RuPaul&#39;s Drag Race

Shitney Spears kind of redeemed herself to me this week by eating a baby :p

I hadn`t been appreciating Kim Chi for the last couple of episodes, but I really liked her black and white look in this one. Although her campaign was one of the worst, I like that she sent up the `No fat, fems or Asians` crap that stinks up gay culture.

I feel as if Chi Chi was saved more by another of her poverty sermons than anything else she bought to this episode. Thorgy shouldn`t have even been in the bottom two.

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Although her campaign was one of the worst, I like that she sent up the `No fat, fems or Asians` crap that stinks up gay culture.

THIS TIMES A MILLION!!!

Re Thorgy's elimination: I think that Mama Ru and co. simply got tired of not getting wowed by Thorgy. After all, she began as one of the strongest competitors, but her focus on Bob + somewhat basic runway outfits of late did a number on her. :|

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Kim`s middle finger to gay bias certainly gets my vote.

Thorgy`s drag is a bit ruff but her upbeat energy sells it. I think your right about her, but she`s been at least average in all the tasks and i`m wondering if her bitterness towards Bob wasn`t just edited to seem worse than it is.
I couldn`t see the "Mae West" she said was in her runway look this week and it really wasn`t that good, but I did like the exaggerated inflection she used in her campaign speech.

Chi Chi`s campaign was the worst for me and even if she looked more expensive than usual on the runway and broke her beads in the lip sync, I feel as if it just bought her up to the standard of everyone else. The judges have just been throwing her a bone for a few weeks now and this episodes win was no exception.
It`s a pity the queens were judged in pairs as I didn`t think the execution of Naomi`s campaign was up to much, and like you I just couldn`t be doing with her copy cat Raven runway :/

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bodacioussylph.livejournal.com

But whenever there's been a challenge which puts them in three pairs, they're judged as pairs.

Season 4 Frenemies, Sharon and Phi Phi were the bottom (and Willam was DQd.)
Season 6 Glamazon makeup ads, De La and Darienne were in the bottom (non elimination).
Season 7 Prancing Queens, Trixie and Ginger were in the bottom.

This has been consistent.

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[...]i`m wondering if her bitterness towards Bob wasn`t just edited to seem worse than it is.

Perhaps. After all, Acid Betty got a heavy-handed "villainess" edit for the longest. Like, without watching Untucked, it's easy to think that she despises everyone. (Granted, there's that one Untucked where she lays some hatearade for Trixie's makeup, but for the most part she came across less prickly than in the show).

It was just, I dunno, weird to see Thorgy T. be so jealous of Bob. It didn't help that, if she wasn't side-eyeing Bob, then she was hissing at Chi-Chi. I mean, calm down, queen!

I couldn`t see the "Mae West" she said was in her runway look this week and it really wasn`t that good, but I did like the exaggerated inflection she used in her campaign speech.

I didn't see the Mae West either. If anything, Thorgy's runway was like the Dali version of Marlene Dietrich. YMMV.

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In `Whatcha Packin` Acid Betty came off quite humbled by her experience on the show and i`m totally smitten by her.
I was amused that Betty ripped apart Trixie`s look, but also bewildered that she of all people was mocking someone with a more obscure drag look.

I`ve realized that the contestants on this show are not just alter ego`s with a variety of talents, they`re also people with emotional baggage. Betty I felt was slightly damaged so appeared defensive and bitchy, while Thorgy who overthinks everything got snide cuz she was frustrated that her efforts were always second to Bob. It is a competition which brings out the best and worst in people, so some are gonna get ruthless before they give in.

I can see where you`re going with the `Marlene` comparison for Thorgy`s runway, but I thought it was more of an 80`s hotchpotch, like Carlson said, a dead Boy George :S

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Shitney Spears kind of redeemed herself to me this week by eating a baby :p

To be fair, she only redeemed herself by eating some ribs. Which made me really want some ribs. :/

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Hahaha, true. She may have given it a bit but it was so obvious that Bob carried her.

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An overall good episode that definitely showcase who might be inching closer to be among the Top 3.

Bob the Drag Queen: I had 0 doubts that she would win this challenge. Her runway look was a tad pedestrian for me (maybe it was all the polka dots? I'm not sure).

Derrick Barry: Apparently Fake!Brit-Brit finally decided to bring it to the floor (after getting so close to being eliminated)! Her campaign ad was funnier than I'd expected from her. Unlike the judges, I loved the second dress-reveal look. It's true that the white dress wasn't amazing, but it wasn't another bathing suit + piece of fabric tied around his waist. It was very clever how Bob and her joined forces to amp up their dislike for each other.

Naomi Smalls: Why didn't anyone call her out for wearing Raven's outfit? Like, yeah, she looked good in it BUT IT'S NOT EVEN AN HOMAGE BUT A BLATANT COPY OF RAVEN'S LOOK!!! Her presidential ad was funny without being mean. I also liked seeing her kiking with Kim Chi.

