Improv challenges are hit-or-miss on RuPaul’s Drag Race. Editing can do a lot to spruce up a middling dance
routine and goodness knows Auto-Tune has saved many a Ru girl during the
recording challenges. There’s not much to be done with comedy challenges,
though. Either the queens thrive, power through, or bomb, and where a
performance falls between these categories can be highly subjective. The queens
do well in their maxi challenge, but for the second episode in a row, the
judging feels arbitrary, making for a dissatisfying viewing experience. If the
producers and editors aren’t careful, the frustrations of the perennially safe
queens may spill over to the audience, souring what’s becoming a strong season.
The episode begins with Kandy and the other queens reacting
to Tamisha’s elimination and Olivia’s win. Kandy has heard the judges and is
focused on taking their critiques, while Olivia, Tina, and Elliott bask in
finally getting some positive feedback. Elliott also feels uneasy about twice
being partnered with queens who went home, which the other queens jump on,
citing “The Double-T curse.” Instead of taking the playful jab in stride, it
sticks with her. She feels like an outsider among the cast—more on this in the strays—and
her isolation during this stressful experience is wearing on her.
The next day, the queens return to the workroom and talk
nightmares and eliminations until RuPaul enters, rocking a simple all-black
ensemble. He’s perhaps dressed to blend with the shade about to rain down, as
for the mini challenge, the library is open. That’s right, it’s time for the
reading challenge and the queens are eager to share the zingers they’ve been
cooking up. As is usually the case, the results are a mixed bag, but the season
13 queens are definitely above average. Denali’s multi-queen read of Olivia,
Utica, and Mik is an early favorite, Mik surprises with his timing and quick
retorts, and Symone gets some good licks in as well. Elliott is the only queen
to completely stumble, though Rosé’s charming, befuddled reactions do a lot to
glaze over the queens’ biggest misfires. In the end, Ru declares Mik the
winner, awarding him a $2500 gift card from ISLYNYC.
For the maxi challenge, the queens will need to prove their
comedy chops. The Bossy Rossy Show
has been Ru-booted as Bossy Rossy After
Dark, a trashy late-night talk show. The queens will be teamed up randomly
by Ru, improvising their way through one of four scenes. They won’t have
scripts, but they’ll need to prepare for the scenario, nailing down a flexible structure
for what they want to do. Rosé, LaLa, and Denali will be appearing in the
segment, “I’m pregnant with my imaginary boyfriend’s baby.” Gottmik, Utica, and
Olivia get, “Breaking my silence: Escape from the cult of Mimeology.” Symone
and Kandy are former teen reality stars, reunited for a “Where are they now?”
segment, and Tina and Elliott have perhaps the most out there scene, “My best
friend’s 600 pound ass is killing our friendship.” These are not the teams the
queens would necessarily have picked, but with some imagination, there should be
plenty in these setups for everyone to build on.
There’s a range of improv experience among the queens, and
in each group. Tina, Utica, and Rosé are all very comfortable with improv,
while Elliott, Mik, Olivia, Denali, and LaLa are new to it. Kandy and Symone excelled
in the acting challenge so in theory they should be alright, but Symone is
skeptical of some of Kandy’s choices, including what may be an over-correction
to her energy based on the judges’ recent critiques. Most of the planning seems
harmonious, with only Utica and Olivia fighting over their sketch’s flashy mime
role. Utica eventually relents, and everyone gets to work.
The episode cuts right to filming. Ross Mathews is back as
Bossy Rossy, now staging a comeback by filming his show at night in his
backyard. The producers set up a feed to the workroom so that the other queens
can watch each sketch, using their reactions to underscore who’s doing well and
who’s floundering. Rosé, Delani, and
LaLa are up first. Rosé is playing a woman claiming to be pregnant by her
imaginary boyfriend, Jared. Denali is Rosé’s mom, who’s also pregnant by Jared,
and LaLa is a therapist Ross hopes can bring them back together who is also,
that’s right, pregnant by Jared. Rosé does a terrific job, giving plenty of
specificity to her character and playing well off of the non-existent Jared. Denali
comes out next and builds on this, complementing Rosé well. The energy dips
with LaLa, who is the weakest of the three, but the sketch as a whole works. The
improv challenge is off to a strong start.
