‘RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Versus The World’ Episode 4 recap: International Snatch

And here I thought Jimbo going home was going to be the gag of the season.

I mentioned in last week’s RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Versus The World recap that by making the big move of eliminating a major frontrunner in Jimbo, Drag Race Thailand judge-turned-competitor Pangina Heals was putting a target on her back. She’d have to be immaculate for the next two weeks because giving her competition—especially Jimbo’s best friend in the competition, Baga Chipz—even a single chance to eliminate her would likely prove fatal.

Unfortunately for Pangina, the one challenge she wasn’t totally prepared for was the next one on the docket. It’s Snatch Game time, and after a visually impressive but comically middling take on Mariah Carey, Pangina is out of the competition.

There is no sugarcoating just how brutal this elimination is. After her lipstick is revealed, Pangina immediately bursts into tears, while RuPaul gasps and Michelle Visage lowers her head. The safe queens are shocked themselves, with Mo Heart grabbing Janey Jacké’s arm, and Janey grabbing Pangina’s. Jujubee and the others all go to comfort her, with Juju herself eventually starting to cry. And when Ru finally does tell Pangina to sashay away, with a less steady voice than usual, he implores her to listen as he says that she is a global phenomenon.

The pain of the moment continues as Pangina leaves the stage, apologizing to “all the Thai people that I did not go all the way.” Her sobs can be heard even as she leaves the stage. The other queens are silent even after Ru does his sign-off and “Rocket (To the Moon)” starts to play. It is, no doubt, one of the most agonizing eliminations in Drag Race herstory, and absolutely one of the most shocking.

But I haven’t even mentioned the most shocking part of all this yet: while Baga is in the top two after Snatch Game, she’s not the one who sends Pangina home. Blu Hydrangea is.

In the modern age of Drag Race, it’s become less and less important to look at track records when it comes to predicting a winner. Instead, it’s best to look at the narrative: Who is being lauded by RuPaul as a star? Who is getting to make their argument for the win in her confessionals? Who does the story focus on? If you look at the seasons that aired last year, queens who were anointed early by Ru often made it to the finish line (Symone, Krystal Versace), as did the queens who had a story to tell about their win (Kylie Sonique Love, returning 11 years after her first season for another chance).

Blu, more than anyone else in this series, seems to be getting the lion’s share of the narrative focus. As queens like Jimbo, Janey and Pangina have excelled in challenges, Blu has quietly built up her story arc: she’s a sweet kid with a surprisingly raunchy sense of humour, and someone for whom drag has been genuinely transformative in her life. Still, after falling short of the endgame in UK Season 1, Blu is desperate to prove herself—as she says in her workroom chat with Ru this week, she wants to impress Ru and those back home. And so far, though she’s been doing okay, she hasn’t had a standout moment in the competition.

That moment comes in Snatch Game, which has been reimagined as “Snatch Game: Family Style” to parody Family Feud (or, as it’s known in the U.K., Family Fortunes). Split into two teams chosen by previous Lip Sync for the World-winner Pangina, the queens must offer up potential answers to survey questions—the show reportedly surveyed “69 drunk squirrel friends”—that their team captain can choose from. The captains are Michelle Visage and British personality Katie Price. (Non-British audiences might remember Katie best from Bimini Bon Boulash’s Snatch Game-winning impersonation of her, so this is a fun full-circle moment for Drag Race UK.)

Blu chooses to impersonate Mike Myers through the lens of two of his Austin Powers series characters: Austin Powers himself, and Dr. Evil. The latter is a surprise, as Blu reveals into her second character halfway through the game. I usually bristle at queens playing two characters on Snatch Game, like Bob the Drag Queen and Nina West did in their seasons, but this works for me. They’re two sides of Mike Myers, and as Michelle notes in critiques, Blu wisely switches just as one set of jokes grow repetitive. It’s a really strong performance, and paired with an elegant Luck Be a Lady runway look, it’s enough to push Blu into the top.

