Ooooh, girl! There was blood on the studio floor when all was said and done with this episode. Snatch Game is famously the most difficult and intimidating of all the Drag Race challenges and the queens of Season 17 did a spectacular job of illustrating why.
We have no idea why these queens were so excited about the challenge, since almost none of them had any sort of game plan going into it.
Ru and Alyssa came in to the Werk Room for a walk-through. She makes one of the best queens to coach the girls for this challenge because she’s an absolute master at getting loose and stupid with herself, which is pretty much the main job of Snatch Game. Keep it loose, keep it funny, always have an answer. Apparently, most of them weren’t listening.
And now, for one of the most pathetic Snatch Games in the history of Drag Race. Behold a bunch of bitches with no jokes.
She had the a look (it’s generic rather than recognizably Paytas), no voice or connection to the character, and no jokes.
She had the look and the voice, but no jokes. We’ve been noting all season that her cockiness was getting more intense with each week. She was downright delusional about it in Untucked and even tried to claim that Ru wasn’t familiar enough with Ellen Greene to understand her performance. Bitch, you really aren’t all that.
Looks and voice, no jokes. But we were with the judges on this one: sometimes, just being a natural comic wins the game. Alyssa Edwards did just about the worst Joan Crawford in the history of drag and Ru almost wet his pants laughing at her. Lexi managed to do something almost no other queen up there did: she made us laugh, more than once.
Admittedly, she was the total package: looks, voice, jokes. She wasn’t particularly funny, but she was smooth and professional; the very picture of a pageant queen. The judges were right to note that she needs to loosen up. Hopefully, the way they praised Lexi’s sloppy performance will register with her.
Honestly. What the fuck, girl. No jokes, no voice, no look. Absolutely the worst of the lot.
It really says something about the other queens that they’re so slow to realize who the frontrunner is. Suzie Delusional was pissing and moaning that Onya just played herself, which strikes us as vaguely racist. If you can’t see the difference between Onya and her version of Eddie, are you really looking? This was a fantastic performance. She had the look (although she could’ve recreated one of Eddie’s film or standup costumes), she had the voice, she had the jokes AND she had the mannerisms down. Good on her for COMPLETELY ignoring Ru’s Boomer obsessions. Lady, let it go. Barry White hasn’t had a chart hit in nearly half a century.
Just a costume. She literally had one line — “I’m just a baby” — and we find it kind of shocking that she ever convinced herself that was enough.
We’re a little less shocked that Lydia had no jokes or connection to the character because, put bluntly, her drag has been mostly forgettable all season. David Lynch had an extremely distinctive voice and she didn’t even make half an attempt to do it. She literally just spoke in her own, 20-something voice. Great makeup job, though.
Jewels took a risk and it paid off. She didn’t go into it assuming that a look and a voice was going to be enough. She had jokes and a point of view. As goofy as this character was, you felt like you knew her. “That’s blood” was such a good comeback we think it almost won her the prize for the week.
Shrug. Whatever. She didn’t look like her or really sound like her.
All she had was the voice, which is extremely easy to do.
Category Is: Nailed It! Which lewk is your fave? #DragRace pic.twitter.com/ozOUfe2yAB
— RuPaul’s Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) February 15, 2025
Starting with the safe girls: Credit where it’s due, Acacia turned out a pretty great look. She just needs to show a little more diversity in her makeup and wigs. Suzie also turned out a fairly amazing look. She clearly thought she was the total package this week. Kori continues to be the most basic trash-talker the show’s ever had. Her look is sort of cute, but like most of her drag, it feels half-assed. Lydia also managed a pretty good look, but we reiterate our opinion that her drag lacks a point of view and tends to be easily forgettable.
We said last week that we tend to get bored with body-serving drag, but Lexi’s look is exactly how to do it and keep the interest high. It’s got a real point of view and sells a character. Sam’s surprisingly hard-edged take on plastic surgery was clever and unexpected. Love the wig.
Lana’s look had wit, but the design needed to go further. It’s not immediately obvious that the skirt is a hand. Crystal took a risk with this one. We liked the concept, but the execution was somewhat lacking. The bottom half just looks like a big piece of fake fur hanging off her.
Jewels’ look was fun and she had a great backstory for it. It’s always interesting when drag is used to explore personal trauma. Arietty’s look was a pure stunner and it probably helped save her from the bottom.
Onya’s look was the best of the bunch; funny, witty, with a distinct point of view and character – and just plain fabulous. The wig and makeup are perfection.
We think the other girls are finally going to realize that she’s the one they’re all supposed to be beating.
We tend to think Lana and Crystal wound up in the lip sync over Arietty because their costumes were among the worst, which is, unfortunately, an argument for showing up with killer looks and not much of a game plan. You can always save yourself on the runway if you’ve got a good costume budget but no performing skills. Crystal’s had some amazing looks all season, so we figure she’s really kicking herself over this choice. It wasn’t quite an epic lip sync, although it almost turned ugly because Crystal kept forgetting to give Lana her personal space.
We can’t really argue with this one. She was one of the cannon fodder queens and it’s only a matter of time before the others – Lana, Kori, Lydia – get cleared out too.
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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