S14.E10: Snatch Game

[Keywestclubkid]

The queens impersonate celebrities in Snatch Game; Drag Race royalty Raven and actress Dove Cameron play the game.

[DEL901]

Good for Deja Sky. 

And of course Daya Betty’s initial response was to diss Jasmine.  I don’t care how true, it was mean.  At least she was happy for Deja.  

I could not believe how bad Snatch Game was.  The 7 deserve to kip synch for their lives, regardless of what Daya thinks. 

[Ohiopirate02]

I was excited to see Lady Camden to William Shakespeare.   It's an inspired choice doing the playwright who never met a dick joke he didn't like.  I was disappointed  

Daya can sashay away anytime now between her bitchy comments and her using Bosco's answers.  Did she really think that was funny?

[CraftyHazel]

What a terrible Snatch Game.  Thankfully, I’ll probably forget it like I did Season 11’s.  Daya Betty and Bosco at least looked their parts, and of course Deja Skye deserved to win as the only queen to come prepared, but wow…that was really, really bad.  But still, Deja Skye winning is 100% better than Silky Nutmeg Ganache winning in Season 11.

Edited March 12, 2022 by CraftyHazel
I forgot the tragedy that was Season 11.

[Ananayel]

I'm torn. Some of the male impersonations have been excellent to legendary, but I still Do Not Want male characters on Snatch Game! This really was bad, and I will be sending Daya-Go-Home vibes out into the universe all week. Congrats to Deja, but in another season it would probably have been just safe.

[CraftyHazel]

8 minutes ago, Ananayel said:

I'm torn. Some of the male impersonations have been excellent to legendary, but I still Do Not Want male characters on Snatch Game! This really was bad, and I will be sending Daya-Go-Home vibes out into the universe all week. Congrats to Deja, but in another season it would probably have been just safe.

I’m going to agree on the male characters.  I want to see female characters, unless your name is BenDeLaCreme and you’re portraying Paul Lynde.

[rustyspigot]

This will be the longest ass season ever. And we still have the fucking golden ticket to deal with. "Its old chocolate with white powder on it." (Sad trombone)

It wasn't even romper room fuckery. It was boring ass bullshit.

[MsNewsradio]

What the heck did I just sit through? God. I was so looking forward to Snatch Game, and the only thing snatched was my joy. 
 

I’m also beyond over Daya’s constant bitchery. It’s just unwarranted. 

[bobbyjoe]

I think I’m going to scream.

What the heck has happened to this season?  It started out so well, I like a lot of these queens— some of them quite a bit, and Ru felt like she finally had her joy back.

And now we’re bogged down in… whatever this is.  This isn’t fun.

Also, on an overall note about the show, Snatch Game was historically terrible tonight, but it’s been on a downward spiral the last few years.  One thing that could help is (I believe) the rules are that they have to play somebody real and not a famous fictional character.  Maybe that needs to change.  Because a lot of queens feel like they’re choosing just really uninspired choices of real people, and maybe some crazy film, tv, and cartoon characters might bring Snatch Game back to some over-the-top fun.

[Adeejay]

That was one of the worst Snatch Games, ever. I didn’t laugh once.  It was horrible! Must admit I was extremely disappointed with Willow, Lady Camden and Angeria.

Unless I am mistaken, this was the fifth week without an elimination. I have a feeling Ru is trying to stretch this season to May Sweeps.

Edited March 12, 2022 by Adeejay

[PhoneCop]

You know, I wouldn't really expect anyone under, let's say, 40 to remember Exposé...but like Ru, hearing it openly expressed made me want to die a little. Of course, he actually has the power to do something about it, but I'm not sure "Come Go With Me" or "Point of No Return" really lend themselves to LSFYL. 

Oh, and Snatch Game. Yeah. Well. Anyway.

[belligerent]

I almost would bet a chocolate bar that we saw the least funny parts of snatch game in order to have an in-story reason to justify the lip sync palooza next week. I really don't think production could set up an entire new episode in a short time, and they already saw the silky episode of all stars work as a good twist. And how many of these episodes are non-elimination? To have the right number of episodes that were ordered, they would need to know in advance which ones would be non-elimination. Kornbread threw them a curve when she had to go early, but they've brought people back, had non-eliminations, and there's still a gold chocolate bar, ostensibly. (what if Ru has the gold chocolate bar?)

