Drag Race S937: Madonna & 'Snatch Game' Do-Overs
Saturday, April 29, 2017 at 2:00PM Nathaniel R stepping in for Chris Feil, our usual lipsynch queen, who has the weekend off which gives yours truly a chance to funk with his "current rankings" in Drag Race's 9th season. [Insert evil cackle here].
I didn't know when I offered to sub that I'd be paired with the do-over of the Madonna runway. Since Madonna is my all time favorite celeb and the last episode devoted to the Queen was arguably Drag Race's most embarrassing (how could they allow their entire cast to act like the big M had only ever come up with 4 looks when she popularized giving yourself a makeover every single damn time you showed up to werq? [You can't see me but I'm stroking the chip on my shoulder. Shhhhh baby. There, he quiet now.]
No mini-challenge and no Pit crew again? May I suggest a mini-challenge...
Ru sure do love Snatch Game
They've never used the Pit Crew as well as they could. Why not a challenge where each queen gets a Pit Crew member to beautify? That'd be a true gender f*** moment since the Pit Crew is there for the manlinees. Leave them in their briefs but add heels and paint their faces. What's hotter than a fit man in stilettos? Go there, show! Go there. Call it a Kazaky challenge and pair it with the next Madonna episode a la Girls Gone Wild.
This season's episodes always feel so rushed. Did they abbreviate the actual running time per episode with more commercials? Something Wicked Non-Sickening This Way Came. Not sure what it was. In the mad sprint towards the still semi-beloved Snatch Game and that Madonna Runway (we never get any workroom scenes for the runway prep this season) the nine remaining queens don't seem to have had time to properly process Eureka's departure. Perhaps I'm projecting. I definitely didn't have to time to find a mental workaround for Nina Bo'Nina's attitude problem which is now so big her breastplate probably feels flat-chested in its presence. Farrah Moan is unrelentingly whiney but she had a point in that opening confrontration. I'm ready for them to both sashay away.
No wait. One of them can stay because how is Aja still there? Let's clean house with a double elimination next week. Quick name one thing Aja has ever worn or any face beating that ever made you gag in seven whole episodes now. That's way too many episodes in which to have never made an impact.
THE SNATCH GAME
To add insult to the injury of Aja's coasting, she performed the mortal sin of playing a past Drag Race contender on Snatch Game. This is never a good sign. Nina Bo'Nina Brown did the same thing (albeit with a much stronger performance of a more difficult character to pull off).
The Queen on Queen thing almost always suggests that the contestants in question just don't have broad taste or the cultural acumen to endure -- you need a wide variety of reference points* in your drag because it's all about playing with iconography. If all you know is reality TV your reference window is invariably too small and is also littered with land mines called expiration dates. I've been in a love with a few reality TV contests in my life but even the best ones don't produce a lot of "lasting" characters. By the very structure of the genre the casts are "replaced" annually. No wing of popular culture so actively reinforces short shelf lives.
* You can see this same problem with Nina Bo'Nina Brown's relationship to her name. It's funny to add syllables in the middle as she herself did at the beginning of the season with "Nina Bo'Nina Fofana Osama Bin Laden Brown," but notice that it's only RuPaul who is smart enough to continually mix up this instinct and add surprising (and surprisingly hilarious) combinations of names from all kinds of fields like publishing, music, politics, and general celebrity. Nina, like so many queens before her, is being handed golden persona-harnessing and drag-refining opportunities and DOESN'T RUN WITH THEM suggesting she either a) doesn't get the jokes -- something that can be worked on if you want to improve -- or b) isn't listening or taking this opportunity seriously --something that's a death knell for careers.
THE WINNERS
As for people who slayed the Snatch Game, the judges chose the correct two contenders to be on top: Alexis Michelle (who won the week, though it felt like a toss-up) was having contagious fun as Liza Minnelli -- her adding leg kicks when asked to do jazz hands was my personal favorite bit. Once you've wound Liza up (or , rather, once she's wound her self up, she just goes). And Alexis's "Sooner or Later" Breathless Mahoney gown was top-notch. Sasha Velour, who surprised us with a little help from the early episode editing that suggested she'd bomb the Snatch Game, was deadpan perfect as a sapphic Marlene Dietrich. What's more her Madonna look suggested she'd even thought about the challenges in unison (Madonna being a Marlene super fan). That's more than anyone else did.
