RuPaul's Drag Race delivers an episode that could have been deleted

The queens reenter the workroom and pay homage to Kerri Colby following her elimination. Jasmine, conflicted by Kerri’s absence, explains all she has learned and continues to learn from Kerri. The emotional moment is complimented by the comical image of Jasmine holding a bundle of hair above her head. The queens then move to the couch and congratulate Daya on her victory. The producers also offer Daya’s image a little rehabilitation for her competitive streak, as the queens agree it is a necessary trait to compete on RuPaul’s Drag Race.

During their post-mortem on the last challenge, the contestants begin to tabulate individual wins. Jasmine and DeJa deduce that they are the only queens without a challenge win, which adds extra pressure for both of them this week. Speaking of pressure, producers managed to alleviate some of it surrounding the contentious relationship between Daya and Jasmine as they enjoy some good-natured teasing. Bosco brings the sequence to a close declaring it a fatal mistake to discount any competitor.

The next day, RuPaul enters the workroom for a perfunctory mini challenge involving photobombing a litany of male celebrities. Little more than a product placement for tights, and a showcase for truly terrifying quick drag, the win goes to Willow’s Mary Lou Retton-inspired gymnast. For the main challenge, RuPaul announces the return of in-person Drag Con, and that this week the queens must lead a panel on men, blending the same challenge from Season 10 with the issues-based Pink Table Talk challenge of All Stars 6.

As winner of the mini challenge, Willow gets to select her team. She picks queens that she hasn’t worked with yet, which is an interesting, albeit potentially dangerous, decision. Willow’s team consists of DeJa, Angeria, and Lady Camden, which leaves Bosco, Daya, Jasmine, and Jorgeous vying against them. Tension between Daya and Jasmine resurface instantly when the former called the later “an energy vampire” in the confessional.

As the separate groups start to work together, they first decide who has the important role of moderator. While Jorgeous doesn’t know what the word means, the rest of us understand that it’s the moderator’s role to keep the conversation moving and structured. Everyone in Willow’s group believes that DeJa has the correct temperament for the job, whereas there is more conflict in the other group. Jasmine proposes herself as moderator, to Daya’s ire. The group ultimately decides to go with Bosco, who has already demonstrated a wonderfully dry wit. Jasmine accepts this, and understands that her passion for talking may overshadow her ability to listen.

RuPaul reenters the workroom for the walkthrough. Angeria confesses that she has never been to Drag Con, and they go over what will make a good panel discussion. As with most walkthroughs, there is an element of therapy. RuPaul discusses DeJa’s absent father and Lady Camden’s shyness (which feels a little blown out of proportion by production). It is the classic RuPaul motivational speech bordering on toxic positivity. Despite this, as Lady Camden said earlier, they have a good chemistry as a group. The Bosco-led team, on the other hand, has a little more dysfunction. The tension between Daya and Jasmine continues with an awkward remark about a cement floor. Jorgeous talks about how her femininity was perceived during childhood and how she found acceptance. Like past performance-based challenges, Jorgeous seems nervous and flustered. It feels like Bosco will have a lot of work as a moderator.

Bosco also gets to the heart of this challenge. It is about being personal and fun. It’s about letting the judges get to know you, and also making them laugh. A panel challenge tests communication skills, presence, and relatability of each queen. Considering the potential heavy material they will address, the producers lighten the mood, sharing some sillier moments of the queens getting ready.

On the main stage, RuPaul welcomes and introduces Michelle, Carson, and perennial judge Nicole Byer, who gives a wonderful trio of dick jokes. The first group of DeJa, Lady Camden, and Willow is about men being a work in progress. DeJa is an efficient and relatable moderator, if at times a little dry. Willow balances humor and heart deftly. She really excelled in her group, providing the best jokes and the most impactful stories. Angeria was charming, per usual, and had a natural engaging presence on the panel. While Lady Camden struggled at first, shrinking to the background, she redeemed herself sharing a heartwarming story about her father. The transition from what they found sexy to fatherhood felt a little rough, and part of the problem with the panels is that they were sort of like two or three panels in one.

