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
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.
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