Mik, Olivia, and Utica are second. Mik is Gloria Allpink, a
former mime who’s escaped the cult of Mimeology and written a book about her
experience. Olivia is a recent escapee who still has yet to speak, and Utica is
Olivia’s overbearing mother. Mik does a great job getting things started, going
for a very focused character. Olivia is much more playful when she comes out,
taking advantage of not having to speak and giving appropriately outsized
physical responses, which Mik must quickly translate. They work well together
and Olivia also gets a strong assist from the score—she does a great job, but
the segment would play very differently with no soundtrack beneath it. Everything
is going swimmingly until Utica comes out as Olivia’s mom. There’s a clear
through-line to the first two characters and while Utica’s motor-mouthed mom explains
why Olivia was drawn to Mimeology in the first place, tonally, she’s in a
different sketch. Utica is pretty connected to Olivia and Mik, and it’s great
seeing her in such a different look, but she’s one step too far from the central
conceit of the sketch.
Kandy and Symone are up third, as former teen reality stars.
Kandy plays things down as Tiffany, reacting much more subtly to digs from Ross
than Kandy would. It is a welcome change of pace for her, but after the
previous two sketches, her low-energy approach reads flat. Symone steps things
up as Lil’ Deb-Deb Deborah, bringing some props and throwing shade at Kandy.
The sketch picks up quite a bit with Symone, ending stronger than it started,
but to this viewer, it’s the least successful of the three so far.
Last are Tina and Elliott, with Tina as a retired rocket
scientist with massive butt implants and Elliott as her former best friend from
NASA. Tina comes in hot, going ridiculously broad. It works, but isn’t as
interesting as either Rosé or Mik’s more pointed starts to their sketches.
Elliott’s fuddy-duddy lowers the energy temporarily, but then everything turns when
Elliott reveals that she’s gotten massive breast implants and they start
slapping each other, then making out for no reason. It’s ridiculous and silly, and
both Tina and Elliott are game. Compared with the other groups, though, their
sketch is scattered and unfocused. Elliott is the weaker performer of the two
and is likely in danger along with LaLa and Utica, and arguably Kandy.
The next day, the queens dance back into the workroom,
excited to prepare for the runway. Symone is worried about her sketch and ties
her anxiety over the looming critiques to growing up as a people-pleaser. He
shares that when he was a kid, his brother committed armed robbery and went to jail
and it had a profound effect on his mom and on Symone. He puts tremendous
pressure on himself not to disappoint anyone, and the weight of those expectations
must be crushing.
The episode draws a thread between Symone and Elliott’s
continuing search for the approval of his peers. Tina talks with Elliott about
the disconnect between himself and the other queens, and Elliott shares that he
deals with significant clinical depression, and has since he was 13. He
overcompensates for this by trying to be up and high-energy with everyone, but
it’s reading as false. Tina has experience with depression—his mother struggles
with depression and without her pills, he says she’s a completely different
person—and they’re able to connect in a meaningful way around this issue. Tina
advises Elliott to let down his guard a little, and that if he lets the other
queens see the person Elliott is showing him right now, they’ll connect.
Meanwhile, the queens at the mirror list some of their
favorite talk shows and LaLa’s love for Maury
devolves into a whole bit, with Kandy as Maury, LaLa as a baby mama trying to
get off camera, and Mik and Elliott as the intrepid cameraman and boom operator
determined to keep LaLa in frame. It’s hilarious. Where was this energy from
LaLa during the challenge? At the main stage, Ru walks out in another fabulous
sequined gown, red this time with bright blonde hair. Michelle again looks
great in a white dress with some texture and sleek hair, Ross is in a patterned
suit, and guest judge TS Madison looks terrific, with a sparkly top, massive jewelry,
and a beautifully beat face.
Category is: Bead It. Denali is out first and she looks
lovely as a chandelier. The look has shape, movement, and texture, and she’s
clearly living for it. Rosé goes for a very different kind of bead, with a
colorful plastic bead dress that’s youthful and fun. She’s taken Ru’s “don’t be
perfect” advice to heart, going bolder with her makeup and pairing her playful
look with a Tinkerbell bun. LaLa is the first queen to channel Mardi Gras, with
strings of gold, purple, and green beads forming a two-piece dance outfit she’s
paired with a fabulous, giant black wig. The look has movement and personality
and she’s ready to celebrate. Gottmik goes a different way with a red latex
ensemble. Her dress is ’60s mod inspired, though that design always screams
Dalek to this Whovian, and instead of a wig, she has a massive anal bead-shaped
headpiece.
