Wow a lot happened this episode. Okay let's start from the beginning.
So the queens walk into the workroom and Kimora is gone. Immediately, Aja starts going after Valentina, and Alexis joins in. Now I thought Alexis' argument was fine, but Aja's is clearly based on fear, which Valentina is wise enough to realise. After then complaining about Valentina to Shea, Aja claims she is going to win the challenge this episode. Since that's what Trinity said last week, I thought Aja was going to win this week (side note, I find it hilarious the way Aja said "mark my words").
After the tv message and mini challenge (oh wait...), Ru announces this week's challenge is a talk show. At this point I'm thinking this is the episode Farrah goes home. Also, the runway theme is "naughty nighties" (although I was sure Ru said "naughty 90's"). Trinity and Aja are team captains, which, in a perfect world, would have been determined by a mini challenge. Surprisingly, the first person Aja picks is Valentina. Nina is chosen last which is also a shock.
Next, we see the rehearsals for the talk show - well, only one team's rehearsal, they seriously need to have longer episodes. Eureka is being such a pest that Trinity makes her raise her hand to speak (which she does basically straight away, and then makes a point of the fact that her hand is raised so she should be able to talk, even though someone else is already talking). In a move that is seen by some (mainly Eureka) as dictatorial, Trinity assigns the roles to each person, rather than let them decide what to do. After they split into their pairs, we see Charlie being very controlling towards Cynthia, who claims that she is being hindered by Charlie's man-handling.
After this we see the first glimpse of the other team as they walk onto the set. We see that Aja and Valentina are paired together (but once again, we weren't shown the process for that decision) and they have absolutely no chemistry between them whatsoever. On the other hand, Sasha and Shea are absolutely hilarious as they play on their sexual tension towards each other in a scene involving a 'Lady and the Tramp'-style broccoli moment. Following a perfectly fine but boring interview with Naya Rivera, the other team comes in. From the get-go it is a train wreck: Trinity and Peppermint play the roles of two adversaries, with the unnecessary storyline of Peppermint sleeping with Trinity's husband (which Peppermint indicates by showing she has Trinity's husband's business card - don't people give their business cards away to everyone they meet?). Trinity's character is stale, while Peppermint, though stumbling over a lot of her lines, plays a much more likeable persona. Then we have Charlie being a control freak and Cynthia being hilariously and adorably incoherent ("I'm intolerant lactose"). The saving grace of the team is Nina and (I hate to say it) Eureka, who have a skit about using food for wigs and pads. This interview is a lot more interesting, but for the wrong reasons. Charlie asks a question, then immediately follows it up with another one, interrupting Naya; however, the most cringe-inducing moment is when Charlie takes it upon herself to say the closing lines of the interview, in the process not signing off Naya. It's the moment the show puts a big neon sign pointing to Charlie saying "bottom 2".
It's elimination day and the queens are getting ready for the runway. Aja and Valentina have a moment, during which Aja sincerely apologises for the way she lashed out, and that settles the feud between them (at least until Aja is next in the bottom 2). Charlie breaks down while talking about the AIDS crisis and how he buried most of his closest friends. Then, when Valentina is about to discuss one of the disorders she has been struggling with, Eureka says "eating", which sets Sasha off. In the ensuing argument, Eureka displays the emotional development of a toddler, claiming that she is now upset, because she got called out for making a tasteless joke at an inappropriate time, then refusing to apologise. This is the exact moment where Eureka becomes my least favourite queen in the history of the show. I want her gone. Now.
The music starts and the stage lights up to reveal an awful-looking Ru. The wig is the worst I've seen her in, and the makeup and dress are just okay. After once again stating that the runway theme is naughty 90's (in my mind), we get the horribly short runway montage, which literally only goes for 38 seconds.
Good
Passable
Bad
Best: Valentina.
