RECAP: RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 11, Episode 11 (Talent Show)
I feel like history is repeating itself on “All Stars.” Last season, a specific queen was pushed to wins in the semifinals, and the viewers called bullshit, leading to a wildly negative reaction to the end of the season. I feel the same thing starting to happen here. While I don’t personally have an issue with the winner of the “All Stars 11” Talent Show, many people sure do, and the bile is rising in their throats. I’ve really enjoyed this season overall, so I’ll be bummed if producers once again push too hard to achieve the narrative they want. The viewers are smart — and so are the queens, at least one of whom called out the game this very episode.
Read on for my take on “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” Season 11, Episode 11. SPOILERS AHEAD!
RELATED CONTENT
Best “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Lipsync (2020-2025)
Best “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Snatch Game Performance
Best “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Runway Look (S7-S12)
After a fun mini-challenge involving the queens lipsyncing while being hosed down by foam created by Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps. First, to whoever is running the Dr. Bronner’s marketing team, if you don’t have some kind of a mobile foam party truck at Pride festivals and other big gay events, you should get on that. Do exactly what you did here, at like Bear Week in Provincetown. Have a portable shower outside, a monitor so that people can watch the attention-starved homosexuals do their thing — great marketing. Sam Star was the correct winner here, doing a great job. I also enjoyed Silky Nutmeg Ganache’s approach. I have no idea what A’keria Chanel Davenport was doing in the massive bra and diaper, but I wish I could unsee it. Ma’am.
Let’s go through the talent show queen by queen, in alphabetical order. I’ll also touch on the “It’s Giving Crowned Queen” runway, which last week, was largely a flop category. I suspect they told the girls to bring their best drag, but the whole time we were watching, we were saying, “How does this have to do anything with crowns?” Bad branding, team.
A’keria Chanel Davenport
I appreciated A’keria doing something upbeat and campy for her talent, an ass-kissy original song performed with attached puppets in a “Dreamgirls”-esque vibe. The idea was fun, the execution not so great. She waited until the absolute last month to prepare her puppets, and one of the puppets — the one in front — clearly was not working as intended. These types of props are not uncommon in street performers, and there’s a finesse to it. I don’t think A’keria got to that level. Her phoenix-inspired runway, on the other hand, was spectacular.
Crystal Methyd
This was a hugely polarizing talent show. I personally believe that Crystal was being deliberately cheeky leading up to the talent show, when she explained that it was a piece about global warming and she was making a serious political statement. Others thought she was being serious and felt that her snowman burlesque routine didn’t hit that mark. I don’t think Crystal is stupid, and I think she knew exactly what she was doing, psyching out her competitors with the promise of some high-minded concept piece, and instead serving a gonzo performance capped out with pulling a massive carrot out of her snowman’s prolapsed bussy (there’s an entirely new sentence for you). It wasn’t particularly skillful — although I’m sure making those garments was no small feat — but it was one of the few talents of the night that surprised and delighted me. Most of the other queens seemed to be shooting for Safe, and Crystal at least gave us something memorable. Also memorable: that incredible Aztec-inspired runway. I think the flags on the back were unnecessary and almost a distraction, but I loved the rest of it.
Dawn
Dawn also did a high-concept burlesque number, and hers included a lipsync with some very funny lines and some great partner work with the Pit Crew dancers. I also thought Dawn had one of the most stunning garments on the runway this evening, which has to be one of the largest pieces we’ve ever seen on “Drag Race.” This was a good night for Dawn, and I think she needed it after narrowly avoiding the Bottom 2 last episode (and she would have surely lost that lipsync to either Davenport).
Jasmine Kennedie
Jasmine did a cheer routine for her talent, a nod to her time in cheerleading in high school. It is clear that Jasmine spent a great deal of time and effort on this talent, and she did a great job training her dancers to execute some fairly complicated lifts. (Shout out to the dancers, who were really given a lot to do this episode.) It was technically impressive, aside from that one moment of panic when she struggled to stick the big move. But was I super entertained? I don’t know that I was. I can appreciate it for its merits but it did not delight me, and I don’t think Jasmine factored that into her plan here. Her flowing gown in greens and blues was absolutely lovely and Jasmine wore it well. On social media, Dawn has said that Jasmine’s meltdown on the runway after Crystal was named the winner of the challenge was considerably more intense than what they showed. I can understand Jasmine’s frustration — any queen’s frustration — of doing their absolutely best and still not winning. I don’t think it’s OK to dismiss Crystal’s talent or her drag because it doesn’t align with her own taste levels.
