In May of 2020, RuPaul’s Drag Race was one of the few TV shows to find a work-around for COVID-19, filming its final episodes of season 12 remotely, with the queens shooting from their homes. The traditional spectacle and scale of the Drag Race finales had to be set aside, but the producers and queens did a terrific job of working within their limitations to produce dynamic episodes that sent a strong, if unusual season off well. These episodes were undoubtedly challenging to put together, but filming a full season of Drag Race during COVID is something else entirely. RuPaul’s Drag Race: Corona Can’t Keep A Good Queen Down documents this massive undertaking, promising fans a behind-the-scenes look at the production of season 13. Unfortunately, while this is a compelling topic, the special falls short of its potential, limiting its scope and curiosity and by extension, its impact.
The special walks through the season 13 queens’ 2020, tracking their experiences leading up to being officially cast—the queens were notified in June—the mad scramble to prepare for the season, and then detailing their time in production and shortly afterward. RuPaul narrates the special, providing connective tissue to the segments, but he otherwise stays out of the proceedings. The season 13 cast are front and center, but a more interesting take would have followed the series’ producers and crew as well. What were conversations like prepping the season? How did the shutdowns impact casting conversations and budgets, and how did the judges’ experiences compare to previous seasons? There’s plenty of compelling material to dive into around the crafting of a reality show during a pandemic, but alas, this is not that special.
Another disappointing choice is the downplaying of Drag Race season 12. The special picks up in January of 2020, establishing the season 13 queens’ normal routines and plans for the year, but season 12 didn’t start airing until February 28th. Most of season 12 may have been shot in 2019, but the show’s reunion specials and finales are traditionally filmed shortly before the season finishes airing. These live tapings had to be scrapped entirely. Before the producers could worry about launching season 13, they needed to figure out how they’d put together a satisfying conclusion to season 12. The special follows the season 13 queens as they adjust to life during lockdown and do their best to come up with remote opportunities for work, but what about the season 12 queens who in any other year would have been raking in lucrative bookings and tours, coinciding with their appearances on the show?
As a more limited look at the emotional journeys of the season 13 cast, Corona Can’t Keep A Good Queen Down works well. Several queens share their experiences contracting and recovering from COVID-19 and the emotional and psychological toll of the various lockdowns. Particularly affecting is the inclusion of the sudden death of New York drag legend Mona Foot in March of 2020. Mona was the picture of health, before dying from an illness suspected to be COVID-19. The special also touches on the wave of Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, though it does so with kid gloves. The queens’ discussion of police brutality and their personal connections to protest movements are much more keenly felt in season 13’s “The Bag Ball.” Here the conversation stays squarely centered on Drag Race’s role as a platform, celebrating its potential to reach large audiences without taking advantage of that megaphone to say anything specific.
Once the timeline moves to June, the special focuses in, laying out the challenges faced by the queens after they got the call that they’d been officially cast. Due to pandemic restrictions, many queens’ income streams dried up. Going on Drag Race is an expensive proposition in the best of times. Throw in store closures, shipping and online ordering delays, and a wig shortage, and it’s remarkable this cast managed to put anything together. Getting a more specific sense of that adds to the viewing experience—Rosé fans will be playing spot the painted pump for the rest of season 13—and highlights the creativity and persistence of the cast.
The special eventually gets into the nitty gritty of filming, and here is where it picks up. The snippets of the queens’ two week quarantine are neat to see, as are the changes to the Werk Room that allowed for socially distanced filming. In what is implied to be a break with tradition, RuPaul was particularly chatty during walkthroughs and though filming restrictions led to many fewer celebrities dropping by, the production found ways to make the most of the time the queens had with these guests. Then there’s the consistent testing, omnipresent hand sanitizer, and masks and face shields worn by the entire crew. The psychological impact of going from at-home social distancing to complete isolation to being able to physically interact with other people is given the weight it deserves, and several of the queens remark on the power of touch and how strange it is to have intense, albeit short-lived relationships with crew members who they’ve never seen without masks.
