‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 18 premiere recap: The hottest in the street

In its 18th season, RuPaul’s Drag Race wants to be a light in “the darkest of times.” For us as viewers, that means turning to the show as a comfort during times of great uncertainty, as we have several times in the past—during Season 9 in the wake of Donald Trump’s first election victory, for instance, or during Season 12 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Once again, world affairs seem bleak; once again, Drag Race premieres to spotlight incredible LGBTQ+ artists and entertain us every Friday.

But for the 14 queens competing this season, said “darkest times” are more literal. As they enter the werk room for the first time, the lights are off, with only one spotlight to illuminate them. Despite the efforts of three queens below the werk room to fuel the “Drag Generator” through cycling (Raja, Bob the Drag Queen and Kim Chi, in a fun cameo), there’s not enough power to turn on the lights. Instead, once they’re assembled, the Season 18 queens must echo Ru’s “Everybody say love!” chant to let there be light. This cast is a new family, and their powers together are what bring us back.

It’s a cute, if kinda corny setup for the season. Frankly, I prefer it to something like the Squirrel Games, because it’s shorter and doesn’t disrupt the flow of the queens meeting in the werk room for the first time. But more than anything, I appreciate that it makes these entrances feel a bit distinct. Listen, we’ve done this 17 times before just on the main show—you can only get so much mileage out of the queens walking in, striking a pose and saying their line. The spotlight and atmosphere add a little something to it.

By premiere’s end, these 14 queens have proven they’re more than worthy of that spotlight. Season 18 kicks off with a back-to-basics episode that eschews the things that haven’t been working about recent season premieres (bye, talent show!) and focuses instead on just letting us get to know these queens as both artists and characters. Looking over my notes from watching this first episode, I’m shocked at what a strong feeling I have about almost every queen in the cast—only a couple get a more muted debut. If these are the queens we’re trusting to be our light in dark times, I think we’re in good hands.

Let’s talk first about some of the queens who don’t ultimately land in the top or bottom this week, starting with the first in the werk room, Athena Dion. Athena is a legend of Florida drag, being both drag mother to Season 16 standout Morphine Love Dion and drag grandmother (“We don’t use the G-word in public,” she jokes) to a queen this season, Juicy Love Dion. Multiple queens walk in and recognize Athena, and while there’s not quite a Sasha Colby-level panic over having to compete with her, there’s recognition of her legacy and talent. She ultimately turns in a just-okay look during the challenge, an unconventional materials design task that has the queens raid the “Drag Race Vault” for leftover materials from past seasons, but her impression comes more in her werk room presence.

A few queens later, we meet another Florida girl, Discord Addams. You may remember rumours flying around earlier this year that a queen got disqualified from the show; those were about Discord, who addressed them in her Entertainment Weekly interview last month and seems quite pissed about the whole thing. There’s a lot of information flying around online about Discord’s previous drag work in Chicago, her relationships with some of the queens there and more, but considering she is not disqualified, I’m going to talk about her the same way I would any character on Drag Race, and evaluate her based on how she behaves on the show itself. On that note, she’s clearly not afraid of speaking her mind—at least in confessionals—as she disses one queen’s entrance look right out of the gate and later rages about not being put in the top for the challenge. She’s one of a few designer queens this season, and while her feathers-and-chains look is indeed good, she models it with a walk that I can best describe as an evil ostrich leaning backwards.

Discord will be fighting for that designated-villain slot with Briar Blush, who is fucking funny. She walks in, immediately yells “Why are you recording me?!” as her entrance line, then walks up to the other queens and says “Meh!” She doesn’t bother to hug any of them, owns up to having a bad attitude and later stirs up drama with Athena about a failed agreement to help each other with their looks. What works about Briar’s brand of bitchiness is that she’s clearly having an absolute blast with it. After Athena reads her in the werk room to end their fight, Briar looks straight into the camera and says with a smile, “Where does she get off?” It’s so good. Her kitty cat look on the runway is less good, but it’s fine, and more than anything I’m left wanting so much more of Briar in future weeks.

Then there’s Darlene Mitchell, a Los Angeles-based queen with a decidedly un-Los Angeles aesthetic. (She’s originally from Indiana, and her style is much more fitting when you consider that.) She’s got a unique story with her drag, having previously performed in an entirely different style as a queen named Trash, only to get sober and return to being a bedroom queen. She’s just recently come back out into the world as Darlene, and I’ve got my eye on her. Ru loves a transformation story, and Darlene’s is unlike any other we’ve seen. The only one this season with a similar kind of journey is Mia Starr, who first did drag 17 years ago, then left it for 14 years to become a professional dancer. She’s worked with the likes of Rihanna and Jennifer Lopez, so look out for her in a dancing challenge! Both Darlene and Mia turn out cute, but not spectacular, looks, and like Discord, Briar and Athena, they are waved to safety by the judges.

