‘Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK 3×05’ Review

Season three of Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK started off very well but as each episode goes by it seems like the production team almost ran out of energy for the show. Last weeks episode was so disappointing with two versions of the new song called “BDE,” with the only particularly memorable thing being the chest pump of the winning Pick and Mix team. I do think however that the episode serves some bonus points for how well thought it was with the guest judges, challenge and lip-sync all being related to pop groups which I really enjoyed but everything else seemed quite rushed! I still haven’t added either version of BDE to my Spotify playlists and I probably won’t be any time soon! I have to say that Scarlett Harlett’s verse performance was one of the worst in Drag Race her-story with her visibly giving up halfway through her original verse. Alongside her in the bottom was Charity Case who had been turning out incredibly spectacle outfits on the runway. At the end of the lip-sync it it was revealed that both queens will be staying in the competition. Now, did I think this double save was justified? Not at all (I would have actually preferred this for the episode before) and if the decision was mine, I would have sent Scarlett home!

From last weeks episode, where everything tied together to this week which started with a strange Crufts inspired mini-challenge. The queens had to pair up with one of them have to act like a dog and dive through hoops and through obstacles. I think that Kitty is becoming one of my favourite queens of the season as she continues to be hilarious and entertaining every moment she is on the TV! I also really enjoyed seeing Krystal Versace playing a character, as it showcased a different side of her as an actor that we hadn’t seen from her yet. Her performance was so great that she and Scarlett were declared as the winners of the mini-challenge which meant they were able to pick their teams for this week’s main challenge. This dog inspired mini-challenge had absolutely nothing to do with the Alexa advert main challenge and after last weeks episode, I was very disappointed in the lack of cohesion throughout the episode. It makes me very angry every time I see Ru do a ‘walk’ through in the werk room but instead she stands at a table and all the queens come over to her instead. This needs to stop as it’s awkward and obviously takes time away from the queens doing the challenge. I’m not saying that if the queens had had the extra few minutes to work on their adverts that it would have stopped them being so chaotic. The adverts themselves were some of the worst challenge performances in Drag Race her-story. I think the last time that a group challenge was so chaotic was during the McBitch theatre challenge in season from season 7! The Drag-Alexa adverts were so bad that Ru announced that there would be no winners this week which meant that every queen had to rely on their runways to make sure they didn’t get sent home this week.

The runway theme this week was another unusual one. It was titled “expenny” which was supposed to allude to an expensive dresses theme which is so extremely vague that I couldn’t tell what the judges were totally looking for. On top of this, the majority of the outfits from the queens on the runway did not even looking that expensive looking. I thought that this week Kitty looked absolutely incredible in her shimmering jumpsuit that really showcased her body! I thought that it was the best that Kitty had looked this whole season and I hope she can keep this standard up from the rest of the race as these looks, alongside her incredible personality, make for a very successful partnership! I thought that yet again Krystal looked stunning in her crystal jumpsuit with gorgeous long blonde hair. She looked amazing but I do think that I have seen her in very similar outfits in this season and we are only five episodes in. I am scared that she is beginning somewhat predictable with her runway looks which, if not fixed, can land her in the bottom very soon. My standout this yet again would have to be River Medway who looked incredible in her red and gold Asian unglued outfit. Not only did it look amazing but the red and gold are symbolisms of wealth in Asian traditions so it fitted the theme both physically and thematically.

In the bottom this week we’re yet again Scarlett and Charity (who were given a double save in last weeks competition). I thought that Scarlett looked amazing from the waist up, where she wore an amazing pinstriped suit that I thought could have done with more jewels to look more opulent and expensive. Charity yet again gave the judges a spectacle to look at as she dressed as an almost industrial fairy-inspired outfit complete with a pair of wings. However, before we could get the main challenge Scarlett had a massive tantrum in the werk room after the majority of the remaining queens said she should go home this week. This is a very different side to Scarlett that I did not expect from her! I was so excited when it was announced that the lip-sync song would be “Big Spender” by Shirley Bassey, as it is a camp classic crammed full of comedic possibilities! Neither one of the performers picked up on these moments however which led to another disappointing performance. It was announced at the end that Scarlett would be staying in the race, which means she has to deal with the drama she created in the next episode and we have to say goodbye to Charity Case. If it was up to me I would have sent Scarlett home regardless of her lip-sync performance was as last week her BDE performance was awful and her attitude towards the end of this episode was very bad. I am also very sad to see Charity go as she is clearly a very creative performer but I do think that maybe the Drag Race format just didn’t suit her type of drag!

Overall this was a very lacklustre episode of Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK with a challenge performance that was so bad that there were no winners. I’m not sure if there are any truth in the rumours that this season was rushed for filming due to Ru’s schedule but it would explain why this is the third episode (after dragaton and last weeks episode) that felt very rushed.

**½  2.5/5

Do not fear next week is the snatch game which is usually a highlight of the season!