Xazeal

I freaking love this season so far. Even in an episode where the challenge was only okay (though nowhere near bad) I was thoroughly entertained the whole way through. I think it's the combination of a truly great cast and the supersized episodes. I knew going in that Asia would be a strong competitor, but I was a bit worried she'd be this season's Shea - hyper polished, the consummate professional, fantastic at everything but completely vanilla in terms of personality. I was most definitely wrong about that, and I'm so glad to see how extra she is. Kameron's look tonight could very well go down as one of my all-time favorites. Really, after a disappointing runway last week most of them really came to slay this time around.

Alyssa Edwards, Padma Lakshmi and The Vixen were the MVPs of the episode for me. Alyssa brought funny and constructive coaching, Padma brought some top notch judging, and The Vixen brought pure fire. Three things that we get too little of on RPDR. This season is fantastic so far and if they can keep this up, it will easily be the best we've seen since season 6. The only slightly disappointing part of this episode was the runway, and the only queen I'm not feeling is Eureka.

Yeah, the season 10 cast is pretty killer. I'm excited for it, but a great cast doesn't necessarily mean great season. For example, while I enjoyed season 9, that cast was freaking spectacular and it should've been on the of the best seasons ever. I think the ones to watch happen to be the drag relatives of past Ru Girls. Asia O'hara is Phi Phi's drag mother, easily the most accomplished queen of this cast and my winner pick for sure. Aquaria is Sharon's drag daughter, allegedly the epitome of the entitled millennial stereotype, but has actual talent and a big online following. Miz Cracker is Bob The Drag Queen's drag daughter and already looks to be the breakout star of the season like Katya or Valentina. Then there's Vanessa Mateo, Alexis Mateos' drag daughter who I don't have much hope for. Honestly, the only queen who does absolutely nothing for me is Eureka, but obviously we all knew she'd be here.

I'm actually a big fan of this type of challenge, I just wish they wouldn't call it a ball. At this point when we hear "ball", we expect a pure fashion-focused challenge with three looks. But this, the Kitty Ball from season 7, and the princess challenge from season 9 are broader challenges that test both your fashion and your ability to come up with a strong concept/character. I love it, but... Don't call it a ball. I feel like I'm much more positive on this season than most of the online fanbase, because I'm really digging it. It's not blowing my mind, but I really like these queens. Aja has been a standout and I'm sad to see here leave, but I feel like Shangela is vital to this season whether you love her or hate her. I've been saying this for a while, but this episode sealed it for me: Trixie is our underdog winner, a direct response to the backlash Alaska received for being deemed too predictable and a bit arrogant. People expected the same from Trixie (I sure did) and they're deliberately giving us the opposite. As for the results of this episode I largely thought they were bullshit, but at this point I'm perfectly fine with watching RuPaul's Drag Race not as a reality competition, but as a scripted variety show. ETA: I'd also just like to give some props to Aja - after calling Valentina out at the reunion, she is now practicing what she preached, scolding and blocking fans who are coming for Bebe with racism and death threats. The queens this season have been really good about supporting eachother on social media, even Milk.

Excellent bounce back from last week. This was great. Since Trixie hasn't really lived up to expectations so far, I find it interesting that the editors included them saying Trixie should've/could've won. I think it's a very good thing for her chances - there's a contestant on this season of Top Chef who has made it far despite doing awful the first few weeks, and the editors kept reminding viewers of her impressive background. It feels to me like she's going to wind up winning and they were trying really hard to justify it by TELLING us she's amazing since she wasn't showing it yet. Something similar could be happening with Trixie - maybe she doesn't start killing it until the end. Meanwhile, Dela is killing it on all fronts, yet I really don't see a winning edit for her. I think she might be a shock boot. You know a few of these queens wouldn't be afraid to take a huge threat like her out given the opportunity. The real question is if production would let them, or if any queen who picks Dela's lip stick is going to wind up losing the lip sync. Shangela is the wild card to me. I think she has a strong edit and she'd make a great winner, but she's more likely to majorly fuck up than Trixie or Dela, in my opinion. Just some ramblings. I'm all about finding the winner, especially since it's not as clear cut as usual this season. I think it's between those three. Hopefully Snatch Game brings some clarity.

