Hittin’ The Road
Episode 2 of AJ And The Queen begins with AJ and Robert heading out to the diner together and as they size each other up, Robert eventually caves and agrees to take her to Texas, thanks in part to an awkward moment involving the waitress. He phones Louis soon after to discuss what’s going on, leading him to get off the phone as the Lady Danger sting begins to be set into motion. After stopping AJ from stealing candy at the gas station, they hit the road again where AJ throws a temper tantrum as she realizes she’s left her phone in the diner. He phones and promises to get it back for her and as day turns to night, Ruby returns to the drag scene in Pittsburgh, and face to face with Alma. Dressed up as Ruby, he and AJ have a heart to heart about the past, prompting Ruby to head back and speak to Alma about his real situation and how Hector has cheated him out of his money. It’s enough for them to be on the same page for now, and just in time for the evening performance too. At the last second however, Ruby decides to do a different number. Back at Robert’s apartment, Lady Danger arrives and Louis lets her in, where we see Officer Patrick acting as a drag act. Louis phones through and informs of the situation; Lady Danger was the one who told Damien (his real name of course rather than the fake persona Hector) about the money and police wind up banging on his apartment door, leading our con-man to scramble outside. At the drag show, Ruby puts on a performance, partly for AJ as she sings about female empowerment. Our little rebel however heads back to the RV where she sits and snips off her hair, cutting furiously at it with a pair of scissors. As we cut to her Mum working the streets, she winds up arrested and drops her phone. In the morning Louis phones through to Robert where it’s revealed for real that Lady Danger and Damien are working together. Knowing that they’re heading for Pittsburgh, the duo rush out the car park and back to the diner to find AJ’s phone. Only, when they get there Lady Danger and Damien happen to be sitting together eating. While AJ heads back and grabs his phone, Robert hides himself. On the way out the door, AJ uses a knife to slash Damien’s tyres and with the duo finally on the same page, they prepare to leave. Only, as they do the RV reverses into another car leaving things on a cliffhanger. With a more consistent vibe this time around the road trip in full swing, AJ And The Queen knuckles down and delivers a much more straight forward slice of drama. Already the episodic format is coming into play, although the Lady Danger/Damien team-up doesn’t feel that interesting if I’m honest. It also doesn’t help that AJ’s constant screaming fits and temper tantrums quickly become tiresome after a while. Still, despite the gripes the episode does have a few comedic gems and Robert’s charm is enough to keep this one entertaining.
