‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 18, Episode 10 recap: Trash into treasure

Just a week after I expressed some nervousness that RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18 was going down the wrong path, here comes what I would call the best episode since Episode 4, and maybe of the entire season! This installment, in which the queens are tasked with designing outfits made of fabric left behind by the eliminated girls, has everything you could want in a Drag Race episode. There’s an interesting, new challenge with a strategic wrinkle thrown in. There’s lots of hilarious werk room camaraderie. And there’s even drama over potential cheating!

Most heartening of all is that, after eliminating a lot of the queens with the most personality in the first half of the competition, Drag Race uses this episode to really define its remaining top seven—both as individuals and as a group. While queens like Jane Don’t, Juicy Love Dion and Kenya Pleaser have been at the fore of the narrative so far, other queens like Darlene Mitchell and even two-time challenge winner Nini Coco have been quieter personalities. Myki Meeks has been coming more into focus since her scrape with danger in the Rate-a-Queen Talent Show, but was not a major character for the five episodes before that.

And then there’s Discord Addams, a curious case by any measure. I’ve written about RuPaul’s unusual treatment of Discord, where he seems more entertained by her than any of the other judges do and has thus been more favourable in his critiques than her challenge performances have merited. This really came to a head last week, when the fandom largely seemed to think she should’ve been in the bottom two over Juicy. Myki and Jane echo that sentiment in this week’s cold open, while Discord herself puts forth the argument that she wasn’t even in the bottom three.

Here’s the thing: based on what we saw of Ru’s critiques, and the way he called out the tops and bottoms after deliberations, I agree with Discord! I think she was “yellow safe”—a term coined by track-record-obsessed fans of Drag Race for queens who are critiqued, but not clearly in a positive or negative direction. (It is so named for the yellowish tint used on the fan wiki.) But Discord says in Untucked this week that she feels a strange energy from the other queens after not being in the bottom for the Rusical. Does that inform the drama with Discord that takes place later in the episode? Hard to tell, but I do think throughout this episode, Discord sticks out more and more like she doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of this top seven.

I’m getting ahead of myself, though. We start this week with the queens sending Athena Dion off by learning a little Greek from Juicy, plus a group “Opa!” It’s cute! And sets the stage for an episode where good vibes among the cast largely win out. After Myki wins the reading challenge—more on that in the final thoughts—we see the Pit Crew bring out a collection of suitcases tagged with the eliminated queens’ names. Before the competition, the whole cast was asked to pack a suitcase of materials that they could make into a runway look. But instead of using their own, they’ll use one of the eliminated queens’ materials to create a party look. Yes, it’s another design challenge, but this is a genuinely clever trick. Most crucially, they need to create a garment that reads as them, not as the queen whose stuff they have.

As the mini-challenge winner, Myki picks Briar Blush’s bag first, then starts the chain of picking who goes next. Kenya gets Vita VonTesse Starr’s, Juicy gets auntie Mia Starr’s, Jane gets Ciara Myst’s, Darlene goes for Athena’s and Nini gets DD Fuego’s (after lamenting that she can’t just pick her own suitcase). This leaves Discord with Mandy Mango’s, and if you remember Mandy’s exuberant, colourful drag, you can expect this to be a real mismatch.

Almost immediately, we see what the unusual nature of this challenge adds: a couple of the queens packed strategically, assuming that they would be switching suitcases. Darlene is unpleasantly surprised to find 12 yards of non-stretch zebra print and little else in Athena’s bag. (Juicy later tells Ru she knew her mother didn’t pack this bag well, which is why she didn’t choose Athena’s materials.) But Darlene is in paradise compared to Jane, who assumed Ciara’s highly, even overly, prepared approach to the competition would pay off for her.

At first, that gamble appears to have worked: “It’s a fabric store!” Jane says with delight upon opening the bag. But once she actually pulls out some of the materials, she realizes just how fucked she is: it’s all remnants and scraps. There’s hot glue left on some of the materials, giant holes in others—it’s effectively an unworkable situation. It will take nothing short of a miracle for Jane to pull this off.