Kim Chi: She better be thankful that Mama Ru decided to choose the bottom two by pair and not individually. Because I think she'd have definitely been LSFYL! ETA: I wished her presidential video had been more political (like the bit that

blacktonguedevi mentions upthread). OTOH, I loved her Pierrot-inspired look.

Thorgy Thor: OK, I'm going to side with the judges on my overall MEH feelings about her runway look. She definitely needed something to make that outfit interesting rather than so pedestrian. Her presidential ad was all over the place, imho. Was it fair that she got eliminated because she's not a great lipsyncher? No, but that's them breaks. Her LSFYL was the wrong kind of desperate and her runway look subtly worked against her performance.

Chi-Chi: I was wowed by her runway look! She looked so dazzling with just enough sass to balance things out. Her presidential ad began and ended on a strong note, but it also kinda meandered for a while. FWIW, I wasn't worried about her when she was getting ready to LSFYL because she IS really engaging performer. I do hope that she keeps things tight since, regardless of how great she is at lipsynching, I highly doubt that Mama Ru would shantay her a third time. #IJS

Vivica should be a semi-permanent judge. She had fairly good opinions and you could tell she was having a great time. I don't recognize Thomas A. Roberts, but he looked way too stiff in this show.

Edited Date: 2016-04-20 01:25 am (UTC)

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Vivica should be a semi-permanent judge.

I'm going to disagree, but only because I don't think a special guest judge spot on someone else's show is the place for you to try and pitch your own catchphrase. I'm glad they limited her to only three "strangé"s, two of which were used to introduce herself.

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Point. Though, given the choice for a judge between someone who is way too srs bizness and someone who is willing to go OTT, I'll always pick the OTT person. This isn't RuPaul's Needlepoint Race. ;P

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Oh I don't mind OTT; heck, when it comes to guest judges I prefer it. I just think it's a little ill-mannered to be invited as a guest judge and then shoehorn your own pitch as a reality host in as if this was Vivica A. Fox's Drag Race. It's also unwise, given that Ru prefers to promote Ru and only Ru around here. :p I wouldn't put it past Ru to sic the gay mafia on Vivica for this one. Maybe, like, sneak into her house and sew her into a stanky weave in the middle of the night.

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LOL LOL LOL! Mama Ru's connections to the gay mafia run deep!

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I'm conflicted because I agree with the judges' decision in this particular episode, but not for the competition as a whole. :/ I'm also fairly displeased with the editing riffraff, because it was a little painfully obvious that they were setting up a redemption (such as it was) for Derrick and to boot Thorgy out.

Herein lies what grinds my gears about this episode: of all the things to get her eliminated, I think it's a shame Thorgy was brought down by having too many good ideas and not taking one really big hint. Meanwhile queens like Derrick and Naomi cruise on by with vague variations on mediocre ideas. It pains me when someone as talented as Thorgy defeats herself. That being said, a Richard Nixon impression apropos of nothing definitely wasn't going to win the episode either, and that odd Daryl Hannah-meets-Charlie Chaplin runway didn't help.

I liked Derrick's campaign video. I liked Derrick's transforming runway look. But I think she got damn lucky that she was able to hitch a ride on Bob's coattails tonight, because I don't think she has enough talent to pull something like this off otherwise.

Naomi is a cut above Derrick, but barely for me. She's a model. Bleah. She knows fashion. Bleah. Did she thrown decent shade at Kim Chi? Sure, but Kim Chi is an easy target. Bleah. And how tragic is it that someone thinks enough time has passed that it's okay to "homage" Raven? Is Naomi also in charge of deciding when to put out Spider-Man reboots?

It aggrieves me that even though Kim Chi can put a look together better than anyone else except maybe Naomi, she can only perform well if she has someone to lead her into it. And so much word to calling out rampant Grindr bigotry, and I'm doubly grateful that RuPaul took the opportunity to point it out.

I do like Chi Chi in general, but I agree that her southern poverty ~~law center~~ sob story is carrying her. Also in her favor? The fact that the LSFYL song was basically handed to her because Thorgy can't really bring the necessary gravitas (thanks, Thomas Roberts! Still don't know who you are though) to such an overwrought torch song. Yes she was the right queen to shante, but it was a cheap win in a one-sided contest.

Bob slayed. Crown her now, unless we're having another season of Violet Chachki bullshit where Naomi wins for being pretty. At least Naomi's not a dull bitch.

Oh Andrew Christian mini-challenge, how you feed my shallow, shallow heart. XD What I find funniest is that Peter Le always looks so big because he always casts himself against a little Asian twink, yet here he is looking like a Liliputian next to Pit Crewman Bryce. XD Ah, Peter Le's such a douchebag, yet provides me so much entertainment, prurient and otherwise.

