With Ross playing host, the queens bring the most to parodying Daytime TV, but it all leads to a veteran sashaying away.
There comes a point in every season of RuPaul’s Drag Race when RuPaul has to start saying goodbye to her “best girls.” While every queen who gets on the show is a star from the moment she walks into the workroom, a handful of queens ultimately emerge as the frontrunners, and the eliminations get harder and harder. Yet it seems we have already reached that point this week with the elimination of drag veteran Mayhem Miller, a queen who could have easily made it to the Top 3 on any other season.
This episode focuses less on Mayhem’s descent to the bottom (despite a performance and runway look that were both solidly safe) and more on queens like Eureka O’Hara, Monique Heart and Miz Cracker, who are all eager for a win. While Kameron Michaels and Blair St. Clair continue to give above average performances and looks, they (or the editors) seem to be waiting for the crowd to thin out a little before pulling focus. At least, we assume Kameron has more to share; her love of guest judge Shania Twain is the most revealing we’ve seen of her since that first day workroom wander in her underwear.
This week’s maxi-challenge, the “Bossy Rossy Show,” deserves to be renewed for a second season already. Ross Mathew is no stranger to the talk show circuit, having gotten his start on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno before becoming a regular on Chelsea Lately and landing his own short-lived talk show, Hello Ross. He knows his references, and practically steals the show from the queens with each frown, furrowed brow and nuanced adjustment of his Sally Jesse Raphael style spectacles
Monique and Blair’s segment, playing two-third of a love triangle with a cactus, is the most fun to watch. The queens collaborate, listen to each other and adjust; even when Monique is stealing the scene, she never steamrolls through it. They eventually give even more life to “Vanjie Fever,” turning their agreed safe word of “Vanjie!” into a taunt that ends with both wigs snatched and Ross delightedly gagged. Eureka and Aquaria’s feuding sexy babies was also mostly successful for the same reasons. While Eureka certainly earned her win as a betrayed baby on the edge of a tantrum, she still left room for Aquaria to shine as the infant ingénue.
Monet X Change stumbles again this week as a hip pad eating addict. While she comes in with a strong character, it’s clear she’s just too in her head — a pitfall almost every queen has encountered during their time on the show. Kameron Michaels, meanwhile ,comes prepared as a panty-sniffing junkie (tucking panties, that is), displaying a surprisingly quick wit for such a quiet queen. Being prepared also serves Miz Cracker well this week. She seems to be fully in her element as a doctor helping Mayhem face her fear of pickles before revealing that she herself is a pickle. The judges tasked her last week with bringing more of her kooky, quirky side out, and she more than delivers. Finally, Asia O’Hara and The Vixen’s copycat conflict falls mostly flat, with both queens ultimately forgetting the “Yes, and” rule of improv. Asia admits they should have rehearsed more, and she’s right.
Queens in Jeans
The denim and diamonds runway saves Asia O’Hara this week. Her shredded ode to Thunderdome spares her any criticism, while The Vixen’s un-cinched mermaid gown leaves her to answer to the judges’ critiques of their scene. Cracker’s bucktoothed Pippi Longstocking rounds out another great week for her in this competition, while Monique sells us on her giraffe print reveal. The fact that she thought it was a “brown cow” print only makes us love her more, but she’ll need to elevate her looks on the runway if she wants to vie for more than Miss Congeniality this season.
Monet’s ill-fitting jumpsuit doesn’t help matters, and it’s no surprise she ends up in the bottom two. We might have put The Vixen there instead, except we’re not ready to see her or Monet go home just yet. While Mayhem certainly could have bounced back in the lip sync to Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like a Woman,” Monet’s one-woman show steals focus from the first wig reveal and doesn’t let up. It may have not been the legendary performance we saw in last week’s “Pound the Alarm” lip sync, but it more than proves that she is not coasting this season.
A third lip sync is typically a death knell for a queen, so — between that and her competitors’ track records so far — Monet can’t afford to be anything less than impeccable the rest of this season. Equally, Kameron and Blair either need a story or a win to stick around. We’re happy to see tensions between The Vixen and Eureka (who is also this week’s winner) calm down, but the end of a conflict can also cue the impending end of a queen’s run on the show. Meanwhile, Aquaria and Asia have both won challenges, but Monique and Miz Cracker are winning at creating a successful platform for their careers to take off. The best and worst thing about Season 10 is how hard it’s gonna be to see any of them go next.
Want to queen out each week on Season 10 with us? Alight Mary is a weekly recap podcast and deep dive into all things RuPaul’s Drag Race. We go in on the queens, behind the scenes, the larger social themes explored on the show and as much reddit T as we can get our mitts on. Subscribe on iTunes!
More? If you haven’t read these, check them out:
If Yuhua Hamasaki Wasn’t Doing Drag…
Asia O’Hara on Who’s Cross-dressing in Washington
Which Queen Does Dusty Ray Bottoms Think Is Tops?
Drag Race Season 10 Recap: Miz Cracker’s Confidence in Comedy Cracks
Blair St. Clair Plots World Drag Domination
Eureka O’Hara Is Not an Alcoholic
Drag Race Season 10 Episode 11 Recap: The Inner Saboteurs Come Out
Drag Race Season 10 Episode 7 Recap: Aquaria Snatches the Lead
What If Noted Drag Queen Mrs. Kasha Davis Performed at the White House?
From Russia with Hate: Bianca Del Rio Talks about . . . Bianca Del Rio
Last modified: June 19, 2018
