Hello, hello, hello!

The Snatch Game episode of any RPDR season can either be a turning point, a fork in the road, or a roundabout. This week delivered a solid version of the highly anticipated episode, which sees the queens doing celebrity impersonations within a campy old television game show format, not unlike our own Blankety Blanks (fair warning: that link comes with some good ol’ Aussie homophobia).

This week’s heartstring-tugging moment in the workroom was all about trans contestant, Peppermint. Her trans identity has been public knowledge since the cast was announced, but it hadn’t come up on the show until this week.

Peppermint disclosed that she was a trans woman amidst a conversation around gender identity in which Brooklyn queen Aja declared that he feels “gender is over”, and Alexis remarked on the fluidity of gender.

“It was actually through my drag, I realised my trans-ness,” she said. “I am a trans woman.”

What was refreshing about Peppermint’s disclosure was the lack of reality TV “drama” surrounding it, especially when compared to earlier instances of queens coming out as trans (see: Monica Beverly Hills in Season Five). This speaks to a greater level of visibility of — and empathy towards — the trans experience within the wider LGBTIQA community, as well as a potential rebuilding of the burned bridge between RPDR and some trans activists. The show has previously been called out repeated use of transphobic terms.

These days, drag can no longer be viewed purely through the lens of underground club culture, Divine films, and Paris is Burning. Like so many aspects of queer culture, it is now mainstream — it’s an industry and a pop cultural touchstone. It is deserving of sharp critique in the same way we now scrutinise AIDS Inc, Pride’s pinkwashing, TERFs, and other elements of the LGBTIQA community that have gone from purely progressive to sometimes problematic.

So when Peppermint — a trans woman of colour who also identifies as a drag queen — can plainly talk to her experience of straddling both communities, and the necessity of feeling safe enough to do so when surrounded by other drag queens, that seems like meaningful progress. Things are going to get a lot more complicated before they get simpler. Hopefully, we’re all along for the ride.

Okay, enough of the undergraduate gender studies essay. It’s time to play Snatch Game!

The Challenge

The audience expectations around Snatch Game are impossibly high, so it is inevitable that every episode is a little disappointing. My advice to the huffing hunties out there is not to view Snatch Game as pure entertainment, but rather as the gateway to picking your top three queens.

Until Snatch Game, it is impossible to know who has the RPDR charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent to go all the way. It is rare that a top three queen fails at the snatch game (obvious exceptions: Season Four’s Phi Phi and Season Eight’s Naomi Smalls). While the winner doesn’t necessarily mean top three material (Season Six’s BenDeLaCreme, Season Three’s Stacy Layne Matthews), you should still get a sense of who is in it to win it and who is all filler, no killer.

Let’s take a look at the top three snatchers (AKA The Snatch of the Day):

In all nine seasons of RPDR, no one has done Liza Minnelli. For those of you born this millennium (oh god… are you really reading this? IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?), Liza Minnelli basically gave birth to the modern homosexual man. This is a theory contested only by even older gays who would confer that honour to her mother, Judy Garland.

Liza is a gay icon, and if you fuck up impersonating her, you have to hand back your gay card. Fortunately, Broadway queen Alexis romped home a stellar impersonation. Although, as gay icon Snatch Game performances go, hers sits in the large Bob Mackie headdress shadow cast by Chad Michael’s never-to-be-defeated Cher impersonation from season four.

Note to all the baby queens doing Snatch Game: Ru is old school. He loves when you find a way to celebrate a classic icon in a clever way (see: Alaska’s Mae West, Jinkx Monsoon’s Little Edie). Silver screen goddess Marlene Dietrich may have been a left-of-centre choice, but Sasha inhabited the character and for the most part landed enough clever jokes to shine through.

Thank God she didn’t go with his alternative choice, gender theorist Judith Butler (although that might have been appropriate this week given the make-up room discussion). I am loving Sasha’s intelligence, insight, and empathy but I don’t think she will has the off-the-cuff sense of humour to make top three.

Nina, on the other hand…

Last week’s pep talk on the runway seems to have worked because this week Nina delivered as RPDR alum Jasmine “RuPaul Drag Race fucked up drag” Masters. The impersonation was the perfect vehicle for the misanthropic Brown and hopefully, this is the turning point in her narrative.

Side note: I am conflicted about Michelle Visage reading the queens for doing other Drag Race stars, but at the same time it’s rarely been done well (apart from when Sharon Needles did Michelle in Season Four).

Now, the bottom three snatchers (AKA The De-Snatched Retinas):

After the breakfast television challenge and now Snatch Game, it is safe to say that Peppermint is not a skilled improviser when it comes to acting challenges.

Peppermint’s NeNe was more of a no-no, with her barely lifting her eyes to camera level and needing prompts from Ru to drop the reality star’s iconic catchphrase. This landed Peppermint in the bottom two, and all I can say is THANK GOD, because that lip sync was next level (more on that in a sec).

Oh, Cynthia, when will the lambs stop screaming? Her Sofia Vergara was just Cynthia, proving once and for all that if a queen gets a chance to return and compete again, they need to grow and mature. This awkward, unfunny performance landed her in the bottom two against Peppermint, for good reason.

I am not a young person, so when I saw Farrah Moan was playing someone named Gigi, I thought it was supermodel Gigi Hadid and I patted myself on the back for knowing who that was. Then it turned out this Gigi was actually YouTube celebrity makeup tutorial person, Gigi Gorgeous.

I’m a big believer in inter-generational exchange, so in the same way this ep taught young kids about Liza, so too can older gays learn about the celebrities of today. (THIS IS ME SEARCHING FOR SOMETHING NICE TO SAY ABOUT FARRAH).

The Runway

The runway was a re-do of last season’s Night of 1,000 Madonnas, which saw FOUR queens all wear the same kimono-inspired Madonna outfit (GASP). So this year, when we got two Material Girls and two Met Gala Madonnas, you have to wonder if anyone thought about bringing two options, just in case.

Regardless, this was a definite improvement after last season, if only for these immaculate confections:

The Lip Sync

Last week we learned that Peppermint can move with her Britney performance in the Kardashian musical. This week, we learned that even though she’s not the greatest actor, Peppermint is one fierce lip sync queen.

Notably, she proved it by pulling out some old school hip hop moves, comedic choreography, and a mutha-trucking lot of energy without a single death drop or splits. In contrast, Cynthia was tired and out of tricks, and it came as no surprise to anyone, including her, when Ru told her to sashay away.

This Week’s Real Winner Is…

Peppermint! Killer lip sync, plus a powerful, poignant moment in the workroom disclosing her trans identity to the other queens. It’s a race to Miss Congeniality between her and Sasha Velour, methinks. Will either of them make top three? At this stage it seems Shea and Valentina are locked in for two of those spots. The third position is still up for grabs.

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RuPaul’s Drag Race is fast-tracked from the US each Saturday on Stan. Read more Drag Race recaps here.

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Nic Holas has written for The Guardian, Sydney Morning Herald, Archer Magazine, and Hello Mr. You can find him on Twitter @nicheholas, or in his role as co-founder of HIV movement The Institute of Many.