From one extreme to another, Olivia comes out as a young
girl with a painted overall mini dress atop a lilac turtleneck and what appears
to be Kandy’s wig from “The Bag Ball,” or at least one that’s very similar. She
looks cute, and the beaded jump rope is a great choice, but it’s not as
memorable as the others’. Utica is much bolder in a strappy bridal look with a
red cut-out body suit underneath and red accents in the tulle skirt. She’s a
beaded, bloody bride, dripping in pearls. Kandy is next, wearing a fabulous burlesque
look and fur wrap, showing off her body and positively dripping with beads from
her oversized hat to the strings swaying all the way down to the floor. She
looks fantastic, as does Symone, who’s in an African-inspired look. Her black,
green, yellow, white, and red beaded collar and breastplate and bikini is made
entirely of hair beads. She looks great, and the reveal of her name spelled out
in beads in her hair is the final flourish.
Tina finally diverts from her red, orange, and yellow
aesthetic for this runway, but unfortunately has her biggest misstep yet with the
category’s second Mardi Gras look. It’s part clown, part burlesque, but the
reveal of the tear-away beaded belt and pants does little to improve the look
and actually hurts her proportions. The removal of the beaded bra cups is fun,
but again, it doesn’t add much. Elliott closes out the runway on a higher note,
thankfully, in a flapper-inspired Mardi Gras look. It’s much more memorable than
her little black dress from last episode and one of her best looks all season. After
the runway, Ru gets right down to results. She asks Tina, Mik, Denali, and Rosé
to step forward—wait, four tops?, they and viewers may be thinking—then sends
them off to Untucked, safe. There
aren’t any Jan-level face cracks, but Tina, Rosé, and Denali are all thrown. Instead,
it’s Olivia, Kandy, and Symone who are in the top and LaLa, Utica, and Elliott
who are in the bottom.
LaLa is complimented on her runway, though Michelle clocks a
tear in her garment, but the judges read her for not matching Rosé and Denali’s
energy in their sketch. The judges loved Olivia’s mime and they liked her
different take on the runway. As for Utica, the judges appreciate her look, but
were underwhelmed by her improv. Kandy’s low-key gamble may not have worked for
this viewer, but the judges ate it up, and they love her look. Symone also gets
lots of love from the judges for her look and Ross in particular mentions how
in the moment she was for the challenge, listening and responding. Last is Elliott,
and again, the judges praise her runway. The queens really did deliver on the looks
this episode. Unfortunately, they didn’t like her improv, noting the lack of
specificity to her character.
After deliberations, Ru gives the win to Olivia, along with
the $5000 tip, and declares Kandy and Symone safe. Utica evades lip-syncing
once again, and that puts two of the season’s best dancers up against each other
for elimination, LaLa and Elliott. LaLa has already shown exactly what she can
do, but Elliott is determined to make her fight. The song is Kelly Clarkson’s “Whole
Lotta Woman” and both LaLa and Elliott turn it out. LaLa’s fabulous hair gets
in her way at times—she’s doing a lot with her face, but it’s sometimes hard to
see—and Elliott does pull out some impressive splits, but the moment Elliott
wins the lip-sync is when she points to LaLa and stares down the judges at, “Ain’t
no competition.” This is no Denali over Kahmora, Ru has to think a bit, but she
tells Elliott to shantay, sending LaLa home.
LaLa struggled this season, landing in the bottom for three
of her six episodes, but she’ll be hugely missed regardless, thanks to her
fantastic talking heads and her energy in the workroom. She’s one hell of a
performer and did enough in her three lip-syncs for this viewer to consider her
prime lip-sync assassin material. Hopefully she’ll be back for another go
before too long. As for the safe queens, they’ll start getting feedback one way
or the other soon, as the numbers continue to dwindle, and perhaps at that
point, the judging will feel a bit more cohesive.
Stray observations
- For those who don’t follow Drag Race queens on social media, Kandy has alleged recently that
during filming, Elliott used a number of microaggressions when talking with the
queens of color. Kandy also hinted at transphobic comments from Elliott, but
said she wouldn’t elaborate, as she didn’t feel it was her place. Fans watching
this episode with that context will have a completely different take on Elliott
than those only tuning in to VH1. - The judges try to play that Olivia’s role was a big risk,
but the over-the-top mime character? That’s clearly a show-stealer. You have to
deliver, but of the three characters in that sketch, it’s far and away the
showiest, and that’s what always wins challenges on Drag Race. That being said, Olivia took that role and ran with it,
against the wind. Before stopping for ice cream. - That baseball metaphor slipping through Ross’s fingers was
hilarious. - I’m not familiar with TS Madison, beyond her reaction to
Silky’s Snatch Game performance of her, but she was another terrific guest judge
in a season full of them.
