drag_race | Episode Discussion

I'm eager to watch Untucked..

Is there any live stream of tonight's episode/untucked?

Poor Pandora. I feel terrible for her. But then again, I think she could have had a little better attitude about the situation.

Raven. She looks so different! No more shaved head or facial piercings and she lost weight. She looked great.

I wish Raven and Juju had won. I liked their photos a lot more than Latrice and Manila's.

Pandora, you're freakin Miss Congeniality. And she had humor and whatnot in common with Mimi, like it or not.

I know Mimi's just...Whack, but FFS, come on Pandora, you dealt with Tyra - THE TROLLOLOLOLOL - Sanchez. At least Mimi was shown at making some effort to extend the olive branch.

But then again, I think she could have had a little better attitude about the situation

This was exactly what bothered me most. I love Pandora, and I understand she was disappointed, but she just gave up completely, which was so disappointing.

HUGE sad face! Poor Pandora. I really think she could have gone all the way. But I also think if she had embraced her tragic situation, Team Mandora wouldn't have been in the bottom 2. I somewhat feel as if Santino was just being an ass by hating on Pandora's look. She's campy and funny and loud and all of that is expressed in her wardrobe. It fits her personality, and that's what matters.

And as much as I disliked Tammie Brown before, I really like her now. She's cray-cray, for real... and hilarious.

I totally agree about Pandora. She should have made the best of a very bad situation. If she had, they may have lasted longer.

Tammie cracks me up, but I still don't get why she is there over other queens.

Yeah.. I didn't understand why Tammie or Mimi were there. But I guess it was because of the fan voting we did awhile back.

I never thought I'd say this because I was one of those people who was so mad about Mimi getting on All-Stars, but Mimi came off as a much more sympathetic character than Pandora (as well, Mimi's makeup is so gorgeous, and her lipsync was pretty good).

If Pandora had had a better attitude, they could perhaps have been OK. As it was, she was SO RUDE to Mimi. It just wasn't on.

I sopped up every second of this episode like I was a biscuit~~

Seriously though, I love the team dynamic except when it comes down to eliminating 2 queens per episode. ;___; This season is near flawless already, why is Ru making it go away so fast?

I wish Pandora could have stayed longer, she looked SO amazing. Mimi is annoying but she did look a LOT better than last time she was on, but obvs. she is still a snake. (I'm curious about the Alexis losing her job thing.)

I could spend hours hanging in the gold room with Manila, Raven, Jujubee and Latrice (ugh her laugh is so amazing).

because it's a new series and the first seasons are usually short

Also Drag Race Season 5 is going to start in a couple months and there needs to be time (for promo and such) between the two shows.

* I was starting to feel bad for Mimi… and then Untucked happened. And yeah, nope. Good feelings gone. That said: I never felt anything but sorry for Pandora, and I don't blame her for her attitude, either. Getting stuck with Mimi would make me put my stank face on, too, especially after Pandora put so much work into improving everything she could for All Stars. My brother had the idea that they might bring back a contestant again, and if they do, I hope it's Pandy Bear.

* This whole teams thing annoys the Hell out of me. I get that they had to do it to accommodate a shorter season, and they only had so much time to shoot All Stars before they could shoot season five, and so on, and so forth — but it's incredibly unfair to judge the queens based on each other's performances instead of on their own merits.

* Chad is also annoying the Hell out of me. I know a lot of it's probably manipulative editing, but she's coming off as really arrogant, meddling, and unprofessional. SPEAKING OF: lol WUT to Chad and Shannel winning the LSFYL after Chad shoved Mimi? I'm sorry, but… lol, WUT. Not that Mimi wasn't being annoying as Hell and worrying too much about getting in front of Chad, but… "drag is not a contact sport"? Well, apparently, it is if you're Chad Michaels (or Rebecca Glasscock, that one time).

* Tammie annoys me and I have no idea why she's here. She annoyed me in her scant few appearances in the episode, and she was even worse in Untucked. "Come on, Teletubby, teleport us to Mars~" and, "I'M ACTING!!!" were just freaking inappropriate and impolite outbursts that didn't do anything but draw attention to her and exacerbate the situation, but frankly, I'm not surprised that she has neither class nor manners since her outburst at Ru in season one's reunion show is one of the rudest things that's ever been on RPDR.

