Welcome to RuPaul’s Drag Race Power Rankings! Every Tuesday, we’ll debrief the week’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 14 to determine which queens are riding high, and which need she-mergency care. An incredibly self-referential maxi-challenge produces a familiar winner, but a very unexpected bottom two.
13. Alyssa Hunter (last week: 5) — ELIMINATED
I didn’t go into this episode thinking Alyssa was in danger of being eliminated, but I was aware that the show wasn’t invested in her after she was all but completely edited out of Episode 3. So when she was shown struggling in the challenge filming session and then got a spotlight segment opening up about how her and her father came out to each other, it was clearly curtains for Miss Hunter. I personally wouldn’t have put her in the bottom two—I think she was better than at least two others in the challenge, and her Jennifer Lopez runway was one of the best. I also don’t think the money gun was enough of an issue to make her lose the lip sync. But there’s not much to be done when the show just isn’t interested in seeing you stick around. A shame that the first Puerto Rican queen in seasons is out so soon.
12. Kerri Colby (last week: 9)
Utterly befuddled as to why Kerri was in the bottom two this week. She wasn’t great in the challenge, but she certainly wasn’t bad. And all of Ru and Michelle Visage’s critiques were so vague and platitude-based (I would be fine never hearing them tell a girl she has to be okay with not being pretty ever again) that I’m unsure Kerri has the tools to fix what they’re not responding to. The benefit Kerri has versus someone like Alyssa is that the show is invested in her: she’s a major confessional presence, and has gotten to share a lot of her story already. I think she’s still safe for a while, but it’s tough to feel confident about that when she was one money gun malfunction away from potentially going home this week.
11. Kornbread “The Snack” Jeté (last week: 8)
It’s funny: Kornbread’s role as a star, if not the star, of the season, plus her first episode challenge win, has made her feel like a frontrunner. But besides that talent show performance, her output in the competition has not been one of a frontrunner so far. I think she could’ve quite easily scored low for her ball looks last week, and in this episode, she actually did land in the bottom three for a one-note acting challenge performance. I’d have taken it a step further and had her lip sync—relative to what she’s capable of, her performance fell really short of expectations. I’m glad she’s still around and I hope her trajectory changes, but this is not where I thought we’d be with Kornbread just four episodes into the season.
10. Jorgeous (last week: 3)
Jorgeous absolutely should have been in the bottom, and would’ve been my personal choice to go home. She seemed pretty sure she would be in the bottom, too, if her reaction in Untucked is any indication! Her performance in the acting challenge was flat, and her nude illusion in her J.Lo look was the wrong colour (something the judges are often very particular about). No idea why she was judged safe this week. I almost wonder if Ru wasn’t willing to consider that his “born to do drag” praise from last week might’ve been hyperbolic, and simply sent Jorgeous to safety instead. Still, a very lucky break for the Texan queen.
9. Orion Story (last week: 12)
Unfortunately, Orion’s just not making an impact this season. Her “opening paragraph” from the premiere remains the most memorable thing about her, and she just keeps fading further and further into the background. Daya Betty also had to deal with being eliminated early but has been far more featured in confessionals and workroom segments. This season simply isn’t Orion’s story, if you’ll pardon the pun. Her work this week was fine: she had one good gag about being in love with herself in the acting challenge, and I appreciate that she picked something a little unusual for J.Lo by going with an Human Rights Campaign gala gown. But all that did was make her a clear safe pick—Orion just can’t get any momentum going. Unless former frontrunners keep disappointing, I have to believe Orion is one of the next two queens to go.
8. Jasmine Kennedie (last week: 6)
Jasmine might be gone before Orion, though, if the other queens have anything to say about it! The amount of time spent on telling Jasmine that effectively everything she does annoys the other queens—she talks over people, she writes when other people are talking, she cries too much—was absurd. I felt very Chad MIchaels yelling “We got it, girl” at Roxxxy Andrews in All Stars 2: we understand, editors and queens, that Jasmine is irritating. By challenge’s end, it did seem like things were okay… but Untucked revealed tensions are still high. (I did love her asking Kornbread who she would’ve put in the bottom instead, and responding to Kornbread saying that wasn’t what she was talking about with a simple “No, I know.”)
In terms of her challenge and runway performance, I thought Jasmine was on the high side of safe this week. Leaning into her real workroom issues for the challenge was a really smart idea, and her J.Lo runway felt like she found the most Jasmine look that Jennifer’s ever worn. But it’s just hard to imagine Jasmine’s heading anywhere near the top four with an edit like this.
7. Lady Camden (last week: 4)
I’m in a wait-and-see moment with Camden. Everything I’ve seen from her has been at worst solid, and at best pretty damn great. And she’s not invisible in the edit; in fact, her friendship with Angeria Paris VanMicheals has allowed her at least a few good workroom moments in every episode so far. (She also gets points from me for correctly diagnosing the issue in her group: they did have to keep pausing to “deal with the social dynamics at the table.”) But the show’s overall reaction to Camden seems… muted? Like this week, she was clearly doing something interesting by pretending to be an American in her supertease. Why didn’t we see more of that? The bits we got were funny! I remain a Lady Standen, but until the show starts paying more attention to her, I think she’s firmly middle of the pack.
