RECAP: RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 11, Episode 3
We have already reached the end of Bracket 1 of “All Stars 11,” and I have some thoughts. First and foremost, the twist to the format, with only the Top 2 from each bracket continuing to the semifinals, had the desired effect of making this more competitive and more dramatic. The MVQ points made things SPICY this episode, with not one but two awarding ceremonies — both of which were filled with strategy and tension.
Unfortunately, I also think this bracket will go down as the weakest overall bracket since they switched to this format in “All Stars 10.” Of the six queens competing here, two of them were failures to launch, one struggled (for totally valid reasons we will cover), and it really was just a threeway race for the two spots. Even then, I don’t think the strong performers gave us particularly memorable outputs in the challenges that weren’t design based.
Read on for my take on “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” Season 11, Episode 3. SPOILERS AHEAD!
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I’m going to recap the episode by going over each queen, from least impressive in the Home Spooky Network improv challenge/Paris, France runway, to the most impressive.
Mystique Summers (S2)
In fairness to Mystique, she was not the worst in the Home Spooky Network challenge — her partner was. But if you combine the challenge and the runway, I put Mystique at the bottom (again). I remain glad that Mystique got the chance to come back. As she has said several times — correctly — without Mystique and Morgan’s fight back in S2, E1, we might not have “Untucked,” and hell we might not have this show on the hole. “Bitch, I’m from Chicago” was one of the very first viral moments from this series, and she went on to have several more iconic moments that season, too. She deserved to come back and be reintroduced to a new generation of fans.
Unfortunately, I don’t think Mystique will exit “All Stars 11” with a renewed fan base. Her run was awkward, and she may have the worst “All Stars” runway package to date. In episodes 1 and 2, I bemoaned what I thought was Mystique self-editing herself in order to get a less delusional edit. The good news is, she wasn’t holding back in E3, and she created more than a little drama, especially when it came to Lucky Starzzz and the MVQ points. She tried to stir it up with Dawn as well, and Dawn was simply not having it. You can’t try to stir the pot with a Brooklyn queen who was in a season with Plane Jane. Wasn’t going to happen.
In the challenge, Mystique had some funny jokes (the circumsized bag that, when rubbed, would spit in your face and call you Susan), but was openly hostile with her partner, and committed the biggest sin in improv: when she was thrown an opportunity, she kept saying, “No.” It was a weird vibe.
Her Paris, France, runway was inspired by the Dior ad campaign starring Charlize Theron. I’m not sure the thought process that got her there, but it seemed totally left field for the prompt. I do think her make-up was beautiful throughout this episode, and the dress was lovely. But yeah, Mystique had a rough run.
Lucky Starzzz (S17)
Lucky was easily the worst in the improv challenge. She didn’t look at all like her assigned character, a vampire — she said on the runway her inspirations were fungus and a Venus flytrap. How does that get to vampire? No idea. I do think the outfit was interesting, and that’s what I love about Lucky, and why I’m glad she was included in this season. We got to see way more of her unique drag, one of the most creative and artistic queens to ever be on this show.
Unfortunately, Lucky cannot execute on performance challenges, as evidenced in this episode. Her improv performance was simply awful. It made no sense, she kept saying the word “darling,” and seemed dizzy and discombobulated. She kept trying to go to Mystique for a lifeline, and Mystique left for dead (fitting, given the horror element of the challenge). If Lucky had a plan going into that recording, she failed to execute it at all.
Lucky’s best shot at earning points was the Episode 2 design challenge. Had she successfully made it to the semis, I think it frankly would have been a wasted spot. But I love what Lucky does well, and I would LOVE to see an exhibit of her drag art. She’s such a cool, interesting queen and I’m glad we got to see more of her.
Morphine Love Dion (S16)
This was a sad run for me. I think Morphine is a phenomenal queen. She has everything it takes to be a top-tier Ru Girl. But she did not feel fully present in this bracket, especially after Episode 1. That makes sense given her confession this week, that she was experiencing serious mental health issues while filming, stemming from her extremely traumatic car accident that happened not long before filming. She herself said that she was experiencing insomnia and psychosis, and honestly, I think all of that is on the screen, especially in the last two episodes.
I think Morphine did OK in the challenge. She had some funny prop bits with her zombie outfit, and had good chemistry with her Season 16 sister, Dawn. But there were so many missed opportunities from an improv perspective. She did not feel completely present — to be fair, none of them were good at fielding the call-in questions — and the outfit, like her performance look in the Episode 1 challenge, seemed unpolished to me.
