‘RuPaul’s Drag Race UK’ S1E7 Recap: Dark Mother Energy

Finally, Drag Race has given the representation we crave: gay men who have warm but ultimately stilted relationships with their mothers, where navigating the cracks is a fraught, difficult process.

There’s clearly something going on between Baga and her mother in this week’s makeover challenge.

The show tries to make that very clear by getting The Vivienne to remark on how Baga and her mum don’t seem “that close”, not that we need the signposting. Their dynamic is noticeably different from the other family pairings, though it doesn’t quite become the storyline we might see on the US show.

That’s less because of any trans-atlantic differences, and more to do with the undramatic fact that their un-ease around each other has been created over a lifetime, as many small beats create the rhythm they find themselves in.

All this is to say, I related hard to Baga this episode. The more Baga tries this episode, the more uncomfortable Jo appears — they start off on the wrong foot, maybe because that’s just how they always stand.

She’s incredibly protective of her ‘shy’ mum, which may come from a place of affection but by the main-stage, it’s warped into a paternalistic speaking-over.

It was far from cute. Baga was accidentally quite hurtful to her mum, and doubled-down instead of apologising and recognising the pain, which, ahem, is a huge mood.

While she remains around for the finale, we’re fairly certain the race is now between The Vivienne and Divina. After last week, a (somewhat unfair) narrative is forming about Baga being a bit too rough around the edges to represent “British drag” on the international stage, even if the trio are evenly matched when it comes to their ‘track-record’.

Sure, the finale is a “dancing, singing and lip-syncing” extravaganza, which plays to Baga’s strengths. But it’s a tight top three, and they’ll split hairs on aesthetics and looks — plus, The Vivienne and Divina’s mild drama creates a more contentious top two.

All three are deserving but if we had to forecast a winner, we’d put DDC slightly ahead. She’s had a real tail-wind in the last few episodes, and a Brooke-Lynn Heights-esque air of not necessarily exciting perfection coming from The Vivienne.

Meanwhile, Stan might think otherwise: look at the image they’ve chucked up to promote this episode.

Everyone Loves Puppets

Before we get to the makeover challenge, the dolls play with puppets — a classic top 4 challenge, even though it’s often not very funny. But the UK queens were, consistently showing how central wit is in their scene, even with dancier queens like Cheryl.

As my boss can verify, I audibly gasped when I saw this week’s Brit Crew. Is it just Scorpio season, or are they tremendously hot, or is it just that they’re not wearing incredibly garish Hans Christian Andersen underwear?

All the queens do a stellar job this challenge, but DDC wins for her blotchy-tan Cheryl with a very Essex accent. It’s low-hanging fruit, but only because it’s ripe for the picking.

Drag Race UK‘s tone is so much sweeter than the original, but the queens never really hold back with reads and jokes, especially on themselves. It comes down to a difference in humour: the UK (and Australia, for that matter) love to take the piss on all things, including themselves, where, broadly speaking, it doesn’t quite translate in the US as well.

No one takes themselves very seriously on UK: when Cheryl leaves, she calls herself “no badge Chez”, and jokes that “the writing was on the wall”, which is both absolutely true and refreshing to see a queen admit. Almost every send-off line from a queen has been self-deprecating rather than mythologising or branding; the end result has just been a lot more fun.

A Family That Drags Together, Stays Together

It’s always incredibly sweet to see the queens reunite with family on the show: it’s a stressful time, and all four are absolutely delighted to see a friendly face. When Divina and her sister cry, Ru says “you’re overcome with emotion” while playing with her hands: she is remarkably awkward when watching the reunions.

Divina and Cheryl’s sisters come on, and The Vivienne and Baga get to make over their mums — the latter is an absolute disadvantage just due to movement and sibling v. parent dynamics, but where Baga crumbles, Viv just gets on with it.

The workroom antics are really cute, and the new energy is much appreciated by the queens. Most importantly, Divina somehow goes from being the least stylish man to ever exist (that jumper!) to looking like every softboi I’ve ever talked to endlessly on Instagram and then gotten iced by IRL, before getting a message after the gig that “it was nice seeing you”.

Baga’s mum Jo is so nervous on camera her voice quakes, which promotes Ru to touch her. This is unheard of.

Makeovers!

Divina wins this week’s challenge, which is wild, because she and her sister, while incredibly entertaining and charming don’t look great.

Meanwhile, The Vivienne and The Mother are a delight (odd hair and all), and the pure height difference between the two gives off a Babushka vibe.

Cheryl and her sister are absolutely the same person. She nailed this challenge, and I think DDC and Baga should have been in the bottom, if not for the fact that Cheryl, as much as I love her, simply couldn’t be in the top three.

As soon as the first notes of an Amy Winehouse song came on, it was clear Baga would stay. It was a very sweet lip-sync: the two holding hands together — and Baga yelling “come here” to Cheryl when Ru gave her verdict — is pretty much the perfect image of Drag Race UK‘s vibe.

One week left! By the sneak peek, all the queens are returning for the final choice. Hopefully they’ve learnt their lesson, but God Save The Queens if an All Stars 3-style council vote plays out again. Surely… not. Either way, excited to see Crystal’s armpits and Gothy Kendol’s face on our screens again.

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RuPaul’s Drag Race UK streams on Stan, with new episodes dropping Fridays 8am AEDT.

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