Boy, this really is the most even-keeled cast in the history of Drag Race, isn’t it? Every week, we come back here and try to figure out a new way to say the same thing. We hate to be repetitive in our observations, but that’s what happens when you have a cast and a season as consistent as this one. Note that we didn’t say “consistently good.” Although that’s being bitchier about it than we intend. It’s a collection of decently talented queens this season but its rather light on potential superstars, which forces the question of whether you want a season with one or two frontrunners and lot of cannon fodder or a season like this one where every queen is consistently trying her best and doing decent work.
We still can’t point to a performance this season that will go down as iconic or legendary in the show’s herstory, but we remain entertained by the cast’s efforts week in and week out. A lot of that seems to be coming down to the camaraderie of the season, but it also feels like a lot of queens are overly aware of how they might be coming across. Discord didn’t seem remotely fussed by the other queens all pointing to her as the one to go home and we can’t tell if she’s genuinely that confident, if she’s delusional, or if she’s simply choosing to remain focused on the task at hand. If the judges opted to keep her in the competition in the hopes that she would give them some fireworks in the Werk Room, she made it clear she’s not playing that game. Some of the other queens seemed kind of pissed that she wasn’t punished for “breaking the rules,” but the rules are extremely arbitrary in this competition.
The production remains half-assed and lethargic, despite the cast’s best efforts. We’re not outraged by product placement on reality competitions, but we do think it’s boring and insulting when it’s done in such a clumsy and ill-conceived manner.
A mini-challenge of fragrance ads for a fragrance company is a perfectly draggy sort of thing to do, but they didn’t even try to make the editing of this sequence make any sense. The queens were tasked with doing quick drag, but we never saw them get into drag and the results were clearly not quick drag. Even weirder, all of the videos were showcased with this weird framing device of someone looking at them on a tablet with Ru doing some incredibly unconvincing fake laughter on the sound track. The whole think just reeked of the production not giving a shit.
Nini’s mini-meltdown over just how bitchy she’s allowed to be is a really good indicator of why this cast gets along so well. All of them are painfully aware of how they can come across and a lot of them get into their heads about it. We tend to think that this explains the performance results each week: every queen is working very hard not to bomb, but at the same time, they’re keenly aware of how they can come across so they don’t want to offend or make any enemies.
Always nice to see a legend return to the main stage. The thing about Alyssa is that she always knew what the show wanted from her and she always gave it. They should bring her back once a season, just to liven things up.
Discord’s set was a prime example of a queen not exactly crushing it, but not falling apart either. Still, we’re starting to get the impression that the judges are keeping her in because they’re so amused by her lack of awareness. We still maintain that a different queen would have gotten raked over the coals repeatedly for that poor runway walk. Also: her drag was totally wrong for a comedy performance and kind of distracting.
No surprises here. She was bound to be excellent. Just to be nitpicky bitches, we’re going to point out that her makeup is aging and clowny and we’re surprised Michelle hasn’t made more of an issue of it.
To be fair, despite our assertion that the results were pretty even with this group, we thought Juicy’s performance came pretty close to being the disaster of the week. She didn’t land a single joke, but she looked cute.
We knew Darlene was going to win it when she said she was worried that no one would get it. She was primed for a win at this point and while we don’t think any of her jokes landed, the use of props and the willingness to just be stupid about it charmed the judges.
Nini actually landed one or two good lines, but we could see what the other queens meant about her coming on too strong. There’s a real skill to reading a bitch or throwing shade in a manner that doesn’t make everyone hate you. As Michelle said, there has to be a bit of a wink, a bit of “I’m just messing with you” in the mix, otherwise it just comes off vindictive. She needs to loosen up and get out of her head.
The thing about Kenya is that she’s all energy and personality, which gets you far in the world of drag but only takes you so far in Drag Race. At some point, you have to show at least some sort of promise that you can focus and perform to expectations and she just hasn’t managed it. Instead, she blows into any room full of bombast and shade and keeps hoping that’ll get her by.
She was absolutely hilarious — and gave the most polished and professional performance, to our surprise.
The runway category was wind machine-based and once again, Discord showed a distinct disinterest in embodying the category. It’s a killer look, but nothing about it suggests wind-blown. Jane’s look was gorgeous and looked very expensive.
We thought the judges were a bit overly impressed with Juicy’s look. It was standard showgirl drag with a fitted sheet. Darlene went for the comedy in the category and while her drag wasn’t exactly the most fabulous on the runway, it was charming. Nini’s widow look was gorgeous and her use of props was smart.
We hate to be mean, but Kenya’s look came off so cheap and craftsy compared to every other look on the stage. While we can sympathize if someone doesn’t have the means to secure world-class costumes, this look is simply too basic and underwhelming. We liked Myki’s showgirl drag better than Juicy’s if only because the cape was integrated into the costume instead of something she just dragged around.
Condragulations to Darlene. While we would have given the win to Myki, we get why the judges loved this one. Ru will always reward the queen who gets stupid over the queen who came prepared.
Not to be mean (again), but it was all over the second it was decided that these two would face off. Kenya’s lip syncs have been terrible all season and this one didn’t show much improvement. Juicy knew every syllable.
She just doesn’t prepare for the stage. She’s fun and entertaining and she has the capacity to be a world class queen, but she needs to learn the importance of polish and preparation in performing. You can’t expect people to pay you for attitude and charisma.
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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