6. Maddy Morphosis (last week: 13)
Well, okay, Maddy! This was by far her best week in the competition, and proved there might be a bit more than meets the eye with her. She clearly led her team successfully in the challenge—her group’s supertease was the superior one, although it did seem like she spent more effort helping the other queens have moments than she did giving herself the chance to shine. Had she had one or two more really good jokes, I think she could’ve been in contention for the win. On the runway, her choice of J.Lo’s inauguration look was super clever and out-of-the-box, though I wish she’d have gotten to bring her The Cell-inspired look instead. Overall, a very good week for Maddy, one that bodes well for her longevity in this competition.
5. Daya Betty (last week: 11)
There were a couple of queens who clicked for me this week in a way they haven’t previously, and Daya was very much one of them. Yes, the makeup can still be a bit too Crystal Methyd sometimes, but her J.Lo runway was a really nice departure from that lane. Like with Jasmine, Daya did a nice job finding the J.Lo look that felt the most organically Daya. She was really funny in the challenge (“I’m straight, too!”), and really encouraging of Maddy’s leadership. I misjudged Daya, I think. If she can continue to forge her own path in this competition, and the judges don’t hang either the “already eliminated” or “too Crystal” anchors on her, she could go far.
4. Bosco (last week: 7)
I also really came around on Bosco this week, who has been slaying me in her confessionals but has felt too repetitive in her looks. All that changed with her Golden Globes J.Lo dress, which she looked drop dead gorgeous in. Similar to how Charity Kase surprised early in UK Season 3 with a high glam look that felt totally separate from her other drag, Bosco has shown there’s more to her than the range we’ve seen so far. (Of course, Charity promptly went back to her previous, over-the-top style for every other look she showed; I’m hoping Bosco can continue to surprise us instead.) In the challenge, Bosco was also committed to the character: she was very funny, and game to look and act a fool. A really good week for Bosco; I have to imagine she was just a hair below the top three on the scorecards.
3. DeJa Skye (last week: 10)
While I’ve liked DeJa all season, I did worry that she wasn’t at the caliber to compete with this cast. I was dead wrong about that, at least when it comes to comedy and acting challenges. DeJa was amazing this week, turning in one of the funniest acting challenge performances we’ve ever seen. She was so good at blending different levels of humour, and her big monologue (“I was born at a very young age”) was the comedic centerpiece of her team’s supertease. If I had to guess why she didn’t win the challenge, it would boil down to: a) I do think two others were just as good as her, and b) her runway was too far off J.Lo’s original to fit the category. Ross Mathews liked that it was a different interpretation, but I thought he was being pretty generous. Still, this was a triumphant episode for DeJa. Hopefully this is just the start of an upward trajectory—the Skye’s the limit.
2. Willow Pill (last week: 1)
Man, Willow’s really fucking good at Drag Race. Sometimes, the girls with outré senses of humour falter when it comes to more traditional challenges, as they can’t quite fit what they think is funny into the formula. But Willow was hilarious in her sketch, playing a woman who thinks she’s on The Bitchelor, not Drag Race. Her frenzied search for Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman (“Jeffrey! Jeffrey!”) was gold, as was her dramatic assertion that she was promised love “and a daily meal voucher!” On the runway, she joined the chorus of those who found the right J.Lo look for them, but I’ll give Willow a bit more credit for her choice. Yes, as she noted, it’s an “ugly” look, but it’s also distinctly ugly in that early-2000s pop culture lane. From her entrance look onward, Willow’s kept that as a consistent theme in her work, and it’s a great niche for her.
I think it’s way too early to make any big calls (look how Kornbread has fallen down the ranking) but I do think, based on her edit and performance so far, Willow has a great shot at winning this whole thing.
1. Angeria Paris VanMicheals (last week: 2)
But that’s only if Angie doesn’t win it first! With two wins and a near-win last week, Angeria’s performance at the start of this season has been impeccable. She’s consistently gorgeous on the runway (that Met Ball look!), and she’s demonstrated that no challenge hurdle is too high for her to clear. The fact that she’s a professed non-actor and produced this funny of a performance is no small feat. There’s something about what Angeria did that cannot be taught, like knowing that adding a syllable to ugly (“ug-a-ly”) is going to be hilarious. Her ugly crying bit with DeJa had me in tears.
Even in the workroom, Angeria is winning. Her chats with Kerri and Kornbread are delightful, and her excitement about what other queens are doing (reaching across the table to enthusiastically cheer Maddy’s good idea on!) is infectious. Being the early frontrunner is a fragile position on Drag Race these days, but if anyone can pull off slaying the game and keeping us invested in her, I’m betting it’s Angie.
Why you can trust Xtra
