This is a recap of Rupaul’s Drag Race episode 1410. Spoilers below.
And then there were… eight??????? RuPaul Charles is killing me. For the second week in a row, no one is going home. It’s framed as a twist but it’s obviously planned and I am annoyed!
Sorry, sorry, let’s rewind. The episode begins in the wake of last week’s double save. Everyone is understanding but a little annoyed — except Daya who is not understanding at all. She says the lip sync wasn’t that good.
It’s a new day in the workroom and we’re doing a mini challenge sponsored by Bubly! The queens have to make outfits out of bubble wrap and this was my favorite mini challenge in years?? The mini challenges are usually such throwaways but this one was fun! I love the Chopped style design challenges and the queens do such an impressive job with this one — especially Camden, DeJa, and Angeria. But Bosco wins with a riff on Aquaria’s season 10 entrance look.
It’s time for Snatch Game! Willow is doing my namesake Drew Barrymore. Bosco is doing Gwyneth Paltrow, star of the best song in Glee history. Jorgeous is doing Ilana Glazer but also considers Selena and Aubrey Plaza because I guess she’s a lesbian. Daya is doing Ozzy Osbourne and Ru passive aggressively suggests she do with Ozzy what she’s done with Crystal Methyd. DeJa is doing Lil Jon. Jasmine is doing Betsy DeVos. And Angeria is doing Tammie Brown!!!!!!!! The way I SHRIEKED when she revealed that. I love Angeria, I love Tammie Brown, and while it usually annoys me when the queens do other queens, I was obsessed with this choice.
The Snatch Game contestants are people who were already on-set because it’s still a pandemic. We’ve got Dove Cameron, bisexual Disney star and this week’s guest judge. And Raven, Ru’s Emmy-nominated makeup artist, the rightful winner of All Stars 1, and someone who really needs to go back to using makeup that matches her skin tone.
Okay so… let’s talk about Snatch Game. It’s not that some queens don’t kill and others bomb, but we cannot ignore how much Ru and the edit influence how jokes land. Willow did not do worse than Jorgeous but Ru laughs at Jorgeous and gives Willow nothing so it feels like Willow is doing worse.
Personally, I really enjoyed DeJa and Angeria. I thought Bosco, Daya, and Camden were decent. And Jasmine, Jorgeous, and Willow bombed. But even Jasmine and Willow did fine! They did decent impressions even if they didn’t land jokes. Only Jorgeous was truly awful.
There was nothing uniquely bad about this Snatch Game. Season 11? All Stars 3? Season 4?? Latrice Royale did not survive her cast’s unprofessionalism for us to act like a bad Snatch Game is some sort of unique phenomenon. It’s only because this cast has been so strong that the mediocrity disappoints.
The next day everyone — except DeJa — is feeling bad. It’s time for the Holy Couture runway and they’re all desperate to redeem themselves.
We begin with the episode’s clear winner DeJa doing a sort of femme Joan of Arc. Jasmine looks beautiful in Gemini themed black and white. Angeria is church ready, Camden is a Spice Girl, and Daya is in a mediocre wedding dress and then trips. Jorgeous is beautiful in a Dope Pope pot look. And Willow is in an incredible white and red mushroom outfit inspired by her affinity for psychedelics.
Bosco deserves a new paragraph. She comes out dressed like a nun and keeps stripping until she’s a slutty nun. AND she has hooves!!! She is so fucking hot!!! I’m not even Catholic and yet this was overwhelming for me. O. Ver. Whelm. Ing.
The judges barely delineate between any of the queens except DeJa. I mean, surely, SURELY, there’s a difference between what Jorgeous and Bosco did, right? Daya says that she can’t believe she’s in the same position as Jasmine and, you know, this time I agree with Daya!!
This is all to say that DeJa wins and then the Big Twist is revealed. Everyone else is up for elimination and next week is an all lip sync episode. Obviously this wasn’t just decided by Ru in the moment. This was to some extent planned. Maybe they didn’t know it would happen after Snatch Game but they knew they were dedicating an episode to this. And so when this very strong cast finally slipped up they took their chance. It feels so forced! I’m not against Ru’s goofy twists but this season they just feel so half-assed. Bringing back Orion and Daya for no reason? The chocolate bars? This??
