Season 13 of RuPaul’s Drag Race has, in my mind, been missing one key element: Fun. Season 12? Super fun! Not very dramatic, which a lot of fans didn’t love (and I got a little bored with at times), but it had a lightness and a good spirit that was just right for our pandemic era. Season 13, especially compared to the absolute firecracker that is Drag Race UK Season 2, has felt heavy. There’s been lots of conflict, but not in a fun, shady way—it’s been almost tough to watch at points. The Tamisha Iman/Kandy Muse Untucked fight was emblematic of this problem: Their searing rift fostered bad feelings, even after the two queens made up.
That’s why this week’s Rusical episode is such a salve, and a major turning point for the season. Gone are the highly produced dramatics. Instead, we get workroom auditions, gossip about past relationships and a lip sync that is a hoot and a half to watch. This Drag Race episode feels like a release, and it is so very much needed.
To tell you the truth, I don’t even like the actual challenge that much. Instead of basing the Rusical around a pop star like last season’s did with Madonna and Season 10’s did with Cher, we’re back to a piece about a hot button topic, like Season 11’s Donald Trump-focused challenge. This time, it’s about social media, and most of the queens play a parody of some kind of social media platform, There’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, oh my, and TikTok and LinkedIn galore. There are Russian bots trying to destroy the internet, an emshe (instead of emcee) and a sex-positive protagonist just looking for a safe haven for her scantily clad posts online.
If it all sounds absurd, that’s because it is! And it’s kind of a lot, particularly bits that rail against cancel culture. But there are a lot of cute musical references included, too—from Cabaret to Chicago to Hamilton. And the queens acquit themselves well, making the most of a Rusical that can’t help but pale in comparison to the truly excellent Madonna edition last year.
Rosé and Denali’s audition is the centerpiece. I never love watching queens negotiate parts—it feels more like busy work than actual drama—but this session proves very interesting. Utica lays claim to Lady Tweets (the Twitter role), citing how she fell into the bottom after giving Olivia Lux the challenge-winning role last week. When Denali tries to take it back, Utica no-sells her, leaving Denali stuck to audition against Rosé for the breakout part of a social media user named Foxy.
To her immense credit, Rosé throws her weight around in a smart, confident way. She volunteers to go first because that’s what the character would do, belts the hell out of the part and wins the vote in a near-clean sweep of the other queens. (Utica votes for Denali, likely to be kind, as does Tina, confirmed to be a petty act against Rosé.)
Rosé gets the role, and knocks it out of the park. It’s a Funny Girl reference, complete with a number akin to “Don’t Rain on My Parade.” She’s got the voice to pull it off, and nails her Jamal Sims-choreographed routine with a parasol. I don’t totally get her character, but she does it so well it doesn’t matter to me. Rosé earns her first win, and it’s well-deserved.
Meanwhile, Denali has to grapple with being placed in the only duet of the show, alongside Gottmik. The two play Russian bots, and Denali is frustrated with her assignment. But a call-in from Anne Hathaway—yes, that Anne Hathaway—helps shake her out of it. Denali realizes she can use the Russian ice skaters she knows as inspiration, and even gets to show off a bit of her skills for Anne. She leaves the call with newfound confidence, and both she and Gottmik slay their portion of the Rusical.
Side note: The Anne call is a really lovely segment, and it isn’t lost on me that, if this show were filming in a normal world, she might not have been able to make it on the set in person with her shooting and publicity schedule. It’s a really nice treat for the queens, and making it a full call instead of just a video message is terrific. I’d love to see more of these types of appearances on Drag Race.
Where the Rusical bogs down for me is in the various solo numbers for the different social media platforms. Kandy Muse as LinkedIn is a mess, looking anywhere but directly at the judges and letting her wig constantly fall in her face. Utica’s Twitter number is a “Getting Married Today” tribute mixed with Hamilton choreography, which she does well but can’t quite escape its strange marriage of references. (Patter and rapping share a quick rhythm, yes, but the choreo makes for an odd fit with her verse.) Elliott With Two Ts does a Billie Eilish number as TikTok, and it’s all a bit unmemorable.
