RuPaul super-sized Monday night with a back-to-back double feature of RuPaul’s Drag Race followed by two fully-loaded installments of Untucked. It was an emotionally taxing and completely tiring three-hour affair that, if nothing else, totally blurred the lines between this season’s winners and losers.
Aside from being one of the most transparent and agenda-driven seasons of Drag Race, season 6 has boasted one of the most talented casts to date (albeit also being one of the most delusional). Last night’s double dose featured the fall of a fan favorite, the rise of more than one underdog, and the unsurprising departure of only one of the final eight.
The entire evening was shocking, to say the least. For the sake of my sanity, I’m going to break this down by shock value factor and treat both delightful episodes as one. In the sake of fairness, I will also discuss Darienne Lake, even though the only shocking thing she brought to the table this week was her continued presence.
Episode 7 brought back the “make a commercial” challenge, which was introduced for the first time last season when the queens made commercials for a signature fragrance, which they created on their own. This season, things were severely dumbed down when Ru placed the ladies in teams to plug one of her products, RuPaul’s Glamazon Makeup or something like that or whatever.
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What the challenge lacked in creative freedom, it more than made up for in establishing the catty dynamics between certain queens. It’s clear that RuPaul hand-crafted this challenge specifically to thrust certain queens into the spotlight and push others back into their safe zones. The queens served “black and white glamour” on the runway, which in my opinion, has been the most flawless runway display this season. More glamour, ladies.
Episode 8 revived one of last season’s more hilarious challenges, the live stand-up comedy challenge. From the moment this challenge was announced, it was obvious that Bianca was going to win, but watching how each of the queens interpreted “comedy” and the cringe-factor that comes with watching them perform it was more than enough to keep everyone entertained. The “twist” — bringing an entire nursing home to sit in the audience — was worth it if only to cut to an elderly woman literally knitting during the most embarrassingly awful performance. Touché, producers.
And now for the SHOCKs:
SHOCK: Trinity K. Bonet absolutely slayed both competitions
Yaaaaasss, work bitch! is all I have to say to Trinity K. Bonet this week. With a little help from a matronly Bianca Del Rio in episode 7, Trinity totally came out of her shell this week and left behind whatever insecurities were causing her to fall flat throughout the first half of this competition. I respectfully rescind my accusation from last week that the producers were keeping her around to fulfill some sort of contractual obligation to Gilead — Mama Ru clearly saw something in Trinity that I did not, and I’m glad this queen’s real talent finally rose to the surface.
Speaking of which, I’m really loving the relationship Bianca is establishing with the queens. As a commenter pointed out last week, it would be easy to edit her bitchy reads as her only contribution to this season, but the producers have really done her a solid by showing the caring side of Bianca, the side that roots for everyone and *cough* has what it takes to win this competition. *cough*
Trinity made a flawless comeback this week, though it may be too little, too late. While coming into her own will definitely take her further than she previously would have gone with the tired attitude, I’m not sure she has top three material. Top five, maybe, but definitely not top three.
Her performance in the makeup commercial and her jokes during the comedy routine were both seriously on point — she made RuPaul cry and even began offering advice to other queens during Untucked. Claps all around.
SHOCK: BenDeLaCreme’s Fall From Grace
My, how the mighty have fallen! I wouldn’t go so far as to say DeLa was given the shaft this week, because her subpar performance on both challenges made me want to cover my eyes, but she was definitely off her game both times.
First, pairing her with Darienne Lake for the commercial challenge was absolutely evil, and there are only two reasons RuPaul would have done this. She either has a personal vendetta against DeLa and wants to willfully watch her fail, or she’s further setting Lake up to be this season’s evil bitch a la Phi Phi O’Hara, a plan I revealed in last week’s recap.
