Beaulah: Queens van die Kaap episode 9 recap: It's giving mother

This week in Beaulah: Queens van die Kaap Season 1 episode 9, everyone gossips about and analyses the events of the weekend away until the bones are sucked dry. Manila and Ina go fabric shopping together, and Ina makes a special gesture to boost Manila’s ego. Madison goes round to her mom’s for lunch and gets schooled on how to dodge drama like an adult. The queens attend the debut event for the film Runs in the Family and thrill at seeing their names in the credits. Maxine’s drag daughter Chenal LeCap prepares for her performance at the Cartel’s first-ever drag brunch … which starts over an hour late! And it’s time to lipread the lip sync (for copyright reasons) as Kat puts on a 3 Divas show with Angel and Jayde.

Stream Beaulah: Queens van die Kaap Season 1 on Showmax now. New episodes on Thursdays. 

1. Sisterhood of the stolen earring

While Ina/Wade and Manila/Veon are fabric shopping together, the two gossip about the weekend and we find out a little something we didn’t see in episode 8 – apparently Manila threw out some prawns in the dustbin in his suite and by the end of the weekend, his whole room stank of old fish. Whoops! 

But Ina takes a moment to tell Manila how much he loves him as a friend, admires him as a mentor, and looks up to him as a performer. To illustrate what he’s saying, Ina admits that the first time they performed together, he stole a little something of Manila’s. And he takes a giant silver hoop earring out of his bag, in its own special display case. No, Manila cannot have it back. Ina tells him that he keeps it as a reminder of the kind of queen he wants to be. It’s a moment for misty eyes and hugs before Ina gets overcome with sentiment and tries to run away!

2. Mother knows best

Madison visits her mom, Rene Pool, and her little brother, Joshua. As Madison tells her mom about the weekend, Rene digs into a couple of details, and then she has a few pointers for Madison. 

Firstly, mama points out why Manila was offended by BB claiming her dancers were rough. Next, Madison’s mom pulls her up on referring to the likes of Kat and Manila as “old queens”, and suggests that seasoned queens would be far less offensive and respectful of their experience. Oh, and she’s not done. Mama also gently scolds Madison for her “unnecessary” social media posts following the Miss Sovereign Pageant. She tells Madison, “Every time someone said something, you needed to answer. So stop it if you want to claim that you’re grown up and that you’re mature around these things. Everybody has feelings.” And she advises Madison to mind her business if Manila and BB have beef. 

Sjoe, you’re never a celebrity at mommy’s table. Not done with putting her daughter in her place, Rene teases that when Madison transitioned, she thought she’d be getting a daughter who cooked and cleaned. Ah well. Instead she got one who serves. 

3. BB spits money

Manila, Kat and Ina are metaphorically tapping their watches when The Drag Cartel queens roll up an hour late to their own first-ever drag brunch. It’s chaos left and right as the Cartel queens take another hour to get ready, with Emogan still running through the order of business with the MC and the queens scrambling into drag. There are missed cues, and a little panic in the dressing room. Despite the snags, the Drag Cartel queens turn it out in front of their audience, kicking, bucking, flirting, and showing everyone a great time. 

Want a showstopper? They’ve got you. BB comes out in her little cocoon and overperforms until she busts out of it to reveal black leather harnesses and lingerie, with her body snatched for the gods. A little shimmy, a little lip sync seduction later, BB leans in to take her first tip with her teeth. With all her strutting and prowling, she embodies the music as a cheering audience puts more and more money where her mouth is. By the end of the number, BB looks like an ATM on payday as she goes into a backbend and spits the money up into the air. The stunt has Kat, Ina and Manila leaping out of their seats, waving, cheering and screaming with excitement. Brunch has been eaten. No crumbs. 

3 hold up, pause! Manila moments

1. Madison without her follicles?!

The queens really let their hair down during the weekend and Ina and Manila share their surprise at seeming Madison with her unit. Ina jokingly calls Madison “Lionel Ritchie”, and claims that she looked like someone’s 12-year-old child lost at the mall. 

2. Manila’s suit

Bury us now, we’re dead! Manila wanted to wear something androgynous for the film premier, so she sewed this little suit for herself in just a few hours. Some of us (cough cough) take longer to get in drag.

3. Emogan powers through

The Drag Cartel’s brunch is fraught with technical hitches. In his talking head, Manila imitates the malfunctioning sound system that could have wrecked Emogan’s number. But Emogan powers through it, keeping every eye on her without a sign of nerves. In Ina’s admiring words, “Emogan burned the building down”. 

Stream Beaulah: Queens van die Kaap Season 1 on Showmax now. Season finale on Thursday, 19 September. 

Catch up quick: Read our Beaulah Who’s Who, our guide to Gayle in episodes 1-5, and 20 things you didn’t know about drag queens.