The queens of All
Stars season five are a talented group, and RuPaul and the producers have
made some canny tweaks to the format that should deliver plenty of drama and
excitement. In
the premiere, the twists and turns were enough to paper over the
underwhelming talent show. Not so in “I’m In Love!”, which shows the limitations
of this All Stars format. With so
much time spent on deliberations and the lip-sync, not to mention interpersonal
drama, there isn’t much time left for the actual challenges. Drag Race is at its best when amidst all
the drama, creativity, and invention, the queens put on one hell of a show.
Saddled with a forgettable song, the queens deliver their second disappointing
main stage performance. This season will need to amp things up quickly if it wants
to get back on track.
The episode begins with the queens reacting to the reveal
that each episode’s $10,000 cash tip rolls over, should the lip-sync assassin
win. As the possibilities of an accumulating tip jar settle in, the
conversation switches over to the elimination, and here’s where the tension
ratchets up. Ongina promises to up her game, which Cracker clearly has thoughts
on, and Mayhem thanks the queens for saving her and voting out Derrick. Jujubee
weighs her options, then decides to come clean, telling Mayhem that she voted
for her to go home. Mayhem is surprised and hurt, and feels the vote was personal,
rather than objective. Cracker comes to Jujubee’s defense, but Jujubee hears
Mayhem out and apologizes for hurting her feelings, though not for her vote.
The next day, the queens strut their way into the workroom,
read Derrick’s lipstick message, and settle in for some pre-challenge banter.
Cracker gets the pot bubbling with a surprise announcement that she thinks she
voted incorrectly and should have tried to pull a BenDeLaCreme and white-out
voted for Ongina, who doesn’t have her head in the game. This is a surprise
move from Cracker, who wasn’t known in her original season for whipping up
drama. Whether she’s making a play for screentime or trying to get in Ongina’s
head, this is not a good look for Cracker. It does give the other queens a lot
to react to, and their glances and micro-expressions are a blast.
RuMail pops up, and Ru heads into the workroom to announce
the next maxi challenge. The queens will be writing lyrics to go with Ru’s
latest song, “I’m In Love!”, celebrating their male celebrity crushes. They’ll
be in three teams, with the team captains responsible for choreographing each
section of the song. As the winner of the previous challenge, India will be one
of the captains, and Ru asks her which two queens she considers her biggest
competition. India names Shea and Blair, and Ru makes them the other captains.
They choose teams and get to work right away, with India picking Jujubee and
Alexis, while Blair gets Cracker and Mayhem, and Shea gets Mariah and Ongina.
Right off the bat, some of the queens have clear concepts
for what they’ll do. Others are completely lost. India wants to write her verse
about her fiancé and needs to be coaxed by her teammates into picking an actual
celebrity. Team Blair has good celebrity picks, but there’s immediate tension
between Cracker and Mayhem, who feels micromanaged by Cracker. Over on Team
Shea, Mariah and Shea do their best to get Ongina focused on the challenge, but
she’s still spinning from Cracker’s comment that morning.
It’s time to record with Leland and Freddy Scott, and Blair’s
team is up first. After some early nerves, Blair pulls together her verse about
Hannibal Lecter, while Cracker sails through her Sylvester Stallone verse. Mayhem
does alright with her Mr. Rogers verse, but Cracker pipes in with a lyric
rewrite that Mayhem does not appreciate. India’s team fares better. Alexis’
Daddy Yankee and Jujubee’s John Stamos verses are good, but India struggles to
match them with her Justin Timberlake lyrics. As for Shea’s team, Shea crushes
her Chadwick Boseman verse, but Mariah calls Jason Momoa Superman instead of
Aquaman and Ongina’s voice is just gone, making her pick of Henry Cavill hard
for her to even say, let alone rhapsodize about. They’re in trouble.
The dance rehearsals are a similarly mixed bag. Shea,
Mariah, and Ongina are immediately in sync and confident. India’s group is
rocky out of a lack of leadership from India, who delegates the choreography to
Alexis, and a lack of confidence with choreography in general. Then there’s
Team Blair, which continues to battle tension as Cracker keeps micromanaging
her teammates. She’s not wrong in her suggestions, but that doesn’t make her
continual interruptions any less frustrating. This friction continues as the queens
paint for the challenge. Rather than listening to what Blair and the other
queens are saying about how her actions affect them, Cracker deflects and
dismisses them, then wonders why she has trouble making friends. She clearly
has a ways to go working on her interpersonal skills. Given how essential the
social game is to this new version of All
Stars, she’ll need to open her eyes and quick if she wants to stay.
