Xazeal

So this episode was clearly about Gaga, not the queens. It's understandable. I'll forgive you this time, show. I really think we have an excellent cast here, and I wish we got to see more of them, but since nobody went home in this episode and we're back to 14-episode seasons, it's fine. They'll have plenty of time to show their stuff. I feel like Shea, Sasha, and Nina are the "obvious" final three, but I'm not counting Peppermint, Valentina or Alexis out. And then there's always going to be that filler queen who surprises everyone by turning it out, but I have no idea who that's going to be this season.

Basically, I guess I would classify her as a "look queen", but she's a very well-rounded look queen. Some of the looks I've seen are on par with winners Raja and Violet, but she's definitely a stronger performer than either of them. Even if Shea stumbles, she can turn out a lip sync. I'd love to see her square off against Aja on a rapid-fire rap song. Of course, who knows how well it'll translate to a competitive format. Trixie struggled on Drag Race but has been incredible outside of it. But in what I would otherwise say is a pretty even playing field, Shea is the clear standout to me.

I've been wanting Shea Couleé on for two years now, so when rumors started flying I was really excited. Former Chicago queens like Pearl and Kim haven't been the strongest performers, but Shea truly is the full package. Although I'm excited about the cast as a whole, I think Shea might destroy them. Charlie Hides is obviously fantastic, and even though she's older I'm already pegging her as a finalist. Aja is already a huge social media favorite, but I think she's one of those queens who was cast too early - in a year or two, I'm sure she'll be fantastic. I feel similarly about Farrah. Super pretty, though. Kimora Blac intrigues me the most. She has made it clear that if she was on the show, she would not hesitate to be the most villainous bitch they've ever had. I don't think that will actually be the case, but I wouldn't mind it. We haven't had a good villain in quite some time.

Very happy with the result, for the first time since season 11. Quite honestly I would've had Laurence in fourth just because I was so disappointed by what she put out, but other than that I agreed with the placements. Seriously impressive work by Roberi, who I really didn't think much of at the beginning of the season. Erin's banana outfit is possibly my favorite look of the season. Like yeah, like she's not like the most like eloquent speaker, but I generally love her work, and ultimately that's what it comes down to. I enjoyed looking at Roberi's collection, but Erin's excited me. But seriously, nix the "why should you win Project Runway" question already. It's not quite as bad as RuPaul's "what would you say to this picture of yourself at 6 years old?" but it's still cringey.

I'm a bit disappointed we didn't see Emily. She's always felt like a vital part of Juliette's support system, so I expected her to be there. But at least they mentioned her, so we know she's still around. Yes, this episode felt very different, in a good way. I haven't rewatched the show since it last aired so I can't quite put my finger on what changed, but I think it did feel a little less soapy and more natural. I liked it a lot. I'm still in. More in that I was before, really.

I had the complete opposite reaction to some others - I felt the season was headed nowhere, we were just watching people get killed for the sake of getting killed (like in any slasher film) and the finale actually provided me with a compelling narrative to remember the season by. This truly was Lee's story, and it made a lot of sense with what we've seen. I don't care about unanswered questions at all. If RM tried to tie up every loose end every season, the finales would just be hour-long exposition parties. I'm fine with getting emotional closure and having some blanks that I can fill in myself. And not every storyline needs to have an ending. Scathach has been around for hundreds of years - she'll still be out there, doing her thing. I don't need to know more than that. Also, good job keeping Trixie Mattel's cameo under wraps. I've been keeping myself updated on the rumors, and that never even popped up on the radar.

Well, they're watching the show, so I'd say so. Them bringing back Queenie last season just to kill her off for "shock" value was very poorly received. You don't want your show to be known for repeatedly giving your viewers the middle finger with cheap, random deaths.

Seems like the most popular guess so far is that Lana will be interviewing the sole survivor in the finale. I really like that idea. I'm guessing it would be Shelby or Lee so the interview would reveal how the original events really went down. Really, I'm completely fine with seeing Lana Winters again, as long as she doesn't die. Ryan knows that if they kill her off, the fanbase will riot. But I'm worried he'll do it anyway just to get people talking.

