Legendary: Season 1 Episode 3 “Circus Bezerkus” – Recap/ Review with Spoilers

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Dominique Jackson, of “Pose” fame, arrives and makes it clear she should have been a judge.

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Director(s)	Rik Reinholdtsen
Writer(s)	N/A
Aired (HBO Max)	6/4/2020
Introduced This Episode
Herself	Dominique Jackson

This content contains pertinent spoilers.

A Shady Queen Has Arrived – Dominique, Delicious, House of St. Laurent, Dashaun, Law Roach, Miracle

While Law Roach has been seen as the most critical, Dominique Jackson takes it to a whole new level. Now, mind you, for some performances, she was very much maternal, caring, and hyping them up, life for House of Escada. However, for St. Laurent, shade. But when it gets real serious is House of Gucci, especially between Delicious and Dominique.

Let it be known, from a vignette, Delicious likes a good back and forth. It even leads to one member of the House of Gucci, Miracle, to walk away since he is tired and thinks Delicious is tired. However, Delicious not appreciating Dominique’s criticism leads to a comment and Dominique, who seemingly can’t stand her chair, getting up and making proclamations. Thus leading to Law Roach and Dashaun, having to get involved and remind Dominique she is a guest and that the battle is about dance and style, not ego.

For Better, and For Worse – House of Lanvin, House of Ninja, House of Ebony, House of Gucci

Many of the houses were underwhelming this week. House of Lanvin, specifically the house mother, was noted to have struggled with her steps, and while commended for trying, it is indicated her house couldn’t hold anyone’s attention. Following that was House of Ninja who, like all houses, had an excellent dance track. But, with the song doing more to energize the judges than the performance, they too just come off lackluster.

Leading us House of Ebony and Gucci – both of which were suffering a setback. House of Ebony’s came in the form of a member, Shorty, spraining their ankle – but pulling through to make the performance. As for Gucci, as noted above, their issue was losing a member but, their performance was ace. Maybe not to Dominique but, being that she has no issue showing why she was cast as Elektra, she expects the quality that would happen at a real ball. That is, as opposed to what entertains those who aren’t necessarily qualified to be on that judging panel (we may never move past that criticism).

Old Houses In Disrepair – House of Ninja, House of St. Laurent

The two houses with the most recognizable names end up in the bottom two. House of St. Laurent for just never impressing judges and House of Ninja for the bar being raised high and them missing it. So, the vogue down comes, and Chise goes against Pretty, and Chise eats up Pretty like they are NOTHING!

Leading to, with grace, House of St. Laurent exiting the competition with no judge choosing them.

Highlights

Dominique Jackson Should Have Been A Judge

Yes, she was doing THE MOST! However, if there is one thing that judging panel needs is someone who does that. Law Roach got a mouth, but he cuts you down with an air of indifference. Ms. Jackson, all nasty, when she wanna be, half the time will give you more life than the performances which precede her giving an opinion. Which is a shame, but considering the show still wants to have the camera not focus on the performance, so viewers can get their life, it is only natural Ms. Jackson, a statuesque figure, can easily snatch your attention. Never mind be the most entertaining performer of the episode.

And don’t get me wrong, I get it isn’t about her. However, it isn’t really clear about where the bar is set. So with her performance, you can see how good you need to be. You need to be so good that Ms. Jackson isn’t the highlight but your house.

Low Point

The Cinematography Is Irritating

Can we just get a small box of judges’ reactions, or the crowds, at the bottom of the screen? I get we, as fans, aren’t judging, but the angles and someone doing too much with the editing and camera work is really making it hard to get into any performance. Making it so all you can really get into are the looks.

On The Fence

Getting To Know House Members

There is a fine line between being exploitive and entertainment, especially when working with people who have gone through what the children and parents of the houses have. However, sometimes it does feel that, to avoid the appearance of using the cast’s trauma for ratings, they hasten their story and sanitize it a bit. So while you get enough to relate, or see them as inspirational, the full weight of why this $100,000 and their house means so much is diluted.