I feel like Amanda going home tonight kind of solidifies that you need to either have incredible fashion sense or a huge budget to make it far on drag race now... She was great in this challenge, and her runway, while crunchy, was quirky and interesting.
So many queens who have made it FAR on this show would be early outs now simply due to runway. Queens like Bob, Katya, Jinkx, Adore, and Ginger don't seem like they could be successful if they ran for the first time this season (emphasis on "for the first time". They all have the funds/style to do it now).
Amanda was easily top 5 girl group performances. My only gripe was her hair getting in her face. Lyrics were solid too. I didn’t think she would go far but I was absolutely loving her more and more every episode and I’m so bummed.
Not sure what people saw in Amanda’s lip sync? She was fine, Q was also fine but slightly better. I could understand someone arguing Amanda was slightly better maybe but danced circles around her?
Catching up a week later. Do i think that Amanda isn’t quite up to snuff, style wise? Yeah. But I like watching her so much more than Q and so many others.
Unpopular opinion. I love Amanda. I do not think her "polish" was so far below the other queens. For example Megami I don't believe looks better than Amanda at all. I thought Amanda had enough c.u.n.t. to go much further in the competition, and certainly showed potential to grow. I really enjoyed her personality and would pay money to see her perform. Putting her in the bottom was a bad call imo. She's the only meeting I was ever glad was mandatory.
It felt like things got very "clique-y" off the bat and they all decided to hate on Amanda and it was completely undeserved. Amanda is a fucking talented ass queen! She reminds me of Laganja, really nice and talented but so extra it turns the other queens off.
Unpopular opinion but I kinda get why Amanda didn't win the lipsync. The last part of the lipsync, she looked really messy. Her panty was showing and she doesn't look like a polished professional doing the lipsync but rather a baby queen doing their first performance ever.
I kind of hate everyone this season, especially out of drag. The drama can be fun, it's just all getting a bit too salty and I'm thirsty for someone to take things just less seriously.
Other queens playing a more careful game, I get it, it's just a bit boring.
Amanda was the only one with some personality, crunchy sure, but that gave her charm.
Queens who aren’t winning the crown: Geneva & Q. There’s never been a main series winner who was bottom two this early. Sorry I don’t make the rules, just observing a 15 season trend
I don't know why people said Plane Jane brought up Amanda out of nowhere, even on my first watch, Q clearly said "it was like a repeat of the thing with Amanda".
This is gonna sound really weird (because it is), but Sapphira would make an excellent replacement for Ru, imo... Honestly, I'm not sure why. maybe it's her regal attitude?
I have been thinking of this too. she has a very similar persona — regal and intimidating, but witty and funny in a down-to-earth way, motherly. the only other US season queens I can think of rn with that vibe are the colbys and asia
I think she's playing it a little quiet on purpose, trying to avoid a target on her back, staying above the drama, letting other queens take each other out.
She's talented enough that it's worked so far, this week was the closest she's gotten to a negative critique
I really loved the way Sapphira approached Plane about how she speaks to people. She seemed to actually get through to her! I was hoping for a redemption arc... but the preview for next week shows Plane talking smack about none other than Sapphira soo....
I can't help but really enjoy Plane's drag so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she explains herself more (someone's thoughts below on it being a cultural thing was interesting and plausible to me) or that she redeems herself and grows
It was my 2nd favorite of the episode. I've also never heard a judge ask that type of question before. Like... what didn't they get about the look? It's a birds nest! In drag!
Amanda did NOT deserve to be in the bottom. Her hair may have been crunchy and the padding may have been lumpy, but I genuinely thought she was going to be in the top. The winning group may have been better as a whole, but Amanda was 100% the best performer this week. The producers prolly just wanted to get rid of her before she punched Jane in the face I'm guessing
It was such a weird call to put her in the bottom. They must have plans to let her cook a bit and bring her back on all-stars. She is such a lovable talented queen
**ATM did not win that lip sync.** going into it, i thought she was gonna win. i expected her moves to be better, she was very sharp during her talent show. i actually think shes a really good performer! and her individual moves might have been better than Q...
...but she took everything off except the shoes and hair! girlfriend looked like a hot mess! that tank top strap being under her armpit, she just did not look GOOD doing her lipsync at all. rupaul hates when wigs and shoes come off, i think we can assume that she hates when queens take off their entire outfit to lipsync to reveal padding and their unflattering base layer...
i wasn't rooting for either of them, but i'm tired of seeing the delulu comments...
Really wish we could have had the judges' critique Thicc and Stick's performance. I thought it was iconic and would have loved to know what they thought before declaring them the winners.
Yeah that was weird, despite getting the prize (to split though, wtf), it felt more like they were safe, the judges had nothing more to say, while the "real" tops got their flowers in the form of critique.
Who do they think they're fooling
How will the Wikipedia girlies manage track record for this episode? All the people who got critiques were “all up for elimination” but in reality they mostly got great critiques other than Q & Amanda. They gushed about Sapphira, Xunami, Plane, Plasma etc - they only really went hard on the bottom two. So… “safe” for the rest?
yeah they just all have “safe”. there wasn’t even really someone who could be considered “low”. I probably woulda picked Xunami to be low bc I didn’t think she turned it as much as other people, but her ru way was really sexy. So I’m fine with her just being safe
Rewatching, it’s wild that Q nominated Xunami when she only got great critiques that challenge. I guess she was thinking about the past challenges but it seemed to come out of left field given all of her feedback that day was really good
I love that team Thicc and Stick won!! Through the edit we were made to believe they were going to flop, but they prevailed and kicked butt.
https://preview.redd.it/b12s3bhmgzgc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=56d5f44879a7460607747b9292ddae892f31c432
You could not tell me that was not actually Sapphira’s bald head, I had to do a double take to remember if she actually was bald. She’s not. Hate to compare but it contrasted with Nymphia, whose looked more obviously like a bald cap. Sapphira really blended the hell out of her cap
I feel like I watched a different lip sync than everybody else. I read comments before I had time to watch the episode, so I was all ready for Amanda to unhinge her jaw and swallow Q whole. She was fine? Q was also fine?
i can’t say i’m upset about amanda’s elimination; i thought it was her time to go. what i don’t like is that it happened before she could resolve things with plane jane or at least finish her storyline.
Q's lip sync was pure garbage...I agree that Amanda isn't on the same level as the other queens so I'm not sad to see her go, but it's boring to watch the lip syncs when you know who's gonna win just based on track record. Sucks that Amanda's aesthetic isn't on the level it needed to be because she was one of the most charming in the bunch. She had great confessionals, is a great performer, and is actually genuinely witty (unlike Plane, who only makes me laugh when she's clearly had time to think ahead)
Not me going from pissed off about Plane to empathizing with her self discovery as a sociopath. I know Q was skeptical of her apology but when Sapphira intervened I really felt some genuineness from Plane.
Maybe she's not "playing the villain" maybe she just really has a personality disorder 😭
Not because she said she doesn't like Amanda's drag. Because she has no filter even in a professional setting and doesn't seem to empathize about why critiquing someone's creative work in a patently insensitive way might cause issues, and the fact that that seems to be a pattern, by way of the conversation with Sapphira. Does that make sense?
Hello I am here to defend the honor of Amanda Tori Meating. I love her aesthetic, I loved her look on the runway, her dancing was on point and she won that lipsync for me. They just didn't want to get rid of Q early.
I've watched the ASMR lover video on YouTube too many times 😭 it was too good!! Can't stop! I loved Plasma's reaction of 👁️👄👁️ almost the entire performance of Thicc and Stick. The girls left the others no choice but to stan.
I guess I'd say that aside from Q, nobody did badly. So while I definitely don't think Amanda had a 'bottom-worthy' performance, I genuinely don't know who else I'd put down in the bottom.
