Drag Race RuCap: “Mammas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Drag Queens”

This episode is dedicated to the memory of Terry Covington, who passed last year.

NICK TAYLOR: In the grand tradition of the Drag Race makeover challenge, I have no idea what some of the judges thought they were watching. Hyping up how bullish Michelle is about drag family resemblance really just emphasizes how vague and stupid her standards are. Our dear eliminated queen seems to have been sacrificed primarily based on the track record, and since the judges have largely been under-acknowledging her performances of late, I call bullshit. Meanwhile, I don’t see anything to the challenge winner except honoring a good track record and cementing her place in the finale. The queens and their cowboys were a delight, reminding us how much pathos this challenge can inspire with guests who want to be there, but it’s a bitter aftertaste to end the night on.

CLÁUDIO ALVES: The first 40 minutes of this episode were representative of the best Drag Race has to offer as queer television, mixing camp and pathos, bawdiness and cute men with fagcents and even some advocating amid the fun. The last 20 minutes were some of the most infuriating nonsense I’ve ever seen on this program. These judges were trying so hard to jam their crap down my throat, I felt like I was suddenly living through Pasolini's Salo…

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Drag Race RuCap: “Drag in a Bag”

Even Mama Ru was having a good, silly time this week. The vibes are immaculate.

CLÁUDIO ALVES: Well, our returned queens’ makeover hopes were dashed. Instead, we got a pretty lackadaisical filler episode, lacking urgency, devoid of great stakes and even bereft of an elimination. To make matters worse, it also probably means we won’t have a ball this season! Still, despite all that, “Drag in a Bag” was a delightful hour of television that finally got me rooting for Jane and Discord, finding them entertaining in their respective frustration and “good vibes only” attitude. Ru certainly seemed to enjoy the queens this week, having fun with them in a way that’s rare to see outside the Drag Race UK set. Were you similarly enthused by this episode’s shenanigans, or are you starting to get restless, anticipating the final stretch of a season that, so far, seems to have an obvious victor? Too obvious, perhaps.

NICK TAYLOR: Too obvious is absolutely the right word for it, yet who else could reasonably take her on at this point? Thank god she finally had fun on the show. Hell, everyone had fun, even as they were rolling on the floor from sleep deprivation and inventing competitors from the scraps of whole cloth. I had fun, even though the queen’s anti-Discord campaign and the show’s continued neglect of Darlene as a legitimate threat make me worry about their futures...

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Drag Race RuCap: "Snatch Game of Love: Island Edition"

Which one of the Snatch Game boys is your favorite? Don't be shy, share with the class.

CLÁUDIO ALVES: The narrative set forth by the Talent Show kerfuffle continues to unfold in this season’s Snatch Game. In some ways, it feels like Mama Ru is correcting the injustices she (or the broader production team) may have perceived in the Rate-a-Queen results, rewarding those who were thrown under the bus while punishing the conspirators behind Myki’s close brush with elimination. She’s like Eggers’ Northman, intoning to herself: “I will avenge you, Meeks! I will save you, Coco! I will kill you, Dions!” Then again, it’s not like the girls are making her job very difficult. The correct bottom two lip-synced for their life this week, and even if I might have picked a different victor, Ru’s champion is hardly scandalous. Anyway, did you know Athena Dion is Greek?

NICK TAYLOR: I do, though there’s a moment where she’s really pressed by the suggestion to play Greek. Diva, that is your brand!! You did this!! Along with course-correcting the talent show, Ru’s judging feels like a referendum against fictional and mythological characters popping up in Snatch Game. I have questions about the judging, but not complaints, and in retrospect part of my shock at this week’s elimination is from the edit not pushing the possibility as hard as they might have...

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Drag Race RuCap: "The Rate-A-Queen Talent Show, Part 2"

The face of a proud Greek mother whose plans are falling into place.

CLÁUDIO ALVES: Those Emmy losses to The Traitors have really done a number on the Drag Race producers and editors. Because this week, the entire episode felt like it should have been unfolding in a Scottish Castle rather than the WOW studios. In other words, it was juicy reality TV, but perhaps a bit less rewarding as a RuPaul’s Drag Race episode. For those, like me, who feel the series is at its best when embracing the form of a drag variety showcase, an hour that felt more about alliances and internal cast politics than about talent or drag pageantry is bound to leave one a tiny bit dissatisfied. At the same time, a pretty shapeless season suddenly slotted into place, narratives writing themselves into existence, arcs, heroes and villains, underdogs and whatnot. 

NICK TAYLOR: It’s fabulous character drama, and a great bit of comeuppance for all my bitching about the alliance shenanigans or whether the talent show needed to be two episodes. The queen’s choices really mattered! We got some fun drag from the runways, and Nini Coco would have trounced this group pretty handily if she’d performed this week, but everything whack about the final ratings felt like the end of Act One in a major way...

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Drag Race RuCap: "Red Carpet Mash Up"

Law Roach is THAT GIRL! She is MOTHER!!! Just look at the material.

CLÁUDIO ALVES: After a couple of great first episodes, season 18 of RuPaul’s Drag Race seemed to fall off a cliff with the advent of its first comedy challenge. While this fourth installment still leaves much to be desired, it’s a marked improvement, full of drama and strong work by the queens. Sure, the judging’s still fucked and some of the conflict skewed nasty rather than entertaining, but it was better than that “RDR Live!” trainwreck. And, at least, this week, Law Roach added some needed sanity to the judges’ panel, delivering good if catty critiques, showing he’s getting better and better at this Drag Race gig. There really is no better critical eye for a challenge this focused on celebrity red carpet fashion, a refreshing spin on the team’s design challenge from DRUK season 2 that was a tad complicated but not nearly as frustrating as I initially assumed. Following my grumpiness last time, I’m ready to be the good cop to your bad, dear Nick.

NICK TAYLOR: What if we’re both on a similar wavelength?...

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