Yeah, it's just part of her look. She started out with much softer makeup and it's gotten more extreme over the years. I personally love it, but I understand why some people don't. I do think it has helped her a ton, though - it set her apart from the other queens and made her instantly memorable, and now it's probably the single most recognizable face I can think of among RuGirls, even more so than Raven or Bianca.

I've never been a fan of Thorgy, but... Girl had a point. It's undeniable that certain parts were just better than others - for example, that Dolly Parton part was god awful and I don't think there was any saving that, whereas Dela could've slept through Julie Andrews and still won. I'm not complaining too much (yet) because I'm fine with Thorgy leaving, but I do think they fucked her over and the editing did her no favors. I was a bit worried that they would rig things for Trixie to win, and now I'm actually thinking the fix is in for Dela. Which is annoying, because both queens are talented in their own rights and I doubt they need production's help. This kind of sucked overall though, and I blame Todrick. I obviously wouldn't suggest bringing Lucian back because he's insane, but it's hard to deny that the quality of these stage performances was much higher before Todrick entered the picture.

Even before the season was confirmed I posted here that Trixie pretty much has a hypothetical All-Stars 3 in the bag. WoW adores her and she's clearly raking in cash for them. That said, she didn't do great on season 7 and although she's definitely more confident now, I wonder if the show just isn't a great fit for her. I'm worried that if she does win, it's not going to feel earned. But I love her, so I hope she actually pulls it out. As for this episode, I loved it. Even though AS2 was awesome, I really wasn't a fan of the fact that half of the cast was from season 5. Here we have a bunch of different seasons represented and a ton of queens we haven't seen interact with eachother on the show..I LOVE the inclusion of Bebe, and I love that RuPaul basically said they're bringing her back because she's a fierce queen who deserves more exposure than she could get on season 1. It's absolutely true and I really hope she crushes it this season. Now, fucking Aja! When the season 9 cast was announced I remember saying that Aja was a fierce queen who needed another year or two to mature, and I really think I was right. I fell in love with her tonight, and although I thought Dela deserved the win, Aja was my MVP of the premiere. I think I'm mainly rooting for her, Trixie, Bebe, and possibly Shangela.

I've liked Mark since his audition but never really expected him to do all that well. But they somehow struck gold with the Comfort/Mark pairing and now I really think he could win this. This week's routine was great and they managed to show more personality than all the other dancers combined - and unlike last week, it didn't veer into "too much" territory for me. I really, really, really did not like the Argentine tango. I thought Gaby was great - Lex looked awkward as hell. It's making me reconsider my predictions and now I'm leaning towards Mark, Koine and Taylor as the top 3. Paul looked very sad during the critiques. I think he saw the writing on the wall and was resigned to leaving this week. He did seem very shocked when they kept Sydney. I want as much Paul as possible, so I hope they can squeak by a few more weeks.

This was a fun one. So glad we seem to be completely done with the sad makeup stories, and I'm so glad Nina is gone. I don't dislike her, but like the queens, I'm exhausted. And with Nina not knowing how to sew, she would've failed next week's challenge anyway. Now, I actually like Cool for the Summer, but when I heard it would be the lip sync song this week, I had a feeling it wouldn't be great. Maybe I just have no creativity or imagination, but I wouldn't really know what to do with that. It feels more like a runway song - and indeed, both of them spent a lot of time just strutting the stage. I think Shea at least showed a lot of fire and attitude, but when she inevitably makes the final three, I hope she gets to do a fun R&B/Hip Hop number for the grand finale.

I don't think the episode count allows for a queen to be brought back. Remember, nobody went home in the premiere. So we have five episodes left now, and it's likely Top 6 -> Top 5 -> Top 4 -> Rucap -> Finale. Unless there's a double elimination, but I can't see them doing that this late.

