Drag Race RuCap: "Bitch, I'm a Drag Queen!"

Ladies and gentlemen and all those in between, here is the season's Golden Boot.

NICK TAYLOR: Hi y’all! I’m so happy to be back this week, for a very special episode. We have witnessed what will surely be remembered as the most iconic runway of the season, from the slaysian diva of LA and the protagonist of all four episodes she’s starred in so far. Serena Cha Cha walked so Joella could run. Behold what she has given us. 

CLÁUDIO ALVES: It feels premature to start the RuCap by mentioning the runway, but you’re so right to mention that quilted monstrosity. Joella’s rectangular slay was truly something to behold. Bound to become a meme, she stole the spotlight from Crystal Envy whose tumbleweed realness would have surely ignited social media if not for Miss J-O-E but don’t forget the ‘Ella. Girl, this was such a fun episode, the best of the season so far and it wasn’t even all due to the glory hole duvet and Miss Sommersault…

Indeed, it was an iconic hour of television from the minute it started, with the entire cast mourning Lucky Starzzz’s departure. Well, everyone’s crying except Joella, who is realizing, in real time, that maybe she’s not as liked among her sisters as she presumed. The editing is the thing, underlining every delusional beat of the LA diva’s French vanilla fantasy, whether she’s throwing shade from a glass house or waking up to reality for a few seconds. This biological woman of Chinese heritage was made for reality TV and I, for once, am living for the tomfoolery.

NICK: It’s amazing how much I’ve warmed up to Joella’s nonsense without her once coming across as someone talented enough to have this spotlight. Sugar and Spice want what she has. There’s something almost poignant to Joella clocking how badly everyone is mourning Lucky - something miss Cha Cha never once earned.

We should probably mention the other queens, I guess? Everyone congratulates Sam for winning the first proper challenge of the season, and she is basking in their praise. Truly her mother’s daughter. Both runner-ups are less jazzed. Arietty is the most distraught for Lucky, with their blossoming romantic tension, but she’s also peeved about not winning the challenge to Sam’s Best Little Whorehouse in Texas getup. She’s growing a real chip on her shoulder, though she’s at least got a steadfast ally in Jewels. Meanwhile, Onya’s still stuck in her head about not connecting with the other queens - or does she feel nervous about the other queen’s friendships imposing a strategic disadvantage on her? Miss Nurve is still very uncomfortable with the idea she belongs in this cast. 

The next morning the girls cavort into the werkroom, doing shady-but-accurate impressions of each other’s tantrums and resting bitch faces. I’ve said it before but I really love the girl’s energy together this season. Their riffing is rudely interrupted by RuPaul, who saunters through her Mr. Rogers door to announce this week’s challenge. The queens will be asked to split into two teams to stage, film, and act in an advertisement for an album inspired by some of the most famous main challenge flops and Untucked arguments in Drag Race herstory.

We’re back to season Cha Cha territory, with one of my favorite main challenges ever - lip syncing to Untucked fights. As you reminded me in an early conversation, it’s a pretty even combination of that challenge plus season four’s ads for Ru’s singles. It’s an inspired prompt, one that puts a lot of creative demands on the queens but also gives them a lot of freedom to play around with their material. Aside from the beats and the lyrics, they have total artistic control for costumes, narratives, how many people are in each skit. It’s all filmed on real sets, too. No green screen backgrounds in season 17! And they all fuckin’ recorded their versions of those songs! How long did it take to film this episode?

CLÁUDIO: It can’t have been the standard two days we know Drag Race usually takes. Honestly, I’m surprised the producers decided to throw such a demanding multi-faceted challenge at a bunch of queens that’s self-admittedly greener than many of the show’s previous casts. It reminds me a bit of the dolls challenge last year, where the contestants had to contend with a sewing and product design challenge mixed with a branding and comedy challenge, too. It’s a testament to these bitches’ talent that they pull it off half as well as they do and a feather in the producing team’s cap. After some years of rote repetition, I like that they’re honoring the show’s past while devising new ways to assert who should be America’s Next Drag Superstar.

Also, for the first time this season, we have a proper team’s challenge on our hands. Each half of the cast is assigned a volume of this imaginary album (through rumaging in Bruno's pink box), with volume 1 getting pre-season six Untucked while volume 2 contends with more recent material. Arrietty, Crystal, Hormona, Jewels, Joella, Lana, and Lydia form the first group, while Acacia, Kori, Lexi, Onya, Sam, and Suzie make up the second squad. It’s curious to see how they each have very different approaches to the challenge, with their divergences becoming apparent from these early planning stages. 