I found this episode kind of exhausting. I've decided that I unironically love the show, and I've enjoyed the season so far, but this one was a mess. I feel like they've lost the plot a little bit, but they usually find a way to tighten it up for the reveal. Asher/Michaela and Laurel/Wes were very melodramatic and annoying tonight. I'm generally a fan of the former, but both pairings bugged the crap out of me in this one. Connor was whiny and sad. Generally a pretty bad showing for the Keating 5, who I usually like. There's no way Connor is dead. Nate is the most expendable, but he's really detached from what's happening right now and his death wouldn't really have an impact. So it's either Frank, with Wes as the replacement love interest for Laurel, or it's Wes, with flyer boy as the replacement K5 member. I prefer the latter scenario, as long as Laurel permanently dumps Frank, because I need her to have a storyline that doesn't revolve around a guy.

I really hope they at least asked Stephanie Cmar. I loved her, and she went out in a really unfortunate way. She deserves a second chance. I'm not surprised that Casey is the first three-time contestant. I always kind of enjoyed her, because there were times when she was just so visibly over it. Example from one of the TWOP recaps: "Casey interviews that she's confident, because she saw a T Rex in Jurassic Park and it ate a lot of brontosauruses. Then she kind of shrugs like, 'You asked me a really dumb question and I gave you a really dumb answer and I'm not sorry.' " I hope this Casey is still there. When I saw that Brooke was in, my immediate thought was "well, we have a winner". It's rare that I actually remember specific dishes unless they're Hung's smurf village, but Brooke's lamb-stuffed squid on black rice really fascinated me at the time. And looking at her track record, she went toe-to-toe with Kristen, and won almost every challenge while Kristen was on LCK. I think the show loved her, and I remember the viewers loving her as well, so I'm surprised by the lukewarm response so far. I think it's an okay crew. I just hope John leaves early.

Very entertaining episode. I only had two issues: 1. None of the characters are likable. I don't really have a vested interest in their survival, because they all kind of suck. 2. Even if I did care, we already know only one will survive. Don't know why they felt the need to tell us that. But it still seems like a fun ride! And because this is AHS, I'm guessing we're still not seeing the real truth. I believe this is reality, but I don't believe the story being told. There will be some more major twist. I still think Shelby is behind all of this. Also, I'm calling it right now: Sarah Paulson's accent sucks because it's fake. The character is a trainwreck so far, it wouldn't surprise me if she was lying about being British and she's actually from Nebraska or something.

For whatever reason, this feels a lot like season 10. Which is a good thing. Except it sort of ended on a sour note for me when Dmitry, who I otherwise loved, won with an awful collection. Nope, still not over it. Anywho, I'm still completely loving Erin, Dexter, and Laurence, and was very happy with those three being pointed out as the main contributors to their team's win. Erin is clearly the frontrunner, but I think the other two are still serious contenders. And it seems like they all like eachother a lot as well. If they make it to the end together, this could be a season of bold colors, fierce jackets and good vibes. I'm all for that. Could've done without the tears and dramatics on the runway. I thought it was pretty clear Alex was leaving - just kindly throw him under the bus and be done with it.

This feels correct. And I'm glad we can finally admit that the fan vote does not matter, because it never has. If it did, Adore, Pearl, and Kim Chi could've been our winners. It has never been America's Drag Race. The producers are the judges, and that's how I think it should be. All of the top 3 KILLED it this season and in this episode. After the speeches, though, it was clear that it was between Alaska and Katya. Still, kudos to the editors for really managing to keep the suspense - this might be the first time in RPDR history where the winner wasn't completely obvious. All in all, the season ended up exactly how I predicted it. But the road to getting there wasn't at all what I expected, so I was pleasantly surprised instead of bored.

