stormy weather

He even said it himself, "There are no image references on the internet for this" (or something like that). I mean... maybe don't say that out loud in a competition where you're supposed to create and tattoo your own designs? Anyway, I love Fon and I think that on a personal level he was one of the best contestants of the season, he was always nice and never stirred up drama, and I do feel for him because he had a pretty shitty request from his canvas, but his tattoo was honestly just plain ugly. Also, I would've appreciated it more if he had at least come up with an original design of a cowboy and a horse, and instead we got Woody and Bullseye from Toy Story (which no one could mention for copyright reasons, I guess?), so I'm sorry to see him go but he kind of deserved it. Next on the list of people who kinda deserve to go home for me is Ash. Again, I'm sorry because she's very likable (apart from when she cries every 30 seconds) but she's clearly not as good as the other contestants. Her tattoo this week was alright, but the color was not blended very well and the design itself was super simple compared to everyone else's, and I feel that is an aspect that should also be taken into account by the judges.

I respectfully disagree, I thought, for example, the sparkly burnt Sienna dress with the big bow he made for the room/art gallery challenge alone was better than all the outfits Hester produced in the entire season put together. I guess it's a matter of taste, but I'd pick Bishme over Hester and her "the color lilac meets Saran wrap" collection anytime!

I guess you could say all fashion is derivative the same way all music is derivative. There are only 7 notes, yet with this same "starter kit" you can have Chopin on one hand and the Macarena on the other. It's not the materials/tools/references you start with that count, it's what you do with them. Look at the Dolce & Gabbana spring/summer 2019 collection, for example. Is it derivative? Absolutely. Is it also great because they re-elaborated their references (Southern Italy prints, Spanish bullfighting matadores, religious icons, grandma's crochet doilies and so on) and made them into something new, fresh and original? Absolutely, and it looks beautiful. I'm not saying I was expecting to find the next Alexander McQueen on Project Runway, but these are supposed to be some of the best young designers in the US, I'm pretty sure they could've come up with something a little more individual and interesting. Which is the reason why I think Bishme was the one to watch here. His technique might not have been great, but at least he had real, inspired ideas and his clothes were both edgy AND wearable.

Can't agree more. It would've been so much more interesting for me to see a collection designed by Bishme or Renee than this tasteless assemblage of quote-unquote clothes, 80% of which reminded me of when I used to go through the sales racks at TJ Maxx as a teenager in 1998. Anyway, in my opinion, the true winner of this season is Christian Siriano. His advice was always spot on and very useful (take notes, Marni). He's adorable and honestly in some scenes from this last episode he sounded more excited about the whole thing than the designers themselves. Plus I loved the cold dead stare he gave to Hester when she kept rummaging through her boxes or whatever it was she was doing while he was talking to them. So rude of her, and it wasn't the first time! Although I'm happy Sebastian won (he was the only possible choice out of these three), I have to disagree with everyone who said they loved the judges this season. Okay, the truth is I really, really do not like Nina Garcia. I think she has absolutely no taste and never once have I agreed with any of her critiques. I'm sorry but anyone who praises Hester this much is either blind or knows absolutely nothing about fashion. Brandon was okay-ish, Elaine was terrible and Karlie was... meh. When they all said stuff like "oooh, this collection is SO ready for Fashion Week" I couldn't help but think "right, maybe NY Fashion Week, cause there's no way those clothes would ever be shown in Paris or Milan". I'm sorry, like I said I think Sebastian is a great tailor and I love that he won, but I still think the overall feel of the show is a bit old and derivative. I've seen waaaay more creative and fashion forward outfits on RuPaul's drag race. But then again, this is a show that had chosen Heidi Klum, who (I've said it before but I just can't get over it) has constantly been featured on the Worst Dressed list of every single event she has ever attended, as a host and judge for 16 seasons, so I can't expect much from it. It's always good fun to watch, though.