57 Comments
Yeah the whole Elliott situation is becoming concerning. I can’t tell exactly what is going on outside of the show since there haven’t been really any specifics, but on the show he’s getting a weirdly sympathetic edit even though there’s some also clearly a disconnect with most of the other queens.For this episode, thought Olivia and Symone were the clear standouts. Unfortunate that Olivia has twice now had a similar look show up on the runway before her. I would have argued for a Symone win, but Olivia did so well as that mime that I’m happy either way.I didn’t quite understand Kandy’s high placement. She looked great, but nothing was happening in that scene for me until Symone arrived. Denali’s dramatics in Untucked were a bit much, but I have a feeling it was played up a bit by production. I probably would have put her in the top instead.Agree that Utica had something going but it just didn’t fit with what the rest of the sketch was. Had she been in Mik’s place, instead of the last one walking in, I think she could have pulled it off.So now I’m upset that Tamisha and now Lala are gone. But I know they’ll both (rightfully) get a lot of love after all of this regardless of their track records.Also, Tina, I guess disregard everyone complaining about the red/yellow outfits because that was way worse…
I wasn’t as impressed with Olivia as the panel seemed to be. Ross set her up to make all of the “offers” in the skit, and she basically did what she wanted and forced her scene partners to riff off of her and didn’t accept any “offers” herself. Which, I’ve heard, is supposed to be the point of improv. Olivia was fine, but Rose, Denali, and Symone were great. Olivia sure was smart in insisting that she get that part, but that also made her come across as a bit entitled and demandy.Kandy got into the top three by minimally exceeding the extremely low bar she had set in the preceding challenges. Success!
We’ll have to agree to disagree on Olivia. I’ll concede it was a role that was set up to win if done well, but she delivered. And I love that she’s been shit-stirring and being strategic without coming across as malicious.
I don’t want to take it too far, because Olivia was fine in the skit. It would also mean that I’d be agreeing with Tina, and that is one ugly red (and orange, and yellow) line that Must Not Be Crossed.
Kandy has alleged recently that during filming, Elliott used a number of microaggressions when talking with the queens of color. Kandy also hinted at transphobic comments from Elliott, but said she wouldn’t elaborate, as she didn’t feel it was her place. Sounds like some BS excuses to try to make herself look better, but maybe I’m just biased.That said, Kandy’s drag on the main runway was the best she’s looked all season IMO, so I do give her credit for that. (I’m still ready to see her leave, regardless.)That said:
I liked Denali’s chandelier, but her performance was forgettable. I feel like both she and Rose are getting the Jan treatment, which is unfortunate.
I LOVED Symone’s look, and I stan her afrocentric Black Girl Magic energy that she brings.I hated Tina’s look, as usual… but at least it wasn’t the same tired-ass color palette. LaLa’s personality is everything, but sister girl just wasn’t translating that to her performances or her looks, sadly.Elliott deserves mad props for being able to hang move for move with LaLa.Utica’s looks are on point, but she needs to connect more in the challenges.
Lastly, but I didn’t like Olivia’s runway at all; she turned that corner, and I swear, I thought she was wearing the same wig as Kandy wore in the Bag Ball challenge.
I agree that both Denali and Rose are getting the Jan treatment and it sucks. I even liked Jan herself and didn’t like it when it happened thenI think the episode should’ve focused more on Utica’s hubris. She went on and on about how she was the queen of improv and would steal any scene she was in and then fizzled. She’s basically harmless but there’s something about her I don’t likeElliott is a great dancer, maybe one of the best in Drag Race herstory
Rose was fantastic in the challenge. I would’ve picked her as the winner if not for the excellence of Ms. Symone. I’m not sure what to make of Kandy’s disclosure, as I was rooting for Elliott, and her lipsync was amazing. I noticed a huge tonal shift with the editing this episode, with former unlikeables (Kandy; Tina) presenting sympathetic sides, and Elliott getting a backstory. Knowing this show, I thought that that was the kiss of death for Elliott, so her survival was something of a surprise.
her runway looks have been really boring I find, but she did perform well.
Hit-or-miss is what I’d call them. Her “Lady”, “Vamp” — and especially — her self-sewn Bag Ball look — were all pretty great, but most of the others were mediocre, and the “Comme des Garcons” garment body bag was horrible. THROW IT OUT.Her makeup intrigues me. She hasn’t shown a great deal of variety with her paint or hair, and that usually annoys me, but I haven’t minded it that much because there have been other, more pressing problems on this season’s runways.
I’m not sure what to make of Kandy’s disclosure, as I was rooting for Elliott, and her lipsync was amazing. Kandy’s comments need corroboration and context before we hit cancel on EWTT.
