The Film Experience

Bukkake, but make it BARBIEcore.

NICK: There’s nothing like a timely, provocative recap published several days after the episode aired, amirite? The second half of season 16’s split premiere has come and gone, providing us with another talent show and, most importantly, another chance to see Derrick Berry. I wouldn’t say this batch of bitches is categorically stronger than the first group, but they’re all distinct drag artists who I cannot wait to see interact with the other queens. Two contestants stand out from the pack as ones to watch, albeit for very different reasons, but before we get into all that, how did you feel about this episode, Cláudio?

CLÁUDIO: First of all, thank you for not making any hollow promises of succinctness on our part. We love to see such self-awareness, personal growth…

Regarding the episode proper, it felt like more of the same, replicating the structure of the first hour beat for beat. That said, one can’t complain, since it feels fair to the queens. Apart from the special guest star, of course. Becky G is lovely, but she’s no Academy Award-winner Charlize Theron serving a plate of homemade treats. Similarly, this batch of bitches came off a little bit rougher than the first gals, though that perception might change as the season unravels. Let’s wait and see.

NICK: First in the werkroom is Hershii LiqCour-Jeté, sister of Kornbread, who strides in with the very meme-able entrance line “I... am not prepared for this”. Her personality in her confessionals is quite fun, though the jokey insecurity of that entrance line seems a bit more pervasive as the episode progresses. Drag family relatives of iconic contestants always feel like they start off with more to prove than other queens. I can’t say her outfit stood out to me amongst this crowd, but I look forward to seeing more of her.

CLÁUDIO: I appreciated the way she worked that train, and she seems charming enough. For some reason, upon hearing her name, I thought she was called Ursula. Alas, she’s no sea witch, and I might’ve had a tiny stroke while watching the episode. Or maybe just a stroke of stupidity. With my family history, both are strong possibilities.

Next comes Plasma, who immediately starts riffing off Hershii in a way that makes them both look a lot more fun than expected. Their chemistry is so good that the bitch’s midcentury glamour is almost an afterthought. She did pose the house down during that DMV photoshoot challenge - somehow better and worse than last week’s ring camera set-up. The comedic device feels like an improvement, with TS Madison as a great partner to Ru, but the photo quality is even shittier.

NICK: TS Madison makes everything better! I like Plasma’s vibe, though I would love to know what connects her persona to her drag name. Very hard, type-A theatre kid energy, which is nice to spend time with but has not been a winning archetype for this show in a while. She’s clearly game, and I love how excited she is to be on Drag Race and to meet these other queens. Hopefully, that translates into longevity!

Another bitch whose name I don’t quite get but who still establishes herself as a good time: Geneva Karr, a Mexican immigrant who has established herself in Texas. She’s the first pageant girl of this crew, as evident in her big hair and her softly painted face that gives me a weirdly cat-like vibe, yet I wish that Texan “bigger is better” attitude went further in her outfit. Geneva’s pride in her home country is clearly a huge inspiration on her drag, and we love that. Even so, I lost it a bit when someone at my watch party jokingly shouted “Oh, is she from Italy?”

CLÁUDIO: Are saying she has Bixby vibes? I guess I can see it, if not in her drag, then in her confessional look. Anyway, this feline-like girl is living her flag-wearing fantasy and, while the concept could read too kitschy, she makes it work through star power alone.

Making the case for herself as villain extraordinaire, we have Plane Jane. She comes off strong, modeling what might be my favorite entrance lewk from both premieres despite a zig-zag wigline. She declares herself trade of the season and insults every girl in the room while at it. There’s also plenty of shade for those not in attendance, namely Katya. Miss Jane says she’s the authentically Russian drag queen from Boston!

Honestly, as much as I love a shady queen - Mistress and Luxx were two of my favorites last year - this bitch is a tad exhausting. She makes such a big deal out of her bitchiness that it can’t help but feel forceful. And that’s not even getting into the off-screen controversy.

What’s your take on the episode’s biggest character?