Considerations after this finale, the outcome of which I'm actually pretty happy with: - I would've given the crown to A'keria's mom and grandma. They were adorable and hilarious and I wish they had a show of their own. Also in the "Friends and Family" category, a special mention goes to Yvie's dad for being the hottest relative ever to make an appearance in Drag Race herstory. - Do better songs than the ones they chose for the lip sync's cost more? How much more? I mean, these three were still way more famous than some of the obscure relics from the past we had to suffer through this past season, but come on, I'm sure they could've chosen something more interesting and upbeat, especially since this was the finale! - Yvie's mirrors head piece was the single most beautiful accessory I've ever seen on RuPaul's Drag Race and possibly in my entire life. She was just GORGEOUS during that last lip sync. She should honestly get hired by some major fashion house. - As for Silky's choice of Brooke for the lip sync, I called the producers pulling the strings when Ru asked her who she wanted to go against instead of just spinning the wheel one more time to get a random opponent. Okay, I get why they did it, but if you're afraid that by choosing random opponents you'll risk having your two best queens battle each other at the first round and have a mediocre last round, maaaaaybe it means you sent the wrong people to the finale.

Soju is hilarious. That first dress that got her home was a mess, sure, but I wish they kept her longer than other entirely forgettable queens (Kahanna, Honey, Mercedes, Ariel, Ra'Jah and yes, even Plastique). It would be great if they chose to keep fun over drama for once, I think it would be a better show (and Nina would still be there!)

So, Brandon doesn't like Tessa, Nina (as per her tweets) doesn't like Tessa, Danielle Brooks (a very perceptive and insightful guest judge, for once) says Jamal is as bad as Tessa but at least he has the open-mindedness to learn something, whereas she obviously can't, YET Tessa stays and Jamal goes. Who decided that, then? Karlie and Elaine? I really don't get it. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Tessa is an unimaginative designer and on top of that I really don't think it's a good idea to keep pushing forward such a lying, disrespectful and arrogant person. It's just showing on national television that if you're a bad person it doesn't matter, you will be forgiven (or no-one will notice) and you can still get ahead in life, and that's unfair and certainly doesn't set a good example. At this point I'm also afraid they let Jamal go instead of Tessa because otherwise there would only be one woman left in the competition, and in 2019 that's not a good thing. I'm sorry, I'm a woman myself but I can't stand seeing undeserving people advance in any field just because they're women, especially in a show that DID have more talented women (hello, Renee) who were sadly eliminated before these two.

I think you're talking about me so I'm going to explain myself, if it wasn't me you were referring to I apologize! Of course I never meant that if you're born a certain way you're necessarily an awful human being. What was awful about Tessa was the fact that in an episode where the issue of being discriminated because you're not white was brought up by so many designers who obviously care about this and struggled with it throughout their whole life (Sebastian, Venny, Jamall and in a way also Bishme - practically every contestant who is not white), whining out loud saying "but hey! There's also very pale people like us in the world! I want to be represented! Match my skin tone!" was really uncalled for. And if it was a joke (which I don't think it was because her tone might have sounded like she was joking but her face was serious), it was a tasteless joke. Let's put it this way, if I was Tessa, even if I had noticed that my "translucent" white complexion wasn't represented in the dress, I wouldn't have said it, not in this context. On a lighter note, I wanted to add that I'm one of the very few, apparently, who actually liked Venny's outfit. I thought the jacket was very cool and urban and I would definitely wear it. More so than Bishme's prom dress from 1987 or that hideous tulle hedge jacket from Hester that besides being bulky and just ugly to look at must've also been itchy as hell.