I agree that both Denali and Rose are getting the Jan treatment and it sucks. Ru/the producers have a horrible habit of doing that to certain queens; always putting them in the them top, then never actually giving them the win. shoot for something a little higher than champagne stripper, I’d have called it closer to ‘burlesque,’ but I hear you – that attitude seems like resting on laurels she doesn’t really have.I wonder if other queens from previous seasons are watching this season with a side-eye because it seems like this cast is getting a lot more leeway than in the past.
I mean four whole eps before even eliminating anyone? That contrivance seems not only to have messed with the show’s overall momentum from a narrative point, but it also has given some queens a false sense of security when in any other season they’d have been gone by now… This is the second stolen look we’ve seen from Gottmik {…} Latrice’s “Plastique Fantastique”Agreed…
And didn’t Asia O’hara do the “anal bead as a headpiece” thing as well?
(She did.)
I cannot wait for Kandy to meet Trinity. I see where you’re going with “burlesque”, but that term implies performance, sensuality and energy, not someone feeling herself while projecting a flat and static image. And speaking of headpieces-as-love beads, Silky (sort of) did tried something similar on S11.UKDR SPOILER:What happened this week was not okay. My god, was that entire rant undeserved and unprofessional! And the Rupology that followed was bullshit.
And speaking of headpieces-as-love beads, Silky (sort of) tried something similar on S11.
She sure did make an attempt:Narrator: She failed.
RE: UKDR:
Again no T, no shade; you called it right.
That outburst was not fucking cute at all, and I think the only reason the nonpology happened at all is because the producers put a bug in her ear.
My kid & I have been joking for a while now that “Ru must be high!” when making some of these judgment calls, but that little hissy fit now has me wonderin’ if Mama wasn’t jonesin’ something awful…
Also what was with the weird S3 filter they kept using only on Ru’s shots?
What was that about?
As soon as Utica made that comment about scene-stealing, I cringed. Stealing scenes is not how you do improv. You work to make everyone, not just yourself shine. I was not at all surprised to see her come out with a shtick that didn’t gel with the other two.
They always feature a queen saying “this is what I do for a living,” whether it’s improv, dance, sing, sew….and they either kill it, or fall flat on their face.
“This is the most beautiful I’ll ever look”. Good god, Kandy, shoot for something a little higher than champagne stripper, and I’ll like your drag more. Her paint is vastly improved, though.This is the second stolen look we’ve seen from Gottmik, as this one was too similar to Latrice’s “Platique Fantastique” look to be truly fun and creative. And speaking of Latrice, I did not approve of Tina stealing a biscuit from Latrice in her talking head.
I’m so tired of Queens being like “My Aesthetic is… ‘Hoe’.” It really tells me everything about you and that you have little imagination.
Kandy needs to know that even though she is big queen that doesn’t mean she doesn’t need padding. Her boobs look like chicken cutlets in that outfit in this episode.
I mean, Elliott has already said some cringey things outside of the show and half-assed an apology. Recently there have also been a lot of old social media posts of Elliotts dragged up (which, sidenote: queens, scrub your damn social media profiles before going on TV) that are not very flattering, to say the least. Monet apparently said in a recent episode of Sibling Rivalry that another queen is telling them Elliott made transphobic remarks that made Mik uncomfortable (paraphrasing here since it was in a Patreon episode of the podcast, so I don’t have the exact quotes). We can speculate all day why queens aren’t talking about it more (NDA), or why the show doesn’t want to show something that could turn into another PR disaster. I’m not Kandy’s biggest fan, but there’s a lot of things pointing to a kernel of truth that Elliott is, at best, very ignorant.
“Sounds like some BS excuses to try to make herself look better, but maybe I’m just biased”Same. Maybe she’s deflecting because of her own crap behavior. Has any other queen weighed in on this Elliot thing?
Yeah, they have. Reddit found that Elliott’s IG was filled with posts deadnaming Caitlyn Jenner and mocking black Barbie dolls on sale because “who’d want them.”
Oof, not good. But I thought Kandys comments were about things Elliott said during filming.
AFAIK yeah, which track with Elliott’s IG. Gottmik also posted this, which doesn’t seem to contradict Kandy in any way.
(Actually re-edit, I am now blanking on whether this was posted in response to Elliott or NBB. It may have been the latter.)
