RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars enters the Ryan Murphy-verse with a lackluster acting challenge
The queens give it their all, but not even a Trinity/Eureka showmance can make up for bad writing and paint-by-numbers producing
TV Reviews Ryan Murphy
There have been exactly zero seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race that have not, at one point or another, felt at least a smidge over-produced. Sometimes it works out great—Bebe vs. Ongina in season one, for example, when Ru had to “leave” the judges’ panel because the decision was too difficult. That was exactly the right amount of extra, leading to a heartbreaking elimination that didn’t seem completely out of left field. There have been many such moments—Sharon and Phi Phi being forced to team up on their season, some of the RoLaskaTox vs. Jinkx drama, “Wait, Kandy, come back,” etc. They’re an unavoidable element of reality television. The problem with this season of All Stars, particularly in this middle stretch, concerns the justification of such moments.
A season in which six episodes include six different winners—which is what’s happened so far, as the queens acknowledge in Untucked—is potentially great, and with a little finagling, it might even make sense. (For bonus points in the comments: Come up with six different winners for this season without picking anyone who very clearly should have been safe that week.) But is someone at World Of Wonder asleep at the wheel, or what? It’s very satisfying when a fan favorite gets a win, but only if it’s a win that’s earned; being safe isn’t a disaster, unless the safe queen clearly shouldn’t be. In “Rumerican Horror Story: Coven Girls,” the Rigga Morris is undeniable—and so is the laziness of the writing.
So condragulations to Kylie, a standout this season who gets her first win (yay!) in a challenge in which she’s outshone by not one, not two, but three of her competitors (not yay!) That’s not to say she didn’t deserve praise for her performance (fine-to-good, although the look was perfect) and especially for her runway, because good LORD, that was a runway look. But it’s frustrating when a queen who’s been excelling or has long deserved a win secures said win when there’s a clear standout, as was the case with Jan’s win a few weeks back. Trinity clearly won the halftime show challenge, and Ginger clearly won this one. Give the people what they want, and what they want is for the queens they love to actually deserve the wins they get. Not just any win. The right win.
So what gives? It’s as if the producers were so committed to the no-repeat-winners thing that they just said “fuck it,” picked an order, and called it a day. How else do you explain it? Trinity won the side hustles challenge—a reasonable win, though not a decisive one—and so lost a challenge she for sure should have won (halftime show) and another in which she arguably deserved a win (Pink Table Talk). Ginger dominated this week, but because she won Pink Table Talk, (again, a justifiable but far from decisive win), they give the win to Kylie, who could easily have won the variety show—no disrespect to “Jiggle Them Titties” intended. So what happens if Kylie crushes the next challenge? Or Ra’Jah? Or Jan? It sure seems likely that no matter what happens, the winner will be either Eureka or Pandora—and if Pandora can’t get a win on a week in which she gets to play Joan Crawford and Myrtle “BALENCIAGAAAAAAA” Snow and is great as both, when can she?
Kylie has the biggest role in Rumerican Horror Story: Coven, and she takes direction reasonably well, but in any other acting challenge, she’d have been safe, and maybe even in the bottom. One of the biggest Drag Race no-nos is to nab the lead in an acting challenge and then fail to take advantage of the spotlight. In that circumstance, good enough isn’t good enough, and the best role isn’t always the biggest. Not when you’ve got Pandora re-enacting Myrtle Snow’s death scene, Ginger losing her mind when she sprouts facial hair, and Jan finally getting a role to which she is perfectly suited (“The only queen I bow down to is Idina Menzel”).
But Kylie could turn in a much worse performance—any of them could, really—and it would still be better than the writing. The Drag Race acting challenges are never going to be in Pultizer contention, but they land with some regularity firmly in ‘so bad it’s good’ territory. And all the usual ingredients are there: broad strokes comedy, a couple of dirty jokes, some dated cultural references, and nods to earlier seasons, all present and accounted for. But as Ginger says about poor A’Keria, the measurements of the ingredients are all off. It’s not so much a parody of Ryan Murphy’s anthology series as it is a list of the first names of actresses he often casts in things, plus some very stupid superpowers. That’s it. Death by “bend and snap”? What? Why the Valley Of The Dolls reference?
Kylie, Ra’Jah, A’Keria, and Eureka all stumble during the “filming,” but A’Keria and Kylie at least take the direction they’re given. For Eureka and Ra’Jah, it doesn’t seem to compute. The bottom two are revealed to be Ra’Jah and A’Keria, and the reasons are obvious, although were I A’Keria, I’d be a little bit pissed off about it. She’s directed to play Gabby (Gabourey Sidibe) sardonically, to go smaller, to do less, and then she’s criticized for exactly that. Hers is definitely a performance worthy of lipstick-eligibility, but between the bad writing and the bad direction (sorry, Michelle and Ross, but y’all biffed it this time), how much of that is her fault?