Considering, for example, I can forgive a lot of shit that Delta, Raja, and Manila have ever pulled, I feel sort of hypocritical for how much I dislike Tammie — but my issue is that I can't forgive her because her drag does nothing for me. As far as my opinion counts for anything, she doesn't actually DO anything. She's just kind of pointlessly weird, but she doesn't even really commit to being weird, the way that Yara, Nina, Sharon, Alaska, Milan, Leigh Bowery, and other queens have done. I like the way my brother put it best: Tammie isn't weird; she's more like Zooey Deschanel quirky.

Basically: for me, Tammie's like the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, Old Hollywood and Lucille Ball filtered through a technicolored jello mold equivalent of a, "put on a pretty dress and walk" queen. Instead of satirizing or subverting anything, or even just making herself into a visual treat that makes up for the lack of character-creation, she's just kind of going, "LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, I'M ~SO WEIRD~ AND ~SO DIFFERENT~" and I don't see how that's any better than the queens like Tatianna, Rebecca, or Alisa, whose whole shticks as performers come down to, "LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, I'M SO HOT AND FISHY"

* I don't get why the judges ragged on Team Yarlexis's photos so much. Granted, Alexis's positioning in the "opposites attract" photo could've been a lot better, but I loved the concept and their half-baked photo… okay, they looked a little more than half-baked, like Raven said, but it was still one of the best ones, in my opinion. And I thought their runway looks were sick'ning. I'm pulling more for Team Latrila and Team Rujubee to actually go the distance, but I kind of can't avoid loving Team Yarlexis, since I love both of the individual queens and think they go together really well.

Edited 2012-10-23 13:51 (UTC)

SPEAKING OF: lol WUT to Chad and Shannel winning the LSFYL after Chad shoved Mimi? I'm sorry, but… lol, WUT. Not that Mimi wasn't being annoying as Hell and worrying too much about getting in front of Chad, but… "drag is not a contact sport"? Well, apparently, it is if you're Chad Michaels That really bothered me too; I honestly expected Ru to say something to her about it and was surprised when she didn't. Although maybe she did and they just didn't include it. That disappointed me; I expected better of Chad.
I also didn't think that Chad's lip sync was that much better than Mimi's; both seemed so-so to me.

I'm not surprised that she has neither class nor manners since her outburst at Ru in season one's reunion show is one of the rudest things that's ever been on RPDR. I saw that for the first time during a count down to All Stars promo thing and I was like "duuuuuuude, don't talk back to the executive producer; you might not get paid. Or get blacklisted. Duuuude, nooooo." It seemed totally random and weird; harping on semantics.

Edited 2012-10-23 21:41 (UTC)

I also didn't think that Chad's lip sync was that much better than Mimi's; both seemed so-so to me. — Same, same. Both of them were pretty middle of the road for the lip-synch, and the only real difference for me was that Mimi was middle of the road in a way that, like Juju said, showed her desperation, while Chad was just sort of… intense and posing and prancing a bit but not really trying to do much.

I feel like it might've come down to confidence (or judicial bias in favor of Chad and Shannel/against Mimi), or maybe a bit of professionalism, since Mimi really did keep trying to turn the performance into a duet and her baby owl learning to fly-style hopping around screamed, I am so insecure. I expected as much from her, but… unfortunately, I'm not really sure I would've had Pandora handle the lip sync, either? I love her, and she's a great performer, but lip syncing isn't one of her major talents and if Chad kept coasting on Hello I'm Chad Michaels And I'm An Intense Professional? Maybe Pandora could've upstaged her. But on the other hand, Chad might've just been coasting because she was up against Mimi.

and I was like "duuuuuuude, don't talk back to the executive producer; you might not get paid. Or get blacklisted. Duuuude, nooooo." — That's pretty much the heart of my issue with it, too? It's like… girl. seriously. Ru just handed you an opportunity to win $25,000, representation from a top talent agency, a headlining spot on a cross-country tour, a lifetime supply of MAC cosmetics, and an advert for LA Eyeworks, for reasons that Ru is never called on to explain to anybody.