What’s really unfortunate about this situation is that it’s something that the show must address, and it’s certain that Ru & Co. will remain silent. This is a problem that’s certainly bigger than Eliott, and unless the show does a far better job vetting its applicants, it’s something we’re unfortunately going to see again. Ru has profited tremendously from Drag Race, and it’s time to own up to the shit that she’s helped to stir up and create a better environment for everybody.It’s also extremely unfortunate that editing has built up a plotline with Eliott vs. The Mean Girls throughout the season, which means that some will misunderstand the situation and read this incident as a result of clashing personalities from rival groups, and therefore excusable, instead of toxic behaviour which should be widely condemned.
you know what I don’t like and actually I find exhausting: that The Vixen vs Eureka or Eliott vs Kandy is now part of the show narrative. Part of its reality show quirks. So we must have an opinion of it, positive or negative, and react strongly about it. And sometimes new info pops up the next week that makes you feel strongly against someone… just to forget about it the next week, while the target of that anger can be left traumatised for weeks, sometimes unfairly. I am so tired of this cycle of information to be honest.
And the show will keep on doing exactly this as long as it can provoke polarizing reactions from “fans”, while deflecting all valid criticism about the show onto the contestants instead of letting it land on the producers and its host, where it rightly belongs. RuPaul doesn’t want to change or move forward with the times, and it’s easier to blame Elliott or PhiPhi or Tyra or whomever than take a long look in the mirror yourself and ask yourself what’ve you’ve done to create a toxic environment where unacceptable behaviour is tolerated. I think I was most disappointed with RuPaul over the entire scandal (and it is a scandal) over her refusal to open up drag to any eligible contestant, irrespective of sex and gender. She’s actually — and I know how loaded this term is — pretty Trumpian in her view of social media, and I’m sure she views it as a toy where she can fire off “cute” comments and uses social media to appear current and relevant, but doesn’t expect pushback because she thinks she’s just tapping random thoughts into her phone. Well, sorry — I’m old enough that I don’t use anything but message boards (the same as I’ve done since I was a teen, when BBSing was a thing), but I know enough that lots of young people today view it in the same way older people look as something reported in newspapers: as a public record, for which you will be held accountable. For the record, I’d be perfectly happy if the writers stopped treating bullying and toxic behaviour as a form of entertainment. The international versions of the brand just focus on talent, and they’re a delight.
For the record, I’d be perfectly happy if the writers stopped treating bullying and toxic behaviour as a form of entertainment. I completely agree; that’s exactly how you end up with someone like Silky in the top four when she clearly didn’t deserve such high placement.
“, I am now blanking on whether this was posted in response to Elliott or NBB.”What is NBB?
Sounds like some BS excuses to try to make herself look better, but maybe I’m just biased.
I cannot begin to understand the mindset that made you think this comment was appropriate to make about someone who was *actually there* when it turns out Elliott’s IG was full of this stuff. She’s finally decided to do cleanup, but:
https://www.reddit.com/r/rupaulsdragrace/comments/leld2g/elliott_has_deleted_79_instagram_posts_as_of_today/
I cannot begin to understand the mindsetIt’s called an opinion, and I’m allowed to have one, just like everyone else; thanks. I don’t consider Kandy alone as a reliable source of info.Now if there’s additional evidence that Elliott is a bigot, then that’s majorly fucked up, but I’m not sorry that hearing such info secondhand from a fan online wasn’t enough to make me get out a pitch-folk, so maybe calm down.
Sadly, racism is an ugly but all too real factor in the Drag Race world, and if Elliott perpetuates it, that can only hurt her career and her money earning prospects; it’s not like Fox News or “the Alt Right” will go courting her for a high paying gig, (as we see happen in so many other industries when someone comes out as a garbage person *cough * Gina Carano *cough*.)
I saw the fishnets screenshots, and they were bigoted. Elliott made a number of stupidly offensive posts that probably came from a place of dumbness instead of malice, but come on. I say we trade in Elliott and Kandy for Tamisha and continue on with the competition. A win-win for everybody!
I’ve since seen screenshots from other sources; Elliott ‘with all the T’ can go fuck herself sideways, all shade.The back handed “compliment” she gave to Symone about her Black Girl Magic drag not being ‘aggressive’ just sounds like some clueless person of privilege talking out the side of her ignorant-ass neck, but there’s no excuse for passive aggressive bigotry like this, regardless to when it was:
That said, I’m still not feeling Kandy, regardless to the shittiness of any of the other queens.
Let’s not use stupidity to excuse bigotry? There’s no way Elliott, a drag queen, didn’t know deadnaming was bad.
But yes 100% support this trade.
Well, the “good” news about this disclosure is that Elliott will now probably spend the next while “clearing the air” (translation: being ignorant) about the situation. But I’m hoping that that will spark a thoughtful and meaningful conversation about problematic behaviour in the general community. And from what I’ve seen/read so far, this will probably not include her, and that is sad. I had hoped to type “apologizing for her unacceptable behaviour”, but that never seems to be the result in these situations.