On the main stage, Ru comes out in a somewhat puzzling blue,
hot pink, black, and red gown and welcomes guest judges Madison Beer and Tessa
Thompson. The queens are set up in three sections of the stage, with India’s
group center stage. The song gets off to a slow start with bland, though
on-theme choreography for the bubblegum pop introduction and interludes, and it
only improves slightly for each group’s verses. Alexis and Jujubee do well,
their lyrics and performances charming and sweet, but India’s verse wanders and
for some reason includes a Laganja quote. Team Blair is up next, their choreography
confusingly pillow-centric. Fortunately, Cracker’s verse is solid and Mayhem and
Blair have fun with Mr. Rogers and Hannibal Lecter, two excellent choices for
this challenge. Last is Shea’s team, and while Shea’s verse has energy, rhythm,
and creativity, both Ongina and Mariah’s fall flat. Their choreography is more
interesting than their counterparts’, but given the creativity of the picks
from Blair’s team and the charisma of India’s team, theirs is the weakest
section of the song. The performance overall has its moments, but compared with
the double premiere and Rusical performances in season 12, “I’m In Love!” is
disappointing.
For the runway, category is: Love The Skin You’re In. First
out is India, who looks lovely in a beige dress with accents in many other skin
tones, all of which meet and drape at her hip. Next is Jujubee, who glows in a
champagne halter dress with a mermaid skirt. Alexis’ look seems completely
different than the others, a plunging cinnamon leather gown, until Blair comes
out in a chic hot pink latex ensemble, with pink paint and a neon yellow wig. Cracker
is next, in a comparably drab, though delicate bodice and tulle skirt, followed
by Mayhem, her dress covered in strands of beads that accentuate her movement. Shea
makes a statement with her look, a stoned body suit with a skin tone and golden
nude illusion and plenty of sparkle. She describes herself as a Nubian goddess
and she looks amazing, the clear winner of this runway. Ongina also looks great
in a Filipino-inspired feathered gown, and Mariah is glamourous and beautiful in
her more traditional gown. Team Shea may have run into trouble in the
challenge, but they slayed the runway.
Once the queens are assembled on the main stage, Ru declares
Alexis, Cracker, and Mayhem safe and sends them off. That leaves Jujubee,
Blair, and Shea in the top, and India, Ongina, and Mariah in the bottom. Shea
is ultimately declared the winner, and the queens head back to the workroom to
deliberate. The queens congratulate Shea but before they can start
deliberations, Ongina tearfully declares that while she wants to be there, she feels
the other bottom queens deserve to stay over her, and that everyone should vote
for her to be eliminated. The other queens try to buck her up, and Cracker in
particular feels responsible for Ongina’s self-defeated headspace, but after
this, the rest of the deliberation process feels perfunctory.
After voting, the queens return to the main stage and the
lip-sync assassin is revealed: Alyssa Edwards. She comes out in gold boots, a
purple jacket, and a neon fringe dance ensemble, ready to battle. The queens
are happy to see her, and Shea knows she’ll have to turn it out to beat the
Dancing Queen. The lip-sync song is The Pointer Sisters’ “Neutron Dance,” and
Alyssa and Shea have the same idea at the start, strutting to the back of the
catwalk as they wait for the vocals to kick in. Both queens serve up
personality and fun, but the lip-sync is harder to follow than it should be
thanks to too frequent cutting to the judges and the other queens. This is a
slower but still up-tempo song, more about attitude than tricks, and both
Alyssa and Shea would have been better served if the editors held back and let
them build their performances. In the end, Ru deservedly gives Shea the win and
the $20,000 cash tip, and Alyssa bids a fond farewell.
Ru summons the bottom three queens back onto the stage and
Shea reveals her lipstick: She’s chosen Ongina to go home. While it’s very
surprising to have this season one favorite eliminated so early in the season,
this is definitely the right call. All
Stars is grueling at the best of times, and if she’s grappling with
self-doubt, there’s no way Ongina will thrive. This is not the All Stars experience she wanted, but at
least Ongina had the opportunity to slay the runway this episode and introduce
herself to a new generation of fans. She’s a fantastic queen, and it’s been a
treat spending two more episodes with her.
Stray observations
- Jujubee’s talking heads are terrific throughout. I was
particularly fond of her “IRA-Roth” discussion. - Mayhem, relying on friendships to keep you afloat in this
competition is a mistake, both for you and for the show overall. - I loved Blair’s hand motions for “Hannibal Lecter.” The
producers put up a pic of Anthony Hopkins’ Lecter, but Hannibal fans
know she was singing to Mads Mikkelsen. - It’s hard to root for Cracker this episode, even as she
tears up saying she doesn’t understand why people keep calling her difficult.
You can dismiss others’ critiques or you can listen and take your lumps, but
you don’t get to shut down the people trying to politely explain where they’re
coming from and also play the misunderstood outcast. - Instead of spending so much time on Cracker’s lack of social
skills, I would have much rather lingered with Shea as she slayed this
challenge. No, Shea, we were not surprised. - The timing of this episode is fortuitous, with the lip-sync
acting as a tribute of sorts to the
late Bonnie Pointer, founding member of The Pointer Sisters.