Welcome to RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Power Rankings! Every week, we’ll debrief the week’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 4 to determine which queens are riding high, and which need she-mergency care. There’s a major shake-up at the top, as the challenge winner vaults herself into the two-badge club.
9. Sminty Drop (last week: 5)—ELIMINATED
In an unusual development, both queens who scored high in the premiere have now gone home by Episode 4. Starlet was out in Episode 2, while Sminty drops here. The only time I can recall that happening as quickly was in the fourth American season—and both Lashauwn Beyond and The Princess were out by Episode 3. (The winner of that first episode did ultimately go on to win the season … so condragulations, Black Peppa?) In truth, Sminty’s fate was written in the stars the second she fumbled so hard in the girl groups challenge. She fed into the idea of herself as a fashion queen who can’t perform, and freezing the way she did in the improv challenge only fed into that belief. Sad to see her go, but hey: she made it further than fellow House of Kendoll member Gothy Kendoll!
8. Baby (last week: 2)
As I mentioned in the recap, I’m worried about Baby’s longevity this season, for reasons that aren’t totally related to her work on the show. Ru’s critiques of her performance were fair, but he really came down hard on her “Grace Jones-inspired cage dress made entirely out of dreads” despite guest judge Alison Hammond’s high praise for it. He did so in both critiques and deliberations, and neither time was he specific about what he wanted, citing a vague desire for it to go further. I don’t think we’d be seeing these critiques if Baby were going to the end, so I’m sadly expecting her to leave in the next couple of weeks. Whoever beats her will have a hell of a time knocking her out of the lip sync, though, because she was on fire in this week’s battle.
7. Le Fil (last week: 3)
I’m enough of a Le Fillion to chalk this week’s performance up to a blip in Le Fil’s record so far. The fact that he avoided the bottom two despite utterly butchering his performance as the doctor is a sign that Ru at least sees something in him he wants to keep around. Plus, his Mane Event hair runway was a hit with all the judges. Still, even if he had to lip sync, I’d have given him good odds against Sminty. I just hope this is his last brush with the bottom for quite some time.
6. Jonbers Blonde (last week: 9)
Jonbers escapes a week without Ru making fun of her name! It’s the small victories. Of the middle-performing queens, Jonbers would be my lowest-ranking; she wasn’t bad, just unmemorable. Still, on my imaginary scorecard, there’s a good bit of distance between her and Le Fil. On the runway, Jonbers’s Mane Event look was expected, but cute. I’m just waiting for JB to show a really surprising side of herself in one of these challenges. Am I foolish to think she might be a contender in Snatch Game? I get a vibe, although I’ll admit this improv challenge doesn’t inspire confidence in my guess. Whatever the case, she just needs a win, because she’s the only queen left without one.
5. Dakota Schiffer (last week: 1)
If she were able to keep from breaking, I actually think Dakota would’ve placed above Cheddar Gorgeous this week. The judges’ praise of Cheddar came with some major caveats—we’ll get to them in her write-up—while we got a segment in the performance section of the episode of Dakota’s competition noting how good she was. You don’t keep that kind of thing in unless you want the audience to think so as well. On the runway, I really liked Dakota’s curtain-based look, but I thought she actually took too much focus away from the wig in a hair-focused runway. Her main stage looks have been hit-or-miss for me so far; my favourite is actually her self-made look from last week. I would like to see a bit more of that personal style in what she presents on the runway every episode.
4. Black Peppa (last week: 8)
A nice rebound for Peppa after her brush with the bottom two. She may not have gotten a high-scoring slot, but she was very funny in her sketch, and powered through the performance with the sheer force of incomprehensibility. Ru likes that kind of silly, go-for-broke humour, and so I’m surprised she didn’t land in the top over Cheddar. Ultimately, I think Ru just wanted to give the full first team the top slots, so despite a gorgeous braided look for the Mane Event runway, Peppa had to settle for a safe slot.
3. Cheddar Gorgeous (last week: 4)
The judges seem cautious in their praise of Cheddar, and I understand why. She’s doing some really fun stuff, both committing to a character in the improv challenge this week and going over the top as a Cheshire Cat by way of Cats on the runway. (I could’ve done without the furball, personally.) However, her work isn’t quite settling into the Drag Race lane yet, and as Michelle Visage noted, her early approach to the acting challenge was too serious. My guess is this is all leading into a “learning to relax” storyline, which could be quite lucrative for Cheddar if she can pull it off. She just needs to sell the judges on the idea that her work is effortless, even as it’s clear she puts a tremendous amount of thought into her drag. This panel doesn’t like to see the queens sweat too much.
2. Pixie Polite (last week: 7)
Like with Baby, I’m not liking where this edit is heading with Pixie. Her envy of Danny Beard’s win was heavily featured both in Mini-Untucked and in the actual final decisions. Unlike with Baby, I do think there’s potential for this storyline turning around, if Pixie can give the editors a “overcoming envy” storyline. (It’s much harder for Baby to win back Ru’s favour if he’s already uninterested.) Another major bonus: Pixie achieved the rare but highly desirable double play this week of going ugly in a comedy challenge and pretty on the runway. Her makeup got rave reviews, and had Danny not just totally bowled the panel over, I could’ve easily seen Pixie snatching up the win this week. Next time, perhaps—assuming she powers through and uses this loss as fuel for her fire in the competition.
1. Danny Beard (last week: 6)
It’s another badge for Danny Beard! I’ll admit, I thought Ru’s praise of her was a bit over the top—she was very good, if not quite a comedic genius—and I didn’t love her runway as much as the judges did. (I did, however, love her calling her fake small dog “Dogina de Campo,” and noting the red wig and silver leash.) But all season long, I’ve figured that we’re heading to some big things for Danny, as she’s gotten a lot of narrative focus. She’s had a ton of confessionals, and her comedic style is reminiscent of one of Ru’s all-time British faves, Baga Chipz. I wasn’t surprised that Ru seems totally in love with her. Will that love take her to a win at season’s end? Perhaps! But there’s a lot of game to be played before then.
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