Basically, group 1, lead by self-appointed captain Crystal Envy, decides to tackle the commercials as ensemble pieces. There’s a star for each skit, but the other queens are usually present in some form. It makes for a richer experience with more dimension, but it also puts these bitches on alert because, if they’re not careful, background bits might steal the spotlight from the featured singers. Also, despite Ru making it clear he doesn’t want copies or impersonations of past contestants, Jewels and Arrietty immediately jump at the chance of doing their best Alyssa Edwards.

Group 2 opts for a more individualistic strategy. Each part of the ad will feature only one queen, apart from Kori’s Kennedy Davenport monologue which will require some assistance. Still reeling from a low placement last week, Plane Jane’s sister sees this as an opportunity to redeem herself in the eyes of the judges. She’ll start her “phoenix risen from the ashes” tune with the Big Bird mini-dress that almost landed her in the bottom and reveal a sequined leotard underneath. It’s conceptually sound, but, girl, this execution is not it and some of her sisters should have clocked the problem long before they found themselves shooting the commercial.

NICK: Kori’s reveal would have also worked better if the leotard she wore underneath wasn’t functionally the same outfit with more rhinestones. It’s a weird little narrative, easily the worst setup across both volumes. I at least appreciate Kori’s goofy-ass leap, and how the queens really roll with how many musical genres the albums encompass. A few other queens get skeptical side-eye from their sisters. Hormona’s underplaying of Shannel’s “I Nominate Myself” speech and Lexi staging Jasmine Kennedie’s “This is Your Momemt” rant as a boudoir, Celine Dion moment get the most flak during filming, though we see so little of their rehearsals it’s hard to judge for ourselves. 

We also get a supreme bit of innovation from Crystal Envy, who plays the part of a tumbleweed rolling behind Lana Ja’Rae and Lydia Butthole’s CMA-ready spin on Morgan McMichaels and Mystique Summers’ “Bitch, I’m from Chicago!” confrontation from season 2’s Untucked. Her teammates are so delighted they insist she rolls around for every single take. And she does! What a trooper. Jewels says Crystal outshines Lana and Lydia completely, and you know what? She’s right. 

By and large, everyone walks back into the werkroom extremely confident about their performances as individuals and as a group. However, it’s elimination day, and the girls start sniffing out any signs for who might be on the chopping block tonight. Even if they all did good, two of them are going to be the worst, and one of them is going home. Joella is singled out, natch, but she’s also deep into her Rudemption arc, meaning she’s not sweating enough to make a story.

So instead of production or whoever ginning up false drama, the girls begin sharing stories about why they started doing drag. Suzie Toot reveals her first night in full drag was on Halloween, and gets a lot of good-natured ribbing for it. Lexi Love keeps the ball rolling by asking whether the other girls started doing drag out of necessity or because they really wanted to. Jewels says the necessity for her was about gender expression - it allowed her to be feminine and womanly in a way otherwise completely cut off to her. Lexi follows it up with her story of getting kicked out of the house by her mom at age 18 for being gay, and how drag became the way she made money. Living on her own way hard, but she was able to finally be herself at all times, and that freedom was worth a lot for her. 

CLÁUDIO: It’s curious how unusually production-free this episode feels despite being as produced as every other episode. I think it’s the lack of a celebrity director on the filming portions, no green screen nonsense in lieu of actual stuff the girls could interact with, the way the entire hour felt more about the queens than fitting a reality TV paradigm. I know folks who dislike that Drag Race went from being a parody of reality competition shows to a straightforward version of them, but there’s value in letting the queens shine through such a hands-off approach. At the very least, it works when you get the right combination of people and this cast is that. Talented, professional, rough around the edges, sisterly but not afraid of conflict but not so performative about it as a certain Boston queen last season.

Which is maybe why some of the episode’s only weaknesses show up when the queens are confronted by production in the form of their judges. We have Ru in an unfortunately dull pattern, Michelle modeling a Dynasty cast-off, an especially shiny-looking Carson Kresley, and Julia Schlaepfer, who viewers might know from a murderers' row of Ryan Murphy shows. 

But before we get to their critiques, we have to see the challenge results and the runway. This week, category is “Quilted for Her Pleasure.”

