Drag Race RuCap: "Grand Finale"

No one had a better time at the DRAG RACE finale than Daddy Nurve.

NICK TAYLOR: The seventeenth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race has come to a close, and with it our third year of RuCaps. Sadly, it’s a pretty deflating limp across the finish line. Our repeated comments about this season’s success as reality TV carried by the queens through brute force has proven true via an episode which showcased its contestants as little as possible. No RuGirls from years past in the audience, no group numbers with the cast, paeans to live performance that are 200% per-recorded, it’s all just weirdly hollow. Last week’s LaLaPaRuZa had much better momentum, plus it got to lean on the personalities of the queens in a way this episode simply couldn’t. At least the right queen won in the end, plus we got a lovely tribute to Liza. The Oscars couldn’t fucking do that. What did you think? 

CLÁUDIO ALVES: Meh…

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Drag Race RuCap: "LalapaRuza Smackdown Reunited"

Let Bruno's behind bless you with its beauty.

CLÁUDIO ALVES: Like last year, the LalapaRuza Smackdown is a season highlight. The format is simple enough, but it works because it puts drag skills at the forefront while also allowing for a pseudo-reunion that’s more about celebrating artistry in a sisterly way rather than airing out insecurities and the same old mess as before. For season 17, the producers were extra smart, shooting this lip sync extravaganza after most episodes had aired, allowing for growth and the queens’ honest reactions to how they’ve been portrayed and received. If the battles weren’t as spectacular as what we got with Megami, Morphine, and company, the final result was enough to make up for whatever deficiencies the reality TV hour might have had. The right person won, and the entire thing was edited around her journey across three drag duels. So, by the end, you really felt a sense of closure, of victory, of the best that Drag Race can offer.

NICK TAYLOR: It was such a fun episode! You’re not wrong exactly about no one topping last season’s LaLaPaRuZa finale, and nobody brought the drama of a surprise narrative like Megami, but the sheer quality of performance from almost everyone was so delightful to watch. A few of these battles could have been double shantays, which I wouldn’t say about almost any of the season 16 matchups. And fuck, everyone looked great...

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Drag Race RuCap: "How's Your Headliner?"

No, your eyes don't deceive you. It seems the Love-Toot feud is over. Everybody say love!

NICK TAYLOR: Mama. This was ass. It’s not just that my beloved girl went home right before the finale when she definitely won the lip sync, though that would be enough to sour the episode even if it’d been better. But the sheer number of moving parts to this maxi challenge that aren’t adequately showcased and the bizarre judging make the episode’s criteria hard to evaluate and the queen’s talents minimally showcased. I have no quibbles with the episode’s winner or the final four we’ve arrived at, yet I’m surprised how much this elimination stunted my invested in seeing who crosses the finish line. I’d argue there’s a clear top 2 of our finishing quartet, yet, for the life of me, I can’t tell who’s facing off against Onya for the crown. Am I getting ahead of myself? Almost certainly, but god, I have such sour grapes about the whole thing. Are you in better spirits than I am, hun?

CLÁUDIO ALVES: Glad to know I’m not alone in my grumpiness this week. While I agree that the right girl won and loved the runway lewks across the board, almost everything else about the episode fell short…

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Drag Race RuCap: “Drag Baby Mamas”

GET OUT 2 will star Onya Nurve. Start polishing the Oscar.

CLÁUDIO ALVES: It’s no secret that I don’t tend to like makeover challenges on RuPaul’s Drag Race and that the last few episodes of season 17 have led to a crescendo of grumpiness on my part. So, everything was stacked against “Drag Baby Mamas,” as far as I’m concerned. But surprise surprise, this was a rather lovely hour of reality TV, so sweet as to give you a cavity yet assembled with enough brio to develop the competition’s main characters in interesting ways. It felt raw and earnest in a way we rarely get on this program, whose manicured sentimentality usually trumps much-desired authenticity. And we even got to see Law Roach thirst over Onya’s dad which was the most relatable he’s ever been. Agree or disagree? 

NICK TAYLOR: I really liked it! Compared to how good the episode was at the level of pure characterization and emotional honesty between the queens and their parents, the actual challenge was kind of a letdown. I am reminded of one of Dawn’s many tweets from a few weeks ago saying how although season 16 had better drag, season 17 has been an even bigger serve as reality television, and she’s right on the money...

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Drag Race RuCap: “Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve & Talent Monologues”

For a second there, it looked like Detox was back on the Drag Race stage.

NICK TAYLOR: As with last season’s top six challenge, we get a pairs main challenge which relies heavily on the queen’s ingenuity to spin gold from straw. Comparing this episode to "Bathroom Hunties" immediately makes me grateful for how much "Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve & Talent Monologues" allows the queens shake their shit without a safety net rather than making them literally sell something. The interpretive dance/monologue combo is still a very strange prompt, but as the best duet showed, it’s a fun platform for the queen’s creativity, trust, and improvisational skills to shine through. That’s a very generous spin on a challenge the queens and the audience absolutely should not have sat through, but even so, we got a very deserving winner and one of season 17’s stronger lip syncs. But then the lip sync winner was eliminated, and that’s not fun. How about you, did you have a good time this week? 

CLÁUDIO ALVES: Mama, this is garbage…

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