S08.E04: Screen Queens

[davidcalgary29]

Shannel hand-delivers her application for All Stars 9! In other news, the remaining queens flail their way through a fitfully entertaining "comedy" challenge, and a high-ranking team finds success by ignoring the trap of originality and expertly mining the judges' weakness for exciting cliches and trite movie tropes. 

Next week: the long-awaited intervention finally arrives as the queens gather round to confront and comfort Jimbo about her total lack of dance moves that do not involve prostheses! Heidi threatens to shake up the race by revealing to the other queens that Jimbo cannot lipsynch.

RuPaul looked like she just farted when the camera panned toward her for her reaction shot at

Spoiler

Darienne's

elimination. What was that?

Edited May 27, 2023 by davidcalgary29

[Glade]

There was nothing thrilling about 'dead celebrities on Gilligan's Island,' or funny for that matter.  If it was supposed to be dark, maybe less tropical visuals would have helped... Alexis did bring one of the few surprises on the runway tonight first with that reveal, and then by throwing Darienne overboard at the first possible opportunity.  Jimbo is the only queen that made me laugh consistently, she definitely nailed this win, and her team delivered their sketch with such a tight, well written concept.  There were funny moments in the third sketch, but it's supposed to be a tv series, not an infomercial for tucking panties.   

I wasn't impressed by Shannel, the whole lipsync was messy/low energy but I feel like the assassins are supposed to bring more.  I'm glad Darienne went home; I hate it when queens are dragged through the bottom in ep after ep but still don't get eliminated.  Naysha's fame game lewk was pretty good this time, but Monica and Kasha did not rise to the challenge. 

Edited May 27, 2023 by Glade

[7-Zark-7]

How the hell did Heidi, La La and Kahanna survive that? Not only was it bad, it didn’t even make sense as a TV show. Every week two dumb queens try to steal magical tucking panties?

Darienne: “Track record, smack freckles, Jaymes is a bitch who keeps voting for me.”

Jaymes: “I don’t wanna go home.”

Alexis: “I think it’s in my best interest to avoid taking responsibility for anything I may or may not have said or done. Here… or ever.”

Edited May 27, 2023 by 7-Zark-7

[violet and green]

3 hours ago, 7-Zark-7 said:

How the hell did Heidi, La La and Kahanna survive that? Not only was it bad, it didn’t even make sense as a TV show. Every week two dumb queens try to steal magical tucking panties?

I agree. That was odd. I actually thought the losing team was the best, even if they had a few dull patches, in terms of presentation, costuming, and characters. But I guess it was Darienne's time.

[MsJamieDornan]

7 hours ago, Glade said:

I wasn't impressed by Shannel, the whole lipsync was messy/low energy but I feel like the assassins are supposed to bring more.

It wasn't really a good song for a lip sync.

[Ms.Lulu]

Heidi continues to be the funniest with the best runways for me. I think Jimbo is amazing too.

And why was Kandy's bum so high?

And Alexis threw Darienne in front of the bus.

Edited May 27, 2023 by Ms.Lulu

[littlebennysmom]

4 hours ago, Ms.Lulu said:

Heidi continues to be the funniest with the best runways for me. I think Jimbo is amazing too.

And why was Kandy's bum so high?

And Alexis threw Darienne in front of the bus.

How did Kandy's butt located on her BACK dodge criticism from the judges?  Riggory.

[Starchild]

15 hours ago, Glade said:

I wasn't impressed by Shannel, the whole lipsync was messy/low energy 

And she still beat Jimbo. Jimbo just can't lipsync to save her life.

[davidcalgary29]

33 minutes ago, Starchild said:

And she still beat Jimbo. Jimbo just can't lipsync to save her life.

And yet she knew all of the words and, as we saw in the first episode, can dance and perform choreography adequately. I'm still not convinced that this isn't part of Jimbo's "persona" and part of a deliberate and planned strategy.

[MsJamieDornan]

2 hours ago, littlebennysmom said:

How did Kandy's butt located on her BACK dodge criticism from the judges?  Riggory.

It doesnt matter what Kandy Moose wears, says or does, she will be praised. It's very obvious

[Starchild]

2 hours ago, davidcalgary29 said:

And yet she knew all of the words and, as we saw in the first episode, can dance and perform choreography adequately. I'm still not convinced that this isn't part of Jimbo's "persona" and part of a deliberate and planned strategy.

She puts her all into other performance challenges, but she's oddly low-energy in lipsyncs. I get a distinct impression of holding back. Question is why. Does she consider this particular form of performance beneath her I wonder?

