The Best Queens According To Raja & Raven Pt. II

I made a video about this but it goes by very quickly (had to fit nearly 100 queens in!) so I have provided a text version for people to read if they prefer. The list is as follows.

83. Cynthia Lee Fontaine - 21.43%
82. Jaymes Mansfield - 35.00%
81 (tie). Serena ChaCha, Vivacious & Jasmine Masters - 40.00%
80. DiDa Ritz - 41.00%
79. Joslyn Fox - 41.67%
78. Pearl - 42.00%
77. Adore Delano - 43.18%
76. Laila McQueen - 43.75%
75. Jaidynn Diore Fierce - 46.45%
74. Kennedy Davenport - 48.67%
73 (tie). Porkchop & Vivienne Pinay - 50.00%
72. Alexis Michelle - 51.00%
71. Darienne Lake - 53.78%
70. Kandy Ho' - 55.55%
69 (tie). Mrs. Kasha Davis & Max - 56.00%
68. Nina Bo'Nina Brown - 56.56%
67 (tie). Pandora Boxx & Trixie Mattel - 58.33%
66. Milk - 61.71%
65. Honey Mahogany - 62.50%
64. Milan - 64.29%
63. Chi Chi DeVayne - 64.33%
62. Aja - 64.76%
61. Sasha Belle - 65.29%
60. Laganja Estranja - 65.50%
59 (tie). Tammie Brown, Tempest DuJour & Kimora Blac - 66.67%
58. Raven - 67.38%
57. Naysha Lopez - 68.75%
56. Alexis Mateo - 69.67%
55. Jiggly Caliente - 69.75%
54. Ongina - 70.75%
53 (tie). Tatianna, Madame LaQueer & Eureka - 70.83%
52. Gia Gunn - 71.43%
51. Jade Jolie - 71.59%
50. Kenya Michaels - 72.43%
49. Jinkx Monsoon - 73.22%
48. Courtney Act - 74.05%
47. Raja - 74.22%
46. Alyssa Edwards - 75.67%
45. Nicole Paige Brooks - 76.00%
44. Willam - 76.22%
43. Latrice Royale - 76.73%
42. Peppermint - 77.09%
41. Morgan McMichaels - 77.67%
40. Kelly Mantle - 77.78%
39. Derrick Barry - 78.13%
38. Naomi Smalls - 78.50%
37. Stacy Layne Matthews - 79.57%
36. Dax ExclamationPoint - 80.00%
35. Valentina - 80.13%
34. Coco Montrese - 80.26%
33 (tie). Jade Sotomayor & Jujubee - 81.00%
32. Sasha Velour - 81.09%
31 (tie). Robbie Turner & Thorgy Thor - 82.82%
30. Phi Phi O'Hara - 83.69%
29. Chad Michaels - 83.95%
28. Trinity K. Bonet - 84.25%
27. Bob the Drag Queen - 84.33%
26. Miss Fame - 84.83%
25. Kim Chi - 85.21%
24 (tie). Delta Work, Manila Luzon, April Carrion & Ginger Minj - 85.33%
23. Katya - 85.65%
22. Sharon Needles - 86.25%
21 (tie). India Ferrah & Mariah - 88.50%
20. Farrah Moan - 89.50%
19. Alaska - 89.75%
18. Monica Beverly Hillz - 90.00%
17. Tyra Sanchez - 91.00%
16. Bianca Del Rio - 91.29%
15. Shea Coulee - 91.58%
14. Sonique - 92.67%
13. Yara Sofia - 92.91%
12. BenDeLaCreme - 94.47%
11. Trinity Taylor - 94.68%
10. The Princess - 94.75%
9. Acid Betty - 95.75%
8. Ivy Winters - 96.33%
7. Charlie Hides - 98.45%
6. Violet Chachki - 99.50%
5. Jessica Wild - 100.00%
4. Detox - 100.11%
3. Phoenix - 101.00%
2. Lineysha Sparx - 102.00%
1. Roxxxy Andrews - 107.94%

Recap + Ranking: RuPaul's Drag Race Season 9 Episode 7

What an episode. In many ways good and in many ways bad. Let's dive straight in.