This special may not pack the emotional punch it promises, but it’s an interesting snapshot of what Drag Race and 2020 in general felt like for the season 13 queens. It was a strange and hopefully unique time, filled with tremendous isolation, fear, and uncertainty, but also, where it could be managed, beauty and joy. Drag Race fans are certainly happy to have a new season to watch and shedding some light on the queens’ experiences during production is as good a way as any to fill an off-week for the series. Now with nine queens still remaining, bring on the Snatch Game and the rest of season 13.
Stray observations
- Joey’s state of emergency alert is too perfect. It’s great to get so much time in the special with the queens who were eliminated early.
- Kahmora’s hope that his mother will see how much joy he gets from drag is an absolute highlight of the special.
- I appreciate the special’s focus on how isolating and overwhelming the experience of filming even a standard season of Drag Race is. I hadn’t considered the additional stress of not being able to check in with first responder friends and family members to make sure they’re alright. It’s surprising that more queens haven’t hit a breaking point yet, though perhaps that’s coming.
42 Comments
I was wondering where the Pit Crew was. Now we know.
I was actually wondering where the crew members were and how they and their families fared during the pandemic. Thanks for not sharing, Ru! I saw Sarge — once — a couple of episodes ago, and that’s been it.
You just know that Coronavirus: the unauthorized Rusical is coming for Season 14. Number of Tina’s outfits featured that did not have red, orange, or yellow: 1There had better not be any correlation between the amount of time given to each queen’s talking heads and the outcome of the season…Let’s also note that DRUK has been able to underline the consequences of the pandemic by incorporating it into the show itself by having it discussed (by the queens) in a meaningful, thoughtful way. See? No clip shows required.
Actually there was a special episode, “queens in lockdown”. And it’s pretty good!
They did do a corona special as well. But, unsurprisingly, it sounds like it was much much better than this. (Sticking to the theme!)I loved the UK special. It was intimate, funny, but also often heartbreakingly sad. It talked about the economic realities of what the queens were dealing with in a very overt way. I also identified sooooo strongly with poor Veronica who dealt with some pretty crippling depression.You should really seek it out if you can.
The show is becoming as predictably canned as one of Ru’s “laughing jags” (and don’t get me started on *those*).I definitely was already put off by the show’s eagerness to rush a new season into production. For Ru to start a new season seemed so unnecessary (and still does). Especially, as Katie noted above, both Jaida Essence Hall (as the winner) and Season 12 (as a whole) really wasn’t given a chance to enjoy their time in the spotlight and reap the monetary benefits. It’s really unfair to the S12 Queens who use the cachet of being the “new faces” to book gigs. To replace them this quickly (when bookings are already nonexistent) feels thoughtless.And to dress it up in a whole “drag is needed to help pull the country out of its collective funk” feels incredibly disingenuous. Under that same logic, Ru could have easily staged televised drag shows with his existing RuGirls. I get it, you wanted to make the usual level of coin that Drag Race brings – I can’t be mad at that. But don’t dress it up in false platitudes of trying to uplift America’s Depression.I used to see RPDR as a parody of both Tyra Banks and ANTM…but with *actual* heart. That’s what made the show so fantastic: it was absurd and *knew* it was absurd but had fun with it. Now, it takes itself entirely too seriously.There’s no doubt that drag is both an important art form and has saved lives. But once one starts trumpeting one’s own importance is the *exact* moment one loses the quality that made it endearing and life-altering, IMO.Plus, the relentless pumping out of both this and All-Stars, Ru’s increasing transparency in seeming very manufactured and chilly, and the seeming diminishing in show talent has really dulled the show’s luster.
I’m sure Ru is definitely reaping the benefits of the number of seasons, but I’m also sure that VH1 is playing a significant role in that. They threw more money at the show and moved it from Logo to VH1 with the expectation of more seasons and especially more All-Stars. Not disagreeing with all of your criticisms by any means, but I think assuming that Ru alone rushed a season into production for his own benefit vs. VH1 expected a season to be delivered on time given the lack of production elsewhere is shortsighted.