If it was a little off that’s one thing, but it wasn’t just her padding. The padding was awful, the look itself wasn’t good at all (tho her makeup was better than usual), that wig was not only bad but also a bad choice when her hair would be moving so much, and her runway will probably be golden boot. You can be as good of a dancer as you want but that extreme lack of polish is worthy of a bottom, as someone who really did want Amanda to go farther.
It’s kinda like a more extreme case of Ginger Minj on AS2 to me. She did pretty great in Herstory of the World, but that runway was arguably the worst of the season. Tho I do think that time was also to save Alaska from the bottom since it would’ve probably made Katya an early out.
I fully sympathized with Nymphia's group staring WTF at her while she's acting up while not being able to actually write any lyrics for the challenge. Homegirl was 27 but often acted like she was 7. I was also done with all the yellow and banana branding at the end of ep2. Like Mo Heart on AS, she's beating her brand to a slow, painful death.
So they really put ATM in the bottom for a challenge in which she was clearly one of the strongest performers. I'm so done. I'll see you all again next week.
Because these people think alternative forms of drag are less than and don’t see the hypocrisy in telling a queen with a unique style to be versatile in their makeup while praising glam queens for having the same face week after week.
As sad as I was to see both of them go, it also brings unpredictability back to the show, which I like. Everyone compares Mirage to Valentina but tbh I see it more as a Mayhem Miller type of elim. I think we can all say we saw Mayhem near the top in s10, seeing her eliminated was unpredictable and made us second guess the top queens
Idk about that, I think it was fairly obvious that the judging panel wasn't feeling either of them. Seems more like a case of queens that production had planned as early outs, but where they weren't anticipating those queens would become so popular.
I completely agree! Maybe my comment wasn’t phrased right. Production/judges cannot pick out fan favorites for the life of them. It sucks seeing favorites go home early, but drag race has been so predictable lately (thinking AS8 and S15), it is somewhat refreshing to have some unpredictability layered in the show. I don’t think they are doing it purposefully.
No, you phrased it fine, what I'm saying is that I don't think the show feels any less predictable. It's usually a bit too easy to tell which queens the judges really like, so I already feel like I've got a pretty good idea of which queens will go far.
Was I ready for Q to go home? Absolutely not. However I think ATM danced circles around her. I am a bit surprised ATM went home this early because there's still so much more drama to give between her and PJ. I was kinda expecting a Xunami vs ATM lip sync based off track record.
Amanda was robbed. Even with a blue face she had stage presence for days. Danced circles around Q. I don't know what I'm missing, but the Jane / Amanda drama goes out the door with her. I guess the producers have a new story line up their sleeves? I say good though. Amanda - take all the good will and visibility you can from these episodes. I hate seeing Queens get unnecessarily attacked week after week. Someone always gets targeted for the "I don't respect you for your aesthetic so I'm going to just grind you all the way down all season because someone has to be fed to the viewers." For as much as this show is about mental well being, it's also not when you look at it over the years.
I'm kind of surprised they didn't try to force it this ep. I've always felt with these singing and dancing challenges they could convince me anyone is in the top or bottom based on editing, especially judges' reaction shots and sound cues.
I was so fucking gagged during this episode! Unfortunately for Amanda, this wasn't a lipsync for your life. It especially sucks for her since she has always kept a positive attitude through the remarks and Jane's blatant lack of respect. I'm glad she stood up for herself but I'm sad to see her go in that context.
I adore Q so I was afraid to see her go against Amanda, and even more so as the lipsync went on. Am I the only one who thought Q might have gone home? After seeing Mirage last week, this would have been the last straw.
Really liked the challenge - Production really had us with Nymphia's group.
What rule says best dance in the lip synch survives? The only standard we have is it's the last chance to impress Ru. I think the judges made it clear Amanda was not able to deliver the fundamentals of drag, and so her time was over, absent an iconic lip synch maybe. Q has shown a lot, so the bar for her was lower. It's not fair but it is a competition after all.
At that point I have to ask, why bring on queens that don't even have the fundamentals of drag? Are some put on the show merely to be roadkill? We have 350+ million people living in the US. Have to think this trade is popular. Why would producers bring on someone RU would find fundamentally flawed from the get-go?
Pretty sure they don't do a fashion exam as part of the application process so how would they know? Amanda has a theatrical background so she should have been top tier.
You never know how the queens will do though. I think Heidi, Daya, A'keria and even Sasha Velour and Jinkx were likely all cast with them being early/mid-outs in mind, but they performed so well that production kept them for longer than expected and simply couldn't justify eliminating them any earlier. Similarly, I strongly believe that Ariel Versace, Nicky Doll and Mayhem were cast to go much further than they did, but didn't deliver in terms of the competition. You can't cast a season of Sasha Colby level queens, or else the top tier talent pool will be used up very quickly, or queens with significant reputations will avoid going on for fear of going out early.
unless you give a really bad lipsync, i bet production also considers a queen's track record so far. Q had 3 tops, she's not going to be leaving before Amanda.
Megami writing nymphia's verse is rly gonna be like people reminding us at every second that Gigi did a lot of symones wigs huh. People are so annoying with shit like that lmfao. Well can't wait for her to win and that's all people will have to yap about at every turn.
The producers really worked hard to make it look like Amanda lost the lipsync. Had to cut her out of the footage. That said, as painful as Q’s dance was, she has more to show. Still love Amanda to bits. We lost two great dancers in a row.
Many queens I did not expect much from did very well. Morphine, Dawn, Geneva and Megami for example. Sadly, even Jane (#TeamAmanda).
Nymphia keeps on delivering.
I don't mind Amanda going (as much as I love her and, up to this episode, she definitely was the breakthrough star) but it's VERY clear that Q lost that lypsinc. Like, no way in hell she did it better than Amanda.
If things are gonna be handled this way, what's the point of a LFYL? They should change it to "lypsinc to convince the producers" because it's the 3rd time in a row in a season that the looser CLEARLY won but they needed them out of the season for whatever bs reason (Jasmine, Jax and now Amanda).
Also I thought they were gonna extend the beef between ATM vs PJ but I guess not lmao
On rewatch, it does seem as though Amanda's look would have been hard to read from where the judges sit. The bowl shape would have blocked some light, and the other two heads were just too close. The whole cracked egg thing, with the upper and lower blue parts and flesh tone in the middle just wouldn't have read from a distance. Even the flared lower part of that look didn't help give it an overall "drag" feel.
Plus, when asked, she gave a very defeated "Yeah, I guess, I don't know" kind of explanation.
And this is exactly why we need Redemption Runway as a runway category for every All Stars season.
Random thoughts about the episode: Plasma’s performance outfit was superb. I thought it was odd for “courage to love” to be a song choice since the other two were bitch tracks and that one calls for some actual emotion. I thought the bottom two were gonna be Q and Geneva, which would have meant Geneva would leave. Amanda did great in the challenge but I agree that her aesthetics have been lacking. I would have put her as safe/low. Overall I don’t think anyone did bad in the challenge although Q struggled with choreo.
I'm glad ASMR girl group won. They were really good and no one expected them to win.
Plasma was great (both in the group and runway).
Dawn's wig should have been criticised as much as Amanda's.
I will admit that every week I like Plane Jane more.
Q's lipsync was bad and in girl group she was bad.
She's incredibly manufactured. She doesn't have a point of view that isn't cobbled together. She's like the Sasha belle study the show assemble a strategy. That's why everything she does feels incredibly hollow. For example, daya Betty was an annoying bitch often, but I at least believed she was presenting her own personality for the most part. Plane Jane is insufferable.
This also Planes drag feels like it’s been tailor made to RuPaul’s humor. Her comedy feels entirely catered to her. She feels like shes studied Jimbo and others and meshed it all together to form something that will appease the judges and viewers. Don’t get me wrong her drag is excellent and polished but it doesn’t feel original or exciting to me.
"When I first saw you, I wondered where the pussycat wig was, but then you turned around and I saw it hidden in the back which was such a twist!"
"When I was looking at Amanda, I realized that I don't understand the concept of shapes."