NICK: Look, I do love a bitch in the werkroom. Confidence is a good quality for a competitor, and she’s got the body and the polished wardrobe to earn some of that. But she absolutely comes off as effortful in a way that the likes of Luxx or Mistress or Gia Gunn rarely did. I’ll say this, her reads felt more substantial once the talent show started and she could actually judge these girls instead of throwing indiscriminate shade. Still, I’m maybe more excited to see how group one reacts to her attitude than anything in her arsenal.

To be sure, Megami also feels like a Character, though the politics and craft of her drag feel stronger than her own point of view, if that makes sense. She reads as very queer and alternative in her references without actually being edgy. The Sasha Velour crown in her confessional is not a favorable comparison, for my money, and although her looks in the episode were gorgeous, I can’t help but feel she’s not long for this season.

CLÁUDIO: Personally, I felt like the brief glimpse into her cosplay work was more exciting than the drag she presented in the premiere. That said, I’m more intrigued about her than you. We rarely get queens with a serious-minded perspective on the art form, so, even if I’m resistant to her vibes, I admire her for putting them out there. Also, I’m fascinated by those tiny eyebrows.

I was familiar with Mhi’ya Iman Le’Paige from seeing videos of her energetic live performances. That didn’t prepare me for how chill and minor-key she was throughout the episode. When not werking it for the camera, she literally falls asleep on set! On another note, while I wouldn’t cosign Jane’s read that she never saw a corset add weight to someone, there’s some truth there. The way those bust feathers and skirt ruffles converge makes Mhi’ya look like an orange blob. The wig is delightful, however.

NICK: I believe I also saw Mhi’ya from online videos, and the contrast between her high-energy performances and her lowkey persona is quite pleasant. Orange looks good on her, and though I agree the corset is not 100% flattering, the outfit itself looks good. Similarly to Plasma, I feel like Mhi’ya advertising herself as the Queen of Flips is not a surefire path to victory, but her wallflower-y werkroom energy doesn’t connote a weak competitor.

Now, we were wanting a high-energy bitch? How about Nymphia Wind, a Taiwanese queen who recently transplanted to Brooklyn and has the biggest winner energy of this group by far? Her embrace of pure camp, at once giving high fashion and a parody of the very concept with her chic pervert raincoat and the dozens of bananas hidden underneath. I hope and frankly expect that she’ll have more in her wardrobe than these bananariffic moments, but she introduced herself flawlessly. Love that she’s as silly out of drag as she is in drag.

CLÁUDIO: This is the other queen I knew from social media and, honestly, I can’t wait to see the self-procclaimed Banana Bhudda unleash her brand of absurdity on RuPaul and company. I can practically already hear Michelle Visage slamming her for wearing too much yellow. But is there ever too much yellow? Not on Nymphia’s world. And don’t be confused - this is her world and we’re just living in it. Sensing that cosmic truth, Ru awards her the win for the photoshoot mini-challenge.

After that, it’s off to the races, preparing for the second talent show of the season. Our contestants are informed of the Rate-a-Queen twist and learn what’s at taske - immunity. Though they mostly agree to be fair in their voting, some girls are more honest than others. Plane Jane exudes duplicitous vibes, grinning like the cat that ate the canary when alone in the confessionals. To the camera and her sisters, she also teases an outrageous performance to come. I’d say don’t promise what you can’t deliver but what do I know?

NICK: Even the way Plane immediately goes “oh my god, I love you guys” after being told the twist is so fake. Which is clearly a joke, but I'm still surprised the other girls even consider voting for her fairly when she makes no bones about doing so herself. She talks a big talk about her outrageousness, though if it wasn’t for her shit-stirring, I wouldn’t say this was different than how any of the other girls hyped up what’s so unique and different about their lip sync performance to an original song. Oh yes, Geneva Karr, you’re going to honor your heritage through your talent show? What talent is that?

Overall, the energy among these queens is decidedly different from the first group. Everyone’s looking optimistically through some serious side-eye. There’s not even the casually soul-baring conversations, just strategizing and supposed alliance-forming.

