Nathaniel R retakes the crown Ruviewing duties from Chris Feil who is on a well deserved short break.
True story. Shortly after I queued up to watch the season 10 premiere online it froze on this image. Was it a meta acknowledgement of all the grumbling about the just completed All Stars 3? Try again sooner is what they did and the results are sooo promising.
"10s! 10s! 10s! across the board," was RuPaul's rallying proclamation in promos for the tenth anniversary season of RuPaul's Drag Race. That's a lot to live up to but the show, newly expanded to 2 hour episodes essentially (90 minutes + Untucked), is ready to gag you honey. The premiere episode, to borrow from chatterbox Monique Heart, delivered giving us the 'ooh ah ah sensation'...
I *just* noticed the 212 earring -- I ❤️NY
As is tradition each queen entering the workroom gets one opportunity for a first impression -- this usually involves entering, posing, and shouting out a single one-liner. My favorite of these was Dusty Ray Bottoms because the punk dismissal "never loved ya!" took me off guard.
I live for this opening each season because it feels suspended in time, a series of self-branding exercizes before the contestants are immediately absorbed into the interpersonal fishy DRAMA of it all, rarely to return to a true solo moment again. From there on out they're judged in relation to one other as the competition heats up. This one felt special. Not every one nailed it --Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, for example, just borrowed RuPaul's rallying cry for the season missing the point of that spotlight entirely. Nevertheless they all were exuding a genuine thrill at being in the room. And joy goes a long way in making RuPaul's Drag Race the best reality show on television.
Asia O'Hara was working that fringe fantasy
So does going back-back-back to your roots (🎵) as Ru did for this episode. Legacy has always been a rich part of drag, from the reputation of the houses that "birth" the girls, to the advantage a deep bench of knowledge of pop culture history (particularly of the diva kind) gives you with iconography and performance. So it was a GREAT sign for the season that the mini challenge was an old fashioned ball where the girls had to walk the runway / gauntlet amongst past queens from the show. No pressure, really, just impress a roomful of queens with bigger reputations than you. This challenge led to lots of great cutaways of beloved queens showing their "favorite!" hand when it came to the 14 new girls. Bob screaming "that's my baby!" while pointing at his drag daughter Miz Cracker or Adore Delano raving about Aquaria's prodigious creativity since she was 14 (!!!)
For the maxi-challenge the queens did "Drag on a Drime" crafting outfits from junk. It's like Project Runway's unconventional materials challenge with less emphasis on finished outfits and making it look like actual clothes and more on creativity / presence.
You're a winner, baby
Mayhem Miller won the maxi-challenge which had me scratching my wigless head. Her black garbage was nothing new, the only exciting bit being her use of black rubber gloves. But the judges are already rooting for her, given that she's one of those queens that has been auditioning for years (we figure they must keep tabs on the rejections since this is not the first time we've heard a teary "i've been auditioning for years!" story).
But the judging was strange. So many of the best looks (Monique Heart's plastic wig and card collar, Aquaria's little Bo Peep, and Monet X Change's avant-garde sponge dress with ping pong ball soap bubbles) were dubbed merely "safe".
Sashay away
Ru made the right decision sending the 'vanjie' girl home. Vanessa was practically sleepwalking next to the surprisingly spirited performance from Kalorie Karbdashion Williams who otherwise didn't impress in the episode. When queens take that "lipsynch for your life" so seriously and work (or in this case twerk) their asses off, give credit where it's due!
Favorite recurring gag
The queens reacting to Miz Cracker's name. Bless the black queens and the on-the-ball editing room for making such a delicious spit-take joke out of this name. Asia and Monique in particular weren't having it but Monét, already familiar with Cracker from the NYC scene, thought it hilarious. Miz Cracker didn't let her own joke get away from her delivering the delayed punchline on the runaway "I live in Harlem so people call me by name all the time."
Quotable Bitches
"I was happy for the airtime." - Jinx Monsoon
"I'm a production" - Monique Heart
"I couldn't do a cartwheel if four people were operating my limbs" - Trixie Mattel
"There are no accidents in fisting." - Miz Cracker
Name dropping
Pop culture references this episode: Mary J Blige, Jo Anne Worley, Paris is Burning, The Tin Man, Project Runway, Katy Perry, Cinderella, Judy Jetson, Janis Joplin, Gilligan's Island, "silent film drama," Flowers in the Attic. Despite the presence of Christina Aguilera and her mutant lungs as a guest judge, no one mentioned Burlesque. I feel personally attacked.
Rankings
Doing this a little differently than Chris did with predictions separated from preferences because, as with Oscar, that's the only way I know how to process both the thrill and heartbreak of competitions simultaneously. For instance, I'm excited about Kameron Michaels not strictly for "thirst" reasons -- though it was hilarious to see the other queens so parched -- but because the show has never had a queen like her. That said, other than that reaction to his disrobing in the workroom he had next to no air time and barely spoke in Untucked. No personality OR nerves? Either way that isn't a great sign for a long run.
| Prediction | Preference |
 |
 |
| Extremely subject to change as we get to know them | |
| 1. Miz Cracker | 1. Monét X Change |
| 2. Asia O'Hara | 2. Eureka |
| 3. Monét X Change | 3. Asia O'Hara |
| 4. Mayhem Miller | 4. Dusty Ray Bottoms |
| 5. Eureka | 5. Miz Cracker |
| 6. Aquaria | 6. Kameron Michaels |
| 7. Monique Heart | 7. Yuhua Hamasaki |
| 8. Dusty Ray Bottoms | 8. Mayhem Miller |
| 9. Yuhua Hamasaki | 9. Aquaria |
| 10. Blair St Clair | 10. Monique Heart |
| 11. The Vixen | 11. The Vixen |
| 12. Kalorie Karbdashian Williams | 12. Blair St Clair |
| 13. Kameron Michaels | 13. Kalorie Karbdashian Williams |
| 14. Vanessa Vanjie Mateo OUT | 14. Vanessa Vanjie Mateo OUT |
Gif as expectations after the disappointing All Stars 3:
Gif as episode grade:
Episode title don't lie.
How about you?
Squirrelfriends, were you also gagging at this episode?