I thought this episode was incredible. Great challenge and easily the best runway since Death Becomes Her in season 7. Most of the looks were absolutely top notch. They should do this every season. I read spoilers about how Val's elimination went down last week so while I can't say I was shocked, I didn't expect it to be THAT bad. I thought the rumors would turn out to be at least slightly exaggerated. I disagree that it was staged - I think the producers really wanted to get rid of Nina this week, but when Valentina shit the bed completely they saw the opportunity for a "moment". And while Valentina is a lock for All-Stars I feel like WoW is currently grooming Trixie to be the next winner (and they're not subtle about it). Shea's track record is now on par with Bianca's, and that's my one minor gripe with this season right now - the road to the end is looking really obvious. Alexis and Nina are sliding while the other four are excelling, with Shea very clearly leading the pack. I guess things could still change, but the obvious frontrunner always wins on RPDR, and I don't expect this season to be any different.

This was fine. I had higher expectations, but considering there are no comedy queens left in this bunch, we're lucky they didn't all bomb. Stand up comedy is hard. At least we got rid of Farrah, who I like, but even before the season it was painfully obvious that she wasn't ready. Now that she's gone, there's no obvious fodder, which might be a first for Top 7. That's not to say they're all equal, considering Shea's track record so far is almost identical to Bianca Del Rio's - she just has one less high placement. And Bianca has been doing drag for at least 70 years, so I'm super impressed by how well-prepared Shea is. I thought this week would trip her up, but she's just sailing through. I'll be surprised if anyone catches up to her. I can't wait for next week's episode. I always love the kind of challenges where they write and direct their own videos, and I've been waiting for this runway since the season started. Shea's and Peppermint's looks were shown briefly in the pre-season supertrailer (why they keep showing lategame runways in pre-season press every year, I'll never understand) and I've been dying to see the full looks. They probably can't live up to my expectations now, but I'll try to stay optimistic.

I always despise the scripted acting challenges, but I must've been in an excellent mood today, because I quite enjoyed this episode. Still hated the challenge, but the episode itself was good. The next few challenges sound promising from the press releases, so I'm hoping we'll finish strong. Trinity is invaluable to this season and I'm so glad it seems like she'll stick around. Her Meet The Queens was so uninspiring that I honestly thought she would be one of the first boots, but now she's one of my favorites. She's a hyper-competitive unapologetic bitch and in the days of RuPaul's Best Friend Race, that is sorely needed. I don't really think she's winning this season (Shea is) but if All-Stars 3 happens, Trinity is second on my list right now after Trixie. One thing I've noticed about RPDR is how much it seems to care about track records. In shows like Project Runway or Top Chef you'll occasionally have someone make it to the end despite never having won a challenge or even performed well. This happened in the early days of RPDR with Jujubee, but since then the show has made sure the Top 3 have at least somewhat comparable records - even Pearl won two challenges in season 7. And I do think the producers know who the endgame players are pretty much right away. Point being: I really thought Valentina would win this episode. She asserted herself as a frontrunner early on but since then she's been a background player, so this would be a perfect time to bring her back up and cement her as a finalist. Instead, it went to Trinity, and I think that's telling. So with that, I think Valentina is going to be our shock boot this season (I'm guessing Top 6) and Shea/Trinity are going to duke it out for the win with either Sasha or Alexis as our lategame dark horse. Although if we want some actual suspense for the finale, we really need to see Shea stumble soon - and with next week being a live comedy challenge, I think it might happen.

Man, Untucked is so much more fun this season. I love Naomi, Kim, and Chi Chi, but last year's Untucked were all kind of dull because of how chill their personalities were. This season Shea and Trinity are really keeping the energy levels up. I hope they stick around just for that. I wonder how genuine this moment was. Peppermint has had a long, successful career and is prominent in the NY drag scene. I have to imagine many of the queens already knew of her and knew she was trans - there's no way the other NY queens didn't know. I did notice that none of them really seemed surprised at all, which leads me to believe they all knew and were just playing into the moment. And on that note, I do hope we're out of tragic stories and dramatic reveals for the makeup segments. At this point it's really stale.