First on the catwalk, we have Lydia Butthole Kollins serving monster hiding under your bed, but the bed and the monster are one and the same. It’s a bizarre lewk, especially the incongruent midriff nakedness, but it leaves a strong impression. Probably the most successful of this queen’s runway presentations thus far in the season.

NICK: This is the couch owned by Amanda Tori Meating’s cat lady runway from the Mother Goose ball. I’ll just second everything you said about it. I’ll probably be bummed if this is my favorite Lydia lewk of the season, but this distills her vibe without feeling overly referential to her inspirations.

Lana Ja’Rae is second, and I wish I got more out of this runway. The colorful layering of her skirt and wig is genuinely delightful, but the asymmetrical quilting on her leotard just looks a bit slapdash to me. The boot things read as a hasty afterthought. 

CLÁUDIO: She looks vaguely Sailor Moon-ish to me, which is a vibe I appreciate. Like if your cat attacked a bunch of Sailor Scouts dolls and you tried to make an outfit out of the shredded remains. But also quilted. Also also, I hate those legwarmer things.

In some regions of China, a blanket is a traditional gift well-wishers send to the mourners. Because Joella was talking about mixing more of her cultural identity into her drag earlier in the episode - an obviously producer-prompted convo with Onya - I can’t help but feel she’s doing just that. Whether cosplaying RuPaul’s funeral or cursing the host herself, this is a sight to be seen, a look to remember forevermore. It’s a bad omen and a joke, it’s camp and opulent, it’s ICONIC! It’s also a disaster, but that goes without saying. 

NICK: I am so completely besotted with this look. It is good? No, and Joella’s not the queen to make this more than a stupid gag, but it’s exactly the kind of stupid gag I’d love if it waltzed out at the club. Both Hormona Lisa and Lucky Starzzz said they brought similar concepts for this runway - Hormona would’ve been in a giant oven mitt, but saw Joella put on this singular sensation and cautiously re-packed that into her suitcase. Joella loses points for having a plain body suit underneath, but she went for a far more unconventional route than many of her sisters, and that deserves praise.

Arrietty goes the route of slick, high fashion quiltery. I wouldn’t say the patterned textile she’s used reads as sufficiently quilted on this camera, but as an ensemble in its own right this is just stunning. Love the silhouette, the glasses, the debris on her face like she just revved her sick-ass motorcycle and a little mud got on her face,  and the Angelina Jolie leg slit. Just a lot to appreciate, though again, is it giving quilt?

CLÁUDIO: No, it’s not. Even looking at closeup details, it seems like whoever made this only ran some stitches over the patterned fabric and called it a day. That shit needs some cotton batting stuffed between layers to at least start to read as quilting. It’s gorgeous, don’t get me wrong, but I feel it fails this particular runway prompt.

Jewels Sparkles’ ensemble is more obviously quilted but not by a lot. That train is doing much of the heavy work on that front. Still, it’s a fun lewk, like something Ariana Grande’s character from Don’t Look Up would wear on stage. I am, however, confounded by that shoe choice. What in this pop star/cartoon villainesse garb calls for basic black pumps?

NICK: Incredible Grande reference right there. The shoes are a major letdown, and I wish she’d look at Kori for advice on how to be sexy and wear padding, but from the waist up this is quite fun. Deep blue looks good on Jewels.

Hormona Lisa, after discarding her oven mitt fantasy, goes for a pastel chalk take on Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors. I’m a bigger fan of Monet X Change’s more saturated palette from her interpretation of the same look on AS7, and I would not say the wig or nails are suitably Dolly-coded, but this fits Hormona’s vibe quite nicely. It’s also by far the best, quiltiest runway we’ve seen yet - that dress looks cozy as fuck. I hope she took a very nice nap in it. 

CLÁUDIO: It’s a safe look, cozy couture with victory rolls on top for some reason. At least, she sold the Dolly fantasy by making music out of her clicking nails. While it wouldn’t work with this pastel confection, I wish Hormona tried on more dark haircolors. These blondes wash her out more often than not.

Crystal Envy described this look as her take on the quilted dress-coat Gigi Hadid wore for the Gilded Age-themed MET Gala. I can see it, but must give points for originality as this never feels like a redundant copy. It’s also gorgeous, moving like a dream as Miss Envy opens the coat to reveal a red bodysuit to match the red lining, a bit more Mugler than Versace. This is my favorite thing Crystal has worn so far, even if the wig isn’t to my liking. Those hair balls look too much like ripe tomatoes. Or maybe I’m just hungry.