After Cynthia's elimination, Pep tries to give her a fond sendoff, but Trinity shuts it down and stakes her claim as the new official cucu. I love Trinity. In a first, Valentina gets a little shady in her confessional towards Alexis, and while I don't necessarily disagree, I was surprised and worried that Val might be getting a little bitter. Nina says she will let down her guard from now on, and I really hope that's true, otherwise it will be her downfall. Sasha does a funny Farrah impersonation, and Trinity painfully rips the black censor bars off of Valentina. Finally, it cuts to a bizarre shot of Trinity's butt before going to the theme sequence.

Red alert: we have she-mail! I'm glad to see it again, and Ru didn't disappoint, delivering a funny one-liner: "Freeze you honky bitch!". Ru announces that we will rewind to 1993, then threatens Farrah when she says that's the year she was born - "I'm gonna fucking... fuck you up!". As someone who was born several years after Farrah, I worry about what Ru would say to me. So the challenge is announced to be an acting challenge of Beverly Hills 9021-HO. Since Peppermint survived the lip sync last week, she gets to assign the roles. After Aja states that she is happy with whatever role but that there's a couple she'd prefer, she goes off when she doesn't get either of the picks. Shea, probably noticing that it's a bigger and better role for her, smartly offers to swap with Aja, which Peppermint enforces. 

During the shoot, Nina reverts back to her old ways and doesn't handle the criticism from the guest judges - Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling - well. We also see Aja and, to a lesser degree, Sasha, struggling with their parts. On the other hand, Trinity is absolutely hysterical,  Shea is great, Farrah, Peppermint and Valentina are pretty strong, and Alexis starts off a bit subdued but takes the critique and steps it up. We get an awkward making out scene between Aja and Peppermint, which is a bit much.

In the sad moment for the episode, Trinity reveals that her mum died when she was 8 and was raised by her grandparents. Sadly, her grandmother got sick with cancer when she was 16 and died 2 years later, so Trinity dropped out of high school and taught herself in order to look after her grandmother. It really is touching and offers a newfound respect and perspective to Trinity. However, then everyone else jumps in, and Shea reveals her dad, and Sasha her mum, have also passed away from cancer. I understand that it is an important topic of discussion, but the queens have already had a lengthy talk about cancer this season, so it feels like a retread.

Cut to the runway, and Ru comes out in a very nice velvet (or velour) dress, and her makeup is a bit better, though her padding is still ridiculous. It is announced that the runway theme is "big hair everywhere".

Good

Passable

Bad

Best: Aja
Worst: Trinity

This was a pretty good runway. The worst one was Trinity's, her outfit and hair were horrendous. Aja looked incredible, for the first time her makeup was really great. She has been getting better and better throughout the season and she finally looked amazing tonight, which is why it was such a shame to see her go. But I'm getting ahead of myself. 
We see the acting scene and it is very good. Trinity and Shea are the clear standouts, with Trinity being a cut above. On the other hand, Nina and Aja floundered. Trinity is rightfully declared the winner of the challenge, while Aja and Nina are delegated to the bottom 2. The lip sync is okay, Nina does better and Aja is sent home. It was a shame to see Aja get increasingly better and then leave once she truly gets there, but it is understandable.

Ranking
By default, the eliminated queen is last on the ranking. Ranking is based upon overall performance.
9. Aja
8. Farrah - She did well in this challenge but it is not enough to push her up the ranks. Next challenge is a roast, so I think her time will be up.
7. Peppermint - Like Farrah, she was good this challenge, but unless she secures a win she's going home soon.
6. Nina - Unfortunately it has been all downhill from the first episode for Nina. Hopefully she'll redeem herself soon but if not, she's going home.
5. Sasha - I thought Sasha was a guaranteed top 3, but she's getting overtaken by other people. Maybe she won't be in the finale after all.
4. Alexis - She did okay this episode, not a top performer but perfectly okay. They're definitely editing her to look bad, if not the villain then at least just annoying. It makes me concerned.
3. Valentina - It's bizarre how it feels like Valentina is coasting even though she's consistently in the top. I think she's very good but she's not outdoing herself like others are. It doesn't matter though because she's top 3 for sure.
2. Trinity - I'm so happy Trinity won her second challenge. She really deserved this win, and I think this pretty well cements her as at the very least top 5, if not top 3.
1. Shea - Shea, again, killed it this week. At the moment, she's my pick to win. I'd ultimately prefer Trinity just because we all thought she was going home first, but Shea deserves it just as much.