This challenge, coming 10 episodes into the season, is clearly taxing on the queens. They get loopy at the end of their design day, Juicy even distracting herself by hosting a little Q&A about the eliminated queens. During this, Jane says she really enjoyed “Crystal’s” personal style—intending to say Ciara, but misremembering her name. Instead of just laughing it off and moving on, Jane and Kenya begin to build lore about Crystal. She was the secret 15th queen! She fought with Athena Dion! My favourite bit is Jane explaining Crystal’s elimination: “Juicy, you literally sent her home to ‘Mambo No. 5.’ It was sickening!” she says. “You did a 360 degree dip right as Lou Bega asked for a little more Erika by his side!”

This is, no joke, the funniest werk room bit I can remember in eons. Just last week, I asked for more Asia O’Hara and Monét X Change-style werk room banter, and here we get it in droves. Bless these queens for committing to entertaining us even in the dull moments, because this episode is so much better for it. The same can be said for the queens’ wig-modeling fashion show with Darlene’s absurd bag of wigs the next day, which just about everyone gets in on. Even Discord!

But even amid all this fun, there’s controversy brewing: Discord has used hundreds of safety pins as a “sewing technique” to keep her garment together. Her argument is that the material she used is unsewable, and this is the only way to actually make it work. The fact that the safety pins are very fitting for Discord’s punk aesthetic, and that they improve the garment substantially, is just a bonus in Discord’s eyes! But of course, the other queens look quite askance at this. Nini even tries to ask Discord if she thinks the judges will have a problem, but Discord basically ignores the question.

And perhaps Discord was right to ignore it, because the judges love her look! She gets arguably the most praise on the runway, perhaps second only to Jane for what the judges call a “Drag Race miracle.” While Jane’s dress isn’t the most revolutionary thing you’ve ever seen, the fact that she created her own textile and appliques is really remarkable. Everyone gets some level of praise this week, with Michelle in disbelief that Kenya made her gorgeous disco jumpsuit (after her previous design challenge fails), and Darlene, Juicy and Nini all getting good marks. Carson Kressley even says to the whole group that this is a notably strong effort across the board.

So, of course, this makes it the perfect time for a round of “Who Should Go Home Tonight and Why?” The lingering question here is, after the judges make no issue of Discord’s safety pins, will the other queens? Darlene punts, still naming Discord but citing track record. Discord returns the favour to Darlene, as neither of them has a win. But then Juicy starts with “Hate to do this, but …” and drives the knife in. She calls out the fact that the safety pins were not in Mandy’s bag, to the judges’ surprise. Jane hammers it home in her own answer, and then it’s just a dogpile from there. Everyone else names Discord, who looks like she’s had the wind knocked out of her by the time they leave the stage. (Unfortunately, there’s no real drama in Untucked, as Discord pretty clearly keeps her feelings bottled up.)

During deliberations, the judges clearly no longer consider Discord for the win, and their change in tune is so sharp that I actually think she had a shot at it before the safety pin issue was addressed. That obviously sucks for Discord, but she didn’t follow the rules! In an Untucked confessional, Jane calls it what it is: cheating. I don’t think it’s so egregious that Discord would need to be disqualified or anything, but I’m glad the judges don’t reward her for flouting the rules. Instead, Jane and Kenya get called out as the top two of the week, and surprise! There’s no elimination!

The top two lip sync for the win to Patti LaBelle’s “Feels Like Another One,” a song that both Jane and Kenya are clearly familiar with. Kenya is good in this, but Jane is on another level. Compared to her limp Lip Sync for the Win against Athena in the talent show, Jane lets loose in a way we haven’t seen her before; in a mid-lip-sync confessional, she says she’s just having fun. It’s my favourite moment from Jane so far, and she earns a hard-fought third maxi-challenge win. More than that, for the first time, I really see her not just as a strong competitor, but a strong choice for America’s Next Drag Superstar.

