‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Recap: Please Welcome To The Stage, Déjà Ru
Between Denali and Rosé, there was a LOT of Rachel Berry energy this episode.
S13 of RuPaul’s Drag Race is taking its time to heat up — and some of these queens are reaching boiling point already. You might have picked Rosé as the ‘Jan of the season’ given they’re sisters, but this episode we saw Denali has just as much drive to win. There was a lot of Rachel Berry energy.
Having been deemed the ‘losers’ of S13, these six queens entered their first challenge with a lot to prove: and they proved it! This week’s mainstage rumix was markedly better than the relatively low-energy one from the winner’s team, though that song certainly was working against the winning girls.
Still, the Porkchop queens all showed up this episode, but none more than this week’s top two. Rosé and Denali really want to win this show, and neither can stop mentioning just how good they are: the confidence is earned, but it also means that these are the two queens I feel like, I still don’t really know.
Just like Jan in S12, they’re both really impressive queens, but it feels like they are impressive because they are motivated by a desire to be impressive, rather than a desire to express any particular artistry/vision.
That could change (and the edit is probably just honing in on their competitiveness and trimming anything else), but give me a cast of 14 Uticas or Tamishas any day. I want to see queer artists, not workhorses.
That’s just me though — but if you feel the same way, I’d recommend S2 of Drag Race UK, which I’m also recapping. A cast filled with queerdos and eccentrics!
Kahmora Stalls
E3 is an exercise in hauntology: the dolls are doomed to repeat the mini and maxi challenge of last week, albeit with slightly different themes and a more up-tempo RuPaul song to sell. Category is: capitalist realism!
TFW it is easier to imagine an end to the world than the end of capitalism.
Kahmora is used to painting her face over five to six hours, but the cogs of Drag Race wait for no queen. Despite the edit, she looks perfect when she reaches the runway, which has two categories: Lady, and the Vamp.
This is very ‘American celebrity being paid a fucktonne to attend the Melbourne cup’.
It’s Joey who is ‘undercooked’ according to the judges’ comments. They’re not super into her no wig look, which is to say they have no time for Joey’s ‘Newcastle mum who has seen Pink eight times realness’. But I would like to get the party started, and also see Joey do some acrobatics (sex).
When he asks where he should [redacted].
To be clear, I love this.
An ode to Sean Spicer’s feud with Dippin’ Dots.
Tamisha Iman is the only one who gets Lady correct because that’s who she is. The Lady.
If you don’t stan, I don’t underSTANd you! Please continue reading for more jokes :)
As for the vamp looks, there’s no competition: Rosé comes out in a homage to the social media panopticon, where tech giants watch our very click.
“Honey, if I’m gonna be watched by Tim Apple, I’m gonna give him something to look at, girl!”
Next up, the queens have to put together a performance of a song featured in RuPaul’s Drag Race Vegas Live!, which is apparently going ahead in August 2021. Sure!
In the werkroom, the conversation centres around Tamisha for most of the episode, and for good reason: she’s the moment, and has been the moment for thirty years. She has won 95 pageants! 95! She has three kids! She recovered from cancer to get on the show! She makes all of her outfits! Her skin! Her legendary drag children (here’s the Tandi Iman Dupree video, if you haven’t seen it)! I’m obsessed, and you should be too.
Despite (or because of, really) her expertise, she takes a step back while the girls try to take the lead during choreography. There’s a lot of “I see that, BUT” and “Just to jump off of that” energy from Denali, Rosé and Joey, but eventually Tamisha steps in and gets it together. The editing in this section is divine, as we watch Tamisha get more and more frustrated with these children who can’t stop showboating.
Tamisha’s motherly energy is really refreshing, as it’s clear that Drag Race is really just a gig to her. She’s a true legend (NINETY FIVE PAGEANT WINS), and the calmness cut through the high-strung energy of the rehearsal.
As does Joey Jay’s himbo energy this episode. I was quick to discount her, but just shouting ‘I’m gay’ again and again and describing earrings as ‘ignorant’ has really won me over.
Utica, too: her looks this episode proved that her entrance was probably the worst she packed. There’s a refined element to the kookiness that didn’t come across at first.
An allusion to both Kylie’s ’80s frizz and Dakota Johnson’s red rope look in Suspiria, at once? Convert me now!
This is a really fun bunch, though it’s evident that there’s a lot going on with Kahmora. Before the challenge, she reveals not only does her family not approve of her drag, but her boyfriend of eight years isn’t super supportive of it, either.
It was hard to not yell ‘dump him sis’ at the TV, but we don’t know the full story: still, there’s definitely something holding her back on the show.
She ‘er? I Hardly Even Know Her!
The performance is much better than last week, and it’d be hard to pick another bottom beyond Kahmora, who was a little reserved on stage. Utica’s lyrics made no sense, but it was so fun to watch; Joey is clearly a great performer, and Tamisha deserved to be in the top alongside Denali, God-damn it.
The end resembles an ATNM cast collage: they’ve even left a spot for Elliot, faded out between Kahmora and Rosé.
This week’s runway theme is sheer, and again, I have two words: Tamisha Iman. And I won’t apologise.
Simple, elegant, perfect.
Denali’s flip-flop walk with her ponytail was the most fun I’ve seen her have so far. More of that, please!
‘Sleevie Nix’ is the best judges’ pun of the show ever.
Kahmora… has a lot of money.
Denali and Rosé battle it out to Britney’s ‘If U Seek Amy’, and the latter’s comedy approach doesn’t really suit the energy of the song within a Drag Race context. New York queens tend to go for miming-the-lyrics gags that would probably kill in a bar, but tend to feel a bit hodge-podge against a dancer, so Denali takes the win. They’re definitely both contenders for the top four.
Next week, blood will fall, with an acting challenge marking the first elimination, as the most ambitious crossover in cinematic history occurs. The thirteen of S13 finally meet.
RuPaul’s Drag Race S13 is available on Stan, with episodes dropping 3PM AEDT each Saturday, and UK episodes 8am AEDT Friday.
Jared Richards is a staff writer at Junkee, and is waiting for his Tamisha Iman hightop sneakers to arrive. He’s on Twitter.