Before the show starts proper, Becky G bursts into the werkroom, and as you say, it’s an underwhelming trade-off from Charlize. It doesn’t help that Geneva’s seemingly the only one who’s really familiar with Miss G’s work, but coming in blaring an air horn with a somewhat canned script rather than pastries and earnest gratitude is just not as fun. But then the Queen’s Choice Awards talent show starts, the lights dim, and Derrick Berry takes the stage, looking much better than she did last week. What did you think of this set?

CLÁUDIO: Overall, I think they did better as a collective than the first group. At least, nobody was as forgettable or downright boring as Xunami and Morphine, bless their souls. Sure, Geneva’s bitchtrack transitions were a bit expected, Hershii’s jungle theme confused me, and Plasma’s cabaret act tried to stuff too much shit into 60 seconds. However, I can still remember them all. At the same time, none of these girls reached the heights of Sapphira’s bawdy opera, Q’s puppet ballet, or even Mirage’s heel-clacking.

If I were to choose a winner from the lot, my vote would go to Nymphia, whose tribute to Chinese traditional performance is beautiful to see. Still, doing something so po-faced serious is a huge risk, especially within the context of cultural celebration - as much as they like to pretend otherwise, the judges and producers rarely reward this sort of thing. Remember Gia Gunn in All-Stars 4? I sure do, and I’m still bitter about it.

That’s also why Megami falls flat on her face. She’s way too serious for this show, providing an important message without any tonal twist or spectacle. The creased Pride flag, fresh from the plastic package was the worst. Plane Jane was right to shade her, even if Boston’s bitchiest broad wasn’t especially impressive herself. She was trying mighty hard to be the next Jimbo or Yara Sofia with her boobtastic antics, but there wasn’t an outré aspect to elevate it above commonplace clownery. I commend her embrace of stupidity, yet can’t say I’m satisfied with the extra-condimented meal we were served.

NICK: “Stupid” was a very big buzz word for the queens this episode. Serious, dedicated artists who are very willing to be ridiculous. Jane went for it, and I wonder if it just played better in person, but I don’t think low humor and big tits are enough to get top honors. I think what also makes Nymphia’s performance so special is that her seriousness is such a striking contrast to how goofy she is everywhere else in the episode. There’s no gag, no layer of comedy or irony, it’s just a really well-executed performance of a Chinese dance style. You’re right to bring up Gia Gunn, and I’ll add Raja’s talent show in All-Stars 7. Gorgeous stuff.

I would probably rank Hershii LicQuor-Jéte’s original song as my runner-up, in no small part because it’s the best written song of this group. Hell, maybe both groups. She matches the energy level of the song, lip syncing in time while throwing her head every which way. Compare this to Geneva Karr’s number, which basically only has one line repeated ad nauseum once the beat drops, and Hershii stands out even better. I’m honestly surprised the girls weren’t more taken with Mhi’ya’s acrobatics - the Aja box is back, baby! She’s genuinely impressive, and though I’m glad these pyrotechnics don’t automatically grant a bitch high scores, it speaks to the crazy curve expected of queens nowadays that she was probably on the low end of the final scores.

So we have the same top pick, who is not the group’s top pick, and this is even before the runway. Do you have a concrete runner-up?

CLÁUDIO: I’m torn between a few candidates. Hershii’s song and dance were great, but the set and costume lacked cohesion or finesse. I respect Plasma’s ambition, even her skill, but this wasn’t the right context for her proposed talent - a bit like Irene last season. So, I’d probably pick Mhi’ya as my runner-up. The athleticism of her moves is riveting to watch, and though it reminded me of better showcases in the show’s past, it’s still worth applauding. No points for originality but a standing ovation for execution.

After the talent show and Derrick’s pink slime bukkake, it’s time for the runway. Again, the theme is reveals, though under a different name than before.

Category is…Made You Look!

