Mother said it’s spooky season all year-round. “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” season 11 episode 3 showcases improv of a different kind on the “Home Spooky Network” and gives us MVQ point-related drama.
Spoilers ahead!
Bracket One Comes to a Close
This will be the last time we see some of bracket 1’s queens (Lucky Starzzz, A’keria C. Davenport, Dawn, Morphine Love Dion, Mystique Summers, and Morgan McMichaels) compete this season. And to be honest, I’m a little sad about it. I’ve come to really enjoy the dynamics of this group, even though I am increasingly perplexed by Mystique.
Let’s talk about episode 3’s highlights.
The Drama
Most Valuable Queen points stay bringing some juicy drama. Here’s a quick round-up of point-giving: Lucky gave her point to Morphine, Morphine returned the favor, Morgan gave her point to A’keria (because she helped everyone in the room with their designs), and, BAM, Mystique gave A’keria her point too!
This gave A’keria a total of 6 points, putting her well above the competition. Morphine and Dawn are legitimately pissed. There’s no way Morphine is catching up at this rate and this may have put Dawn’s placement in jeopardy, so their annoyance is understandable.
Meanwhile, Mystique is low-key stirring the pot with Dawn. The veteran was slightly shady about the fact that Morphine was supposed to give Dawn a point (because of their friendship and alliance), but she didn’t. Dawn tried to rationalize it away, like well why would she give her a point after winning two challenges. But Mystique smartly pointed out that Morgan just did that with A’keria to help her stay in the top, so why couldn’t Morphine? While she is being shady, she’s not wrong.
The next week when they get back to the Werk Room, Mystique called Lucky and Morphine out for how they gave out their points, saying she was “disappointed” in them, which they do not appreciate. Morgan steps in and says no one needs to explain why they gave their point the way they did, displaying the glimmers of that old season 2 “Untucked” animosity.
The tension between Mystique and Lucky only grows throughout the episode. You can tell that Mystique is mostly just mad Lucky didn’t give her a point, so she’s the only queen left with a single point. She can see the writing is on the wall for her remaining time on the show, is crashing out, and taking Lucky down with her.
The Challenge
RuPaul entered the Werk Room to tell the girls about their final bracket 1 Maxi Challenge. The challenge is “Shop Til You Drop” and they have to be classic monster hosts on the Home Spooky Network.
- A’keria is assigned to be a mummy selling the world’s longest infinity wrap.
- Dawn is assigned a werewolf pitching grooming products.
- Lucky is assigned a vampire hawking supplements for the iron deficient.
- Morgan is assigned a ghost selling a line of supernatural cosmetics.
- Morphine is assigned a zombie selling subscriptions to “Hello, Flesh” Meat of the Month Club. (So damn clever.)
- Mystique is assigned Frankenstein’s Monster pitching a line of dead handbags.
The most annoying thing is that the girls have to work in pairs and they are Morgan with A’keria, Dawn with Morphine, and Mystique with Lucky. Lucky’s not at all enthused to be with Mystique after she called her out, which only leads to more bickering between the two down the road.
Dawn truly shined in her portion of the infomercial. Morphine was basically just reacting to whatever Dawn was doing and relied heavily on their friendship chemistry to make it through. They did have some funny puns and good sight gags, though.
Lucky and Mystique are bad; terrible delivery, mediocre acting. However, Mystique’s salesperson voice was pretty decent and her outfit was excellent. Lucky’s outfit doesn’t read vampire at all. I had to double check what she was supposed to be. They seemed to be irritated with each other, which affected their delivery. (RuPaul loved Mystique being a little mean, though.) Lucky not understanding the word “kosher” was the funniest thing in this bit and it wasn’t even intentional.
Later on, as they were all getting ready, Lucky addresses their tension with Mystique and says she feels like she wasn’t collaborating at all with her, which the elder queen completely disregarded. Who had Mystique versus Lucky on their bingo card this year? Not me.