NICK: Don’t forget her shout-out to Larry the Lobster, with those ribbings on the arms and legs of her bodysuit. It’s like the musculature body armor from Bram Stroker’s Dracula, except even sexier. I do love the bushel of apples on her head as errant silliness - it’s odd and incongruous, but that just makes it fun for me. And the clam shell pattern for the bust going up the shoulder pads is an inspired touch.

Carson Kressley - who had a great week for zingers, I must say - praised Suzie Toot’s runway for going straight to the earliest definitions of quilting with her unstylistish stitching of random fabrics together. I see his point, and appreciate how Suzie adheres to a specific palette and silhouette, allowing those gold accents to pop against such dark, rich fabrics. But this seems like the wrong dress for her to shake up her mug, yeah? Her paint looks good, and I appreciate it purely as a strategic move catered for Michelle Visage, but why go for High Elvish when pre-Code street urchin realness would probably compliment the outfit better?

CLÁUDIO: I think this reads more as straight patchwork than quilting per se. I don’t see the sandwiching of several layers of material that’s intrinsic to quilting. But technicalities aside, I too feel a disconnect between the outfit and the styling. That skirt is all velvet cut at odd angles, rectinlinear and sharp. But then her accessories are all golden swirls, her makeup further disconnected from the rest. She looks pretty, I’ll give her that, and this is how you play to win. Very Willow Pill of Miss Toot.

We’ve seen variations of this look many times before over Drag Race history, from Courtney Act on Season 6 to Juriji der Klee on España All-Stars. Yet, Sam Star manages to make this Cinzia Ruggeri reference into something that feels perfectly attuned to her brand of drag pageantry. It helps that it’s so perfectly realized, down to that oversized zipper and cuddly teddy bear. Sam rarely surprises on the runway, but she’s consistently polished and that deserves some praise. 

NICK: I’m struggling a little with your comment, if only because I’d say last week’s bordello Madame and this week’s sleeping bag couture did surprise me, especially following her Barbie-pink talent show number. Or perhaps the surprise is how Sam’s largely won me over from her initial impression. For such a concretely distilled brand, Sam’s got more tools in her arsenal than I gave her credit for.

Acacia Forgot’s mug reminds me so much of Nina West’s. I just had to say it. Anyways, this is a really lovely garment that also ready as quite matronly, with the beehive hair and the grandma quilts. The construction is so detailed I could look at the overlapping fabrics for hours. The wig in particular is immaculate, though the doilies double as cobwebs a little too easily. To echo what you said with Hormona, I’d love to see Acacia try on some darker wigs. 

CLÁUDIO: These pale bitches need some color in their lives! But also, I can’t help but feel like taking apart family heirlooms to make a Drag Race lewk is a bit too much, especially when the results turn out so underwhelming. This garment obviously means a lot to her, and I’m happy she got to show it off, I guess. For once, the basic shoes were a good choice.

For the past few episodes, there has been a real disconnect between the quality of Onya’s ensembles and her skill with styling and presentation. Finally, all those elements are aligned at a high level, with a beautiful hommage to her African roots in the form of quilted and bedazzled waxprints. She looks fabulous.

NICK: Onya looks so goddamn good. It’s one thing to see her try and sell her outfits through sheer showmanship, it’s another to see her luxuriate in the elegance and beauty of her dress like she does here. Absolutely lovely to behold.

Lexi Love’s runway, designed by season 13’s Utica, has to be the most fashionable number in the whole category. I’m quite stunned by this, which is very recognizably made from quilted material but still constructed with unusual lines and accessories. Even the chocolate color of the fabric is a smart choice, standing out against the multicolored confections of her sisters. Just a delicious outfit from top to bottom.

CLÁUDIO: Ever since her season 13 stint, I’ve considered Utica one of the best and most underrated fashion queens in Drag Race’s history. The work she’s been doing for other contestants in the last few years only consolidates that idea. I adore this weird creation, especially how it subtly juxtaposes grids over grids. It’s fucking interesting to look at, to get lost in, while still working as a fierce fashion moment. Lexi also models the shit out it. Attagirl.

Kori King credits this thing to her drag sisters, Big Atlas and Plane Jane, carrying them with her into Drag Race in a similar way one might treasure a family’s past through quilts passed from generation to generation. That’s all very lovely, but the final result looks proportionately odd, too lumpy in places and crowned by a too-small wig - Monet X Change’s pussycat curse is still in place, condemning us all to years and years of tiny units on the runway. Worse, the accessories look all wrong, utterly disconnected from the Chinoiserie fabrics used in the quilted patchwork.

