Drag Race Recap: Whose Snatch Game Persona Made the Judges Seasick?
The Snatch Game hit the high seas on Thursday’s episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race, which ended with the season’s fiercest lip sync battle yet — and a dramatic ruling from Mama Ru. But first…
Inspired by the release of RuPaul’s new book GuRu — available online or wherever fine literature is sold — this week’s mini challenge required the remaining eight queens to pitch their own books to Mama Ru, complete with a cover shoot. The winning book ended up being Silky Nutmeg Ganache’s Eat It: Chronicles of the Buffet, foreshadowing a very successful evening for Yvie Oddly’s apparent nemesis.
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Speaking of that growing feud, Yvie apologized for calling Silky “talentless” during last week’s Untucked, but it was too little too late. “We ain’t got to be friends,” Silky replied. “Moving forward, I’m just doing me.” (Honestly, I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel about this. I thought Yvie’s apology was genuine, but I also understand that “talentless” is a pretty hard thing to come back from.)
But let’s ditch the drama for now and focus on the comedy — or lack thereof, in some cases — with a breakdown of each queen’s performance in the Snatch Game… at Sea!
SILKY NUTMEG GANACHE | Full disclosure: I had no idea who Ts Madison was before tonight, so I only have Silky’s description to go on, but I was thoroughly entertained by her Snatch Game performance. I was a little annoyed when it seemed like her whole schtick was going to involve picking on other players, but in the end, she turned it out. I wasn’t wowed by her runway look, which was basically a sparklier version of the same silhouette she’s been giving us all season, but it certainly didn’t suck.
YVIE ODDLY | I know Yvie sort of warned us ahead of time by saying that she “doesn’t do impersonations very well,” but I still wasn’t prepared for the utter nonsense that was her Whoopi Goldberg impression. It was all wrong, but the fact that Yvie didn’t even know Whoopi is on The View was perhaps the most egregious part. And while I didn’t hate Yvie’s androgynous 1960s Barbie look on the runway, it wasn’t enough to keep her off the chopping block.
BROOKE LYNN HYTES | I’m not just surprised by Brooke Lynn’s awful Celine Dion impression — I’m legitimately baffled. Like, I know she said she was “not feeling super confident” about her choice, but this was next-level bad. And from Drag Race‘s first-ever Canadian queen, no less! She will absolutely be hearing from Justin Trudeau about this, let me tell you. In fact, I think Silky put it best when she said, “It’s not even Celine Dion. It’s Celine, YA DONE!” That said, Brooke Lynn redeemed herself (somewhat) with that incredible “Nomi Malone 2019” runway look, complete with what Tony Hale correctly declared one of the most iconic runway Ru-veals of all time.
NINA WEST | Even though she didn’t technically win either of the challenges, I feel like this was a real showcase episode for Nina, who slayed as both Harvey Fierstein and Jo Anne Worley in the Snatch Game. Her runway look, “a red, white and blue patriotic extravangza” was also very fun, very campy and very Nina. This is an underrated queen, my friends.
VANESSA VANJIE MATEO | Real talk: I would have reserved one of this week’s bottom spots for everyone’s favorite comeback queen, who became the source of a heated debate between Ross Mathews and Michelle Visage. When Visage pointed out that Vanjie failed to embody her character — Danielle “Cash Me Outside” Bregoli — in any way, Mathews argued that it didn’t matter. He said it’s just fun to watch Vanjie be Vanjie, likening her to Julia Roberts. (…What?!) I also agreed with Visage’s critique of Vanjie’s runway getup, yet another minor variation of the same look she’s been serving all season.
PLASTIQUE TIARA | Even with basically zero knowledge of Love and Hip-Hop: Atlanta star/nail artist Lovely Mimi, I enjoyed Plastique’s contribution to the Snatch Game. I also thought she looked good walking down the runway in that blue, bubbly catsuit. Nothing was particularly outstanding about her work this week, but it was sufficient.
SHUGA CAIN | For some reason, the word “professional” comes to mind when thinking about Shuga’s performance this week. Her Charo impression, both in looks and behavior, was spot on, and she stunned on the runway in that enormous purple flamenco-style dress. If she’d taken things up just a few more notches, she might have had a shot at winning this week.
A’KERIA C. DAVENPORT | Tiffany Haddish may not have been heard tonight, but A’Keria definitely embodied the star of Girls Trip during the Snatch Game, hitting all the basic beats you were probably hoping for — from the Groupon Ru-pon joke to the grapefruit reference. She also made a fun impression on the runway, swinging that tail around like nobody’s business.
After handing Silky her second win of the week, Ru announced that Brooke Lynn and Yvie would be lip syncing for their lives. Little did we know we were about to experience an insane battle — set to the tune of Demi Lovato’s “Sorry Not Sorry” — that featured more athleticism than the damn Draglympics. What began as a simple sexy (Brooke Lynn) vs. funny (Yvie) situation quickly evolved into a dizzying deluge of flips and splits and wig reveals. I was convinced that Ru wasn’t going to send either queen home. I mean, how could anyone choose between them?!
In the end… she couldn’t. “Shantay, you both stay,” Ru told them, an announcement met with much applause. (Well, from everyone but Silky.)
Your thoughts on this week’s episode? Drop ’em in a comment below.
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