Her pairing with Lake proved fatal as both completely crashed and burned trying to sell makeup to a “cougar crowd” during the commercial challenge. Both queens wound up in the bottom two and both wound up staying after the franchise’s second no-elimination lip sync. I’m not so bitter, and I’ll give credit where credit is due — Darienne Lake totally won that lip sync and she rightfully shantayed first, but just as we saw in the first no-elimination lip sync last season (Update: it was the third — the first no-elimination lip-synch happened during season 3), Ru was caught in a pickle choosing between the queen who lip synced better and the queen who legitimately deserved to stay.
DeLa was also the only queen to fall victim to hecklers during the stand-up comedy routine, something that she totally brought upon herself. The fact that she performed poorly on both challenges last night leaves me fearful for her future — I pegged her as season 6’s winner last week (even though I have now fully accepted that Bianca Del Rio will win), and I’m still hoping she makes it in the top three.
SHOCK: Joslyn Fox is NOT a fair-weather queen
Dare I say Joslyn Fox is this season’s Jinkx Monsoon? Her attitude and performance during both challenges last night distinctly read “These queens better not write me off yet,” something season 5 winner Jinkx Monsoon said long before she emerged as a frontrunner. I’m placing bets on this one.
SHOCK: Laganja Estranja has never been told she’s annoying before now
In what comes as the biggest shock of the entire season, Laganja Estranja was informed that her excessive vocabulary and phony personality comes off as annoying, to which she reacted as if she’d been confronted about this for the very first time.
I find it hard to believe that someone who wears a “no smoking” sign in their hair and works a bend, snap and “okurrr mama” into every sentence has never been on the receiving end of an eye roll before, but it’s clear that Laganja’s psychological issues are much larger than this competition and perhaps this is the first time she’s been forced to deal with it?
Serving “stoner realness” during the comedy challenge in order to land a few jokes about smoking (which went over like a lead balloon, tbh) is, in the kindest terms, lame. Does Laganja also believe she’s the only pothead in West Hollywood? Take a number, girl.
Her tantrums and fits from last night are far too numerous to list here. In lieu of beating a dead horse by talking about it, I’m just going to breathe a sigh of relief knowing she won’t return next week.
And now, the looks:
Laganja Estranja
Somewhere, a black lagoon is missing its creature. I don’t know whether to read Laganja or leave it alone at this point, but I will say this: Coming out with makeup on only one side of your eye has to be high on the list of drag queen cardinal sins. The wig she wore for the comedy challenge was great because it was removable during the lip sync, but the under-wig reveal would have been more impressive if Roxxxy Andrews hadn’t done it first last season.
Was Adore even in the episodes this week? I can’t say anything she did was particularly memorable, but I do feel as though she’s still a contender for the top three. Although two weeks of “safety” at this point isn’t exactly a good thing.
Bianca Del Rio
The only thing more impressive than Bianca Del Rio’s charm is the fact that she hand-crafts everything she wears out on the runway. Even after she’s announced as this season’s winner, she’ll continue to inspire queens for generations to come. She’s timeless.
Trinity K. Bonet
“Night at the casino fish” Trinity could get it. I’m so inspired by her turnaround this week, and this black and white casino night look is giving me life. I’m so glad you didn’t go home when I wanted you to, Trinity.
BenDeLaCreme
I’m slightly perturbed that DeLa was read for this incredible thing sprouting around her neck this week, but I’m glad it inspired one of the best runway reads of all time. Never forget that as she sauntered down the runway, RuPaul remarked “I don’t know what that is around her neck, but if it snows tonight, it’s going around my tires.” Iconic.
Darienne Lake
Wow, Darienne Lake wore the same outfit as last week with some crinoline wrapped around her arms. Forgive me for not being amazed.
Courtney Act
Attention all future Drag Race contestants (and Milk)!
If you’re going to come out on the runway in male drag, THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT. Courtney’s complacency continues to allow her to coast through the season, but RuPaul and the judges are finally starting to catch on to her holier-than-thou attitude. I think she’s talented enough to compete and be remembered as one of the best, but I just don’t think her heart is in it to win it this season.