That said, I doubt it was actually good, either, and I will make up my mind on what percentage I think was shenanigans when I watch it again (because I was trying not to burn banana bread* and missed a minute or two), but I don't think they were really set up to succeed or edited in a favorable way. That's a shame because I think a lot of them are super talented and I don't want production gaslighting them.

More opinions after I watch again, I guess.

I did like the analysis in Untucked of how to do snatch game correctly, and I thought Bosco was particularly insightful and succinct about it and am kind of surprised they aired the talk at all. Basically there are rules unless there aren't. Yeah, that's the show. 

*The banana bread is slightly overdone, but not as overdone as production shenanigans on drag race!

Quote

Also, on an overall note about the show, Snatch Game was historically terrible tonight, but it’s been on a downward spiral the last few years.  One thing that could help is (I believe) the rules are that they have to play somebody real and not a famous fictional character.  Maybe that needs to change.  Because a lot of queens feel like they’re choosing just really uninspired choices of real people, and maybe some crazy film, tv, and cartoon characters might bring Snatch Game back to some over-the-top fun.

I agree with that, but I think it would take away the aspect that they were discussing on Untucked. If you make something against the rules, then you can decide to reward people for taking the risk to break them if it's funny. Like Bob having a second Snatch Game character. Nobody told him he could, but he did it, anyway, and it wasn't a disaster so he was rewarded for doing his own thing to stand out in a way that they must have thought improved the show. The "Nerve" criteria they allegedly use as a judging parameter is underutilized by queens, although I can understand why.

Edited March 12, 2022 by belligerent
adding a reply i meant to add

[Amello]

I really hope Jasmine gets her Tatianna v. Raven reunion moment and chews Daya up at some point. We all deserve it see it.

[Blakeston]

I'm glad they didn't do a top 3. But if they were going to judge it that way, I'd say that Camden and Willow should have been in the top with Deja. Camden did something different, and unlike most of the others, her Shakespeare wasn't painful to watch. And Willow killed it on the runway, and at least did a good impression of Drew Barrymore, even though it wasn't funny.

The bottom three should have been Jasmine, Jorgeous and (sorry to say it) Angeria. Jasmine didn't even make jokes, Jorgeous turned Ilana Glaser into a a generic skanky mean girl, and I don't know who Angeria was impersonating, but it wasn't Tammie Brown.

I know it's bad when I'm screaming lines at the TV that the queens should have said. Like when Ru asked what the candle smelled like - Bosco should have said, "It smells like YOUR vagina."

[Ananayel]

1 hour ago, Blakeston said:

I know it's bad when I'm screaming lines at the TV that the queens should have said. Like when Ru asked what the candle smelled like - Bosco should have said, "It smells like YOUR vagina."

That's the thing with Gwyneth - it's all right there! I helped my friend with his application for DR, and at that time you had to do 3 Snatch Game characters and answer 3 questions as each one. I gave him a huge list of possibles, and one of them was Gwyneth. It should be ridiculously easy to take her Goop nonsense, dial it up to 11, and then dial it up some more. More useless woo woo crap, with more flowery word salad descriptions, and ever higher prices throughout the game. 

Also I am a huge Ozzy fan, and that was horrible. I was offended on his behalf.

[cpcathy]

Totally agree on Goop, so easy! joke about Brad Pitt, joke about Apple, basically act like you’re better than everyone!

[SemiCharmedLife]

6 hours ago, belligerent said:

I almost would bet a chocolate bar that we saw the least funny parts of snatch game in order to have an in-story reason to justify the lip sync palooza next week. I really don't think production could set up an entire new episode in a short time, and they already saw the silky episode of all stars work as a good twist. And how many of these episodes are non-elimination? To have the right number of episodes that were ordered, they would need to know in advance which ones would be non-elimination. Kornbread threw them a curve when she had to go early, but they've brought people back, had non-eliminations, and there's still a gold chocolate bar, ostensibly. (what if Ru has the gold chocolate bar?)

That said, I doubt it was actually good, either, and I will make up my mind on what percentage I think was shenanigans when I watch it again (because I was trying not to burn banana bread* and missed a minute or two), but I don't think they were really set up to succeed or edited in a favorable way. That's a shame because I think a lot of them are super talented and I don't want production gaslighting them.

More opinions after I watch again, I guess.

