‘RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under’ Episode 3 recap: Break up, bye bye

Be it the Saturday morning releases or the overall quality of the season so far, RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under is not exactly setting the Drag Race world on fire. Art Simone’s instantly memeable “that means nothing” reaction from last week was a glorious exception, but on the whole, Down Under just isn’t grabbing international audiences’ attention the way Drag Race UK has. Despite the fact that we’re nearly halfway through this short season, there’s still time for things to change.

I’m not sure they will, though. This week’s episode is probably the best so far, but in terms of production quality and the competition itself, it’s still far behind nearly every other version of the show. Only Drag Race Holland, which was similarly produced on a tight turnaround, felt like it had the same level of production quality—but even in that case, queens like Envy Peru and Sederginne were impressive in the challenges and on the runway.

This group of queens has some interesting personalities: I’m all in on Anita Wig’lit in the wake of Art’s departure, and I’m interested in what Etcetera Etcetera is bringing to the table. But the challenges haven’t been the best for showcasing their skills. The Hometown Ball was underwhelming, and the too-early Snatch Game proved misguided. 

But finally, in the third episode, the queens are able to show off. Split into two groups, they’re tasked with performing a new Leland Drag Race song, “Queens Down Under,” and writing their own verses. One group excels, while the other has a bit of a spotlight focus problem.

Unfortunately, wonky judging puts a damper on the proceedings, with the queens assessed individually instead of as teams. (Hello, arbitrary production decision!) It keeps this challenge from being a breakout moment for Drag Race Down Under, like the girl group episodes have been in both seasons of Drag Race UK. Instead, it’s just a sign that things might slowly, subtly be getting more interesting.

We begin with Art’s mirror message, which tells Karen From Finance to bring home the crown. The queens are sufficiently put on notice after Art’s departure that no one is safe—which, of course, is exactly what the elimination was designed to do. Art absolutely bombed Snatch Game and deserved to go home after the lip sync—Coco Jumbo clearly won, and she’s quite proud of herself—but we’ve seen big threats preserved from having to lip sync early in other seasons. No, sending home Art and the girls getting the signal to step it up is absolutely part of the plan.

After a Baywatch-inspired mini-challenge that I would call “occasionally entertaining,” Scarlet Adams and Elektra Shock share the win (different prizes, curiously). The queens are then assigned their task and made to split into teams. Scarlet gets first pick and goes with Etcetera, Coco and Anita, while Elektra gets Karen, Kita Mean and, by default, Maxi Shield. It’s immediately apparent that Scarlet’s team is more prepared for this, especially as Elektra’s team spends more time executing prank fights than they do working on their performance.

Before recording their verses with Michelle Visage, the dolls get a video message from “Queens Down Under” writer Leland and Australian pop superstar Troye Sivan. The pair’s advice for songwriting is pretty standard, but there is a truly amazing bit in which Troye admits he and Leland have written songs about “getting fucked hard in the asshole, like a pig-bottomed, bareback bottom, raw-dog bottom bitch.” That’ll go viral, to say the least!

Once again, however, this pre-recorded message is interacted with like it’s a live call, and it’s making me chafe at this whole idea of the “extra special guest stars.” I get it: Having celebrity guests on set in a place as locked down as New Zealand is not easy! But I’ve long felt that Drag Race is at its worst when it’s lying to the audience. Poking fun at Ru not being in drag for the first episode was goofy and enjoyable, but it was also honest. We can still have fun and be transparent about production issues.

Anyway, between verse recording and choreography, we get a bit with Elektra in which she opens up to the other girls on her team about losing her home and dance studio. She admits her “basic drag” comes from not having much, once again bringing up Drag Race’s uncomfortable relationship with money. Elektra is one hell of a performer, as she demonstrates multiple times this week, but she keeps getting knocked for not delivering on the runway. I actually cringe when Michelle says Elektra’s level of drag won’t work on Drag Race—was Jinkx Monsoon’s win so long ago that she can’t remember when a queen with huge talent but not the most impressive looks triumphed?

Unfortunately, Elektra’s group suffers from her making the choreography too much about herself. She’s great in the number, but Karen, Kita and Maxi all suffer in comparison. You’d think that her doing so well would still save her from the bottom two, but alas, she is placed there to fight for her place in the competition once again. Maxi likely should be in there with her, considering how poor her verse is, but as mentioned, Ru decides to judge this challenge individually instead.

What makes this such a strange decision is that, by all accounts, Scarlet’s group smashes it. Coco’s verse is the most basic, but she does well with the choreography (save a minor slip or two), and she fully commits. Anita is a blast, and has by far the best verse, while Etcetera gets shipped off to safety despite a killer performance of her own. Scarlet, in contrast, gets credit for killing her performance and allowing her whole team to shine in the choreography. She takes the win over Anita and an also-strong Kita.

That means Coco and Elektra, who won the first two lip syncs, must now fight for their chance to stay to the tune of Peaches & Herb’s “Shake Your Groove Thing.” Etcetera actually foreshadows this at the start of the episode, noting that for either of these queens to go, it’ll probably have to be in a lip sync against each other. Considering how sketchy the judging is this week, I’d say Ru and production have the same thought: The only way to guarantee one of these two goes home is to make them the only options for elimination.

The pair kills this lip sync. It’s high-energy, full of fun stunts and a demonstration of what it really looks like to lip sync for your life. Elektra is just a bit more dynamic, so she takes the win, but Coco does quite well for herself. She heads out of the game, becoming the third queen eliminated.

Again, just because this is the best episode of the season so far doesn’t mean it was a great individual installment. Drag Race Down Under isn’t clicking in the way it needs to in order to stand out in an increasingly crowded market of shows. The queens can perform their hearts out, but they can only be as successful as the show permits them to be. Right now, it just feels like there’s a ceiling on exactly how far Down Under can go.

Untucking our final thoughts

✨Up and Down (Under): Speaking of going up and down! Scarlet’s win obviously boosts her in the pack, and I’d argue Karen has fully lost her momentum after her poor Dolly Parton and an underwhelming verse here. Anita remains at the top of the pack, logging another week in the high-scoring group and earning the judging panel’s increased interest. I’m not quite sure what to make of Elektra: The show is investing in her, but she’s now already been in the bottom twice. I could see her turning things around, or just going out next week.

✨Lots of product placement in this episode, from the Manscaped ad in the mini-challenge to Snag Tights sponsoring the maxi-challenge. Scarlet also gets a “custom prosthetic piece” as her maxi-challenge win, instead of just cold hard cash like the last two winners. It is valued at $4,500, though, so there’s that.

✨Michelle responds to Scarlet’s bogan prom runway look by saying “There’s always time for a cocktail!” We love a Mrs. Kasha Davis reference!

✨Upon being asked what his favourite girl group is, judge Rhys Nicholson says, “Well, I’ve always been a fan of the music of the 1960s, so, Seduction?” He remains one of the clear bright spots of the show so far.

✨There is a whole storyline in the workroom about a note that says “WATCH OUT” written in green pen left for Coco. Who wrote it? Art seems to be the consensus guess, but there are theories that Coco wrote it for herself. It goes nowhere, but it’s a bit weird.

✨Etcetera references Roger Federer in her verse: “It’s a sporting reference for our wonderful straight audiences at home.”

The next episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under streams Saturday, May 22, 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.