‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 13, Episode 11 power ranking: Stop, pop and roll

Welcome to RuPaul’s Drag Race Power Rankings! Every Saturday, we’ll debrief the week’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race to determine which queens are riding high, and which need she-mergency care. This season’s branding challenge saw reigning winner Jaida Essence Hall virtually visit the workroom. Who is looking most likely to step into her shoes at the end of this season?

7. Tina Burner (last week: 6)—ELIMINATED

Tina seemed frustrated by the competition this week, and I can’t blame her. In a branding challenge, she leaned hard into her brand—and got penalized for it. Mid-century housewife drag? Red, yellow and orange? All the things that have been Tina Burner all season long? Too on the nose! 

And due respect to Michelle Visage, all the talk of Tina elevating her brand à la Cher and Madonna was off the mark. What those icons have done is reinvent themselves; if Tina had tried to reinvent herself on the spot in a branding challenge, she absolutely would’ve been penalized for it. 

I think what the judges were actually expressing was something they’ve hinted at all season: They’re just not that interested in Tina’s aesthetic. Which is okay! I’ve certainly gotten as frustrated with all the fiery colour palettes as Carson Kressley did this week. But the time to make that critique was weeks ago, instead of largely giving Tina a pass this season. Props to Tina for going out fighting in that lip sync, but her journey was clearly at its endpoint.

6. Utica (last week: 2)

Symone absolutely nailed it in her confessional about Utica: She is indeed a “creative force,” but because she’s not confident enough in her artistic vision, she defaults to weird and quirky. When Utica can overcome that impulse—in her sleeping bag runway look, for example, or in Symone’s B.A.P.S. look—she’s shined the brightest in this competition. 

There were some genuinely very funny bits in Utica’s commercial, but the whole thing lacked cohesion, and felt more like a bunch of rough sketches of ideas than something purposeful. Why was Clara the Cow there? Why was Utica sucking her drink out of Clara’s udder? Wasn’t the whole point of “Utican” that you lick the can instead of drinking it? It was all just a mess, and unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like she knew it.

Utica’s saving grace this week was her performance in the lip sync—and if you ever expected Utica to turn out a lip sync to the Black Eyed Peas’ “My Humps,” you should go buy a lottery ticket. What an absurd, committed interpretation of a song you’d think would be totally out of her wheelhouse. Against all odds, Utica has turned out to be a Lip Sync Assassin. Who’d have thunk it after her messy “Rumors” lip sync in the premiere?

5. Gottmik (last week: 4)

This was an off week for Gottmik, as she tried to shy away from her all-white makeup brand and do something new. I get her motivation: She didn’t want to be like Tina and get knocked for serving the exact same thing. But what she came up with instead was a confusing mess of a commercial, one that both inadequately branded who she is as a queen and wasn’t even particularly entertaining to watch. Her runway seemingly saved her from a bottom two appearance (never mind that both Tina and Utica’s commercials were also mediocre). On the whole, though, I’m not that worried about Gottmik’s trajectory. She’d have to have a far worse week than this to not be a lock for the finale by now.

4. Olivia Lux (last week: 7)

Olivia seems to have lost her luster in the judges’ eyes. They still love her bright smile, they still enjoy her runway looks and she can still hit a note with the best of ‘em this season, but they want to see her use all of her strengths together in a cohesive way. Yes, the smile is great! If she smiles throughout her commercial, though, then it’s all a bit monotonous. We’re on three straight weeks of negative critiques for Olivia, and while she didn’t land in the bottom two this time, the overall impression she’s leaving isn’t great. I pegged her as Symone’s biggest competition at some point this season—but now? I think she’s in fourth place in the prospective final four, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she doesn’t make it there at all.

3. Kandy Muse (last week: 3)

Kandy got a really nice extended bit in the workroom this week, both explaining where her defensiveness comes from (being attacked for being gay as a kid was a major inciting incident), and having the rest of the cast testify to how meeting her in person has really shown them a different side of Kandy. 

The New York queen’s edit has not always been the kindest this season, but in both this and last week’s episode, it does feel like there’s a concerted effort to show Kandy in a new light. And that, combined with her recent string of solid-to-strong performances, is what has me thinking she may be in better shape going into the endgame than Olivia. 

True, Olivia has two wins. But, like Crystal Methyd last season, Kandy has the momentum—and the judges are so into what she’s offering that, even when she comes out dressed as a bizarre, furry alien for a Beast runway, they can’t help but laugh with her about it. She needs a win soon, and if she gets it, I think she’s a real threat to make it into the finale over Olivia.

2. Rosé (last week: 5)

What a fun win for Rosé! Not only did she do well this week, the actual presentation of the win was such a blast, with it coming as a surprise after Symone’s win. Her looking back at Symone to celebrate each other was such a delightful moment. 

Basically everything about Rosé was delightful this week. She used her ad to show the judges her fun, loose side, and even poke fun at the criticisms Michelle has made of her tulle-heavy outfits. The audience has seen a more fun side of Rosé in the workroom and in her confessionals, but I get what the judges were saying about only seeing her be stoic on the runway.

She does tend to be more of a listener during critiques, as opposed to someone like Symone, Gottmik or Kandy, who are more comfortable with banter. This was a big week for Rosé’s relationship with the panel, and I think that’ll be a big part of what could take her to the final four.

1. Symone (last week: 1)

Both Rosé and Symone aced the runway and challenge this week, so I understand why Ru decided to give them each a win. If you asked me to choose, I probably preferred Symone’s commercial a bit more and her runway by more than a bit. (But even typing that, I am already reconsidering. They were both good!) Why Symone gets the edge in the power ranking this week, however, is based more on her overall edit than her individual performance this week. 

From the second episode, in which Ru shouted out Symone’s star quality, Symone’s edit has absolutely screamed “winner”: She’s heavily featured in episodes where she doesn’t win or lose, and she gets a wide variety of confessionals every episode—from her cracking jokes to being vulnerable about her history and insecurities. In this episode, Ross Mathews and Carson took a whole moment while taping Symone’s commercial to gush about how naturally good she is. No one is getting an edit like Symone this season.

Track record-wise, the situation is a little murkier. Yes, she has four wins before Gottmik, Olivia, or Rosé even get a third, but she’s also been in the bottom once—something neither Gottmik nor Rosé has experienced. (Rosé hasn’t even really been worthy of a bottom three spot yet.) And, historically, bottom two appearances have proven detrimental to queens’ winning chances. 

But the VH1 era of Drag Race has only once seen the finalist with the best track record of those remaining win: Aquaria in Season 10. Sasha Velour and Yvie Oddly both won despite competitors (Shea Couleé and Brooke Lynn Hytes) with better report cards. And last season’s winner, Jaida Essence Hall, beat Symone’s sister Gigi Goode despite one less win and one more bottom two appearance. 

So I think it’s safe to put minimal focus on track record, and much more on the edit. While Gottmik, Rosé and even Kandy have enjoyed big moments, none of them have been so consistently, almost breathlessly praised by the judges, nor featured so prominently in each and every episode. Symone has delivered on that promise of “star quality” every step of the way. Barring a shock boot in the next two weeks or a misstep in the finale, I think the self-described “Ebony Enchantress” has got this win in the bag.