Recap + Ranking: RuPaul's Drag Race Season 9 Episode 6

I want to apologise that this is out a few weeks late, I've been so busy with uni work that I haven't had time to put together any recaps, since they take me quite a while. Another disclaimer: I understand that succeeding episodes have happened as I'm writing this, but I'm doing my best to remember how I felt at the time of watching it and not taking into account how I feel about certain queens now. With that said, let's get into it.

So this episode was Snatch Game. If I had written this recap a few weeks ago (when I was supposed to) I would have said that this Snatch Game was average. But since I've gotten my brother into Drag Race recently, I've rewatched all the seasons, and I have to say that I reckon this is up there with one of the best. There's usually a few cringe-worthy terrible performances, but there was only one this season. Maybe that has to do with the fact that this season's was much shorter than normal, I'm not sure.

After Eureka's shock eviction, the girls are understandably pretty shaken up. Farrah, upset about her underperformance thus far, calls Nina out on her attitude, but quickly retreats. They make amends almost immediately. The editors tried to play this up as much more of a big deal than it was, it was clear that Farrah was just taking her frustration out on Nina. 

The return to form of the last episode was short-lived, as there is no mini challenge or she-mail this week, which is a shame because I think this season is the best Ru has looked in the she-mail segment. 

Skipping straight to Snatch Game, the contestants were:
Trinity - Amanda Lepore
Sasha - Marlene Dietrich
Aja - Alyssa Edwards
Nina - Jasmine Masters
Farrah - Gigi Gorgeous
Alexis - Liza Minelli
Peppermint - Nene Leakes
Valentina - Miss Universe Colombia (Ariadna Gutiérrez) 
Shea - Naomi Campbell
Cynthia - Sofia Vergara

The good performances were from Sasha, Nina, Alexis and Shea. Sasha appeared to be nervous but still had a lot of funny jokes. Nina was hilarious as Jasmine and cleverly answered the questions in her own way. I'm not familiar with Liza but I still found Alexis' performance funny. Shea's Naomi was hysterical and if it was based on performance alone, Shea was my favourite. Valentina's performance was made to look better than I think it was, like her cocaine answer was dumb, and if anyone else had said it they would have played the shady sound effects. However, I did enjoy her performance. Trinity was only shown once so it's hard to tell how she did. She looked exactly like her, and she had a couple of jokes that landed so I'd say she did fine. Aja was also only shown once, but it wasn't hard to tell that she did terribly, in my opinion anyway. I think that if you're going to do a character that has already been done, you need to do it better, and Violet's Alyssa was definitely better than Aja's. I mean, Aja couldn't even do a tongue pop! Finally, the bad performances were Farrah, Peppermint and Cynthia. Farrah's performance wasn't as bad as her character choice; I thought she played a pretty realistic Gigi, but when will these queens learn that you need to play a character with a bigger personality? Peppermint's Nene fell flat, but it was not as abysmal as Cynthia's Sofia. I would say that Cynthia's performance was the worst ever on Snatch Game. It didn't make sense, there wasn't even an attempt to make jokes, she didn't try to look like her. It was bad.

The story this week was Peppermint coming out as trans. I'm very happy for her and glad that she finally felt comfortable enough to share that with all the girls. My only question is, wouldn't at least some of them have already known that? Alexis, Sasha and Aja are also from New York (and the four of them are on that horrible song). But that's beside the point I suppose. The point is that Pep is incredible and brave and deserves to be commended.

