‘RuPaul’s Drag Race UK’ Season 3, Episode 2 recap: Peloton of fun

I gotta say, as much as I love Victoria Scone—which is a lot—I am not fond of her edit on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK so far.

During the first episode, the Cardiff queen’s herstory-making debut as the franchise’s first cisgender female contestant was in the top two of the week, but most of the critiques and conversations were about her being a woman. Victoria’s historic appearance is absolutely worth noting—even at length! But for the judges’ comments to be more focused on Victoria’s gender than on her drag feels like the show is more interested in patting itself on the back than welcoming her for the terrific queen she is.

Then this week, after Krystal Versace (correctly!) identifies Victoria as a big threat in the competition, Victoria’s story gets split into two parts. In one, Krystal makes a rude comment about Victoria’s size that triggers her as someone who has been on a journey with her weight. This I have less problem with, because it’s clear the story is coming from Victoria herself: she opens up to Krystal at the mirror about why it’s a triggering comment, and explains her past experiences. It even leads to a moment of healing across the workroom that, while a bit too reminiscent of the ultra-serious Season 9 mirror moments, is ultimately a positive one for the cast.

The other part of Victoria’s story this week is about her knee, which she apparently injured during the “Total Eclipse of the Heart” lip sync last week. We are kept in the loop, in very particular detail, about every development: we know when it’s swollen, when the swelling has gone down, when she’s been told she can’t do choreography, when she’s fighting through the pain. It all but takes over the storytelling this week. It certainly seems, based on Ru telling her at the end of the episode that she has to undergo further examination, that she’s about to be pulled from the competition in Eureka!-esque fashion. Maybe it’s all been a fakeout, but this seems like an inordinate amount of time to spend on one person’s medical condition if they’re not going to be removed next week.

If she is indeed removed, that means Victoria’s two episodes were about her breaking ground as a cis woman on the show (ground that only exists on Drag Race, not the drag world at large, mind you), about her being called big by one of her competitors and about her struggling with her knee pain. With all the amazing drag she’s served so far, and what a fun, bubbly personality she seems to be (her flirting with guest judge and choreographer Oti Mabuse from Strictly Come Dancing is a highlight of this episode), it’s a shame her story has been so limited.

This is one of a few complaints I have with this episode of Drag Race UK, which is an overall okay installment that falls short of the series’ standard. The maxi-challenge this week has the dolls split up into groups to become “Dragoton” instructors. The challenge is inspired by the home fitness trend Peloton, and in theory, it’s a very funny challenge. Drag Race has parodied fitness videos before, most memorably back in Season 3, so this is part of a rich tradition. However, the choice to actually make it a dance challenge with fitness elements is an odd one, and makes it tricky to judge just how well everyone is doing.

Adding to the oddity is some intense choreography from Oti. I respect the hell out of her as a professional dancer, but I think what someone like Jamal Sims has really unlocked about choreographing on Drag Race is that you have to work with the queens as individuals. Each learns differently: I’ll always think about how he realized Gottmik learns from music more effectively than she does steps. Oti, by contrast, does what we’ve seen plenty of other choreographers do: drives the steps hard, repeatedly, and expects the queens to keep up.

The resulting performance is all over the map in terms of quality. The first group, the Ride or Dies (which includes Choriza May, Vanity Milan and Elektra Fence), starts things on a real low note. They’re so high energy in the group portions that it throws off the collective—especially Elektra—and their costuming choices make them appear too separate. Vanity in particular gets called out for a bright orange wig, though I think the judges fixate a bit too much on that choice. Their execution of the choreo as a group is competent, but messy.

The Ball Busters, on the other hand, really knock their section out of the park. Veronica Green and Kitty Scott-Claus are comedic performers, if not the strongest dancers, so they’re able to keep a high level of energy throughout their section. They also adequately coach an unconfident Krystal into giving a much louder performance than she might have on her own, with Veronica getting a lot of the credit for being a team leader. Their fourth member, River Medway, is the only one to not score high with the judges, but she also handles her part ably.

Of the three, Krystal is the one who secures the win, making her the first queen in Drag Race herstory to win the first two episodes in a non-All Stars season. (Others have won their first two challenges, most recently Symone on Season 13, but those challenges haven’t taken place in the first two episodes.) It’s a pretty impressive distinction, and how Krystal accomplishes it shows real wit and guile. Despite feeling mighty confident after her first episode win—Veronica notes how big her small head is getting—she identifies herself as a potential weak link in her group because of her lack of performance and dance experience.

It’s a compelling narrative, because it makes the person who’s theoretically the frontrunner an underdog. It also has the benefit of being true: as rehearsals prove, Krystal seems way out of her depth. When she performs in the challenge itself, she may not be the best in her group—that’s probably Veronica—but she’s the most improved. Ru can’t keep his eyes off her, and she’s given them a terrific narrative to justify her win. It shows a cleverness and an understanding of how Drag Race as a show works that once again calls to mind her fellow young queen Aquaria. I respect it, even if I’d have gone another way with the win.

