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…

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Drag Race RuCap: "Monopulence!"

by Cláudio Alves

Monopoly sure looks different since last I played it.

If you only come to these RuCaps in search of Nick Taylor's dazzling wit, I'm sad to report that, this week, you'll have to settle for little old me. Our beloved co-Rucapper was busy with a trip to New York, so, like Elphaba, I'm flying solo. But only for this design challenge episode, where drag queens celebrated the most friendship-breaking tabletop game ever, giving us a flavor of Logo-style messiness. For a while, it felt like we were back in those early Drag Race seasons, when the claws came out and nobody left an episode unscathed. So, settle in for drama and some dubious fashions, as we dive headfirst into "Monopulence!"…

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Drag Race RuCap: “Drag Queens Got Talent”

Like in the last couple of years, Nick Taylor and Cláudio Alves are following and recapping the new RuPaul’s Drag Race season…

Condragulations, LEXI! You're a winner, baby.

CLÁUDIO: Call me Nostradamus because I foresaw the bitchtrack epidemic, an autotune apocalypse, crunchy dips as far as the eye can see. This is the state of the Drag Race Talent Show industrial complex, and I am not happy about it. Or call me Old Methuselah because being in your thirties now means having one step in the grave, according to a bunch of drag babies who dare call Lexi Love a grandma. I can’t wait to see the 34-year-old diva crush those brats’ dreams under her hooker heels. Or her rollerblades, as the case may be. She’s now my pick for season 17 winner, a choice I come to out of spite but also admiration. Because, make no mistake, “Drag Queens Got Talent - Part 2” was Miss Love’s episode, and all those other whores were fighting for runner-up honors. Call me Grandpa Grumps because this episode got me grumpy as fuck, almost as much as it entertained me. 

NICK: Lexi Love fuckin’ owned this episode. No one touched her in the talent show or the top 2 lip sync. I’m honestly glad she and Suzie Toot did their performances on different nights, even if tonight’s portion of the talent show was much less entertaining on average than last week. Would I have loved to see Suzie tap to “Alter Ego”? Obviously. And thank fuck Lexi Love didn’t have to settle for “Woman’s World”. But we’ve now got two top-tier divas at the head of the pack with a win under each of their belts…

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Drag Race RuCap: “Squirrel Games”

Like in the last couple of years, Nick Taylor and Cláudio Alves are following and recapping the new RuPaul’s Drag Race season…

Are you ready for this new crop of queens?

NICK TAYLOR: How do you measure a year? Do you base it on a fixed temporal quantity, like daylights or sunsets? Or do you go by something more nebulous, more personal, like cups of coffee? Hugs given? Lives lived? How about a secret third option: basing all existence on the schedule of an increasingly productive, internationally-minded media franchise like RuPaul’s Drag Race? 2025 has barely begun and here we are, Cláudio, ready to once again offer our unprecedented and unrequested takes on the latest US season of Drag Race. It’s season 17, baybeee!! With a new twist on the split-premiere structure of seasons past and an opening mini-challenge arguably more culturally relevant than the show it’s spoofing, I say this season gets off on the right foot.

I certainly had a lot of fun with it. Did you, diva?

CLÁUDIO ALVES: I did, Mr. Larson, I really did…

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Drag Race RuCap: Season Sixteen's “Grand Finale”

Nick Taylor and Cláudio Alves watch and recap RuPaul’s Drag Race season sixteen. This week, it’s time for the grand finale…

Look at those ponytails! Sasha Colby's impact is immeasurable.

CLÁUDIO: Better late than never, amirite? Well, even if I’m not, please pretend. 

Many days have passed since season sixteen drew to a close, with Taiwan goddess Nymphia Wind crowned America’s next drag superstar. It was a conclusion I wished for but wasn’t expecting, thinking Philly had the win secured up until those final minutes. After all, nothing in the season’s edit positioned the Banana Buddha as a threat, mostly ignoring her to the point she was invisible for a couple of episodes in the middle. On the other hand, Sapphira had winner energy from the go, a notion bolstered by the judges’ unvarying praise and four wins to her name. It’s easy to see why Miss Cristál’s stans feel a bit flabbergasted, though I wish some of them weren’t so quick to invalidate RuPaul’s chosen champion.

NICK: It’s still a shock! A pleasant one, but an odd one, and one I can understand folks feeling snaked by. As gaggy as Nymphia’s finale lip sync was - and I do think she won that battle - Sapphira gave a winning performance too! She was winning the whole episode, the whole season, until she didn’t. . . .

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