Beaulah episode 6 recap: The people's princess

This week in Beaulah: Queens van die Kaap Season 1 episode 6, BB and the Haus of Vahlour put on a show in at Miss Gay Lavender Hill pageant, Maxine and Emogan teach us drag etiquette during Maxine’s performance at Zero21, and there are hazards and hilarity on the putt-putt course as the queens play neon blacklight mini-golf. Oh, and best believe people are going to be talking about what Madison posted on Instagram following the Miss Sovereign pageant. 

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

What happened in Beaulah: Queens van die Kaap Season 1 episode 5

Manila had a heart-to-heart with Kat about his mom’s refusal to tell him anything about his absent father. But most of the episode centred on the frantic final preparations for the Miss Sovereign Western Cape Pageant, with Madison teaming up to put on a show at the event with Manila, Ina and BB competing for the crown, Kat and Emogan judging, and Maxine and Manila helping contestants backstage, where Maxine revealed that she’d had a foursome with Manila, Emogan and a third (unnamed) person in Knysna. But the real scandal of the episode came at the end when Madison went off on social media after the pageant, accusing BB of “stealing” the First Princess title from her friend Larissa Lalla Gordon, Maxine of being “evil”, and overall winner Ina and runner-up BB of only winning because they were filming a TV show. On her Instagram Madion posted, “A thief & skollie as 1st Princess. Disgusting.” And “LARISSA GORDON WAS ROBBED. She is the people’s Miss Sovneighn (sic) and will forever be seen as the true Queen in all our hearts” 

And now, in episode 6…

The people’s princess

When BB and the Haus of Vahlour show up and show out at the Miss Gay Lavender Hill pageant to a cheering Cape Flats crowd of all ages, you’d think it was a spinning event! It’s a clap back to anyone who criticised BB’s win as Miss Sovereign’s First Princess. BB’s beat is immaculate and the face card stands up to full sunlight. She also throws herself heart and soul into performing, even doing a jump-split right there on the cement! In doing so, BB honours her first drag mentor, the pageant’s late founder and icon, Gita Hendricks. 

The scene shows us how drag queens play a vital role in keeping their community a safe space for queer people. "The place was packed, everyone was so excited, and everyone respected the gays and the Mabels (drag queens). We're so respected in the Cape Flats and areas like that. We do have conservative people, but even they are respectful because they also grew up with a gay uncle, or aunt, or cousin in the same house," says BB. And that’s why, as Maxine later points out to Ina in her new role as Miss Sovereign, visibility is so important. 

PS: The title of Miss Gay Lavender Hill 2023 went to Alicia Amy Connersia, while Larrissa Gordon was crowned First Princess. 

Move b*****, get out the way

If you’ve been itching to see Maxine put on a show, this is it. Drag Cartel’s “killer queen” is at Zero21 Social. With all her friends having called off or out of town, Maxine says, “Support doesn’t always mean you need to be (physically) present. Support is sometimes just a phone call or a message.” But that’s before Emogan makes a surprise return from her road trip to hug Maxine in her dressing room. 

And we find out why having your crew show up for you in person is so important when Maxine tries to skirt drama with one audience member who wants the spotlight on herself. Maxine just tells her, “Baby, next time allow me to do my number and stand on the side, hey?” And later we see Emogan take her aside for a gentle chat about the rules. But we squirmed while watching “Q” get called out and asked whether she brought enough audacity for the whole class.

The scene also gives Maxine the opportunity to chat about some trans women’s frustrations within the drag community, when people underestimate how much work goes into going from being a woman, to performing hyper femininity. (And if you love a drag hair loaf, enjoy the behind the scenes look at what it takes to get the look). 

Glow in the dark drag queen mini-golf

We didn’t know that what we really needed as a Thursday pick-me-up was Emogan dressed up like an orange highlighter, but here we are, playing blacklight neon alien mini-golf with a gil of drag queens whose shoes are in no way appropriate for the course. 

Drag mafia mama Maxine plays some impressive trick shots, while Ina pulls our favourite putt-putt trick shot by nudging the ball into the hole with her hand when all else fails. “I wasn’t cheating, I made my own rules,” says an unrepentant Ina. 

It’s silliness all round. Things to watch for include Manila getting attacked by her wig, Kat calling Madison to order when she tries to brush her Instagram messiness under the rug while claiming that everyone has made a big deal out of nothing, and the Drag Cartel girls showing up so late that Kat, Madison and Ina have nearly played the whole course without them. In this world there’s late … and then there’s drag queen late. And it turns out Manila’s bang on the money when she proposes a full-drag get together as a way of discouraging everyone from fighting because they’ll be too tightly packed into their drag to take a deep breath and scream. 

The 3 most Madison moments of the week

“That’s my mommy.” Madison has been sounding off about Maxine but when she asks how Dee knows so much about the Drag Cartel, Dee reminds her that Maxine is her drag mom. 

In her villain era? Madison wears this on-the-nose Scar from the Lion King sweatshirt during her diary segment seconds after we see Manila warn her that she’s coming across as the villain!

The struggle is real! Dee jokes that Madison is creating her dance performance mixes on a dusty and busted “prison break” laptop. 

Let’s play Drag Detective

Okay, so maybe this is a tinfoil hat moment. But did Madison edit her post, or did Beaulah make a tiny slip while recreating the post for episode 6 and leave out the ampersand?

PS: While the format of the second post differs between the episodes, the message is the same down to the spelling mistakes.

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

Catch up quick: Read our Beaulah Who’s Who, our guide to Gayle in episodes 1-5, the Beaulah: Queens van die Kaap Season 1 recaps for episode 1 and episode 2. And the highlights for episode 3 and episode 4.