I did like the analysis in Untucked of how to do snatch game correctly, and I thought Bosco was particularly insightful and succinct about it and am kind of surprised they aired the talk at all. Basically there are rules unless there aren't. Yeah, that's the show. 

*The banana bread is slightly overdone, but not as overdone as production shenanigans on drag race!

I agree with that, but I think it would take away the aspect that they were discussing on Untucked. If you make something against the rules, then you can decide to reward people for taking the risk to break them if it's funny. Like Bob having a second Snatch Game character. Nobody told him he could, but he did it, anyway, and it wasn't a disaster so he was rewarded for doing his own thing to stand out in a way that they must have thought improved the show. The "Nerve" criteria they allegedly use as a judging parameter is underutilized by queens, although I can understand why.

You make some really good points about the number of episodes being preplanned.  I just hope that production didn't cut the queens' funny lines to make them all seem unsuccessful.  I'm sure they added rules about interruptions- the banter between the celebrities that are usually so hilarious, if their end goal was to have a lip synch contest next week.  

It was very odd that so many of the queens seemed very prepared for their Snatch Game characters, but couldn't deliver the humor.  Willow didn't seem to bring any jokes and Lady Camden seems to have a bit of nerves in situations like this.  Daya's Ozzy was abysmal.  

[me5671]

17 hours ago, DEL901 said:

Good for Deja Sky. 

And of course Daya Betty’s initial response was to diss Jasmine.  I don’t care how true, it was mean.  At least she was happy for Deja.  

I could not believe how bad Snatch Game was.  The 7 deserve to kip synch for their lives, regardless of what Daya thinks. 

I totally agree with this. Daya has such an awful attitude, I swear. She looked down on Maddy when she was there and now she’s doing the same to Jasmine.

And to be honest, I feel like they both were awful. If I HAD to say one was better than the other, I’d give it to Jasmine. She was dreadfully unfunny, but at least she tried her best.  Daya was unfunny and LAZY. I can’t believe she wasn’t roasted by the judges for literally copying  her answers off of Bosco.  That kind of intellectual laziness is the opposite of what Snatch Game is supposed to be. 

Edited March 12, 2022 by me5671

[Keywestclubkid]

What in the ever loving shit show was that? 

[Blakeston]

I 100% believe that Ru and the producers did their best to screw these contestants over. To think of the way that Ru guffawed every time Silky or Kandy said anything, yet she stood there stone-faced for this Snatch Game even when these queens had decent lines? She totally wanted them to fail.

Speaking of Silky, Deja should be glad that Silky won the season 11 Snatch Game. Because if they'd given the win to Nina West, who actually deserved it, that would make Deja the weakest Snatch Game winner (from the original US series) of all time.

The only thing that Deja did that was actually clever was the grill falling out of her mouth just as she said the word. Her win sends future contestants the message that they should just choose someone with a catchphrase, and say it over and over again, instead of making actual jokes. (And that impersonating a man is fine, even if there's nothing particularly drag-ish about him.)

[zenithwit]

Ugh, what do we have to do to actually get an elimination on this show?!?  And next week is just Ru's version of March Madness?  No thank you.  Someone wake me up when we finally get to the makeover challenge.

2 hours ago, Blakeston said:

I 100% believe that Ru and the producers did their best to screw these contestants over. To think of the way that Ru guffawed every time Silky or Kandy said anything, yet she stood there stone-faced for this Snatch Game even when these queens had decent lines? She totally wanted them to fail.

I was thinking the same thing while watching the Snatch Game.  Sure, some of the queens' jokes weren't landing but Ru wasn't doing much to help them.  In the past, Ru would usually pick up the line and try to take it in the another direction but here he was just like "ok".  Raven was the only one trying to do that this episode. 

Also, Ru was kinda salty to Willow about previously working together with Drew Barrymore.  One hand, it's Ru's show and Ru is pop culture obsessed.  So of course all of these queens should research if their snatch game characters have a connection to Ru.  But in this case, the connection wasn't obvious.  Ru was referring to reality show called the World's Best that aired in 2019 and lasted one season (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World's_Best).  I had to google it myself (and I think I actually watched an episode or two of that show).  I think that comment to Willow really deflated her self-confidence and impacted her performance.  Personally, I think Ru is a strong and seasoned enough performer where he could have made that point without bringing Willow down.