First of all I want to say I apologize in advance for what might be a very unpopular opinion. I respect everyone and their struggles and these are only my personal thoughts on the individuals, not the causes they represented, which are all great and which I wholeheartedly support. Well, I find Tessa insufferable. The comment she made to Sebastian pointing out she didn't feel represented in his dress because she is ultra white ("very pale and translucent" were her exact words) was just as awful as she is. And guess what, Tessa, I am really sorry for what happened to you but if you really don't want to talk about something, you don't go around saying "you know what, people? Something bad happened to me but I really don't want to talk about it and please don't ask me about it and I hope nobody asks me to explain my dress because I really don't want to talk about it" every chance you get. Cue the producers who for sure told the guest judge to ask her about it because let's be honest, that's what Tessa wanted. Then there was Hester, all hunched over like that using her tiny voice saying "I'm so sorry my outfit is so baaaad" so that everyone could say: "Oh no! It's so beautiful!" (it wasn't), who really reminded me of those women who ask their partners if they look fat in a dress just to hear them say "no honey you look great". It's manipulative and just not cool. Tessa and Hester are the worst and when they held hands and toddled off the runway I wished they would toddle off all the way home. I agree. When Elaine told him in the workroom she didn't know how important bees are I was like "for real, girl?!" I think every good cause is a a valid cause, if it has meaning to you. And there's no need to always use one's personal struggles to deliver a point.

I've been asking myself the same question for the whole season while she kept praising and saving Silky every single time. Does she really know Silky is NOT a popular character? Do Ru and the judges ever read an article about the show? I mean, they must, which makes the unfathomable reason why she was kept on for so long even more obscure. I did get the feeling, though, that when Ru said "I consult with the judges, but the final decision is mine" maybe it was because the other judges didn't wholeheartedly agree with her choice. Well, I hope that by making viewers vote with this hashtag thing they'll realize how wrong they were, although I'm pretty sure they'd never admit it, even if they show the results live at the reunion. The lipsync was so, so, so stupid and predictable. I can't help but think they kept Vanjie so long because they wanted to get to the point where the most important face-off of the season would be between her and Brooke Lynn. It was really sad to see her (and Scarlet, and Nina, and Shuga and so on) go when Silky is still here.

Wow, that lip sync was painful to watch. If this show was fair, they would have both been sent home. We've seen queens being eliminated before for much, much less. At this point Ru's tireless show of love and support for Silky has become shameless. In the workroom she even (quite pathetically) pretended to harshly reprimand her about her padding malfunction from last week only to then forget about it entirely and ignore Michelle's comments when, during the runway, she made Ru notice more than once that the padding in the back of Silky's suit still left much to be desired. Seeing the old queens made me miss some of them (Scarlet, Shuga - even though she just left) and wish they could still be here instead of somebody else (Silky, Vanjie). Scarlet was bang on the money with all her critiques of Silky and I loved her when she had the courage to say that "her runways are held to a different standard", because that's what EVERYONE thinks and no one has the guts to say. I actually liked Yvie and Scarlet's costumes and I really hope she'll be one of the final four, even though I think Brooke Lynn is headed for the win, unless Ru pulls the biggest scam of all time, leaving fans of the show everywhere speechless, and gives the crown to Silky or Vanjie, at which point I hope and pray Michelle or Ross will physically stop her.

If I could like this post 100 times, I would. I thought that bathing suit was nothing more than a hexagon of lycra held together by a cat's cradle pattern of randomly placed strings in the back. It looked like it would be impossible to put it on by yourself, super uncomfortable, cheap and like something a 5 year old could have done. Better. I was speechless when she won, the judges were clearly on drugs. When Tessa said to Bishme "I actually like the look of unfinished hems" while defending her pants from last week, that's when it really dawned on me that I want her GONE. Please Tessa, go. You were right calling Hester out about that godawful bathing suit but you still have to go. And take Hester and the head-to-toe "picnic on the grass" look she was wearing with you. The level of praise she received from the judges was insane but then again, three of them have the taste level of a Real Housewives' cast member and Morena Baccarin looked like she didn't even want to be there, so I'm just going to pretend it didn't happen. I was really sad to see Renee go. She was my favorite and seemed like a truly wonderful person. Well, I can only hope the judges finally tune in to the same show we're watching and realize Sebastian is there and he needs to win this thing.