Ru should’ve just made this week’s twist a double elimination. Because even if two people go home that will just be the regular amount of people to go home across two episodes.
I’m tired! This is a strong cast but it’s not SO strong to have three out of four episodes in a row with no elimination. And it undermines the drama of the competition when it feels this manipulated and random. If Ru loves Jorgeous so much he should let her go home, work on her drag for a few more years, and come back to crush All Stars.
At least, Bosco says she’s a great lip syncer. At least, we have something to look forward to.
Teleport Us to Mars!! Here Are Some Random Thoughts:
+ A big week for the inspiration of this section’s title. Let’s give it up for Tammie Brown!!
+ Bosco says that celebrity illusion is an important part of drag history, which isn’t a deep thought but I did find myself staring at her beautiful face, twirling my hair, and giggling “omg I love how you care about queer history.”
+ When Camden is getting dressed as Shakespeare, Angeria asks if she’s being Prince.
+ Carson tells Jasmine that she took Betsy DeVos’ job more seriously than Betsy DeVos, which is unfortunately a better joke than anything Jasmine said.
+ Dove Cameron gave actual critiques, which feels kind of rare for a celebrity judge! Usually they’re the Paula Abdul of the bunch but Dove flat out tells Camden that her runway sucks. I will allow for this because Dove is a queer. And because Dove was as horny for Bosco as I am.
+ One thing that did annoy me with the queens doing so little interacting in Snatch Game was the lack of a Shakespeare in Love reference between Camden and Bosco.
+ Queen I’m rooting for: Willow
+ Queen I have the biggest crush on: Bosco
+ Queen I want to sashay: I don’t even fucking care at this point just let somebody leave!
At this point, I don’t know who would be the weakest lipsync-er to be sent home next week! I also don’t know how they would do it because it’s an odd number with Deja not lip-syncing.
I hope this does not happen, but imagine if whoever loses the lipsync battle next week gets the golden chocolate bar!
I agree that this was all set up. Perhaps it will lead to 3 queens being eliminated next week. Randomly pair them against each other and the losing queen leaves. Would make up for the last two weeks of no one going home.
It’s true that so much of snatch game is the editing. And it’s the hardest episode for me to watch every time because I get second hand embarrassment! I’m feeling tired on behalf of these queens. There was some fashion I loved though! Camden’s bubble dress from the mini challenge, Willow’s Mushroom look, and Jasmine’s horoscope outfit really stood out to me.
I really enjoy the queens this season but it really feels like it’s Jorgeous and Jasmine’s time to go (and then probably crush it in All Stars)
I mean look, I am here because I love Drag Race and I love watching it but I don’t need fifty episodes with no eliminations
SEND QUEENS HOME!!!!!!!!!
This episode was a slog, but god bless Willow bringing death-positive mushroom worship to drag race.
This article says DeJa did a “sort of femme Joan of Arc”. Historians have pointed out that Joan of Arc was described by eyewitnesses as “beautiful and shapely” and similar terms, and her hair was likely medium length rather than the ultra-short form that is sometimes portrayed in certain modern movies. And of course she always called herself “the Maiden” (“la pucelle”) which is definitely feminine.
As much as I love historical tidbits and hate getting into semantic debates about insignificant details, femme is not the same thing as feminine! That said, I would totally love to read a historical paper comparing Joan of Arc’s self-identifying as “la pucelle” and contemporary femme indentities!
It had nothing to do with “contemporary femme indentities”. The reason she called herself “the maiden” (i.e. a virginal young girl) is because she said she “made a vow to maintain my virginity as long as it pleases God”.
I’m sure Drew was using femme in the sense of an approach to clothing style. DeJa’s outfit was a gown with armor, which is decidedly more femme than most portrayals of Joan d’Arc, and definitely in contrast to historical accounts of her “male” chosen clothes during the time of her heroism.
Drew, I live for your recaps.
Let’s be real, the Snatch Games are often not amazing – sometimes people really shine (Bob in season 8, Alaska in AS2), but more often than that, they’re just… fine. And I completely agree that the editing plays such a big part!! It’s literally all about who they give laughs to and who they give the “womp womp”sfx. I’ve long had a bone to pick with how the show acts like Snatch Game is this make or break challenge, when the performances are so easily manipulated.