This show has become stale just like Top Model with all it’s spinoffs and All-Star seasons. They really are stretching this season it’s been eight episodes and only four queens have been eliminated. Season nine had only had eight episodes in comparison.
Well, at least we got to see the very first episode of The Kandy Muse Show! Good god, did they put a gag order on Denali? I’m amazed that, for something that took over forty minutes, this special was basically content-free.
I came to this week’s article to say this. I love Drag Race but this season just feels like the wheels are spinning and nothing is happening. What is the point of a competition if every other week nobody is eliminated. I am open to another format or if they want to showcase instead of eliminate, but then change the show structure.
Well I never see it for the competition but because of the talent. I must be weird.
I actually agree with you. I have said this before — I like the seasons that are RuPaul’s Best Friend Race. But then don’t make it about the competition, make it about what they are capable of. Then show the Queens working through challenges and more creative ones – I miss the sewing challenges, etc. I don’t need to see Kandy fighting with Tamisha Iman in the work room so they can create drama for Tamisha’s eventual elimination. Maybe that is more my complaint it just feels so canned/edited/planned this season.
I’ve started over with S12 from the beginning, and I can’t believe how much better the pacing was in that season compared with this one. It’s like the RuPaul watched it and decided to reshoot it while emphasizing every production flaw and downplaying its strengths. Symone continues to be amazing, but this “special” showed me that no one else this season is really interesting enough to hold my focus for another two months.
If I’m being honest I’m only watching the show because I have cable and for the YouTube recaps. Especially the one Bob and Monet put out each week.
I admit to being behind on Sibling Rivalry, so I only found about Sibling Watchery last week.
I have no problems with the slow start. The problem with the previous format was that the first one or two people you never really got a feel for. Here, even the first person off got to show off five or six looks, a couple of different talents, and we got a better feel for their interpersonal skills. Especially with the larger cast, it is nice to give some time to meet and get to know everyone. This is a pretty good cast, most everyone has something special and engaging that could take off. There have been some real good looks. We are now getting an elimination a week. I would have rather not had a double save, but maybe we get a double elimination to make up for it.As for this special, I didn’t mind it if for no other reason to just see what went into the production and verify how it actually plays out for the queens and for the crew. I would have liked to have seen more of how things were planned, but I have a feeling that this was put together after the fact with footage that they had and some new confessionals. I do wish they had more sewing/creativity challenges. Watching Canadian drag race, I appreciated seeing more of that and the less glossy feel. Drag Race is what it is at this point. It is far from being underground any more. But I appreciate the show and getting to see some good drag and performances, even if that means seeing some bad drag and performances.
With the exception of “cycle” one, ANTM was tremendously exploitative and cruel to its contestants. Drag Race, for all of its faults (and it has them) is generally not. I don’t doubt that the show has enabled many of its contestants to actually have decent-paying careers — which they wouldn’t have had if not for their international exposure on the show. And, as Vegas Revue shows, the crossover potential with musical theatre for some of the queens is large. The problem now seems to be that a tour on Drag Race seems to be a prequisite to having a career in drag in many markets.
With the exception of “cycle” one, ANTM was tremendously exploitative and cruel to its contestantsAnd worse, former ANTM contestants never get any notoriety or a career (let alone as a “top model”), since the real “top models” get recruited when they’re 14 or 15, like Tyra, Kate Moss, and Naomi Campbell (for example). ANTM contestants are already over the hill (in “top model” years) by the time they’re on the show. At least having a career as a drag queen has a lot more flexibility than modeling.
Worst Snatch Game Ever.
I checked out the dais in the tailer, and I have to agree. A few historical figures and some very dated celebs. Harriet Tubman (Symone)Paris Hilton ( Gottmik)Mary Queen of Scots (Rose)Richard Simmons (Tina)Jonathan Van Ness (Denali) – the one person still in pop cultureBob Ross (Utica)I couldn’t tell – Kandi, Olivia, Elliot
Wait — Tina gets to play herself?