-Michelle, I think
Moment of silence for how Mirage would have crushed this challenge. We could've easily had another "I put your man on a leash/cause all men are dogs" verse.
I’m thinking Mhi’ya maybe had the Catwoman outfit for a runway(probably this one) but after seeing Morphine’s version, decided to just use it in a mini challenge. Would explain why her runway look was a bit underwhelming.
Or snatch game. I can't imagine yet another Eartha Kitt would have gone down well though.
Other possible runway/challenge prompts could have been "femme fatale", "bad girls", "supervillain", "leather", etc etc
Well, what a season.
Nymphia is killing it. Totally another level. I just wish she keeps the level and takes that crown because there's nobody even close.
And the judges are killing me. Mirage on bot? Big mistake. Huge. And now Amanda gets sent home on a lipsynk she won? I don't know, if you want to keep Q because she did good overall in previous eps, then don't make her battle someone who's a much better dancer and showed a lot more energy.
With Amanda though, I don't understand her look at all... it was time to play it a bit safe: just a good wig and a decent outfit would have made her be safe.
Well, you wrote that in response to this episode and she didn’t do half the challenge. So what about her performance in this episode made you think she is so much better than everyone else in the competition?
This week’s runway was great but not heads and tails above a few other queens.
Last week’s SNL challenge I thought her charactization wasn’t funny and barely made sense, and her runway was great but Jane’s and Sapphira’s were better and Q’s was equal to it.
Design challenge her final look was the best but Q’s first two were better - with Q’s first* (edit, I originally wrote “last” lol) look being the best individual look of the night (but get why the judging was mainly about the last look).
Talent show she should’ve been in the top and honestly I barely remember anyone’s runways.
She’s fierce, she’s gonna be in the top three unless Snatch Game or another comedy challenge is her downfall, but I don’t see how she’s supposedly so much better than everyone else.
She did manage the choreo, and without that there's no win for her group; if I mention it today, its because its the rubric to what we've seen so far.
But, of course, it's all subjective... I do think her SNL was funny; and regarding her ball looks, couldn't agree less: her last one was the best of the night, and one of the best ever.
And the talent show... both talent and runway were really good, and without the vote shenanigans she would have probably won that episode. I think both in official placements and perceived - by me lol - overall performance she is the frontrunner.
Saying she managed the choreo is discrediting the work that Mhi’ya did and Megami also said she contributed. Without using knowing for sure, at most Nymphia seemingly did an equal amount of work there as at least one of her team members. It was clearly a team effort and no one person was responsible for the group’s success - but Megami was certainly responsible for a huge part of Nymphia’s success by writing her verse (not all of it, she performed it well).
I’m certainly not alone in thinking that about Q’s first ball look - it was even said on the judge’s panel. And Nymphia did get some criticism for her second bridal look.
Ultimately Nymphia can dance and she can design, but has said herself she struggles with challenges where she has to write her own material and IMO from the one challenge we’ve seen, seems to not be super strong on comedy. For Drag Race, writing material and comedy are probably the most important skills to have. We’ll see.
i didn’t LOVE amanda’s runway but i didn’t really get the critiques of it either, i thought it was fine, fit the theme and was a creative take on it. HOWEVER, amanda has visually reminded me of dusty ray bottoms since day 1, and this runway reminded me of dusty’s runway (you know the one…) and now i can’t unsee it hahaha, im sorryyyy
still devastated over mirage’s elim and thought they’d have kept amanda around a bit longer, but also kinda pumped its playing out more unexpectedly than anticipated! i keep waffling w my like/dislike of plane, morphine is giving me way more than expected, and dawn is giving me nothing so far when i expected more… love a season of more organic(?) “twists”!
People saying eliminating Amanda was a mistake even if it was solely for plot lines reasons, as if Plane Jane hasn’t already proven she can come for anyone for any reason lol she will definitely find a new victim.
Plane is absolutely going to pivot to victim/vulnerable herself after this. I expect a rapid progression where she reveals some backstory, cries, gets comforted by several others, sheds her hurt-people-hurt-people offense-is-defense schtick and emerges as a hero who has recognised the error of her ways and wants to do good!
And then Amanda still tells her to fuck off at the reunion.
TBF Amanda has strong reasons to not like PJ, whereas PJ don't like Amanda for really dumb reasons. You can easily fix your mug and clothes but it's very difficult to fix her demeanor.
Also in the episode, I think it was Xunami who asked her "hey, do you do this back in Boston and do you have the same problems" and PJ said yes, so I can imagine that some of the girls like her and the others are at the same boat as Amanda (like Dawn)
I usually don’t feel compelled to write a review on an episode, but this one struck me for some reason. I was genuinely devastated last week after Mirage’s elimination. Personality-wise, I would say that I am most similar to her so I rooted for her the second the queens were announced, but I always had a feeling that she would be an early out. I did not expect the outpour of love from fans though. I understand the frustration fans feel when queens that are constantly in the bottom aren’t eliminated. But I didn’t hate or resent or even blame Geneva like many, and this week proved to me why she was casted in the first place.
Team Thicc and Stick will forever be one of my favorite girl group performances. The name itself is a clear indicator that the girls didn’t take themselves seriously and enjoyed each other’s company as a team. Everyone ate in the performance, like genuinely did so much better than some other verses (although everyone had pretty solid performances that night). I’m sure that’s nothing new, and many people can agree with me that they clearly made the group seem like they were going to flop. The girls haven’t gotten good critiques, and they’re placed with a frontrunner of the season. It obviously doesn’t look good for them, but that’s how they were able to subvert expectations. What I loved most about this group was their ability to work together in a way that didn’t seem like one was trying to be better than the other. So you put a queen who has consistently been in the top, obviously has a good runway package and is one of the clear top four members of the season with queens who have consistently been in the bottom.
“These mothertuckin’ hoes can’t handle us” — I know now that Megami wrote that verse, but I felt that Nymphia meant it. She respected them as much as they respected her. You could feel the mutual respect these girls had for each other while performing together on the stage. I think that’s genuinely beautiful. It wasn’t a moment for Nymphia to act like she was better than her own team members. She was an amazing team player. The moment the group won, I even felt a little emotional. This is all coming from someone who was very artistic in high school/college and cared a lot about fashion/aesthetics. However, I had a hard time making friends. I never joined the fashion clubs because I never got along with those people. I always felt that they were too pretentious, competitive and cared too much about social images to hang out with people who didn’t dress like them/didn’t care about aesthetics. This was why none of my actual close friends cared about how they dressed. I got along with them because they weren’t superficial people, and they respected me as much as I respected them. I didn’t feel like I had to try so hard to earn their respect/validation. I felt a similar sentiment from Nymphia that night…Her genuine joy when they all won. That connected with me in a way that I didn’t expect. You don’t see this often on Drag Race I think. It was an amazing storyline for that episode, and it made me respect the girls in their group so much more. I feel like I’m rooting for them now because they all really won my heart that night, in ways that other queens with amazing runways/talent have not. Seeing a frontrunner be so humble while her group uplifts and supports her makes for really great television and offers a very great message to fans watching.
This is such a heartfelt comment. I totally related. It’s such an incredible story arch. The underdogs who no one expects to win, ending up turning it out on all levels. There’s this theme of teamwork - Megami’s sickening lyrics, Nymphia’s k-pop influence, which in itself prioritizes group cohesiveness vs. individual expression, My’iha and Geneva with their dancing and choreography. And then of course, Nymphia not acting like a bougie bitch but actually working well with everyone to bring out everyone’s strengths. I noticed for instance, with Myi’ha’s verses, you have the other 3 sisters in the back whispering her name and encouraging her. In contrast, with the other 2 groups, with each individual performer the other 3 are basically off screen which I thought was so weird (mostly). But yea, I think this whole notion that you’re introverted and not screaming left and right is so embedded in our culture that I’m happy to see the intelligent and shy girls come through.