This really hurt the following group of Bosco, Jorgeous, Jasmine, and Daya. Jasmine’s weakness again turned out to be her verbosity. Bosco needed to cut her off earlier. Overall, their conversations felt very disjointed and lacking in focus. Jorgeous in particular felt nervous and awkward. She still is not able to translate her energy on the runway to the performances. Daya, who looked really out of place in neon yellow, was fine but didn’t seem to be having a good time, which is part of this kind of challenge. Bosco was a terrific panelist, but maybe not the best moderator.

Considering that the panels had a good deal of heavy material, we are spared any sad stories while they get ready for the Runway. The category this week is Shoulder Pads, which wasn’t as impactful as one would have hoped. DeJa emerged first in perhaps the best interpretation of the assignment. The look screamed shoulder pads in a highly exaggerated take on the Chanel suit. Lady Camden came out as the nutcracker, which was amusing, but the headpiece kind of distracted from the idea of shoulder pads. Willow’s look was perfectly put together with each detail, but sadly just lacked volume in the shoulder pads. If she had just made them a little bigger she probably would have won her second challenge. Angeria gave a look outside her general aesthetic. It was graphic and well made, if not a little underwhelming take on Klaus Nomi. In Jubilee cosplay, though she didn’t reference it, Bosco’s look felt undercooked. The shoulder element, while sharp, felt a little like a last minute thought. Jorgeous, like with her chaps runway, came out in a look that simply just wasn’t shoulder pads. The fit around the chest was also problematic. But at least it wasn’t a bra and panty. Jasmine’s look was smart in its use of minimalism to focus on the shoulder pads, but it also just didn’t look good. A main issue was all the black elements that really weighed the look down, especially the hair, eyes, and lips. Daya’s GI Jane meets Tank Girl look had a point of view, but, again, the shoulders didn’t feel like the focus.

As the judges prepare for critique, Lady Camden and Angeria are deemed safe and exit. They praise DeJa’s performance and declare that her look is what they envisioned for this category. It seems like the judges were a little let down with this runway. They stressed Willow’s look could have gone bigger, but thought her role as a panelist was perfection. She let them know more about her and gave great joke construction while dealing with dark material. Michelle rightly critiques Bosco’s look as simple. Bosco’s looks always have a clean minimalism to them, but this one felt unfinished. She is praised for her performance as moderator. With DeJa, Willow, and Bosco clearly in the top three, the critique moves to Jorgeous, Jasmine, and Daya. They remark that Jorgeous seemed self-conscious. It was interesting to see Jorgeous tell the same story on the panel as she did in the workroom, because she was so much more engaging the first time. She seems to have a little stage fright when it comes to public speaking of any kind. While Jasmine is praised for editing her look, they thought she held back too much in the challenge and lacked confidence. Daya earned the least harsh critique. In the end Daya is safe, Bosco eeks out a win, and the two dancing divas, Jorgeous and Jasmine, must lip sync.

The other queens are pumped for this showdown, which is also dramatic because these two have struck a friendship over the season. They perform to “Something’s Got A Hold On Me” by Etta James. It was a wonderful song choice that forced both Jasmine and Jorgeous to perform in a why we haven’t seen. They appear to have a terrific time, and it’s an excellent lip sync. Was it worthy of a double shantay? I’m not entirely sure. But I also think they were evenly matched, and I can’t decide who had the edge. In the end, both Jasmine and Jorgeous get to stay for another week. It was kind of a perfect ending to an episode that didn’t have much happening. The mini challenge was basic, the main challenge not exactly entertaining, an underwhelming runway, and a double shantay. It feels like you could delete the episode from the season and nothing would be lost. But at least next week is Snatch Game.

Stray Observations

• It’s a shame that Kerri was eliminated last week. She would have had an interesting perspective on fatherhood and toxic masculinity based on what she revealed about her childhood.
• This is technically the fourth episode with no elimination. I like all the contestants, but this is a competition series. The double-digit seasons have really been making the effort to draw out the seasons. But at least there hasn’t been a behind the scenes documentary, as of yet.
• Do we think that Kerri left that blue wig, or Angeria let her borrow it? Or do they just have the same wig?
• Would 100 percent watch a one-woman show based off Willow’s quick drag character.
• The return of Kandy Muse and Olivia Lux’s wig on Nicole Byer is heartwarming.
• My top four for the season remains: Angeria, Bosco, Daya, and Willow
• For a UK Versus the World update: congrats to Jujubee for tanking her way to the top.