The runway theme this week is Night of 1000 Madonnas pt. II. For starters, Ru looked okay this episode. Not as bad as a couple of other times this season. I like whenever she wears a different hair colour, so she gets credit for that. It looks like they're still figuring out her makeup though, and her padding is too much. 

Good

Passable

Best: Valentina
Worst: Cynthia

It seems absurd to me how we've again managed to have double-ups with looks. I can understand somewhat for the Material Girls look, but the Met Gala look is such an oddball that I don't know how two people thought of it. Valentina's was my favourite, it blew me away when I saw it because it was so unexpected. While none of the looks were bad this episode, Cynthia's was close, if only for the beard. Alexis wins the challenge, and I was so happy for her. I thought my prediction had come true and it would again be Farrah v Cynthia, but it was Cynthia and Peppermint up for elimination. I was worried because I love Pep, but she wiped the floor with Cynthia. Her gunshot move was everything, her classic dorky dance moves were great, she nailed it. Cynthia sashayed away, and even though I love her, it was definitely her time.
So that was another pretty good episode. This season is sub-par, and I don't know what's holding it back from being one of the best. This cast is certainly my favourite group of girls yet, so it's not that. Hopefully the season gets better from here. I'm going to watch it regardless, but we need a bit of drama or something. Also, if we could ditch the sob story segment that would be lovely.

Ranking
By default, the eliminated queen is last on the ranking. Ranking is based upon overall performance.

10. Cynthia
9. Farrah - A few episodes ago I said I couldn't stand Farrah. That's definitely not true now, I don't dislike her, but I still think she's got to go next episode. 
8. Aja - I don't know what's up with Aja this season. I, and everyone else, expected her to slay the competition, but she's been coasting by on safe. There's only been one episode so far where she hasn't been safe, and that's because she was in the bottom 2. She needs to step it up if she's to make it to final three. At this point though, I think she's got only a slim chance.
7. Peppermint - I really adore Peppermint. I don't think she'll make it to the top three but I would love her to. Unfortunately, I think our time with her is coming to an end. I was worried when she had the moment this episode because that's usually a sign of a girl going home, but thankfully she slayed the lip sync. She needs to win a challenge soon.
6. Trinity - I'm getting a little concerned. I really enjoy Trinity now but she's slipping down the ranks. She might not have too long left. I thought she had a good chance at making the final three a couple of episodes ago, but now I'm not so sure.
5. Nina - Oh Nina. She's absolutely incredible, but I'm worried about her. Her paranoia is going to ultimately result in her downfall, I can feel it. Every week now I'm nervous for her because I've loved her from the start and I was so happy when she won the first challenge, but now I don't think she's got too long left.
4. Alexis - I was so happy that Alexis finally won a challenge. She's been in the top the past two weeks so she deserved a win. While her performance wasn't personally my favourite, I think she earned it. I'm beginning to wonder though if they're starting to paint her as a bit of a villain, judging by the way she said at the start of the episode how Cynthia, Farrah and Nina need to be cut, and from her Untucked rant last episode. We shall see. I hope not, because I really like her.
3. Sasha - I wonder when Sasha is going to win a challenge on her own. She definitely deserves to win one. Since her only win is shared with Shea, part of me feels like she shouldn't have such a high ranking. But I still think she's top 3 material for sure.
2. Valentina - What can I say about Valentina? She's still slaying as usual. At this point she is almost guaranteed to be in the top 3.
1. Shea - I've really grown to enjoy Shea. I still don't see her being knocked off the top spot. She's definitely going to be in the top 3, unless she royally screws up, which I don't think she will. 

Recap + Ranking: RuPaul's Drag Race Season 9 Episode 5

FINALLY. This episode felt like a return to form for Drag Race: there was a mini challenge, there was pit crew (with two new members, bye Bryce and Miles), Ru looked great, we had a main challenge that was truly worth talking about, AND we had a shock elimination.

