‘The Veronicas: Blood Is For Life’ S1E3 Recap: They Said Gay Rights!
If The Veronicas ever break up, we guarantee it will be over a cursed black latex outfit.
We regret to report a homicide: Jess Origliasso was slaughtered by her sister Lisa. The weapon? A devastating comeback.
Even if Jess was ‘right’ in their blow-up over that pesky, arguably cursed black latex outfit, Lisa’s cutting line about Jess using a lot of therapy buzzwords to make her point is the kind of cruel burn only someone who knows you very, very well can make.
And then there’s the line: “The higher your hair gets, the more of a bitch you’re being.” Considering the twins were freaking out about hair loss earlier, they may want to give up the high ponytail — Jojo Siwa’s hairline is a warning.
I’m worried for her!
Given how much time The Veronicas spend together, we’re a little surprised they’re not at each other’s throats more often. Unlike previous dramas, their fight this episode felt genuine, in the way that a slight miscommunication over an outfit would implode and suck in the detritus of every resentment along the way.
Things escalate quickly, and take an odd tone when Jess stars dropping lines about accountability and admitting your mistakes, which, in this instance, refers to Lisa forgetting to pack a costume. It’s a bit much for the situation, and reeks of when someone overuses a therapy lens for all social grievances, or uses lines about self-care or manipulation to describe eating ice-cream or someone being mean.
But Lisa knows where Jess’ reaction comes from, as do we, having seen the way she talks about her relationship with Ruby Rose — it’s easy to be empathetic, even if she’s being a little extra.
The two move on when Lisa realises that she’s ‘in the wrong’, aka Jess did text her about the outfit. Things subside: unlike other issues, this one doesn’t seem like it’s played up for the cameras. Neither does too much this episode, as we’re allowed to just watch the duo’s tour life, which is naturally far more interesting than beauty visit breakouts or cooking pasta in a microwave.
We’re half-way through the season, and The Veronicas are finally doing something — their mini US Pride tour takes up the whole episode, and it’s no surprise that tensions are running high. These shows must be incredibly stressful: a lot of effort, travel, and time for one or two songs. But they do it for the gays.
It’s nice to see a female pop group with a queer member perform at queer events. While Jess is far from the only LGBTIQ pop star, it’s clear the shows mean a lot to her, and that pride doesn’t have to be a pure brand/band pandering.
And the gays lapped it up.
‘The Three Horsewomen Of The Gay Apocalypse’
The Veronicas’ mini Pride tour hits New Orleans, Chicago, LA and New York, with a couple of promo spots along the way. Every section of the show more or less follows the same format: excitement, minor complication, stress, then everything is fine.
While that doesn’t sound terribly exciting — and it can be a little jarring that the edit often leaves scenes without much in the way of a conclusion or reflective narration — The Veronicas have gotten a lot better at playing to the cameras with side-eyes. The show is essentially made for reaction gifs, and each episode is more entertaining than the last.
Take, for instance, their twin-question only interview. This single shot says everything you need to know:
‘I will kill you’
Perfect. But if one thing’s clear from the show, The Veronicas are pros — they’ll answer the twin questions with energy and excitement, or improvise when the sound stops working at their live show by dragging out Courtney Act, who is contractually obliged to appear on every single reality TV show.
We didn’t know they all grew up together, let alone had a Spice Girls cover band: it’s further proof that Australia isn’t so much a case of six degrees of separation as it is one or two. We all know each other.
Speaking of Australia, next week the girls are back in QLD to see their mum. Ah, God’s country.
The Veronicas: Blood Is For Life airs each Sunday at 6pm on MTV Australia, with episodes available on Foxtel and on MTV’s website.
Jared Richards is a staff writer at Junkee, and co-host of Sleepless In Sydney on FBi Radio. He is on Twitter.