I’ve not seen this yet, but I’ve actually found myself drifting away from the US Drag Race and focusing more on the UK Drag Race. If you’ve not had the chance to watch any of the UK Drag Race, do. It’s not as problematic (christ, as a Gen-Xer I thought I’d never say that word out loud) as Canada Drag Race (you all know who I’m talking about) but, dear lord, it’s more proper UK drag as opposed to the over-styled US Drag Race. (I could go on for hours about how the UK has a pretty damned ancient tradition of drag that goes back to Shakespeare…) Fancy a nibble?That said…Denali has been lighting up Youtube in the past few months. In particular, this tasty little morsel…How many Queens do you recognise?
Canada drag race was problematic how? You mean racist “fans” attacks on Jeffrey?The transphobia against Ilona? There’s unfortunately more than one thing to unpack there 🙁
Yes and yes. It’s a whole fucking thread to post the various ways that show dropped the ball.
Love Denali, but im a biased chicagoan. All her runways are amaaaazing.
Apart from the chandelier look. Oh honey, that just looked cheap.
No, it was a good look, but I think that the problem was that the concept was too literal to let it rise above the camp creation that it became. The shape needed to be more abstract — possibly off-centre or exaggerated in some way — to be couture.
Aww, I loved it :-/
All criticism that I’ve read of DR Canada has been fair and correct, but the cast was amazing, and their amazing (collective and individual) talent should be recognized.
“You get in the Thames!”
Once again DRUK was hilarious.
Can’t really comment on US Drag Race because I fell asleep part way through.
Come now, darling, we can’t quote Tayce without…
I’m struggling with Tayce at this point because she still hasn’t brought the performance to match the attitude. Like many twenty-somethings, she continually mistakes bitchery for wit and humour, and I find her talking heads to be increasingly tiresome. I could say the same about A’Whora, but there’s something in her delivery that lets me believe she doesn’t take herself, or her attitude, so seriously. I think that, and her talent, lets her come off as a Fun Bitch instead of a boring one.SPOILERI loved the workroom moment when A’Whora was just, you know, lounging around on a table, taking it easy (but clearly working on a plan) DURING A CHALLENGE. And damn, if that wasn’t the best workroom construction that I’ve seen walk down the runway on any season of Drag Race.
Oh, I agree about Tayce. I don’t see her lasting more than, oh, another two challenges. I find the snarky talking head bits rather fun to watch though. But the look that A’Whora pulled off this week? Holy fuck. I honestly don’t think any queen’s been able to make something like that in any of the various shows. I don’t like A’Whora, but I’ll give her props for that.
If you take a close look at her garment, you can see that she actually hemmed the garbage bags. And they were even! I can’t imagine sewing through garbage bags and not have them rip, stretch, and tear in the process.
A’Whora went to a fashion school/college/Hogwarts and evidently didn’t get selected at the end of their studies to work for a fashion house.
I think A’Whora takes this personally and has something to prove, which can make for spectacular results in many different ways.
UKDR spoiler:Why is the show giving Lawrence Chaney a pass on her outfits? That blue tarp striped with orange electrical tape was godawful.
I thought it looked… neat.
But I don’t know anything about fashion so who am I to judge.
Thanks for sharing that vid; Denali’s a true class act, despite getting Jan’d.
This special was laughably bad. The stock footage with dramatic music (there was a shot of a box of Kleenex that was presented with all the gravity of a bloody knife), the intense earnestness, the trying to play up the queens’ experiences with COVID when none of them particularly experienced anything more extraordinary than the rest of us. The weird color grading on all of the interviews that made everybody’s lips look orange was also certainly a choice!
It truly felt like a waste of time. We’re two months into this season and four queens have gone home. Why did we need to air this in lieu of an episode? Why couldn’t this have been chopped down to 15 minutes and put into the reunion?
After Season 12, and especially compared to UK season 2, this season just feels so empty.
This season is not all that good. The challenges are nearly all musical in nature (so Ru can recruit for Werk the World?) and no one seems to get eliminated. Let’s have the first triple elimination please?
DRUK did not fail to deliver the drama and the splendid drag this week; no ‘spoilers, sweetie…’ but congrats to the top four!
Hmm, that was some riggamorris bullshit, if you ask me.