The queens enter the work room, and without skipping a beat, Trinity wipes Charlie's message off the mirror, which was very funny. The girls talk about how disappointing it was to see Charlie give up, and it's true; Charlie can give the excuses of her rib (which I don't buy. If she cracked her rib, why didn't we hear about it before?) and not lip syncing in London (which some British people have been quick to deny), but she really just gave up. Then Farrah asks Trinity how it felt to have everyone throw her under the bus (I feel like we need a new term for this). Trinity says that she feels like she should have been in the bottom because she was the leader, not for anything else. Eureka says that's probably why she was in the bottom, which Trinity completely ignores. She is getting more entertaining every episode. In her confessional, Alexis declares that this is now her time to rise to the top, and Nina says she wants to see certain people in the bottom ("sue me").

Ru walks in wearing an amazing suit, and announces the mini challenge - a selfie-taking session with the pit crew. I love dumb fun mini challenges! There are a few standouts - Alexis gets lifted up (with difficulty), Cynthia takes a blurry selfie, and Valentina asks Ru to introduce her as Miss Venezuela  then gets the crew to pose like a "Chola homeboy". Alexis wins, and she gets to assign everyone's role in the main challenge - Kardashian: The Musical. The roles are: Alexis as Kris, Eureka as North West, Cynthia as Kim, Farrah as Kylie, Valentina as Kendall, Aja as Kourtney, Sasha as Lindsay Lohan, Trinity as Paris Hilton, Peppermint as Britney Spears, Shea as Blac Chyna, and Nina as Khloe. Cynthia, Aja, Peppermint and Nina all seem to be unhappy with their roles, but Nina takes it to heart, she keeps talking about it all throughout the episode. Eureka reveals that she is now on crutches because of her injury during the cheerleading challenge in episode 2, which also explains why she was sitting down during the lip sync last week. I have to hand it to her, she has such a positive attitude about it and doesn't let it hinder her performance, something which Nina could learn from.
During rehearsal, Nina doesn't take direction well from Todrick, and again harps on about not being assigned Blac Chyna. We also see Aja struggling with the moves, and then Farrah can't get a patty cake move down.

On elimination day, we see Trinity trying to get along with Eureka and she expresses her admiration for Eureka's positive spirit. Aja is shocked to see her nose has gotten thinner; and Eureka goes up to Sasha and Valentina and apologises for her joke about eating disorders last episode. It feels like a very genuine apology, and makes me feel a bit better about Eureka. Sasha reveals that she was severely anorexic through most of her early 20's, and Valentina shares that she still struggles with an eating disorder, which makes Eureka's seemingly harmless joke directed towards Valentina suddenly a lot more serious. Then, Shea walks up to the group and says that she has also struggled with bulimia in the past. It is yet another raw moment, and despite the premise being formulaic, each moment is an important message to everyone, not just those in the LGBT+ community. 

Ru walks out onto the runway and she looks fantastic for the first time this season. It feels like she finally showed up. The guest judges are Todrick Hall and Meghan Trainor (who is wearing a onesie. On RuPaul's Drag Race. Girl). Ru announces the main challenge and the musical starts up. It is immediately clear that Cynthia doesn't know the words, and she fumbles her way through the entire performance. Peppermint does a great Britney, and Sasha and Trinity do a perfectly fine job at their characters (I do love Trinity's "that's hot"). Alexis does an amazing job at Kris, not only does she look just like her, but she gets her mannerisms down (even though I generally try to avoid anything to do with the Kardashians, I know enough to understand how well Alexis portrayed Kris). Cynthia's Kim is still dreadful, Nina does a surprisingly good Khloe, and Aja does a pretty strong Kourtney. Valentina's Kendall is reasonably good, but Farrah's Kylie is bad, she again fails the simple choreography. Then Shea has a quick standout part as Blac Chyna, and it becomes immediately apparent that the runway will be the determining factor in whether Shea or Alexis will win the challenge. Finally, Eureka's North West is fine, it's not a standout but it isn't bad enough to put her in the bottom. After the musical ends, Ru announces that the runway is "faux fur fabulous".

