‘Ru Paul’s Drag Race 14×07’ Review
The winner of last weeks episode of Ru Paul’s Drag Race was probably one of the most controversial decisions in Drag Race herstory. After the glamazon prime design challenge where the queens had to create a look for a series of random deliveries, it was announced that Jorgeous is the winner of the episodes and – no hate to Jorgeous – but I did not think that the look she had made in werk room was the best of the lineup. If the decision was down to me I would have had Lady Camden as the winner, with her wonderful trans-coloured fairy made from a kiddie pool. We saw the emergence of Daya Betty’s very bitter attitude throughout the episode, which carried over to this week latest episode. The sour comments were mostly directed towards Jorgeous, as the former thought she did not deserve the win. Every single time Jorgeous mentioned throughout the episode that she won last week, the camera would pan directly to Daya – who would be rolling her eyes or something negative… which she did apologise about at one point! At the other end of the competition we had Maddy and Jasmin Kennedy in the bottom lip-sync which had an added bit of drama due to their heated argument that took place in Untucked. Jasmin showcased her incredible dance skills with a rather sensual performance which sent Maddy home, which was a shame as I thought that she had been showing everyone more of her personality and talent week by week! Maddy’s over the top camp and comedic performance was very entertaining to watch but Jasmin’s dance moves were a spectacle and so made sense that she would stay in the race. Being the first every cis-gendered heterosexual competitor in Drag Race, she had already made history and left a legacy on the franchise but I do wish that she had lasted a little longer in the season.
There was no mini-challenge this week so the queens had to focus on the main challenge of acting in the brand new sitcom called Daytona Wind! The story follows three drag dynasties (O’Hara, Davenports and the Michaels) who are preparing for a cross-dynasty marriage but things don’t go to plan! The queens recorded their performance which was shown on the runway but the big twist was that it was edited to include a range of farting noises coming from the queens. What I will say about this was that the writing and direction of the performance was very clever to hide the twist but still made sense with the dialogue. However, I thought this was a very strange inclusion and a very childish attempt at humour and I don’t totally get who thought that this would be a good idea for a challenge. What I did appreciate however was the use of Pachelbel’s Canon in D for the marriage scene which happens to be one of my favourites pieces of classical music! Another great inclusion was the guest judge for the episode, TS Madison, who appeared within the performance and managed to drop some of her iconic catchphrases. As Jorgeous was the winner of last weeks episode she was able to allocate the roles, pairing Willow Pill (who took a Moriah Rose approach to acting!) and Daya Betty as the trashy, party girls – a hilarious casting choice! I also thought that Jasmin Kennedy was hilariously funny during the challenge, with a rather strange accent throughout. The highlight of this challenge however would have to be Bosco who not only looked incredible in the challenge but also was so wonderfully dramatic which was the exact purpose of this drama acting challenge!
The runway theme this week was “chaps”, which forced the queens to style this item of clothing however they would like. I thought that Willow Pill looked amazing in her black PVC outfit with massive ponytails being held up by a wonderfully comical extra pair of hands. I also loved Deja Blue’s outfit this week, which was a much more classic drag silhouette in various shades of blue. The outfit fitted her perfectly and excellently exaggerated the key parts of her figure which was brilliant. The outfit looked amazing but I thought that Deja did choose the wrong colour wig as she wore an orange one but I thought that a blue one would have fitted her colour scheme much better! Someone who managed to tie colour scheme throughout her outfit was Jasmin Kennedy, who walked the runway in a blue and yellow graduation inspired outfit with her yellow wig and make-up also fitting with the colours used. My favourite look this week would have to be Angeria Paris VanMicheals, who wore a wonderfully shimmery gold outfit with the biggest over-the-top shoulder and funky bell-bottoms, which were so classically disco-inspired and is an outfit I would love to see in a club with light reflecting off of it! The most shocking look this week, however, would have to be Lady Camden who stepped onto the runway in a black and white outfit but right at the beginning, she tumbled to the floor only to reveal a moustache to showcase a Freddie Mercury inspired look complete with sparkly lightning bolts. The added theatrics of the runway presentation helped make this look very memorable and allowed her to stand out against her peers!
In a shocking twist, it was revealed that, as the acting challenge was so well performed, there would be no bottom queens this week and instead the top two queens, who were Lady Camden and Daya Betty, would lip-sync for the win. For me, the top four in the episode would be these two queens and Willow and Bosco, so any arrangement of the top would have been understandable. Going into the lip-sync I know that Lady Camden is a dancer so I was expecting great things from her and I wasn’t disappointed! Her sliding splits and stunts mixed with some comedic moments made for a very enjoyable performance which is exactly what I would enjoy! It was revealed that Lady Camden was the winner of the episode which is her first win this season!
Overall, I thought that the overacting in the challenge was very enjoyable but the full package was rather ruined by the childish farting noises added post-production. The first two toots were funny but after that, it become very tiresome and predictable which is not the reason thousands of fans watch Drag Race every week!
