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. RuPaul picked a winner that many on and off the show questioned this week—leaving someone else in a much better position at the top of the ranking. But who?
10. Maddy Morphosis (last week: 5) — ELIMINATED
Honestly, good for Maddy for going out with a bit of fight in her. In contrast to her weak “I Love It” lip sync a few weeks back, Maddy let her drama with Jasmine Kennedie in Untucked fuel her performance. Granted, she was going up against someone who was going to beat her no matter what—Jasmine is a beast in a lip sync—but Maddy didn’t just lay down and take it. But let’s be clear: her runway look was absolutely hideous. She was lip-syncing because she deserved to; if anything, she should’ve been up against DeJa Skye or Kerri Colby instead.
As much as I grew to appreciate Maddy, I am glad she’s leaving the season at this point. The discourse around her casting and drag has been an anchor around this season’s neck, and if we got any further down the line, it might’ve overwhelmed anything else happening on the show. Now we get to enjoy Maddy online, where she is often quick-witted, funny and creative. Just look at her exit Instagram post! Delightful.
9. Jasmine Kennedie (last week: 9)
Well, we finally reached what the show has been building up to for weeks: Jasmine as Untucked villain. The funny thing is, I actually found myself agreeing with her. She didn’t have reason to worry about Maddy (she saw her previous lip sync, after all), and the judges were indeed kinder about Jasmine’s look then they were Maddy’s. Maddy could say that they were both in the bottom two, but Jasmine felt confident that she would stay—and she did. Hard to watch the fight after the lip sync and think anything but, “Well, she’s right.” (All the more reason to move Untucked into the main show, like all the international iterations do.)
Adding to that, Jasmine really shouldn’t have been in the bottom two at all, much less even in the low-scoring group. Her look was simple, but there was some style to it, and it was a complete garment. I believe Ru just plans on using Jasmine and Jorgeous to knock queens out all season at this point. They’re both amazing performers, and Ru seems content to just watch them go all out until they, inevitably, face off against each other.
8. DeJa Skye (last week: 7)
I just don’t know, y’all. I still really like DeJa’s energy, but her look this week was two pieces of fabric stitched together. She did manage to add some pizazz by going with a Grecian vibe, but she over-accessorized it in the process. And she’s the seamstress of the group! Even more troubling is that DeJa is barely visible in the edit, which is more understandable at top 14, but feels purposeful at top 10. I see her going home very soon, particularly since Ru has other potential Lip Sync Assassins in her repertoire.
7. Daya Betty (last week: 8)
Okay, gang, let’s talk Daya. I understand that it is frustrating and even painful for queens to be compared to those who have come on Drag Race before. Not every pretty white girl is Courtney Act; not every southern pageant queen is Kennedy Davenport. I’ve been guilty of such comparisons in the past, and have in recent seasons tried to step away from them when I can because I do ultimately believe you have to judge every queen on their own merits and for their personal drag.
The problem is that Daya herself has no clear idea of how her drag is different from Crystal Methyd’s. Or at least, she has repeatedly failed to communicate how it is different. She’s reduced it down to “Crystal is light and fun, and I’m dark and edgy,” yet most of Daya’s garments this season have been light and fun. And I don’t think that’s a correct assessment of Crystal’s drag anyway; plenty of it was weird and outside-the-box. The supercut comparing Daya’s makeup looks to Crystal’s in Season 12 was particularly glaring: you can see she’s using some of the same elements in almost the exact same way. Her most successful look this season, to me, remains her J.Lo look—it’s the one time I could never see Crystal in.
And this week, frustrated with her many times in the bottom, Daya asked Ru and Carson Kressley plainly what she should do differently. They told her it’s all too Crystal. And what does Daya do? She comes out in a runway look that is incredibly Crystal. Of course she was just called safe for it. Was it a better garment than Jorgeous’? Absolutely. And I can understand Daya’s negative reaction to Jorgeous’ win. But Daya’s rant in Untucked shows she is not listening to the judges. They want to see Daya, and finally understand what it is that makes her different from Crystal. Until she can effectively and clearly communicate what that difference is, I don’t think she’s going to ever place above safe.