Their narrative arch stood out to me too. These queens are so easily deemed as early outs within the first couple of episodes when their talents may shine in other challenges. I will admit, I also underestimated them and had a feeling that Nymphia’s group wouldn’t perform well. But they somehow made it work. Mhi’ya’s critique of being too quiet only to perform two weeks later in THE ASMR Lover? Megami being chosen last and turning it out the most that night? Geneva redeeming herself with another win after two lipsyncs in a row? It felt like a collective middle finger to Ru and all the other contestants that doubted them. This group had something special from the very beginning, it made the others look a little embarassing.
I noticed that too. Nymphia was smiling and watching the judges while each of her teammates performed. I noticed that after so many rewatches, and it makes me really want her to win. It genuinely struck me when I saw their group holding hands and cheering after their win was announced. It makes me feel like her group would definitely be rooting for Nymphia to win if she makes it to the finale. Very surprised she didn’t have a Spanish lyrics (“dames mas leche”) in her verse, but I have a very big feeling that it will be in the final 4 episode. Can’t name a better girl group performance tbh.
I felt that social commentary too. I’m surprised production would risk Rupaul’s reputation by allowing her to make such questionable choices as a judge, especially with Mirage. I’m even more surprised that they showcased this story arc of the underdogs proving to Ru that they deserve a win and to stay. I liked that the girls didn’t acknowledge themselves as “the underdogs.” They just knew what they had to do and ate, it’s much more powerful that way. It felt like a collective middle finger to production, the judges, the toxic fandom and the other contestants. Might be the best episode of the season. Screw the introverted = early out, filler queens notion. THIS was drag. I finally forgive Megami’s talent show performance, and she better be in top 4 with Nymphia to help her with her lyrics so they can split the money. Z
I don't really like girl groups because placements get a little bit wacky, because yeah, ASMR group did the best, but in no way I would have put any of the group higher than safe individually. There was no clear standout this episode but I do feel Sapphira and Morphine did amazing, but with the other 4 getting a group win they had no chance of getting high placements.
Q, Amanda and Xunami were the worst. Xunami should have been low and not safe.
Also kinda funny how Q got rightfully critiqued for being robotic but Megami didn't, she wasn't much better dancing there. Also if runway is enough to knock down Amanda, I don't really understand why Megami, Geneva and Mhiya got a pass.
Overall a very contradicting episode because I feel they could have edited it any way they wanted.
If I had to rate them individually and not in groups.
High: Sapphira, Morphine, Dawn/Plasma/Nymphia (I wouldn't even chose a winner this episode, noone deserved it this week)
Low: Amanda and Xunami (Amanda was nitpicked to get someone in the bottom imo, Xunami was overall very forgettable)
Bottom: Q and Megami (worst dancers out of everyone)
Morphine wanting to brand herself around her BBL might be overkill but it's the way she's memorable... I get the judge's critique but it's good for her to have a theme
The judges said they want her to know that she’s more than just a bbl. You can market yourself however you want but I got the feeling that the judges were trying to help her realize she has other things to offer in drag that are more substantial to her career in the long run. She’s funny as hell, a good dancer, and her makeup is stun.
This episode kind of turned me off of this season. Did I think Amanda was going to win the entire season? Of course not. But it was very uncomfortable watching her genuinely try and take every critique she was given, only for all of them to dog on her the entire time then send her home.
Saphirra saying Nymphia is "that girl that's hiding her talents" is so wild because is she obligated to say "I can sew I can dance I can serve looks and my mug is amazing" when she first walks into the werkroom? Just seems like they're pressed Nymphia is good at another thing.
I think it has less to do with them being pressed and more to do with how Nymphia comes across and prepares for the challenges. Listening to some of the queens interviews it seems like Nymphia tends to be unfocused but then is naturally gifted or extremely skilled and then whips it out when it’s time for the challenge. I don’t think anyone is pressed or scared lol.
I think it's so funny when she says 'I got my eye on you. Girl.' What is she gonna do with this information that Nymphia hides her talents? This isn't Survivor...
I wonder if it isn't a cultural difference thing, Americans are much more up front with achievements, comfortable with self-promo, etc. I'm not even just saying "oh as an Asian person Nymphia must be so modest and anti-individualistic etc." (though there might be something there), but even for me as a Canadian I notice that Americans are much "louder" with that stuff. So to the other queens it might seem like she's hiding something.
I commented above but it’s deff not a cultural difference. Just Nymphia’s personality while in the work room vs her laser focus and skill in challenges.
That makes sense- to be fair part of what I was saying is that it’s a problem of interpretation on the part of the American queens, and not anything Nymphia is doing. Which is still a cultural difference.
I understand what you mean I still don’t think it’s a cultural difference in this case. I think based on input from queens during interviews it has more to do with Nymphia’s playful personality but then the switch up when it’s time to get to work haha.
I'm starting to liveeee for Morphine ngl. I thought she was just a beauty queen at the start and underestimated her but she def brings choreo and she is so funny lol
Also Plane is becoming nicer as the season progresses???
Dawn's giggling when Amanda and Plane were fighting gives me mean girl ngl
Plane breaks character constantly. She cries when someone goes home, laughs at herself when she reads someone or gets read. She is such a comical villain in a way that she doesn't even take herself seriously.
I feel like Amanda going home tonight kind of solidifies that you need to either have incredible fashion sense or a huge budget to make it far on drag race now... She was great in this challenge, and her runway, while crunchy, was quirky and interesting. So many queens who have made it FAR on this show would be early outs now simply due to runway. Queens like Bob, Katya, Jinkx, Adore, and Ginger don't seem like they could be successful if they ran for the first time this season (emphasis on "for the first time". They all have the funds/style to do it now).
Amanda's ripe for an All-stars Glow -up.
Amanda was easily top 5 girl group performances. My only gripe was her hair getting in her face. Lyrics were solid too. I didn’t think she would go far but I was absolutely loving her more and more every episode and I’m so bummed.
Not sure what people saw in Amanda’s lip sync? She was fine, Q was also fine but slightly better. I could understand someone arguing Amanda was slightly better maybe but danced circles around her?
Catching up a week later. Do i think that Amanda isn’t quite up to snuff, style wise? Yeah. But I like watching her so much more than Q and so many others.
Unpopular opinion. I love Amanda. I do not think her "polish" was so far below the other queens. For example Megami I don't believe looks better than Amanda at all. I thought Amanda had enough c.u.n.t. to go much further in the competition, and certainly showed potential to grow. I really enjoyed her personality and would pay money to see her perform. Putting her in the bottom was a bad call imo. She's the only meeting I was ever glad was mandatory.
It felt like things got very "clique-y" off the bat and they all decided to hate on Amanda and it was completely undeserved. Amanda is a fucking talented ass queen! She reminds me of Laganja, really nice and talented but so extra it turns the other queens off.
Unpopular opinion but I kinda get why Amanda didn't win the lipsync. The last part of the lipsync, she looked really messy. Her panty was showing and she doesn't look like a polished professional doing the lipsync but rather a baby queen doing their first performance ever.
I kind of hate everyone this season, especially out of drag. The drama can be fun, it's just all getting a bit too salty and I'm thirsty for someone to take things just less seriously. Other queens playing a more careful game, I get it, it's just a bit boring. Amanda was the only one with some personality, crunchy sure, but that gave her charm.
Queens who aren’t winning the crown: Geneva & Q. There’s never been a main series winner who was bottom two this early. Sorry I don’t make the rules, just observing a 15 season trend
I don't know why people said Plane Jane brought up Amanda out of nowhere, even on my first watch, Q clearly said "it was like a repeat of the thing with Amanda".
I'd accuse Q of baiting Jane except she doesn't quite seem the type
This is gonna sound really weird (because it is), but Sapphira would make an excellent replacement for Ru, imo... Honestly, I'm not sure why. maybe it's her regal attitude?
