Everyone on RuPaul’s Drag Race gets what they want in “The Daytona Wind”

One way or another someone will win this lip-sync. Screenshot: RuPaul’s Drag Race

The start to most Drag Race episodes is tame. There is the somber moment of remembrance for the fallen queen and a celebration of the triumphant winning queen. Not this episode. Jasmine walks through the door after her lip sync for her life saying “Well, that was easy,” before we are reminded of her fight with Maddy in Untucked. Their fight has almost been featured in as many episodes as June now. Willow thinks Jasmine is “invigorated” by winning and especially getting the last word with Maddy.

With the tension between Jasmine and Maddy resolved by an elimination, the show focuses on a new brewing battle. Lady Camden, having been close two winning twice in a row, conveys that she is even more motivated now before ceding the floor in celebration of Jorgeous’ win last week. While the other queens congratulate Jorgeous, Daya interrupts with a cutting comment about Jorgeous’ outfit. Both Jasmine and Daya are authentic and honest about their experience and have clearly not heard the idiom “If you don’t have something nice to say…” That said, it would be a boring show if contestants adhered to that principle.

The friction carries over to the next day. Jorgeous brings up the validity of her win, which prompts Daya to apologize. Jasmine, in her confessional, retorts that the apology is “faker than my breastplate,” which may enter the pantheon of classic Drag Race quotes in the future. A video message filled with soap opera puns suspends the conflict as the queens refocus on a new challenge. RuPaul enters to reveal an acting challenge this week in which the queens will perform in The Daytona Wind, a soap opera about three competing drag dynasties: The Davenports, The O’Haras, and The Michaels. RuPaul adds pressure by revealing that he will serve as director, and grants Jorgeous the power to assign roles for winning last week. Jorgeous, thrilled with this power, says “I can’t wait to see how this turns out,” referencing Katya on All Stars 2 referencing RuPaul from season five.

Jorgeous passes out the script and the queens remark on its thickness, suggesting a lot of material to memorize. Daya is prepared for retribution, but Jorgeous decides to diplomatically divvy up the parts based on what everyone wants. Unlike past seasons, there aren’t any squabbles about who gets what role. Kerri identifies the one source of tension present in all acting challenges: a big part versus a small part. One gives you more screen time, but more responsibility and chances to mess up. The other has scant screen time, but can often steal the show.

The queens break off into groups to practice. Willow and Daya are playing sisters and seem to be on the same page; likewise, Bosco appears dialed into her character as she recognizes a Reba reference. While running lines with Kerri and Jorgeous, DeJa encourages them to try without the script and fumbles nearly every utterance, foreshadowing trouble. Jorgeous, in particular, is nervous as she has struggled to translate her star power into comedy or acting challenges thus far. Oddly, Lady Camden, Angeria, and Jasmine’s rehearsals ended up on the cutting room floor.

The queens arrive on set and see their director. RuPaul’s presence sparks some fear, as they explain it’s not the same as being directed by Michelle or Ross. The added pressure is momentarily alleviated as RuPaul gives a lesson on the Joan Collins school of acting that favors angles over process. The moment ends with a joke about lotion and they get to work.

DeJa, Kerri, and Jorgeous take the stage first. DeJa and Kerri are instructed to draw out southern drawls and insert pauses between each line. At first, this seems like a strange direction that ruins the pacing of the dialogue. Jorgeous enters the scene with confidence based off her personal knowledge of telenovelas. She hit new heights of humor reacting to rapid-fire direction from RuPaul, pulling one hilarious melodramatic expression after another. The moment between RuPaul and Jorgeous was one of the episode’s best.

In the next scene, Jasmine starts by overthinking but a subtle direction from RuPaul unleashes something spectacular. Looking like Alyssa Edwards (which appears more welcome than looking like Crystal Methyd, cough, cough), Jasmine manages to act so bad that she circles around to being great, according to Bosco. Willow and Daya enter in the next scene and immediately shine as two vertically unmatched sisters. RuPaul showers Willow with praise, saying she deserves a Daytime Emmy, which sparks Daya’s competitiveness and fuels her terrific performance. Bosco enters the scene and makes a single mistake. After RuPaul instructs Bosco to not remove her hat, she does so again on the second take. It’s a minor mishap in an overall good performance, but with everyone excelling so far, it’s potential disaster.

The final sequence spotlights Lady Camden and Angeria. Expectations are high for their onscreen chemistry after weeks of flirtation in the workroom. Lady Camden is instantly captivating, but it’s difficult to put a finger on it. It’s really just the magic of good acting. She is over the top, but also authentic. The one contestant who appeared infallible is Angeria, but in this challenge she appears to make mistake after mistake, dropping most of her lines. It seems ironic since she is the queen with the perfect, natural Southern accent.

On elimination day, the cast is excited to see the final product. Perhaps Angeria is more anxious than excited, following her poor performance on set. On the other side of the room, Daya tries to clear the air with Jorgeous, explaining that she doesn’t want her competitive energy to overshadow someone else’s success. Bosco, as always, manages to diffuse any tension with humor, asking how Daya will feel if she ends up just “safe.”

The runway category is revealed to be Chaps. This theme makes Bosco think of leather daddy culture and the Folsom Street Fair. Bosco and the San Francisco queen Lady Camden provide a queer lesson on the fair to the audience and Angeria, who has never heard of the event. It’s an interesting addition, as Drag Race has become increasingly mainstream, for the show to focus on queer kink culture. As Bosco explains, Folsom is not the standard “corporate sponsored pride” and that it is important to maintain some non-family friendly queer culture. Lady Camden stresses that the event is integral to sex-positive exploration of desire and identity without judgment. Angeria is eager to attend, but would they invite Maddy?