First on the catwalk, we have Nymphia, singing an ode to the banana’s life cycle. She starts in cocoon-like green, filigreed and shiny as if she were a giant Fabergé egg. Then comes a babydoll sculpture of yellow fruit, which opens to reveal a plastic Josephine Baker fantasy. As her bananas start to get brown spots, she reveals her final stage, blackened, over-ripe on the verge of rot. It’s not so much a collection of reveals as a burlesque strip tease, but Nymphia still receives high marks for her surrender to silliness. Also, that wig is to die for.

NICK: This was absolutely my favorite runway of the night. It’s so perfectly sculpted, so silly and still so fashionable. The burlesque comment is exactly right.

Next is Hershii LicQuor-Jéte, continuing the foodie theme with a delicious chocolate ensemble. She goes from an exotic bird to a sexy church lady. Michelle’s not wrong about the length of the dress being a bit random - this would probably benefit from being more of a pencil skirt - but the silhouette is otherwise ideal, and the deep brown compliments her skin tone beautifully. The glasses are a fantastic accent.

CLÁUDIO: I don’t know if it’s because I love historical fashion or because I have bad taste, but I don’t mind tea-lenghth skirts. And my favorite accent piece isn’t the glasses. Instead, I’m head over heels for those chocolate bar earrings.

While I like tea-lenghth skirts, I’m not too fond of capri pants. Or would these be better described as breeches? Either way, the middle portion of Plasma’s three-part outfit is downright unflattering. However, I enjoyed her reference to tomato pin cushions - I have one, too! - and found the head styling quite perfect. The makeup works with the theme, and the wig's a lot of fun.

NICK: Plasma’s mug is delightful. I do like the middle section, though I would say her second and third reveals both feel a bit reverse-engineered from her exemplary first look. She looks like a living puppet from a children’s show, and the whole idea is so fun. Not my very favorite look, but I’m excited to see how Plasma interprets future runways.

Mhi’ya breaks away from the food trend, unless you say those glittery blonde bunches on top of her head qualify as peeled corn cobs. She absolutely takes off that outer jacket too early, and the one-piece swimsuit is definitely not enough of a look underneath it. The yellow-blue-white patterned fabric is fun to look at, though that level of minute detail translates better in close-up than in medium shots, where it can look kinda blurry without the artistry of watercolors. As with everyone, at least, the mug is to die for.

CLÁUDIO: Like with Morphine last week, simply taking off a bathing suit cover is not enough, sorry. Admittedly, I may be grumpy because, as the person in charge of taking screenshots for these posts, there are no words for how frustrating it was to try and catch a good shot or two of Mhi’ya. She takes that cover and gloves way too fast. I also don’t like the head styling and thought she could do with with more proportionizing. A swimsuit look is always a good time to serve drag body, wow through va va voom padding. She missed an opportunity here.

Geneva Karr is the only girl to do a proper reveal, transforming her costume completely without leaving any fabric on stage. Like her approach to the runway prompt, the outfit itself feels like a classic masc-to-femme drag illusion with a Mexican twist. There’s nothing innovative about it, but she executes it all with the elegance one would expect from a pageant pro.

NICK: 100% agreed. I love when a queen does a reveal look without losing any fabric. Perhaps not a wildly creative idea, but the looks are strong and the execution is hard to argue with.

Megami, on the other hand, has a strong look with an absolutely nothing idea behind it. The Pan’s Labyrinth eye-hand reveal feels only tangentially connected to this Gothic Angel look, and the eyes aren’t even well-drawn to attract attention when they’re displayed. Could the judges even see it from the panel? I like the look in and of itself, but it just fails the prompt so completely. I have no doubt she’d have lip-synced for her life if this was a proper elimination episode.

CLÁUDIO: It’s interesting how, in the past few months, this sort of Biblically accurate Angel look has popped up in various versions of the franchise. From Brazil to Canada, they’re always met with vague perplexity, and this one doesn’t buck the trend. To me, the eyes make sense as an extension of that theme, but they don’t work as a reveal. Moreover, this whole thing reads messy and needs some judicious editing. Why exactly does she have random butterflies littered across what I’ll politely call a dress? Oh well, better luck next time.

