Episode Discussion: The Realness

[keeper-of-stars.livejournal.com]

Welcome back, squirrel friends! It’s time for the next lap of the race! Bust out your wigs and padding because this is going to be a crazy ride.

Wigs and heels don’t go on for a few hours yet, but let’s get the T flowing now!

Just a few things to keep in mind…
~ Try to stay on topic. This is an episode discussion after all.
~ Don’t be throwin’ no shade towards your fellow LJ-ers. (Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.)
~ Since this is an episode discussion, there will be spoilers in the comments. Enter at your own risk.
~ Please do not post spoilers for upcoming episodes.
~ And of course, don’t forget to werk.

[Poll #2043793]

Comments

[entj.livejournal.com]

I've even got proof that these were my Final Four (http://drag-race.livejournal.com/118239.html?thread=1341663#t1341663) (see bottom of linked post). Just not my Top Three. I liked Naomi (obviously - I listed her way back then), but I don't feel like she broke out until Episode 6, while Chi Chi has demonstrated greater range (dances, solid Snatch Game, more diverse looks until E6) throughout the season, in my opinion.

So, I'm disappointed. Again, I do like Naomi, especially her personality, but I think she's a great model and not a whole lot more, based on her overall performance.

I also thought this would finally be my year to call at least the Top Three, if not the winner, but alas. Clearly, my French fries were wrong last week, and obviously I need to go back to the predictive power of the microwave burritos. :)

For those who don't already know, the Miss Congeniality voting page (http://www.logotv.com/shows/rupauls-drag-race/widget/miss-congeniality) is now up.

[blithelybonny.livejournal.com]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. Is my response to the elimination.

Otherwise, I'm actually extremely pleased by the way things went down. My predictions were almost completely wrong, but that's okay. Mostly, I just think this season in general has been so, so SOOOO much better than the nonsense of last season. #stillbitteraboutkatya

I think I'm rooting for Bob now, purely for the fact that she's the most versatile queen. Kim Chi is absolutely amazing, but when it comes down to it, she really is more of a Look Queen, like Naomi is more of a Fashion/Model Queen. Bob's got the most to offer.

100% here for Bianca's comedy special next week, though, ngl.

[sweetnessarose.livejournal.com]

I am EXTREMELY PLEASED about this season over all.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

It's been a good season. Start of the season, I had predicted Bob, Kim Chi, and Acid Betty as top 3. First time since Season 5 that I got even 2 of the 3 right!

Sad to see Thorgy go no further than top 6 - and sad to see Derrick do so well when she lacks so much. (Sorry any Derrick fans, but how do you get to top 5 with no ability to beat your mug??)

But I've enjoyed every episode.

[entj.livejournal.com]

To add to my previous post by saying some positive things, I was delighted to see Bianca's cameo! And I'm looking forward to her comedy special next week. That will make the wait for the reunion and crowning much more bearable.

I loved Mama Ru's dress, but her eyebrows! I couldn't quite tell if she was going for avant garde or doing a subtle homage to Derrick's final look. ;)

No one-on-one interview with Mama Ru? No Tic-Tacs? I kind of missed that.

I thought some of the runway quips were especially witty this time: "Edgar Allan Hoe," and "Gypsies, Tramps and Weaves!" Hee. :)

Carson Kressley is definitely my favorite judge. I'm so glad he's on Drag Race. I particularly appreciated him sharing his experience with Queer Eye and what it meant to be embraced for what he did and who he was instead of hiding it, and that he believes that will happen for Kim Chi with this.

During the lip sync, I loved Bob's teensy homage to Detox's wobbly jaw style. Quick, but fun. :)

Was it just me, or was Chi Chi's farewell snap one of the most impressive snaps ever in the history of the show? It sounded like a firecracker! I watched it a second time, and the sound seemed appropriate for the space, so I don't think it was a sound effect. Maybe they boosted the volume in the editing. Either way, it was formidable.

Today, it has been interesting following the #DragRace hashtag on Twitter and seeing how the popularity of the Top Three is shaking out.

