It’s girl group time on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” (airing weekly on MTV) and season 18 continues to show how strong and entertaining it is so far. Episode 2 features one of the best main challenges in the series: the girl group challenge and, mama, did this get spicy.
Quintessentially Queer and Queenie
The Q-Pop (the “Q” stands for Quintessentially Queer and Queenie) girl group challenge had the queens in a tizzy, not only hurting feelings over team picks, but also fighting over the disco track that ended up being poison for one group.
While the songs themselves were kind of generic sounding, two-thirds of the groups really took them and made them shine. There wasn’t a single queen that truly faded into the background, even in the lowest performing group. Everyone did their thing and every group got genuine laughs out of the judges, which is half the battle.
Let’s break down the best parts of episode two.
The Drama
Athena Dion was plucked to not be picked by either Nini or Vita VonTesse Starr. Their reasoning for not choosing her being that she basically takes up a lot of room and would want to be in charge. And, look, they’re not totally wrong; Athena took over the choreography for her group and it didn’t go well.
The tension of Athena not being picked spilled over into the group selection of the songs. Every queen wanted the disco song, but Athena fought hard, especially with Vita, for this track. Her argument was pretty solid; none of the “leftovers” got to choose their group, so they should get to pick the song. Nini’s group backed off completely and Vita “gives it up” after Discord talks to her, but later it’s revealed that Vita wanted punk rock the whole time, she was just fucking with Athena.
The Talent
No Mini Challenge this week, probably because the girlies had to write, record, and choreograph their songs and performances, which feels like enough to do for one episode. Nini’s struggles are legit frustrating, because she literally lost her voice after the screaming mini challenge the previous week. So having to record a track sounding like a lifelong smoker was not ideal and you really feel for her in the recording session.
The Main Challenge didn’t disappoint, it was a fabulous showcase of all the queens’ performance skills. Even though Athena, Mandy Mango, Darlene Mitchell, and DD Fuego (the last three I actually predicted would be early outs, so this grouping tickled me) got rated low, they still had memorable moments. In particular, Darlene stood out more than the rest simply for her comedically playing into not being able to stay on beat or rhythm, plus her hilarious vocals.
The Glam! Pop group with Mia Starr, Ciara Myst, Kenya Pleaser, Myki Meeks, and Nini Coco did tremendously better, thanks to Mia’s professional choreography background helping them. A lot less standing around while a girl is spotlighted, more movement and joy overall.
The last, but not least at all, group was Vita’s punk rock group that included Juicy Love Dion, Briar Blush, Discord Addams, and Jane Don’t. This group ate it up; they were the strongest in highlighting each queen, but still keeping it together as a girl group. They also had some of the funniest moments.
The Looks
Category is: “Your Neck, Your Back, Your P*ssy, and Your Crack” Runway, a look that shows off a favorite body part. These kinds of runways are the best, because the outfits are so varied, they don’t all look the same, and a lot of personality is on display. We really get to know the queens a little more with each runway, and this is one of the better themes to achieve that.
Discord’s walk is still fucking crazy and makes Michelle and Ru laugh. Honestly, this builds up the anticipation for the moment that Discord is either above or below safe, so we can get their opinions on her walk.
Briar, Mandy, Darlene, and Myki had some of my favorite looks. I was genuinely surprised at how much everyone disliked Mandy’s table and picture outfit; it was whimsical, silly, and clever, which is the point of drag! Briar’s body part to “show off” was literally just her finger and long nail, which took me out. Myki’s billboard reminded me of the “Drag Race Live!” billboards and she really looked hot as hell in her red velvet bodysuit and big ass hair. Shoutout to Darlene’s trashy white woman aesthetic, she really sells it on this runway.
The Guest
Dove Cameron, for a second time, was the guest judge in this episode and it’s very obvious she’s a fan of drag and “Drag Race” as a whole. Her critiques were well-thought out and her visible excitement during the lip sync performance was palpable.
Celebrity guest judges that actually care about the show and watch it regularly are the best kinds of judges. Hopefully, she comes back for a third time in the future.
The Winner and Loser
Team Disco, The Studio 50-Whores, flopped and Athena and Darlene were saved from having to lip sync. This means Mandy and DD had to go head-to-head and Mandy, after a mild costume mishap, demolished the Latina.
Jane Don’t wins the whole thing, with Mia Starr being the runner up. Mia’s biggest critique was not showing her face on the runway and yeah, girl, haven’t you learned by now the judges want to see your face? Jane’s outfit was great, but it was her excellent performance during the challenge that basically won this.
Final Thoughts
Another stellar episode with the kind of high-drag, fun drama and tension we like to see from the show, with genuinely decent-to-great performances across the board. We got to know the girls a lot better and now the competition is ON, with the first elimination set. Also, my predictions are holding pretty strong right now.
Rating:
Writer and editor