This week’s episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race was certainly an interesting one. From the challenge to the elimination, there’s a lot to talk about.
The queens regrouped in the workroom after LaLa Ri‘s elimination. Her wit and humor were missed right off the bat! The queens discussed the results of last week’s challenge. Denali was still dealing with the feeling of falling safe even though she was wearing her favorite outfit and performed well. A lot of the queens who find themselves safe each week are starting to feel the pressure.
There was no mini-challenge this week. RuPaul busted into the workroom to let the queens know that this week’s maxi challenge was the rusical and the theme was centered around social media. The queens assigned the roles amongst themselves and it went well until Denali and Rosé started arguing over the same role. I really loved how the queens made them audition for the role. It was a brilliant move. Rosé won and Denali was given a part she did not want. After how she felt last week, you could tell she was a bit defeated.
In the middle of rehearsing for the rusical, none other than Anne Hathaway made a virtual appearance to give some advice. She gave some great tips that seemed to resonate with the queens, especially Denali. Usually these celebrity appearances fall a bit short for me, but this one was cute and wholesome.
Finally, our favorite part of the rusical episode came. We got to hear the queens record their singing parts raw and real. My first thought was what CAN’T Olivia Lux do? She won two challenges in a row AND killed it in her recording session. Someone who didn’t, however, was my beloved Symone. Rosé had the quote of the episode, “Symone has a beautiful singing voice is something I would never say.” As we all expected, there were more struggling vocalists than natural talents like Olivia and Rosé.
Then came another fun aspect of the rusical, the choreography. The queens worked Jamal Sims. Symone was not in her element this week, struggling with the vocals and the dancing. Kandy Muse was another who fell into the struggle camp this week. Meanwhile, Denali and Olivia picked up their assigned choreography like it was nothing at all. This challenge is such a doozy every season!
As the queens were getting ready to hit the main stage, the queens opened up about their experiences on social media. Kandy shared about her viral “sitting alone in the vip” meme. Then, out of nowhere Rosé reminded us all that Tina Burner was in a relationship with Drag Race UK‘s Graham Norton and Denali decided to share all of her celebrity crushes are animated characters. It was a lot.
On the main stage, the queens performed their rusical in front of Ru, Michelle Visage, Ross Matthews, and Jamal Sims. This rusical was definitely an interesting one. There were some really strong performances, like Rosé, Gottmik, and Denali. Then, there were some not-so-great performances from Symone, Kandy, and Elliott With 2 T’s. My favorite part was definitely Gottmik and Denali’s Russian take over. It was a lot of fun.
After the rusical, the queens hit the runway in all yellow. Somehow, there were two taxi-inspired looks between Tina and Elliott, so that was interesting. Rosé’s look was the most creative, channeling The Mask on the runway. However, Michelle thought that it was orange and not yellow.
It was time for the judges’ critiques. Tina, who I thought the judges were going to go wild for, was given some harsh critiques for her performance. Symone and Kandy joined her in the bottom positions for the week. Finally, Denali got her positive critiques! She looked great on the runway and her performance was great. Rosé and Gottmik were also in the top three with her.
In the end, Rosé got the win while Symone and Kandy fell in the bottom two. The pair faced off to Bo$$ by Fifth Harmony. I think there was a clear winner of this lipsync, but the judges thought a double save was necessary. Well, that was something. We got a double save. No one sashayed away.
So, what were your thoughts on the episode? Did you agree with the double save? Sound off in the comments below!
