Coming out of the same studio that gave us RuPaul's Drag Race, and stacked with a whole crew of former contestants, Stop! That! Train! plays like RuPaul basically taking a bow for the entire franchise she's built. It's not really a gay film in the traditional sense, but with so many drag stars from Ru's shows popping up alongside a few cameos from well known out gay actors, I figured it earns a spot on this blog anyway. The whole thing is completely over the top, packed with GenZ slang, loud flashy visuals, and humor that's constantly winking at you knowing how ridiculous it is. Going in you'd assume it's meant to be a laugh riot, and a lot of critics online seem to be eating it up, but I just couldn't get into it at all. I've never really been someone who vibes with campy silly stuff like this, so honestly my reaction doesn't surprise me one bit. The setup follows Tess and DeeDee, two low level stewardesses who sneak onto the fancy Glamazonian E...
I remember really liking the sassiness of the first season, so I was actually pretty excited to dive into season two. But honestly, I’ve gotta say this latest round was a bit of a letdown compared to the original. The jokes just didn't land for me, the humor felt like it was trying too hard, and the whole thing just felt a little off. There are seven episodes in total, starting with a special that aired a few months ago for Pride. In that one, Cam and his drag family try to do a story hour, but the crowd isn't exactly feeling the vibe.
To catch you up: Cam and Greg are this solid couple who previously tried a poly thing with a younger guy named Princeton, which totally crashed and burned. They’ve got lesbian neighbors, and one of them is tight with Princeton. Even though the poly thing failed, the couple is still determined to have threesomes, so each episode follows their search for a third. In one bit, Cam brings home a guy from the gym who looks exactly like Greg—they thought the whole "twin energy" thing would be hot, but it was a disaster. Meanwhile, Princeton is feeling totally left out until the couple realizes they’ve been jerks to him. They eventually show up at his naked sex party (which is the one episode that goes all out on the steam) to say sorry, only to run into a guy they’ve already hooked up with. We also get Christmas and New Year's episodes where Cam’s family and their wild friends show up, and the parents definitely get an eyeful. It all leads to Cam deciding to come out to his folks about being in an open relationship. The finale is this weird puppet show where the puppets look just like the cast and basically recap their entire lives.
This season pretty much picks up where we left off, though Cam is missing his signature mustache for the first few episodes. It tries to show how their relationship is evolving as they hunt for that perfect "third," which is an interesting topic since things like polyamory and ethical non-monogamy are still mostly talked about in hushed tones. But even with the cool concept, the execution felt flat to me this time around. The Christmas special and that final puppet episode were honestly just boring. They did try to throw in some twists, like Princeton exploring a bisexual side with a dominatrix, and they even introduced a deaf guy as a potential poly partner, which was a nice touch of representation. But was it enough to save the show? Not really. Even though the lead couple is still super cute and they don't have a ton of unnecessary drama, the constant, super obvious product placement in almost every scene really killed the mood for me.
The leads are still good-looking and have that saucy energy, but I definitely needed more substance than what we got here. I wouldn't go as far as to say I was heartbroken, but I was definitely underwhelmed by the whole experience. (4/10)
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