Come on,
season six, let’s get Sharkening!
If there was
any gripe remaining about the talent of this cast, this week’s episode of RuPaul’s
Drag Race All Stars certainly erased any lingering concerns. A slam
dunk of a maxi challenge, a beautiful runway and runtime dedicated more to
performance than pettiness, helped showcase just how fierce these queens really
are.
While most got
a chance to shine either in the challenge or runway, this week’s episode really
revolved around Jan. We have some fun here at Jan’s expense, mostly due to her
inability to hide her intense need to win, even as she is swearing, no, really,
she is totally chill now. Gentle ribbing aside, Jan is an unquestionably
talented, hard working queen. It’s just our queer duty to take the piss out of
anyone taking something so seriously, especially drag.
Jan’s journey
is the crux of the episode around which all other parts rotate, even if it
forces some story beats. Regardless, this was a delightful challenge, maybe one
of the franchise’s best.
Everybody off
the field! Let’s dig in.
OK, is it
reductive to make a bunch of jokes about queer people being bad/disinterested
in sports? Hmmm, maybe. But, there’s also an undeniable kernel of truth there
too, isn’t there?
RuPaul, of
course leans into it, but the real joke is how this challenge will be using
songs generously donated by an artist waving all publishing fees — the great
RUPAUL.
But these are
RuPaul tracks like you’ve never heard them before! On the radio! At a
Dave and Buster’s! Reimagined in the style of some of pop’s all-time
biggest divas and artistes. Instead of the singular artist Rusical we’re used
to, this allows the queens to embody a wide variety of styles, and it’s
surprisingly delightful to hear Ru’s songs through these different musical
lenses. It’s a refreshing, TikTok-inspired spin on a lip sync challenge.
The gals all
choose their icon, and there are some really good options in the mix. Kylie
takes a bold swing at Steven Tyler; Scarlet is Katy Perry in full Left Shark;
Ra’Jah embodies Ru favorite Diana Ross; and Eureka picks Madonna. For most of
the prep and rehearsal with Jamal Sims, we barely so much as check in with this
group. They’re all fine!
The bulk of
the episode focuses on the other half of the queens. Pandora takes what I
consider to be a pretty risky move choosing the first Super Bowl halftime
entertain-ter (and first-ever Snatch Game favorite), Carol Channing. It might
feel a little “been there, done that,” but seeing it live, truly no one else
could’ve done it justice. Yara also sticks to her comfort zone, taking on
Shakira (an act she does regularly in Vegas) and even overruling Jamal’s
choreo.
Ginger gets
sidled with portraying Fergie, the least distinct of all the available
characters. She looks the part, and she does her best to infuse the performance
with energy, but it’s got the least to work with, both in inspiration and
script. (I want to personally speak to Ru’s writers for failing to include a
“Let’s play some basketball!” reference here.)
The bulk of
the episode focuses on the other half of the queens. Pandora takes what I
consider to be a pretty risky move choosing the first Super Bowl halftime
entertain-ter (and first-ever Snatch Game favorite), Carol Channing. It might
feel a little “been there, done that,” but seeing it live, truly no one else
could’ve done it justice. Yara also sticks to her comfort zone, taking on
Shakira (an act she does regularly in Vegas) and even overruling Jamal’s
choreo.
Ginger gets
sidled with portraying Fergie, the least distinct of all the available
characters. She looks the part, and she does her best to infuse the performance
with energy, but it’s got the least to work with, both in inspiration and
script. (I want to personally speak to Ru’s writers for failing to include a
“Let’s play some basketball!” reference here.)
Unfortunately, as Valentina sort of said: a Trinity win does not make sense with this episode’s Jantasy. It’s a close call between them, but the judges ultimately go with Jan for the much-delayed win. I personally would’ve went with TKB, or maybe even a split win!
But that’s not
the only odd judging call. Joining Trin and Jan in the top is … Eureka? Um, ok.
It’s not that Eureka wasn’t good, but so many other performers were
more memorable. Both Pandora and Kylie deserved recognition more than the
Elephant Queen.
The bottoms
are all over the place, too. Ginger’s nondescript Fergie makes sense here, but
she’s joined by Yara and A’Keria. The judges’ beef with Yara is her
lackadaisical facial expressions, and they find fault with the lack of funk in
A’Keria’s Prince. There definitely could’ve been a little more oomph in both
performances, but less compelling than Scarlet’s Katy Perry? I think not.