Let's be honest, it's quite obvious at this point that they (Ru) already decided who has to go home in order for her to keep her favorites on, no matter how anyone performs in the challenges/runway/lip sync, because the judges' critiques for the past 2-3 episodes have been completely random. This episode made zero sense. First of all, since when are team challenges judged individually? Or did they say anything about this and I missed it? Secondly, team Black Magic was pretty bad as a whole (except maaaaybe A'Keria). There was no one in there who had a single joke that was funny, and all of their magic tricks were cheap and poorly executed. Yvie was right when she said they all insisted on improvising and it was a bad choice, because it showed. The whole thing was a mess. I don't understand how some judges found it even remotely good. But let's get to the inexplicable elimination of Shuga. She did good in her team. Sure, she's not as hilarious as Nina and not as physically talented as Brooke Lynn, but she still performed better than anyone on the other team, and although I admit she might not have what it takes to win the crown, I reckon she could have definitely stayed for another 2-3 episodes, and it would've been the right thing to do. She is super sweet, always positive and cheerful, drama-free, and just a good example in general. So now the question is: why are they so desperate to keep Vanjie? Is it because they brought her back? Or because she has this thing going on with Brooklyn and the producers are all hoping for some major drama down the road? Since her shantaying required the sacrifice of Shuga, I would like an explanation!

For me, the issue with having plus-sized models on this show is the fact that if they decided to regularly include two "curvy" girls to show that fashion can look good also on bigger women, then I don't understand why they didn't also regularly include shorter models (I'm 5'3'' and NEVER have I known the joy of buying a pair of pants, a skirt, a dress or sometimes even a t-shirt that I didn't have to hem in order for it to fit me), older models (like someone on the forum already suggested), pear-apple, hour-glass, rectangle-shaped models, busty models, flat-butt models and so on. The only instance in which we see all these other body types represented on the show is in the "regular person" challenge. My point is that at the end of the day the show is called Project Runway, not Project Sidewalk, so it should either include ALL these body types, ALL the time (which I would absolutely love and prefer) or just stick to regular models and have the occasional episode where EVERY designer has to make clothes for plus-sized models, shorter models, older women and so on. The way it is now, it looks like the designer who gets the "curvy model" starts the challenge with the design equivalent of a golf handicap, and it shouldn't be that way. On an unrelated note, weren't the clothes supposed to be inspired by what was in the bag? Can anyone explain to me how the monstrosity that was Hester's dress was supposed to have anything to do with peacock feathers? Or Tessa's with money, or Renee's (which I think I actually liked but who knows, we were only allowed to see it for a split second) with limes and lemons? And basically Sebastian's dress was a waaaay more elegant, more refined and better executed version (and in a more tasteful shade of pink) of Vinny's hot pink super plain tube dress, yet Vinny was in the top and Sebastian was merely safe. I swear this panel of judges is almost making me miss Heidi "antichrist of fashion" Klum and the rest of her team. Okay, I said "almost".

I couldn't agree more. She basically did Silky again in the LADP skit (like she did in Snatch Game last week) and her runway look was basically a business suit with a balaclava that looked like a random insect. Plus, any other queen would have had to LSFHL if they showed up on the runway with zero makeup under their costume, and she didn't even end up in the bottom three! How is this possible? I love how weird and avantgarde Yvie's looks are, but lately she hasn't performed very well in the acting challenges. She was terrible in the LADP scene. If it hadn't been for A'Keria, I would have never understood what the storyline was. I agree with you on the other 3, but I actually think Nina might have a shot because she's a good performer, she's funny and her runway looks are always interesting, and most of all she is the kindest queen of the bunch (together with Shuga, whom I love and adore, but I understand she's not the strongest personality/performer out there, although I think that anyone who gets paired up with Silky in a couples challenge is penalized from the get-go, so it wasn't entirely her fault that she didn't perform so well). Finally, that was among the worst choices of a song for the lipsync I've ever seen on this show. Neither of them did an outstanding job with their interpretation, but there was basically no room for them to do anything more than they did. I'm happy we got to keep Vanjie instead of Plastique, but I don't think she'll be here much longer.