And I'm sorry, but you signed up to be on a competition-style reality show. Rupaul is great, but she didn't invent reality TV or reality TV competitions. You might not've gotten the exact nature of Ru's, Santino's, and Merle's criticism from watching other shows in the genre, but you'd at least get the idea that… yes. People are going to criticize you on this show and this is going to be part of the show's style. It's not saying, "you're awful, you're terrible, we hate you, go away"; it's (in theory) giving constructive feedback to make people who are already pretty damn good at what they do better.* The show isn't and wasn't ever going to be, "let's all hold hands and sing, 'Give Peace A Chance' while wearing wigs and lipsticks and pretty clothes," and it's not like anyone misled Tammie into thinking that it would be.

Also, it's not Ru's job to hold everyone's hand and tell them that they're stars when she's trying to find someone who has, among other qualities and skills, the perseverance and ability to take criticism.

*: Whether or not this always comes out in practice is pretty debatable, just… see the way Santino and Michelle tend to pick on some people (Pandora and Alexis come to mind, and Chad and Willam to a slightly lesser degree with the whole arbitrary, "I don't know who you really are" critique), and can express what is fundamentally well-intentioned constructive criticism in a way that comes off as more aggressive bashing.

I agree, definitely not a lip sync for the ages.
True, but she obviously is insecure and I think that Chad may have shown a weakness in coasting when she doesn't think that she has to try. I don't know, I've been wondering if it would have turned out differently had Pandora lip synced instead. They really didn't show why Chad and Mimi were the ones to lip sync and I'm curious as to why they volunteered. I think if Chad tries to coast again on her "professionalism" she could be in trouble.

IKR? Who would talk back when offered all that?! And from the clip it looked like she just kept digging her own grave; she didn't know when to stop. I'm surprised Ru brought her back after that. I agree; it's a competition. There are no competitions out there where the judges hold hands with the contestants and sing kumbiah. Ru's being uber nice having this competition, giving these contestants this chance, and the opportunity to be well known. I don't know why anyone would risk pissing her off. Doesn't seem worth it.

Also, it's not Ru's job to hold everyone's hand and tell them that they're stars when she's trying to find someone who has, among other qualities and skills, the perseverance and ability to take criticism. Exactly. They have to be able to take criticism, because to an extent, they're always going to have to face criticism. They have to be strong enough to handle it.

I agree, I think Santino is pretty hard to please. Sometimes I agree with him and other times he, and other judges, harp on minute details that don't really matter. And I don't think that we really need to "know who so and so is." The viewers get to see much more than the judge do. Besides that seems like a critique that only gets voiced when they can't think of anything else to say.

I HATED Tammie before. But for some reason, I like her now. And I think it's because I've realized that everything she does is completely campy. Her character is meant to be loud and out there and crazy.

No, see, I get that everything Tammie does is campy and that her character is supposed to be "loud and out there and crazy" — but I don't think she commits to that in the slightest. She does half-baked ridiculousness. She says weird things, and she paints her eyebrows on so they look like she just tweezed them down to almost nothing, and she has wacky mannerisms… but there's nothing else there that's going on for her.

Like

kapvik says below, Tammie is very one-note, and I'd go one step further than that: she's one-note, and that note is one of the flattest notes possible, for me. If she really committed to her kookiness and took it to the next level as an artist (by actually using it to make some kind of statement, even if it's just something simple like Mimi's, "wakka wakka wakka, I'm a man in a dress~"), then I could get behind it. But right now, she's only showing up Mimi Imfurst… because she's not completely desperate for attention and validation. And that's not exactly good, much less drag superstar hall of fame material.