To me, if Veronica wasn’t going to take it, Kitty should have. Both were very strong comedically, and kept in character throughout the Ball Busters’ portion of the challenge. They also both looked great on the red carpet runway, serving up Kylie Minogue and Marilyn Monroe, respectively. But alas, Veronica will have to wait a bit longer before getting her second RuPeter Badge in as many seasons.

The third group of Babycizers—a.k.a. new mothers working out with their kids—doesn’t do much to write home about. Charity Kase actually winds up in the bottom for a low-key performance, but her stunning orange runway saves her from lip-syncing. Among the others in the group, Scarlett Harlett holds her own, Victoria is relegated to sitting down for her knee’s health and Ella Vaday is not happy about being dragged down by her team.

The lip sync this week is to M People’s “Moving on Up,” and it is a dance battle between Elektra and Vanity. I think, had there been a bit more time between her two lip syncs, Elektra might’ve been able to save herself with yet another energetic, bone-defying performance like this. However, especially after she’s read for going too hard with the choreography in the challenge, pushing the dial to 11 once again is exactly the wrong call. She looks chaotic for chaos’ sake, and at one point literally gets caught up in her own wardrobe.

By contrast, Vanity is still high-energy, but much more composed. She’s emotionally connected to the song, using her dance moves to compliment her lip sync. She even gets a great moment in which she whips her own hair out of its pins, unfurling it for high impact whipping. By the time Elektra has done a messy split off the stage, Vanity has clearly won. The formerly electrocuted queen sashays away, the second to depart this season.

Overall, this episode still has its pleasures, but it’s all a bit shaggy. I appreciate when the show experiments with new challenges, but a fitness instructor dance challenge is really just a dance challenge in different clothing. And again, it’s such a bummer to have Victoria’s likely final appearance on this season be so much about her pain. If she was in such bad shape that Ru had to send her out for further examination, it’d have been better to do all that before having her participate in a dance challenge.

But we’ll find out her exact fate next week, as we launch into the first proper design challenge of the season. Can Krystal pull out a third win? Considering she’s a fashion queen, and Ru adores her sense of style, I wouldn’t put anything past the wünderkind.

Untucking our final thoughts

✨We get yet another mini-challenge that isn’t actually a challenge this week, as Ru asks Krystal to shop for certain labels in a game called “Rupermarket Sweeps.” It’s basically just some extra dressing for the superlatives challenge from last season, but with Krystal making all the decisions herself. She indeed labels Victoria her biggest threat—the “Star Buy”—while River gets the “Bargain Bin” prize for cheap looks, Ella gets the “Hot Deal” label for being the trade of the season and Veronica gets the “Out of Date” superlative for literally being out of season. Elektra gets the “Bogoff” title for being the one predicted next to go… and that one ages well, to say the least!

✨Kitty jokes about wanting the trade sticker, and Ru cracks up. “Well, you don’t have to laugh that hard!” she responds.

✨I’m decidedly not a fan of the recurring joke that the Brit Crew isn’t on set. Calling attention to it every week just feels like a bummer.

✨Ella and Victoria apparently went to the same dance college! No surprise, they’re the clear standouts of their group—unfortunately, Victoria isn’t able to perform to her full potential.

✨During the long section of mirror moments in the middle of the episode, Vanity brings up that she’s the only Black queen on the cast. I’m glad it gets called out, though Vanity focuses more on the pressure she feels than on the failure of the show to put together a properly diverse cast. (Seriously, Drag Race UK is great, but this is a problem.)

✨Veronica’s unitard during rehearsal… “explicit” doesn’t even begin to cover it. Kitty even jokes that the BBC is going to have to blur her extremities out, they’re so on display!

✨Alan Carr is back on the panel! He’s probably my favourite regular judge across the franchise at this point, though I’ll admit that his repeated refrain that Krystal’s strength this week is that she’s “sexy” in the maxi-challenge is a little strange to me. (She’s got a deep voice, dark makeup and is screaming the whole time. Sexy?)

✨“I’m Kitty, and I’m going to kick your ASS!” I’m telling y’all, there’s something about Kitty I really like.

✨I cannot possibly describe to you the shriek I let out upon hearing RuPaul once again say, “In a moment, I’ll ask one of you to shantay, which means stay.” We’re back, y’all. We’re really back.

The next episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK will be available to stream Thursday, Oct. 7, at 2 p.m. EST on WOW Presents Plus in the U.S. and OUTtv in Canada, as well as on BBC Three and the BBC’s iPlayer in the United Kingdom. Additionally, episodes are available the same day on Crave in Canada.

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