‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars’ S6E5 Recap: If You Ain’t Have No Trauma, Take Yo’ Ass Home
This week, the queens were judged on their ability to turn their personal issues into TV - same as every other week.
It’s a testament to the All Stars 6 cast that this episode featured so many of Drag Race‘s worst tendencies (beating down contestants to create drama, encouraging queens to reveal personal trauma they’re not ready to discuss, and a suspect elimination), yet was still great.
Drag Race gets in its own way a lot, but this cast might — touch wood — be bulletproof, an odd mix of people that are just a joy to watch together. This week’s maxi challenge, a parody of the Pinkett-Smith’s Facebook watch show Red Table Talk, was delightful — until we got to the judging.
The queens were asked to speak openly about something serious to them, and then criticised if they didn’t perform vulnerability properly: Sonique, Jan and Scarlet were the deserving bottom three, but it felt like the show was asking a little too much to really judge any of the queens here.
It’s hard to know whether they missed the mark because they thought they were forced to perform the Drag Race version of Red Table Talk (aka broad-humoured and filled with one-liners), or whether they just weren’t comfortable with the idea. I struggle to think, for example, Kylie, as a trans woman, most clearly relates to her group’s topic of motherhood as a dog owner. Perhaps she (or Pandora, Jan and Scarlet) didn’t want to share anything deeper.
Signing up to any reality show is, in some regard, agreeing to ‘perform’ your personal history in some way, but this challenge transformed the not-so sub-text of Drag Race — where it’s hard to win without some sort of traumatic reveal or transformative growth — into a maxi challenge. On one hand, it produced some really beautiful moments; on another, the queens were being judged on Untucked: Main Stage.
Still, nothing can break AS6‘s streak (touch wood pile): halfway through, the competition is really starting to heat up, and I can imagine most of these queens in the final four. Sad to say bye to Scarlet, who by my count could’ve been in the top three for the talent show, ball and half-time show. I had her pegged for top four for sure – and while my money’s on Silky returning of the eliminated queens, I’d love to see Scarlet back.
Sex, Body, And The Holy Motherhood
Last week’s elimination was unanimous, with everyone voting for Yara, a sharp change from last week, where A’Keria was saved by just one vote. But the real surprise is that Jan, if she won her lip-sync, would have sent home A’Keria — she narrates her mini-anxiety breakdown over revealing it, but you can see it all over her face.
Surely by this point they have a dedicated Jan-cam, to make sure they capture each and every face crack.
Jan overthinking about how everyone would vote to the point she went the opposite way sums up my (and the judges’) frustrations with Jan: she’s more concerned with playing Drag Race than she is being a great drag queen. Which, to be clear, she is! She’s so talented, funny and has amazing looks, but again and again, she gets in her own way.
Going straight from S12 to AS6 was a risky move — I think she could’ve benefited from some more time off TV, though it would’ve been hard to turn down the offer when it feels like your one moment of fame is being ruined by the pandemic. The S12 queens had a rough go, unable to travel the world or tour before a new crop came through: Jan was in a tough spot.
The next day, the queens continue the never-ending trade discussion and suggest they are a fashion-forward group outside of drag. It’s all very “mum can we get fashion-forward people? mum: we have fashion-forward people at home”.
I mean these are not not looks (and I, as a dangly-earring, bleached hair, wears-all-black gay, simply cannot talk on what is and what isn’t fashion-forward). It’s also very that meme about how queer groups of friends are never dressed for the same event.
The queens get to split themselves into three groups of three, then divide the topics for their mini-talk shows between themselves. A’Keria, Eureka and Trinity get ‘sex’, while Ginger (and Pandora and Jan) vies for ‘motherhood’, since she’s trying to adopt a child — but Scarlet wants it too, to talk about her two mums. Ginger gives in, which is to Scarlet’s groups detriment, as it’s only Ra’Jah who excels there.
The challenge is a little confusing, so I don’t blame some of the queens for misfiring. They film a little character intro which seems very Drag Race — gas jokes, one-liners — before filming an audience-free chat on the mainstage at the flimsiest pink table ever. Guess this week’s budget went into Bianca Del Rio’s cameo.
I know the Red Table is similar, but that one is enforced with Facebook budget to not tilt when someone puts their hand on it.
