At the end of episode 7, RuPaul announced that she would be inviting a dearly departed queen to return to the competition. The Internet exploded as fans demanded that Trixie or Max, who was shockingly eliminated in that episode, reenter the fray. And Ru, being the gracious mother that she is, decided to grant the wish of every fan- by bringing back every single eliminated queen. That’s right! During this week’s episode of RuPaul’s Drag two of my worst fears were realized: the return of Jasmine Masters and conjoined vaginas.
There is a sense of dread at the beginning of this episode as our queens panic over Ru’s announcement that our top 7 is becoming a top 8. Ginger, in particular, is not a happy camper. But can we blame her? These queens were eliminated for a reason. Tempest was booted for her crabs, Sasha sashayed away because she had minimal talent, and Jasmine had to return to her cocoon, Trixie was found to be defective, Kasha had an AARP meeting, Kandi was PLAIN AWFUL, and Max’s shtick got old. The last thing our queens want is to be sent packing by a queen who has been sitting in a hotel room for the past month eating chips.
For the mini challenge, the queens serve Orange is the New Drag realness in prison get up. It’s a scenario that makes us all thankful that bars have such friendly lighting. Kennedy is the winner of the challenge, which gives her an advantage for the main event. It is then that Ru invites our former queens back, much to everyone’s dismay. Ru announces that the remaining queens will be paired with the booted ones, and that the departed queen from the winning team will be allowed to stay. What’s more exciting- the queens will be tasked with a sewing challenge in which they will have to serve conjoined twin realness with their partner.
Kennedy pairs up with Jasmine and rather fairly assigns the other queens. The groups are as follows:
Miss Fame and Kandi
Violet and Max
Pearl and Trixie
Kennedy and Jasmine
Katya and Kasha
Ginger and Sasha
Jaidynn and Tempest
From the moment the teams are assigned, Ginger is frustrated. It’s not her fault; however, she is paired up with the worst queen. Pearl is determined to win the challenge for Trixie, who she lip synced against in the episode that sent Trixie packing. The other queens are just kind of there. In fact, Trixie is really the only departed queen who gets a noticeable amount of screen time in the episode, which makes it obvious that she’ll be the one to reenter the fray. I’m not complaining though, I thoroughly enjoyed her plotline this episode, particularly how she used drag to liberate herself from an abusive stepfather. Max’s lack of screen time makes us forget how captivating she had previously been. I can only assume this was a deliberate choice by the editors to make fans want Trixie back more than Max.
The guest judges for the episode are LeAnn Rimes, who looks like a ball of clay (my roommate’s words), and some random actor from True Blood. Ross Matthews is here once again, which makes us all wonder why Carson Kressley is a judge in the first place. If the producers are smart they’ll boot Carson and have Ross be a judge 24/7.
Much to my delight, most of the queens slay this challenge. Violet and Max look beautiful, Katya and Kasha are comic geniuses as two New Jersey queens conjoined by the vagina, and Trixie and Pearl are a riot as two toddler pageant queens. Miss Fame and Kandi as well as Kennedy and Jasmine churn out forgettable looks, and unfortunately Ginger and Jaidynn’s group efforts fail. Ginger and Jaidynn end up in the bottom two (or should I say four?) The performance is hysterical and serves as a reminder as to how inventive and campy this show can truly be. With Jaidynn sent packing, Trixie joins our top seven. Overall, kudos to RuPaul and the show creators for giving us such a fun episode, God knows we needed it!
RANKINGS
Katya
Katya is the true star of this season. She served perfect camp in the main challenge and she continues to give the best one liners to date. Her unique brand of humor, openheartedness, and full commitment to character are destined to land her in the top three.
Pearl
Pearl is fully awake! She’s getting better with every passing challenge and is finally giving us the energy we’ve been waiting for. She’s beautiful, quirky, and her no bullshit attitude is making her a quick fan favorite. She’s the “black horse” of the competition, the punk rock girl with a secret heart of gold.
Ginger
Out of all the queens Ginger has been the most consistent. With that being said, it was nice to watch her get knocked down a peg this week. Ginger’s talented, but not really one to rally behind, and when it comes to everything other than acting she doesn’t really give us much to aspire to. I still love her, I’m just thinking that she’s going to struggle a bit as we move away from acting challenges.
Violet
Violet deserves a round of applause for her reinvention of Max. And as Kasha mentioned, Violet truly has grown in this competition. She’s not a mega bitch anymore! And she continues to serve fantastic runway looks. I’d even go as far to say that she’s the second most fashionable queen to be on the show (behind Raja). Violet is immensely talented and deserves a spot in the top 4.
Trixie
Trixie may have just returned, but she was always a strong contender for the crown. I think now that she’s back that she’ll be able to show the judges what they need from her. If she completely commits to her character and continues to let her personality shine through, she’ll be unstoppable.
Kennedy
Kennedy is literally a frog. And yet, she makes me laugh? I don’t really know how I feel about Kennedy. There are times when she’s incredibly closed-minded and rude, but at the same time she’s shown incredible support and compassion for her fellow competitors. From what I’ve seen, she’s a vicious performer and I’m looking forward to seeing her turn it out on the main stage.
Miss Fame
How Miss Fame continues to escape the bottom two is beyond me. She’s a beautiful queen, with a good heart, but she’s just not delivering as much as the other girls. Now that Jaidynn is out of the picture, all eyes are going to be on Miss Fame. Hopefully she’ll be able to show us that she’s more than just aesthetics.
Jaidynn
Goodbye, my sweet child. You did your best.
Is this why I'm still single? 