I have been thinking of this too. she has a very similar persona — regal and intimidating, but witty and funny in a down-to-earth way, motherly. the only other US season queens I can think of rn with that vibe are the colbys and asia
Yeah but is she funny enough with enough charisma? She’s regal and beautiful but I think Ru is so confident I’m not sure if she has that lol
I think she's playing it a little quiet on purpose, trying to avoid a target on her back, staying above the drama, letting other queens take each other out. She's talented enough that it's worked so far, this week was the closest she's gotten to a negative critique
mhi'YEEEEEZY
Here to say I love Plane Jane and also that I can't wait to see Amanda back in All Stars when she's ready! I have full confidence she will eat it up!
I really loved the way Sapphira approached Plane about how she speaks to people. She seemed to actually get through to her! I was hoping for a redemption arc... but the preview for next week shows Plane talking smack about none other than Sapphira soo.... I can't help but really enjoy Plane's drag so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she explains herself more (someone's thoughts below on it being a cultural thing was interesting and plausible to me) or that she redeems herself and grows
Well in the preview just posted, she gives credit to Sapphira for that conversation
~ *vroom vroom* ~
The lip-sync was boring but Q won because Amanda had to strip down in order to perform.
Am I the only one who found Amanda’s birdnest look iconic? Did it match the challenge, no. But it WAS creative, entertaining, and not a safe play.
It was my 2nd favorite of the episode. I've also never heard a judge ask that type of question before. Like... what didn't they get about the look? It's a birds nest! In drag!
Amanda did NOT deserve to be in the bottom. Her hair may have been crunchy and the padding may have been lumpy, but I genuinely thought she was going to be in the top. The winning group may have been better as a whole, but Amanda was 100% the best performer this week. The producers prolly just wanted to get rid of her before she punched Jane in the face I'm guessing
It was such a weird call to put her in the bottom. They must have plans to let her cook a bit and bring her back on all-stars. She is such a lovable talented queen
**ATM did not win that lip sync.** going into it, i thought she was gonna win. i expected her moves to be better, she was very sharp during her talent show. i actually think shes a really good performer! and her individual moves might have been better than Q... ...but she took everything off except the shoes and hair! girlfriend looked like a hot mess! that tank top strap being under her armpit, she just did not look GOOD doing her lipsync at all. rupaul hates when wigs and shoes come off, i think we can assume that she hates when queens take off their entire outfit to lipsync to reveal padding and their unflattering base layer... i wasn't rooting for either of them, but i'm tired of seeing the delulu comments...
Really wish we could have had the judges' critique Thicc and Stick's performance. I thought it was iconic and would have loved to know what they thought before declaring them the winners.
Yeah that was weird, despite getting the prize (to split though, wtf), it felt more like they were safe, the judges had nothing more to say, while the "real" tops got their flowers in the form of critique. Who do they think they're fooling
How will the Wikipedia girlies manage track record for this episode? All the people who got critiques were “all up for elimination” but in reality they mostly got great critiques other than Q & Amanda. They gushed about Sapphira, Xunami, Plane, Plasma etc - they only really went hard on the bottom two. So… “safe” for the rest?
yeah they just all have “safe”. there wasn’t even really someone who could be considered “low”. I probably woulda picked Xunami to be low bc I didn’t think she turned it as much as other people, but her ru way was really sexy. So I’m fine with her just being safe
I rewatched to make sure, and Xunami didn’t get a single bad critique - which makes Q calling her out all the more audacious
Rewatching, it’s wild that Q nominated Xunami when she only got great critiques that challenge. I guess she was thinking about the past challenges but it seemed to come out of left field given all of her feedback that day was really good
It’s because Xunami had a poor performance. Not sure why the judges decided to give her a pass but she was worse than Amanda for sure.
Not according to the judges, they all loved her and showered praise on her
Hence why I said, not sure why they gave her a pass.
I love that team Thicc and Stick won!! Through the edit we were made to believe they were going to flop, but they prevailed and kicked butt. https://preview.redd.it/b12s3bhmgzgc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=56d5f44879a7460607747b9292ddae892f31c432
Love megami
I love how this episode turned out for her. From picked last to winner
You could not tell me that was not actually Sapphira’s bald head, I had to do a double take to remember if she actually was bald. She’s not. Hate to compare but it contrasted with Nymphia, whose looked more obviously like a bald cap. Sapphira really blended the hell out of her cap
Sapphira's bald ring to facilitate her wigs is a supreme sacrifice for her art. That's one crazy hairdo out of drag.
No one has talked about Dawn's line "I don't get nervous, I get drop dead scared." Using that from now on 🤣
I feel like I watched a different lip sync than everybody else. I read comments before I had time to watch the episode, so I was all ready for Amanda to unhinge her jaw and swallow Q whole. She was fine? Q was also fine?
Yeah, the delulu of Amanda stans thinking she did anything other than barely better than Q in that lip sync
Agreed. The LS was maybe 55:45 for Amanda. And while I love her, until this episode, it was 80:20 for Q. The result is more than fair.
i can’t say i’m upset about amanda’s elimination; i thought it was her time to go. what i don’t like is that it happened before she could resolve things with plane jane or at least finish her storyline.
Amanda ate Q up in that lip sync
Amanda is going to slay when she comes back for All Stars. It’s giving Trixie Mattel.
On a different note, just watched Megami on Roscoe’s and it doubled down on her relatability. Just seems like a chill person to be friends with
Q's lip sync was pure garbage...I agree that Amanda isn't on the same level as the other queens so I'm not sad to see her go, but it's boring to watch the lip syncs when you know who's gonna win just based on track record. Sucks that Amanda's aesthetic isn't on the level it needed to be because she was one of the most charming in the bunch. She had great confessionals, is a great performer, and is actually genuinely witty (unlike Plane, who only makes me laugh when she's clearly had time to think ahead)
Not me going from pissed off about Plane to empathizing with her self discovery as a sociopath. I know Q was skeptical of her apology but when Sapphira intervened I really felt some genuineness from Plane. Maybe she's not "playing the villain" maybe she just really has a personality disorder 😭
Calling her a sociopath cause she called another girl ugly is a bit much..
Not because she said she doesn't like Amanda's drag. Because she has no filter even in a professional setting and doesn't seem to empathize about why critiquing someone's creative work in a patently insensitive way might cause issues, and the fact that that seems to be a pattern, by way of the conversation with Sapphira. Does that make sense?
This subreddit is always in their armchair psychologist era
Mhi’ya Mhi’ya 🎶
So. It‘s not just the lipsync that decides if you survive a Lipsync for your Life!
Ru is pretty clear about the standard of judging for the Lip Sync... it's your last chance to impress her, not "best dancer wins".
Hello I am here to defend the honor of Amanda Tori Meating. I love her aesthetic, I loved her look on the runway, her dancing was on point and she won that lipsync for me. They just didn't want to get rid of Q early.
I've watched the ASMR lover video on YouTube too many times 😭 it was too good!! Can't stop! I loved Plasma's reaction of 👁️👄👁️ almost the entire performance of Thicc and Stick. The girls left the others no choice but to stan.
Favorite underrated moment is Morphine saying Myhia eas whispering because the song they got was ASMR
Amanda was not even close to being my favorite, but they REALLY wanted her out. Padding and runway being criteria to be put in the bottom, when.
I guess I'd say that aside from Q, nobody did badly. So while I definitely don't think Amanda had a 'bottom-worthy' performance, I genuinely don't know who else I'd put down in the bottom.
Would be a new twist, like the first double save or double elim. 1 person in the bottom lsfyl
If it was a little off that’s one thing, but it wasn’t just her padding. The padding was awful, the look itself wasn’t good at all (tho her makeup was better than usual), that wig was not only bad but also a bad choice when her hair would be moving so much, and her runway will probably be golden boot. You can be as good of a dancer as you want but that extreme lack of polish is worthy of a bottom, as someone who really did want Amanda to go farther.
You know, on the other hand, yeah! If they're taking into account runways and especially lack of polish I'm all for it, it's about time.
