RECAP: RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18, Episode 13 (Improv)
I had been both looking forward to and dreading this episode for months. This elimination was one of the worst-kept secrets on the internet – which is not to say that the average “Drag Race” viewer saw it coming – but I was honestly deeply confused as to how it would get here, based on how the season had been progressing thus far. I have a feeling this cut was up there with Valentina in S9 and BenDeLaCreme’s self-elim in All Stars 3 in terms of shock value to the audience at large. And I’ll be curious to see how it impacts the season’s overall reputation with the fandom.
Read on for my take on RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18, Episode 13: Karens Gone Wild. SPOILERS AHOY!
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We started out with the return of the puppet minichallenge, and when I tell you it was awful, I mean it was AWFUL. Sometimes I think this show makes challenge performances look worse than they actually were for narrative reasons – the Season 14 Snatch Game, for example – but I truly believe this was excruciating as it looked. Not only was RuPaul visibly annoyed, confused, and bored, but the queens themselves all got up there and quickly admitted they had no idea what they were doing. In the end, RuPaul told the queens they all bombed, and split the $2,500 prize among the production crew for having to sit through that mess. DESERVED!
Hot take: the puppet mini-challenge has sucked for YEARS. There were some good bits in the earlier seasons, but they haven’t been entertaining in a long, long time, I would guess since the queens became hyper aware that the viewers didn’t like when they were “mean.” I feel like they’re self-censoring, or their getting less creative over time. But bottom line, let’s retire it for good. Everyone does NOT love puppets.
With that out of the way, let’s get to the meat of the episode, the Karens Gone WIld improv maxi challenge. As a lover of public freakout videos, I was on board with this, and I genuinely thought everyone did well here – including RuPaul herself. RuPaul gets a lot of shit, but at the end of the day, she just likes to act the fool. You see her come alive over and over again when she’s playing with the queens, and that’s what we got here.
I don’t think any of the Final 5 flopped, but I have been interested to see how opinions varied even within my own friend group. To my mind, the judges got this one right. Myki Meeks did the best in the challenge for me as the Karen driving without a license. I dogged Michelle Visage last week for her “family resemblance” nonsense, but I thought she perfectly summarized what Myki did that none of the other queens did: she was actively participating in the improv concept, pivoting along with whatever RuPaul was throwing at her. Myki obviously had preplanned bits, and she moved through them rapidly, keeping the whole scene going, but she also listened to what RuPaul was throwing her. The whole window bit was great, the reclining back was great, the running away at the end – great. Honestly, no notes.
Darlene Mitchell also played brilliantly with RuPaul in her shoplifting Karen scene, but I also agreed with the judges who felt she lacked the important Karen aspect of the challenge. She wasn’t entitled, she wasn’t aggressive, she played it too nice. But super funny! Darlene remains a delight to watch, week after week, and I’ve loved watching her bloom in the back half of the competition.
I’m torn on the placement for third and fourth. I did think Juicy Love Dion was funny in her parking-space Karen, and she did seem dialed into the challenge instead of stuck in her head. But I don’t think she excelled in it, and didn’t volley well with Ru; she kept getting stuck on the same sayings over and over again. Meanwhile, I thought Nini Coco came in with guns blazing as HOA Karen, among the most Karen of the bunch. I don’t agree that she “lost steam,” as some of the judges said – she was literally ripping down decorations and kicking them all the way up to the end. But I DO think she only had one level the whole time, and the scene didn’t progress past the initial starting point, as many of the others did.
I do believe that Jane Don’t was the worst of the bunch as the airport Karen, but I also hasten to add that she still did a decent job. Had this been a challenge earlier in the season, there’s no doubt she would have been at least Safe. She did not fail, but she also did not excel. She kept repeating herself and missed some pretty easy softballs from RuPaul. The “assault” bit at the end might have worked better if Juicy had not done it first (which Jane likely did not know happened) – and if Juicy hadn’t done it better.
I thought everyone did well with the Wholesome to Folsom runway category. Some of them were more high-concept, bordering on baffling (Nini basing hers on Statue of Liberty, Myki’s focusing hers around the concept of a rose), but I thought Juicy’s was particularly strong. Darlene’s was the most on theme regarding the Folsom aspect, but the reveal happened WAY too early in her runway presentation.
Myki was named the winner of the challenge, giving her a third win this season, while Nini and Jane were named the Bottom 2. They both did an excellent job to “Garden of Eden” by Lady Gaga. You know it’s a good lipsync when they show you the entirety of the song. Earlier in the season I was concerned about Jane’s lipsync ability, but she impressed me here. Thing is, Nini impressed me more. Nini can do the tricks – cartwheels into a flip, which was fire – but she’s also spectacularly emotive. This is a season filled with strong lipsync artists, and she is right up there with them.
And that meant that Jane Don’t was eliminated in 5th Place, despite being the undisputed frontrunner all season, AND having the longest unbroken streak of High placements in “Drag Race” history. Jane was High or won every episode in which she competed up until last week’s makeover. That’s an exceptional run. Jane is a brilliant queen, a talented queen, a well-rounded queen (she can sew, she can act, she can do comedy, she can lipsync). As RuPaul told her explicitly, she is a star. But is she America’s Next Drag Superstar? Not this season, obviously. And I’m also not sure she is in general.
I think Jane is going to have a terrific career, whether that’s touring or on Broadway or just working the “Drag Race” circuit, and coming back for All Stars. But do I think she would have brought anything new to the Winner’s Circle? I don’t think she would have, and even 18 seasons in I do think that is still important. As much as I hated to see Jane go, I think each of the Final 4 would bring something new. There is also a distinctly throwback vibe to Jane’s drag, and while I appreciate that as a Gen X-er, I don’t see that exciting the modern fanbase, which tends to dismiss anything that happened in pop culture prior to the year 2000.
With that being said, I understand people being surprised and even upset by Jane’s ouster. If we’re talking about a season-long performance, she was unquestionably the strongest queen in this bunch. But I really do think the other queens left are all giving us great TV and good performances. Myki has been delivering consistently since the Talent Show wake-up call. Nini is a super strong performer and designer with a sharp edge. Juicy is without question one of the strongest dancers and lipsync artists we’ve ever had. Darlene is having a blast and doing “Drag Race” her way, and that’s really fun to watch.
We only have one more challenge, the LaLaPaRuZa, and the finale for Season 18. How are we feeling? Who do you think will win? Are you furious about Jane’s elimination? Drop your thoughts in the comments.
