The Final Detour
Episode 9 of AJ And The Queen begins with AJ and Robert arriving in Texas. With their journey coming to an end, and Ruby’s gig cancelled at Fancypants, they head off to visit one of Robert’s friends, Beth Barnes. At her house, they’re allowed to stay for the night, much to the disdain of AJ who itches to get going, while back at Robert’s apartment Briana and Louis come to blows, with Briana threatening to sue him after hearing that Robert is out and about with AJ and that her daughter broke her arm. As he leaves, Robert cosies up to the Barnes family while AJ goes exploring in the house, finding Adam hiding out in the “off-limits” room. While AJ stays with him all night, in the morning Robert is convinced to do a performance as Ruby but her proposal is cut short when AJ drinks some of the grapefruit juice which happens to have vodka inside. As Robert takes her upstairs to lie down, she tells him she loves him. Louis phones Robert and they discuss what to do with AJ, and how he cares about her. Louis tells him he cares about Robert too, leading Officer Patrick to overhear and subsequently storm out the house. As he does, Ruby is convinced to stay at the party for an additional $1000 that evening. It’s an uncomfortable performance too, and one that sees everyone around pay barely any attention to him. The ones who do throw disapproving glances his way. Although Beth does head down and join in with the dancing, she eventually leaves him high and dry. Afterward, Beth and AJ come to blows, leading him upstairs to discuss things together in private, where they clear the air and appear to be on the same side. Afterward, Robert learns that Adam and AJ have left, driving the RV but unfortunately tipping it over on the way out the front gates. Rushing outside, he takes AJ inside and the two share a tender moment as he admits that it’s hard to let her go. In the morning, Robert and AJ hit the road again while Adam joins the family. Instead of heading to Pop Pop’s however, they decide instead to go to Dallas for the big drag event. As we reach the penultimate slice of drag action, AJ And The Queen injects the series with some nice feel-good vibes and poignant moments. Seeing Robert and AJ hugging it out in their room was a really powerful moment and seeing what these two have been through together, is enough to make this a really heartwarming moment. With plenty of drama surrounding Briana and our dastardly duo still out on the run too, there’s plenty of unanswered questions left hanging over this one going into the finale.
