Dench?
Big Brother has its first nominees
Was the first HOH nominating the two oldest people and weakest challenge competitors what Big Brother producer Allison Grodner was referring to when she said, “the game just sort of takes off for the beginning”? Or is the most-obvious, least-interesting move now qualify as a season taking off?
Was having Sam’s picture show up as a robot on the nomination screen the best part of the episode? Why was there so much recapping, and so little content for what was billed as the second part of the season premiere?
Were the HOH challenge balance beams supposed to teeter from side to side, or was that just a crappy challenge build? Is it too early in the season to have a challenge where they target each other, or is it a good way of stoking tension?
Can we please stop with the technology themed challenges?
Is the robot punishment making it easier to turn Sam into a target? Did the producers decide in advance when to force her to be a robot, or are they making arbitrary calls and screwing with her game even more?
Does it make sense to form alliances this early, since they nearly always fall apart?
When Tyler said he was going to lay low, was he referring to winning HOH and then starting to accuse others of plotting against him?
Was Tyler hugging Sam the robot in the supply room cute or creepy? Where is Sam when she’s operating the robot?
Is the result of the first App Store popularity contest—the person who had the least number of votes and their punishment was revealed on the live feeds last night—as disappointing as it seems? And is it potentially a sign that some BB viewers are as bigoted as some of the show’s contestants?
Are many of my questions here just a way of reframing sarcasm and disguising judgment?