Worst: Peppermint
Sasha and Shea are the winners, receiving a one year supply of hamburgers (??), and Aja's whole team is declared safe, where we see a genuine hug between Aja and Valentina. Following the critiques, Ru asks the dreaded question: "Who deserves to go home tonight and why?". We get (from memory, correct me if I'm wrong) 2 votes for Trinity, 2 for Peppermint and 2 for Charlie. There is an altercation between Trinity and Eureka with more incorrectly-said expressions "I stand beside it". After the judges deliberate, Trinity and Charlie are delegated to the bottom 2.
In what is potentially the worst lip sync in
the history of the show, Charlie, Tammie Brown style, gives up and doesn't move
a muscle. She gives the excuse that she only sings live she doesn't lip sync,
but her problem wasn't her lip syncing, she nailed the words better than Kimora
did last episode, but she just stood in one spot during a Britney Spears
song. Trinity, on the other hand, BROUGHT IT. I have never been more
disappointed in a queen. Not only did Charlie give up, but she also undermined
Trinity's performance - anyone would have won the lip sync against her, it
didn't matter that Trinity did one of the best performances I've ever seen -
AND she killed what should have gone down in herstory as one of the great lip
syncs of Drag Race. So Charlie got sent home, and I'm pretty bummed, although I
would have been upset either way. I'm disappointed we won't get to see her Joan
Rivers for the snatch game, but it's her fault for giving up.
All in all, it was a pretty good episode, and
hopefully next episode will be the best ever by eliminating Eureka.
Ranking
By default, the eliminated queen is last on the
ranking. Ranking is based upon consideration of a holistic view of previous
performance and the way they are presented in the storyline and editing.
12. Charlie Hides
11. Farrah Moan - Farrah did reasonably well
this week. Her look was very nice (though not unlike things we've already
seen from her) and her acrylic toenail gag was funny. However, that
doesn't take away from the fact that she has consistently underwhelmed
thus far.
10. Cynthia Lee Fontaine - I've said it every
week, Cynthia has not yet shown why she deserves a second chance. I love her, I
think she's a great person, but at least Shangela brought it to her season when
she came back.
9. Aja - Aja didn't drop the ball this week
as much as some other people did, but since I'm making this ranking based on
overall performance, she doesn't rise above other people, she'll have to do
well the next few weeks to make her way up this list. I do have to say though,
her makeup was so much better this week.
8. Alexis Michelle - Alexis was fine this
episode, and that's the problem. The entire season she's just been fine. She
needs to step it up if she really wants to do well.
7. Peppermint - Peppermint did the worst this
episode, in my opinion. Though Charlie and Trinity were worse in the challenge,
her runway look was so much worse than even the second-worst look. Despite
that, she has done pretty well so far, so that stops her from being pushed
down further.
6. Eureka - I try really hard to be
objective when making this. Nothing would make me happier than putting her at
the bottom until she's eliminated, but I can't do that, because she did very
well in the challenge and she's been pretty strong throughout the
competition.
5. Sasha Velour - I've been getting worried
about Sasha, and she hasn't been doing too well in my rankings, but this
episode she really stepped it up. If she performs like this every episode,
she'll easily make it to top three. However, she's still doing a little too much
in the runway (why did she need the candelabra?), and she'll need to learn to
edit so she doesn't get read by the judges.
4. Trinity Taylor - Trinity has done very
well so far, though this week she fumbled. That being said, I still thought her
runway look was one of the best, and I was close to putting her as a tie with
Valentina. Though she has been dethroned from the top, she's still got a good
rank.
3. Valentina - Valentina was surprisingly
boring in the main challenge, I didn't expect it. She's been slaying so far
though, so she's still got a high ranking.
2. Nina Bo'Nina Brown - Nina was
definitely the saving grace of her team, and her runway was killer. She's
earned her way back up to the top.
1. Shea Coulee - I
have a feeling Shea has gotten started and now there's going to be no stopping
her. I wouldn't be surprised if she takes the crown. I hated her based on meet
the queens, but now she's one of my absolute favourites, and I don't see her
being knocked off this top spot easily.
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