Ranking the queens on RuPaul’s Drag Race is neither a science nor
an art. This season especially there hasn’t been a single queen that’s been
able to consistently dominate across a variety of challenges the way that
Bianca del Rio was able to crush comedy, create custom couture and conform to a
variety of scripted challenges. It’s as if this season’s batch of contestants
has multiple leads depending on the day.
I certainly didn’t see tonight’s elimination coming, which says
just as much about this season’s roller coaster ride as it does my own terrible
guessing ability.
Let’s have a kiki and discuss the episode.
First, tonight’s mini-challenge asked our remaining ladies to read
each other to filth with everyone’s favorite prop: puppets! It was not nearly
as laugh-out-loud riotous as last season (I still chuckle thinking of Adore
claiming BenDeLaCreme covers her eyebrows in oatmeal or Ben shrieking as Bianca
“I live in New York! I work all the time!”), but Pearl nailed her Kennedy
puppet’s rhinestone-covered burned chicken eleganza and Kennedy’s forgetting to
make her Pearl puppet’s mouth move could’ve been a successful artistic choice,
reflecting Pearl’s mumble-core allure. Ginger won the challenge, giving her Violet
puppet just the right amount of vanity, even if the voice was off.
The main challenge brought out beloved Sanrio character Hello Kitty
as the ultimate symbol of branding. The queens would have to use some Hello
Kitty swag to craft unique looks that reflect their style. Then, as a twist,
they were asked to create a new character to fit into Hello Kitty’s world,
complete with an oversized mascot head. It was adorable.
How’d they do? Check out our completely biased personal rankings
below, and share yours in the comments.
1. Violet Chachki sure picked the right time to surge in this
competition. Whether or not she’s gotten better or the challenges have just
suited her skill set better could be argued either way. All that matters now is
that she’s broken out from the pack over the last few design-heavy weeks with
some of the best looks of the season. I’m still not convinced she’ll take the
crown in the finale, but, at this point, no one else seems like a clear winner.
2. Remember back when Ginger seemed like she had this whole
competition in the (Hello Kitty-branded) bag? That was before the girls were
asked to sew so much. Lucky for her, she was able to shine by using her wit to
cleverly create a character that helped to elevate her campy Kitty couture.
Though Ginger doesn’t seem like such a preordained champion, a top-three finish
still feels sort of like a lock.
3. Good gracious, Kennedy Davenport, that was one gravity-defying
lip sync and the exact sort of powerhouse performance that she foreshadowed
when she slayed the crowd at the New York City season seven premiere. Even
though I would not have picked Kennedy over Katya in a broader review, there
was no way after that lip sync that anyone could tell Kennedy to sashay away.
Regardless of her basic Kitty character and bow-tiful one-piece, that lip sync
put a firm stake in the ground that Kennedy is not going down without a fight.
4. Although I think audiences may have adapted to Pearl's
#flahsayda attitude, can she channel the creativity she brings to the runway
and her sly sense of humor into a showing that has the impact of the other
remaining ladies? Her Kitty character was definitely on-brand to her
ratchet-hipster Brooklyn aesthetic, and she successfully made quite the chic
ensemble out of what looked like a very drugstore Snuggie rip-off. However, the
competition is so tight now that we’re down to just a handful of queens and
someone’s got to go next.
5. Katya can probably rest easy knowing she’ll at least walk away
with the title of Miss Congeniality at this season’s finale. Her look tonight
was the least cohesive of the bunch, but it still wasn’t a disaster. Against,
say, Pearl, Katya might have walked away from tonight’s runway still in this
thing, but no one was going to make it out of that head-to-head with Kennedy.
(I’m surprised the walls were still standing, to be honest.) I’ll miss her
quips, and especially her descriptions of her runway looks each week.
How would you rank the queens?
Violet, Pearl and Ginger in the finale with Pearl for a win!
ReplyDeletePearl just might win this
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