20 hours ago, bobbyjoe said:

Also, on an overall note about the show, Snatch Game was historically terrible tonight, but it’s been on a downward spiral the last few years.

Yeah, I can't remember the last time Snatch Game was actually good (season 6?) or at least the last time most of the queens did a passable job (season 10?).

[marinite]

Snatch Game is so fun and this was so disappointing. What a let down. It’s so weird because they all knew this is coming and almost all bombed. It was so not funny. I’m worried for Lady Camden. She and Bosco are my favorites.

[30 Helens]

On 3/11/2022 at 9:12 PM, MsNewsradio said:

What the heck did I just sit through? God. I was so looking forward to Snatch Game, and the only thing snatched was my joy. 

My husband will occasionally watch the show with me, but he’s not really into it because he thinks the skits and scripted performances are cheesy and stupid. But he’s never seen Snatch Game before, so I made sure he caught this one. I told him how much fun it is, and how it’s the most entertaining part of the season. Annnd... I may be watching alone from now on. That was painful.

13 hours ago, SemiCharmedLife said:

It was very odd that so many of the queens seemed very prepared for their Snatch Game characters, but couldn't deliver the humor.  

I think the problem was they weren’t prepared at all. They worked on the looks and the voices, but they neglected to prepare the jokes. You have to be really good at improv to just wing something like this, so I don’t understand why they wouldn’t have some lines ready. The best queens in seasons past had a variety of things prepared, so they only had to adjust the delivery to make the joke fit the moment. It’s like none of these queens ever watched a good Snatch Game.

[Blissfool]

On 3/11/2022 at 8:48 PM, Ohiopirate02 said:

 Daya can sashay away anytime now between her bitchy comments and her using Bosco's answers.  Did she really think that was funny?

I think copying answers was part of the Ozzie act. Daya just had to play it up. I can imagine Ozzie being so uninterested (and deaf) that he'd just find it easy to just copy.

[marinite]

On 3/11/2022 at 7:05 PM, CraftyHazel said:

I’m going to agree on the male characters.  I want to see female characters, unless your name is BenDeLaCreme and you’re portraying Paul Lynde.

Ben doing Paul Lynde would’ve been awesome!

[zenithwit]

2 hours ago, marinite said:

Ben doing Paul Lynde would’ve been awesome!

Here you go:

 

 

[Lethallyfab]

Which would Ru rather do: give up fracking or actually have to eliminate a queen each week?

I’ve never quite gotten the disdain for queens doing male celebrities - it just seems to be another form of drag, as pretty much every male celebrity chosen has been an over-the-top personality themselves.  Given the number of queens identifying as trans and non-binary on recent seasons, it seems a slippery slope to say what queens can portray what genders on Snatch Game.

Something I disdain more is the queens portraying other queens or the judging panel.  It never seems to go as well as they think it will.  I wonder if we’ll ever get a two-for-one with someone doing Ross or Carson.

For as bad as it was, at least no queens tried to do any online influencers or “personalities.”  *That* is the actual worst and, yes, I AM using those quotation marks pointedly.

For anyone who has seen any footage of Drew Barrymore’s talk show, the woman is an absolute space cadet and Willow could have and should have knocked that out of the park.  It did seem like Ru got in an unnecessary dig re: the show that no one remembers and/or watched.

Gwyneth Paltrow, again, great on paper.  But it’s not just her newfound hippieness that’s funny, it’s the sheer SNOBBERY of Goop that could’ve made for jokes.

I know that the challenge stresses improv but given that the queens have to come up with characters just to audition, they should easily have a couple evergreen jokes in their pocket that they could vary for the situation.

Edited March 14, 2022 by Lethallyfab

[Mahfouz]

I always find it a tad amusing on shows like this when the person who wins is VERY mediocre and everybody else just plain SUCKS and the winner acts as if they are just the most awesome contestant ever. LOL. Deja was not good as Lil (Did Ru keep saying LITTLE John?) John, she was just not nearly as bad as the shitshow occurring around her. 

The problem with Daya playing a lovable goof like Ozzy is that Daya is nowhere near to being lovable. There is a constant tinge of anger and meanness in nearly all of Daya's talking heads. 

I was wrong in assuming Jorgeous would play an obscure latina celeb but I WAS correct in saying Jorgeous would not do well in Snatch Game. 

Has there ever been a queen who started out as the runaway favorite to win the whole season and imploded as much as Angeria? 