Once she’s in the bottom, however, the writing’s on the wall. She may not* have deserved all three of her trips to the bottom, but three strikes is, I’m told, out. The debate about how best to determine eliminations continues to rage in Untucked, but the consensus is clear—Ra’Jah’s track record is better, and when the bottom two competitors perform at about the same level in the challenge, things like track record count. (Unless, of course, someone lent you their shirt.)
But hey, if you’re a fan of satisfying, deserved wins, Kylie still gets one of those this week, thanks to a killer lip-sync to Christina Aguilera’s “Dirrty.” The acrobatics are impressive, but so is the rest of the performance.** Ms. Kylie Sonique Love wiped the floor with a Drag Race legend, and that is no small feat. That she managed to do it in that insane look without either of her breasts popping out is just the cherry on top. (The underboob of it all!) “Coven Girls” may have been lackluster, but Kylie’s legacy has been well and truly secured.
* — Definitely did not.
** — My favorite moment: The look on her face on the lyric “And I bet you somebody’s gonna call the cops.”
Stray observations
- Untucked: Boring episode, boring Untucked. But watching poor Trinity and Pandora try to fill time was funny.
- Hi, Angela Bassett! Is a hot dog a sandwich?
- Trinity/Eureka ’shippers, show yourselves.
- Listen, I love both Jessica Lange and Tennessee Williams and even I didn’t know Jessica Lange did a TV movie version of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. On the one hand, thanks for alerting me to that, Drag Race. On the other… what?
- My gif-ts to you for the week: Pandora wuz robbed.
39 Comments
“Kylie has the biggest role in Rumerican Horror Story: Coven, and she takes direction reasonably well, but in any other acting challenge, she’d have been safe, and maybe even in the bottom.”she legit gave me one of my fave acting challenges on any season tonight, it was sexy and funny and each line had me hoping the camera wouldn’t leave her. I thought overall it was a bit of a boring episode, but damn did Kylie shine bright.
I thought overall it was a bit of a boring episode, but damn did Kylie shine bright.Agreed! Kylie didn’t just look like Jessica Lange — she completely channelled Fiona, and was mesmerizing in her perfomance. Yes, Ginger could easily have taken the win, but I’m happy that Kylie took this. And that’s with both the main challenge, and that rock-paper-scissors showdown: both queens really did get the parts best suited to them.I can’t remember an acting challenge that was as flatly directed and indifferently written as this one: it was bad. I’m sure it took a lot for the writers to look up the IMDb page for American Horror Story: Coven to get the major plot points down, but this was, by far, the laziest they’ve been all season. It really is too bad that they couldn’t have done better. Bring back Boobarella!
The writing was unbelievably bad, even by Ru Paul challenge standards. It was really hard to watch the whole thing. I don’t agree with the seeming consensus that Ross and Michelle’s direction had much to do with it, at least from what we saw. I thought they were in a bad position with really bad material and some queens who were difficult to direct. And they seemed to really help Kylie a lot with what became the winning performance
“Oh my Goth!” was one of the weaker runways of the season. Ra’Jah and Ginger were pretty, but “goth” did not compute. TKB looked stunning — as usual — but in a silhouette we’ve seen her present a few times, and even this season alone. I simply didn’t like Eureka’s outfit, and that, along with her static performance, should have landed her in the bottom. A’Keria had the best look tonight, and Kylie was serving pure sex with her latex fantasy.
I wish the queens had brought something other than black to the runway, but the only one who did was Kylie with the great red accents.
She should wear dark color wigs more often. The blond is boring.
All the queens seemed a little off from goth. I wonder what the theme was called when they got it before the season.I was getting more gothic vibes from the runways than goth.
I wonder what the theme was called when they got it before the season.Tart Up Heart? No, no Johnette — a Tribute to Concrete Blonde? Throw the Rice and Spill the Dice: Intercourse with the Vampire?It was all very 1990. Wait — maybe that was the theme.
I thought it was one of the most fun and well executed runways of the season, if it wasn’t always “goth” by more purist definitions, venturing into glam, 90s club wear, industrial type of stuff etc.
Can’t lie; I was holding my breath, hoping that no boobs popped out – and Kylie pulled it off, in a stellar lip sync. Kudos to her.
Also, I lived for Pandora as Myrtle Snow; that was the highlight of a mostly boring challenge.
I saw two brief blurred bits during the lipsync! WAS it a nip slip — or just a faux teaser?! Damn you, Standards and Practices!
I think she had pasties on her girls, just in case…
Pandora got robbed if not from the win but definitely from being one of the tops
I’m waiting to free-trial Paramount/CBS/Whatever+ until the season ends, but I’m very glad to hear Pandora does Myrtle Snow.Fuck, I hated Coven, but I can’t not love a batshit Frances Conroy performance. Apparently she was able to just start that hoot-scream-cry thing she does in the pilot of Six Feet Under, from neutral, in under ten seconds.
