Not to sound like a broken record, but it occurred to us once again that the season 17 cast of queens is among the most entertaining the show’s had in several years.
From the mini-challenge to the lip sync, there wasn’t one new thing about this episode; not one thing we haven’t seen on the show dozens and dozens of times before, including the tearful reunions and confessions surrounding family members. By all rights, we should have been very bored and this would be yet another T Lo recap where we bitch and moan about the show being stale.
But family drag has always been the most fascinating of the show’s recurring challenges, because it inadvertently became a document of the growing acceptance of queer people over the period Drag Race has been a cultural force. In the earliest versions of the challenge, there were a lot of chosen family members showing up; friends and boyfriends and surrogate parents of all kinds.
Over time, more parents started showing up, along with spouses. Today, it’s just a lovefest all around, as macho fathers eagerly show up, ready to put on fake boobs and cha cha heels for their beloved queer children. It’s been lovely to watch this evolution play out in real time as we documented it.
To be fair, it seems that Suzie and Lexi have had a rocky road with their mothers, although it’s to the latter’s credit that they showed up ready to heal the rift. It’s always interesting to see, for instance, that the cockiest queen of the season hasn’t had the most supportive relationship with her parents, or that the queen who’s constantly getting in her own head and sabotaging herself had a very rocky relationship with her own mother over the years. It’s perhaps too easy to sum up people that neatly, but reality television is all about simplifying the complex.
We think that’s why this cast has been a fairly pleasant watch. They’re seasoned Drag Race fans who know what’s expected of them, but they’re also just rough and vulnerable enough to make for good television. In other words, the results on the main stage every week are mostly well-executed (they tend to be boring rather than train wrecks), but the interactions in the Werk Room are where it’s at for this cast. They may not be the most intensely talented or polished in the franchise’s history, but they’re fun to watch and that’s really the only thing that matters.
Category Is: Drag Family Resemblance! ❤️ Which mother-daughter duo did it best? #DragRace pic.twitter.com/BeUjiXhtxo
— RuPaul’s Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) March 29, 2025
But we don’t want to give the impression we’re damning their drag with faint praise. These queens still deliver on the main stage every week.
We didn’t get the judges at all when they said there wasn’t a family resemblance here. They’re sporting the exact same face – in or out of makeup. We liked the over-the-top romanticism of the looks and we were impressed that mama wore a thong.
There simply wasn’t a chance that this would be anything but the winner of the week. We question how Sam whipped up something that elaborate and well-fitted for his mother, but whatever. In terms of family resemblance, no one’s beating this team. In terms of pure drag ostentation and character-building, ditto.
While we can’t quite get behind Law Roach’s assertion that this was Paris runway-ready, it was a very cute idea that was extremely well-executed and very true to Suzie’s aesthetic. The family resemblance work was second only to Sam’s.
We’re just not sure what Jewels was thinking with this one. She had to know that a costume like this pretty much demands some sort of reveal. Without it, this all looks extremely half-assed. Somehow, she managed to make her dad look heavier than he is. It was all just a little too cheap and poorly conceived.
Onya and her dad were a lot of fun to watch and she did a great job with the makeup. The dresses are so hideous that we’re forced to wonder what the hell happened there. Onya’s much better at putting together looks than these messes would indicate.
It was never going to be anyone else.
The lip sync was fun to watch and we felt like it was obvious that Ru wasn’t sending either of these queens home yet before the first note rang out. We have no issue with that.
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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