The show’s a little shady in airing Eureka’s group first, as they’re the best of the bunch. Eureka is a wonderful moderator, which might surprise those who remember her show-boating in S10. All season she’s shown a new maturity in taking a step back, and that comes through here — she lets A’Keria talk about living previously as a trans woman, and Trinity of being HIV+. Eureka has a remarkably similar experience as A’Keria, but where a S10 Eureka would have undoubtedly spoke over someone else, she takes till Untucked to mention it.
The conversations are surprisingly nuanced for such a short segment, as A’Keria explains her gender journey and Trinity gives a solid rundown of how HIV can be undetectable and therefore untransmittable with the right (and readily accessed) treatments. Part of that is because Eureka is so adept at moving the conversation on naturally, and providing her own points on being fetishised as a fat person. I guess that’s why she’s on the HBO payroll.
The other groups aren’t bad: it’s just a tonal issue. Scarlet, Ra’Jah and Kylie tackle motherhood, and between Scarlet going for a ‘drag persona’ and Kylie not quite being forceful enough as a moderator, it’s a little awkward at times. Still, the stories told — particularly Ra’Jah talking about her fractured relationship with her conservative mother, and Kylie’s advice to “not let the child you make your adult decisions” — are genuinely powerful.
Finally, there’s Ginger, Pandora and Jan, who I think were the worst group. Ginger, like Eureka, is an amazing moderator and keeps things moving, but between Pandora’s obvious hesitance to talk about her body issues and Jan’s inability to be sincere, it’s just a little surface-level. Pandora mostly makes up for it with natural banter and jokes, which prevented her from landing in the bottom.
There’s also a ‘segment’ where each group has to guess what an item is in a furry pink box — a nice shout-out to the Untucked of yore. It’s pretty pointless, beyond this screencap.
Jennifer Coolidge in The White Lotus.
Clash? I Hardly Even Listen To Classic Music
This week’s runway theme is Clash Of The Patterns, and Ru dresses to theme in a meta way by wearing her S13 promo look, because why not knock them down in one day of shooting?
She looks beautiful, who can blame her?
This is an excellent runway — even the less ‘fashion forward’ queens turn it. Ginger’s neon safari get up might be the best she’s ever looked, and I think it nabbed her the win above Eureka.
Butterflies were harmed in the making of this outfit.
Top toots are hard to hand out: A’Keria’s sewing pattern look was a stand-out (though I wonder if it was originally intended as a ‘rudemption’ look for S11’s facekini runway?), Eureka does pageant excellence, uh, excellently, and both Ra’Jah and Trinity go for stunning African prints, with a different colour palette and design.
Meanwhile, Kylie only cements her ability to make early ’00s trash into treasure and Scarlet’s love-letter look was divine (even if she had to explain it).
Where is the body? Oh, just there.
Kylie!
The two so-so looks are Pandora’s nod to Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas (why not go the full fantasy?) and Jan’s … girl… shopping… look, which just doesn’t seem to be anything.
This definitely isn’t bad, but I do think a few make-up flourishes/Halloween theatrics could’ve gone a long way.
I couldn’t help but think how much room those bags would’ve taken up in her luggage.
The bottom three this week are Jan, Scarlet and Kylie, with Ru going all out to say that Scarlet made him ‘uncomfortable. The critiques about Scarlet not having a fully formed drag persona/performance style seem way too harsh and unfair, but it’s clear by their continual goading of Jan even after she won last week, they’re hoping to create some more TV magic there.
It seems like no one even considers sending Kylie home, and while I think Jan doesn’t really have much more to offer now she’s had her rudemption (if anything, she has more to lose by staying), the group disagrees. After a little Bianca cameo (it got me good, girl!), Mayhem Miller is revealed as this week’s lipsync assassin before being instantly obliterated by Ginger.
This was an excellent episode for Ms. Minge: after she faded in AS2, it’s easy to forget how much of a powerhouse she was in S7. She’s an incredibly talented actress and performer. That lip-sync to Lizzo’s ‘Phone’ was an instant all-timer.
Next week, the queens act in a long-overdue American Horror Story parody. Surely this ‘game within a game’ has to kick off soon, right?
RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 6 streams on Stan, with episodes arriving each Thursday 8pm AEST. España episodes arrive each Monday at 8am AEST.
Jared Richards is Junkee’s Drag Race recapper, and a freelance writer for The Guardian, NME, The Big Issue and more. Follow him on Twitter @jrdjms.