RECAP: RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18, Episode 5 (Talent Show 1)
We are now just over 1/3 of the way through Season 18, and I think some interesting trends and patterns have emerged, both on the show and in response to it. I continue to love the season, and virtually everyone I know who watches does as well. But Season 16 breakout Plane Jane had an interesting comment this past week, saying that there are no “stars” on Season 18. Now, Plane — doing promo for her stint on the new season of “House of Villains” on E! — is doing what she always does, stirring the pot for maximum attention. She’s great at it. But upon further reflection, she may actually be right.
I think Season 18 is loaded with genuinely talented queens. Queens who are great at their craft, queens who can execute on challenges, queens who have great chemistry with one another. The CAST of Season 18 is collectively a star. But individually, have any of them broke out and cultivated stans the way that queens in previous queens have at this point in their competitions? I’m not sure. Mandy Mango certainly has a great “robbed queen” narrative going for her. Juicy Love Dion is certainly respected for her performance ability — and will be moreso after this episode — and Jane Don’t has earned buzz for her consistency and talking heads. Briar Blush is one of our more memorable early-season villains. But two of those four queens have already left the competition. Of the 11 queens still competing in Season 18, very few had individual breakout moments coming into Episode 5. But I do think some of that changed with Part 1 of the Talent Show this episode.
Check out the first 10 minutes of the episode here:
Read on for my take on Part 1 of the Rate-a-Queen Talent Show, the Not Today, Satin runway, and that whole endless vote-strategizing segment.
SPOILERS, SWEETIE!
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Doing a Talent Show after three eliminations might seem strange, but I think it was actually brilliant from a drama perspective because of the Rate-a-Queen aspect. When the Talent Show is at the beginning of a competition, the queens have no bonds or connections. They rate strictly on first impressions and what they throw down on the stage. Four episodes in, there are cliques, there are track records, and there are grudges.
That’s all great. However, I did feel that the vote strategizing segment of this episode went on at least 5 to 10 minutes too long. This felt like a pre-vote scramble on “Survivor,” specifically the first vote after a merge. By the end of it there were alliances, sub-alliances, and fixed votes before they even got near the stage. I love a smart queen, I love a clever queen, but my god this was agonizing to watch. And as a viewer, I was honestly annoyed that the queens had basically decided to rank each other based on friendships and strategies regardless of their performance. Which, spoiler, did end up happening, at least in a few cases.
Here are my takes on the Group 1 Talent Show performances, ranked from my personal favorite to my least favorite. (I think only one queen really bombed, and honestly I was surprised by it.)
Juicy Love Dion
Juicy is one of the buzzier members of this cast, and has given us some great performances thus far (minus that Episode 1 design flop). But Juicy is very low-key in the work room and talking heads. Let’s just call it: the charisma score is low. The talent score, however, is sky high, as evidenced by this dance performance to her video-game inspired original track. There are several great dancers in this cast — three performed in this talent show — but Juicy has something special when she dances. There’s a fluidity to her movements and an effortlessness to her tricks that’s captivating. Does it always translate to her face? No. But the talent is undeniable. I was completely obsessed with her satin runway, which looked like the most fashionable radicchio to ever walk down the runway.
Mia Starr
After being paid dust in the first episode, Mia has slowly emerged as a breakout star for this season. While Juicy may have low charisma, Mia is oozing with it. Her only real weakness, for me, is the aesthetic. She has a clear point of view, which I love. But I need to see more range than just Miami Hooch, and although I love a titty bib, she’s relying on that silicone fake body. That said, it was well deployed in both her dancing talent show, and then the Top 2 lipsync. We knew Mia would be spectacular performer, and she lived up to the hype. Would we qualify Mia’s dance style as crunk? It’s hip-hop, but HARD hip-hop, with very sharp, punctuating movements. It’s almost hypnotic to watch. The musical coda and wig reveal in her talent show was outstanding.
Nini Coco
Nini could have very easily been Top 2 this week. Some of the queens pooh-poohed her decision to re-do an act that had made her go viral on social media. But two things: 1) the vast majority of the people watching this show probably never saw that (not everyone is chronically online, kids), and 2) I DID see that mantis act on social, but did not realize it was Nini. The act was flawlessly done, and showcased not only Nini’s creativity, but also very strong lipsync skills, and some flawless acrobatics. Nini was the other strong dancer in this group, and where she outclasses Mia and Juicy is that she connects in the face (also, her make-up is incredible). It was a tight race for Top 2 this week, but if the voting was fair I personally would have had Nini vs. Juicy.
Darlene Mitchell
First, Darlene’s satin look really was bad. And what’s concerning is that she thought she looked amazing. I applaud her for going for high glamor, but if that’s her definition of high glamor, we have a taste level issue. But, I appreciate that Darlene is a campy, trashy queen, and that’s exactly what we got in her entendre-filled song talent. I liked this decently, and thought Darlene performed it with tongue perfectly in cheek. It was just low impact compared to most of the other queens, and I agreed with the judges that it never felt like it fully engaged.
Ciara Myst
I actually liked Ciara’s talent quite a bit. I found it engaging and creative, especially the costume reveals. I’m not sure if it was a good fit for this opportunity, though. Mental health and trans rights are important issues that absolutely should be raised on this show. But in a 60-second talent show, it’s a dark place to go to when you’re supposed to be showing us who you are. I do respect Ciara’s talent and her heart. I find her quite likable. I do not think she deserved to be graded the worst of the night — although that satin look did her no favors.
Vita VonTesse Starr
I am shocked to be putting Vita last. I think she’s a great queen, and I expect her to go deep in this competition. But wow, that was sad. I’m down with an aerobics routine. We’ve seen it before and it can be entertaining. This was not. It was low energy, the lipsync was sporadic, the cookie dumbbells were clunky. It was an unexpected whiff, and more worrisome, Vita seemed to think she nailed it. While watching her, I got the sense she was internally panicking because she knew she was flopping. But apparently not. Very concerning.
In the end, Ciara was voted by the Group 2 queens as the worst queen (riggory, but understandable), and Juicy and Mia were named the Top 2 (deserved). Ciara will lipsync against the last place member of Group 2, while Mia and Juicy gave us what I think will go down as an iconic lipsync battle to (absolutely delightful) guest judge Zara Larsson’s song, “Pretty Messy.” I thought Juicy won based on the moves, but Mia’s performance was more dialed into the song. When RuPaul declared it as a tie, that felt correct to me. The Miami girls are giving it to us this season.
NEXT: Part 2 of the Rate-a-Queen Talent Show, with Athena, Kenya, Myki, Discord (who looked terrible on the satin runway, I’m sorry), and Jane.
What do you think of Season 18 so far? Which queens are you rooting for? Let us know in the comments.