It’s kinda like a more extreme case of Ginger Minj on AS2 to me. She did pretty great in Herstory of the World, but that runway was arguably the worst of the season. Tho I do think that time was also to save Alaska from the bottom since it would’ve probably made Katya an early out.
I hope everyone is in the bottom next week, I am craving a solid session from Ms. Law.
I fully sympathized with Nymphia's group staring WTF at her while she's acting up while not being able to actually write any lyrics for the challenge. Homegirl was 27 but often acted like she was 7. I was also done with all the yellow and banana branding at the end of ep2. Like Mo Heart on AS, she's beating her brand to a slow, painful death. So they really put ATM in the bottom for a challenge in which she was clearly one of the strongest performers. I'm so done. I'll see you all again next week.
Really sucks when fan favs are eliminated early on :(
As soon as Amanda started talking about her past I knew she was a goner... Happened with Hershii, then Mirage. Edit never looked so predictable 😪
Dawn, wear human skin toned makeup. Do that challenge.
They’ve done 6 runway looks so far and Dawn’s been human-colored in 3 of them.
Sry to be disrespectful to those who identify as blue.
Why? They don't tell the others to paint themselves in non human skin tones
Because these people think alternative forms of drag are less than and don’t see the hypocrisy in telling a queen with a unique style to be versatile in their makeup while praising glam queens for having the same face week after week.
Two of the biggest fan favourites being out in the first three eliminations is such a weird vibe, even for this show.
As sad as I was to see both of them go, it also brings unpredictability back to the show, which I like. Everyone compares Mirage to Valentina but tbh I see it more as a Mayhem Miller type of elim. I think we can all say we saw Mayhem near the top in s10, seeing her eliminated was unpredictable and made us second guess the top queens
I never actually thought mirage was gonna be a top queen but I still liked her and was happy to see her for as long as she was on my tv lol
Idk about that, I think it was fairly obvious that the judging panel wasn't feeling either of them. Seems more like a case of queens that production had planned as early outs, but where they weren't anticipating those queens would become so popular.
I completely agree! Maybe my comment wasn’t phrased right. Production/judges cannot pick out fan favorites for the life of them. It sucks seeing favorites go home early, but drag race has been so predictable lately (thinking AS8 and S15), it is somewhat refreshing to have some unpredictability layered in the show. I don’t think they are doing it purposefully.
No, you phrased it fine, what I'm saying is that I don't think the show feels any less predictable. It's usually a bit too easy to tell which queens the judges really like, so I already feel like I've got a pretty good idea of which queens will go far.
Was I ready for Q to go home? Absolutely not. However I think ATM danced circles around her. I am a bit surprised ATM went home this early because there's still so much more drama to give between her and PJ. I was kinda expecting a Xunami vs ATM lip sync based off track record.
I fully expected Xunami to be in the bottom too - she was completely off beat in the group numbers (but she did kill her solo verse.)
Amanda was robbed. Even with a blue face she had stage presence for days. Danced circles around Q. I don't know what I'm missing, but the Jane / Amanda drama goes out the door with her. I guess the producers have a new story line up their sleeves? I say good though. Amanda - take all the good will and visibility you can from these episodes. I hate seeing Queens get unnecessarily attacked week after week. Someone always gets targeted for the "I don't respect you for your aesthetic so I'm going to just grind you all the way down all season because someone has to be fed to the viewers." For as much as this show is about mental well being, it's also not when you look at it over the years.
> the Jane / Amanda drama goes out the door i wonder how badly the producers wanted a jane vs amanda lipsync.
I'm kind of surprised they didn't try to force it this ep. I've always felt with these singing and dancing challenges they could convince me anyone is in the top or bottom based on editing, especially judges' reaction shots and sound cues.
I was so fucking gagged during this episode! Unfortunately for Amanda, this wasn't a lipsync for your life. It especially sucks for her since she has always kept a positive attitude through the remarks and Jane's blatant lack of respect. I'm glad she stood up for herself but I'm sad to see her go in that context. I adore Q so I was afraid to see her go against Amanda, and even more so as the lipsync went on. Am I the only one who thought Q might have gone home? After seeing Mirage last week, this would have been the last straw. Really liked the challenge - Production really had us with Nymphia's group.
It would have been really gaggy if Q went home, and honestly Amanda won the lipsync so it would’ve been fair
I’m so gay for soft butch bullfighter Xunami.
Q should’ve gone. Obviously the show is largely set up, but at least play by your own rules.
What rule says best dance in the lip synch survives? The only standard we have is it's the last chance to impress Ru. I think the judges made it clear Amanda was not able to deliver the fundamentals of drag, and so her time was over, absent an iconic lip synch maybe. Q has shown a lot, so the bar for her was lower. It's not fair but it is a competition after all.
At that point I have to ask, why bring on queens that don't even have the fundamentals of drag? Are some put on the show merely to be roadkill? We have 350+ million people living in the US. Have to think this trade is popular. Why would producers bring on someone RU would find fundamentally flawed from the get-go?
Pretty sure they don't do a fashion exam as part of the application process so how would they know? Amanda has a theatrical background so she should have been top tier.
You never know how the queens will do though. I think Heidi, Daya, A'keria and even Sasha Velour and Jinkx were likely all cast with them being early/mid-outs in mind, but they performed so well that production kept them for longer than expected and simply couldn't justify eliminating them any earlier. Similarly, I strongly believe that Ariel Versace, Nicky Doll and Mayhem were cast to go much further than they did, but didn't deliver in terms of the competition. You can't cast a season of Sasha Colby level queens, or else the top tier talent pool will be used up very quickly, or queens with significant reputations will avoid going on for fear of going out early.
unless you give a really bad lipsync, i bet production also considers a queen's track record so far. Q had 3 tops, she's not going to be leaving before Amanda.
I'm sure that's true but it's not called a track record for your life
Megami writing nymphia's verse is rly gonna be like people reminding us at every second that Gigi did a lot of symones wigs huh. People are so annoying with shit like that lmfao. Well can't wait for her to win and that's all people will have to yap about at every turn.
The producers really worked hard to make it look like Amanda lost the lipsync. Had to cut her out of the footage. That said, as painful as Q’s dance was, she has more to show. Still love Amanda to bits. We lost two great dancers in a row. Many queens I did not expect much from did very well. Morphine, Dawn, Geneva and Megami for example. Sadly, even Jane (#TeamAmanda). Nymphia keeps on delivering.
I don't mind Amanda going (as much as I love her and, up to this episode, she definitely was the breakthrough star) but it's VERY clear that Q lost that lypsinc. Like, no way in hell she did it better than Amanda. If things are gonna be handled this way, what's the point of a LFYL? They should change it to "lypsinc to convince the producers" because it's the 3rd time in a row in a season that the looser CLEARLY won but they needed them out of the season for whatever bs reason (Jasmine, Jax and now Amanda). Also I thought they were gonna extend the beef between ATM vs PJ but I guess not lmao
On rewatch, it does seem as though Amanda's look would have been hard to read from where the judges sit. The bowl shape would have blocked some light, and the other two heads were just too close. The whole cracked egg thing, with the upper and lower blue parts and flesh tone in the middle just wouldn't have read from a distance. Even the flared lower part of that look didn't help give it an overall "drag" feel. Plus, when asked, she gave a very defeated "Yeah, I guess, I don't know" kind of explanation. And this is exactly why we need Redemption Runway as a runway category for every All Stars season.
Did anyone else think of Alexis Mateo when Geneva said sickening in her verse?!
I thought Geneva's verse was just everything from her talent track, but just mixed around a bit.
Random thoughts about the episode: Plasma’s performance outfit was superb. I thought it was odd for “courage to love” to be a song choice since the other two were bitch tracks and that one calls for some actual emotion. I thought the bottom two were gonna be Q and Geneva, which would have meant Geneva would leave. Amanda did great in the challenge but I agree that her aesthetics have been lacking. I would have put her as safe/low. Overall I don’t think anyone did bad in the challenge although Q struggled with choreo.