Absolutely agree. Honestly at this point I CANNOT understand why Ru loves her SO. MUCH. She laughs like a madwoman at all of her jokes, even the meh ones, she never once criticized her for her shabby, overly simple outfits where other girls have received very harsh critiques from the judges for much better looks than hers and she keeps giving her wins that she doesn't deserve!! Today she even won the mini-challenge, where even Plastique (who for once played a different character than the quiet pretty girl, go Plastique!) did better than her! Are we watching a different show than the one they're taping? Yeah, especially when Ru is skeptical about their choices when she visits the workroom before the challenge and they decide to go for it anyway. I had never heard of Lovely Mimi, and if Plastique really wanted to portray an Asian character she could've had chosen Marie Kondo, for example. Everyone knows her and there would've been a lot to work with. And Brooke maybe could've played on her ballerina strenghts and be the Black Swan, in the Jim Carrey-SNL skit style. Or I don't know, still do Celine but drink straight from a maple syrup bottle, exaggerate the accent even more, throw in some Titanic references, bring a flute, sing something... there was so much material she didn't even begin to tap into. I mean, the Snatch Game is not a surprise challenge, do your homework, girls! Thank you for noticing! When Plastique kept saying Ra'jah attacked her "out of nowhere" and A'Keria didn't say a word I was like: no dearie, it wasn't "out of nowhere", it was out of you! Say something! It's on tape! So shady. All of this drama makes me appreciate the nice queens who keep to themselves (Shuga Cain, whom I adored this week, Nina West and Brooke) so, so, so much more. I am so glad Yvie and Brooke were both saved because they absolutely killed that lipsync and I would hate for either of them to leave before some of the other queens. Lastly, Ru looked like the 5th member of Jem and the Holograms tonight on the runway but she was gorgeous!! It's incredible to think she's 58, she is truly stunning.

Okay. So many things to say about this episode, let's proceed with order. 1. The category of the runway wasn't really clear, to me at least. I thought they had to make clothes out of whatever organic material they found on the tables, so when the queens came out for the runway I thought for sure Brooke Lynn and A'Keria would've been in the bottom because their outfit did not look "farm to runway" at all. I love Brooke but honestly all she did was drape a piece of denim around her waist and wear sliced oranges for earrings. 2. I'm not a huge fan of Plastique because yeah, she's innocuous but she's pretty average in every category. This week to me everything about her was the proof of how scripted this show really is. I really can't with all the drama and the sob stories anymore. And I'm not talking about Plastique alone, I mean everybody. You're in a room with people who probably all had to face the same obstacles and prejudices you've faced, and this of course doesn't diminish your struggle, it just means you shouldn't take advantage of it to get ahead in the competition because everyone could do the same, except some choose not to. Another "mmmkay" moment about Plastique was when Ru praised her walk on the runway. She has literally walked like that since day one, but obviously the day Alyssa Edward came and "fixed" her, Ru had to say something about it, like it was such a change. 3. I was a bit surprised when Brooke got so many compliments for her outfit while Ra'jah was in the bottom for hers, which was honestly not that bad. I mean, I'm glad she's gone because she was a bundle of evil, but what are we judging here, the person? The outfit? The drama they bring? Not sure. 4. I adored Shuga's look. She and her swept away hair should've been in the top. 5. So in the past few episodes I started to notice how Silky is the only queen who often looks directly into the camera, like she was auditioning for her own show already. But then again, in Untucked she finally admitted she's here for the people of America (good luck with that) so I guess that makes sense in her head. 6. I also thought Scarlet did a better job than A'Keria with her lip sync last week. So seeing how Ru and the judges seemed like they already had their heart set on sending Ra'jah home this week, they could have just sent her home last week so at least we would still have Scarlet, who deserved and wanted to stay on the show more than her!