This episode really slaps, you guys. Much like the Villains Roast last season, it’s just a complete experience of Drag Race, entertaining in every way. (Although I still give the edge to the Season 17 episode for having an amazing Untucked, while this one’s is still boring.) I’m leaving this episode behind feeling better about this cast and their potential, and I don’t even mind a random mid-season non-elimination. What more could one ask for from their Drag Race?

Untucking our final thoughts

✨ Two mini-challenges in a row, and it’s Reading Is Fundamental this week! Some favourite lines: Darlene says of Kenya, “I’ve heard she’s a religious woman, and apparently, so are her heels—because they are staying up on faith and prayer!” Kenya returns the favour to Darlene: “Her name is so white, when I stood next to her, my credit score went up 100 points!” Nini gets out a particularly nerdy joke: “What’s the difference between Darlene and a computer? Computers actually have gigs!” But Myki ultimately wins, and my personal pick for her best read is directed at Kenya: “Kenya, you remind me of my favourite Wizard of Oz character: the brick road.”

✨ Notably, Juicy bombs the reading challenge, and Ru looks pretty disappointed. I don’t know what Juicy can realistically do to get back into the host’s good graces at this point. Despite her two wins, I’d bet she’s out of the running for the finale barring some drastic comeback.

✨ Speaking of Juicy, she thinks “the Juice is loose” is from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. A producer has to inform her it’s an O. J. Simpson reference. She looks properly mortified by the mix-up.

✨ Ru does a runway walk workshop on the spot with Discord in the werk room. Judging by how she handles her walk on the main stage later, it seems like it helps … somewhat.

✨ Drag Race has gotten better at hiding who is going to do well or flop in its editing, but when none of Darlene, Myki or Nini get a walkthrough chat with Mother, it’s very clear that they will all ultimately be called safe.

✨ Not Black Eyed Peas stan Jane Don’t raving about “Boom Boom Pow”! And calling it “our Gilgamesh”! I’m obsessed with this whole segment. Let her lip sync to it, cowards!

✨ Okay, I guess we should talk about Jane’s whole fake “allegations” thing that briefly blew up online earlier in the week. If you missed this mess, first of all, congratulations on living a healthier life than I. In summary, Jane posted on her Instagram story that she was made aware of “disturbing” allegations against her, and that she would need time to gather her thoughts before addressing them. It was pretty obviously a stunt, and turned out to be a plug for some new merch. But nonetheless, my phone was positively blowing up with texts Monday night speculating as to what was going on. I personally thought it was not that funny, but hardly objectionable. Some fans took far greater issue with it, either calling it corny or saying it was even more problematic. If anything, I think it revealed that we as a fandom are still traumatized post Sherry Pie. While it no doubt drew a lot of eyeballs to Jane’s announcement, it also generated some real negative buzz. Suffice it to say this probably isn’t the best marketing strategy for queens to use moving forward.

✨ In an episode chock full of incredible werk room interactions, my favourite might be Nini finding out Darlene went to school for fashion design: “You went to school for fashion design?” Kenya immediately whipping out a “Here go Nini” only makes it better. God, I love this cast.

✨ Iman is our guest judge this week! Fucking IMAN! I love Iman. I love how seriously she takes fashion. Anyone who watched Bravo’s underwhelming Project Runway clone The Fashion Show knows that even on a bad show, Iman is entertaining. The queens properly freak out over her impending visit, with Darlene telling Discord to get her runway walk together, and Jane lamenting, “Iman’s gonna see me in garbage! IMAN’S gonna see me in GARBAGE!” And I loved the “Can I get IMAN up in here?” from RuPaul at the end.

✨ That said: getting Iman on your show and making her lip sync to a RuPaul song … electric chair.

The next episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race will air Friday, March 13, at 8 p.m. EST on MTV in the U.S. and on Crave in Canada. Check back every Monday 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 month.