Welcome to RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Power Rankings! Every weekend, 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. A queen calling it quits this week leads to a few questions about what might’ve happened if she didn’t.
8. Baby (last week: 8)—QUIT
This is a disappointing ending to Baby’s arc, but I can’t say I blame her. Ru’s critiques of her were just so arbitrarily harsh last week, and falling right back into the bottom two was a sign that the show is not invested in her. She gave us a great lip sync battle with Dakota Schiffer on her way out, and exited on her own terms. Honestly, there’s not much more to say than that, other than that I’ll miss her presence this season.
7. Dakota Schiffer (last week: 5)
There’s a temptation to consider what might’ve happened had Baby not decided to quit, but I’m not inclined to follow that thread too far. For one, Dakota has two badges, and the judges have shown a lot more interest in seeing what she can do this season. (Although in a potentially worrying sign, Alan Carr noted this week that he needs to see more than sweet from her.) For another, she was actually quite good in the “No Way” lip sync, and kept up with Baby by going for her own interpretation. Now that she’s through the Rusical challenge, this musical theatre agnostic should be good to go for the rest of the season—but I worry if she hits another challenge she’s not comfortable with, she might not make it through once more.
6. Le Fil (last week: 7)
Hard to make the argument that Le Fil was anything but great this week—he was technically quite strong in the challenge, and his The King and I-inspired runway was both gorgeous in construction and in presentation. However, this was a week where Fil could’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of showing more of his personality. He got read during Reading Is Fundamental for fading into the background, and though he’s a favourite of mine, I can’t deny that his development as a “character” on the show has been limited. With no clear choice of who should go home next, and two low appearances in a row, I’m worried Le Fil’s time might come sooner than I expected at season’s start.
5. Black Peppa (last week: 4)
Peppa’s not doing anything wrong so far this season—even when she fell into the bottom two, she more than made up for it with her lip sync—but I’m surprised that she’s receding in the narrative. The start of this season felt like it would be Peppa’s to lose, but other than some offhand praise from the judges during Dakota’s critiques, Peppa otherwise went unremarked upon this week. Her output hasn’t changed; I absolutely loved her The Lion King-inspired runway look. She’s just not drawing as much of the attention as Pixie Polite, Cheddar Gorgeous and especially Danny Beard take up more of the spotlight. Could Snatch Game be what Peppa needs to find herself back in the top-scoring queens of the week?
4. Cheddar Gorgeous (last week: 3)
We’re at a real inflection point with Cheddar. She’s been doing increasingly well, and her number of talking heads is on the rise. But it does feel like she needs to distinguish herself a bit from Danny and Pixie, if not in drag (their styles are very different) than in the narrative. Snatch Game could be an ideal opportunity for her if she can do something unexpected. Right now, I’d put better odds on Danny or Peppa to win it by sheer force of comedy. But sometimes it’s a choice out of left field (think Gigi Goode’s “Maria the Robot”) that wins Ru’s love. If Cheddar can pull something like that off, and pair it with another great runway, she may finally get the solo win she’s been building up to.
3. Jonbers Blonde (last week: 6)
I actually had J. Blonde flagged as one of the next to go, but she did quite well this week. Her bird lady character bit was not the easiest, and she performed it with gusto. I do think she was the worst on the runway this week—she looked more beekeeper than Singin’ in the Rain to me—but Ru was correct that her makeup adjustment when it came to how she draws her lips worked wonders. That’s the other reason I think she’s set to last for a bit: she’s responding to Ru’s critiques and actually making changes. Crystal Methyd is my personal go-to reference for how far responding to the judges can take you, although I think with Crystal, it was more a matter of harnessing what she does in drag into a Drag Race-friendly format. Jonbers is going to have to push herself to stand out, and this is a field in which it’s increasingly difficult to do that.
2. Pixie Polite (last week: 2)
It’s interesting that we didn’t get more disappointed reaction shots of Pixie when Danny won this week. That storyline, which was emphasized in the cold open (with Pixie saying she feels “looked over” by her castmates), didn’t build at all when this was an obvious opportunity to do so. Granted, I wouldn’t have given Pixie the win over Danny—this was a much more cut-and-dried result than last week’s. But it’s unusual to see Drag Race just drop a potential rivalry narrative, especially so quickly. Two thoughts as to what that could mean: it could pop back up just in time for Pixie’s first solo win, with the show holding off for now so as not to oversaturate the arc. It could also mean that Pixie is not going to get another win at all, so there’s no point in building the storyline. We’ll have to see which, if either, pans out.
1. Danny Beard (last week: 1)
Congrats to Danny on her third RuPeter Badge! As I said, this was a much more decisive victory in my mind than in the last challenge. As Lairy Poppins, Danny was the star of the show both literally and qualitatively. She was working at an incredibly high level for a Rusical, and matched that energy on the runway with a dazzling Audrey II. Michelle Visage did call her look a “costume,” which wasn’t framed as a negative, but could be taken as one. Was it a drag look or just a stage costume? In this case, I think it was decidedly the former: the way Danny was padded exaggerated the look and made it distinctly drag. It was a very strong week for Danny, and I wouldn’t be surprised at this point if she just keeps the momentum going all the way to the crown.
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