It’s a variety show for charity! It’s a variety show for charity! There’s no real competition here and the money gets handed out on a whim! Sorry, we felt like we needed to start this one off by shouting out that which we’ve said more or less quietly for years now. With this episode, it seemed more important than ever to reiterate this point. For good or for ill (and we’re pretty sure the charities in question would consider this year’s format good), Drag Race All Stars this season is not about drag queens trying their hardest to win challenges to prove their worth. We’ll explain why in a second, but first…
Alrighty, then. Please allow this to serve as penance for being a weensy bit late with this recap. We were preoccupied.
This is always a cutely spontaneous challenge that lets you know what the queens really think of each other and it’s always nice to see any sort of mini-challenge on an episode of All Stars.
After that, the queens were tasked with “writing” their “own” jokes for a comedy roast.
Bob showed up for no good reason, but then again, we don’t really need a good reason for a dose of Bob, now do we? It did sort of feel like the producers were afraid that everyone was going to flop so they put in a ringer to juice the crowd. They should have had more faith in the queens – or at least more faith in the connections they have.
Shannel was smoothly professional and got the job done. We honestly thought she was going to snag a badge this time.
Jorgeous was surprisingly funny and committed to her bit. Listening to the judges was smart.
Plastique, also surprisingly good.
What we’re trying to say here…
… is that every single queen delivered a smoothly funny, if somewhat generic set.
And by that, we mean that you could have plugged nearly anyone’s names into the jokes. This one is dumb, this one is a total bottom, this one is old, this one is fat, etc.
But most of the queens killed their sets or at least made their way through them rather handily.
We point all this out because sharp-eyed fans noticed that Gottmik’s entire set was a nearly word-for-word lift of a bunch of Nikki Glaser jokes. She shrugged it off when called out on it and implied that most of the queens were showing up with their jokes in hand, written by others. We don’t know if that’s true, but before the mini-scandal even erupted on social media, we thought everyone’s set had the whiff of an actual comedy writer’s influence. Whether these jokes were lifted or paid for, we couldn’t shake the feeling that the spontaneity was gone and we were watching a smoothly delivered professional comedy roast. As we said, for good or for ill, that’s what the show feels like now. To us, anyway. Everyone long ago accepted that some queens were going to show up with trunks full of the best costumes money can buy. It shouldn’t be a surprise if they’re also showing up with a file of jokes. Granted, stealing jokes is not cool at all, but showing up prepared, while it may result in a less interesting effort, isn’t a crime. It’s just boring. We’d love a season of the show with all new challenges, but Drag Race is no longer about doing the new. It’s about doing the same thing over and over.
The runway category was “Atomic Blonde” and the results were a bit of a letdown.
Category Is: Atomic Blonde! ♀️ Who’s having a great hair day? #AllStars9 pic.twitter.com/FLRDnCBRM8
— RuPaul’s Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) June 14, 2024
Shannel’s costume was pretty on point, but her Ruta Lee wig was kind of hilariously wrong for it. This woman has to piece her outfit together from scraps of leather, but somehow managed a full tease and blowout in the apocalypse? Jorgeous looked spectacular.
Plastique’s face mask was fantastic, but those exhaust pipes are overdone and surprisingly craftsy. Roxxxy’s look was a little half-assed. It was disappointing that so many of the queens went a Mad Max route with their looks because it’s a bit of a cliche at this point, but we’re sorry to say that hers was the worst of the lot.
Vanjie’s look was weird and didn’t seem to have anything to do with the category. The technique was interesting, but the costume was ultimately overdesigned and a bit awkward in shape.
Angeria was the other Mad Max homage in the group and while we can’t say that the costume is all that great, it’s at least a slightly interesting take. We’re not sure the wig works with it. Gottmik continues to use her drag in ways that tell a story about her transition, which means she’s bringing art to the runway. This is an okay look on the merits, but the underlying meaning lends it power.
Nina was the only one who did something original (in comparison to everyone else’s post-apoc take) and campy in an old-school drag sense. It was a cute look and the mushroom cloud was hilarious.
Angeria and Plastique were the somewhat arbitrary winners (we’d have given it to Shannel and Jorgeous) and faced off in another somewhat lackluster lip sync. It was fine, but we expected a bit more when “Be My Lover” started playing. If these two queens can’t turn an iconic queer track into an epic lip sync, they should have cleared the stage for someone who could. Angeria found the humor in the song and eventually got there, but Plastique spent entire portions of it not even bothering to move her mouth.
Angeria won and gave the snip to Roxxxy. Given how much is on the line (literally nothing at all), we have a hard time buying all of the wounded feelings and grudges surrounding the use of the ruby snippers. Everyone’s been using it somewhat strategically and yet everyone is also taking each snip personally. We realize drag queens are also drama queens, but we can’t say we’re feeling all that invested.
Legendary Children: The First Decade of RuPaul’s Drag Race and the Last Century of Queer Life, a New York Times “New and Notable” pick, praised by The Washington Post “because the world needs authenticity in its stories,” and chosen as one of the Best Books of The Year by NPR is on sale wherever fine books are sold! It’s also available in Italian and Spanish language editions, darlings! Because we’re fabulous on an INTERNATIONAL level.
[Photo Credit: Paramount Plus via Tom and Lorenzo, World of Wonder Productions, Inc./Paramount+]
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