Joslyn Fox
It’s true, Joslyn essentially wore the same outfit two weeks in a row and just switched up the color scheme. But this look works for her, and she’s improved so much in the last two weeks that I’m not going to hold this tiny fluke against her. That being said, I’m secretly hoping she makes it further than Courtney Act to get that validation she clearly deserves.
Vince Smetana
It only took you EIGHT episodes, Queerty, to figure out who was winning. But, condragulations for finally putting them smelling salts underneath your nose and figuring it out.
Sauja32
I need to see the lead-in to those simultaneous splits in slo-mo, because damned if I don’t think Joslyn saw Laganja’s leg go up, figured out what was coming, and dropped right into it to kill the buzz. And if so…more power to her!
Ken
Ru’s comment about the artsy flower/collar thingy around DeLa’s neck wasn’t original. When Ru starts ripping off her own lines (the original line from Too Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar is “If it snows tonight he’s going on my tires”, commenting about a muscular man wearing chains) she’s officially run out of good material (which sucks since Bruce “Comedy Doctor” Villanch was right there!!).
That said, all the Black & White outfits on the runway were FABULOUS!!! (except Darienne “Creature From the Black” Lake).
Pandora needs to distance herself from her Drag Mother who is either totally toxic like this in real life or (Like Phi Phi O’Hara) came in with a plan to be the evil bitch on purpose. Which, as Phi Phi has said, will backfire.
To future Drag Race contestants…the editors will find their bitch, don’t shoot yourself in the foot by making it worse and creating fan/haters.
HirsuteOne
Transparent, agenda and delusional. The show or the recap?
alterego1980
I’m glad you didn’t get too much into Untucked as I just couldn’t stay up for it. It’s hilarious to me that no one gets Joslyn Fox’s quirky humor. It’s dork-funny, which is probably why i love her so much. I really think she could outlast Courtney. Speaking of, She is starting to rival Darienne for biggest bitch of the season. The more comfortable she is, the more we see her true colors. She really does think she’s above everyone else (and not in a healthy way).
Snapper59
Now that Laganja is gone, does it matter who wins? They are all pretty well known on their own by this point in the drag community. Trinity seems to be a favorite of RuPaul. And in Untucked they presented Alyssa Edwards as a past “winner” and as I recall she didn’t come in First, Second, or Third.
IcarusD
“I’m not so bitter, and I’ll give credit where credit is due — Darienne Lake totally won that lip sync and she rightfully shantayed first, but just as we saw in the first no-elimination lip sync last season, Ru was caught in a pickle choosing between the queen who lip synced better and the queen who legitimately deserved to stay.”
I’m not sure Ru does — nor should — make the Lip Sync for Your Life the sole determining factor of who stays and goes. Maybe if one contestant is unexpectedly awful. But otherwise, I think it’s fair for Ru to balance the lip sync against other factor.
stranded
Jocelyn was getting on my radar, but when she came out in the same outfit as last week, i was shocked. How did she not think that was a bad idea. It was really funny in untucked when, She was saying how the judges read her for wearing 6/7 bikinis so she wanted to do something different. Then Laganja cut in with “by wearing 3 or 4?” That was so funny. DeLa did fall from grace. But i thought in the commercial challenge she and Darrienne were really funny. Maybe don’t make fun of plastic surgery with those specific judges…
In the commercial challenge i thought Laganja and Adore did the worst. I think they should keep the Standup challenge. Most drag shows i’ve seen include standup, it’s almost as essential as lip syncing. Where as before the Snatch game separates the good from the bad, i now think the stand up challenge does that.
Cam
Ok Matthew……..
