Welcome back, RuPaul’s Drag Race, or should we say, Squirrel Games? Oh y’all wanted a twist, well you got one! The cast of Season 17 was joined by former contestants, like Porkchop, Kerri Colby, and of course, the one and only Lil’ Poundcake! This Squid Games-inspired intro was elaborate.
First in the workroom for Season 17 was Lexi Love. I loved her show girl-inspired entrance look. She was followed by Joella, Kori King, and Lydia B. Collins. They all looked amazing! Then came Arrietty, the drag daughter of Irene DeBois. Her entrance look was my favorite of the episode. Jewels Sparkles, who has only been doing drag for three years, came in looking like Priscilla Presley and I loved it. Lana Ja’Rae came into the workroom looking absolutely stunning, and is the drag daughter of Lux Noir London!
Sam Star, the drag daughter of Trinity the Tuck, came in comparing herself to both Marilyn Monroe and Joe Exotic, and I was excited to hear such an interesting mix of human beings. Onya Nurve, who says her drag represents everything Black, made me fall in love upon her entrance, as did Suzie Toot. You may recognize Hormona Lisa from the viral video of RuPaul hand selecting her to come to Hollywood at a stop on her book tour. Crystal Envy, Acacia Forgot, and Lucky Starzzz were the last three to come through the door, and I was so obsessed with Lucky’s look!
We instantly got a RuPaul jumpscare when she announced the new season with a very interesting wig. She then arrived in-person to the workroom to let the queens know they were getting photos taken of them during the Squirrel Games on candid camera as the first mini-challenge of the season. Lana Ja’Rae won!
Were you excited we didn’t get a split premiere? Well, don’t be! The queens would be split into two groups, the first seven performing tonight and the others on the following Friday. Oh, yeah, and the queens who aren’t performing each night will be rating the other queens. Wait, one more thing, they put themselves into the performance groups. RuPaul really gave it her all for this first episode, right?
As the queens were getting out of drag, they shared what they were planning to do for the talent show. Hormona Lisa brought something new to the table by saying she was doing turkey calls. While the queens were getting into drag, Jewels shared that she had a tumor in her neck and had to get a bionic spine, and I quote, “installed.” Lucky then shared that she had to step back from drag to help support her family after her stepfather had a traumatic fireworks accident. Oh, and Katy Perry came to hang out before they went on stage. She knew Joella from when she first started doing drag! She cried after seeing Katy – happy tears!
On the main stage, Ru was joined by Michelle Visage, Carson Kressley, and Katy Perry. The category on the runway was Masc for Masc Singer. My favorite looks on the runway were Crystal, Lexi, Lucky, and Lana – who modeled her look after her cat, Gouda. Best runway walk did go to Onya, though. SO good.
It was time for the talent show and first up was Jewels, who did a lip sync performance to an original song. She looked so good! Arrietty was next. She performed a cultural performance and she looked beautiful. Lydia B. Collins came out next as a giant puppet and I was absolutely obsessed. It was insane and that’s what I look for in drag. Then came Lucky, who also chose to do something insane by making lemonade come out of her boobs. RuPaul was living for it, of course, and so was I.
Joella got to perform in front of Katy and her reaction was so cute! Acacia was next, who grew up in a blues band family so she played a country song live. She has a great voice! Last but not least was Suzie, who was hilarious with her nine toes.
Based on the rate-a-queen, Acacia will be lip-syncing in the bottom two next week. Suzie and Jewels were the top two queens and would be lip-syncing for the win!
The queens faced off to Women’s World by Katy Perry. I was obsessed with how different these two queens are. They were so fun to watch perform. Jewels did so well while Suzie was hilarious. In the end, the win went to Suzie! We love to see the quirky girls win!
Alright, y’all. Ready to do this all again next week? See you then!