Hah, honestly I hope so. Unfortunately it feels like as the fandom expands, the conversation has to keep being had – since Wow seems to finally be stepping up, maybe more of that top down influence will help.
And I’m allowed to call you out on having a wholly un-thought-out opinion especially about someone who’s a member of a group *known* for receiving the villain edit and unnecessary hate from the fanbase.Would’ve taken you all of 2 minutes to do a little research before writing off Kandy because you don’t like her TV edit.
Have fun being ignored. I dont feed energy leeches. Ta.
Symone flat out won the episode.
Symone is winning all the episodes. She is so incredibly good, it’s scary.
She also has the best and more variety of wigs.
Better than that, she changes her character everytime she gets up on the runway. That’s something that almost no other queen has other done, and that goes a very long way in always keeping things fresh and interesting. Adore did it, and that was one of the reasons why her S6 run was so entertaining. Symone is smart and a through-on-through professional, and I’m not really looking at anyone else at this point. I’d be pretty happy with a Symone/Olivia/Rose F3, that’s for sure.
So I thought Drag Race UK this week was fine… until the judging when Ru lit a fire under some of their butts (hopefully), which in turn breathed a bit more life into the episode.
Also, always sad to have a lip sync with two queens you really like, but that’s Drag Race.
Yeah, it was a fine tv moment, but made me think that the message was “if you don’t have the money, work harder”. So it’s not the Olympics of Drag. It’s just the Eton of Drag. Tories’ Drag Race.
The critique was also WRONG. Eurovision is often an ocean of cheap, tacky, and ugly outfits, so Bananadrama’s costumes fit right in. You got what you asked for, bitch! The problem is that the styling wasn’t particularly coordinated — not that it “came from H&M”!. Let’s also note that we wouldn’t have seen how “poorly” Bananadrama performed unless we had been given panel reaction shots every two seconds. They were fine. Yes, the other group looked better in that edit, but Bananadrama acctually incorporated the song’s title with their cheesy choreo, and Joe’s repeated thumbs-up made me giggle.Also: LOCKDOWN. And NO MONEY TO DO ANYTHING. Jesus, Ru. Not everyone can jet off to Wyoming to escape a pandemic.
I have to ask; am I the only one who still has the chorus from UK Hun stuck in her head?
If not, share my “pain!”
(It’s ridiculously infectious…)
The only thing keeping Kandy on at this point is her outsized personality. This was the first week that I thought her runway look was actually impressive. She’s good TV but I’ll be damned if WOW wants to deal with her stupid ass for a long time.
Everything about Kandy bothers me, particularly her attitude & runway looks. But those cheap ass pumps she keeps stuffing her feet into??? Girl, bye.
Rose not being in the top three this week makes no sense to me. I’d have given her or Symone the win. Olivia was fine.
With UK being so fantastic, and this week’s episode in particular being an all-time great episode of any incarnation of Drag Race, period, it was hard not to feel totally let down by this episode. The forced drama, the judging not really matching what we’re seeing, the personalities blurring together- the fact the season has already felt 84 years long. Only four queens have gone home and it feels like we still have a million more to knock down.I was surprised by the effusive praise of Kandy, who was… fine in her scene but totally outshone by Symone, and whose runway was totally and clearly intentionally obscured by her fur. Was it a good look? Please, someone tell me, because I don’t know. I couldn’t see it.I agree with Olivia and Symone being the strongest and I also probably would’ve given the win to Olivia. But man, something just isn’t clicking with this season for me. It just feels very artificial, with very few queens that are exciting to root for. The vibe is less season 12 and more… season 11. And, again, the excellence of UK does this season no favors.
The vibe is less season 12 and more… season 11. Agreed that this is a step back from S12, but it’s still better than S11, when — and let’s not forget this — we got to experience Shuga Cain’s robbery and a little lip sync to “No Scrubs” around this point in the season. And all of that in order to enjoy more episodes of the Silky Show! I still refuse to believe that Kandy is a threat to anything more than good taste and styling, and doubt she’ll survive her next (soon to come) lipsync. But it was pretty apparent halfway through S11 that Silky was going to be carried through to the finale.The scriptwriting also seems to be churning familiar plotlines, and maybe that’s why I’m not warming up to Olivia as much as I might (or should). Her trajectory and storyline is being presented in much the same way as Jaida’s, and that’s great, except we just saw that last year and it’s too soon to be excited by that again. Thankfully, however, there is Symone (and — I’ll give her her due — Rose).