The clear stars are the bots, Rosé and Olivia’s gender-bent take on Mark Zuckerberg. The most underwhelming queen is one hell of a shock: Symone turned in her first bottom-scoring performance of the season. You can tell something’s wrong from the second she steps up to record her vocals: She’s unconfident, and repeatedly messes up the word “ogle” despite Michelle Visage’s corrections. She fumbles Jamal’s choreography in rehearsals, and during the main challenge, she comes across as incredibly timid. Yes, Symone. Timid. I’m as floored as you certainly are.
There’s a moment on the runway, after Ru has made his decisions and Denali and Gottmik are called safe, that you can tell Rosé knows she’s about to win. There’s a small flash of joy on her face, and it’s thrilling to see. Conversely, Symone looks upset when she realizes she’s about to lip sync. We obviously can’t tell for sure—we’re not in Symone’s head—but she looks like she’s beating herself up. The fact that she’s lip-syncing against her friend Kandy can only make it worse.
But then, thank the gods, the two of them both turn it out to “BO$$” by Fifth Harmony. Kandy dominates the first half of the song, with bigger dance moves and some impressive high kicks. Symone comes roaring back in the second half, though, executing a shuffle across the stage that gets the judges cackling. She gets the shantay, and for a moment it looks as though Kandy will have to sashay away.
And then: Kandy is saved! We’re at top nine! Again! Okay, look, I really do like this episode, even if the challenge isn’t quite for me. But I cannot believe, after three weeks without an elimination at the start of the season, we now have another non-elimination episode. Stretching a 13-queen season out like this is making the pace glacial. And there’s a documentary special about the show filming during the COVID-19 pandemic coming next week, so we won’t resume the season until March. It’s too much. Drag Race UK will have crowned a winner before this season even hits the top six. And that season premiered two weeks later than this one.
Well, at least if this week’s installment is any indication, we’ll have fun on that long journey. This episode really does feel like a breath of fresh air after a few weeks of downturn. I’m hopeful the show keeps this energy for the rest of the season, because we could use the laughs.
Untucking our final thoughts
✨I really like this week’s runway looks, but I want to talk about the theme for a minute: Yellow. That’s it. Yellow. And while there’s precedent for a single-colour theme—we had purple in Season 12, orange in Season 11, white in Season 9—this one comes after a line of themes that feel lackluster. Trains. Lamé. Beads. Little Black Dress (technically another colour theme). I miss the days of “Death Becomes Her” and similar kinds of runways. It’s more fun when the prompt is up to interpretation, not just a statement of what should be on the look.
✨Gotta love Jamal Sims for trying to keep the notes in critiques focused on technical achievement—especially while the other judges are mostly interested in talking about whether the queens got in their own heads, or whether they got the feeling of the challenge right.
✨There’s a clear storyline being developed in the background about Olivia Lux being a diva. Tina keeps bringing it up in confessionals, and we’re getting a lot of shady confessionals from Olivia (“Elliott as a singer… She can dance! So that’s nice.”) as well as some stir-the-pot moments in the workroom. I, for one, am all for Shady Olivia. She seems fun!
✨The bits we get in the workroom of the queens talking about their experiences with social media are fascinating. Kandy talks about her “sitting alone in the VIP” tweet and watching Aja get hate for her infamous Linda Evangelista rant (complete with a clip!), and Rosé asks Tina about dating Graham Norton. We even get photos of them together!
✨“And don’t… forget to have fun.” Anne Hathaway is a delightful nerd, and I would welcome her back anytime.
✨Denali upon not getting her ideal role in the Rusical: “Sis, I am frustrated boots.” A mood!
Got something to say about Drag Race, sis? Join us for the Kiki with Kevin livestream Fridays at 4 p.m. EST.
The next episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race — a documentary special called Corona Can’t Keep a Good Queen Down, airs Friday, Feb. 26, at 8 p.m. EST on VH1 in the U.S. and on Crave and OUTtv in Canada. The regular season will resume with Snatch Game the following Friday, March 5, at the same times on the same networks.
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