‘RuPaul’s Drag Race UK’ Season 3, Episode 3 power ranking: The gay outdoors

Welcome to RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Power Rankings! Every Friday, we’ll debrief the week’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 3 to determine which queens are riding high, and which need she-mergency care. It’s a celebration of camping and the great outdoors on the runway this week in an unconventional materials challenge. But first: What became of Victoria Scone?

10. Victoria Scone (last week: 10) — REMOVED

What a blow. Victoria was an obvious frontrunner, and represented a real sea change in the way Drag Race thinks about its casting. To see her out the door because of a knee injury is just such a bummer. If she feels up for it, I’d love to see her return next season. But I also couldn’t blame her if she feels like she needs a bit more time to get back to where she wants to be.

9. Veronica Green (last week: 2) — ELIMINATED

The second Veronica started to break down on the runway, I could tell her time in the competition was over. It wasn’t that Ru didn’t like her, or that Veronica didn’t show potential across her two appearances on Drag Race UK. It’s just that half of a successful run on this show comes from being in the right headspace and at the right point in your career. Veronica just didn’t quite fit with this cast, and it’s clear she still had a lot to unpack about her previous experience and her time in quarantine. I would love to see what she could do in a future All Stars season, with some proper time to process and grow. This season, however, was just not hers to win.

8. Vanity Milan (last week: 9)

A huge credit to Vanity for taking the judges’ notes about her makeup and getting the advice necessary from Raven to figure it out. That shows a desire and effort to grow on the show, which is exactly what Ru likes to see. She also performed full-out once again in the lip sync, not giving Veronica the chance to edge her out. I have to rank her low because of her current trajectory in the competition, but I don’t think Vanity is in bad shape. In fact, I’d be very surprised if we see her go home next—a girl group challenge seems right up her alley.

7. Charity Kase (last week: 8)

We see this arc in nearly every season these days: the queen who doesn’t get feedback from the judges, and it becomes her entire Untucked storyline. Jan got it in Season 12, Denali got it in Season 13, Jan got it again at the start of All Stars 6 and now here we are with Charity. The difference is that Charity actually seems to be taking her frustrations out on the other girls, rather than sitting quietly. That’s a bold move, and it could backfire if the other dolls decide to call her out in front of Ru. (The sheer number of digs she’s made at Scarlett Harlett alone!) I get Charity’s frustrations, because she feels like the amount of work she puts into her drag deserves reward. Unfortunately, considering her half-made second runway look this week, she was lucky to just be safe—it could’ve been much worse for her.

6. Choriza May (last week: 6)

I’m obsessed with Choriza May, and also deeply understand that she’s not going to win this competition. Her drag is not working for the judges, but her absurd, ultra-creative storytelling is. She reminds me of queens like Katya and Jasmine Masters, who have been celebrated by fans for their genius soundbites and observations but haven’t always gotten the same love from the judges on the runway. (Katya’s All Stars run showed an ability to mesh those aspects together, earning her great success; Jasmine’s All Stars run was less successful, to say the least.) I think if Choriza gets a great improv or acting challenge pitched to her, she could win the judges over. But considering what kind of drag has been winning the maxi-challenges so far, she does for sure have an uphill climb. 

5. River Medway (last week: 4)

Well, it’s another week of River being fun, engaging and cute in the workroom, only to be merely safe after judging. I absolutely loved her flight attendant look for the unconventional materials category, and I appreciated how different her first, map-based look was. Unfortunately, the looks she’s shown so far don’t really add up to a clear aesthetic. Contrast River’s range of looks with Scarlett’s: while they’ve both shown versatility, you can point to more of a throughline with Scarlett’s looks than River’s. We may need to see more of River in performance challenges to get a sense of how she’ll do in this competition, because right now, she’s riding the middle.

4. Kitty Scott-Claus (last week: 3)

I’m impressed that Kitty always feels like the star of the show even as her track record has largely kept her out of win consideration. She knows how to give great confessionals, but she also is able to bring her sense of humour and personality into her conversations in the workroom and with the judges. She’s got a real sense of herself not just as a drag queen, but as a character on Drag Race. That said, I do think she needs to win something soon, but considering her background in a Girls Aloud drag tribute group (with Cheryl Hole!), a girl group challenge might just be that chance to win.

3. Ella Vaday (last week: 7)

Man, could the praise have been any less effusive for Ella? She got a top placement this week and theoretically was in contention for the win, but Graham compared her plaid dress negatively to Scarlett’s, and both Ru and Nicola Coughlan didn’t get her dress and jacket pairing. I hate to keep bringing up the Rosé comparison, but Ru’s brusque comment about Ella clearly being talented sounded just like something he’d have said about the Season 13 finalist. That said, hopefully the high score this week will prompt Ella to step it up even more. As Charity could tell Ella, getting the judges’ attention is half the battle.

2. Krystal Versace (last week: 1)

I really do think Ru was fully prepared to give Krystal another win when he called the tops and bottoms. Maybe it’s the fact that the winners get nothing more than a badge, but Ru seems a lot more willing to over-reward his favourites on UK than he does on the American series. (Never forget that Lawrence Chaney won three challenges in a row, and Bimini Bon Boulash won four in five weeks.) Still, I’m glad Graham and Michelle seemingly stopped the steamroll. Not because I particularly agreed with their critiques; I actually thought saying Krystal was serving more of the same was incorrect. No, I just don’t think Krystal’s looks were deserving of a third straight win. The construction of her second garment was impressive, but those shoes really came close to ruining the whole outfit. Krystal’s doing very well, of that there is no doubt, but I don’t think she’s invincible.

1. Scarlett Harlett (last week: 5)

A hearty congratulations to Scarlett, who was my absolute favourite this week. Her second look was breathtaking, the kind of garment that you know is a winner from the moment a queen turns the corner. It was so stunning that the judges promptly forgot any quibbles they had with her first hunter look (which I liked!), and Ru gave her the win. I’ll admit, Scarlett’s surprising me. I didn’t have much of an opinion of her based on her “Meet the Queens” video—in my exclusive rundown of the cast for our Wig! newsletter subscribers, I said “I worry she’ll be crowded out” in this cast. But she’s proving to have great potential. While I still have Krystal and Kitty earmarked for the finale, I do think there’s a wide-open third spot with Victoria gone. Scarlett may just be the one to fill it.

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