Yeah, that was really bad. She even had the guts to say Scarlet threw her under the bus when she (and all the other 3) had just done exactly the same thing to Scarlet! Scarlet even explained she named Rajah because she had been in the bottom more times than the other queens, which is a perfectly valid and not at all personal reason, so I really didn't get all that bitchin' coming from Rajah in Untucked. Even without considering this, I could not believe Ru eliminated Scarlet. I'm starting to wonder what her endgame might be, because the queens she eliminated and the ones she has been constantly saving episode after episode so far make absolutely no sense at all. Scarlet is not a great dancer, sure, but as a performer she is definitely better than other queens. I was sad to see her go.

That's exactly what I thought too! So weird. And I didn't think she would be in the bottom at all, so it was also super random. That said, I am soooo glad she stayed and that message from her fiancé had me tear up within two seconds, they're adorable. I really love Shuga, I thought her second Lady Gaga-ish-meat-dress witch outfit with the punching of the frame was genius and I want to see more of her. While I agree with you as far as Brooke and Yvie (my absolute favorite so far, a major cut above the rest), Plastique and A'Keria still seem pretty bland to me. I can't remember anything specific about them, any memorable outfit or funny performance, so I would be surprised to see them in the top three. We'll see! It's funny how Silky seemed like someone had sedated her this whole episode, except when Elvira went backstage and she immediately switched on and was back to her antics, grabbing her and being loud and obnoxious. I don't think she cares about the Drag Race at all, she doesn't put any effort in making her outfits consistent with the "category is" requirements or in her acting/dancing challenges. I think she's just here to be on TV and reach a wider audience, and she's lucky because Ru likes her and will keep her for a loooong time no matter what. In this episode she should've been 100% in the bottom, her last red outfit and the unicorn one were so plain and poorly executed I could not believe she got to be safe while Shuga had to LSFHL.

There are no words to express how much I hate team challenges where teams are placed in the top or in the bottom as a whole instead of the contestants being judged individually, because you can be unfairly penalized (or just as unfairly saved) depending on skills that aren't yours. I agree team "ruffles on neck" was overall the best, but would Tessa perform as well without Sebastian in her team? Let's pretend she would. Team "gills on back" also created beautiful outfits, and all three of them seem to be nice people and good designers. So okay, let's say the top 6 all deserved to be saved. Now, team "skin pearls/eyes on neck". Sonia's dress was cute and made sense with the body alteration, so go Sonia. The other two though, sweet mother of jesus. Jamall needs to stop it with the sleeping bags. I understand it's his style but is that all we're going to see all season? His look was awful. But wait, not as awful as Rakan's because honestly what. was. that. It looked like one of those makeshift rain ponchos you make with trash bags by cutting holes on each side for the arms. It was shapeless and hideous. So both of them individually deserved to be on the bottom (and Rakan deserved to go home). Team horned shoulders was okay (actually I didn't even entirely dislike Hester's outfit) and the team that was actually in the bottom deserved to be there. Except for Renee, though, because I thought her outfit last week was FABULOUS and she absolutely deserved to win and I don't what happened to her this week, whether she was dragged down by the constant crying and whining of the other two (and she's a mother of nine so that says a lot about Frankie and Kovid) or she was just tired, that caused her to present an outfit that looked so scrappy and thrown together, but I definitely want to see more of her stuff.

Did they, though, seem happy? I think the whole of Dmitry's family hated his outfits with a passion, and rightly so. I'm with Biddell when he says he wonders why Dmitry is still here, his clothes have been consistently unimaginative, shapeless and boring and most of them look like glorified doilies. TBH I'm also not so sure Dylan liked his outfit so much despite his reaction. Unless he plans on opening a car shop soon, in which case it could come in handy. The fact is with these challenges I don't think clients can say what they really, REALLY think of the clothes, which would probably be something along the lines of "I think this outfit you just made me is the most unflattering piece of clothing I have ever worn in my life and it's incredible how you people call yourselves designers when I could find better clothes on the sales rack at Target", especially once the garment is finished and they're trying them on (or even before that, for that matter). Same! I actually thought she was being ironic, but then everyone was clapping and rejoicing about the great news and I was very confused about the whole thing. Anyway, I can't believe they let them both stay, they really should've let them both go, like someone else upthread said. The mere fact that Dmitry had the courage to present that hideous, drab, ultra plain shirt on the runway and on top of that dared to defend it and say, when Georgina called him out on it, that he WANTED the white fabric to show through when it was really just half-assed sewing on his part was, alone, a valid enough reason to send him home.

