‘Ru Paul’s Drag Race 15×09’ Review
I have to say that in my opinion there were some very questionable choices made in last weeks lip-sync LaLaPaRuza challenge. That fact that Antrea went from one of the greatest lip-sync performances in the first round against the powerhouse that is Sasha Colby only to end up all the way down to the bottom three is totally absurd. If it was up to me I would have given both Sasha and Antrea the win as the talent on display during this performance was overwhelming! What is even crazier however is the fact that when Antrea was granted the opportunity to automatically save one of her fellow queens from the final battle she opted to save the weakest performer in the competition, Spice. While I totally understand the idea of respect and artist integrity, I would have chosen to battle against Spice as it would have been an easy win. Instead, she chose to save Spice and battle against Jax (who also shouldn’t have been in the bottom of this episode) leading to Jax sadly being told to sashay away at the end of the episode!
This week’s episode, however, was a celebration of the 200th episode of America Drag Race and so both the mini and maxi challenges paid homage to some of the most iconic moments from the show. I really enjoy it when the show finds ways to tie together challenges as it creates a much more enjoyable and cohesive viewing experience for the viewers. For the mini challenge the queens were tasked with photobombing some of the most attention-grabbing moments in Drag Race’s two-hundred-episode history including Laganja Estranja’s entrance on season six and Willow Pill’s unique talent show performance during season fourteen. The latter scene was captured by Antrea who cleverly orchestrated her scene for it to appear as if she was cannonballing into the bath with Willow but I also thought that Lux had cleverly planned her scene to have a “This is Sparta” moment (but we could have done with the grunting during filming!) Later in the episode we also had a segment where the remaining queens discussed some of their favourite moments from the show, which included moments such as the intense Mimi Imfurst and Shangela fight, Bianca Del Rio hilariously playing Judge Judy during the snatch game and the emotional moment Ongina discussed her HIV status. Not only did the two challenges references iconic moments but the queens were also directed to talk about iconic scenes which helped to really reinforce the sense of celebration this episode was channelling.
The maxi challenge in this episode was a crystal ball (cleverly to celebrate fifteen years of Drag Race) where the queens had to showcase three distinct looks that utilised crystals in as many ways as possible. The last of these outfits had to be created in the werk room and so instantly I become worried for one-half to the Tik Tok drag sensation Spice as she had talked earlier this season about how her game plan going into the season was to design the outfits and her twin would do the sewing expect sugar went home earlier this season. We also saw a very powerful conversation led by Selina Estities who talked about how she lacked confidence out of drag and the toll the completion is taking on her. I have to admit that so far I have not been the biggest fan of Selina as she can come across as very obnoxious but seeing her talk about her feelings in an honest and real way helped to show a very different side of her that I have not seen so far! Before the queens could showcase their looks on the runway, however, we were treated to a highly rare performance by Ru Paul of her new song “Cake and Candy”. Every time Ru decided to treat the audience to a live performance there are always people who complain that she is not the energetic performer she once was but what I think people seem to forget is the fact that she is a sixty-two-year-old man in heels!
The first category for this week’s ball was “start your engines” where the queens had to reimagine the iconic pink racing outfit worn by Ru Paul during the opening credits of every episode. Mistress Isabelle Brooks decided to use this theme to pay homage to some of the ‘big girls’ (body-positive queens) who have appeared throughout the show’s history. Across her racing out she had quotes from queens such as Silky and Eureka which again supported the celebratory atmosphere while also spreading a message of loving your body regardless of your size which is also an important message! She decided to wear massive blonde hair which brought the Ru Paul-ness of the outfit. Marcia Marcia Marcia decided to showcase a rainbow pastel motorcycle-style interpretation of the raving look which clearly had inspiration from the spring look worn by Gigi Goode on season twelve! I also really enjoyed Antrea’s neon green jumpsuit which while it clearly looked very different from the original inspiration, still looked amazing on her!
The second runway category was ‘my favourite ball’ where the queens had to re-do a look that would fit into one of the numerous ball categories from a previous season. If it was up to me I would have gone from the sugar ball during season five and would have chosen to do something inspired by candy floss as this is one of my favourite sweet treats! Mistress showcased one of my favourite looks from the entire episode as she reimagined the ball ball from season twelve. She wore an incredible beach ball-inspired look with two beach balls as breast pieces and a headpiece sculpted onto balls that cascaded from her head all the way down to her feet! The entire outfit contained the essence of a beach ball with rainbow print all over and the look of inflation all over. Selina used this opportunity to recreate the money ball from season three but gave it a rather political twist. Her palm tree looks made entirely of food stamps notes share a message of food poverty in the US which is obviously very important and there needs to be more done to help remove the stigma of using such services, but the entire look itself was rather chaotic and messy. Everyone online, however, is talking about Sasha Colby’s bag ball (from season thirteen) as she quite possibly has the best weed-inspired look to ever grace the drag race runway! Her outfit had an oversized blunt as a headpiece and bags of “weed” around her acting as a skirt with the entire outfit drowned in a glittery green shade which looked absolutely amazing on her.
The final look was titled “Crystalised Elganza” which the queens had to create in the werk room. Mistress yet again looked absolutely amazing with her extremely classically yet striking pageant-style look with the light catching every crystal flawlessly. For her to go from the extremely camp beach ball look to this sleek pageant gown shows that Mistress is clearly a very versatile performer who appeared to be sneaking under the radar in the completion! Marcia Marcia Marcia wore a wonderful white crystal outfit which was a homage to the eccentric Moulin Rouge musical which was very on-brand for this BFA holder. However the greatest look this entire episode would have to be the gown worn by Antrea which looked as if it was created by a professional over months and months instead of a few hours in the werk room. The mermaid tail gown looked absolutely stunning with a wonderful crystal spine running down the back of the outfit which worked perfectly with her choice of hair and makeup! I would have to say that this was by far the most elegant Antrea has looked this entire season and she is clearly positioning herself at the top of this competition!
It was announced that the winner of this week’s episode was Sasha Colby and while I think she did a fabulous job, I think the win could have easily gone to Mistress and there have been no arguments from me. At the bottom of this week’s episode was Selina Estities and Spice, which after seeing both queens perform last week … I am very concerned for Spice! There was some excitement however as Spice talked about how she and her twin had done a Tik Tok dance to the song lip-sync song “That’s What I Want” by Lil Nas X! I was actually pleasantly by Spice’s performance as she began by smashing her disco ball purse on the stage (which is actually incredibly dangerous when you think about it) and even pulling out a hilarious death drop attempt however Selina is an extremely capitulating performer so it was very hard to take your eyes off of her. It was announced that Selina would be staying in the competition with Spice being told to sashay away!
Overall, the structure of the episode did exactly what it needed to, with the focus being on the celebration of the American version of Drag Race. Both the mini and maxi challenges highlighted key moments with backstage conversations also playing into the celebratory mood. I thought that bringing Carson Kresley (a renowned fashion designer) as a guest allowed the queens to discuss their creations in a meaningful way while also encouraging the judge’s panel to consider technical skills and finer details.
