BY Eric Rezsnyak
Time for the Snatch Game! And also for more disappointment!
I wish I didn’t feel that way. I was genuinely so excited for this cast. But this was another lackluster episode, and I’m becoming concerned that we aren’t going to be getting the kind of truly great moments I believe that several members of this cast have in them. It’s not that they’re all failing — I would say at least half of them are doing at least solidly, if not better than that. But for what is essentially an “All Stars” season, I’m just not seeing the level of slayage that I would have expected from queens who have done this all before.
It’s not a great sign when I think the most memorable performance this week came from guest judge Tom Daley, who served an eye-popping outfit and was absolutely dunking with the puns during the runway segment. Seriously! Tom was the star of the episode.
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So, let’s get into this Snatch Game, which actually had a — I think — new concept, mixing “Family Feud” with the classic Snatch Game celeb impersonations. I’ll go over each queen’s performance, ranking them from best to worst, taking into consideration both Snatch Game and the nautical runway.
Tia Kofi as Anne Boleyn: God bless Tia, she is really coming alive and coming into her own this season. And just in time, now that early superstar La Grand Dame is faltering significantly. Tia delivered both the best Snatch Game and a very cool runway look that gave us the sexiest kraken in the sea. Tia went home on Snatch Game in UK2, so to see her dominate this one was even more impressive. Anne Boleyn is a brilliant idea for a character, and the costume was a great jumping off point. Tia also had some funny lines. I do think it was a huge missed opportunity to not play more with Choriza and her character — unless they cut that for some reason? — but all in all, Tia was without question the best in this Snatch Game.
Scarlet Envy as the Statue of Liberty: Scarlet got her first Snatch Game experience in this, her third run on “Drag Race.” Wild! I thought her Statue of Liberty started out strong, and had a couple of good answers. It seemed to peter off as the Snatch Game went along, which was a bummer, but overall, decent. Her runway look was quite strong to me. I got exactly what she was going for and I thought the make-up was impressive. I would have put her in the Top 2.
Hannah Conda as Shirley Temple: I don’t know if I wasn’t super excited about Hannah because her Shirley didn’t come close to Jimbo’s in “AS8” (which Hannah could not have seen — I’m not suggesting she was copying Jimbo, merely that it paled in comparison to Jimbo’s rendition), or if it was because it just wasn’t great. The red-flag joke was very funny. After that…not much. The tap-dancing segment was just kind of there. Please understand, I love Hannah, I want her to succeed here so much. I just don’t feel like she’s fully in gear yet, and given that we’re halfway through the season, that’s not good. Mind you, she still made Top 2 this episode, so that’s an indication that very few of these queens are delivering.
Marina Summers as Manny Pacquiao: Marina could not have seen Melinda Verga’s Manny in the “Canada” S4 Snatch Game — this filmed LONG before “CAN4” — but we did, and Melinda’s was better. Marina got in a few decent jokes, and certainly wasn’t bad. In fact, she was the best on her team, by a wide margin. But was I excited? No. I was excited by her runway look, one of the best of the night. The liquid tits! The anchor braid! Drag excellence from Marina, as usual.
Choriza May as Catherine of Aragon: Please note there’s a huge gulf between Marina and Choriza here. I don’t understand what’s going on with Choriza this season. She was such a light in the dismal “UK3,” and she’s barely connected in this competition. Catherine is a good pick for Snatch Game, ESPECIALLY since Tia was playing the woman who succeeded her as Henry VIII’s spouse. But Choriza seemingly did nothing with that, and her answers were almost all misfires. I did enjoy her runway look, which was creative, fun, and sexy. Not sure why it had three boobs, but still, I dug it.
La Grand Dame as Carla Bruni: Oh, LGD. What has happened? She was SO good the first two episodes of this season, and WON Snatch Game on her original season. This was a total misfire. Could it be a language issue? She seemed to understand RuPaul’s quite valid suggestions to drop her impenetrable double accent for Snatch Game, but couldn’t stop herself from speaking in that affected voice, dropping bomb after bomb. She’s so much better than that performance. As we saw on the runway, when she gave us literal Jean-Paul Gaultier fashion for her nautical look, which was absolutely fucking fierce. I’m a big LGD fan. I am afraid she’s getting into her head. I hope she can pull up soon. She is such a special queen and I would hate for her to flame out this early.
Keta Minaj as Fran Drescher: Speaking of which, let’s talk Keta. Keta also won her original Snatch Game, and was one of the very strongest performers on “Holland” S2. She is really struggling in this competition. She placed in the top for the Ball, but other than that it has been awkward performance after awkward performance, unfocused ideas or overthinking to meet the moment. And almost none of it is hitting. Keta’s Fran was pretty much DOA. We’ve had several Fran Dreschers on Snatch Game over the years. All of them were better than Keta’s. The nautical look was really cool, especially that eye make-up application. Keta is so talented, so creative. It has been really sad to see her struggle so much here.
Gothy Kendoll as Kim Woodburn: I was a big supporter of Gothy coming back as the “UK” S1 rep for this. I wanted to see what she could do, and I’m a big believer in second chances. This was, I think, Gothy’s fourth chance, and it was awful. Why meek Gothy would pick a character as overbearing and room-swallowing as Kim Woodburn, I will never understand. She basically set herself up to fail right there. But she also couldn’t volley with Ru, the answers weren’t funny…at this point, the reality is that Gothy is a lovely queen who is not well suited for “Drag Race.” It’s OK. It happens. She’s good at what she’s good at, and we should celebrate her for that. Unfortunately, I’m not even particularly excited by many of her fashions this season. The Venus-inspired look for this runway was WAY too simple for this competition, and Michelle told her so bluntly. And I think Gothy knew. At this point, it’s difficult to watch Gothy flailing week after week.
Ultimately Tia and Hannah were listed as the Top 2, while Gothy and Keta were the Bottom 2. The two lipsynched to the Queer as Folk classic “Crying At the Discotheque” by Alacazar, and Tia gave us a fabulous bodysuit and cape, and leaned into the comedy of the song. She won.
In making her decision between the Bottom 2, Tia explained that she was torn between her head and her heart. She seemed to acknowledge that Keta was the stronger competitor, but had a soft spot for Gothy — which I understand, I like her as well, I really do — and said that she hoped that Gothy could continue to grow into a fully fledged queen during the competition. I respect Tia, but as a viewer, I didn’t love that call. Keta WAS the stronger competition. If she was eliminating Keta for that reason, I get it. But the idea that Gothy could maybe become her best self here — that’s not the point of this competition. It’s not “RuPaul’s School for Girls.” It’s essentially “All Stars,” you have to come correct. Gothy is REALLY struggling, and it is clearly affecting her. I actually wince knowing she has to go through another challenge next week, because I don’t think SHE thinks she can be successful. And that’s very difficult to watch, much less live through.
Next: it’s the Rusical, a send up of “Six” where the queens will sing LIVE. Fabulous idea!
Did you miss our previous recaps? Find them here:
We’re also recapping U.S. Season 16 and “Espana All Stars.” You can find those recaps by clicking here!
I agree with everything in this recap. I was stunned that Tia kept Gothy. Keta is clearly the stronger queen, even though she has faltered of late. And Gothy couldn’t even answer simple questions when she and Tia were talking one-on-one. Maybe TIa felt she had to honor the UK alliance? I don’t know. I too love Gothy, but she’s too meek for this. I really would’ve loved to see Keta another week over another week of Gothy underperforming.