RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 13, Episode 4 power ranking: Acting is a challenge

Welcome to RuPaul’s Drag Race power rankings! Every Saturday, we’ll debrief the week’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race to determine which queens are riding high, and which need she-mergency care. The season’s first acting challenge puts the whole cast—united for the first time!—through their paces. Several queens stand out, but only one can take the top spot in the ranking.

13. Kahmora Hall (last placement: 6) — ELIMINATED

The writing was on the wall for Kahmora. Her edit last week suggested she wasn’t ready for the rigors of this competition, with particular focus on her time management skills ahead of the mini-challenge. The kiss of death, however, was Michelle Visage and Ross Mathews putting forth their theory that, despite strong fashion choices, Kahmora lacked a personality behind the clothes. That stuck this week, as her gorgeous train runway couldn’t salvage a flat, unfunny performance in the acting challenge. Calling Kahmora’s work as a tree “wooden” as Ross did is a cliché—and yet! It’s pretty accurate! She got demolished in her lip sync by Denali, as Kahmora’s dress didn’t allow her to move around. A brutal ending for her, but she remains gorgeous and with impeccable taste. She’ll no doubt have passionate fans lamenting her departure.

12. Denali (last placement: 1)

As I noted in the recap, Denali has lip-synced every single week of this season that she’s been in so far. And each time, she’s proven that she’s pretty damn good at lip-syncing! Her only loss was to LaLa Ri in the premiere, and she had the significant handicap of performing in ice skates. (Even then, I still thought she could’ve won!) So that speaks well to her survivability in the competition. What worries me is that it seems Denali’s ambition outpaces her skills. She knows she isn’t a great actress, but instead of taking a step back and picking a lighter role, she chose to play the lead. Surviving on Drag Race means knowing what you’re capable of and doing the best you can with that knowledge. Granted, maybe Denali knows she’ll be able to lip-sync her way out of anything and thus figured it was worth the risk. That gamble certainly paid off this week. But she technically has already lost a lip sync. She could stand to play a bit smarter, not harder, in the upcoming challenges.

11. Joey Jay (last placement: 5)

Joey avoided the bottom three this week, but it’s not hard to imagine an alternate reality in which she landed there. Not only did she struggle in the challenge taping with Ross, her final performance was forgettable. Her runway look was unusual compared to what we’ve seen from her up to this point, but the execution left something to be desired. At this point, we’ve seen six looks, a lip sync, a Rumix verse and a bit of acting from Joey, and the overall impression she’s leaving is someone who needed a bit more time before Drag Race to cultivate her persona. She’s cute, funny and can dance; in earlier seasons, that might have been enough to last till the midway point. But modern Drag Race seasons require more of a character. Maybe she’ll surprise us, but she’d have to pull out a pretty big surprise.

10. LaLa Ri (last placement: 3)

The judges didn’t seem that mad at LaLa’s performance this week, but more disappointed that she faded into the background. As Ross noted, not standing out this early is a bit of a warning sign. But she looked killer on the runway in snakeskin print (a look Loni Love desperately wanted for herself) and she never seemed to be in real danger of lip-syncing. LaLa’s only real problem is that this is a high-caliber cast. There’s going to be less room moving forward for the queens who don’t stand out to avoid lip-syncing. She’ll likely find herself in the bottom sooner versus later unless she can bounce back hard.

9. Elliott With Two Ts (last placement: 7)

Both in the challenge and on the runway, Elliott was safe and unremarkable. She wasn’t terrible in either, but likely scored nowhere near the top. I’ll admit I’m perplexed by what the story producers are going for with Elliott’s role in the narrative: There was an attempt to wring drama from her reunion with the Porkchop Queens, but none of them bit. They just stuck with their story that voting Elliott out wasn’t personal. She even hid before the Porkchop Queens entered, so her re-emergence would be a gag-worthy moment. Suffice it to say it was underwhelming. If she were delivering big drama or strong challenge results, I would understand the amount of focus Elliott is getting in the edit. As it stands, it just feels like wheel-spinning.

8. Gottmik (last placement: 6)

Gottmik was relatively low-key in the edit this week, though we got to see a friendship blossoming between her, Kandy Muse and Tina Burner. She also did pretty well in the challenge—you can tell she’s not an actress by trade, but she did a better job of making her way through the lead role than Denali did. Her high-fashion runway track record marches on unabated, which will likely keep her in the judges’ good graces even when she’s not the strongest performer of the week. Still, based on pre-season hype, I’m hopeful Gottmik can get a win soon.