Joining her there is Baga, who also goes with an actor-as-character choice with Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes from Misery. Credit to Baga: she did the work before this Snatch Game. Her impersonation not only has the references down, but she wisely adapts them to fit an obsession with RuPaul. Armed with Ru’s book GuRu, Baga builds a whole storyline into her performance and never breaks character once. It’s actually a pretty amazing show of commitment, and much as Baga hasn’t been my cup of tea this season, there’s no denying she deserves this win.

Mo and Juju both wind up with odd character choices that work, but they’re odd for different reasons. Mo comes ready to do Gordon Ramsay, which sounds hilarious. But Ru is worried that Mo won’t be able to keep up the accent, and so he recommends she swap to Billy Porter. The choice fits nicely, and everyone seems in agreement that Mo is third on the scorecard this week. (Ru says it’s a good week for her; Baga tells her straight she’s safe.) Still, thanks to the return of the always-divisive “if you’re not in the top, you’re in the bottom” twist, Mo is nonetheless up for elimination.

Juju is too, for her third time in a row, but she actually largely charms Ru this week. She chooses to do Cher, which would seem to be an astonishingly bad choice. Chad Michaels’ Cher is canon! But she cleverly goes with a “parody of a parody of Cher,” as Michelle describes it. Every line is delivered they way you’d expect; it’s lazy, but in the best possible way. There’s no chance it would result in a win, but it’s ultimately a charming performance.

During deliberations, Baga makes blunt assessments: Janey isn’t her favourite, but she’s real, and Mo and Juju she explicitly offers safety to. She seems reluctant to keep up the “Jimbo’s Revenge” narrative, but there would seem to be no other option than to eliminate Pangina—especially after Pangina’s campaign to Baga falls flat. Blu, meanwhile, seems to be weighing what she’s actually capable of pulling off. In her chat with Pangina, she says, “You’re the biggest competition. And I don’t wanna pick you, because I really respect you, and I don’t think I’ll be able to. But I can’t say it’s not tempting, and I want you to know that.”

Of course, as we know, temptation wins out. After decisively winning an Alexandra Burke lip sync against Baga (who tries, but truly just throws herself around the stage with no rhyme or reason), Blu makes her speech:

“Well, it’s at that point in the competition where any misstep can send you home. We’re all strong; we’re all representing our own countries. And this is important to all of us. I have loved and followed this person’s career for years, and they inspire me, right to this moment. But tonight I’m sending home Pangina.”

Had Baga been the one to send Pangina home, I think it would’ve left a bad taste in my mouth. It would’ve felt like a personal choice—a vendetta, even. But for Blu to do it feels like a major moment. She’s making a calculated, risky move, one that opens up the competition to allow for an unexpected winner. And though she breaks into shakes afterward, the reason why is unclear: Is she regretting her decision, seeing how emotional it made Pangina? Or is she shocked that she just did what she thought herself unable to do? Whatever the case, it puts the “nerve” in C.U.N.T.—and further amplifies that Blu’s narrative for the crown is strong.

There will probably be a good bit of consternation over this result; taken together with Jimbo’s elimination, it’s left us with a less competitive final five. The promise of a cutthroat All Stars season has been fulfilled, but at what cost? That said, I ultimately like this hyper-competitive take, even though it’s taken my favourite of the season out too soon. But I think I only like it for this kind of season: low-stakes, no money on the line, and few episodes. Doing this for weeks on end would be exhausting, and it would suck to see someone’s shot at $100,000 ruined because someone took advantage of a twist. But for a guest spot on a RuPaul song? That’s a horse of a different colour, to quote Ru’s favourite movie.

Still, it is an unconditional bummer to see Pangina go home. Her hurt is palpable during and after her elimination. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said it was perhaps the most painful departure we’ve ever seen on RuPaul’s Drag Race. But Pangina has nothing to apologize for, or to feel ashamed of—she has been an absolute fucking star this season. Had Blu not taken her out here, I think it’s very likely she would’ve made it all the way and won the crown. But Pangina had to have known that by eliminating Jimbo, she made herself vulnerable. And so, while she’s devastated in the immediate, Pangina’s friendly banter online with Blu all season is a sign that game recognizes game.