OTHER WINNERS
Madonna... the runway do-over wasn't quite redemptive but the fact that both times it's left the feeling of "Madonna deserves better!" is a tribute to her
Ru's Wig. The best one in years and since they're all spectacular that's saying a lot. Cotton Candy pink/lavender? and it looks more expensive than the entire set.
ALMOST THERE
I'll admit that I didn't get the character or reference points for the jokes that Valentina was doing but it was still enjoyable. Shea Coulée almost pulled off a glorious queen bitch Naomi Campbell (smart but unexpected celebrity choice!). These two are by far my favorite competitors on the season but this was not quite an "A" episode for either.
LIPSYNCH FOR YOUR LIFE
Best lipsynch for your life of the season we give to Peppermint who was having so much fun on stage it was impossible not to bob your head, giggle, and grin from ear to ear as the judges were doing. Who saw that coming? Not I.
Ranking:
(Sasha would have a big arrow up if Chris hadn't consistently ranked her so high.)
- Shea Couleé
- 🔺 Valentina
- Sasha Velour
- 🔺 Alexis Michelle
- Trinity Taylor
I'm convinced some combo of those 5 above make the finale - 🔻Nina Bo'nina Brown
- Eureka O'Hara
- Peppermint
- Charlie Hides
- 🔻 Farrah Moan
- 🔻Cynthia Lee Fontaine
- 🔻 Aja
- Jaymes Mansfield
- Kimora Blac
ANNOYING-NESS
I would just like to co-sign everything in this article about it being so suddenly hard to find RuPaul's Drag Race to stream anywhere. I tend to DVR shows I like but while writing about them it's much easier to have them streaming in the background for quick reference.
But at least it's still easy to watch UNTUCKED (which is often better than the show anyway)
Gif As Episode Grade:
Reader Comments (22)
Snatch Game should be suspended indefinitely. Period.
I only have seen this episode, but these contestants seem very uninspired (except the top two finishers, and the trans who was great at the end). Aja is coasting and Ru must favor her for some unknown affinity reason.
They're in a tough spot with "Snatch Game". It's signature and highly anticipated, but the results have been mixed-to-poor for years. I wouldn't be sad to see it take a year off.
Charlie Hides was the only queen I actually was rooting for this season & she's long gone
none of the remaining contestants are sparking any kind of fire for me this season
still a fan, but I wish they would inject some freshness/surprise into the format - but it's following a successful blueprint, so I don't think they have much motivation to shake things up
The queens need to parody Jennifer Lawrence. She's a living caricature.
dave s & steve -- i think there are ways of shaking up the formula without quite abandoning it. I'm confused why ru doesn't do more of that since the latest effort to shake things up (all stars season 2) went so very well and had so much creative spark compared to other recent seasons.
The show is suffering due to it's grandness - do we really need the sheer volume of queens just so we spend the first four episodes eliminating the ones who shouldn't even be there in the first place?? Every season needs a couple of duds to boot off but I feel it's imbalanced in Season 9.
although it would've meant she won three weeks in a row, i would have given sasha the win; her marlene was much more unexpected than alexis's obvious liza schtick.
valentina constantly surprises with her razor sharp choices - if there was ever a queen that could be coasting on beauty it's her, but her steve harvey joke and sex look was top three worthy
cosign on queens shouldn't do other drag racers. as serena cha cha once said: "read a book"
1. valentina
2. sasha
3. shea
4. peppermint
5. nina bo'nina day-lewis brown
6. farrah
7. trinity
8. alexis
9. aja
@par - Sasha did not win last week, Shea did for her Blac Chyna... Sasha only has one win, which was the tie with Shea from two weeks ago.
I honestly think Valentina is going to be the Max or BenDeLa this season. She is growing on me though.
Aja is not doing as well as I thought but she is a star in Untucked.
