Nothing is ever as it seems when it comes to a Drag Race twist. Alyssa Edwards and Tatianna both returned in All Stars 2. A jury kept Shangela from sailing to an All Stars 3 victory—and it wasn’t even close. No one went home in the two premieres of Season 12. So it’s no shock that what we were told would happen this week does not: Elliott With Two Ts, the queen voted out by the losing queens from the season premiere, does not go home.
Instead, Elliott is embedded in the group of winning queens for their proper premiere, featuring a daytime and nighttime runway mini-challenge and a performance to one of RuPaul’s songs. It’s the same format as the Season 12 premiere, although the queens aren’t split arbitrarily. It creates some interesting stakes for the winners; they just impressed in their lip syncs, but now only the strongest are their competition. And Elliott, who is the only non-winner, has a lot to prove.
But despite efforts to suggest someone might go home this week, it’s pretty obvious there will be no elimination at episode’s end. After all, RuPaul gives a full sermon about how no one is really a loser on Drag Race: First-outs like Victoria “Porkchop” Parker, Shangela and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo have gone on to great success. To eliminate someone after that would feel dissonant—even if Ru does make it clear that queens will go home this season. This is still Drag Race, after all.
That said, there’s an interesting discussion to have about how expectations of this show have changed over the years. As it’s grown, it’s fair to say the fandom has expanded to include people who are not otherwise fans of reality television. If you’re a devotee of such shows as Big Brother and America’s Next Top Model, in which psychological manipulation by the production team is part of the package, last week’s premiere twist was tame. However, in the wake of the first episode, the fandom expressed concerns that the twist was traumatizing or cruel. Some viewers were less interested in the potential dramatic stakes, and more so in the queens’ mental health.
Could there be a season in which no one goes home? Where a points system is instead used, and the competition is run like a pageant? I don’t think so. And, more to the point, I don’t want that. I’d love to see more drag television shows and think a pageant-focused series that doesn’t eliminate queens would be fascinating, but that’s not Drag Race. Eliminations, as Ru says, are part of the program.
But since no one goes home this week, it’s more of an exhibition match of an episode. The seven queens get to show four different looks: Two mini-challenge garments, a lamé runway look and a performance look for their version of RuPaul’s “Condragulations.” They write and record their own verses, some opting to rap while others sing. They come up with their own choreography, and endear themselves to us in confessionals and workroom chatter.
Overall impressions: This is a fun group! Kandy Muse is the most entertaining, having wanted for years to be on Drag Race and making the most of every moment. Elliott is a bit shadier than you might’ve originally thought, but ultimately charms the others. Olivia Lux and Symone are stars, compelling to watch even when they’re just chatting. Tina Burner is old school in the best ways, dishing out reads in her confessionals like they’re candy. LaLa Ri is a delight, so quotable already. (“Hold on, press pause!”)
Gottmik is the star of this episode, though, and it’s all thanks to her honesty and openness. Her verse for “Condragulations” is a reflection of her experience as a trans man doing drag, but she realizes when it comes on that she hasn’t actually come out to the other girls as trans. (Gottmik uses she/her pronouns in drag and he/him pronouns out of drag.) She continues to feel a greater sense of gender dysphoria than she had anticipated, and suffers a mental block in rehearsal because of it.
This has got to be tremendously difficult to discuss in any venue, much less on an international hit television show. Gottmik is the first trans man to ever appear as a RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant. I can’t imagine the pressure to do well.
But Gottmik does not let the momentary frustration get her down. She opens up to Olivia in the workroom about her gender identity, and Olivia kindly both asks for Gottmik’s pronouns and shares her own. It’s a lovely moment, punctuated with honest, real confessionals from Gottmik about her experience. Instead of letting the other queens take the lead in the storytelling, Drag Race keeps the focus firmly on Gottmik. The moment works because the show lets her guide the direction.
