‘RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars’ S7E9 Recap: Jinkx Ate! No Crumbs! (No Literally She Ate)
This 'QVC meets TikTok' challenge makes little sense, which is the sign of a good challenge.
Jinkx has no fear — despite Ru’s well-known aversion to watching people eat, she turned decidedly non-food-related dance challenge into an excuse to smash a peanut butter sandwich down her throat in the most unceremonious, disgusting way. That’s Nerve.
Branding challenges can be hit-or-miss but in the hands of our All Winners, it’s a really fun week. The queens are asked to make ‘viral’-ready dances for ‘social media’ (just say Tik-Talk), which also feature little infomercials beforehand explaining the dance, as per a more traditional branding challenge. The ‘QVC meets TikTok’ format is a little odd, but who cares: as always, the key is to making it funny, which is where the first part comes in. Some queens (okay just Shea) get a little wrapped up in the dance part, but generally everyone approaches it as completely stupid.
And with the episode switching up the ‘rehearsal/filming’ scenes where Michelle Visage makes stink faces as a queen fumbles a line, this week keeps things fresh — impressive, given there’s nothing more cheugy than a show playing with TikTok trends.
(The only thing more cheugy, of course, is the word cheugy, which I use not in a ‘culture writer scraping the bottom of their brain for some sort of trend piece that will catch on’ way but in an ironic, detached I’m actually in Berlin right now, 100 Gecs, insane_clown_pussy way that comments on the ineffable nature of describing cultural trends as they occur. True?)
Three episodes left! Part of me doesn’t want the season to end. Sure, the endless positive critiques are a little frustrating, but this is immediately one of Drag Race‘s best seasons, provided they stick the landing (Jaida Essence Hall win…). With just two episodes before the lip-sync smackdown finale, it’s pretty much anyone’s game. Wow, what a surprise! I’m going to make some predictions: the top four will be Jaida, Jinkx, Monet and Trinity. Maybe swap out Trinity for Viv. TBD!
Nobody Between 25-46 Should Make TikToks, But After 46 It Becomes Endearing/Fun Again In A DumpedWifesRevenge Way
At the jump, the queens are, of course, discussing their star count: Jaida’s still in the lead at three stars but was blocked by Raja last week, and everyone else is at two bar Monet and Shea, who are stuck at one after winning in the first episode. I’m feeling a last-minute resurgence for both, but it’s been interesting that Shea, probably one of the show’s most universally acclaimed queens, has taken a supporting cast role this season.
I needed an image to break up these paragraphs and don’t have room to put this later, so lets jump ahead. God I love these half-transformed looks, where the queens just press randomise and see what happens.
Maybe it’s just that we saw her succeed so recently on AS5, and where fellow 2020 queen Jaida or Shea’s fellow three-season queens (Trinity and Monet) have had time to grow, Shea seems to be giving the same level, just with more haute couture. Sure, that level is excellence, but I can’t help but find it less exciting to watch. Even as winners, pretty much all the other queens still have something to prove (Monet, Trinity, Yvie, Jaida) or have a chance to meet a new audience (Raja, Viv, Jinkx): given AS5 was essentially the Shea show, holding her till the next All Winners might have given us room to breathe.
Ru’s werkroom walkthrough must be powered by a coffee enema, as she’s really on one. She essentially guides Monet to a win, too. Not only does Ru tell her to scrap her convoluted idea about a dance that wins back your ex at the club but also is chill and whatever, but she gives her a new ‘payday/make it rain’ concept WITH dance moves. It’s a far cry from UK3’s Snatch Game, when she made most queens change to an unprepared character just to watch it all burn down.
Raja also gets ‘help’ with her idea as she runs with the other queens’ ideas for her to play with her spiritual guRU thing. The end product is a little muted — I wish she went fully in and became more of a MLM wellness influencer, but the undeniable charm of Raja is that she has no idea what’s going on on social media and has no desire to.
Normal people when I drop the word “volcel” in a conversation.
Jinkx, meanwhile, gets it completely, even if her ‘eat a sandwich’ confuses some of the other queens. TikTok is, as far as I can tell, about debasing yourself completely for attention and acting like you’re controlled by an AI that is by no means sentiment. It’s Trisha Paytas, it’s AngelMami7… it’s woman on the verge.
Jennifer Coolidge/Jinkx Monsoon comedy vehicle when
Monet is in the top two alongside Jinkx for following Ru’s notes, though it’s pretty funny that she gives a 4-step tutorial and then adds a heap of complex moves into the final product. To be fair, this is how it feels trying to follow pretty much any dance tutorial. Trinity made Monet’s dress for her in the werkroom, too, and she looks so beautiful!