Ultimately, Ru
puts A’Keria and Yara in lipstick contention. Jan faces off against season
two’s Jessica Wild to lip sync to (#free)Britney Spears’ Circus banger
“Womanizer.” Jan really commits to a spastic robot routine, but it doesn’t
heighten or have any real payoff. (I did like the “fall for you” jump-split
fake out.) Jessica doesn’t need any gimmicks, just a head on an absolute
swivel, swinging around her wig in some most impressive hairography. Ru picks
her as the winner, adding another $10k to next week’s pot.
Jessica pulls
out the lipstick to reveal it’s Yara’s time to go. (Or is it?!! We’ve got a few
more weeks until the halfway point, which is when this “game within a game”
should come to a head.)
Next week the girlies sit down for some serious chat on Pink Table Talk (#ifkyk). For now, let’s take stock of where each queen stands in our rankings.
1.
Trinity is pulling ahead of the pack, both
as a performer and a personality. We’re seeing a lighter, more mature Trinity,
and it’s impossible not to root for her on and off the runway. The judges
poo-poo’d her frilly runway, but that seems like cheap justification to fulfill
the Proph-Jan-cy. (OK, enough, I promise.) Now that Jan got her win, we can go
back to Trinity’s season-long redemption arc.
2.
Ra’Jah had an understated week, but still
came correct. To do Diana Ross and get no notes is actually a pretty big deal,
considering she’s Ru’s No. 1 diva. Ra’Jah did Diana right, and her runway was
elegant and polished. She already staked her claim at the top earlier this
season with a big win and a strong lip sync. She’s very much in the running.
3.
The judges love Eureka, and there’s a lot
of reasons why. She’s dynamic, she wears her heart on her sleeve, she’s not
afraid to be foolish and she can deliver glamour. I thought her halftime
performance was worthy of safety, at most, and the runway was cute, but not
stunning. Still, there’s a lot of potential here, and we’ve yet to see Eureka
fully unleash. If this is Eureka at an 8, imagine when she cranks it to 11.
4.
Jan has dug her heels in to the top tier of
this group, and she is not going to slide back easily. She arrived with some
seriously elevated outfits, including this week’s frilly Westworld fantasy.
Maybe having finally secured her first Drag Race win, she can
unclench a little.
5.
How has Pandora been so underrecognized
this season? She’s been great in these challenges, particularly the variety
show, commercial and this week’s Carol Channing performance. Her runway this
week was absolutely one of her best. What gives?
6.
Kylie belonged in the top this week, full
stop. She absolutely crushed it as Steven Tyler, doing a faithful impersonation
with a touch of humor. She nailed his mannerisms, and there was some real
artistry in both the performance and presentation. She also had one of the most
beautiful, striking frills runways. Next week’s preview foreshadowed a struggle
with standing out, which hopefully signals a hurdle for her to overcome (and
not a final nail.)
7.
As gorgeous as she consistently is, Scarlet
is getting lost in the shuffle. Katy Perry isn’t the most compelling pop star
(sorry!), so she was at a bit of a disadvantage. However, Scarlet needs to
prove she’s more than just a beautiful clothes hanger.
8.
Ginger is slipping, y’all. Fergie was maybe
the toughest pop star to portray, and Ginger really did all she could. But now
she’s spent a couple weeks in the bottom. We’ve had a few
performance/musical/comedy challenges, and if Ginger hasn’t made her mark with
those, I worry if her chance to make a splash has passed.
9.
I’m really at odds with the judges when it
comes to A’Keria. For starters, I enjoyed her Prince. I see the judges’ qualms,
but they seem really small, comparatively. Certainly none of their notes could
ever steal any shine from that flowering runway. I mean, just wow. I’m hoping
she can steady herself and stick around.
10. Yara definitely wants to win, but she seems to want to win purely for
being Yara and not for playing all the little Ru-eindeer games. She was more
interested in phoning in her usual Shakira routine than learning from Jamal.
Her runway was neither a direct hit being on theme, nor did it leave much of an
impression. Her reluctance to demonstrate her desire to stay was ultimately her
undoing. You gotta be in it to win it. Yara is an unquestionably fierce queen
and established star. She really doesn’t need this win to prove anything.
Apparently, not even to herself.
How would you
rank the queens?
SOURCE: TOWLEROAD
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