Once again, we find ourselves pleasantly surprised that an episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race was entertaining and not a slog to get through. We realize that’s a pretty backhanded compliment, but you’ll have to forgive us for a little bit of ennui after 18 seasons. If nothing else, this episode re-proved our often-made point that the entire show and competition improve when you hand the queens good material to interpret.
First, the queens got to trash each other in the mini-challenge, which only served to prove that the camaraderie in this lineup is still pretty tight. And while it’s nice to see a bunch of queens who support each other, we do kinda think the season suffers when there’s no drama or grudges to unpack.
The casting of the Rusical provided a perfect illustration of this point. Every queen neatly declared their intention and every other queen said “Okay” to it. Nini had to go and get in her head again, but the group handled it pretty well and even Nini seemed to understand that she was being a little silly. She just won the last challenge so throwing her weight around at this moment wasn’t going to work for her. The resulting Rusical was kind of interesting because nobody was cast in a role that was hard for them to interpret. Everyone was sort of in “born to play it” mode.
In other words, the Rusical probably worked this time because the numbers were good and the casting was on point. It’s rare for both aspects to be in place.
Which is a rare treat for us because it means every performance can be rated solely on the merits. You asked for this role, it was clearly written for you, and now you have no excuse to get it wrong. Myki slayed it. There was simply no question that she was the right girl for the part and that she knew exactly what to do with it. Darlene was smart to go with the dog because it’s a cute, funny role that asks the least of any of the performers.
We’ve got to give Kenya credit, she really came out hot and never let up. It was the right part for her and she knew what to do with it. We thought Juicy did fine with it. We kinda figured she’d be in the bottom just by the editing and the somewhat passive looks on the judges’ faces every time they cut to them.
But it was Athena’s performance that had us convinced. They were going to put the remaining Florida girls in the lip sync come hell or high water. To be fair, Athena and Juicy really were the weakest. Juicy can cover some of that with her dancing, but Athena had that “Just get through this/I can’t wait to sit down” aspect to her performance that the judges hate.
They were cute and the judges seem determined to pat Discord on the head no matter what she does. Nini was weak, but she’s lucky that the Florida girls were weaker.
Come on. Probably a Top Five all-time Rusical casting choice. It’s honestly to the credit of all the other girls that they worked so damn hard, knowing that Jane was likely to win it. Still, as much as we loved Jane’s work here, it felt a little on the expected side of things to us. She’s clearly very good, but we think Myki’s work held more surprises.
The runway category was beige, which is really stupid. From the left: We didn’t love Myki’s severe-looking business suit. Darlene’s look was her usual hokey nonsense. Kenya looked stunning. It was among her better dresses and her hair and makeup were gorgeous. The skirt was pretty flimsy, though. Juicy lived up to her name once again by serving pure couture. Athena’s look struck us as a little too costumey and conceptual, which isn’t a bad thing in drag, but it sure didn’t help her during the lip sync. Discord’s look was weirdly beautiful but there was a time when the judges would have done more than just indulgently chuckle over a costume that prevented the wearer from walking. Nini’s look was gorgeous. We actually didn’t like Jane’s look at all. We don’t want to suggest that a drag queen edit her look, but the fur and the jewelry were too much on top of all that velvet. We also think her beat tends to get a little clowny and we’re surprised Michelle’s never said anything about it.
Condragulations to Jane for picking up her second win. She’s clearly a frontrunner and we think it might have been good for her to sweat things out a little up to this point.
Like we said, they were going to pit these two against each other no matter what. We really can’t argue that someone else deserved to be in the lip sync, however. It wasn’t what we’d call an epic face-off. If anything, it was one of the weepier, sadder lip syncs in the show’s history.
Maybe we’re reading too much into it, but it seemed to us that Athena wasn’t trying too hard to upstage her daughter. She self-eliminated, essentially.
Girl, if you ever thought we were going to stop plugging our book, you weren’t paying attention: 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 (like at this link)! It’s also available in Italian and Spanish language editions, darlings! Because we’re fabulous on an INTERNATIONAL level.
[Still Credit: MTV]
Previous post:
Milan Fashion Week: Gucci’s New Creative Director Demna Presents His First Runway Show Next Post:
Milan Fashion Week: Gucci’s New Creative Director Demna Presents His First Runway Show Next Post:
-
Pop Style Opinionfest: A Nasty Prince and a Lovely Knight
-
RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE: Snatch Game of Love: Island Edition
-
Pop Style Opinionfest: Raising the Flag at Stonewall and Rolling Our Eyes at Tyra
Please review our Community Guidelines before posting a comment. Thank you!