Speaking of Maddy, Jasmine is asked if they resolved their feud from the last episode. Jasmine reads a letter from Maddy revealing that their friendship is intact and no hard feelings remain. This moment of serenity is followed by barbed jabs between Daya and Jasmine, suggesting a potential new rivalry.

RuPaul enters the runway as a ruffled tangerine dream. Michelle and Ross are joined by TS Madison, the viral star and recurring judge from last season. They all discuss what they would name their soap opera, with TS Madison saying hers would be a sitcom called I Dream Of Weenie. Perhaps her outfit was planned just to land that joke, which proves that TS Madison would be a welcome permanent judge on the series.

“Chaps on the Runway” is announced with some hesitation for a show that once balked at the sight of pants on the mainstage years earlier. It is a simple category that leads some to offer a, forgive the phrase, straightforward interpretation and those who approach it more conceptually. DeJa and Angeria are the former in well-constructed chap looks in blue leopard and gold “sequence” looks, respectively. They meet the prompt but don’t expand beyond it in anyway, although it was great to see DeJa not in an abundance of fabric. Kerri and Jasmine both attempt a fresh take on chaps. Kerri’s look is constructed completely out of hair and Jasmine’s is a campy collegiate look that yields ample puns from the judges. Jorgeous’ look felt more like a wardrobe malfunction. The juxtaposition of nude and black made it appear like she just got tangled in her stockings while trying to get dressed. Willow went more conceptual in a black latex look that presented atomic wedgie crossed with Symone’s meme-inspired red-finger nail look.

Bosco’s twisted leather chaps with a soft-pink studded suede look that played with codes of masculinity and femininity. This theme was also picked up by Lady Camden and Daya. Lady Camden, in one of the most shocking runway walks ever, falls hard. While it looks like a potential second medical disqualification of the season, it turns out to be a planned reveal. During her fall, Lady Camden transforms from a feminine Storm-like look into a masculine Freddie Mercury. It did what great reveals should do—tell a story. Daya accomplished the same in a less dramatic, but perhaps more efficient way by presenting suit-inspired chaps over lingerie, juxtaposing traditional masculinity and femininity.

The Daytona Wind is revealed with few surprises. First, the ratio and cinematography choices must be commended for conveying a 1980s television soap opera aesthetic. However, the star of the show turns out to be sound effects: Every scene is punctuated with flatulence. As a self-identified uptight person, I will say this kind of humor is not my thing. That said, the frequency and audacity of the gag was amusing. It was unrelenting. Now it makes sense why RuPaul was having the queens pause in between lines. It also dawns on Bosco, who has a new understanding of the title and many of the jokes in the script. One pleasing result was getting to see the queens genuinely surprised and tickled by the post-production additions. The only question remains: How does Rock M. Sukara feel after being so harshly chastised for making one fart joke in season 12?

It may have been one of the longest and possibly best acting challenges of the series. Despite being basically one extremely extended fart joke, the cross-cutting between the production and the queens’ reactions made for good television. The Daytona Wind played so well, it’s hard to tell who might end up in the bottom two. Even Angeria, who struggled, seemed to soar with the sound effects added.

It feels like a repeat of last week when Angeria, DeJa, and Kerri, who might have been the weakest, are ruled safe. Everyone on stage is perplexed. The confusion dissipates when RuPaul reveals that the remaining queens are all in the top. The critiques are nearly entirely complimentary. It’s an interesting episode that proves the show can be successful with positive reinforcement and that critique doesn’t always mean negative criticism.

Instead of a lip-sync for your life, it is a lip sync for the win, with Lady Camden and Daya battling it out to Blondie’s “One Way Or Another.” Given the band’s status as punk-pop pioneers, it seemed like Daya had it in the bag. Lady Camden, however, confidently claims it as “her song.” Both give great performances, but the camera clearly favors Lady Camden, who manages to gracefully blends her ballet agility with campy humor. It is a spectacle with splits and high-kicks, but the best parts came with her “get ya, get ya” moments. Despite a solid performance by Daya, Lady Camden is triumphant.

This episode managed to give them both what they wanted. After two near-wins in a row, Lady Camden finally has victory. Daya, who nearly collapsed from weekly safe placements, got the critique she craved and it was all positive. It was a fantastic episode that shows you don’t need negative comments, fights, and tears to make a compelling episode of Drag Race.

Stray Observations

• An early favorite moment was Lady Camden in Daya’s wig, taunting “I made my garment from scratch.”
• Willow and Daya using the classic trope of height difference for comedic gold dates all the way back to silent comedy and vaudeville.
• When Bosco mentioned leather daddy it felt like a shame that Mo Heart couldn’t have used her butch leather daddy runway from U.K. vs. The World.
• I think acting challenges are so much better when they are on an actual set instead of green screen.
• What a great and moving episode of Untucked! First, Daya transforming into Jasmine by talking too much. Second, the really important and moving discussion of trans identity and expression between Bosco, Jasmine, and Kerri. I wonder if Untucked could beat RuPaul’s Drag Race for the Emmy this year?
• My Top Four remain Angeria, Bosco, Daya, and Willow.