A quick rundown of the other safe-placing queens: DD Fuego is a New York queen with wild energy and a terrible foil dress for her runway look. By far the most puzzling decision of the episode is not putting her in the bottom for it. Ciara Myst is a horror/sci-fi girlie and prosthetic makeup artist whose looks are incredibly cool, but she runs the risk of getting the “too costume-y” label slapped on her. Her first look this week is no exception in that regard. And Myki Meeks, the self-described “drag ingénue of Orlando, Florida,” is a hostess queen who blends into the crowd of Florida girls a bit in this premiere. Seems potentially interesting, but we probably get the least of her in this episode out of everyone—and her curtain-based runway look is not a standout.

On the top this week are two of our designer queens, plus an old-school Seattle girl who draws immediate comparisons to Jinkx Monsoon. We’ll talk about Jane Don’t first, who is not related in drag to Jinkx, but to All Stars 10 veterans Bosco and Irene the Alien. Jane is great in the confessionals and witty in her banter, and she lands a somewhat surprising top placement this week for her outfit. It’s a cute enough dress and jacket, but I think she really gets the kudos for her styling, which is pretty impeccable. Guest judge Cardi B—who is amazing in this episode, and what timing considering her rival Nicki Minaj’s recent right-wing turn—zeroes in on her hair, and it really is a perfect complement to what she’s wearing.

Nini Coco is one of the two designers in the top, and she’s the one whose entrance look Discord hates on earlier in the episode. Interestingly, other than her drag family, Nini is the only queen Athena mentions knowing of, which is quite the compliment. Before she came to Drag Race, Nini (who is, I must say, so damn cute) was working as a mechanical engineer, and considers the show her chance to start a new chapter of her life. In the Drag Race Vault, she picks up orange paper bags similar to the ones LaLa Ri used when making her Golden Boot-winning Bag Ball garment. Unlike LaLa, she wants to transform the bags into something else—and boy, does she! The orange two-piece she produces is stylish as hell, and a real elevation of the material by making the bags into “leaves” of sorts.

She lands in the top two Lip Sync for the Win this week (that’s right, no elimination) with Vita VonTesse Starr, a Montgomery, Alabama diva and pageant queen who makes her own looks as well. Vita is drag, and what she produces in the challenge is nothing short of spectacular. She fashions umbrellas into a full gown, and as Carson Kressley notes during critiques, she manages to make the pattern flow despite how easily it could’ve contrasted. Were the judges simply picking one winner, I have no doubt it would’ve been her … but, well, we’ll get back to the lip sync in a bit.

Our bottom three queens this week actually include one of my absolute favourites on the cast, Kenya Pleaser. This South Carolina queen has an amazing personality, the kind that you immediately want to root for, and describes her drag as “your sexy auntie that’s a ho.” She started off in drag impersonating Lizzo, and she actually can design her own looks. Unfortunately, she fails to get any actual fabrication material in the Drag Race Vault, and winds up with a bunch of unworkable items. I’ll give her credit for selling the shit out of the look on the runway, but it is unfortunately probably the worst of the week.

Though they don’t have to lip sync, Kenya still lands in the bottom two with Mandy Mango. Mandy comes into the werk room in a nurse look, because that’s her day job! She specializes in HIV/LGBTQ+ sexual health, and genuinely seems like a delight. Unfortunately, her runway look is not a delight, a floral explosion that has way too much going on. Cardi B hates it, I hate it and I think she is very lucky she didn’t have to face Kenya in a lip sync. From what I’ve heard, Kenya can perform.

Before we get into that lip sync, we’ve got one more queen to discuss, and she’s one of the most interesting in terms of positioning of the whole cast. That’s right, it’s Juicy, Athena’s drag granddaughter. Here are some facts about Juicy: She is an incredible lip sync performer, she is a stunning queen who almost convincingly sells two straps of fabric as a wearable garment and she is competing on a season with a drag mentor of hers. Theoretically, she should be in an amazing spot. But when Juicy struggles in this episode, Athena does not jump in to help her. More to the point, she makes the analogy in a confessional that, like on a plane, she needs to put her own mask on first before she puts on Juicy’s. I would not be surprised if this season is a struggle for Juicy, and while I put good odds on her being able to fight her way out of it in a lip sync, I wonder if Athena competing on the same season might wind up being more of a detriment—an easily made comparison by the judges—than a help.

