With the first real performing challenge put to them, the girls of season 17 have revealed themselves to possess the two qualities most likely to produce a fun if not downright legendary season of Drag Race: they’re game to try anything and they’re also kind of messy on camera.
The queens are all getting a little antsy because the ones who think they should be skating through the competition are not getting the reception they expected and the ones considered by the other queens to be expendable are getting all the attention from the judges. We might normally suspect shenanigans in order to get the queens all riled up, but some of those supposed frontrunners really have stalled and some of those supposed cannon fodder queens have turned out to be more than they first appeared. In other words, the so-called “Kumbaya queens” are not so easily dismissed.
If there’s one thing any queen should know about how Drag Race judges its contestants at this point, it’s that Ru and the producers love the rough queens who aren’t afraid to get a little stupid with their drag. The perfectly polished ones always seem to take a little too long to pick up on that fact.
Still, despite the rising tension, it does seem like the queens all get along pretty well right now. While there was a little bit of snippiness over who got to play which role, it never really went anywhere and no one seems to have any lingering grudges over it. As for the actual performances…
There wasn’t one disaster in the bunch. Unfortunately, there were only a handful of standouts. The overriding impression we got from the group as a whole was “competent.”
Which isn’t to say no one stood out. The other queens still don’t seem to understand what a threat Onya is, although we think they’re starting to figure it out after this week. She was polished and confident, if not particularly funny.
But that’s the thing about these comedy sketch challenges. No one really needs to be all that funny because the material itself isn’t remotely funny. They just want to see you do it with your whole chest and figure out a way to make the poor material work. Onya aced it. Kori and Arietty, who both walk around that Werk Room like they shit ice cream, were awkward. They had a lot of energy but no real connection to the material, poor as it was. Lana was surprisingly fun.
This sketch was pretty painful to watch, not least because there wasn’t one funny line or moment written into it. Just saying “beaver” over and over again isn’t funny to anyone but 12-year-old boys. Hormona was surprisingly polished and game. She had a character in mind and she stuck to it, although we can’t say she found any comedy in her lines. Sam was a comedic void. Jewels’ idea to go Australian was cute, but she never took it anywhere.
Lexi did okay. Crystal was stiff. While we can’t say we found Suzie’s performance hilarious, she was one of the few queens who actually delivered a full performance. We knew she was going to win it practically from the moment she opened her mouth.
Painful to watch. Acacia wasn’t bad, but it was clear that Lydia had no idea how to play a Golden Girls reference. We tend to criticize the show for being too hung up on Boomer and Gen X pop culture references when the contestants are all Millennials or Zoomers, but in this one instance, we have to take Ru’s side. Even a young queen should be somewhat familiar with Sophia Petrillo and her mannerisms.
Category Is: Tickled Pink! Which lewk had you thinking LOVE Pink a la @ThorgyThor? #DragRace pic.twitter.com/LQpAodsEE1
— RuPaul’s Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) February 1, 2025
The safe girls really earned the title this week. Kori’s serving yet another low-rent drag look. Lana’s was surprisingly mumsy. Jewels’ flared pants were pretty cute. Crystal’s bubblegum showgirl was just okay, as was Lexi’s. Acacia is serving up boy in a dress week after week, which would be fine if he was doing some sort of genderfuck drag.
We wonder if Onya’s runway look hurt her chances this week, because it’s kind of awkwardly unflattering. Arietty’s looks is stunning. Hormona’s is very pretty and pageanty, if a little dull.
Sam’s showgirl drag is boring. It’s hilarious that the queens serving the most basic looks all came for Suzie’s clown drag. While we wouldn’t call it the most stunning look in the show’s history, it’s got true personality to it. Of course, no one’s look had as much personality as Lydia’s big fuzzy dick.
She nailed it. And while we think her cockiness and over-reliance on a very specific style of drag is eventually going to trip her up, the other girls are idiots if they’re still dismissing her at this point.
But the big shock of the episode was that Lydia is something of a secret lip sync assassin. Arietty gave it her all, and it was considerable, but Lydia was the clear winner of the show down.
We tend to think the producers realized rather quickly that the badonka dunk tank was a stupid idea and simply cleared it out of the competition as early as possible. Or maybe it just doesn’t bother us this time because it really did feel like Arietty deserved a second chance. Either way, some of the trash-talking girls are ending this week a little chastened while some of the so-called kumbaya queens have reason to feel a little more cocky about their chances.
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]
Previous post:
Paris Fashion Week: Elie Saab Spring 2025 Couture Collection Next Post:
T LOunge for February 3rd 2024
Paris Fashion Week: Elie Saab Spring 2025 Couture Collection Next Post:
T LOunge for February 3rd 2024
-
RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE: Let’s Get Sea Sickening Ball
-
RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE: Bitch, I’m a Drag Queen!
-
Pop Style Opinionfest: The “Emilia Pérez” Problem and Other Oscar Nomination Topics
Please review our Community Guidelines before posting a comment. Thank you!
