RECAP: RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 11, Episode 5 (How-To Videos)
We are 2/3 of the way done with the Pink Bracket of “All Stars 11,” and I am digging this group of queens. I like their vibe. I like their drag. I think it’s a more competitive bracket than the Orange Bracket, which was three queens battling it out for the two spots, whereas there are at least four contenders in this mix. But I will say that, although the lows have not been as low as they were on the Orange Bracket, the highs have also generally not been as high. That goes for this season compared to “All Stars 10” as well. It’s a much more even-keeled group with very few breakout moments, and I don’t think we have had a single truly great lipsync yet in five episodes. But I am still, for some reason, enjoying the ride.
Read on for my take on “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” Season 11, Episode 5. SPOILERS AHEAD!
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This time I’ll rank each queen on how they did this episode, including the How-To Video challenge and the Barn This Way farm runway.
Crystal Methyd
Vivacious called Crystal the dark horse of the bracket, but I don’t see that at all. I think she is and has always been a frontrunner for this bracket, and the season in general. We haven’t had a weirdo winner since Willow Pill in Season 14, and that was nearly five years ago (Jimbo in “All Stars 8,” and that was three). We are due, and Crystal is beloved by the fandom and queens alike.
She’s also doing a genuinely good job. Her how-to video was on how to make a banana split, which numerous other queens across “Drag Race” franchises have done before. I liked Crystal’s approach the most. She combined her typical bonkers costumes with “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse”-style campy presentation and some subversive humor, and even worked in a tired “Drag Race” catchphrase or two. It was brilliantly executed. On the Barn This Way runway, she went completely unsubtle and gave us a gigantic cock. This chicken was serving leg AND breast and was stoned to the gods. It was simultaneously horrible and delightful.
Crystal was in the Top 2 again this week, and I thought she was better in this week’s lipsync than she was the week before. I don’t know what the wolf/Little Red Riding Hood outfit had to do with literally anything, but she was engaged with the song this time. Anyway, she’s doing a great job, and she is justifiably at the head of the pack.
Silky Nutmeg Ganache
I have seen much consternation about Silky getting the Top 2 spot for her how-to video, which was a birthday-cake-decorating video that was really about self love and dumping a man who is using you. I thought the concept was hilarious, with Little Silky acting as a kind of Jiminy Cricket, telling the delusional Big Silk to look at her life, look at her choices. Little Silky was perfect, and Big Silk had some great reactions as well. It wasn’t perfectly executed. Some transitions were forced, it could have used more honing in. But Silky did appear to take Ru’s very specific notes about editing and staying focused on message, and I thought this was successful and the most charming of the videos. Her cow runway was also polarizing, but I thought she did a great job bringing her vision to life, especially the Gaultier-inspired bustier with multiple milk-shooting utters. My hot take: if any other queen delivered that commercial and that runway, people would unanimously love it. I think people just don’t like Silky.
Silky was our other Top 2 queen of the week, and I do think her “Hazy Shade of Winter” lipsync was a mess. Silky is not a precise lipsyncher, the way a Morgan McMichaels or a Latrice Royale is — she doesn’t “live” the songs. She uses the songs as the underpinning for her chance to entertain the crowd. By that metric, it was successful, as she was a ball of energy all over that stage. Where I take issue is her constant attempts to block her competitor, which only got worse once Silky did her outfit reveal and went into a flag-twirling performance. Again: if any other queen had done a reveal to massive flags for twirling, the fandom would be eating it up — but people don’t like Silky. I just wish she had done her thing and not deliberately attempted to use the props to block what Crystal was doing. The other queens clocked it and I’m sure it will be a point of contention next episode.
Aura Mayari
I’m really enjoying Aura this season. She’s overall doing quite well in the challenges, and I’m getting to know her more as a queen and as a personality. And the thing is, Aura is a stone-cold weirdo. She is strange. I say that with respect! Her how-to video was about surviving the zombie apocalypse in drag, which sounds stupid — and it was — but I also thought it was largely successful. She made a lot of good choices here, including working in references to her Season 15 sisters. I thought the ending bit where she gave in and joined the zombies was funny. But her sense of humor is…odd. It doesn’t quite make sense all the time. I’m sure it does to her, and ultimately it’s her art. So she should do what feels right. But there are some missed opportunities that she could easily convert into big laughs with a little more refining. (BTW these queens obviously came with these concepts pre-planned and written; there’s no way Crystal just happened to have those outfits handy.) I don’t get why she kept saying, “Rawr” over and over again. Is that her thing? I don’t remember it being her thing.
I thought her barn owl-inspired runway was striking, but agree the judges that it didn’t fully read owl. I was getting chicken, others were getting dove. Giant cunty feathered being, basically. It looked gorgeous and I do think Aura has great taste in her outfits. Again, she just needs to hone it in a bit more to completely hit the spot.
Salina EsTitties
I’ve seen some people say that Salina was robbed of a Top 2 spot this week, and I respectfully disagree. Salina’s video had great production value and a good concept (how to keep your man from cheating on you). Lil Chalupe was a smart prop, even if it was highly referential of Lil Poundcake. My issue is that it seemed to go all over the place in a bunch of different tangents, and most of them weren’t super funny. Also, a fart joke, which just feels lazy. I think Salina is capable of more than this. She IS funny. Her talking heads are magnificent. She has everything it takes to be a social media influencer. This just felt like a rough draft instead of a finished product.
She looked absolutely beautiful in her needle-in-a-haystack runway. Without question, Salina has redeemed herself on the runway this season. Golden Boot no more! Unfortunately, she ended up wearing a very similar outfit, and was unflatteringly compared to…
April Carrion
I thought April’s video was solid, and it was great for her. April is not known for her humor or performances — or even really talking (she said so herself). But I thought she used all the tools in her toolbox in her how-to video on making tostones. Those tools happen to be “sex, sexy, sensuality, slutty, and tits,” but they are hers, and she used them. I also learned something from her video! I had never heard of that dipping sauce before. So thank you for the recipe, April!
She was absolutely stunning in her hay-inspired gown, which was more impressive in its shape and volume than Salina’s. (Salina gets a point for the needle gag, though.) I think this was a much better episode for April and I also love how playfully shady she’s been in the work room. I continue to think she will come out of this as a low-key fan favorite.
Vivacious
Was Vivacious’ how-to video on making jerk chicken the best? It was not. Was her energy flat and one-note the whole way? You bet. But I thought it was funny, had some very clever bits (using the rubber chickens and the sound effects was brilliant, that “I could have been a contender! A nugget!” may have been the wittiest line of the whole episode), and she did seem looser than she did last week. Vivacious has an over-it-all, grand affect that I associate with many of the legendary children featured in Paris Is Burning. That is how I think of her drag. TO me, this feels authentic to who she is. If she was out there cutting up and screaming like Silky, I would have thought she’d been possessed by a ghost. I get the criticism about the stoicism, but it’s also one of the things I like most about Vivacious. I’m just enamored of her in general.
On the runway, her tractor look was…in need of some repairs. But it’s important to know that, per Alaska, Vivacious’ designer for this look screwed her utterly. The designer wasted months and gave Vivacious basically nothing but fabric. Vivacious herself made the look in a handful hours after she had arrived to film. That’s so unfortunate. Vivacious has been clear about her desire to show her best this season, and to be let down so completely by a designer must be so frustrating for her. On a positive note, the make-up this week was a HUGE improvement. Well done, Mother!
What did YOU think of the Pink Bracket of “All Stars” 11? Which queens are you rooting for? Drop your comments below!