NICK: “This thing”. So shady, Cláudio, but you’re not wrong. Kori’s fiercely mugged, but she can’t sell this on the catwalk. I’m a bit shocked the proportional ingenuity she’s shown with her padding completely failed to translate to this outfit. Never have I ever feared a queen’s cleavage would fall out of her top the way I did watching her girls bouncing around up there.

CLÁUDIO: After the runway, it’s time to consider “Bitch I’m a Drag Queen,” Volume 1.

This is Crystal’s team, all collaborating on each others’ sketches, starting with Lana and Lydia’s country take on the famous Morgan vs Mystique tussle from season 2. The queens are fine, especially Lana, but the spotlight belongs to the human tumbleweed in the background - so freaking funny, mainly because the skit’s two stars pay her no mind. Joella is less successful, messing the lip sync to her own voice. By the end of her little performance, there’s a lovely energy to it, but that feels like a win for the ensemble than LA’s opulent queen par excellence. Jewels and Arrietty get the best tune of the bunch, re-staging the “backrolls” kerfuffle of season 5 with surprising style. Their vocals are solid, the Alyssa-isms actually work in their favor, and the comical mugging is a nice contrast to the bitchiness. If nothing else, it’s interesting to see these two queens perform without their signature mugs. Miss Sparkles looks notably different, no dramatic winged liner in sight. 

Hormona serves good Shanel by way of Valentina’s French Vanilla Fantasy. It’s a good performance, much better than one might have assumed from the behind-the-scenes footage, but nothing to write home about. As ever, she looks lovely, if a little washed out in her icy glamour. Saving the best for last, Crystal does Latrice if Latrice was a skinny white bitch on a coke bender. She’s vaguely cartoonish, quasi-demonic in her high-energy approach, sometimes getting messy with the lip sync but never to the extent Joella did. I understand some would find her franticness off-putting, but I think it worked in this context. Did it work for you?

NICK: I loved Crystal’s number, which is so kinetically staged and performed. She’s doing a lot, but she mugs with conviction, and I didn’t expect her to be so game for all this silliness. I like Hormona’s performance a little more than you did, or maybe I’m just falling for the switcheroo of the “go girl give us nothing!” shade from her teammates - a criticism that makes no sense once we see the performance. I would have liked more charge from Lana and Lydia, plus an explanation for why Lydia’s lips are like that, but they served their song fine. Jewels and Arrietty are a goddamn hoot. Joella is fine, but she’s not at the level of her co-stars once she gets under the spotlight. Overall, the group performances really give the Volume 1 tracks a little extra oomph, and I think everyone looks a little better for it. We sure don’t *need* half the queens voguing around Crystal during her number, but it’s so much better for it.

I don’t mean to say it solely as a knock to the delicious divas Volume 2, but to highlight how each approach makes the numbers and the queens stand out differently.  Suzie Toot stages “You’re Perfect” as a rock star talking shit about her ex and trashing her makeup station. It’s a great beat, and she gets to do a lot of high volume face acting at that mirror. Sam Star and Acacia Forgot’s tango spin on “Star Quality” does the job quite nicely, though I wonder what that moment would have looked like with the other queens filling out the space. Onya Nurve is next, with her snazzy cabaret rendition of “Put Your Lighters Up”, and she completely owns it. Her look is superb, the staging is right, and she sells it with a fantastic mix of diva elegance and eye-popping ridiculousness. The editing on this makes it even funnier, with the sudden close-ups on her goofy expressions and smoky dissolves really putting Onya over the edge.

I like Lexi Love’s performance to “This is Your Moment”, but I don’t love it. The glamour is so fun, especially when she’s got her hair and robe billowing on that fan. How on earth did she pack that giant wig? Star quality abounds, though the tantrum and that final death drop seem a little out of place with the rest of her haughtiness. Still, she gets it, which isn’t true for Kori King. “Glamazon Bitch” is among the most iconic Drag Race quotes ever to grace our screens, and it’s a good beat, but I’m baffled as to why she went so hard on the chicken theme when it’s got a platinum-grade narrative line built into it. She did not need to bring so many eggs into the equation! Points are earned for how nicely the other queens are incorporated - love Suzie doing her punk rock thing while swaying to the beat - but it’s just off. Kori’s clearly got good comedic instincts and timing. I just would have laughed harder if this made sense for the challenge.

