RECAP: RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18, Episode 10 (Design)
What a remarkable Top 7 we have for Season 8. While each of these queens certainly has a weakness or two, on the whole it’s group of strong queens who are continually a pleasure to watch on television. I like every one of the competitors left, and I’ll be sad to see any of them go.
Good thing none were eliminated this week, I guess!
As this was a design challenge with a non-elimination, there isn’t a ton to write about. So this will be a short blog. Find my thoughts on the “Drag in a Bag” episode of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 18 below, and leave your own takes in the comments.
Check out the first 10 minutes of the episode here:
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)
Before we got to the maxi-challenge, we got this season’s Reading Challenge, which I thought was better than many of our most recent outings. There are some witty queens in this group, and a few laugh-out-loud insults. I thought most of the queens did well, but was especially impressed with Myki Meeks and Jane Don’t, with Darlene Mitchell sneaking in as an unexpected shade assassin. Ultimately the win went to Myki, and I have no objections.
The main thrust of the episode was a design challenge, in which the 7 eliminated queens were brought back — in a way. Pre-season, every queen was told to pack a bag with materials from home that they would use for a design challenge. The twist is, all of the eliminated queens were then handed to the 7 remaining queens, and they had to pick which queen’s fabrics they wanted to use to create a high-fashion look for a party of their choice.
It’s a broad challenge that could be interpreted multiple ways, which I think resulted in some great, creative looks, and a minimum of drama. The departed queens also got another moment in the conversation, which I appreciated.
The bag assignments went like this:
Myki Meeks: Briar Blush
Jane Don’t: Ciara Myst
Juicy Love Dion: Vita VonTesse Starr
Kenya Pleaser: Mia Starr
Darlene Mitchell: Athena Dion
Discord Addams: Mandy Mango
Nini Coco: DD Fuego
There was not a single boot on that runway. Not one. The look I liked the least would be Discord’s, but that’s just because I’m not a huge fan of that shredded punk aesthetic — but that is Discord, and she executes her vision well. I respect it. I was especially pleased with Kenya, who has flopped both preceding design challenges, and did a terrific job here. The judges were shocked at how good her disco jumpsuit turned out. I was too! I’m not convinced that she did not have any assistance by her fellow queens. I’m reading on social that at least one of them (Juicy) had more than one helping hand. But bottom line, all of these queens slayed this and the runway was a joy to watch.
In terms of drama, there were a few minor but amusing gags courtesy of the eliminated queens. Athena Dion is smart, and knew that if they were being asked to bring materials from home for a challenge, it wouldn’t be that simple. So she sabotaged her bag recipient (Darlene Mitchell) by giving her barely any fabric and a suitcase that was mostly empty. Hilarious! DD sent an obnoxious print that Nini — as Nini is wont to do — transformed into an extremely chic, youthful number. And Ciara completely screwed Jane Don’t by giving her what looked to be bolts of great, shiny fabric — but in reality they were all the remainders of fabrics Ciara had already used. So there were massive holes in almost every bolt. These weren’t even scraps. They were functionally unusable as traditional fabric yardage.
This led to what I can only describe as a drag miracle: Jane took a bunch of different fabric remainders, cut them into strips, and created a simple but effective multi-layered sequin dress (Roxxxy Andrews found quaking), added on top and into her wigline, and created a Grammys after-party look that I could 100% see Bette Midler wearing in the late 80s/early 90s. That garish wig was almost certainly a nod to the album cover of The Divine Miss M album, of which Jane has a tattoo on her arm. It was honestly so impressive. I am continually in awe of Jane Don’t.
The other major drama this episode came from SafetyGate. The queens were told they could only use the materials found in their suitcases. Discord argued that she literally could not piece together the more industrial fabrics Mandy left her without safety pins. So she was apparently provided pins by Production. But she went way beyond using the pins for construction purposes, and instead incorporated apparently hundreds of pins into the design of the look. Arguably the look was defined y the pins, which some of the queens felt was not in the spirit of the challenge.
I see it both ways. Discord needed the pins for construction, the same way other queens would use a blue gun or thread from a sewing machine — those were not in the suitcases either. But turning the pins into an embellishment on the dress did go against the brief.
Ultimately this was one of the reasons given for Discord being named by every other queen in the dreaded, “Who should go home and why?” question. (The queens also openly told Discord at the beginning of the episode that they thought it should have been her lipsynching against Juicy last week, and that her time was up.) Of the remaining queens, Discord is on paper one of the weaker cast members — I would argue Kenya’s track record is worse, but she has had two strong episodes in a row. And I would also argue that Discord was seemingly deliberately kept from High spots at least a few times, in the political ads and certainly in Snatch Game.
All of it seemed design to break Discord, but she gave the show nooch. Virtually no reaction. No dramatic meltdown, no fiery response to her sisters. She just took it in stride. And I don’t mean the lumbering strides she takes down the runway (we love you for that, Discord). I mean, she seemed largely unphased.
I respect Discord for that, and I think that will continue to make her many fans who appreciate her no-bullshit approach to “Drag Race.” But it doesn’t make for great TV, and Discord, I think you in danger, girl.
Because everyone did so well, there was no Bottom 2 this week. Instead it was a Top 2 of Jane Don’t — who now has the longest running streak of continuous High-or-better placements in “Drag Race” history — and a resurgent Kenya Pleaser, who both did a great job with Patti LaBelle’s “Feels Like Another One.” I was thrilled to see that Kenya knew the words for once, but Jane really impressed me. Her previous Top 2 lipsynch for the Talent Show was very weak, but this was tons of fun, great energy, and she was fully in it. She won, and deservedly so.
What do you think of Season 18 so far? Which queens are you rooting for? Let us know in the comments.