Of the rest, they’re all solid but it’s pretty clear who’s winning. Shea’s Alvin Ailey-inspired routine is really impressive, but misses the fun of the challenge; Jaida kind of phones it in, knowing she’s blocked; Viv goes with a ‘I’m an unfit dance instructor’ routine; Yvie’s is suitably odd and non-sensical, and she probably could have had more mileage with an intense contortion routine, if her body was up for it; Trinity’s tucking dance makes sense, but is the kind of ‘Drag Race bit’ that is entertaining but would probably be cut from any revue for being too obvious. None of this really matters in the end, because the ruveal-themed runway eclipses it all.
My Favourite RuVeal Is Trauma Dumping On The Second Date
This week, we’re joined by Ben Platt on the judges panel. This was clearly filmed prior to the release of the laughed-off Dear Evan Hansen film, because he mentions it with pride a few too many times. Untucked is particularly painful, as he talks a lot about himself and the experience of going from stage to screen — noticeably, this is the first time the queens don’t say the guest is coming to the ‘Drag Queen cookout’. As a judge, though, he’s great. It’s a shame he triggers so many queers’ flight-and-fight response to musical theatre gays (myself included), as he’s probably just a lovely, extremely talented person.
Moving on, this week’s runway is among the best of the season. Jaida’s four-seasons-in-one is my favourite, if not just for the sheer ingenuity of how she doesn’t have to throw any pieces away to get to another look. It’s a real technical marvel, even if, as Bob and Priyanka (who NEEDS to be on AW2) point out on the Pit Stop, the first two looks aren’t perfect.
I’M SCREAMING @jaidaehall JUST GAVE US ONE OF THE BEST RUNWAYS EVER ON DRAG RACE!!! #AllStars7 #DragRace pic.twitter.com/CFb24TjmrS
— EssenceofDrag (@EssenceofDrag) July 8, 2022
The other highlight is Jinkx, who transforms between four looks inspired by artists: Picasso, Monet (Claude, not XChange), Warhol and Klimt. They’re all stunning, and we even get an above-knee skirt from her!
The clothes everywhere is very ‘deciding what to wear to walk down the street and buy an oat flat white’.
I’m a sucker for a Monet reference. The draping lillies… mwa… pretty from afar and up-close, sorry Cher.
Monet uses the runway to make a point about civil rights, transforming from Harriet Tubman to a Black Panther member to a dress with a simple message, “and still we fight”. Did you know those black squares on Instagram didn’t end racism?
Yes I know it’s rude most of these screencaps show the queens’ outfits mid-removal or littered on the floor, but I’m here to celebrate Jaida!!
Trinity’s reveal from a big petal dress into an itty bitty bikini isn’t the most exciting, but she looks beautiful at every moment, as does Raja, who goes from a huge overwhelming dress to a huge overwhelming dress. It’s very Paul Yore. Shea’s reveal from a beautiful fluffy blue coat to an assless gown is great, though I could feel the wrath of 1000 Drag Race statistic accounts screaming when Michelle said it was the first time she’d even seen something like that. I almost forgot to include Viv’s Into The Woods-esque transformation, but at the same time, she looks great.
No notes.
Raja would have killed Vanjie’s barbie look (which to this day I argue was actually not that bad).
:)
A little too Disney cosplay for me, maybe.
Yvie has one of the most interesting looks of the night, a bug transforming into another creepy bug, but one of the reveals of slime sleeves doesn’t work. Odd they didn’t refilm it, which makes me think the outfit couldn’t be put back together after it was dismantled. A shame! Loved the automated mask though, which would go back and forth to reveal her face underneath.
Yvie’s really one of the most boundary-pushing winners of the show, to the point she often doesn’t really fit into the show’s confines. We’re so lucky to see her on our screens – I love her mess and her bizarre brain.
This week’s top two is correct: Jinkx and Monet killed it, and they also were the perfect pairing for this week’s lip-sync. It’s surprising that the show’s never done a spoken-word lip-sync before given how much of a staple they are, but it was worth the wait — the two take on an oft-quoted by Ru monologue from Designing Woman (no, I haven’t seen it either) about a pageant. Jinkx acts, Monet drags it up: both are wonderful, but Monet deserves and gets the win. She blocks Raja, meaning now everyone has been blocked.
Monet also looks like this, so it just… makes sense that she should win.
Next week is a roast named after Kennedy Davenport, who in my mind is Trixie’s All Stars 3 twinner. Wouldn’t a ‘second place All Stars’ be good…
RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars S7 is available to stream in Australia in Stan, with new episodes dropping AEST 6pm each Friday.
Jared Richards is Junkee‘s Drag Race recapper, and a freelancer who writes for NME, The Big Issue, The Guardian and more. He’s across the internet as @jrdjms