‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 8’ Episode 11 recap: Showcase showdown

It’s better late than never, I guess, that Kandy Muse and Jimbo open this week’s RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars episode openly questioning why there are just two of them left at season’s end. I’ve been puzzled as to why, over the past few episodes, there has not been more curiosity as to what this season’s format actually is. RuPaul even notes the herstoric nature of this final two when he greets the queens in the werk room—and then teases, via introduction of the eliminated queens, that this may not be the end of the story.

Of course, last week’s preview tells us why the queens are here: they’re competing in a Fame Games talent showcase. That makes any suspense about the top two format fall a bit flat, as does Ru’s prank that they’re bringing back the jury twist. But while parts of this twist fail to launch because of the show’s own format, the ultimate result is a nice one. Instead of starting this season with a talent show, they’re ending it with one—and while Jimbo and Kandy will still perform their acts (as well as host), the nine eliminated queens are the whole show.

A quick aside to note that, of course, as she is not participating in the Fame Games, Heidi N Closet is not present in this week’s episode. RuPaul’s Drag Race has been inconsistent in the past about how a queen quitting affects their future participation in the season: BenDeLaCreme came back as part of the jury on All Stars 3 and Icesis Couture came back for the finale in Canada vs The World, but Baby never reappeared on UK Season 4 and, perhaps most notably, Ginny Lemon was not given the chance to return after the COVID-19 hiatus in UK Season 2. It’s a haphazardly applied standard, but it seems to be the case that queens who quit are not permitted back for any potential gameplay—but they’re sometimes welcome for guest spots.

I’d have appreciated a little Heidi in this episode, though, especially if there were some reckoning about the circumstances in which she departed the competition. Without anything substantial to hang its hat on, this episode can’t help but feel like an unenthusiastic premiere, despite us being 11 episodes into the season. I felt this way about All Stars 7’s talent show, too: because queens almost universally come equipped with some kind of original reintroduction song to lip sync to as their act, and placing these performances at season’s end gives the impression that we’re meeting them all over again.

I do appreciate that we get a rendition of Reading Is Fundamental—which Mrs. Kasha Davis wins!—but even that can’t help but feel out of place. It’s no secret that All Stars competitors come with a list of reads for queens who they think might be in the season. (Scuttlebutt is that some of the funnier alumni actually write jokes for other queens. At a price, of course.) Because of that, reads based on queens’ previous season appearances fall really flat, while the queens who respond most to what happened during the season do best.

We also get some walkthroughs with Ru, but these are incredibly perfunctory. It’s really just a chance for every queen to tell the host what they’re doing, and exchange a couple of fun lines with Mama Ru. It’s fine, and certainly inoffensive, but I can’t help but feel like they’re padding an already padded episode.

The stakes are appropriately raised, however, when Ru makes an announcement: the prize for winning the talent show is to have your Fame Game votes multiplied by a certain amount. A spin of the wheel (Drag Race loves a wheel) will determine whether that multiplier is 2x, 3x or 5x the number of votes. In the right queen’s hands, a multiplier like this can basically guarantee a Fame Games win. It’s perplexing to me that the show doesn’t introduce this twist earlier in the episode, because it makes the rest of the installment feel much more vital.

On to the Fame Games Variety Show! There are, as you can imagine, just so many lip sync numbers. But they’re mostly solid! Monica Beverly Hillz’s number is sultry and strong, while Naysha Lopez does a captivating dance routine. Kasha’s is an angry-then-kind number about the state of our political world, with a taste of her love of Drag Queen Story Hour at the end. Darienne Lake goes with a stand-up comedy set—that arguably verges into the too-inspirational at the end—while Jaymes Mansfield does a routine about her big boobs. (You gotta wonder if she cursed herself when she saw Jimbo enter the werk room this season.)

I’m mixed on all five of the above routines, but I like-to-love all of the remaining four. Kahanna Montrese’s cheerleading routine is fiercely danced, but more than that, it actually brings a lot of personality into the act. The same goes for LaLa Ri’s dance number. She serves superstar on the stage, in a way that reminds me of Shea Couleé’s winning talent show performance of “Your Name” in All Stars 7. Without giving too much away, these two would be my tops of the week.