A’keria and Morgan are, by far, the best pairing. Morgan is a little more salesy, which works for the challenge, but I love A’keria giving Queen Nefertiti a fucking Southern belle accent for some reason. They both looked good too and had so much confidence with themselves and each other. Whereas Morphine had to rely on her friendship more so than Dawn to get through, A’keria and Morgan balanced their friendship chemistry better with good improv.
The Runway
The category is Paris, France and it felt like a missed opportunity not to continue that spooky theme, especially because of the challenge and the guest judge, but alas. The theme did spawn some decadent, lux looks, so I can’t complain too much.
- Dawn’s French rat look is so quintessentially her. It’s very chic, even though it gives cosplay a little bit.
- Morphine’s Catacombs-inspired outfit is actually wonderful. The candelabra headpiece elevates the whole outfit to a higher level.
- Lucky came out as her version of The Louvre and it’s fun to look at, with her biggest headpiece yet. This is definitely one of her better looks she’s presented.
- Mystique’s outfit is inspired by Charlize Theron’s perfume commercials in France, but it’s so lackluster and underwhelming compared to everyone else.
- A’keria wore an incredibly dragged out Josephine Baker banana look. Her mug is stamped and the outfit is visual candy. She made this look, which makes this even more impressive.
- Morgan wore a clever Joan of Arc outfit that married together the historical figure and the cutlery set named after her. It has great proportions and her hair looks amazing.
This is one of those challenges that should’ve been awarded in pairs, especially considering there’s always a top two. Once I heard Ru nitpicking A’keria about random shit, I knew she was hellbent on making Dawn and Morgan the top two.
The Guest
Christina Ricci is the guest judge, which is fitting for the spooky challenge. Ricci seems so chill, I would enjoy hanging out with her. She had some good feedback for the girls. A’keria was her favorite, she laughed more at her sketch than anybody else. A’keria should’ve been in the top for this alone!
The Winner
Our top two for this challenge are Dawn and Morgan. I don’t disagree with Morgan being there, but I feel that A’keria got robbed of a top placement here. Anyway, the lip sync was a lively one and they both served, but it was time for Dawn to win at least one lip sync! Her redemption has arrived.
The queens had to give their final MVQ points on the main stage in front of the judges. With Dawn racking up 8 total points, A’keria and Morgan tied with 7 points, Mother Ru is the tiebreaker, and she selects… A’KERIA C. DAVENPORT!
I’m a little sad for Morgan, but I’m thrilled with these two moving on to the semi-finals. Ru has a surprise for the eliminated queens, however. At the end of bracket 3, Ru and Michelle Visage will select three eliminated queens to enter the Wild Card lottery. The one All Star that’s chosen will then join the semi-finals. I LOVE SPORTS!
The Untucking
“Untucked” was a big love fest, with some weird energy coming from Mystique.
- The girls spent a chunk of time basically pitching themselves for MVQ points and Morgan is not playing those politics. She doesn’t want to beg for points. In fact, neither Morgan or Dawn have been given MVQ points, but they’ve also won two challenges each.
- Mystique’s brand of humor is very peculiar. I can’t figure her out. You can tell she’s being unserious, but there’s this undercurrent of malice that I can’t help but detect. Maybe because her smile doesn’t reach her eyes (and insane contacts)?
- I love that they’re playing into Christina Ricci’s spooky filmography by having her scare the girls behind the mirror. Ricci is such a gem.
Final Thoughts
Well, folks, that’s it for the first bracket and it was a worthy and entertaining watch. The audience had the pleasure of learning more about Lucky and Mystique, as well as fall a little more in love with A’keria, Dawn, and Morgan. The only mild disappointment was Morphine. Not only did I expect her to do better, but her entitled attitude was just really shitty to watch sometimes. We’ve got A’keria and Dawn going to the semi-finals and it feels correct. It’ll be interesting to see how the other two brackets stack up in terms of drama, talent, and runways.
Season 11 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” and “Untucked” streams weekly on Fridays on Paramount+.
Rating:
I am a published writer, full-time editor, an events and entertainment reporter and mother of one. Comic books, drag queens, women’s basketball, queer films and TV shows are my bread and butter.