Good

Passable

Bad

Best: Shea
Worst: Cynthia

I didn't hate Alexis' outfit as much as some people did, but it would have been much better without revealing the dress underneath the coat. Shea is declared the winner (for the second week in a row), while Cynthia and Farrah are the bottom 2. After a pretty lacklustre lip sync (I focused more on Peppermint dancing in the background), someone walks up to the judges table and says something to Ru. At first I thought it was Cynthia, I don't know why. Then Ru says he needs a moment, and walks off the set. At this point, you know something is going to happen other than either Farrah or Cynthia going home. I was thinking it was going to be a double elimination. After Ru comes back, she calls up Eureka, and this immediately means she's going home, but I thought she was going to be disqualified for doing something wrong like William. Instead, Ru tells her that she's spoken with the doctor, and she can't "under good conscience" let her continue in the competition, giving her an open invitation to return to Season 10. It's a very emotional moment. I understand this probably makes me spineless, but my opinion of Eureka immediately changed and I felt really bad for her. It's a horrible way for anyone to go, especially considering her injury occurred while doing a challenge in the competition. After Eureka leaves, Farrah and Cynthia are both declared safe. I was kind of hoping maybe Ru would do a triple elimination and get rid of both of them as well. My prediction is that they'll both be in the bottom two next week. It's only a matter of time before they're both eliminated. 

So that was it for this episode. I said last week I wanted nothing more than for Eureka to go home, but this wasn't the satisfying end I was hoping for. I wanted her to go home because she did terribly in a challenge and was outperformed in the lip sync, but let's hope that she learns from her mistakes and returns next season with a better personality. Next episode is Snatch Game, and, honestly, I'm not expecting a lot from these queens. I think Shea, Sasha, Peppermint and Nina will do very well at whatever characters they're doing, and I'm expecting Cynthia and Farrah in the bottom.

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. 
This week the ranking has changed a little. Before it was based on who I objectively think is doing the best; however, I'm now basing it on statistics: amount of wins, amount of highs, amount of lows and amount of times in the bottom two. Looking back at past seasons, I discovered that every single winner has had the most challenge wins. In seasons where the winner had the same amount of wins as another queen, the winner had more highs, less lows and less times in the bottom two. There's only one season where the winner was absolutely evenly matched with another contestant, I believe it was Raja and Manila. What I'm trying to say is, I think this is a good indication of who will take the crown.

11. Eureka
10. Cynthia - Cynthia is one lucky queen. If Eureka wasn't sent home, I'm sure she'd be gone. Her time will be up next week surely. She has been underwhelming in the challenges and runway. For a queen who has been given the opportunity to come back, she has not been doing well at all.
9. Farrah - I'm pretty sure Farrah is evenly matched with Cynthia, but I put her above because this is not her second time in this competition.
8. Aja - Aja has been surprisingly underwhelming this season. I'm worried that once the fat (Cynthia and Farrah) is cut off, she'll be the next to go.
7. Peppermint - If I remember correctly, wasn't there a rumour that Peppermint went home first? That certainly didn't come to pass, and I don't see her going soon.
6. Alexis - She made herself pretty unlikeable in this episode. She chose the standout character for herself but then blamed everyone else for her runway look? She needs to get a grip. She's been doing okay so far. The next 5 girls have all won a challenge, so she's the best one who hasn't won a challenge yet, if that's any consolation.
5. Nina - I was worried about her last week, and I'm even more concerned this week. She's great and I think she has a good chance of at least being in the top 4, if not the top 3. But she needs to get out of her head if she is to do so.
4. Trinity - Like I said before, we all underestimated Trinity, and I don't think she's going anytime soon.
3. Sasha - Though I've felt like she has faded into the background a little bit so far, statistically she's doing well. It's a bit hard for me to fully consider her win an actual win, since it was paired with Shea, but they both brought it last episode, so she deserves it.
2. Valentina - I still can't fully get behind Valentina. I feel like she's putting on a facade and we're not seeing the real her. That being said, I still like her. At this point, I feel like she's an almost guarantee for top 3.
1. Shea - I said it last week, I feel like Shea just got started and now she's going to be unstoppable. So far, she's proving me right. I would love for her to win the next challenge so she can be the first queen to win 3 challenges in a row.

Recap + Ranking: RuPaul's Drag Race Season 9 Episode 4

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.