Come, quick! “RuPaul’s Drag Race” is doing politics again. But for season 18 episode seven, it’s less about getting people to register to vote and more about how many times can we laugh at big boobs.
Gay Rights!
Rate-A-Queen receipts dropped and the girls are spiraling, but not for too long because they had political ads to get done. We’re getting closer and closer to figuring out the final four and this episode proved that just because you’re good at one thing, does NOT mean you’re going all the way to the end.
Let’s break down the best parts of episode seven.
The Drama
We all knew it was coming; Rate-A-Queen receipts always stir up a lot of emotions and drama. Rightfully so, Myki Meeks is pressed like a panini about being rated so low (and I agree!). She took a huge hit to her confidence, which, in turn, gives her exactly what she needed: a storyline.
Meanwhile, is it just me or is Mia Starr doing a little too much overexplaining on why she voted the way she did? Girl, we get it, you have more family and friends than anybody else in the competition and you’re going to take care of them.
The Looks
Category is: I Can See Right Through Ha (‘Her’ for the straights) and this was a spectacular runway, honestly. Jane Don’t’s checkered, club kid fit with a facekini is ridiculously pleasing to the eye and her best runway of the season so far. Kenya Pleaser’s Zenon-inspired, Rainbow Brite-esque outfit pops on the runway and looks gorgeous against her skin.
Juicy Love Dion’s outfit was very princess couture but the wig/headpiece is the most interesting thing and it moved really well. Mia’s look is a bit underwhelming aside from the wig and glasses. Darlene Mitchell and Vita VonTesse Starr’s looks are too simple, they both need something more.
Athena’s jacket dress is stunning, with glistening two-tone sheerness but her wig reads old fairy godmother, which might be the point. Myki Meeks looks hot as fuck and Nini Coco’s candy outfit was pure drag. I’m a bit disappointed in what Discord Addams wore. If it’s a Biblically accurate angel, we need more EYES. The sequins didn’t give the effect she was going for and the wings should’ve been more feathered and less fairy.
The Talent
The pairings for the Maxi challenge, the political ads, were actually intriguing. It put together girls that we don’t normally see interact on screen. Darlene and Vita’s ads about bedroom queens vs performing queens was a fun idea but damn Vita can’t act to save her life. Darlene did wonderful and she got to swing her fake titties around, but Vita was too stiff. Jane and Kenya’s ads made me laugh so much, they should’ve both won as a team. Kenya’s joke shading herself and quoting Michelle Visage, “Know. Your. Words” was brilliant.
There was really no saving Juicy’s ad in this, from the outfit that looked terrible to the awkward acting, she really was the clear bottom this week. On the other hand, I thought Mia was wonderful and for her only critique to be “We wanted to see your tits!” was kind of annoying. She’s not trying to be a one-note (one-tit?) queen, let her do more than bounce them boobies.
Athena Dion and Myki were my favorite pair of the night. Myki was really in her element, nailing punchlines; a natural. I actually didn’t like Nini’s ad that much but I was surprised by how easy Discord made it look. I assumed she’d be a weird, awkward mess, but she killed it.
The Guest
Leland, resident songwriter and producer for the show, randomly was the guest judge. No shade to him, but maybe the original celebrity guest dropped last minute and they added him? That being said, I thought he had some decent critiques, but largely not memorable. Jamal Sims, who I always enjoy seeing, definitely had more zest for the queens.
The Winner and Loser
Myki wins! The aforementioned storyline at play here, this was supposed to be her “Rudemption” at being in the bottom last week. That bottom placement was bullshit though, as she had the best performance in my eyes, but I digress. She was so overjoyed to win, it was contagious, even I started smiling.
Vita and Juicy end up having to lip sync against each other, which is table-shaking for the show since they both have wins and have been doing relatively well in the competition. Once again though, Vita doesn’t know the lyrics and gets eaten up by Juicy. Naturally, Juicy takes the win and rightfully so. I’m sad to see Vita go so soon, but outside of design challenges, she really struggled. The girls were absolutely gutted to see her go, that’s heartbreaking.
Final Thoughts
While not my favorite, the queens mostly did so well, which made this type of challenge better than it usually is. I’m curious when the Dion family will get broken up, we’ve gotten a few close calls. We’re heading into the middle of the season, and usually where the final four starts to get more defined and with a frontrunner knocked out, the game is anyone’s. (Probably Jane’s though.)
Season 18 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” airs weekly on Fridays at 5/8 p.m. PT/ET on MTV.
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Writer and editor