If I were a betting man, I’d say Blu takes it all at this point. But there’s a funny thing about frontrunners this season: the second they emerge, they find themselves in another queen’s crosshairs. It’ll take the luck of the Irish for Blu to make the finale now.

Untucking our final thoughts:

✨Up and Down: Assuming Blu survives next week—again, not a safe assumption—I think she’s got it. But let’s imagine that, say, Mo wins the lip sync next week and sends Blu home. Out of that final four, I think it’s a contest between everyone left save Jujubee. Honestly, I’m not even sure a win next week would boost Juju’s prospects. She just hasn’t competed on the level needed to win the crown this time around. I could hear an argument for her winning based on her entire Drag Race legacy… but that’s never been how this show is judged, and I don’t think it would set a good standard for the Versus The World format.

✨“We’re back in the workroom, and I just sent Jimbo home… and I’m at peace with it!” This quote, plus a confessional about how she’s not going home this week, really set the tone for Pangina’s departure. Tempting fate! It is nice to see that she laughs at Jimbo’s lipstick message, though, and she even makes a joke about eliminating all the Canadian queens: “All I know is I can’t go to Canada anymore.”

✨For the first time I can recall, all the non-Ru judges this week are women! “Welcome to Ladies Night on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Versus The World,” Ru says before introducing Michelle Visage and his guest judges: presenter Clara Amfo and actress Michelle Keegan. Neither is great—we’ve been on a particularly strong run before this episode—but both are game and enjoyable. I would love to be in Michelle Keegan’s shoes and not know who James Charles is, though.

✨Blu says she’s “not having this storyline of me being safe.” Juju, self-aware queen, responds: “I’ll take that one.”

✨We get a rare All Stars 1 reference this week, when Jujubee counts Fran Drescher among her Snatch Game characters. Of course, that was actually for Gaff-In, an experimental alternative take on the celebrity impersonation challenge that is best left locked up in the vault for good. No wonder they just pretend she did Fran for Snatch Game.

✨Absolutely cackled at Blu singing the “Oh, Britannia!” chant upon receiving her Gold RuPeter Badge. It’s only her second RuPeter Badge ever, after her joint win for “Break Up (Bye Bye)” in UK Season 1! Can she secure a third career win next week—and her spot in the finale?

✨Blu comes into the workroom on elimination day in Heelies. Adorable.

✨At one point during the lip sync, Blu does what appears to be Lemon’s “BFF Necklace, VIP Guestlist” dance from Priyanka’s “Come Through” video. The video wasn’t out yet when this season filmed, though, making this just a delightful gay coincidence.

✨Suffice it to say I don’t love the queens’ workroom conversation about “cancel culture,” but I understand their frustrations. As drag has grown as an industry and as social media has granted fans more and more direct access to queens, there are issues that crop up. Hearing about Pangina receiving death threats for being a harsh judge, to the point of needing to hire a bodyguard for a premiere, illustrates the depth of the problem. But I ultimately think Mo’s point is what I’m walking away thinking about most: just think about the number of jokes across the decades that have needlessly punched down at marginalized groups, only to be defended as “comedy.” The whole thing is complex, and perhaps not well-suited for a five-minute segment.

✨ PANGINA: “I agree that I could’ve done much better.”

    BAGA: “That’s my line.”

✨Listen, I know Juju hasn’t been thriving in the competition, but it’s hard to argue she should go home when she’s giving us gems every week. Her best line this episode comes in a deliberations conversation with Janey: “I wish that they could just see who has the smoothest balls and choose from that, because I promise you, I would fucking win.”

The next episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Versus the World will be available to stream Tuesday, March 1, at 4 p.m. EST on WOW Presents Plus in the U.S. and Crave in Canada, as well as on BBC Three in the United Kingdom. For other countries, check World of Wonder’s streaming guide.