Drag Race RuCap: Better late than never, it’s the “Grand Finale”

RuPaul and Miley Cyrus welcome you to the 76th Hunger Gam... I mean the season 18 Drag Race Grand Finale!

CLÁUDIO ALVES: And just like that, it’s over. Season 18 started pretty shapeless, with a scrappy, talented cast who exuded early Drag Race vibes, only to face late Drag Race challenges that did little to capitalize on their energy. The scandal of the Rate-a-Queen Talent Show two-parter suddenly gave us narrative propulsion that elevated the second half of the season until that dreadful makeover episode derailed it all again. We never recovered, enthusiasm dwindling and a bouquet of finalists that, though not undeserving, felt vaguely lackluster. And though the lip-sync LaLaPaRuza gave the show a jolt of life last week, the finale proper couldn’t help but be a letdown, perfunctory apart from one queen’s performance that, for a moment, gave the episode some necessary purpose. 

Grand finales are seldom great hours of television, but we know, from season 16, that this same format can beget better results than what we got this year. Oh well, could’ve been worse.

NICK TAYLOR: It could have been much worse!...

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Drag Race RuCap: “Karens Gone Wild”

This episode of Drag Race is brought to you by the STOP! THAT! TRAIN!, in theaters this summer.

CLÁUDIO ALVES: Well, that was an interesting hour of television. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss would be proud of Mama Ru, because she truly subverted our expectations. Now, let’s wait and see if Drag Race can stick the landing after this shocker or if, like the last season of Game of Thrones, it’ll crash and burn and relinquish all the audience goodwill it accrued so far. Maybe it’s wrong of me to reduce the entirety of “Karens Gone Wild” to its ending, but that’s surely what it’ll be remembered for, a moment of such unprecedented Drag Race gaggery that we must go to the All Stars seasons to find another example of someone with so many challenge wins going home before the finale. I’m still trying to process the results, whether they’re fair, so this RuCap will be an opportunity to sort out my feelings. How about you, dear Nick? Are you glad for a surprise? Or are you livid? Somewhere in between?

NICK TAYLOR: It’s a gag, though mostly it just bums me out...

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Drag Race RuCap: “A Toast to Alyssa Edwards”

Who needs Oscar gold when Alyssa Edwards is serving golden goddess on TV?

NICK TAYLOR: Yes, the Academy Awards were fun, lots of gorgeous expressions of gratitude and admiration between fellow artists and fellow human beings. It was wonderful, it was funny, but did anyone give a speech as good as the queen’s best roasts? Certainly, no one matched the deranged peaks or flailing lows brought out for the "Toast of Alyssa Edwards." The diva herself looked quite good, proving all that glitters really is gold. I do need white pageant girls to stop wearing blonde units only a few shades removed from their pale, pale skin. Still, the glamour was there, and the episode was very entertaining. Were you dazzled, diva?

CLÁUDIO ALVES: I think Amy Madigan would have fun at a roast, but I’m not sure she’d be a good roaster. Maybe Jessie Buckley could thrive in that environment, as she feels like a cool lady and her speech and vague air of Olivia Colman-esque humor. We should be asking ourselves who, from the Oscar set, we want on Drag Race, and my answer is Malgosia Turzanska, who showed up to the Academy Awards covered in safety pins and would’ve surely fought for a Discord top-two placement last week. Oh, but you asked about the actual roast Drag Race episode, not imaginary AMPAS crossovers. Well…

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Drag Race RuCap: "Drag Queens for Change"

The Meek(s) shall inherit the Earth! Myki will get her revenge!!!

NICK TAYLOR: Cláudio, your assertion that the end of last week’s episode snapped the season into place has already bore fruit in the competition. On the one hand, this week’s winner and the eliminated queen feel in some way like RuPaul tipping the scales back from a Rate-A-Queen result she didn’t agree with. On the other, the judge’s choices were very correct, and the queen’s performances in the maxi challenge were almost uniformly strong, with one glaring exception. It’s hard to believe we’re not even halfway through this pack of queens, but the margin for error grows slimmer by the day. 

CLÁUDIO ALVES: I’ve either been blessed with Apollo’s gift or just spent too much time watching Drag Race franchises over the years, sinking into the depths of pattern recognition and reality TV cynicism…

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Nicole Kidman's Closet of Wigs

Our new favourite comedy skit from the obviously brilliant Adrienne Ianniciello. What's your all-time favourite Nicole Kidman wig? 

The end is priceless. Any reminder of her brilliance in Babygirl (2024) is always welcome!