Peppermint being in the bottom two will hopefully light a fire under her ass. Killer lip sync.
Nina is top four quality. She's infinitely more consistent than Peppermint, Trinity or Alexis.
While Shea is slaying the competition and I love her, I still don't see winner from her. I feel like Valentina and Sasha bring something new and either of them winning would be also be timely considering the political landscape. Sasha plays with gender a lot and Valentina is a Latina queen that has her whole character based around her culture and she's also beautiful, charming, and a strong competitor.
Despite all that, I think Shea will win and Valentina will be a shock elimination in 7th place.
Sasha Velour's Marlene/Dita Erotica IS so awesome & spot-on!! I wish it was a tie btw her & Alexis Michelle
I've had a hard time warming to Sasha, I've found her not particularly memorable other than her tendency to take herself too seriously. She's come off a bit pretentious for me so far. I kind of rolled my eyes a bit when I saw she was doing Marlene D for snatch game. Then the bitch shuts me up by being fantastic! Hope for more of this side of Sasha. Aja always looks a mess and her Alyssa Edwards was rubbish. My top 3 are Valentina, Shea & Nina.
@joey: thanks for the clarification; i got my sashas/sheas conflated - in which case i'm even more furious sasha didn't win!
I'm betting Valentina, Sasha, & Shea for final 3. Well that's what the final 3 *should* be. All 3 are doing great. Most of the rest? Not so much. Peppermint and Farrah look great but have seemingly no reserves of spontaneity or wit to draw upon in performances; they've stumbled embarrassingly in the last couple of episodes.
LOL If I'm the lipsync queen here at TFE, it means I'm sending all these bitches home! (Thanks for the love and filling in!)
I thought this was a slam dunk win for Sasha Velour - that unison between runway and performance you spoke of being the kicker. And come one, that was a damn good Marwenna Deetwitch.
Sue me, but I thought Alexis's Liza was crunchy. That was a Liza I think all of us could do, and not much more. Trinity, didn't have a ton of jokes but I thought Amanda Lepore was an inspired choice. Peppermint got a boost from lipsyncing, honestly. We finally got to see her in her element.
I have a little more patience for Snatch Game feeling rushed because those episodes always do. But I definitely think the season turned a corner with this episode and will be kicking into high gear. We're getting down to some stiff competition and I think we'll have the best (non-all stars) top 6 since the heyday of Bianca Del Rio.
I'll save a full ranking for next week, but swap Nina's third place spot for Trinity - for now.
The "Material Girl" costumes bugged me. Like... Madonna takes a lot of things from a lot of places, but that was more Marilyn.
Literally the only good thing Cynthia did all episode was fall over in her Living for Love costume. She was dead weight all season, obviously, but ultimately proved even more disappointing given she should have been so much so much better prepared.
Great article!
I have to agree especially about the lack of mini challenges and the use of the pit crew. It seems since they have moved to VH1 it's become less GAY. It also seems to now be a gay themed show made for a Heterosexual audience.
Oh Well nothing good lasts forevah!
The original Match Game had only 6 contestants for a reason. Snatch Game should be reserved for later in the season, when we are down to the cream of the crop. Nine is just too many. And there should be rules ... you cannot do former queens, and you cannot do reality stars. I normally disagree with a lot of what Michelle Visage says. But she was dead on saying that doing people you have met or know is a cop out. 100% agreed.
Shea's Naomi Campbell was horrendous. There were no jokes, the drag looked nothing like Naomi Campbell, and the voice wasn't even a vague approximation. She had no supermodel mannerisms. How can you say she was "almost there?" I literally cannot think of a single good thing about her performance—except that she picked an actual icon. To keep her ranked at #1 this week is just blind love.
You're right, though...reality TV characters and YouTube celebrities should be banned from Snatch Game.
The other problem with Snatch Game is that it's essentially an improv ensemble, but the players onstage do nothing to build each others' performances up or achieve something as a group. It's every man for herself. Imagine real improvisors actively rooting for their scene partners to bomb. It's just horrible performance energy.
I bet the raw, unedited footage from every single Snatch Game ever (including the best ones) is painful to watch.