‘RuPaul’s Drag Race UK’ S1E5 Recap: Now That’s What I Call Queer Representation!

The last time Drag Race did a proper girl group challenge was 2009 — the show’s first season (All Stars 3 doesn’t count, because it lacked that pure pop spectacle). This week’s challenge was long overdue, but well worth the wait.

While we’ve been enjoying this season a lot, this is the one we’d recommend watching for those still in serious (and understandable) Drag Race fatigue.

We got the best of everything this episode. There was: a (decent) reading challenge; a camp-couture runway theme; a triple-threat challenge; friendly competition and drama; and sincere emotional depth in the Serious Workroom Conversation.

And that’s before we even begin to mention that this episode features Drag Race’s finest representation of LGBTIQ culture to date: Cheryl monologuing about the emotional impact girl groups have had on her, completely unaware Crystal is holding back tears about probably going home.

It was a shame to see our arty east Londoner go home, and an honourable mention must be made to her for giving this week’s second-best representation of queer culture by drinking out of a flower vinyl-printed flask.

Unfortunately, it was her week to go, as the competition is proving to be one of the strongest in recent history. With Cheryl in her element this episode and Blu clearly a lot more comfortable, we’ve got a cracking top five. You could even say it’s… much… bettah…

Reading Is What? A Fun If Not Isolating Hobby :)

Episode 5 kicks off with a bit of drama, as the other four queens questioning whether Baga and The Vivienne deserved last week’s double win.

But they only needed to wait a few days for the three-way win to realise that the BBC has clearly ordered a few too many badges, and needs to get rid of the evidence before the government audits them. From the edit, the win felt fair, but either way, it’s clear the badges have intensified the workroom’s competitive air.

With winners wearing their shitty BBC-allowed prize, they serve a constant physical reminder of where you stand in the competition. No-one’s mentioning score-cards to the same extent as they did on AS4 or S11, since it’s right there in front of them.

The tension this week between the groups might be a little played up, but it definitely lands a little less produced — these queens really want to win. They’re also ready to read: after S11’s abysmal reading mini-challenge, this one was a welcome change of pace.

We were a little surprised that Crystal won, but we will give her props for the ‘Madonna hating hydrangeas’ reference. Ru loves a queen who knows her herstory; we reckon that got her over the line.

With Crystal winning, she divides this week’s teams up: her pop group Filth Harmony features The Vivienne and Cheryl, while The Frock Destroyers is Blu, Divina and Baga.

Unlike other challenges, they’re given the exact same song base to work with, which gives them a nice, equal footing — and in the workroom, it feels like anyone’s game. Then we get to recording.

Break Up! Break Up!

Crystal is given a losing edit from the get-go: she seems a little intimidated by the challenge, and we’re sure the silence after her first go on the mic didn’t help.

British queer pop-king MNEK is a welcome change from Todrick Hall’s negative air on the show, and while understand that’s merely playing the role he plays (and queens have tweeted saying Hall helps them a lot more than the edit puts on), it’s lovely to see a guest help them through positivity.

It’s clear as soon as The Frock Destroyers come in, however, that they have it in the bag[a’s bizarre wrap-around headpieces].

Baga and Divina both have pipes, but Blu’s energy gives her the centre stage during recording. After weeks of saying it, she’s definitely warmed up in the competition, and is proving to be a bit of a turquoise horse.

Before we get into the performances, this week’s producer-pushed topic while the queens get ready is about being bullied at school as a queer kid. Crystal is tasked with bringing it up, motivated by an astute line RuPaul gives when introducing the reading challenge about ‘elevating what was once hurtful into a high art-form’.

So much of queer culture, including drag, is turning daggers around and creating armour: occasionally, we end up just stabbing each other in the process, as the ongoing toxicity in the show’s fanbase shows.

The show reaches upon a really fundamental truth while the queens talk about their experiences growing up: that growing up queer — or any sort of marginalised identity — really fucks you up. No matter how old you are or how much work you do on yourself, you carry the scars with you.

When Crystal says drag gives her and so many others the confidence “to imagine what your life would have looked like if [bullying] didn’t happen”, everyone nods in agreement. It’s a really understated, moving moment — rare on this show, which normally hammers in these moments (for obvious reasons).

But this hit us, personally, like the quiet realisation we’ve continually had on so many first and second dates over the years: queer men may be much more accepted now, but we all carry a lot of pain within us which, when untreated, can come out in confusing, disorientating ways.

With the show touching upon Ireland’s refusal to legalise same-sex marriage and the UK’s previous discriminatory laws, it’s not hard to localise the conversation to the increased onslaught of transphobic messaging coming from our politicians and ‘transgender columns’ in The Australian.

These ‘debates’ — about safe schools and the inherent decency of a person based off their gender and sexuality — land similarly to how Divina describes the impact of growing up with Thatcher’s Section 28, which restricted how school teachers could (and mostly could not) talk about homosexuality.

We take Drag Race for granted and complain about over-saturation, but sometimes it’s worth remembering how much of a life-line it is, and how much of a statement it can be for the BBC to co-sign it. The recently announced Australian Drag Race could do something similar here, even if only for one or two kids.

The Young Divas

Like the best of queer culture, Drag Race gear-shifts from trauma to irreverence in no time thanks to the main-stage performance.

Cheryl is an absolute stand-out in her group: it’s not quite The Vivienne’s week, and Crystal just never quite gets there with her character. Comparing them to the Frock Destroyers, there’s a lack of unison, both in terms of look and choreography.

The Frock Destroyers, on the other hand, are pop perfection: clever moves and lyrics, distinct-yet-cohesive characters and a well-thought out production. It’s hard to pick the top in the group, though Blu’s somewhat surprising excellence does make her shine extra bright.

The run-way — a day at the races — doesn’t help us find a winner either. All three turned it out, albeit in very different ways. We have a bit of a theory that Baga’s races look was actually her Bond Girl look, and the Lazer Minelli was a Snatch Game back-up, but she panicked and used it up too early, triggering a cataclysmic trigger of outfit changes that will have repercussions in a few runway’s time. We shall see.

While we would have appreciated an homage to legless ladies pushing over cops (surely that’s happened in the UK too), the other group’s looks were all pretty solid, too, though Crystal must have got a little confused and tried paying homage to ex-Young Diva’s member Paulini, given her recent time competing on Masked Singer Australia. Happens to the best of us.

The lip-sync is perfectly fine and point-filled, and Crystal goes home against The Vivienne.

For what score’s worth, Baga’s at a lead with three wins, trailed by The Vivienne and Divina at two, with Blu at one, and Cheryl at none. The Vivienne was certainly given the beginning of a ‘fall followed by a rise’ arc this week, but it’s still anyone’s game.

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RuPaul’s Drag Race UK streams on Stan, with new episodes dropping 7am Friday AEDT.

Jared Richards is a staff writer at Junkee, and co-host of Sleepless In Sydney on FBi Radio. Find him on Twitter.