Agreed that the whack ass judging is messing up the season. No way Kandy should have been in the top over Rose, and Symone won the challenge and the runway last time. Olivia did well but not better than Symone and the runway is way too basic (so on brand for her I guess) Impressed with Elliot, I thought LaLa RI would eat her alive in a lip sync. Utica needs to reel it in sometimes. It’s like Torgy on overdrive. Interestingly enough that she got a feature in Vogue online when Gotmikks supposed to be the fashion one https://www.vogue.com/article/utica-queen-rupauls-drag-race-fashion-star
I was side-eyeing the judges last week when they gave Olivia the win with that basic black dress, and I’m side-eyeing them even harder now. That was Symone’s runway! She is out there doing totally new and fresh stuff on the runway, she’s re-inventing the game (Utica, sorry, but if I see one more bloody/dead/zombie/whatever bride from anyone, my eyes are gonna roll out of my head). Symone was also the most entertaining take in the challenge. Sorry, Rose and Denali – I’m also over the same boring and offensive riffs on white trash. “Let’s black out a tooth and wear some denim and talk with a Southern accent!” Wouldn’t a far more interesting place to go with that be, for instance, tweed Chanel suits and a WASP-y mom/daughter combo? But instead they go for the low-hanging fruit that we’ve seen time and time again.
Olivia does have a lovely personality and presence and she was one of my favorites out the gate, but the judges do everyone a disservice when they arbitrarily elevate people like that. It knocks everyone off their game and it’s frustrating to watch.
I thought Olivia’s LBD & Bead it runways were GARBAGE yet she inexplicably won both episodes… The only contestant remaining that I have any affinity for is Symone (she’s the season winner, no question). Losing Tamisha last week was heartbreaking. Watching her be critiqued for not being energetic enough and having ‘fear in her eyes’ during dance challenges had me raging. To know what she was going through (even before learning about the ostomy) and remaining strong & steadfast, taking the hits without asking for a lick of sympathy? THAT’S a motherfucking QUEEN right there. Denali & Rosé are just too sterile. They’ve shown zero vulnerability or personality, just like Jan did – though I do appreciate their drag more slightly than Jan’s (Denali’s parrot & chandelier looks were truly stunning). Still, why isn’t Denali getting clocked by Michelle for repeatedly appearing on the runway with a thick, uncinched waist??? Why isn’t Rosé getting clocked for her stale, shapeless tulle looks? Why isn’t Tina getting clocked for her HIDEOUS looks in general? Gottmik has some great concepts but she straight up copied that anal bead headdress from Latrice. And Kandy? Just… no. Her arrogant loud mouth needs to GO.
Kandy wasn’t completely horrible, but I really miss having Tanisha’s commentary. I would have liked to see her comfort Elliot this episode.I can’t buy the Kandy social media stuff or her sudden niceness to Elliot this episode. She’s been such a bully I don’t believe her. And if that’s her best drag I guess its all downhill from here. She was different this episode and not completely awful at least.Rose and Denali are getting Jan’d (or Naomi’d, who did it first!). They’re both fun, so its a shame. Gottmik and Tina need to get their head out of their asses. Tina was extremely one note the whole time, and really the whole season. Simone is running away with it, and even if Olivia has had some glaring flaws she’s at least been pleasant. That mime routine was perfect
Depression makes you put up a lot of walls to protect yourself, so Eliott makes more sense now, and that was a great lip synch and Eliott is fucking fire on the dance floor. Think Utica should have been in the bottom with Eliott tho.Also that improv was actually so fucking funny, even the bottom performances would have shone in other seasons. And Ross can really perform.
Think Utica should have been in the bottom with Eliott tho.Let’s throw Tina into the mix and it’s a deal. She really wasn’t any better than Elliott during the challenge and made the improv error of ignoring her partner to focus on Ross. Isn’t this something that you’re not supposed to do? Plus, her runway sucked.Here’s the thing about Utica: no one picked up her “offers”, and she was slammed for it. Kandy was flat out wrong when she criticized Utica for her “characterization” of Olivia’s mother — that was what she brought, and it was the obligation of her scene partners to take it and run with it. It’s also perfectly fair, though, to criticize Utica for then flatlining, flailing, and being uninteresting.
yes totally fair, Tina really wasn’t all that different, she just had the fortune of showing up first on the scene (that’s a firefighter for you). And with Uttica I guess she was kind of leaning into her experience with improv too much perhaps, I also wouldn’t know how to reply to the latte joke etc. okay and did I misread Kandy? I didn’t understand her performance at all, very boring.