I was going to write a whole post on how I agreed with nearly everything you said, blah blah blah….but after you wrote this
“SHOCK: Laganja Estranja has never been told she’s annoying before now”
I just cracked up and couldn’t stop laughing for a min. So on point, so bitchy, so perfect. LOL
Thank you for the great recaps! (Has Queerty thought of doing an additional review of Untucked? If they are like this they would be fantastic)
babybabybaby
Glad they got rid of that Gia …. Could not stand that queen….
frenchjr25
Adore Delano better get her act together. In both lives she has shown that she is fierce and willing to put herself out there. Sad to hear that she hasn’t been showing it.
james_in_cambridge
Darienne Lake is a joke and not in a good way! She’s not funny, not talented, looks horrible in clothes and is super annoying on the level of Laganja! Let’s face it, she’s still in the competition only because Rupaul has been criticized in the past for letting talented queens who were heavy go way too early. Darienne has no talent so Ru should have no problem letting her go! The worst part of having her around is during the interviews, where she always flat-lines and comes off as so horribly annoying. God!
james_in_cambridge
Oh, and about Laganja, when you said “psychological issues”, you got it 100% right. I’m not gonna bash someone who clearly has mental health issues but I do hope she gets help instead of being chewed up and thrown up by the low-wattage, reality-tv celebrity she’s about to experience, at least in the gay ghettos coast to coast. If she doesn’t get help, she’s gonna have a terrible end way before she turns 30.
ev447
Adore not only won the commercial challenge but also managed to drag Legonzo to a win. I would hardly say she was “safe”.
Cam
It was interesting to see during Untucked that a lot of LaGanga’s phony mannerisms she copied directly from Alyssa Edwards.
That’s kinda sad.
SillyTeee
this is possibly the most boring season.. none of these queens impress me.most of them are a bunch of men who like to wear women’s clothing, not drag at all. and i’m tired of those stupid splits as if that’s the one thing that won’t get you eliminated. i want real Drag QUeens on here with real drag names! go away Adore!
BD
You’re too worried about predicting winners and not enough about recognizing talent.
I’m no Darienne stan but if you’re if you’re not willing to eat your words about her yet at least don’t sound so bitter, girl! The first lip sync was a clear ploy to try to get rid of Darienne, who turned it OUT (the cash grabbing was genius) while DeLa was removing her clothing (tired), so Ru had no choice but to let her stay. Then she killed the comedy challenge. She also has genuinely funny moments in confessionals, and she’s far from a Phi Phi or a Roxxy.
Cam
@SillyTeee:
I do wish there were fewer of the boring young queens who think Drag is all bout looking fishy and being boring (Gia).
I would LOVE to see more of the Tanny Brown, Bianca, Raja, Chad Michaels, Manilla, Sharon, Alaska, Jinx, etc…
People like Laganja, Gia, Tyra, etc… they just kind of bore me.
Darienne to me is boring because she epitomizes the boring Pagent Queen. Kinda bitchy and mean, wears the same thing every day, no creativity in her make-up or look. Once you’ve seen her once you don’t really need to see her again.
BD
The idea that Gia was boring is one of those things that doesn’t become more true the more you say it. Despite being culturally dumb, Gia actually had a sharp wit and biting humor. Let’s remember that just because a girl’s not your cup of tea doesn’t mean she’s dumb, uncreative, unfunny, etc.
Cam
@BD:
No, actually she didn’t have sharp and biting humor. Sharp is when you can actually say something back immediately and not have to wait a week and have your friends help you write it in a letter.
Additionally, Gia not only wasn’t funny, but the few comments she did get out were all the same, some comment about a boy or about a wig that you could tell she had said multiple times before.
I’m not trying to be a huge jerk but I’m sure it will sound like I am when I say….If Gia is your definition of Sharp, then you really need to get out more.
bounce
“franchise’s second no-elimination lip sync….but just as we saw in the first no-elimination lip sync last season”
No no no no no no no WRONG! You have clearly forgotten the lip sync third season between Carmen Carerra (who did all right) and Yara Sofia (who of course deserved to stay).
Matthew Tharrett
@bounce: You’re right. The post has been updated.
bounce
@Matthew Tharrett:
Thanks muchly. I know my Drag Race trivia…you know, the important things in life. 😉