Coven was the most entertaining season of AHS. Yes Asylum was better made, but Coven was more fun. I will not apologize.
No need to apologize. I LIVED for the lugubrious, sadistic energy of Asylum but totally respect the fact that Coven gave us great attitude (and a wealth of relevant memes.)
Coven was the only season of AHS that I enjoyed, even with all it’s flaws.
And it certainly saved Apocalypse from being — ahem — a complete disaster. I see why production thought that AHS would provide a nice crossover point for queer fans of queer horror, but I’m still amazed how dull this turned out to be given the acting talent.
And it certainly saved Apocalypse from being — ahem — a complete disaster.Not sure about that. Apocalyse was like a car crash you couldn’t look away from.
Coven was the most entertaining because major camp, but IMO Murder House will always be the most well made.
Coven was entertaining, but it got annoying after a while when everyone kept coming back from the dead because magic.
I enjoyed it the first time around, but *whew* it didn’t hold up on a rewatch for me.
emily vanderwerff’s TV reviews for AHS, on av club, were great.
Absolutely. When she was critical I basically nodded and when your completely right. But I still liked it. Hell of a good writer that Emily.
Agreed. I can admit Asylum is the best season but Coven has always been my personal favorite.
How did Kylie have such an amazing runway look, and then a second, equally amazing look for the lip synch? I mean, it helps when you’re that gorgeous to start with.
Drag Race acting challenges have always been terrible, but what has helped them work in previous seasons was brevity. As the seasons have gone on, the acting challenges have gotten longer and their awfulness has been harder to ignore. I’m sure there could have been a way to cut this down into something that at least wasn’t leaving me checking the timestamp on my video player so often.Regardless of anyone’s opinion on Kylie’s challenge win (personally, I would have given it to Ginger), we got that phenomenal lipsync. It was the most captivating moment on this episode.
I’ve been saying this for a long time. Rusicals etc just seem to be getting longer and longer and it’s getting hard to take
What a trainwreck of an acting challenge. I’ve seen high school plays that had better blocking.They were standing in a semi-circle. That’s just beyond lazy.Also, the writing was soooo bad. Like it pained me to watch it happening because it just felt bad.One thing I felt odd about the directing note from Michelle and Ross where they told Rajah to change her voice is that I didn’t think it mattered. Like that was her choice of what she thought was funny, and this is a competition, so let her be judged by that. Did they find the voice to be demeaning to the work? Because that would be a laugh.
The idea in theory is that their role is to try to elevate everybody’s performance so the final product as a whole is better. I realize that’s laughable considering how bad the final product was but that’s the idea.
I’m a huge fan of Pandora and I hope she makes final 4, but I really don’t think she was robbed. She was serviceable and had a great runway, but she didn’t stand out like Kylie or Ginger did.Also, I don’t hate acting challenges in and of themselves–they’re responsible for some iconic moments–but the writing is truly abysmal and the direction is just as bad. Who is clamoring for eight-year-old Alyssa Edwards references and Michelle ordering everyone to go full cruise-ship-dinner-theater?
I don’t hate acting challenges in and of themselves They could have easily replaced this with that “Lipsyc Iconic Moments” challenge from S5, as All Stars is a rich and untapped territory for this type of telemagic. A crappy cover of Coven? Sappy Sex and the City? Weak Westworld? I’m waiting for “Mimi Imfurst vs. Everyone”, lipsynced by all the same queens…but playing each other! The mind is blown.
I agree. It seems like Pandora is getting a lot of praise from people who like the characters she played. As I’m in the small subset of people who watch Drag Race but has never seen any iteration of American Horror Story I had no idea who she was supposed to be and removed of that context her performance made no impression on me
That’s okay. I watched Coven — fairly recently, too — and I didn’t even remember that character (even as played by the great Frances Conroy) until I read Allison’s recap. This seems to be a running theme with Ryan Murphy productions: he somehow attracts the best actors on television to elevate some of the worst writing on television. At its best, AHS is just sort of watchable, with the occasional great episode, and that’s almost entirely because the recurring cast is great. Parodying mediocrity is never really going to produce stellar results.
Ru’s bit at the end of the skit was really bad, worse than any of the queens but of course no one would tell him that.
This wasn’t exactly on the same level as Tyra Banks putting on a beret and a bad French accent in a terrible skit about her modelling days in Paris with her nemesis, Becky, but I do get your point. I’m going to actully come to Ru’s defence here, as she’s a decent actor given the right material. The problem here, of course is that the material was abysmal.
Six different winners (in order) that make sense:Ra’jah, Kylie, Ginger, TKB, Eureka, Pandora. Naturally, every single one is different than who production chose but oh well
I’m surprised so many people think Ginger should have won, I found her performance to mostly just be mugging to the camera. But I’m generally not that impressed with Ginger in general.
eurek’s acting in the acting challenge was soooo bad it was hilarious, plus the judges acknowledging that she won’t tone it down, was super lol.