I do think the Paris, France runway inspired by the catacombs was exceptional. THIS is the level of drag that I know Morphine is capable of. You could see her heart breaking when she didn’t end up (correctly) in the Top 2 this episode, and had no shot at advancing into the semifinals. I hated to see it. I really hope that 1) Morphine gives herself grace, 2) Morphine gives herself the time and resources she needs to fully recover from such a shattering event, and 3) Morphine comes back for another season when she is fully ready to do so. This is not a true reflection of Morphine, her talent, her star power.
A’keria Chanel Davenport (S11, AS6)
I thought A’keria’s mummy was decent in the challenge, and again we got to see more personality from her than we saw on either of her previous runs. She’s really showing her star power this season. I don’t think all of her jokes landed, but she worked well with Morgan. It’s also clear how much the other queens love and respect her, given her numerous MVQ points even after she ended Episode 2 in the lead. That is a testament to her drag and her character.
That Josephine Baker-inspired runway was breathtaking. It’s a concept that’s been done a lot on the various “Drag Race” iterations, but this was on a whole different level.
Morgan McMichaels (S2, AS3)
Morgan did well in the improv challenge, with several funny jokes, a decent pre-planned gag (the scarified flesh), and I think the best job interacting with the guest callers (all references to old gay icons, Edith Bunker, Joan Rivers, and Bette Davis). I thought her Joan of Arc runway was interesting. I got where she was coming from with the silverware, but I think that was unnecessary and too clever by half. She knows how to work a sword, though!
More than anything, Morgan had a terrific showing in this bracket. Being Top 2 in 2/3 of the challenges, and a strong contender for the top in the other one, shows that she truly is a queen among queens. But more than that, she was so lovely and supportive to her sisters throughout, while still being totally honest about some of the foolishness we saw in the work room (see: Mystique). Morgan should walk out of this season feeling absolutely thrilled with her performance.
Dawn (S16)
I think Dawn was the most successful in the improv challenge. She had a character, she had some good pre-planned gags, she was at least personable with the call-in shoppers. She absolutely did the best job selling her wares.
I thought the Parisian fashion rat was successful, and authentically Dawn’s drag. It’s a weird interpretation of the theme, but Dawn is weird, in the best way.
Dawn was Top 2 for all three episodes this season, and I think deservedly. The first episode was a toss up between her and Morphine, but factoring in runways, I do think that was justified. She’s been incredibly consistent, and it’s been a lovely turn of events for a queen who literally never got a single win in her original season.
The Top 2 was Dawn and Morgan (correct), who lipsynched to “Zombieboy” by Lady Gaga. Real talk: this is a song that could give a scorching lipsync, and I thought both of these queens gave me a 4 or 5 of 10. I don’t think any of the lipsyncs thus far have been great. That’s a real bummer, because I know that Morgan is capable of turning it the fuck out.
At the MVQ ceremony, it was chaos. Dawn, A’keria, and Morgan were roughly neck and neck for the Top 2. Morphine gave her point to Dawn, A’keria interestingly gave her point to Morgan, Lucky gave HER point to Morgan, and then Mystiqe gave hers to A’keria, tying her with Morgan for the second-most number of points (Dawn came in first — justifiably, she was Top 2 each episode), leading to Morgan to hilariously say of Mystique, “That dusty, crusty old bitch.” ICONIC.
That left RuPaul to break the tie between A’keria and Morgan. And in a move that has proved quite scandalous, Ru went for A’keria, even though Morgan was Top 2 2 out of 3 episodes. I’m actually OK with this outcome. Morgan got an amazing redemption, and leaves a “robbed queen” — if anyone can make the most of that title, it’s Morgan “I Look Pretty Good for a Dead Bitch” McMichaels, who attended her own fake funeral after Tyra Sanchez told everyone she died. Your fave could never.
Meanwhile, A’keria really shined this bracket, and showed us how much the other queens love her. That has to be taken into account. And I think she ultimately has a stronger shot in the semifinals than Morgan would. But maybe Morgan will get the super secret wild card slot! We’ll see!
What did YOU think of the first bracket of “All Stars” 11? Are you happy with the outcome? Which queens are you rooting for? Drop your comments below!