6. Kerri Colby (last week: 6)
I let out a cackle when Kerri was sent to safety. Her look was absolutely terrible—a mishmash of umbrella and mop bits that didn’t cohere. I couldn’t tell if it just looked unfinished, or if she actually just ran out of material. But you know what? She’s giving us, bar none, the best confessionals of the season. “Bitch, I failed science” had me in stitches. So why not ferry her off to safety even when she doesn’t deserve it for a few more weeks? Listen, there’s a lot more chaff to get through this season, and Kerri’s an incredibly enjoyable presence. She absolutely will not win RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 14, but she’ll be a lot of fun to have on the journey.
5. Willow Pill (last week: 4)
I didn’t catch it last week, but it seems like Willow has been thrown off her hot streak by Kornbread “The Snack” Jeté’s departure. She’s lost the one friend in the room we saw her being totally honest with about her needs related to her cystinosis. I felt for her as she struggled with the boxes this week; she didn’t seem comfortable asking the others to help open them for her, instead opting to grab leftover scraps. This, plus Daya forcing her to scrap her first design plan, left her in a bad spot, and it showed in the final garment.
I liked Willow’s idea of a demented stuffed animal, and the arms were cool. But the dress itself was pretty disastrous: it was too short, and the fabric looked tortured. I’d say she was lucky to be safe, but there were a lot worse entries this week.
4. Bosco (last week: 1)
I liked Bosco’s garment the more I looked at it. At first, it was a bit too simple: just a blue bodysuit made out of some unconventional materials. But then, looking more at the bodice, you can see she really did some nice work with what she had. I also always tip my cap to those who make something other than a dress during a challenge like this; it’s a higher degree of difficulty. And in a pretty lackluster crop of outfits, Bosco’s stood out. I might’ve placed her in the top over Daya (and definitely over Jorgeous), but she would’ve been a clear third of three.
3. Lady Camden (last week: 3)
General consensus seems to be that Camden was robbed this week, and I can see that. I personally found her outfit to be a bit fragile-looking, but she did the best job creating something fantastical. Major kudos to Ru (although I have a suspicion it was a Raven-via-Ru note) for the tip about Camden’s lips. It totally changed her face, and both her mug and hair looked stunning this week. I fully believe a win is coming for Camden—it just might take a while.
2. Jorgeous (last week: 10)
Yes, she won, but in incredibly dubious fashion. Jorgeous’ garment is among my least-favourite design challenge wins ever, and from what I’ve seen online, the fandom is baffled by this victory. The fact that the queens on the show (including and especially Daya) also openly questioned it does not bode well for Jorgeous, since it means Drag Race itself is undercutting what should be an unabashedly positive moment for her.
That said, we’ve seen queens undermined by the edit but beloved by Ru go very far before. (Remember how disparate Silky Nutmeg Ganache’s treatment by the host and show was in Season 11?) And Ru loves Jorgeous. He repeated the “born to do drag” blessing several times this week, and while Carson offered Jorgeous critique in the workroom, Ru just fawned over his chosen favourite. Again, we’ve seen this with Krystal Versace in UK Season 3, and that took her all the way to the end. Will Jorgeous be able to pull off a similar feat?
1. Angeria Paris VanMicheals (last week: 2)
It’s been a long time since I’ve ranked anyone but the maxi-challenge winner as my top of the week. Truth be told, it’s because my personal understanding of these power rankings has evolved over time: I try to reflect what’s happening in a given moment of the show, not what’s happening at large. But Jorgeous’ edit upon winning and Angeria’s literally unprecedented track record so far has left me no choice but to rank Angeria as our #1 queen this week.
Absolutely no one has pulled off what Angeria has this season: she has placed in the high-scoring group every single week she’s competed in Season 14, and has won twice. Even BenDeLaCreme eventually was just safe come Episode 5 during her unbelievable All Stars 3 run. Angeria has excelled in every category presented so far: runway, design, acting, lip sync (to her own track, no less) and more. At this point, it would take an unbelievable change in the tides for Angeria to not make it to the end. And I think you’d be betting much smarter money to wager on Angeria keeping it up instead! She’s a legend in the making—and I would already be delighted to see her with this season’s crown.
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