Michelle, Carson, y'all are veering really far over towards that glamour/fashion safety net again. Recenter, bitches.

Edited Date: 2016-04-20 06:41 am (UTC)

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I think it's a shame Thorgy was brought down by having too many good ideas and not taking one really big hint.

According to her "Whatcha Packin'?" episode, Thorgy's applied for RPDR every single season. So, although my initial thought would be that she got nervous during this challenge, I'd say the reason she couldn't quite get it together is because she's not meant for TV. She's creative and funny, yes, but the time constraints + long hours really did a number on her. Not helping, of course, was the fact that she seemed to spend one third of the time comparing herself against Bob and having nothing but contempt for Chi-Chi's apparent laid-back attitude.

FWIW, I think that the editing has been less intrusive/manipulative than during other seasons. It also helps that this season's queens are a way more likable bunch (than during other seasons).

The vapid and cheesy Andrew Christian mini-challenge was as delightful as it can possibly be.

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I think you hit it right on the head that the compressed environment of a reality TV competition doesn't really suit Thorgy's talents. She strikes me as very arty and prone to spitballing and making it up as she goes, whereas a competition like this is more in line with someone who can learn the rules/patterns quickly and use the constraints to their advantage, which seems more up Bob's alley. If there's ever such a thing as a superfan competitor on this show, it's Bob. I don't think Thorgy's really struggled during her tenure here (against anything but herself, that is), but you can tell she's a bit out of this proverbial box.

I don't think the editing was manipulative here, just heavy-handed. There was very little doubt that Thorgy was going to self-destruct tonight, or that Derrick was set up for a redemption. And word to the likability of this season's cast; as

blacktonguedevi surmised, I think a lot of the animosity is either edited in and/or supplied by the queens to stump for screen time - like I believe the Brooklyn/NY sisters are a lot closer and less catty than the show would have us believe, as there has been B-roll footage of them being friendlier with each other. Though I do believe the competitiveness between Thorgy and Bob is decently founded, and that Thorgy's critiques of Acid Betty were accurate, if coming from a well-meaning place of wishing AB was easier to handle.

Forgot to add that Pit Crewman Miles also really worked the mini-challenge. I did rewind his pelvic thrust + bass drum sound effect a few times. :D

Edited Date: 2016-04-21 04:36 am (UTC)

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I think that some people, despite having tons of personality and oomph, just don't translate well on TV.

Also, from what I've heard, RPDR is rather hardcore. The shooting schedule is something like 2 1/2 to 3 weeks of 14-hr days. Like, the judging goes on for a long time...that get paired down to 5, maybe 7 minutes per episode. Perhaps the stress wore Thorgy down in the worst possible way.

ION, Miles is the best. He's a cutie and such a goof!

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bodacioussylph.livejournal.com

I'm so bummed to see Thorgy go, but I have to admit that she was the weakest one this episode. She didn't smear Chi Chi much at all; it was frankly shocking that she not only failed to ask for a shot of Chi Chi acting slobbering drunk, but didn't even get one when it was suggested to her! Her runway was just strange. I assume the hat was a place to hide her dreadlocks, but why wouldn't you do a full-on gender-swap Charlie Chaplin? A female Little Tramp would have been hilarious.

Chi Chi's ad was just not very imaginative. That pantsuit did not fit her well. Her dress on the runway was lovely but her paint was not contoured enough so she looked very chalky.

Kim Chi was too nice to Naomi. I wish she'd taken the food metaphor even farther. And at the same time that she was objecting to the bias against "fatties," she called skinny little Naomi a fat-ass. There's something there to deconstruct I think. Her runway was stunning. I loved the two-dimensional, cartoony effect of her makeup.

Naomi was also too nice. Kim Chi walks badly and lisps? oooooo, harsh. I wonder if that was Raven's actual outfit from season 2, not just a copy? They are both SoCA queens after all. It was hilarious in Untucked when Naomi was walking around like a scarecrow, clearly worried that she'd rub body paint off onto her garment. :P

Derrick did very well. The Stepford Candidate. And I adored that she really went for it in Bob's ad. The runway reveal was cute & unexpected but not stunning.

Bob...brilliant. A personal anecdote: like 10 years ago there was a candidate for the House of Representatives who was running some terrible ads. A male voiceover sneeringly attacked his opponent, "Liberal Francine Busby did this terrible thing," "Liberal Francine Busby said that awful thing." So my husband and I started mocking those ads; we'd use the sneering voice & inflection and say "Francine Busby EATS BABIES." And to this day that's our go-to comment whenever we hear an over-the-top political ad. So basically I got a personal kick out of seeing an ad literally say "Derrick Barry EATS BABIES." Where Bob's runway shone was her makeup...very well-blended and borderline creepy in a good way.

It almost felt like Thorgy gave up about two measures into the lipsync. Such a shame because I wanted to see more from her.

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