Omg, so much WORD on your assessment of Tammie. I never warmed up to her during her season and still feel the 'mehs' this time around. :-/

When Chad and Shannel were hastily explaining their half-baked photo idea to Ru I kept thinking-he always says that the look should speak for it's self; that it shouldn't have to be explained. So I'm not surprised that they landed in the bottom two. I was actually pretty underwhelmed with the results of the first challenge with the exception of Team Latrila and Team Rujube; I really liked their photos and their runways. I liked Team Yarlexis's runway and their half baked look, but was meh about their opposite attract photo. Everyone else was meh to me. I loved that we got to see Willam in Untucked; it looks like we're going to see some other former contestants on there too. I really enjoyed Untucked (with the expanded and updated rooms, the visit from Willam, more information about what was going on back stage, the gossip) until Mimi's meltdown. I do think that they pushed her to the edge-knowing that there was an edge to push her too-but we really don't know what got left on the cutting room floor. I don't think that they were bullying her, like she said, but she seems like a fragile person which they should be aware of. And again, we have no idea what else was going on behind the scenes.
I feel bad for Pandora but at the same time, I think that she should have tried to deal with the situation better. In life there will always be times when you disagree with the way things are and she didn't try to make the best of it. She seemed sad and defeatist which was why they ended up in the bottom two. I was so torn during the lip sync, wondering if, were I in Ru's place, would I sacrifice Chad and Shannel in order to give Pandora and Mimi another chance. I honesty think that they were pretty evenly at the bottom. I agree with saving Team Shad but I felt bad for Pandora and Mimi; it's always sad to watch someone be the first to be eliminated in any season on any reality show. Hopefully next week will be less somber and more fun. :)

Poor Pandora was doomed the moment she got stuck with Mimi. How the Hell did Mimi get chosen, anyway? I rmemeber when they were doing the fan poll on FB, she was nowhere near the top vote getters.

That vote thing was only for the fans to choose one person, which was Sharon but ended up being passed on to Pandora.

Yeah, but my point being is how did Mimi get picked over so many of the other Queens? And I totally dislike the team aspect of this competition.

Wrong, Mimi got a STUPID # of votes. Meaning, Mimi knows Anonymous.

As much as I am and always will be on Team Pandora, she tanked it big time. After team picking she just shut down and never recovered, and it was just sad. That's not to say Mimi is totally blameless, though; as much as the weight loss and the lack of drama helped her, at the end of the day Mimi is still medicore and a subpar performer next to most of the other All Stars. The Muppet dresses were just bad; as Michelle said they made Mimi look fat again and felt like a throwback to Pandora making fashion faux pases again. And Mimi's makeup on the runway was the even worse version of Manila's white butterfly effect face.

Rujubee brought it on the runway, but their opposites photo shoot sucked. I don't care how fit Raven is as a guy, there was absolutely no fucking illusion when he was naked, which completely defeats the purpose of drag as recognized by this show. If you want to exhibit the androgyny that this competition responds to, you look at Nina Flowers, not Raven in drag only from the neck up. That was just gross. And speaking of gross, Raven really needs to lay off the plastic surgery. When she walked into the workroom, she looked like Kim Kardashian had gone into a wind tunnel and then had her face shellacked. It's good that she's not such an obvious cunt anymore, but her look is just rank.

Latrila's runway look is the educated man's version of what Mandora was trying to do. Go Team Latrila!

I wish Yara would step it up a little, because right now it seems like she's only got two notes to play: Shakira and Thin!Gaga.

Chad is the perfected version of everything Raven has tried to do ever. Also, she had me the moment she started doing the Kid N Play. Too bad Shannel's look had to drag her down. I have no doubt that Shannel is just intense and trying too hard, but I don't think she's aware of how that comes off as being full of herself. Shannel still hasn't learned how to show vulnerability or affability.

Lord I wish Tammie Brown had been paired with Mimi instead of Nina. I get that she has a following for being wacky, but she's so very one-note. Everything Tammie does is the same shade of Mommie Dearest/Baby Jane aging nutbar. Except for the opposites photo shoot, where she looked like some awful fusion of now elderly Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin. As was said above, she's just weird for weirdness' sake, which does nothing for me.

And yet I'd endure a joint crowning of Tammie Brown and Mimi Imfurst if they would just sent Santino packing. Shut up, Santino.