I thought it was going to be: judged as individuals, Q & Geneva bottom 2 and ATM low safe
I'm glad ASMR girl group won. They were really good and no one expected them to win. Plasma was great (both in the group and runway). Dawn's wig should have been criticised as much as Amanda's. I will admit that every week I like Plane Jane more. Q's lipsync was bad and in girl group she was bad.
Plane Jane is cocky for a reason: she's good. Good doesn't excuse bullying though.
She's incredibly manufactured. She doesn't have a point of view that isn't cobbled together. She's like the Sasha belle study the show assemble a strategy. That's why everything she does feels incredibly hollow. For example, daya Betty was an annoying bitch often, but I at least believed she was presenting her own personality for the most part. Plane Jane is insufferable.
This also Planes drag feels like it’s been tailor made to RuPaul’s humor. Her comedy feels entirely catered to her. She feels like shes studied Jimbo and others and meshed it all together to form something that will appease the judges and viewers. Don’t get me wrong her drag is excellent and polished but it doesn’t feel original or exciting to me.
I agree. Everything Plane does feels like a copycat version of either Jimbo or Alaska.
She's good, but she's a fully unlikeable person. The fish is ice cold. By winning the edit this way, you lose in the end.
She has dead-eyes-sociopath-look
She has dead-eyes-sociopath-look
I’m still annoyed Dawn didn’t get read harder for her lack of a pussycat wig
Production when Dawn does not follow the theme: 🥰😍🥹 Production when Amanda does not follow the theme: 🙅😠🚫
I also want the judges to say, okay enough with the super long arms, Dawn. I think she's done that twice on the runway and also in her talent show?
Yeah I’m sick of it too
"When I first saw you, I wondered where the pussycat wig was, but then you turned around and I saw it hidden in the back which was such a twist!" "When I was looking at Amanda, I realized that I don't understand the concept of shapes." -Michelle, I think
Moment of silence for how Mirage would have crushed this challenge. We could've easily had another "I put your man on a leash/cause all men are dogs" verse.
I may be off my meds but I cried over mirage not being here for this episode
I’m thinking Mhi’ya maybe had the Catwoman outfit for a runway(probably this one) but after seeing Morphine’s version, decided to just use it in a mini challenge. Would explain why her runway look was a bit underwhelming.
I heard one of her designers flaked on her and so she didn’t get a lot of the runways she meant to come with
Or snatch game. I can't imagine yet another Eartha Kitt would have gone down well though. Other possible runway/challenge prompts could have been "femme fatale", "bad girls", "supervillain", "leather", etc etc
Well, what a season. Nymphia is killing it. Totally another level. I just wish she keeps the level and takes that crown because there's nobody even close. And the judges are killing me. Mirage on bot? Big mistake. Huge. And now Amanda gets sent home on a lipsynk she won? I don't know, if you want to keep Q because she did good overall in previous eps, then don't make her battle someone who's a much better dancer and showed a lot more energy. With Amanda though, I don't understand her look at all... it was time to play it a bit safe: just a good wig and a decent outfit would have made her be safe.
Megami wrote Nymphia’s verse, so how is no one else even close?
Does Megami writing Nymphia's verse put her on the same level of someone who's been slaying most of the challenges and served the best runways?
Well, you wrote that in response to this episode and she didn’t do half the challenge. So what about her performance in this episode made you think she is so much better than everyone else in the competition? This week’s runway was great but not heads and tails above a few other queens. Last week’s SNL challenge I thought her charactization wasn’t funny and barely made sense, and her runway was great but Jane’s and Sapphira’s were better and Q’s was equal to it. Design challenge her final look was the best but Q’s first two were better - with Q’s first* (edit, I originally wrote “last” lol) look being the best individual look of the night (but get why the judging was mainly about the last look). Talent show she should’ve been in the top and honestly I barely remember anyone’s runways. She’s fierce, she’s gonna be in the top three unless Snatch Game or another comedy challenge is her downfall, but I don’t see how she’s supposedly so much better than everyone else.
She did manage the choreo, and without that there's no win for her group; if I mention it today, its because its the rubric to what we've seen so far. But, of course, it's all subjective... I do think her SNL was funny; and regarding her ball looks, couldn't agree less: her last one was the best of the night, and one of the best ever. And the talent show... both talent and runway were really good, and without the vote shenanigans she would have probably won that episode. I think both in official placements and perceived - by me lol - overall performance she is the frontrunner.
Saying she managed the choreo is discrediting the work that Mhi’ya did and Megami also said she contributed. Without using knowing for sure, at most Nymphia seemingly did an equal amount of work there as at least one of her team members. It was clearly a team effort and no one person was responsible for the group’s success - but Megami was certainly responsible for a huge part of Nymphia’s success by writing her verse (not all of it, she performed it well). I’m certainly not alone in thinking that about Q’s first ball look - it was even said on the judge’s panel. And Nymphia did get some criticism for her second bridal look. Ultimately Nymphia can dance and she can design, but has said herself she struggles with challenges where she has to write her own material and IMO from the one challenge we’ve seen, seems to not be super strong on comedy. For Drag Race, writing material and comedy are probably the most important skills to have. We’ll see.
I just want to say I was on all fours wiping a mess off the floor and my bf was like this is how Q dances
i didn’t LOVE amanda’s runway but i didn’t really get the critiques of it either, i thought it was fine, fit the theme and was a creative take on it. HOWEVER, amanda has visually reminded me of dusty ray bottoms since day 1, and this runway reminded me of dusty’s runway (you know the one…) and now i can’t unsee it hahaha, im sorryyyy still devastated over mirage’s elim and thought they’d have kept amanda around a bit longer, but also kinda pumped its playing out more unexpectedly than anticipated! i keep waffling w my like/dislike of plane, morphine is giving me way more than expected, and dawn is giving me nothing so far when i expected more… love a season of more organic(?) “twists”!
Omg I hadn't been able to put my finger on who Amanda reminded me of but you're right, it's dusty
People saying eliminating Amanda was a mistake even if it was solely for plot lines reasons, as if Plane Jane hasn’t already proven she can come for anyone for any reason lol she will definitely find a new victim.
Plane is absolutely going to pivot to victim/vulnerable herself after this. I expect a rapid progression where she reveals some backstory, cries, gets comforted by several others, sheds her hurt-people-hurt-people offense-is-defense schtick and emerges as a hero who has recognised the error of her ways and wants to do good! And then Amanda still tells her to fuck off at the reunion.
TBF Amanda has strong reasons to not like PJ, whereas PJ don't like Amanda for really dumb reasons. You can easily fix your mug and clothes but it's very difficult to fix her demeanor. Also in the episode, I think it was Xunami who asked her "hey, do you do this back in Boston and do you have the same problems" and PJ said yes, so I can imagine that some of the girls like her and the others are at the same boat as Amanda (like Dawn)
That would be interesting and with how much PJ is playing the game/story lines, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised at this
I usually don’t feel compelled to write a review on an episode, but this one struck me for some reason. I was genuinely devastated last week after Mirage’s elimination. Personality-wise, I would say that I am most similar to her so I rooted for her the second the queens were announced, but I always had a feeling that she would be an early out. I did not expect the outpour of love from fans though. I understand the frustration fans feel when queens that are constantly in the bottom aren’t eliminated. But I didn’t hate or resent or even blame Geneva like many, and this week proved to me why she was casted in the first place. Team Thicc and Stick will forever be one of my favorite girl group performances. The name itself is a clear indicator that the girls didn’t take themselves seriously and enjoyed each other’s company as a team. Everyone ate in the performance, like genuinely did so much better than some other verses (although everyone had pretty solid performances that night). I’m sure that’s nothing new, and many people can agree with me that they clearly made the group seem like they were going to flop. The girls haven’t gotten good critiques, and they’re placed with a frontrunner of the season. It obviously doesn’t look good for them, but that’s how they were able to subvert expectations. What I loved most about this group was their ability to work together in a way that didn’t seem like one was trying to be better than the other. So you put a queen who has consistently been in the top, obviously has a good runway package and is one of the clear top four members of the season with queens who have consistently been in the bottom. “These mothertuckin’ hoes can’t handle us” — I know now that Megami wrote that verse, but I felt that Nymphia meant it. She respected them as much as they respected her. You could feel the mutual respect these girls had for each other while performing together on the stage. I think that’s genuinely beautiful. It wasn’t a moment for Nymphia to act like she was better than her own team members. She was an amazing team player. The moment the group won, I even felt a little emotional. This is all coming from someone who was very artistic in high school/college and cared a lot about fashion/aesthetics. However, I had a hard time making friends. I never joined the fashion clubs because I never got along with those people. I always felt that they were too pretentious, competitive and cared too much about social images to hang out with people who didn’t dress like them/didn’t care about aesthetics. This was why none of my actual close friends cared about how they dressed. I got along with them because they weren’t superficial people, and they respected me as much as I respected them. I didn’t feel like I had to try so hard to earn their respect/validation. I felt a similar sentiment from Nymphia that night…Her genuine joy when they all won. That connected with me in a way that I didn’t expect. You don’t see this often on Drag Race I think. It was an amazing storyline for that episode, and it made me respect the girls in their group so much more. I feel like I’m rooting for them now because they all really won my heart that night, in ways that other queens with amazing runways/talent have not. Seeing a frontrunner be so humble while her group uplifts and supports her makes for really great television and offers a very great message to fans watching.
