Anita Wig’lit walks into the room at the start of this week’s RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under by announcing that they’re the top seven. When she gets clocked for saying the number every week, she volleys back, “I just want to prove to the world that I can count!”
It’s kind of a perfect bit of Drag Race banter for the show’s modern age, because it’s funny and quick but doesn’t tear anyone else down. It doesn’t even qualify as self-deprecating, necessarily; it’s just playful and fun. That’s the main thing Anita has been bringing to this otherwise pretty dismal season: A sense of fun.
By the end of the hour, we’re still at a top seven. But Anita won’t be around to announce it next week.
Yes, in what may be the most disappointing turn in a very disappointing season, Snatch Game-winner and former frontrunner Anita Wig’lit is sent home on her very first trip to the bottom two. And a dubious trip it is! Though her book page creation for the recycled materials design challenge is not exactly a triumph, it’s an effective look. I’d have placed her in the safe group or the low-scoring slot at the worst. But Ru pits her in the bottom against first-challenge winner Karen From Finance, and Karen beats her in a lip sync to a Dannii Minogue song.
I’m pretty devastated by this boot; Anita was the one queen I found myself rooting for. While another queen I like a lot has returned to the competition (Art Simone), the circumstances of her return make it tough to reinvest in her story. And while Scarlet Adams’ win is deserved for a super cute picnic runway, her taking home another prize prevents anyone else from gaining momentum.
But despite the disappointments, we press on! One of these seven queens is going to be Down Under’s first Drag Race Superstar, no matter how rough the journey.
Credit: Courtesy of World of Wonder
While introducing the recycled materials design maxi-challenge, Ru hints that someone else, like the materials, might be getting a second chance. Sure enough, like Shangela hopping out of a box, Art pops out of the trash.
Quick question though: Why? Neither Jojo Zaho nor Coco Jumbo was granted a chance to return, and Art doesn’t have to do anything to earn a comeback. Ru doesn’t even say he thinks his choice to eliminate her was wrong—she’s just back.
This fails as a way to reintroduce a queen: It feels arbitrary, and considering Art is the only white queen eliminated up to this point (while Coco and Jojo were the only queens of colour in the competition), it feels icky as well. I like Art, and I hope she does well. But if she wins this season, it will always carry the asterisk of someone who got to the crown with a giant, unfair boost.
Considering she’s ultimately safe, Elektra Shock gets the bulk of the attention in the edit this week. She knows she needs to step it up in the fashion department, but even if she didn’t know, she’d have Scarlet and Etcetera Etcetera there to remind her. The two are relentless in their needling of the Kiwi queen, but Elektra stands her ground. I gotta say, Elektra’s becoming one of my favourites in this group based solely on her nerve. I don’t know if I want her to win Drag Race Down Under—God knows who I do want to win at this point—but I hope she sticks around for a while.
Even when Scarlet drags Elektra directly to Ru in his workroom visit (“There’s so much more to performing than just doing the splits 20 times”), Elektra stands her ground, and uses it as a chance to elevate her design. It results in Elektra getting a special shout-out for “listening” to the judges, although as I said, she’s ultimately just safe.
Credit: Courtesy of World of Wonder
Elektra fares much better this week than Karen From Finance and Etcetera, who surprisingly lands in the bottom three for doing something too simple, despite her design expertise. Art coming back really throws Karen off her game: She decides it’s time to redeem her Snatch Game performance, something Art tries to do in this challenge too. While I do agree that there’s something weird about the queen who definitively lost the show’s signature challenge returning—especially in an episode where the only queen to do well in that challenge goes home—Karen chooses to process her feelings about this in entirely the wrong way.
She does a super conceptual look in character as Schapelle Corby, which is far too niche and too much of a costume. Michelle Visage notes that she doesn’t present a drag version of Schapelle and that the look goes nowhere. Karen’s been struggling since her first episode win, with a poor Dolly Parton impersonation in Snatch Game, a bottom-worthy performance in last week’s girl group challenge and now this. If there’s an early frontrunner to eliminate, you think it’d be her.
She does kill it in the lip sync, but I wouldn’t have put her in the bottom in the first place; I’d have put Anita’s business partner Kita Mean there. Her look is campy and fun, but it apparently has a giant rip in the back, which should’ve been called out by the judges. Etcetera in particular is very annoyed that they’re in the bottom while Kita is safe, and I don’t blame them.
In the top with Scarlet, but ultimately falling short, are Maxi Shield in a well-made grunge/punk garment, and Art in a Marie Antoinette-inspired look. I’d have put Art in my top three as well (alongside Elektra). But I have to admit, it’s rich that Anita gets called out for doing something they’ve seen before while Art doesn’t get the same treatment for presenting the latest in a line of Marie Antoinette looks on Drag Race. The treatment of Art rubs me the wrong way, which is a shame because I really enjoy her, but I just want to feel like she really deserves this second chance.
Credit: Courtesy of World of Wonder
It’s never my goal to go super negative in any recap of Drag Race, because ultimately this is a show that brings more joy than anything else. But Down Under is testing my resolve. I’ve mentioned in previous recaps the issues with the production quality and challenge design, and now I have to add the judging onto that list of complaints. Losing Anita is a tremendous bummer, and it’s hard to justify within the context of what is actually presented on the runway this week. The criticisms feel arbitrary, and putting two of the previous challenge winners in the bottom feels like a setup for a shock boot.
We’re halfway through the season, with at least three more eliminations left, and I’m intrigued as to how things go from here. But if this week is any indication, I think we’re in for a bumpy ride.
Untucking our final thoughts
✨Up and Down (Under): I would say that Scarlet is the unquestionable frontrunner at this point, but the fanbase’s response to her history of performing in blackface has been so persistent that I can’t imagine her being crowned. When asked about Scarlet, Michelle herself has said “everyone needs to be held responsible” for their past actions, so production is definitely very aware. The problem is, with two wins and the only other remaining challenge-winner (Karen) having just lip-synced for her life, it’s hard to decipher who’s on top at this point if not Scarlet. Elektra is certainly getting the lion’s share of the edit—perhaps she’s got a big comeback ahead? Or could Art become the first returning queen to win?
✨Karen should’ve abandoned her plan the second she heard that Ru’s answer to the question “Do you know Schapelle Corby?” was an instant “Nope!”
✨We have an actual guest judge! Elz Carrad, a trans Kiwi actor, gives some nice notes to the dolls and promotes his upcoming movie. He seems lovely, if a bit bewildered. Mostly, it’s just nice to see someone else on the judging panel again.
✨Rhys Nicholson’s banter with Ru continues to be the highlight of the show. He describes his style this week as “Southern lawyer with a secret,” adding, “I do declare I’m a little light in the loafers. And by that I mean: Butt stuff.”
✨“A monkey could style Nicole Kidman.” RuPaul with the out-of-nowhere drag of Kidman! Justice for her stylists, honestly.
✨Art denies she wrote the “WATCH OUT” note that was left at Coco Jumbo’s station, but she has admitted to writing it in the real world. Not sure why she pretends she didn’t!
✨This is a small thing, but one issue with the production of this show is that we’re missing some of the Drag Race standards: For example, where is the “Previously on Drag Race” voiceover in the recap of last week’s episode? It’s the failings in the small touches like these that make the show feel more hollow.
✨“Did anyone have a crush on Buzz Lightyear when they were younger? Anyone?” I will miss Anita so deeply.
The next episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under streams Saturday, May 29, on WOW Presents Plus in the United States and on Crave in Canada, dropping at 3 a.m. EDT/12 a.m. PT. In other territories, check WOW Presents Plus for your local listings.
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