After last week’s surprisingly fun episode, the Rate-A-Queen challenge threatened to collapse into a pile of grudges and scheming in week two. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), these queens seem pretty smart about how they want to appear on camera.
The bulk of the episode was turned over to an extended examination of the various alliances and plots bubbling in the Werk Room, plus a filler portion with Michelle Visage essentially conducting her podcast for a few minutes.
The thing is, it was kind of fun watching the queens figure out the implications of the setup last week, but this time around, we were treated to way too many whispered conversations that ultimately didn’t mean much. Ciara spent the episode arching her eyebrow and rubbing her hands together as if she were executing some master plan, but nothing truly came of it and it made her look kind of shitty. Yes, it’s not a legitimate competition and as we said last week, it’s better when the queens are all on the same page about this sort of thing, but plotting to put someone in the bottom regardless of whether they deserve it is a terrible way to exit this show.
At the same time, Jane was getting very annoyed with all of the alliances happening around her. It was understandable, but she tends to set herself up as “not like the other girls” a bit too much. She’s funny and she’s a contender, but sometimes she overdoes it on the eyerolling.
Juicy proved herself to be… unreliable but ethical, we guess. Plotting to put Discord on the bottom was shitty, but agreeing to do it and then immediately telling everyone else is also kind of shitty.
Basically, the setup encouraged the queens to be awful to each other, but this group seems to have real affection across the board and while there was some scheming and shenanigans, it doesn’t appear to have torn the group apart or caused any drama. We’ll have to see how this plays out in the next episode. Discord has a right to be pissed about the plot, but since it didn’t actually shake out as planned, it might be better for her to drop it. The queen causing all the trouble this week ultimately went home.
Myki’s number was cute and original, with the kind of gross-out drag that Ru finds funny. It relied on costume reveals too much and the choreo wasn’t all that memorable, however.
Athena’s number was energetic and fun, with a great look. Nobody this week came close to the top three of last week (to Nini’s frustration), but Athena sold the hell out of her performance.
Time to go. If it had been up to the judges, she’d have been in the bottom this week. She’s fun and funny, but the drag is only so-so and if you fuck up the lip sync of your own talent show number after a judge pointed out how you’re skating on thin ice because of your shitty lip syncs, that should be an automatic out.
Honestly? It was a bit of a letdown. It was fine. It was good. But we thought she’d be bringing something more to the proceedings. She would have been our pick for the week, but it would have been by default, not because she blew us away.
This would have been a very different recap if they’d put Discord in the bottom. In terms of performance, we’d have placed her behind Jane and Athena, but in terms of originality, we might have considered her a top contender. It was just more ambitious and more personal than most of the other entries and it’s to the queens’ collective credit that they couldn’t bring themselves to put it in the bottom.
Category Is: Shake, Shake, Shake! ↔️ Which runway is your fave? #DragRace pic.twitter.com/LiHObLVwiy
— RuPaul’s Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) February 7, 2026
Man, they’re not even trying to come up with categories anymore. Myki’s look was fun and well-executed. Athena’s was gorgeous and a little weird and probably helped her this week. Kenya’s wig and beat were gorgeous, but the costume was basic and craftsy. Jane’s look was fabulous and a little strange. Of all the queens, she’s the one who consistently works looks that could double as high fashion. Discord’s costume is beautifully executed, but we question drag that’s meant to weigh down someone who already has such a heavy walk. Mia’s look was dramatic, but like a lot of the entries this week, we struggle to see how it embodies the category. We want to give Darlene credit for getting out of her Country Gal drag, but this doesn’t work for us. The tinsel looks cheap (tinsel usually does) but we think she could have accomplished the couture look she was going for by choosing a different color of tight and by not going weird with the makeup. This was the time to go for glamour, not clownery. Vita looked flawless, but all of the interest was above the neck. The body suit was a little basic. Nini’s look was a stunner and if she’d performed this week, the combination would have put her in the top. She played herself. Juicy warrior look was fantastic, but the bra was sitting weirdly high on her. Ciara’s clowny showgirl looked awful and cheap.
Athena and Jane faced off for the lip sync, which was competitive, but not nearly as epic as last week’s. We thought the choice could go either way. Athena had the energy, but Jane had the right attitude for the song. Ru gave it to Athena and we don’t have strong enough feelings about it to argue with it. She probably deserves something at this point anyway. She’s polished and she’s pissy, which makes her entertaining.
Myki couldn’t hide how shocked and hurt she was to find herself in the bottom. It really should have been Kenya. We wonder if the camaraderie in the Werk Room is going to remain after this. She has every right to cause some shit over this.
It almost didn’t matter how the lip sync shook out because the judges could see that Myki didn’t belong there and Ciara showed up in ugly/cheap drag in a week when she should have been pulling out her very best.
She thought she was masterminding a game when she should have been putting out better drag.
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]
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