by Chris Feil
Last week on RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, we lost the delightful Thorgy Thor after her inner saboteur gave our fashion clown a major creative blockage. Thorgy had left the girls a little more than the usual lipstick love note, as Bebe called it “you know, a picture”, which instantly restirred the pot of that fraught elimination ceremony and kicked off an episode of bickering.
The fallout of Thorgy’s elimination added another layer to Shangela’s distrust of Dela, who would have also sent Thorgy home. Shangela continues to suggest that Ben is just saving face for the sake of manipulation, but there has yet to be sign of her using it against anyone. What is more likely (and concerning) is that Shangela already has let the competition go to her head - we should be terrified that it will exhaust her as it did in season three and unsettle her status as one of the frontrunners.
But let’s not let us get distracted from what is actually important: Milk would like to talk about Milk some more, guys. The Big and Milky turns focus into herself and how she thinks the elimination should have gone, which is fitting considering her adamance she deserved to be in the top for her crunchy Céline. Of her many ideological choices in this episode, thinking Kennedy is the one who should calm down about the elimination was certainly one of them. While Milk has thus far seemed educated at the Derrick Barry Institute of Business and Villainy or more like a wicked antithesis of Alexis Michele than a compatriot to Phi Phi O’Hara, this opening sequence gave much pause.
This week the queens reemerged back to life, back to reality television for the challenge: a dating show improv for The Bitchelor. Each queen was paired off and assigned roles in an attempt to woo UnREAL star Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman.
Forget Every Complaint I Ever Had About Guest Judges Hogging the Spotlight Away From the Queens Because I Totally Never Said or Suggested That Ever, How Dare You!
Hiiiiii Jeffrey.
Dela walked into the challenge “purse” first and again walked away with one of the two winning spots. There’s the Drag Race Hall of Fame and then there’s the Hall of Fame of Great Knee Acting, of which BenDeLaCreme should be the inaugural inductee for this performance. Her contorted, Cosmo-boozing cougar was just the right dose of gross and pervy and should have primed Bebe’s virgin for alternating laughs.
Improv novice Bebe made the inventive choice to contextualize her assigned virgin role through an African princess lens, but probably earned her as many laughs as it would have if she’d played it safer as Dela suggested. She landed some jokes, but couldn’t match Dela’s energy.
Meanwhile for Trixie and Milk it was a matter of being outright overbearing. Milk’s primary comedy mode has always been that of a battering ram, committing to a joke and going whole hog - so her stalker became more of an outright murder. No wonder it wasn’t a fit for the rat-a-tat rhythms of Trixie’s barbrous wit that were on slightly stunted display as the fake girl. You’d almost have to intently focus on Trixie to catch her prime “weird forrest girl” zingers while Milk was taking up residence under Jeffrey’s epidermis. However: bonus point to Trixie for looking incredible.
Can a pairing be underbearing? Chi Chi and Shangela’s polyamorous couple was the vaguest assignment for any of the queens, and left a lot of room for Chi Chi to flounder while Shangela got the more dominant part. Shangie got a few great jokes (“Do you have insurance?”), but these were never roles that could have won the challenge.
What did I say last week about Kennedy in comedy challenges? Her party girl this week was a comedy highlight, and smartly played as an increasingly debauched and drunken evening. As Ross would later point out in judging, we don’t think of Miss Davenport as a comedy queen and yet she excels at those challenges. The fans that underestimate her forget what a total package she is, and this was a major bounce back for our lovable grouch after being in the bottom two last week.
We’ll forgive Kennedy’s partner Aja for her misinterpretation of the needy girl if only because it gave us I Used To Pretend To Be Christian For Attention Fish. This week the judges opted for a bottom three and strangely placed Aja there despite an adequate and somewhat funny performance. Save the inconsistent judging calls for when they actually count, because there was no chance of Aja being sent home this week.
In the end, none of the queens were eggplanted. Jeffrey’s love lifted RuPaul up where he belongs and he carried him into the sunset.
All Wigged Out?
Was the Wigs On Wigs On Wigs runway theme just too loose for much inspiration or was this an underwhelming show of wig reveals? Making wig reveals boring should be a criminal offense in no less than 30 continental states. If I were to reach for a favorite, it’d be the unexpected Trixie in a pixie.
After that hilarious challenge performance and bringing the gnarliest merkin you’ve ever seen to the runway, BenDeLaCreme was once again in the top, setting the stage for one of the most legendary runs in Drag Race herstory. With Snatch Game happening next week and with Dela’s previous win already one of the challenge’s most notorious, smart money banks on her arriving in the top yet again. The only real concern here, as the queen herself said, is the weight of lipsyncs she doesn’t win - will her overall success be less impressive if we watch her lose lipsyncs again and again? She’s the clear frontrunner, but we’re waiting on that moment.
Kennedy was also a clear top two, with Trixie finally landing high marks as well. The bottoms were justifiably Chi Chi and Milk, with the aforementioned unlikely exit Aja. Chi Chi however lost composure, allowing her imposter complex to bubble up during critique. It’s a real shame to see her once again convinced she doesn’t have a place next to the best the show has to offer, particularly looking so gorgeous. And yet: her potential is still sky high.
Blink and You Miss It Moments in Awwwww: Trixie comforting Chi Chi
Lorde’s “Green Light” has been a track I’ve seen heavy on fans’ wishlists for lipsync songs and this week it arrived... to disappointment. Dela’s channeling of The Grudge may not have had anyone cheering, but once again Kennedy’s gorgeous and unexpectedly emotional rendition is underpraised. People, it is rare for one queen to show so many shades of their talent in a single episode as Kennedy did this week. Maybe her miss last week might hurt her overall chances, but doubt her at your peril.
Say it with me: Newark. LaGuardia. Kennedy.
And with little fanfare, Kennedy cut to the chase and sent Milk home. Was it Milk’s bulldozing of Trixie, her safe and therefore *shrug* placement so far, or her abrasiveness that sent her packing? Kennedy kept mum on her reasons for eliminating Milk on the mainstage, but I’m guessing it will come down to the on and offstage professionalism hints she dropped when the topic likely comes up next week. Though Chi Chi has spent every week in the bottom (unfairly last week, in my estimation), she was the most expected to go. Surely Kennedy also made the call with the promise of what Chi Chi still can reveal of herself, whereas The Big And Milky was already beginning to deliver the expected.
And sadly, we’re happy to see Milk’s energy go. Not only was she overpowering the other queens’ conversations, she was pulling focus of the episodes with shenanigans rather than her talent. With a Burlesque reference from Ru and the Macarena from the lurking Chad and Alaska, she left with a smile on her face at the hope for revenge.
How are the girls ranking up after this week?
- BenDeLaCreme (Chi Chi in this photo is a mood)
- 🔺Kennedy Davenport
- Shangela
- Trixie Mattel
- 🔻Aja
- Bebe Zahara Benet
- Morgan McMichaels OUT
- 🔻Chi Chi DeVayne
- Thorgy Thor OUT
- Milk OUT
Gif as Episode Grade:
