After watching Thursday’s episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race, I kind of feel like all Olympic athletes should be required to compete in high heels. With 10 queens left in the game, this week’s installment featured the franchise’s first-ever Drag-lympics — and not everyone involved was a good sport about it.
But before the ladies could go for the gold, they had to warm up via this week’s mini challenge, a “gal-isthenics” class led by Ru’s pal Love Connie. The dual win went to A’Keria C. Davenport and Plastique Tiara, the latter of whom really impressed me with her floor work. Most of this season’s contestants have been underestimating Plastique as a mere look queen, so I’m always excited when she steps it up and proves them wrong. (Those back-to-back death drops!) That said, I think we should also give a little credit to Yvie Oddly, who did… well… this:
With their limbs properly loosened, A’Keria and Plastique were named the leaders of competing countries — Tuckpantistan and The People’s Republic of Glamazonia, naturally — and got to select team members for this week’s maxi challenge: the Drag-lympics. Proving she knows exactly how to play this game, A’Keria loaded up her team with heavy hitters like Brooke Lynn Hytes, Silky Nutmeg Ganache, Yvie and Shuga Cain. Meanwhile, Plastique’s team consisted of Ra’Jah O’Hara, Miss Vanjie, Nina West… and poor Scarlet Envy, who wasn’t technically picked by anyone. (This actually became a recurring theme throughout the episode, which I didn’t expect.)
Let’s start with that second group, whose members were instantly aware of how much trouble they were in — or as Vanjie put it, “We are f–ed!” From the minute Scarlet was added to the team, Nina worried about her two left feet, which only added to Scarlet’s feelings of inadequacy. (“It’s a hard place to start from,” she admitted.) As for A’Keria’s team, everyone managed to turn it out, though poor Yvie struggled to put her body through some of the more complicated choreography. Hearing about her journey with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome was absolutely heartbreaking, especially as she looked towards a future where this type of drag might not be an option anymore.
Then came this week’s runway, “All That Glitters,” which included an impressive variety of gold-based looks: A’Keria could have passed as Ru’s body double, Brooke Lynn gave us pure Norma Desmond, Yvie kept it comedic as an old lady with a golden cane and Plastique revealed her personal “mega evolution.” Her team’s victory, combined with her stunning runway look, earned A’Keria this week’s well-deserved win.
And while Vanjie’s basic Playboy Bunny-inspired ensemble nearly landed her in the bottom two, Ru let her off with a warning this time. Instead, Scarlet — who had to stand there and listen as her fellow teammates voted her off the damn runway — battled against Ra’Jah to the tune of Donna Summer’s “Last Dance.” Admitting that she’s no dancer, Scarlet opted to pull out every last trick in her bag, from an unexpected reveal of pants to a well-timed golden glitter bomb. And those synchronized death drops! Honestly, both ladies killed it… but in the end, Scarlet was told to sashay away.
Your thoughts on this week’s Drag Race? Drop ’em in a comment below.
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