7. Tina Burner (last placement: 4)

Truth be told, Tina wasn’t bad at all this week—she just underperformed compared to expectations of her as an acting queen. There’s a storyline being built between her and Rosé, with both commenting on the other being there in the premiere, and Rosé noting that they were strong contenders for the win this week. Rosé is winning that particular battle right now, not only doing well this week, but having a top two placement last week. My guess is we’ll see a few back-and-forths between these rivals, but I’d bet that one will send the other home in a lip sync eventually.

6. Utica Queen (last placement: 4)

Very surprised to say it, but I am really warming up to Utica. I love her runway looks—though her train outfit was a Carol Burnett “Went With the Wind” reference, it was a very clever and well-executed one—and she is consistently doing well in the challenges. Her all-facial-expressions answer when Ru asked if she has smoked marijuana was hilarious, and sent Ru into a laughing fit. She couldn’t translate that bit into a top acting showcase this week, but I don’t fault her; the competition was tight at the top. Utica’s on the right track—and I wouldn’t be shocked if she were the second Porkchop Queen to win something.

5. Olivia Lux (last placement: 2)

Olivia was pretty great in the acting challenge, getting some laughs out of Ru and delivering all her lines like a pro. She also stunned on the runway in her train look, going full “Glamadeus,” as Ru put it. So colour me surprised that, after a great introduction in the premiere and a top two placement in the winners’ circle episode, Olivia seems to be fading into the background. She had much less of a role as a narrator this week, except for a couple quick confessionals about Kahmora during the challenge taping, and she didn’t get any major workroom moments. It’s possible the editors are just playing the long game with Olivia and don’t want to oversaturate the show with her too soon. Still, it’s worth noting that even when the editors didn’t seem too interested in her, Olivia quietly had a great week.

4. Tamisha Iman (last placement: 2)

I continue to be completely charmed by Tamisha, who further opens up about her three biological children. Tamisha is giving us a full picture of herself at a time when a lot of the queens on this season remain more notable for their challenge performances and runway looks. She’s the biggest character of Season 13 so far, and that’s a terrific sign for her longevity in this competition. In terms of her own challenge output: Tamisha was very funny in her skit after she got the Cher imitation Ru and Ross so clearly wanted down, and she looked gorgeous once again in one of her own runway creations. She’s yet to make a major misstep. Now let’s see her get a win!

3. Kandy Muse (last placement: 5)

Ru and the judges want to see queens give their all in acting challenges, and Kandy Muse did just that. She went over-the-top as a clown in the April Fool’s Day skit, giving big, broad, physical comedy that precisely matched what was asked of her. Her runway, on the other hand, was a big miss, neither looking that impressive on its own nor serving as a good response to the trains prompt. Her wig, which somehow escaped comment, was also a wildly off-kilter choice from a queen who has so far delivered us some pretty great hair looks. I’m thrilled Kandy got the high placement this week, but it’s pretty clear her runway knocked her out of real contention for the win. If she’s going to get the W, it’s going to require a strong total package: Personality, runway, and performance. She’s shown us she’s capable of all three, so I have faith she can deliver.

2. Rosé (last placement: 3)

Another close call for Rosé at the top of the pack, but I much preferred her work this week to last. I was worried in the workroom, as some of her line readings felt too big—although that’s more of a personal bugaboo, since the challenge is literally to over-act. But in the final product, her comic timing was perfect: Just big enough to fulfill the dictates of the task without losing what made her performance funny. I did not love her tulle-on-a-pantsuit runway look, nor did Michelle, but I doubt she would have won even with a different fashion choice. The winner of the week was just too far ahead of the pack. Still, a very good runner-up performance from Rosé. And on an Untucked note, I absolutely loved her encouraging words to Denali. She can be a bit much when she’s focused on herself, but Rosé seems very generous in spirit when focused on others.

1. Symone (last placement: 1)

I imagine there will be some raised eyebrows at Symone earning her second win before anyone but Denali can even earn a first. (The last time this happened in a regular U.S. season: Season 4, when Sharon Needles won the first and third challenges.) But there was absolutely no denying Symone this week. She was a goddamn star in her skit, effortlessly and hilariously delivering all of her lines. Her bizarre pronunciation of “flag factory” got a huge laugh every time. Then, she turned out the most inventive and high-fashion train runway look, using a durag as her train. It was a stroke of brilliance, and the cherry on top of an incredibly strong week. Symone continues to dominate, yes, but she is earning each and every bit of praise she’s getting. I’m bowled over by her.

Want more Drag Race talk, henny? Tune in to Kiki with Kevin every Friday at 4 p.m. EST on Facebook Live.