by Chris Feil
Happy Pride Month, everyone!! This week’s episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race was perfectly timed to the start of Pride season with gay extravaganza ball on the runway, and lots of streamers, glitter, and puppets! Andie MacDowell giving us Magic Mike XXL white wine realness!
But like Alexis Michelle’s bowl of Beautiful Turquoise Embellishments, this episode became a miss with lots of unfulfilled promise, particularly on the runway. Some queens had a significant misstep on the runway and others lacked the wow factor we expect from a top five competitor. Meanwhile in the workroom, we got a lot of dismissive interview quotes to amp up an air of contentiousness that wasn’t really there. Less an extravaganza than a passable week. Some of that manufactured cattiness probably comes down to a group of queens that genuinely get along, and the eased frustrations in the room now that Nina Bo’nina Brown was sent packing.
Everybody Loves Puppets!! - Official Memorandum to get this mini-challenge the kind of excitement and prestige among the fanbase as Snatch Game. Can you remember any reads from this season that were better than Sasha’s jokes on Trinity’s plastic surgery, Trinity’s jabs at Shea’s hairline, or Peppermint dousing her Alexis puppet in green spray paint? [Alexis voice] That was rhetorical.
Sasha is the puppet master winner, meaning she has to choreograph a ribbon streamer number for the queens because winning a mini-challenge always comes with a downside. After rehearsal is where that labored bickering starts, with Alexis’s self-seriousness right in center. When Alexis starts a sentence with the words “frankly” or “honestly”, it’s like the beginning strums of John Williams’s Jaws score or the shadowy figure of Mrs. Bates entering the bathroom - we watch helplessly though we know the bloodshed that’s coming. The queens should duck for cover, but they seem to have less of a problem with her ego than us at home.
Category Is: Rainbow-She-Betta-Do - If only Kennedy Davenport’s season 7 ball look were here to show these queens how a Pride look is done. Kudos to Shea and Sasha trying to push this outside of a literal interpretation, but their very polished looks still only register as Pride-inspired if you’re told so beforehand. Sasha reads more Almodóvar than Pride, and Shea’s pastels don’t quite cut it. I rather liked Trinity’s look more than the judges, even if the rainbow is more understated.
Favorite Look: This would easily be Shea if it were in primary colors, so I’ll give a very slight edge to Peppermint’s obvious but charming look.
Category Is: Sexy Unicorn - Nina Bo’nina has to be pissed she was sent home before this! Every ball has one category that doesn’t really make as much of an impact and this was that category this year. Each queen had some polish/editing struggles here, but none to really hurt them. It’s a problem that this was Alexis’s best look of the entire ball and she’s still dead last of the category due to a lack of ideas. “My sexy unicorn is a space unicorn” is an actual thing that Peppermint says.
Favorite Look: Sasha’s Tolkien-esque creation gets points for originality, but Trinity’s ensemble took this to the Lisa Frank place of fun the category demanded.
Category Is: Village People Eleganza Extravaganza - Readers, I was gagging over this inclusion in the challenge, a nod to gay pop culture history for a season that has stayed mostly contemporary. If there was a time to embrace the costumey side of what the challenge demands it’s now, but the queens largely shy away to fashion forwardness. Sasha’s look is especially beautiful, but cowboy-adjacent at best.
Favorite Look: With some more polish, it could have easily been Peppermint for me, but this one goes to Shea Couleé for balancing her aesthetic with the challenge (and arguably the toughest Village Person assignment).
Based on the judges critique, Peppermint and Alexis are our bottom two as expected. We all recognize the clock has been ticking on Alexis for a few weeks and it didn’t help that her looks flatlined, so we can guess what’s coming. Peppermint’s attention to detail has been her downfall for most of the season, but this second time lipsyncing means she was given another opportunity to show us what she does best. If Peppermint didn't make you have a good time, I got nothing for you. This hasn’t been a powerhouse season for lipsyncs, but I would call her performance here one of the season’s very best:
For Your Consideration - While Valentina’s massive fanbase and shocking elimination will probably lead to her snatching the Miss Congeniality prize, I’d argue Peppermint as the most worthy. Not only has she stayed above the drama all season, she’s also been its humble sweetheart. Her smile is simply infectious and we know she can put on a damn show. You can vote for this season’s Miss Congeniality here!
Best wishes for Alexis, who got a lovely message from home on this week’s Untucked before being sent home. Trinity and Shea also hash out the debate on her rainbow interpretation.
Current rankings before our top 3 is revealed:
- Shea Couleé
- Trinity Taylor
- Sasha Velour
- Valentina OUT
- Peppermint
- Eureka O'Hara OUT
- Nina Bo'Nina Brown OUT
- Farrah Moan OUT
- Alexis Michelle
- Aja OUT
- Cynthia Lee Fontaine OUT
- Charlie Hides OUT
- Jaymes Mansfield OUT
- Kimora Blac OUT
Gif as Episode Grade:
