Quite a way to end an episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, huh? I know I just said last week that I don’t like starting at the end of an episode, but I don’t think we have much choice: Ginny Lemon has, as Tayce put it, “BenDeLaCreme’d herself,” walking off at the start of this week’s lip sync, thus quitting the competition. And if that weren’t enough, in the preview for next week’s episode, Ru announces that COVID-19 restrictions have shut down filming, leaving us in the lurch as to what might come next.
That this all comes at the end of what is a thoroughly fine episode of Drag Race UK Season 2 is a testament to the thrills of this series. No standard, solid episode may be left without dramatics for us to discuss. We don’t know much about how the hiatus will affect things yet—though there is a special about the lockdown set to drop next week—but suffice it to say I don’t expect the competition to just pick up where it left off when production shut down in March 2020. Seven months went by before filming picked back up. These queens will have experienced so much time without work, and will be coming back to entirely different filming conditions.
We can start to unpack that when we know more next week. For now, though, we must talk about the episode at hand, including Ginny’s walk-off. As shocking as it is to see someone quit, the actual handling of it is remarkably low-key. As her lip sync begins against Sister Sister, to Kim Wilde’s “You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” Ginny clasps her hands in a moment of peace, then blows a kiss. She walks to the back of the stage, turns back around, gives a laugh and walks off. The judges are thrown, but Ru is remarkably calm. (He’s been through a more dramatic quit before, after all.) Sister Sister keeps performing, delivering what is honestly one of the better lip syncs we’ve seen on Drag Race UK! And she even gets a “shantay”—which, not sure if you all know, does in fact mean stay.
It’s a weird moment, but in an odd way, a peaceful one. Ginny doesn’t want to even potentially take her best friend’s dream away from her. She’s ready to leave the competition. And she happily, calmly, seals her own fate.
You can tell their friendship is doomed earlier in the episode, when the two comfort each other after a rough time in the maxi-challenge. Everyone knows the two ways to wind up lip-syncing against each other on Drag Race are to feud (hello, Alyssa Edwards and Coco Montrese) or bond (Brooke Lynn Hytes and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo). But they need the comfort: They both bomb pretty hard, and it’s obvious immediately after the challenge ends that they’ll be two members of the bottom three.
The task this week is for the queens to take part in a morning chat show, with each taking on a different part of the program with assigned character types: Sister Sister and Veronica Green are Goth girls from Camden in a cooking segment, while Tia Kofi and A’Whora are Essex girls talking about a new vajazzling craze. Ginny gets a hippie Australian weather girl, and while she brings a fun, manic energy to it, it’s all a bit one note.
It’s one more note than Sister Sister and Veronica have, though! This challenge is a mix of scripted dialogue and improv, and while Veronica is fine at the former, she has no mind for the latter. Sister Sister really blames Veronica for their collective failure, dumping on her both in confessionals and in the workroom the next day. (“Veronica’s Drag Race, it’s dead boring!” she sings in one confessional.) I will agree that Veronica flops hardest, but Sister Sister doesn’t exactly shower herself in glory. Veronica’s hitting the wrong beats; Sister Sister does nothing.
On the runway, in a spooky Monster Mashup category (I’d bet this episode was originally intended to air around Halloween), Veronica also outclasses Ginny and Sister Sister. She goes for a pig/medusa hybrid that really works, while Ginny’s radioactive witch and Sister Sister’s werewolf mummy look simple in comparison. Everyone in Mini-Untucked expects Veronica will be lip-syncing, but it seems her runway saves her from peril—instead leaving Ginny to walk off and Sister Sister to dance on her own.
The top performers this week are a strong lot across the board. Lawrence Chaney secures her second win for sliding into her role with aplomb. It’s another older woman character, which runs the risk of boring the judges, but she really is unparalleled in terms of her comic timing. Helping matters is that she’s once again teamed up with Scottish sister Ellie Diamond, who really struggles in comparison. (Were the bottom three not so clear, I’d have guessed Ellie would score low this week.)
I get Lawrence’s win, but I’m even more impressed with Bimini Bon Boulash and A’Whora this week. The former is one of the primary anchors alongside Tayce, and really gets into her ditzy character. (She even holds her cards upside down, a genius small choice.) A’Whora fully goes for it in her Essex girl character, outshining Tia and impressing the other dolls for being so good at improv. This is very much an A’Whora week, as she makes up with Tia after trashing her in Mini-Untucked last week and opens up about where her negativity comes from. It all works at opening up A’Whora as a character, and it comes at a crucial time. While she’s been fun as a villain, rooting for her to do well in this competition takes learning more about her as a person. And this week accomplishes that.