Alexis does a live Broadway-style number that she admits borrows much from Gypsy. I think those who are going to like it will love it—I’m one foot into that camp, if not fully—but I can see it feeling try-hard and not as impressive as some of the others. Jessica Wild’s is my third-favourite performance of the week, only harmed by the fact that it is so clearly a reintroduction track that it makes no sense in this season-ending talent show.

I don’t have much to say about the non-competitive portion of the program: Jimbo and Kandy both do well, but their numbers (a boob-milking routine from Jimbo, a performance straight out of the Werq the World tour for Kandy) are utterly unsurprising. Kandy’s “I Wanna Be Your Muse” track is a bop, though!

Ultimately, LaLa is indeed declared one of our top two … as is Jaymes. Now, lots of love to Jaymes, who seems like a delight, but truly what is this decision? I can’t imagine putting this performance higher than fourth at best on my personal scorecard. It takes a real stretch of the imagination to justify her placement next to LaLa. Kahanna was robbed, honestly.

Anyway, LaLa and Jaymes face off in a lip sync to “Rain on Me,” and LaLa is as captivating and ferocious on the song as you can imagine. Jaymes is fun, and the two interact well, but my eye consistently goes to LaLa. Which is why it’s a surprise when Ru declares that they’ve both won the lip sync. (He declares Jaymes the winner first, and I think I felt a blood vessel burst when I thought it wouldn’t be a double win.) Both queens get to spin the wheel, and both will get a multiplier to their Fame Game votes.

At least there’s some justice in how this goes down; Jaymes gets a 2x multiplier, while LaLa gets a 3x. That makes LaLa a real threat to win—although I do think one queen still has the advantage. (We’ll break down the odds in this week’s power ranking.) Voting is now open, and will be through Sunday. Let’s be honest, I’ve never claimed to be objective in these recaps, so let me say with my full chest: Vote for Jessica Wild!

In the end, the Fame Games Variety Show is a cute diversion, but nothing more. I imagine this twist will likely only happen this season, owing to the Fame Games’ lukewarm reception from fans, and I think that’s the right call. But next week, we get back to the pressing question at hand: who is going to win this whole season? (Jimbo.) See you all then for the grand finale!

Untucking our final thoughts

✨ As predicted last week, Jimbo does indeed open the box! And does it one-handed, at that! We got all those weeks of Kahanna struggling to open it when Jimbo could’ve done it so much more easily.

✨ I love the dialogue that ensues when Jimbo says she didn’t come from another country to lose. “It’s a two-hour flight!” Kandy yells. “It’s actually four!” Jimbo retorts.

✨ Naysha finally quoting “Bitches, I’m back!” when she returns to the werk room! We needed it as her entrance line way back in the premiere, but it’s still great here.

✨ Can’t get over Alexis’s absolutely absurd voice during the Reading Challenge. Her best line: “Jimbo! Lip sync! That’s the read!”

✨ My vote for who should’ve won the Reading Challenge, all due respect to Kasha: LaLa. No line in the whole challenge makes me laugh as hard as “So you know, Alexis is a triple threat. She has gonorrhea of the mouth, ass and the dick!”

✨ Sunday Riley … is a person? Not just a brand? You learn something new every day! (Also, like Olivia Newton-John’s daughter Chloe Lattanzi on Down Under Season 1, Sunday lies and says she’s been watching the episodes. They weren’t out when you filmed this, Sunday!)

✨ I appreciate that Alexis takes the time in the werk room to apologize to LaLa for eliminating her. LaLa seems, in an entirely fair reaction, to both appreciate Alexis’s apology and to not be willing to forget what prompted it. However, it does result in a new round of flirting from Alexis. When she asks what LaLa’s name out of drag is, LaLa responds: “Tamika. Beyoncé.” God, I’ll miss her.

✨ Does Ru’s runway outfit look familiar? It’s the same as in the Season 15 promo!

✨ Saturday Night Live’s Ego Nwodim is our guest judge for this week—and it’s an interesting choice to have a guest for this episode, especially considering the complete lack of negative critiques. Ego seems lovely, though!

✨ You couldn’t give us deliberations just this once, could you, All Stars 8? Even when they’re judges’ deliberations and not the queens’. Maddening until the very end.

The finale episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars will stream Friday, July 21, at 3 a.m. EDT on Paramount+ in the U.S. and on Crave in Canada. Check back every weekend after new episodes for our recaps and power rankings, and subscribe to our drag newsletter Wig! for exclusive Drag Race content delivered straight to your inbox every Tuesday afternoon.