RPDR All Stars 3: E6 - Fuck My Drag Race, Right?

by Chris Feil

Last week on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, we were teased that the Handmaid’s revenge twist was finally upon us. Unfortunately this week proved all that build up to the queens returning only brought more of this season’s weak impulses: ignoring the talent and personal stories in favor of going whole hog on dramatics. It’s the rare episode where every queen does well, and yet that goes unacknowledged. It feels so far away from the show we all fell in love with.

For the return, both batches of queens are tasked with auditioning for Ru’s new Spice Girls-inspired Kitty Girls with original songs, characters, and choreography. Before the queens could get into the challenge, they unpacked all of their grievances around the workroom table...

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RPDR All Stars 3: E5 - Can-aroon!

by Chris Feil

Drag Race fans got a mega-serving of the ever popular show this week with an All Stars design challenge followed immediately by the announcement of the season 10 cast. The big tenth season will be following the ongoing All Stars season without a break, so in 2018 the Race is a marathon. We’ll briefly look at the new contestants, but first we have to unpack (oops) the season’s first dud episode.

Last week Shangela played up the drama for a middling Snatch Game and gave once expected frontrunner Trixie Mattel a major fakeout, ultimating sending the beloved but stuck-in-first-gear Chi Chi DeVayne. The first agenda once back in the workroom was to lay the Notegate drama to rest...

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RPDR All Stars 3: E4 - Notes on a Shangela Scandal(a)

by Chris Feil

“Shady Thorgy is so shady, she causes drama even after she ______”. Sis, it’s the Snatch Game!

The lead up to this week’s episode was quite understated compared to the hype machine of previous Snatch Games, perhaps a sign that the fanbase has wisely lowered their expectations. But it’s not any celebrity impersonation that made this an episode to remember. What’s the best thing Drag Race could hope for when its fan favorite challenge continues to experience such diminishing returns each season? A mountain full of drama to distract from another underwhelming end result!

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RPDR All Stars 3: E3 - Eggplant Faceplant

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.

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RPDR All Stars 3: E2 - Divas Live!

by Chris Feil

After a phenomenal premiere last week, RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars retuned with a nod to it’s new VH1 home for a lipsync tribute to VH1 Divas Live.

For the children who may not remember this landmark televised event of living legends sharing a stage and its subsequent installments, this was the thunderdome of vocal runs and balladry. Some helpful context: last week Aja’s jawdropping performance snuck up on formiddable competition and Céline-d a stage of Aretha’s and Mariah’s. Morgan McMichaels was Carole King and didn’t stick around. Valentina Whitney Houston-d because everyone wondered why she wasn’t there.

Seriously VH1, it’s the 20th Anniversary of the first Divas Live. Be good to us and start a revival. And true to Divas Live, this episode delivered as much on personality as it did performance.

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