Ultimately, all the bottom queens are called safe, and Nini and Vita prepare to lip sync to Cardi’s “Enough (Miami)”. Stylistically, you would imagine Vita might be a better fit to perform this than the twinky mechanical engineer from Denver—but you would be wrong! First and most crucially, Vita does not know the words to this song. There are whole lines that she “watermelon watermelons” through, and not convincingly. But on top of that, Nini is prepared. She not only knows the whole song, but she performs in the kind of animated, punctuated style that fits perfectly for Cardi’s style. Cardi herself is gagged when Nini gestures at the other queens on “I’m not trusting these sluts.” It’s honestly a great lip sync throughout—the best moment is when the two rap the “enough is enough” part in each other’s faces—but Nini ultimately and clearly comes out on top.

And that’s the premiere! No elimination, plenty of good vibes and some really promising contestants. I think we’ve got a season on our hands, folks. And in times like these, we can really use some great Drag Race. To quote former premiere guest judge Ariana Grande twice over, the light is coming, and there are brighter days ahead.

Untucking our final thoughts

✨ Upon entering the werk room, Jane says she could hear the first three queens’ “gay voices” from afar. Kenya replies, “Gay? I’m a Christian!”

✨ There are multiple mentions in this episode that this group is significantly older than last season’s crop, with over half being over 30 (and several more, like Nini Coco, Myki Meeks and Mandy Mango all just under that mark at 29). This is obviously in here as a response to criticism that the casting of Season 17 was too young, with a group that dared to call 33-year-old Lexi Love “grandma.” I find it interesting mostly because Drag Race usually seems reticent to respond to criticism in this way on the show—the only other time I can recall is when they really went out of their way for a couple of years to showcase that they were now happily casting trans queens, after RuPaul’s comments to The Guardian got widespread backlash.

✨ For reasons I’ll get into more in this week’s power rankings, I’m not really vibing with Discord. But on a positive note, I will say that her confessional about Ciara—“You’re a spooky, creepy, kooky queen, and you’re named after a discontinued soda pop?”—really did make me laugh.

✨ The prize from Anastasia Beverly Hills has changed! No longer a promise of “a sickening supply” of products, it’s now a collaboration with the company. What exactly that collaboration will be isn’t immediately clear. Perhaps my favourite glambot Norvina will stop by this season to explain?

✨ We get a mini-challenge in this episode, and it’s basically a photoshoot with no photos (*Dwight Eubanks voice* how dreadful). The queens must give their best scream while being … attacked, I guess? by members of an expanded Pit Crew in Sleep No More masks. Jamal Sims is there, for no discernible reason. Anyway, it’s cute enough, and Kenya gets $2,500 for winning it. Anything that gives Kenya money is good in my book!

✨ Ru tells Nini she looks like “Alisha Edwards,” and Nini has to correct her that her name is Alyssa. This absolutely cracks Ru up.

✨ I’m notoriously kind of a crank when it comes to the first de-dragging segments (I don’t need incorrect identifications of who on the cast is “trade”), but this year’s is actually pretty funny thanks to some of the queens looking completely different out of drag. Mandy has to point blank ask Nini who she is!

✨ Some items found in the Drag Race Vault: Hormona Lisa’s bob and Lexi Love’s tarp from Season 17, Monét X Change’s sponges from Season 10 and specifically Ariana Grande’s Ornacia from her entrance in Season 15.

✨ Fun fact: Juicy Love Dion was once upon a time on So You Think You Can Dance! You can watch her audition here.

✨ In an unusual but cool break with format, we actually see a bit of Untucked in the main episode, as Cardi goes backstage with her makeup artist Erika La’Pearl and hairstylist Tokyo Stylez to talk to the queens. I give both Cardi and the show a lot of props for not just making this a moment for vague platitudes about the power of drag, as a lot of the judge-visits-Untucked moments can be, but actually platforming two trans women who are a big part of Cardi’s brand and image creation. Tokyo even says that Drag Race is what taught her to do makeup when she first started transitioning. It’s a really cool scene, and it’s only slightly dampened by Discord taking up time to complain that she wasn’t in the top.

✨ Part of the reason Discord is so cranky about failing to score high is because she’s known for her upcycling. She and her partner are collectively the “Haus of Addams,” a design team, and they want to show that you don’t need $100,000 to compete on Drag Race. A noble goal, though Ra’Jah O’Hara already proved that once upon a time.

✨ Love finding out that Athena is the “Honey, this is how you throw a party in Mykonos, bitch” voice from Lindsay Lohan’s viral dance video!

✨ Though I wound up liking Season 17 quite a bit, its premiere was actually one of the worst episodes of the season in my book. This premiere is probably my favourite since Season 15’s, and that had the benefit of technically being a two-episode premiere. What does that portend for the rest of the season? We’ll just have to find out together!

The next episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race will air Friday, January 9, 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.