Last on the runway, we have Plane Jane, who does a good job of presenting her brand. Again, I don’t think taking a robe off is much of a reveal, but the contrast between the two looks sells it as far as I’m concerned. She goes from Romanoff splendor to Bostonian slaggery. My only complaint is that I wish the second outfit was a tad more elevated. The jewelry felt like a clashing afterthought, and she needed some tape to keep the decolletage in place.

NICK: The jewelry works better for the robe than the Boston tailgater, and it’s a bit more distracting given that its obvious function to hide the crease of Jane’s breastplate is undercut by how much paler the boobs are than her skin tone. As a broad study in contrasts, I’m pretty much down with this look, editorializing the classy/trashy divide so many queens seem interested in presenting.

After this, the judge’s critiques are delivered. Nymphia, Jane, and Geneva receive the highest praise, while Mhi’ya, Hershii, and Plasma get relatively good notices even as aspects of their talent shows and runways are fairly nitpicked. Megami gets… a lot of notes.

But as the judges remind us, they are not deciding the winners tonight, and the queens proceed to the voting booth to rank their competitors. Unlike last week, the editing gives the final votes a good deal of mystery. It’s not immediately clear who’s going to make top two, with Plane Jane’s sabotaging votes potentially throwing Nymphia Wind out of the top entirely. I was honestly shocked she didn’t place Megami first, given how much shade she threw at that performance. In the end, Plane Jane and Geneva Karr are chosen as the top two. Whatever we can say about Jane, I feel confident guessing Ru would have given her a win anyway. Geneva’s win is more confusing to me, honestly. What did you think, hun?

CLÁUDIO: I can only guess that it looked more impressive in person than at home, or that Geneva is a really charming personality and won on that basis.

Nymphia was utterly robbed, but you got to respect Jane’s grift. No matter how much I might loathe the end result, some sabotage always feels very drag, especially when it pays off. This is not Naomi Smalls eliminating Manila even though she had little hope of winning the All-Stars crown. Indeed, with immunity in play, it might be closer to Blu Hydrangea securing victory by cutting Pangina in the first season of UK vs the World.

Whether or not she’s Ru’s choice - and considering the old broad’s love for tit-heavy nonsense, maybe she would have been - Plane Jane is set to lipsync against Geneva to the sound of Becky G’s “Shower.”

It’s… fine. A solid performance from both competitors, but hardly memorable. The smackdown’s only highlight is Jane’s Janet moment, and the fact she doesn’t seem to notice the boob slippage until well into the song. When she does, the bitch knows how to play it for laughs, earning Ru’s approval and hearty guffaw. For the second week in a row, an out-of-control breastplate cinches the win.

NICK: Jane’s realization the nip has slipped is genuinely charming, albeit not enough to make up for her repeatedly jumping in front of Geneva during the number. I’d really thought Geneva’s Becky G fandom would give her the edge, but you can see her visibly losing her stride as the song goes on and she becomes wary of Jane. It just feels more sour than it should’ve been, even if Jane’s slippery nip is fairly entertaining. She secures the win, and looks pretty organically psyched about it and the immunity that comes with it.

If we’re gonna compare Jane to past scheming queens, I’m curious how long it’ll take for the show to reveal everyone’s Rate-A-Queen votes, and if such a scene would provoke a Phi Phi O’Hara-style face crack. She seems like a strong enough competitor that she won’t need to use it for a while, and I frankly doubt she’d be too remorseful if the other queens confronted her. However long her arc’s gonna be, she’ll sure make it memorable.

In the meantime, next week will be the Ball! It’s our first episode with the whole cast, as well as the first elimination episode and the (allegedly) final use of the Rate-A-Queen system. Are you excited to review 42 looks?

CLÁUDIO: The thought of trying to screenshot 42 looks fills me with nothing but dread. Yay, fashion?

Previous RuCaps:

Episode 1: “Rate-a-Queen”