I knew we'd see Evan tonight, but was pleasantly surprised by Frances Conroy! We never see enough of her on this show. The rescue scene was ridiculous. So much so, in fact, that I don't believe it happened. At this point I am 99% convinced that Matt, Shelby, and Lee are lying, at least about certain details of the story, and have some ulterior motives. Not surprised at all by the preview for next week. Seems to be pretty much what most people expected. I'm actually really excited to see what happens, but my fear is that this format was what kept them from going off the rails, and now that they're switching it up it's going to become the usual disjointed mess. But I remain optimistic!

I love what we have so far, and I can't wait to see where it goes when the documentary format inevitably ends. HOWEVER, this part does feel like a retread of Murder House. I get that we're still basically in the prologue, but if we're going to spend half the season in a "pretend" story while we wait for the real stuff to start, at least make it fresh. It's not a huge gripe and I'm still very much enjoying the episodes. I just wish I was thinking "wow, this is different and cool!" instead of "wow, this season will really be awesome in episode 6!"

Well, I was dead wrong about the body being Oliver, and I'm glad. I still think there's roughly a 0% chance it's Connor. Falahee is easily the best actor out of the Keating 5, and Connor's been given more depth and development than most other characters on the show. I think the writers like him too much to kill him off. He's not expendable. Although I've always liked the Keating 5 more than most others, I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed their dynamic in this episode. I like how it took quite a long time for them to actually become friends and start caring for eachother, making their bond now seem much more believable. I especially like how the Connor/Michaela friendship has evolved, and that she was the first one he went to after leaving Oliver's apartment. I want more of this group together, and more of Annalise without Nate - yes, he has a gorgeous body, but he's a dud of a character. Amy Madigan was absolutely stellar. Probably the best guest star they've ever had.

GIRL! I thought she was absolutely bonkers in her pre-game stuff, but then I really liked her in the premiere, and the move she pulled off tonight was absolutely brilliant. It didn't seem like anyone realized she was a driving force behind the vote - she played it off so effortlessly. I hope she stays this sharp, because I'm completely in love with everything we've seen of her so far. However, I really hope we don't see much from her in the next few episodes. If they keep highlighting her gameplay and how well she's doing, she's gone early merge for sure. If she wins, they'll likely let her fade into the background so that it doesn't become too obvious.

There is actually a Twitter account that has been leaking information about the season. Before the season started they tweeted a bunch of random things that have since turned out to have meaning. Character names, Piggyman, a burned body, a butcher, that kind of stuff. Since then they've only revealed small pieces of information, but some of the original tweets have yet to come into play (I'm intrigued by "Hollywood" and "Film industry"). They also revealed that the season will take a wild turn in episode 6 (seemingly involving Evan Peters), which the creators of the show have since talked about in the media. Ryan Murphy simply can not keep his mouth closed and says there's no way we'll ever guess what happens in episode 6, but I'm taking that with a grain of salt. The documentary format is most definitely ending at that point, and I'm guessing Evan Peters is part of the production crew.

It feels like this episode gave us a big chunk of story and a real sense of what this season (or at least the reenactment, assuming the season goes beyond that) is going to be like. And all of it still feels consistent, focused, and properly paced! We have the colony ghosts, we have the still unknown Priscilla, we have the pig stuff, we have whatever Gaga is supposed to be, but all of those different elements work together beautifully unlike recent seasons where it's just been a discombobulated mess. It feels more like Asylum in that sense, and just like Asylum I expect at least one of these things to never get explained - possibly the pig stuff. I don't actually mind it too much - I like a bit of mystery. Still, I 100% expect the format to be changed up at some point. This episode confirmed it for me. Cheyenne Jackson was the interviewer asking Lee questions, and they wouldn't use him as just an occasional disembodied voice.