I agree about Santino haha. He just seems to be there to fuck with the queens' heads.

I think he's most likely stoned/drunk most of the time anyway. It would explain why his judging is so damn inconsistent.

I was happy to cheer for Team Latrila and Team Rujubee. Each team served it in their different ways.

Team Yarlexis was OK and (I'm sad to type this) I was actually disappointed about Team Shad. Mostly because of Chad--who was very aggressive this time around. All of my cheering for Team Brown Flowers (most unfortunate name ever) was directed to Nina. I didn't care for Tammie Brown during her season nor do I like her in this one. Like

amor_remanet said, Tammie plays the weirdo card v., v. hard. My innate reaction is that of annoyance instead of flailing. Nina seemed, to me, unnaturally quiet. I hope for her sake that she perks up soon.

As for team Mandora...that one was a hot mess from the moment they got picked last to their shared last moment on stage. It was obvious how frustrated Pandora was about getting paired up with Mimi. Still, one would've hoped that she would've said 'fuck it, let's WERK!' instead of pulling long faces and try to deal with the situation in a slightly passive-aggressive way. I'm not a Mimi fan, but the reason why their team sank was evenly distributed between Pandora and Mimi.

I guess they brought Tammie back because she's seen as an unusual drag queen (and, I know that she's got her fans). Mimi, however, is nowhere near the first nor tenth name most people would think about when you hear RPDR All-Stars. The producers most probably brought her back because she's one of those queens a lot of people dislike (if not outright hate) so it's almost guaranteed that wherever Mimi is, drama will follow.

Untucked was fabulous. I loved the ki-ki happening with Jujubee, Raven, Manila and Latrice. Fierce and funny bitches are fierce and funny! :D!

Gaggingggg!

I think that Team Mandora's elimination was more Pandora's fault than Mimi's. I'm not a fan of Mimi Imfurst at all, but I have to give her credit for turning it around a bit. It was a bit unfair that everyone was judging her based on how she acted in her season. Pandora had a terrible attitude and if she would have just sucked it up and worked with the hand she was dealt, things probably would have turned out much better. I was a huge fan of Rupaul Recaps. I think it's a shame she's not doing them anymore. I suppose I understand why, though. She'd most likely have to own up to her own shitty attitude.

I'm surprised at how catty Chad Michaels is being. It seems like she's gotten super arrogant since Season 4. Manila is catty and annoying (although I feel for her in this difficult time she's going through), Yara and Alexis need to step it up, Latrice is amazing, Nina Flowers needs to step it up too. I missed Season 1 and I need her to prove what a legend everyone is saying she is. Shanelle as well. Raven is catty but I don't mind her. Jujubee is amazing. And I might be in the minority, but I like Tammie Brown! It took me a while, but I like her.

I think it's strange because I've seen videos on Youtube of both Mimi and Tammie in clubs and they are turning it OUT. I think that their style of campy, ridiculous drag just doesn't translate well to TV. The two scenes are very different. Just my two cents.

The Untucked really disappointed me with all of the cattiness. Mimi is annoying, yes, but it was really unfair how everyone ganged up and brought up things that weren't related to the show. I don't know, I just expected more from these queens that I've come to love. Of course, it IS TV and if everyone was nice then it wouldn't be interesting.

I was a huge fan of Rupaul Recaps. I think it's a shame she's not doing them anymore. I suppose I understand why, though. She'd most likely have to own up to her own shitty attitude.

Has Pandora said that she's not going to do any more recaps ever? Or just not this season? Because if she's sitting out All-Stars as a recapper, I would think it was to be expected. Re: last cycle with Willam, I'm pretty sure the queens have to sign non-disclosure agreements in order to prevent details about the episodes, challenges, winners, losers, etc. from being leaked. It would figure that Pandora recapping a season in which she actually participated and had inside information wouldn't be legally kosher.

Ah, yeah you're right! I didn't think about that.

I tried asking her on Twitter, but I didn't get a response. I'm guessing she won't be recapping this season since she was a part of it, like you said.

Episode Discussion

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject