The girls are back in the You Betta Work-room and come across Carmen's message. “I love Carmen but now it's you or me,” Yara tells us, and she sums up the tension in the room perfectly. Everyone's on edge, even Fuck It All Raja, who, underneath the callous facade, is so emotionally invested in this thing he can barely see straight from all the blinked-back tears. He's really shaken up about being in the bottom two last week, even though he annihilated Carmen Carr-blah-blah.

The She Mail siren cuts through the tension: “Hey big spenders. I OWN EVERYTHING. Or at least I act like I do. You've gotta fake it til you make it, honey. Get that coin, girl. Cause if you don't, there ain't nothin' goin' on but the rent.”

All the queens are like, “Wha-?” And Raja cuts through the crap with a well-placed eye roll and this one-word answer: “Prostitution.”

Ru swans in and explains this week's mini-challenge. Each queen has to choose a personal item to hawk to her on RuVC. Raja plays up the camp, very John Waters-esque. My brother always jokingly refers to things as “Kafkaesque,” and now I'm wondering if I've inadvertently started some kind of fucked up Internet meme. FYI, I also pronounce that “meh-may,” even though I've been told it's incorrect, because the mark of a great woman is to do things differently. Just so you know.

Manila hams it up and I laugh out loud. Yara shows off her hair. And Alexis literally peddles her ass...padding. Raja was somewhat accurate about the prostitution thing.

Ru chooses a product and it's delivered in a RuVC box to the workroom. Raja immediately gets this horrified look on his face like, “It better not be Shangela again,” and at this point in the competition, I can't blame him. Shit is being dragged out (pun intended) with two repeat queens and a clip show next week. I say sashay forward.

Yara wins the RuVC event, and this means she gets a million dollars...Ru Dollars. I know she was already picking out the shoes and the matching Beemer, because that'd be the exact same look on my face, too.

This week, Ru's throwing a “Make Dat Money” ball, and the girls must once again come up with THREE looks that they can “take to the bank”: a swimsuit, a cocktail dress and a $2 million (in Ru Dollars) evening gown eleganza. Since Yara has $3 mil, hers is expected to be even more ritzy.

This would be oodles of fun if the girls hadn't blown their creative wads the last week or two on multiple looks. Everyone's fried. Yara burns herself with her glue gun; Raja has a few false starts with her swimsuit...and then Ru comes in. He asks Alexis what she's going to make, and she confesses that she doesn't know and has no ideas. Ru asks Yara what she'd do with the $75K if she won. He said he'd move from Puerto Rico to the States and become the next Bob Mackie. Yara, seriously, can I be your Cher?

After flitting from queen to queen like the social butterfly he is, Ru drops the bomb: in addition to these three new looks, the girls must also band together to choreograph a dance number to kick off the money ball. To LaToya Jackson's Just Wanna Dance. And Yara's in charge.

At this point, Alexis can't take any more pressure and tells Yara in Spanish that he's going to leave before the ball. Um, Alexis? Even Cinderella showed up to the ball -- and that bitch had to hitch a ride there in some gooey pumpkin and wear an outfit put together by rodents. I think you can handle a few extra yards of gold lamé, girl. But she leaves, and everyone's wondering if she'll return.

Gold dangles from everything. All that glitters, I suppose. But, when the going gets tough, the tough continue to bedazzle. Eventually Alexis returns to the workroom, and lets go of the critical remarks about her body. Personally, I think Alexis looks nice in most outfits she designs, and that Michelle Visage is a little too critical. Yes, most gay men are thin and cut a waif-like figure in drag. But like I've said before, real women come in all shapes and sizes, and so should drag queens.

Upon the return of Alexis, Yara gathers the girls for the choreographed number. Raja has comically bad timing, and Yara's like, “Get it together, bitch!” Raja gives as good as she gets in the workroom, though. When we finally see Yara's evening eleganza, Raja says when Yara sits down in it, she'll look like a pile of garbage. See, girls? It feels good to get these things off your chest and relieve some stress.

It's time to hit the runway, and the dance routine goes off without a hitch. Although between the LaToya single and all the gold swimsuits I didn't know where to rest my eyes. By the way, did anyone else find it strange how Ru kept mentioning that SHE asked LaToya back? And insisted on playing her single? Girl, no one likes anyone that damn much.

But I digress. Manila kills it tonight. All of her looks are hot shit -- the swimsuit, the disco-era cocktail dress and the very detailed cut-up cash gown.

“I was inspired by the tip money you get at the end of the night, how it's all crumpled up," Manila tells the judges. Damn, Raja was totally right-on about the prostitution thing. Manila wins the challenge again this week, along with some "fine jewelry from Kathy Ireland." I put that in quotes for you, and you can thank me anytime now for realizing that's the only way to group together 'Kathy Ireland' and 'fine jewelry.'

Now for the real drama. Ru asks each queen to tell her why she should be the next drag superstar. Yara offers up her tale of wishing to move to the States to be a designer, which moves the judges to tears. Alexis tells them about how proud she'd be, and how proud she'd make them. Manila is refreshingly candid about her supportive background: “I'm not a Cinderella story, but I am an example of what a push from a supportive family can do.” And Raja brings up the waterworks again: “I want to leave a legacy for all the little boys who don't know that they can go against the grain, who don't yet know how to express themselves, who can't say “fuck you.”” I could not have made tonight's decision as a judge.

What happens next is the soul-crushing reality of show biz. Alexis and her good friend Yara must compete in the lip sync to Patti LaBelle's I Think About You and Yara literally falls apart. First her wig and clothes, then Yara herself is brought to her knees, crying uncontrollably at the thought of having lost her chance. Alexis comes to her friend's aid and everyone is SOBBING. RuPaul gracefully ends the scene with some uplifting words to Yara and an important bit of advice for the remaining girls: Showbiz is tough. If – you – do – not – love – yourself...

Yara sashays away, and then there are three.

Til next week, ladies and gents.