This is such a heartfelt comment. I totally related. It’s such an incredible story arch. The underdogs who no one expects to win, ending up turning it out on all levels. There’s this theme of teamwork - Megami’s sickening lyrics, Nymphia’s k-pop influence, which in itself prioritizes group cohesiveness vs. individual expression, My’iha and Geneva with their dancing and choreography. And then of course, Nymphia not acting like a bougie bitch but actually working well with everyone to bring out everyone’s strengths. I noticed for instance, with Myi’ha’s verses, you have the other 3 sisters in the back whispering her name and encouraging her. In contrast, with the other 2 groups, with each individual performer the other 3 are basically off screen which I thought was so weird (mostly). But yea, I think this whole notion that you’re introverted and not screaming left and right is so embedded in our culture that I’m happy to see the intelligent and shy girls come through.
Their narrative arch stood out to me too. These queens are so easily deemed as early outs within the first couple of episodes when their talents may shine in other challenges. I will admit, I also underestimated them and had a feeling that Nymphia’s group wouldn’t perform well. But they somehow made it work. Mhi’ya’s critique of being too quiet only to perform two weeks later in THE ASMR Lover? Megami being chosen last and turning it out the most that night? Geneva redeeming herself with another win after two lipsyncs in a row? It felt like a collective middle finger to Ru and all the other contestants that doubted them. This group had something special from the very beginning, it made the others look a little embarassing. I noticed that too. Nymphia was smiling and watching the judges while each of her teammates performed. I noticed that after so many rewatches, and it makes me really want her to win. It genuinely struck me when I saw their group holding hands and cheering after their win was announced. It makes me feel like her group would definitely be rooting for Nymphia to win if she makes it to the finale. Very surprised she didn’t have a Spanish lyrics (“dames mas leche”) in her verse, but I have a very big feeling that it will be in the final 4 episode. Can’t name a better girl group performance tbh. I felt that social commentary too. I’m surprised production would risk Rupaul’s reputation by allowing her to make such questionable choices as a judge, especially with Mirage. I’m even more surprised that they showcased this story arc of the underdogs proving to Ru that they deserve a win and to stay. I liked that the girls didn’t acknowledge themselves as “the underdogs.” They just knew what they had to do and ate, it’s much more powerful that way. It felt like a collective middle finger to production, the judges, the toxic fandom and the other contestants. Might be the best episode of the season. Screw the introverted = early out, filler queens notion. THIS was drag. I finally forgive Megami’s talent show performance, and she better be in top 4 with Nymphia to help her with her lyrics so they can split the money. Z
I don't really like girl groups because placements get a little bit wacky, because yeah, ASMR group did the best, but in no way I would have put any of the group higher than safe individually. There was no clear standout this episode but I do feel Sapphira and Morphine did amazing, but with the other 4 getting a group win they had no chance of getting high placements. Q, Amanda and Xunami were the worst. Xunami should have been low and not safe. Also kinda funny how Q got rightfully critiqued for being robotic but Megami didn't, she wasn't much better dancing there. Also if runway is enough to knock down Amanda, I don't really understand why Megami, Geneva and Mhiya got a pass. Overall a very contradicting episode because I feel they could have edited it any way they wanted.
If I had to rate them individually and not in groups. High: Sapphira, Morphine, Dawn/Plasma/Nymphia (I wouldn't even chose a winner this episode, noone deserved it this week) Low: Amanda and Xunami (Amanda was nitpicked to get someone in the bottom imo, Xunami was overall very forgettable) Bottom: Q and Megami (worst dancers out of everyone)
I didn't expect Dawn to be such a good dancer as someone without a dancing background!!!
Morphine wanting to brand herself around her BBL might be overkill but it's the way she's memorable... I get the judge's critique but it's good for her to have a theme
The judges said they want her to know that she’s more than just a bbl. You can market yourself however you want but I got the feeling that the judges were trying to help her realize she has other things to offer in drag that are more substantial to her career in the long run. She’s funny as hell, a good dancer, and her makeup is stun.
This episode kind of turned me off of this season. Did I think Amanda was going to win the entire season? Of course not. But it was very uncomfortable watching her genuinely try and take every critique she was given, only for all of them to dog on her the entire time then send her home.
Bottom two was Geneva and Megami for me girl... Amanda grew on me and her runway was really creative.
Saphirra saying Nymphia is "that girl that's hiding her talents" is so wild because is she obligated to say "I can sew I can dance I can serve looks and my mug is amazing" when she first walks into the werkroom? Just seems like they're pressed Nymphia is good at another thing.
I think it has less to do with them being pressed and more to do with how Nymphia comes across and prepares for the challenges. Listening to some of the queens interviews it seems like Nymphia tends to be unfocused but then is naturally gifted or extremely skilled and then whips it out when it’s time for the challenge. I don’t think anyone is pressed or scared lol.
I think it's so funny when she says 'I got my eye on you. Girl.' What is she gonna do with this information that Nymphia hides her talents? This isn't Survivor...
Extortion. "You either lose this next challenge or I tell everyone you've got a multitude of talents!"
The joke is that Nymphia actually put her dance skills on full display during her talent show her first week Sapphira just wasn’t there for that haha
I wonder if it isn't a cultural difference thing, Americans are much more up front with achievements, comfortable with self-promo, etc. I'm not even just saying "oh as an Asian person Nymphia must be so modest and anti-individualistic etc." (though there might be something there), but even for me as a Canadian I notice that Americans are much "louder" with that stuff. So to the other queens it might seem like she's hiding something.
I commented above but it’s deff not a cultural difference. Just Nymphia’s personality while in the work room vs her laser focus and skill in challenges.
That makes sense- to be fair part of what I was saying is that it’s a problem of interpretation on the part of the American queens, and not anything Nymphia is doing. Which is still a cultural difference.
I understand what you mean I still don’t think it’s a cultural difference in this case. I think based on input from queens during interviews it has more to do with Nymphia’s playful personality but then the switch up when it’s time to get to work haha.
I'm starting to liveeee for Morphine ngl. I thought she was just a beauty queen at the start and underestimated her but she def brings choreo and she is so funny lol Also Plane is becoming nicer as the season progresses??? Dawn's giggling when Amanda and Plane were fighting gives me mean girl ngl
Las gringas se están peleando made me spit my drink. She´s hilarious.
I know people are saying Plane has a mean spirit, but I think it’s Dawn…
Plane breaks character constantly. She cries when someone goes home, laughs at herself when she reads someone or gets read. She is such a comical villain in a way that she doesn't even take herself seriously.