Willow Pill was VERY disappointing but still, I think, the most interesting queen this season. She seems to have her own idea of what drag is and, Drew Barrymore impersonation not withstanding, is able to execute it without too much of an issue. 

 

 

Edited March 14, 2022 by Mahfouz
Forgot something

[djlynch]

The thing with Ru and Willow-as-Drew is the sort of thing that happens all the time in Snatch where she throws in something unexpected about a specific celebrity's life or career to see if the queen playing them is prepared and/or able to volley with her, but Willow teed it up for her so it felt meaner than it would have otherwise.

[Kaboom 2.0]

WTF was with this Snatch  Game, AWFUL. Thank God for Raven trying to keep the show moving and entertaining. 

Didn't realize Ozzy was a fan of DR but I pictured him seeing Daya as him and throwing something at his TV with disgust.

Still cheering for Willow, Camden or Angeria FTW.

[Glade]

I can't believe how Tammie was butchered--turned into a one-note mumbler when she had so many big, iconic facial expressions and isms.  William Shakespeare was done well, just needed a better script.  This season is terrible, and there are so many obnoxious queens in the cast that I'm sick of hearing from; I hope at least 3 are eliminated next week.

Edited March 15, 2022 by Glade

[Wonderlad71]

Yeah this was dismal - and what was that runway? I would have also put Deja in the bottom for that travesty of a dress. And Willow worships ... mushrooms???

That said I'm looking forward to the LaLaPaRuZa - I enjoyed the one from All Stars 4 and the lips sync battle from All stars 6 (i.e. the Silky show). Hope the song choices are good. I'm predicting the chocolate bar save (whoomp whoomp) is going to come into effect soon. 

 

Edited March 15, 2022 by Wonderlad71

[Ananayel]

11 hours ago, Glade said:

This season is terrible, and there are so many obnoxious queens in the cast that I'm sick of hearing from; I hope at least 3 are eliminated next week.

It started off well, but seems to have gone off the rails with Kornbread's departure. The sooner Daya goes the better, she's dragging the whole thing down.

[stormy weather]

On 3/14/2022 at 8:00 PM, Kaboom 2.0 said:

 Didn't realize Ozzy was a fan of DR but I pictured him seeing Daya as him and throwing something at his TV with disgust.

Still cheering for Willow, Camden or Angeria FTW.

If it hadn't been for Cotton Eye Joe the name tag, I wouldn't have realized it was Ozzy, period. He sounded Australian ("Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy, oi! oi! oi!" Really?) and had none of the mannerisms of Ozzy Osbourne. Even his clothes were off. I'm sure the real Ozzy's reaction to seeing that would be very close to the one you imagined. Daya just did an awful, awful job. She really has to go, she is not talented and she's so mean it's hard to watch. 

I thought Tammie Brown, Ilana Glazer and Betsy DeVos were pretty strange choices for Snatch Game. Bosco's jokes as Gwyneth Paltrow might not have landed, but she got the general impression down to a T. She really looked like her! Bosco, Willow and Angeria are definitely my top three. 

I also don't mind Jasmine as a person, it seems to me she's taking all the (unjustified, IMO) criticism pretty well, so kudos to her for that.

 

[Madding crowd]

The queens were bad but it was more than that; Ru wasn’t really giving them anything to respond in a funny way with and the questions didn’t lend themselves to stuff their celebrities would say ( example Bendela having Paul Lynde say his favorite balls are anonymous). And people shouldn’t do political characters because they don’t tie in trivia that Ru knows and they aren’t funny. I don’t have a problem with them playing male characters. 

[Rai]

Most of their intros were pretty good, and I don't know what happened after that. I actually think Betsy DeVos could be a GREAT choice. You just have to play her as so rich she doesn't understand daily struggles and also generally clueless. I mean, she went on a whole thing about how teachers should be armed in case bears break into the classrooms. This is comedy gold, people! (Except that she actually impacted our education system super horribly as well.) Jasmine had a good idea, but Jasmine was not good. All of them were a good idea, but all of them failed to execute accept for Deja who did have a genuine ease in her performance.

(Is it unfair to bring in Kate McKinnon to make my case for Betsy DeVos? Probably this helped fuel Jasmine's inspiration, but honey, know your limits. )

 

[aussieinsydney]

Worst snatch game ever. Period!