This third bracket is simply delightful to watch. With the amount of quick-witted, confident queens this round, it’s no wonder we’re entertained from start to finish. “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” season 11 episode 8 brought more laughter, some tears, and drag queens rapping; a formula made for good TV.
Spoilers ahead!
Rapper’s Delight
The purple bracket (Hershii LiqCour-Jeté, Kennedy Davenport, Jasmine Kennedie, Shuga Cain, Joey Jay, and Sam Star) got handed the roast challenge with a twist and… they all crushed it! It’s always a relief when we don’t have to sit through bad raps or verses because, lord knows, we’ve seen our fair share over the years.
Let’s talk about episode 8’s highlights.
The Drama
The fireworks kick off early, but not because of the MVQ points. The ceremony was pretty standard with no one wanting to go first, but eventually Joey gives her point to Hershii, remembering what she told her in “Untucked” last episode. Hershii returns the favor. Shuga gives her point to Kennedy and then Kennedy gives this big speech about what MVQ means to her and blah blah blah; only to give a point to Shuga, which annoyed the hell out of Shuga. And I had the same thought because why are you doing all that for? Just give the damn point. But I love Mother Davenport’s theatrics, so I’m here for it.
Meanwhile, the real drama comes in when Jasmine insists that she was the actual winner of the lip sync, which irks Sam. Jasmine told Sam that “everyone” agrees with her, hurting Sam’s feelings. She clarified that it was actually just Hershii and Kennedy, Sam called them mean and Kennedy shot back with a banger of a line: “That’s not mean. She did beat you, baby,” to which everyone OHHHHHed loudly. I love drag queens. But I disagree. Sam may have had the ugliest outfit, but she definitely beat Jasmine in the lip sync. This minor beef between the top two lasted throughout most of the episode with them getting over it before the Roast.
The Challenge
The mini challenge was a passive aggressive version of ‘Spill the T,’ where the girls voted with paddles on which description fits which queen best. It got a little shady, of course, with Hershii mildly offended at Sam saying she gets no bookings (I think that’ll change after this episode), but it was a challenge geared towards getting a ton of laughs. Kennedy voting for herself for “Can read a bitch, but can’t read a book” had RuPaul (and me) in stitches. Joey and Shuga got the most points and split the win.
The Maxi challenge was the Rappin’ Roast, which I will admit, I was not excited for when Ru announced it. However, it ended up being really excellent and entertaining.
- Joey Jay killed her verse and did a great job of reading each girl. Her calling out Sam’s borrowed dresses and saying, “Who the fuck is this?” about Hershii was insanely good with her timing.
- Jasmine’s verse was very good too. Her dig about Sam wearing Trinity’s hand-me-downs went absolutely crazy, plus her line to Joey about being 12th place ate her up.
- Kennedy’s verse was also incredible, but especially her line, “What the hell happened to Sugar?” after calling Shuga a booger was everything. Also, I love how she committed with the grills on her bottom teeth.
- Hershii looked sexy and sounded confident, but her insults weren’t that biting. Her flow was easy on the ears, though, and I appreciated her dig at Kennedy’s 4th time not being the charm.
- Shuga was pretty decent too, I loved her “pray the Jay away” line, it was very clever.
- Sam was very confident with her performance, but a lot of the stuff she rapped had been said already by that point.
The Runway
The category is: Ladies Who Lunch and I have to say I was underwhelmed. There were a couple highlights, but this was a boring category. Not the looks themselves, but the overall theme was kind of a dull concept.
- Joey’s outfit was very pretty and classy. Honestly not a look I was expecting from Joey, it shows her range.
- Jasmine’s look was a Gilded Age period piece, which was incredibly intricate and gorgeous but it’s not how I expected her to tackle the brief.
- Kennedy’s blue beaded fringe look was absolutely stunning, like a very glam church lady.
- Hershii’s outfit was also a period piece, giving almost Western saloon vibes. The copper color looks wonderful on her skin, but not what I was expecting for this category either.
- Shuga’s outfit was fucking fabulous, the crushed velvet skirt is incredible. I love this look the most.
- Sam’s pink Chanel-inspired look was very Legally Blonde and cutesy. The exaggerated lapels make the look.
The Guest
The celebrity guest judge was the one and only Brian Tyree Henry. The actor had really helpful and funny critiques. On the rap performances, he commented on not being able to keep his eyes off Jasmine and Kennedy, especially the veteran queen who was making a meal of twerking.
His most memorable moment, though was his quote to Sam about her outfit: “Chanel said before you leave the house take off one thing and you said ‘fuck that.’” When the judges are queer and a part of the culture, you get iconic gems like this.
The Winner
After the critiques, it was kind of hard to see where the judges would go but we get Hershii, Joey and Kennedy as the top three. Hershii and Kennedy are the official top two! Hershii looked stunned and it was her first main challenge win. I’m so happy for her, this had to be validating after feeling salty during the mini challenge.
Kenndy performing this lip sync like a drunk lady was EVERYTHING. Every judge was wowed by her performance; Brian literally said, “WOW” when the queens were done. Hershii could’ve won against anyone else, but not Kennedy. Kennedy showed the girls how to PERFORM the actual lyrics and not just the music. Of course, Ru declares Kennedy the winner.
The Untucking
So far, “Untucked” is being carried on the backs of these charismatic queens who have a lot of unusually good chemistry with each other. There’s no pairing in this bracket that I’m not interested in watching. Even Shuga Cain is still capturing my attention, no offense to her. Here are some of the more interesting moments:
- Jasmine and Sam are always reading each other. Their growing bond is really sweet to watch, especially after their little drama.
- Both Joey and Hershii got emotional about her good critiques. Hershii really wanted to prove herself after being an early out. She’s also missing some family moments while she’s there, so she wanted this to be worth it.
- The girls named who they think are the top two and no one is saying Hershii’s name so she feels a bit discounted by them. Ha, Ru sure showed them! (Although I was surprised by this top two, I thought it was going to be Joey and Kennedy.)
- Brian came in to chat with the queens and the girls were flirting hardocre with him. I love how much he reveres the queens, especially Kennedy. He seems like an actual fan of hers and they took an adorable selfie together.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this was another great episode of the final bracket. Although the runway wasn’t my favorite, I’m happy to see Kennedy and Hershii win more points. This bracket doesn’t feel like it’s “rigged” in anyone’s favor like the last one started to feel. I genuinely am unsure of who is going to make the merge from this group, which makes it more enticing to watch.
Season 11 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” and “Untucked” streams weekly on Fridays on Paramount+.
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