‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ S14E14 Recap: Wait, Am I Now Rooting For Daya To Win?

And here’s our top four five! Despite being this season’s seventh non-elimination episode (and with the reunion, that’ll make 8/16), it’s hard to get angry that everyone’s getting through to the finale.

In Untucked this week, the queens discuss who they thought would make the top five, and all agree Kornbread would be there if she didn’t hurt herself, but ‘aren’t sure’ whose place she’d take. I’m there with them, but it’s definitely not who I imagined at first. Way back in January, I guessed a top six of Angeria, Kornbread, Jorgeous, Willow, Bosco & Kerri. (The drag gods had it out for Kornbread, and Kerri better come back to kill an All Stars).

Lady and Daya undoubtedly deserve to be there, but I don’t think anyone would have guessed it off the show’s start. It’s particularly nice Daya is there, as it proves that the first-out isn’t ‘bad at drag’, but might’ve just stumbled before they found their stride on the show. Maybe it’s my utter love for Bob The Drag Queen who put the idea into my mind during her recap of last week’s roast, but I’m… kind of… beginning… to enjoy the idea of Daya Betty winning the whole damn show. Do I think it’ll happen? No, but I would be pretty into it, in the same way I found myself rooting a little for Kandy last year.

Yes, there’s a Taurean strand of contrarianism here, but I also think Daya has provided a clear, unique sense of self and her drag all season long. And after Willow, she’s my look queen of the season, though ‘after Willow’ also includes a large chasm of C.U.N.T between her and the other four. It’s hard to see anyone but Willow Pill winning this season, even if Bosco and Lady have three challenge wins to her one. There are countless weeks where Willow could’ve won but came second (the talent show, design challenge and the ’60s girl group week come to mind), though the fixation on track record makes this show feel a little bit more robotic than it is (yes, even in S14).

When I think of the season, I’m not picturing Lady’s Freddie Mercury runway or Bosco’s roast: I’m thinking of Willow in the bath and her countless jaw-dropping runways, from the monster arms to the house look to her latex wedgie, or her lipsync to Luther Vandross. It’s Willow! Always has been. While RuPaul saying “you’re part of my tribe” isn’t quite the same as “you were born to do drag”, it’s still a hell of a co-sign: how can the queen that Ru sees herself in not win?

The live-finale has been taped, but I’ve been a good boy and avoided reading any spoilers, so I’m genuinely not sure what will happen. We’ve seen that Willow can kill a lipsync, but anything is possible. Either way, just like Kornbread, Willow has already won (though that now $150,000 prize wouldn’t hurt). So… maybe Daya should win… embrace chaos…. double-crowning???

when did you realize you were rooting for daya betty

— E. Alex Jung (@e_alexjung) April 9, 2022

Oh Okay I Can Recap The Actual Episode, Sure

For their final challenge, the queens record a verse and perform in a new music video for Ru’s track ‘Catwalk’: they also design looks, with the construction handled by pros, ready for them the day of filming. It’s a nice touch, as it levels the playing field for the outfits – we judge on their creativity and ability to conceptualise a look, rather than if they have the funds or technical capabilities to do so. Turns out Bosco can’t, in this instance: like Daya says, she’s an intergalactic mum on the way to pick up her kids.

Angeria. also goes for a simple bodysuit; Willow and Lady play with colour, but it’s Daya who comes out on top with a one-piece leopard-swirl suit from heel to head. It’s not overtly showy, but it stands out from the pack — between that and her verse, I’m a little surprised she didn’t win this week.

The queens also get to sit down with Ru and Michelle for a tic-tac lunch. Usually at this point, it becomes clear that Ru doesn’t connect to one particular queen as much as the others (from memory, Rosé last year), though there are plenty of tear-jerking moments of vulnerability from all five queens even if Ru flat out tells Daya she didn’t expect her to make it so far.

There is an odd narrative forming around Willow and her cystinosis, as Michelle and Ru repeatedly praise her “refusal to be a victim” or let her illness define her. I see what they’re trying to say, but Willow reframes it much better later on: she wants to enjoy her life regardless of its challenges.

The language Michelle and Ru use has some nasty implications about disabled people pulling themselves out of depression or bad circumstances, which is pretty rich for a show that let Willow silently struggle with opening cardboard boxes rather than offering her help. It’s should be a question of equity (providing help to overcome disadvantages), not equality (giving everyone the same tools), and the whole thing all lands a little neolib for my tastes, though that’s far from a new point or criticism to make by S14.

While we’re on the topic, I’m not usually into the ‘what would you tell your younger self’ question asked of the final queens, but I found Lady and Willow’s answers really moving. Referencing her brother’s suicide at a young age, Lady told her younger self to not be hardened by grief or pain; Willow echoed that, too, in speaking about her determined love for a living. It’s something I think about a lot.

Anyway the performance is fine oh god who really CARES these final challenges are always a bit anti-climactic. I will say I enjoyed how they made Bosco sound like a completely different person, and that this video was clearly just an elaborate Ru-se for Ru to enter his Pitbull era.

It’s Amazing These Queens Have Any Drag Left At This Point

For the runway, the queens wore their ‘crown it’ realness, which increasingly means little as the queens have to come up with bigger and better coronation looks for the actual finale. My favourite is Daya’s (I’ve always really enjoyed Daya, but I’m suddenly obsessed?), as the singed yellows and the front bodice speaks to her fashion sense, always providing some masculine or unexpected twist on a traditional feminine look.

The other stand-out is Willow, who comes out as a mouse because she loves them and they find treasure in trash. It’s non-sensical, but it looks great, and renders Bosco, Angeria and Lady Camden’s very pretty looks a little too obvious, though Angeria’s is extra stunning.

Despite the fact that Daya obviously cast a spell on me this episode, the judges give the win to Lady, meaning she and Bosco now lead the pack at 3 wins, with Daya, Willow and Angeria each having one. Willow and Angeria lip-sync to ‘Telephone’ by Gaga and Beyoncé after an episode of foreshadowing, and it’s a bit of a shame such a hit comes with this runway. Neither can really move or do much, and so the edit tries its best to convince us it’s a double shantay — it did feel like it could have comfortably been Angie’s time to go as she’s been fading in the second half of the competition, but whatever!

Next week, we get the reunion: remember June Jumbalaya? Orion? Alyssa? Well, I’m sure none of them will speak because the whole thing will be about Jasmine. And rightfully so!

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RuPaul’s Drag Race S14 is available to stream in Australia on Stan, with episodes dropped each Saturday 1pm AEST. 

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