It’s a good thing she and Tia work through their issues, too, because things start on a rough note. A’Whora makes a crack about Tia going home soon, and neither really wants to work with the other when they’re paired up for the maxi-challenge. Their icy relationship melts away when they clearly do work well together, and thus we’re left heading into the filming break without any major cast conflicts.
Chapter one of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 2 is coming to a close. If we were judging based on these four episodes, Lawrence would be the leader of the pack, with Bimini earning kudos for her growth and Tayce and Tia dominating in the personality department. Sister Sister would likely be the next to go, even after a strong lip sync, and we’d be wondering what the prospects were for queens like Ellie and Veronica.
But that’s for an alternate reality. When we next meet these queens, time will have passed, and the competition will begin anew. Will there be a chance for the eliminated queens to come back, perhaps? (I hope so: Justice for Asttina Mandela!) What challenges and guest judges await us? Luckily, we’ll just have to wait a week to find out.
Untucking our final thoughts
✨Up and Down: I mean, who’s to say? We’re in unprecedented territory here; it’s just a week for viewers, but there was more than a half-year filming hiatus for the dolls. Will they bring new drag back to the competition with them? Will they try to make adjustments to respond to judge critiques? Will some be deflated by the pandemic, or bring a renewed energy after months away from competing? I don’t think we can count anybody out. It’s a whole new ball game.
✨Tia and Veronica’s friendship is among my favourite dynamics of the season (up there with A’Whora and Tayce’s flirty vibes). Listening to Veronica fight so hard to defend her friend is a testament to how strong their bond has become in nearly no time.
✨The mini-challenge is a pastry presentation task called “The Great British Fake-Off.” It’s meant to test the cast’s comic timing, although I do find it odd that they weren’t even asked to get into quick drag. Regardless, a great win for Bimini, who goes a touch smarter with her humor (Brexit jokes!) than the other girls’ sexual gags.
✨Lorraine Kelly is back after her stint as a Snatch Game guest last season, this time to both coach the girls on-set and as a guest judge. She’s a delight, noting that when it comes to the show, “It’s ‘Morning Glory,’ not ‘Morning Glory Hole.’ Cause that would be bad.” Her critiques are sharp on the main stage, too, including referring to the hair under Sister Sister’s blue mummy look as very “Sonic the Hedgehog.” Good guest judges so far this season!
✨There’s a very cute confessional right before the challenge starts, which edits the queens together doing the “5-4-3-2-1” countdown. A lovely little flourish.
✨I’ve talked about name yodels a lot in both these recaps and the Season 13 ones, but Ellie takes it a step further and actually questions why she doesn’t get one like Ru’s hyper-Scottish pronunciation of Lawrence Chaney. Ru’s explanation: He’s still figuring out Ellie’s storyline. Kind of a meta moment!
✨I get Ginny’s bottom two placement, but I will say this: Few things this episode made me laugh harder than, upon the sky raining cats and dogs upon her, Ginny immediately asking one, “What’s your name?”
✨Terrific RuPaul look to go out on. Also, notably, this is likely the last time we’ll see Michelle Visage without the grey streak! I imagine she’ll be serving us the same look she is on Drag Race Season 13 considering the back half of this season was shot after the American season.
✨Speaking of Michelle, upon seeing Ellie’s goblin werewolf look, she gets flashbacks of The Vivienne’s very real nose from last season: “Oh god, guys, please tell me this is a prosthetic nose.”
Every Friday at 4 p.m. EST, join Xtra’s Kiki with Kevin live on Facebook, where he’ll be talking about RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 13 and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 2. And hold on to your crumpets, because Kevin will be spilling the tea!
The next episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK will be available to stream Thursday, Feb. 11, at 2 p.m. EST on WOW Presents Plus in the U.S. and OUTtv in Canada, as well as on BBC Three and the BBC’s iPlayer in the United Kingdom. Additionally, episodes are available the same day on Crave in Canada, and Fridays the week following at 8 p.m. EST on Logo in the U.S. For other countries, check World of Wonder’s streaming guide.
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