Joey Jay
Joey has had a great run since the Purple Bracket, but this was where I thought she stumbled. Again, decent concept for a talent show — using her ballroom dancing experience and doing some partner work, some group work, some solo work, etc. I also thought the backing track was hilarious and I hope Joey finds some way to merchandize, “You better dance, you homosexual.” But Joey did have a notable fuck-up when she went for her big trick, you can’t deny it. I’ve seen people say, “Yeah, but that was more on her dancer than Joey.” That could be true, but Joey trained those dancers, and more importantly, Joey’s face broadcast to everyone watching that she had messed up, and I felt it knocked her off for the rest of the number. Her runway was gorgeous, but nothing we haven’t seen before. In my opinion, Joey probably should have been Bottom 2 tonight. And I say that as someone who is rooting for our first openly gay contestant on “Drag Race.”
Sam Star
Instead, the Bottom 2 spot went to our SECOND avowed homosexual on the show, Sam Star. I think that’s bullshit. Sam’s talent was pretty much flawless. Yes, it was a sassy original music track and a lipsync to match, but I thought she executed it all perfectly. That was a tight number and leagues better than the one Sam performed in her original season. I was not a big fan of Sam’s runway, which was the furthest from the “It’s Giving Crowned Queen” prompt. Again, I suspect the prompt was Best Drag. But even then, is this really the best Sam can do? I don’t think it is. It was her country aesthetic for sure, but it felt like multiple disparate pieces cobbled together. The whole thing left me confused. Almost as confused as Sam being put last in the Rate-a-Queen.
Silky Nutmeg Ganache
I really enjoyed Silky’s drumline number. She had tons of energy, she was completely on point with those dancers, and the whole thing was exciting to watch. Not the most original, but it worked. When you consider what she gave us in “All Stars 6” for the Talent Show, it’s a major success. Her runway was beautiful, but again, nothing we haven’t seen before. We are on, like, the 70th overall season of “Drag Race.” No matter how lovely and well presented it is, a beaded gown is still going to be a beaded gown. It’s not going to move the needle.
Ultimately Crystal was given the win, and I think that’s going to prove to be a mistake on the part of the show, and hurt Crystal in the long run. I think she was certainly safe to high, but do I think it was the best talent of the night? No. It may have been the most surprising number of the night, so I can see it by that metric — and her runway was among the best on the stage. But this felt like the heavy hand of Production making sure Crystal was protected, because if she DID end up in the mix for Rate-a-Queen, I do think the other queens would have pounced at the opportunity to take her out. To me, this is a flaw in game design. If you have a winner and then have Ru select 2 bottom queens, you avoid this potential disaster. But they wanted that Rate-a-Queen drama, and that meant that they put every queen BUT the winner in danger of going home. That’s setting yourself up to failure.
And so it ended up with A’keria (justifiably for that sloppily executed talent) and Sam Star (I think because she lacked strong connections to the other queens) lipsyncing to Beyonce’s “Run the World (Girls)” which is, ostensibly, a song, I guess. It was a solid showdown, and I thought Sam did as well with this song as she could. But A’keria once again fully embodied the vibe of the song and artist and she took this one home, too.
I think Sam Star should be proud of her run on “AS11.” She came into this as a late addition, mere weeks after her original season finished airing. I personally saw growth both in her drag and in her persona — I found her much more relaxed and relatable this time around. You could see how badly she wanted to be in the finale as she realized that so many of her sisters had placed her low in Rate-a-Queen. I don’t know if she could have done anything differently, which is frustrating. But I think she should be proud of what she showed, regardless.
NEXT: It’s the big finale. Fun fact: This will be the first season since S2 of regular “Drag Race” without a Snatch Game (if you count “All Stars 1”’s “RuPaul’s Gaff In”). I wonder why they left that iconic challenge out? Hmmm….
What do YOU think of the finalists of “All Stars” 11? Which queens are you rooting for? Drop your comments below!