Silly random side thought: Maybe Naomi, Courtney Act, Violet, Carmen, and Sonique can get together and start a boutique specializing in lingerie. They can call it the Body-ody-ody Shop. :)

[kapvik.livejournal.com]

I think that was the most even top 4 I've ever seen; I really couldn't call it until the actual sashay came down. So either bravo to all the queens for doing equally well, or good job editing monkeys for keeping me guessing.

As far as I'm concerned, everyone performed as expected except for Chi Chi and Naomi. Chi Chi really stepped it up - arguably to the level she should have been doing 8 episodes ago - and so it was sad to see her go, but she should be absolutely proud of her run. Meanwhile, I thought Naomi was a shoo-in until the runway; I did not understand what was going on with the top of her outfit. It looked like an 8-year-old trying to do Courtney Act's drag cut it out of crepe paper and gave it to Naomi to wear on the runway, and then inexplicably she actually did.

As much as I love Kim Chi though, I think she was lucky none of the other queens decided to pull a Shangela/Sahara during LSFYL. With all of them going understated/dramatic, it allowed her to shuffle past.

I think Bob has the right idea: confine one's death drops to the obligatory RuPaul music video, so 1) it doesn't become a crutch during LSFYL, and 2) if you don't go home, Ru is forced to keep the footage for posterity. Although maybe now that the Rusical has its own album, Ru can finally get around to making a "Just the LSFYLs!" collection.

I just realized Bob's idea of high end drag is Jasmine Guy on A Different World.

I really wish I could remember my quotable quotes better, but I got a guffaw out of "You eat other people's asses, what's wrong with chickens?" XD

BTW, am I the only one who's a little depressed that Bob is the first queen on the show who started doing drag after this show began? I mean, when Nina, Shannel, Ongina, and Bebe were serving it up, Bob wasn't even a drag queen! Jesus, I'm old. >_<;

[lucifuge-5.livejournal.com]

It is a testament to how good this season is that I had a hard time trying to decide who should make it to Top 3 vs. who I wanted to make it. All four queens had strengths and, for the most part, said talents were unique to each of them (comedy, dancing, make-up, fashion. Forgive how reductive that sentence was).

There was no question Bob was going to make it. Her so-so make-up skills aside (I kept making a face whenever we got close-ups because she looked ~off~), she's been consistently good throughout the whole competition. I was v. disappointed by her runway look. Best drag my butt. :|

Naomi was and will always be a fashion queen. BUT she can also dance. Her runway look (complete with bonus!satin-covered Doritos at the bust) was simple but showcased a lot of what she sees herself as. Did she deserved to make it to the final round? *makes a so-so gesture*

Kim Chi's evolution from insecure queen to sweet diva was definitely touching to see. I loved her runway look. She's ridiculously talented when it comes to creativity in looks as well as how exquisite her make-up skills are, but I'm not sure the crown should be hers.

Oh, my Chi Chi's gone. ;___; I'm deffo biased since I've been cheering for her since early on, but it made me really sad to see her sasahaying away. She's grown so much and can dance circles around a lot of queens (surviving TWO LSFYL even!). Her runway look might've been Pageant 101, but she looked like an absolute queen.

In some ways, Chi-Chi's elimination was bittersweet. She truly deserved to be among the Top 3. OTOH, I don't think we've seen the last of her.

Oh, and like entj, not getting to see Mama Ru having a Tic-Tac lunch with the queens was disappointing.

[bodacioussylph.livejournal.com]

That was some pretty lackluster "best drag." Bob's jacket fit beautifully, but I desperately wished for a floor-length gored skirt...ideally with a train! A bog-standard pageant dress on Chi Chi (with bonus questionable padding). Naomi dug through her wardrobe for the best thing she had left that wasn't a bikini-and-robe combo. As awesome as the feather corset was, I wish Kim hadn't had the mask covering part of her face.

Great top four, and I'm glad I wasn't the one who had to decide who to cut. They all are strong queens and they all improved and grew over the course of the season.

[anaraqueen.livejournal.com]

I almost got the top 4 right, I just changed Kim with Thorgy (which I'm glad it didn't happen)

I really like this season overall and I'm rooting for Bob, but I would be pleased with Kim winning