Although I obviously agree that Team Mariah's performance was painful to watch, I still kind of don't like the fact that in team challenges the team is judged as a whole and not by individual performances. This way queens who did not perform so well (hello, Silky and especially "why-are-you-still-here" Mercedes) get to be safe with the winners even though they don't deserve it, whereas people who weren't that great but still did a decent job (like Shuga or yes, even Ra'jah with that handkerchief) have to LSFTL. End result is that now we're stuck with Mercedes and we risked losing more valuable players. (And actually IMHO we did, because even Honey was better than her.) And I've always loved Ru but, I don't know why, this season she seems more of a pot stirrer and also a bit more "mean", so to say, than in the past seasons. The way she was looking at Honey when she jumped offstage was so judgmental and deprecating I actually felt bad for Honey, even though yeah, she didn't exactly excel at her lip sync performance. Also, I know we're not gonna get rid of Silky anytime soon because for some reason Ru adores her, but her fight backstage during untucked was absolutely ridiculous. Also, is she gonna give piggyback rides to every single guest judge who goes backstage? Miss Vanjie and Ariel Versace are really growing on me, and I also like Shuga and Ra'Jah, but man, Yvie with that jellyfish costume was EVERYTHING. I hope she gets to stay for a long time, she's by far the most interesting of the bunch.

That's more what it was like in the first seasons, where there was a lot more sewing involved and often the queens were challenged to create outfits for the runway on the spot, with random fabric that was provided. I wish they still had challenges like that, though. I think making your own clothes is part of the history of drag and it was always entertaining and interesting to see what the contestants could come up with from scratch, no matter how much money they came into the show with. I agree. Maybe to give it more diversity and make it more challenging they should've had the queens pick signs from a box at random, so each one would have a different one. But I think the producers give the queen a list with the titles of all the runway categories of the season before they start filming, to make sure they can pack all their outfits beforehand, so that would've been impossible. I'm loving the season so far, I just wish, especially today, they would add more captions with the names of the queens, because I honestly can't recognize some of them yet and sometimes it was hard telling who was who, both in the photobombing and in the acting challenge.

I might have missed it, but have they ever provided any tangible proof that the hair+scalp Lauren received really belonged to her mom? Because if they don't that would explain 1. her completely underwhelmed reaction at the discovery (I know she wasn't exactly a great mother, but she was still your mother, and she died, and it's been what, a couple of days and you seem to have almost entirely forgotten about her already, Laurel) and 2. Laurel and Christopher's disappearance, because I think the whole thing, including the delivery of the fake hair, might have been carefully planned by the two of them (Laurel and her mom whose name escapes me) in order to get away from Mr. Castillo and Xavier for good. Please correct me if they did prove it was her hair at some point, it's just that since it's become pretty complicated to remember who's in cahoots with whom, who's lying to whom and who's friends/enemies/ex-lovers with whom, that crucial information might have gone unnoticed for me.

Actually, I would've preferred to see more Soju than more Mercedes in the next episode(s)! I was very surprised when, out of the 3 bottom queens, Ru told Mercedes she was safe. She was not so funny in her talking heads and her outfit was literally a swimming suit with a cape that looked like it was made out of my grandma's tablecloth from 1975, accessorized with a string of plastic teething rings put together in the shape of a necklace. Shuga Cain ("do I really have to say 40?"), Scarlet Envy and Yvie Oddly are my favorite so far, but overall this looks like it'll be a good season, which was much needed in order to restore my faith in RuPaul's Drag Race after that disastrous All Stars.