Unfortunately, while Gottmik does recover emotionally, you can tell that the time lost in rehearsal catches up to her. She’s one of the weaker performers in “Condragulations,” though all her terrific looks prove she’s got plenty to offer. Kandy also struggles with a verse that’s a bit too mealy-mouthed, and she fails to cover well after she misses some choreography. The two are worried about being the bottom queens—but luckily, there are no bottoms this week. (“Except on the judging panel,” Ru jokes.)
Instead, Symone and Olivia make up the top two of the week. While the other queens do well, particularly LaLa in her verse and dancing, you can’t beat the top queens for their sheer watchability. Both are utterly compelling as performers, equipped with strong verses and even stronger star power. Ru calls Symone’s through-the-roof star quality outright in her critiques, which makes Symone teary-eyed. It’s a terrific compliment right out of the gate for the self-described “Ebony Enchantress,” while Olivia makes good on her workroom promise to prove she’s a threat.
The top two lip sync for the win to Dua Lipa’s “Break Your Heart.” It’s a refreshingly low-stunt performance, as the queens go for purely emotional, face-driven performances. Olivia gives the bigger lip sync, falling to the ground fake crying at one point, but struggles with a bit of a hair malfunction near the end. Symone, on the other hand, is poised, confident and doesn’t miss a beat. She’s dressed as a boxer for the lamé runway, and indeed, her performance this week is a knockout.
Next week, we’ll check back in with the other six losing queens from the premiere. How will their performances stack up? Are the underdogs going to stay that way, or are they going to impress even more than their winning counterparts? And how will they deal with Elliott when the groups inevitably reunite?
This is a more traditional episode than the premiere, and it does seem like it’ll be quite a while before we actually get an elimination. But for now, it’s nice to just get time to know this cast. They’re a great group, and by the time we have to lose one of them it’ll feel like losing a friend. Tough to swallow? Absolutely. But again, this is a reality show. As Dua sings, Drag Race will never fail to “break your heart.”
Untucking our final thoughts
✨ I’m starting to tire of the two looks fashion mini-challenge. I get that it’s a chance for us to see a lot of the queens’ fashions, but considering we got their entrance look last week as well as performance and runway looks this week, it just becomes a lot at once. If this is going to continue, I’d rather get one garment—show us an outfit that really represents you. Bonus points if they have a budget constraint for it, so as to not allow the girls with more resources to outshine those who can’t afford super expensive looks.
✨ Ultimate verdict on the premiere twist: While I love the drama of it, it feels a bit half-baked to ask the girls to eliminate someone only for them to immediately come back. I never really believed Elliott was gone because the show treats her would-be elimination so casually, and I’m not compelled by the idea of Elliott as a “spy” for the other group. Why would she be? They just voted her out! I’d rather there been no vote and Elliott stayed with the losing queens’ group, then have one of them eliminated at the end of their premiere. Thus, the prize for winning the initial lip sync would be “immunity,” as no one from the winners’ premiere would go home.
✨ During Ru’s opening speech, he mentions ignoring people who call you a loser. This feels like it’s intended to address the increasingly toxic behaviour of the fanbase, although I would have preferred to hear Ru talk directly to the audience about it as well.
✨ Always a pleasure to see Jamal Sims, although I wish he’d have done the choreography for the girls. Do you think COVID-19 restrictions kept him from doing so?
✨ Jamal will be one of a few secondary rotating guest judges this season, alongside Cynthia Erivo, Nicole Byer, Ts Madison and Loni Love. I’m obsessed with that lineup—and I hope we get to see each of them at least a couple times this season.
✨ This is the last recap before RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 2 premieres next Thursday. The show will once again air on BBC Three in the U.K.; U.S. viewers can find it on WOW Presents Plus (or Logo eight days later), while Canadian viewers will once again access it on Crave. We’ll be recapping the season on Friday mornings. It looks like a good time, though I’m personally most interested to see how the show handles the mid-season filming stoppage after COVID-19 shut down production. Who will come back stronger than ever mid-season? I can’t wait to find out.
✨ “Poppers?”
The next episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race airs Friday, January 15, at 8 p.m. EST on VH1 in the U.S. and on Crave and OUTtv in Canada.
Why you can trust Xtra