Solid premiere. I've always liked the show but wasn't overly hyped about it coming back - it definitely pulled me in more than I expected it to. I'm unusually intrigued by this particular mystery, and it's interesting that people's guesses are all over the place. Personally, my initial thought was Oliver. Connor and Annalise agreed that bringing Oliver in would ruin him - I'm guessing this is exactly what happened, and that Annalise caused Oliver's death by getting him involved in some shady stuff. If they develop a more personal bond while he works for her, I think her feelings of guilt could trigger this kind of reaction. Plus, I think the story sort of writes itself: Connor and Oliver break up, they're forced to still be around eachother because they're both with Annalise, there's awkwardness and angst galore, they're finally able to get over the bullshit and start rebuilding their relationship, and then Oliver is killed just in time to destroy Connor's hopes of ever finding happiness. Of course, with how predictable and cliché that is, I hope I'm wrong. I actually hope it's Wes, because I want this show to be brave enough to kill off the deuteragonist. Give this one some real weight.

I honestly thought this runway would be a trainwreck, but I was pretty impressed. I really liked Jenni, Erin, Mah-Jing and Laurence, and and also enjoyed Nathalia, Dexter and Alex. Not all of them aced the assignment, but the show barely cares what the challenge is nowadays. I'm really excited to have Erin, Dexter and Jenni on the show. As Project Runway has shifted towards more commercial, everyday wear I've found myself losing interest. These three designers in particular have taken risks and stepped out of the box in both challenges (so has Nathalia, but not as successfully). Color, people! We have color and interesting silhouettes on the show again! I'm now optimistic about this season.

Yeah, I'm not blaming WoW for any of this - they're just doing their job, and I think Phi Phi is only hurting herself by lashing out at them. But the fan reaction borders on insanity, and I'm going to feel bad for anyone who has to go through that, whether they should've expected it or not. Regardless of what edit Phi Phi or any other queen was given, I would hope fans would be able to acknowledge that's it's just a TV show and that, in the words of Tati, what you see isn't always the truth. Every queen deserves the benefit of the doubt, and no queen deserves the treatment Phi Phi is getting. Regarding the reunion, I do disagree there. Production didn't really have it out for Detox, so she could show up looking stunning, politely answer some questions, and leave. Whether or not WoW hated Phi Phi before, they certainly do now, and I'm confident they'd try to push her buttons - and she seems insecure enough that it would work.

It's sad that Phi Phi felt the need to lie about the critique (and I do think she lied) because people will hold that against her forever. She pretty much ruined her credibility with that one. Thing is, it is painfully obvious that she IS getting a villain edit, and the other girls have come to defend her numerous times. The only ones who seem to have a problem with her are Alyssa (of course) and Coco, who has a problem with freaking everyone. Worst thing is, with social media being what it is now, I think she's getting it a lot worse than she did on season 4. I've seen some truly disgusting and horrifying comments towards her and she seems to take a lot of it to heart. And when she lashes out on social media, people take it as confirmation that yes, she really is a demon bitch. She can't really defend herself and she's not handling any of this well at all, and it saddens me a lot. I hope when the season's over, things calm down and the community can start appreciating her more. ETA: Phi Phi just tweeted that she won't be attending the reunion. Good call. She's probably massively pissing off WoW with her complaints about the producers, and they'd just try to make her look even worse if she attended. There's no "clearing the air" or "making a statement" by showing up since WoW controls what questions she gets and what answers they show.

Well, this Phi Phi thing is getting repetitive. Sorry, but that bitching at the end was clearly edited to look unprompted and continuous, and that's rarely how these rants actually work. I didn't think anything she said was unreasonable. Alaska and Roxxxy said during a viewing party that it wasn't nearly as bad as it looked, and I believe them. However, Phi Phi is doing herself no favors by lashing out on social media against production - she's no Willam. I almost never like the acting challenges, but this one was fine. Alaska's runway was the highlight of the episode, though.

I'm not sure we'll see the "real" people outside of their talking heads. I don't know if Lily Rabe is still busy, but I know they were only able to get her for an episode or two in Freakshow and Hotel. Maybe she was only available for a short period of time, so they put her in a role where she'd only have to do talking heads that could be filmed in bulk. All the regular cast members seem to be playing the actors reenacting the events, so they're definitely sticking around. I agree that weird things start happening, but I think it'll only affect the actors - or maybe the "real" people will be killed off early.