CLÁUDIO: I’ll try to keep things as short and sweet as my verbose ass can manage. Suzie’s in it to win it, cleverly showing her range after establishing her brand on the premiere. This bitch will not be read for lack of versatility like so many of the Broadway babies that came before her. Sam and Acacia are solid but boring - I snoozed. Onya is a superstar, so perfect she basically makes any semblance of competition null and void. The moment her clip played, we knew who’d won the challenge. Lexi sounds like she’s auditioning for the Richard E. Grant role in the next production of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. Loved the Mama Ru Drag on steroids. Kori is baffling. What’s worse, the bit’s strained and unfunny.

The judges mostly agree, singling out Crystal, Suzie, and Onya for the top before crowning the latter as the fourth episode’s winner. This was a slamdunk for Miss Nurve, and there’s no way around it. Any other result would have come off as absurd, no matter how much I might have loved Crystal’s whole approach to the challenge.

I have more issues with the bottom’s critiques. Mostly because Arrietty is there for some reason. I disagree with the degree the judges imply she was overshadowed by Jewels and Michelle’s makeup critique is eye-rolling ridiculous. The thing is, I could understand this call for versatility if it was ever applied to the traditionally mugged girls. When someone doing basic drag is called out for their makeup, it’s always about a technical deficiency of some sort - Lawrence’s sad eyes, Lady Camden’s thin lips, Jinx Monsoon’s harsh contour. Their problem with Arrietty, on the other hand, is purely aesthetic. Michelle says she’s always got the same face, but that is even truer for queens like Crystal and Kori whose critiques never mention stylistic limitations. It’s honestly infuriating at this point. Why must the alternative girls always show they can do conventional glam when their conventional glam sisters are never held to the same standards? 

NICK: It’s patently frustrating. You’ve articulated it beautifully, so I won’t repeat it, but it’ll be frustrating if this conversation persists all season. Arrietty’s mug is so singular! Why would you want to change it!

Maybe the funniest moment of the whole episode comes when the girls return to hear Ru’s final judgments. Before anything else happens, Ru announces that Joella will be lip syncing for her life. I feel bad for the poor thing, but it’s just too funny to see her looking sour with her face poking out of her glory hole. Ru then praises all of the top three queen’s achievements before Onya is announced the winner of the episode. She’s ecstatic, as we should all be, though I wonder how she’ll feel about her place in the competition now that she’s won a challenge. Girl deserves to feel a little more confident.

Arrietty is saved, perhaps unsurprisingly, meaning Kori King and Joella will duke it out for survival. The lip sync song is “Buttons”, by The Pussycat Dolls feat. Snoop Dogg. Joella starts off having her RuPillow lip-syncing the lyrics, but it doesn’t pan out. Neither does her unexciting body suit reveal once she removes said pillow. Neither does her lack of knowledge about any of Snoop’s lyrics, which get a lot of air time. Kori wins the lip sync by default, but she’s also as sexy and engaging as the song demands. Once again, I wish Kori had gotten to do the Alter Ego lip sync - she woulda kiiiiilled it.

CLÁUDIO: Unlike you, I wanted more from Kori. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but I’m honestly afraid for her next time she lands in the bottom. Still, I can’t imagine the levels of bad she’d need to be for Ru to eliminate her over Joella who is truly disastrous. So goodbye, slaysian queen. I’ll miss you dearly as a TV personality, though I’m not so sure this competition is the right fit. I also could have done without that exit line but whatever makes you happy, girl.

Next week, we have the return of RDR Live!, a challenge that has produced a mixed bag in its past two iterations. Let’s hope this bunch of queens is better than their AS8 and season 16 sisters. Then again, if one sketch is as good as last year’s Streisand trio, maybe it’ll be worth it.

Previous RuCaps:

• Episode 1: “Squirrel Games”
• Episode 2: "Drag Queens Got Talent"
• Episode 3: "Monopulence!"

Comments

[MJC]

Some thoughts:

- Onya Nurve's win was definitely earned
- the challenge itself was lame despite an intriguing idea
- the cast is definitely short on standout superstars (are there any...?)
- the PInkNews article, "Does Drag Race Have An Age Problem?" is definitely ringing true
- four episodes and five lip syncs - and only one has been worth a re-watch

The show needs an overhaul (including a new host) before the cultural beacon of the gay community becomes as irrelevant as Dancing with the Stars and Big Brother.