Long ago, before the invention of HD television or smart phones, when RuPaul’s Drag Race was underwritten entirely by Nasty Pig and HIV med advertisements, we used to consistently praise the show for the creative and energetic challenges the producers used to devise for the queens. Now, they just hand them a card and tell them to get to it.
To be fair, the idea of a series of musical numbers based on iconic Drag Race moments is a cute one, if a bit too self-referential. There was also a time when the show was very good about pulling references from all over pop culture and LGBTQ history (some bitches even wrote a book about that), but in latter seasons, it only seems interested in referencing itself, which tends to make the entire endeavor feel smaller and more insular now.
Anyway, the queens all pulled their acts out of Bruno’s box and… that’s about the extent of the preparations we see. Sure, they delivered a highly edited package showing the queens running through their performances, but there were no choreo or track-recording scenes and no one showed up to direct or coach them. They were on their own and that felt kinda shitty on the show’s part. They used to bring in world class photographers, recording artists and dancers to help the queens out but that kind of scene is exceedingly rare these days. The production couldn’t even be bothered setting up a shooting space for the queens. They had to do all of their numbers in the Werk Room for some reason.
Through no fault of the queens, it all felt incredibly half-assed and lackluster. Anyway, Lydia and Lana did okay for themselves.
Joella wasn’t bad. As much as we tend to think she’s not ready for the competition, we were a bit surprised to see her in the bottom after this.
Jewels and Arietty also did okay. Really, no one did a terrible job on this one, but most of them didn’t do all that great a job either. When you hand these queens half-assed challenges, they’re going to give you half-assed results.
Hormona. Meh.
Crystal’s number was pretty strong. We don’t yet know if she’s a threat as a performer, but she’s definitely very energetic and committed.
Kori’s was absolutely terrible. She insists that she’s the funniest person in the room and yet she almost never gets any laughs. Rewearing the same terrible outfit from last week was certainly a choice. Not a particularly smart one, but a choice nonetheless.
Suzi really shocked us this week. She’s way more versatile than she let on and these queens underestimate her at their peril. Until Onya came out, we thought she might have had this one in the bag.
Acacia and Sam were…just okay.
Just about as flawless a performance as you can expect under these circumstances. Onya blew the other queens out of the water and we suspect they’ll be gunning for her after this.
Lexi sold the hell out of her number as well. We’d say a lot of these queens have the potential to be really performers, but the show hasn’t yet given them a chance to show it.
Category Is: Quilted For Your Pleasure! Which lewk is patchwork perfection? #DragRace pic.twitter.com/07TVHkvBIF
— RuPaul’s Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) January 25, 2025
Rating the safe girls first: Lydia Butthole continues to make herself obscure and hard to parse. Girl, you need to have a brand and a look established at this point in the competition. We shouldn’t be saying “Now who’s this again?” every time she hits the runway. Lana’s look was fun, creative, and colorful. Even better, it was a little unexpected coming from her. Jewels’ look is gorgeous but we’re starting to get the impression that her drag tends to render her a little less interesting. In other words, she’s got a distinct look and personality out of drag, but it’s almost like her drag tamps down on those qualities. Credit where it’s due: Hormona’s look was great and it was one of the better attempts at embodying the category. Sam’s look was beautiful and campy. Acacia’s look was fine, but we cringed when we heard that she cut up her grandma’s lace and quilts to make it. Lexi served high fashion once again.
As for those tops and bottoms, Joella pretty much earned her elimination with this one, proving that the final runway look sometimes counts more than the actual challenge. Arietty’s look is stunning and we were happy to see the judges call it out for not fitting the brief, which is something they routinely fail to do. Michelle has a point about her makeup, but we can tell she doesn’t want to hear it. Crystal’s look is simply perfect; both tacky and gorgeous.
Like her performance, Suzie’s drag was a bit of a shock this week. Good for her. Just as we and the judges started thinking she was fatally limited, she breaks out of her shell beautifully. Onya’s look was amazing; beautiful, meaningful, and exuberantly stylish. Sorry to Kori but we didn’t get a screencap of her look. It was okay, but we agreed that the train and hair both needed to be much bigger. She came in talking a lot of smack, but the competition keeps smacking her back in response. We wonder if she’s going to buckle down a little after this week.
Congrats to Onya on an incredibly well-deserved win.
Meh. We’d hardly call it an epic lip sync. Kori won it simply by being slightly more energetic.
No offense, but when she was complaining that the other queens were more concerned about the queen she sent home last week we kinda figured she was heading toward the door. The drag just wasn’t up to the show’s level and she seemed chronically defensive about her own place in the competition.
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: MTV via Tom and Lorenzo]
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