After the suspenseful ending to the first episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 13, RuPaul and the girls were back to give us some answers. If you recall, half of the cast was eliminated during the first episode. That was definitely a twist! However, it was clear only one queen would be getting the chop after Ru eluded to elimination via democracy. Which queen lost the popular vote? We finally got to find out!
In All Stars fashion, the queens were given a box of lipsticks with their names on it and told to pick the name of the queen they wished to eliminate. Denali, Elliott With 2 T’s, Rosé, Uitca, Joey Jay, Tamisha Iman, and Kahmora Hall were all up for elimination. Turns out, there was a tie between Elliott With 2 T’s and Utica. That lead to a tiebreaker and eventually the elimination of Elliott. It was clear, everyone felt weird about eliminating someone so soon. RuPaul lives for the drama, huh?
Well, as if nothing happened, it was a new day in the workroom! Kandy Muse, Tina Burner, Gottmik, Symone, LaLa Ri, and Olivia Lux were ready for their first challenge as the only contestants on the show. This is where twist number two comes in. Elliott, who had just been eliminated, enters the workroom with Ru! She gets the chance to participate in challenge one. It was a lot!
The first mini-challenge was a fashion show, as we’ve come to expect. I like this challenge because I think it gives us a look at each queen’s style early in the competition. The first category was daytime drama. I loved Symone and Olivia’s looks. Olivia and her tiny purses. I hope she has one for every look. For the evening looks, I was obsessed with Gottmik! Seeing a masc trans person walk the runway with their top surgery scar on display was empowering and monumental for the show!
Back in the workroom after stomping the runway, Ru shares that the first challenge will consist of making a remix to her song Condragulations. They have to write their own original verse and choreography to showcase on the main stage. Nothing like making them work for it on day one (well, technically two).
The queens gathered around the long tables and attempted to pen some lyrics to paper. Olivia shares she can play the piano and write music, so everyone is jealous of her instantly. Elliott struggled with a concept for the verse and when it came to practice the choreo, she refrained from telling everyone she is a choreographed dancer professionally. They struggled to put choreography together but thankfully they had LaLa to deliver endearing soundbites during the confessionals.
During the choreography run through, Gottmik struggled with gender. They had already recorded their individual verses and were listening to them in headphones on stage. When he heard his verse about being born a girl, he realized he hadn’t had a conversation about gender with the rest of the queens. It brought on dysphoria he didn’t realize he still had. Gottmik’s storyline is such an important aspect of the show this season. Having trans masc representation on the show is long overdue.
Finally, it was an actual elimination day. While everyone was getting into drag, Gottmik had a heartfelt conversation about gender and pronouns with Olivia. After that, Eliott shared what went down in the Porkchop loading zone. After spilling the tea, the other queens were more accepting of Elliott, whose presence in the workroom was confusing for the winning queens previously.
On the main stage, Ru was joined by Michelle Visage, Ross Matthews, and Jamal Sims who did not help with the choreo, just showed up to watch. He deserves a day off. First came the performance of Condragulations. There were a few lackluster performances there, but it was fun! The runway followed suit and the theme was centered around lumé. Again, a few troubling looks. Gottmik looked great, Olivia looked beautiful, and Symone brought creativity to her look. Those were definitely my top three as far as looks were concerned!
It was time for the judges critiques and I was pretty excited to hear what they had to say. Everyone got high praise, which is always nice to hear from the judges. Actually, they seemed to like everyone so much it seemed like we were getting another week of no elimination, and that’s exactly what happened. Olivia and Symone were the top two queens of the week and everyone else was safe! Will anyone go home this season?
The good news is we were not robbed of a lip sync. Olivia and Symone faced off for the first win of the season to Break my Heart by Dua Lipa. The performance was a lot of fun to watch. It was neck and neck, but in the end, Symone was victorious!
Next week’s episode looks like the same thing we got this week but with the “eliminated” queens. I can’t wait to see them compete! What did you all think of this week’s episode? Who are you excited to see on the main stage next week? Sound off in the comments below!