[davidcalgary29]

1 hour ago, Starchild said:

She puts her all into other performance challenges, but she's oddly low-energy in lipsyncs. I get a distinct impression of holding back. Question is why. Does she consider this particular form of performance beneath her I wonder?

I think that she discovered that she wasn't good at it on her first season, and then decided to play that up and make it a thing. And it's working: people are now tuning in to see how badly she'll be trounced by her opponent. Why would she change that tactic if it's bringing in the eyeballs? She's just as shrewd as RuPaul in many ways.

[SemiCharmedLife]

17 hours ago, davidcalgary29 said:

And yet she knew all of the words and, as we saw in the first episode, can dance and perform choreography adequately. I'm still not convinced that this isn't part of Jimbo's "persona" and part of a deliberate and planned strategy.

There are whole threads on Reddit devoted to conspiracy theories about Jimbo's lip-synching.  

Here are a few of my thoughts:

1. Would Jimbo throw the lip sync for popularity (not having to send home a queen)?

2.  Would Jimbo not care about the tip money?

3. Wouldn't Jimbo want to win against Pangina, based on their history?

4.  Why doesn't Jimbo integrate some humor/gags/props into the lip sync to make up for dance skills?

5. I've seem Jimbo perform live in a holiday show with other queens and I found it highly entertaining.  No issues with choreography or lip-synching.

6.  Why don't the producers use a song that would be better suited for Jimbo's style of drag comedy?

 

[davidcalgary29]

1 hour ago, SemiCharmedLife said:

There are whole threads on Reddit devoted to conspiracy theories about Jimbo's lip-synching.  

Here are a few of my thoughts:

1. Would Jimbo throw the lip sync for popularity (not having to send home a queen)?

2.  Would Jimbo not care about the tip money?

3. Wouldn't Jimbo want to win against Pangina, based on their history?

4.  Why doesn't Jimbo integrate some humor/gags/props into the lip sync to make up for dance skills?

5. I've seem Jimbo perform live in a holiday show with other queens and I found it highly entertaining.  No issues with choreography or lip-synching.

6.  Why don't the producers use a song that would be better suited for Jimbo's style of drag comedy?

 

I think that the simplest explanation may be that Jimbo regards herself as an entertainer, first and foremost, and is careful to always produce herself to an audience in the most compelling fashion. Lots of queens on this show have jostled for the title for the best lipsyncer -- but what about the worst?  That's unmined territory, and is ripe for the picking, and it also fits well in her "drag clown" persona. She's also taken great care to transport her narrative across all of various appearances (including her "cruise aesthetic"), and I wouldn't be surprised at all if this was another instance of that.

That confessional that she gave in this episode about "wanting to show RuPaul that she can do this (lipsynch)" seems more than a little calculated. Don't get me wrong -- I love Jimbo, and this is one of the reasons why: she's always thinking about the audience.

To answer your questions:

1. No. Yes. Boobs!

2. Not as much as gaining notoriety.

3. No; she knew that this would be more entertaining. You could tell that she was delighted to see Pangina.

4. Bad lipsynching is the gag.

5. Indeed.

6. Because she'd turn it around on them and just make it more chaotic. There are a number of anecdotes floating around where Jimbo's basically screwed around with Production's demands, played the moment, and then immediately backed down by saying "kidding!". Ru's in the joke, as she knows that Jimbo isn't coming for her gig.  I get the feeling that she'd rather spread the love around by giving birth to deli meats than by becoming a multi-millionaire by building a Drag Ponzi scheme and becoming a fracking tycoon.

Jimbo's one of the few queens who have made Drag Race work on her own terms, and I just love that.

Edited May 28, 2023 by davidcalgary29

[Starchild]

Valid theory, but I think there's a couple of problems with it:

1. She'll have to work a lot harder to be the worst (looking at you Charlie)
2. The last thing someone who's an entertainer first would want to be is boring, and that's exactly what she is in these competitive lipsyncs

I agree it's deliberate though. She has no problem being very physical in other formats, but she limits her physicality in these lipsyncs for some reason. 

She seems more tentative in lipsyncs. I do wonder if it's a physical limitation of some sort. Maybe the typical physical demands of a lipsync are actions she also does not do in other things, like sketches or talent performances. I'll have to watch more closely now.

[davidcalgary29]

Just now, Starchild said:

I'll have to watch more closely now.

SEE? She's won!

[Wonderlad71]

I do think that Jimbo is playing into the schtick that she is the worst (at lipsyncing). That said I think she won the lipsync this week ( in terms of bodying the rock song more). I also think she would have slayed Coconuts last week.

I also would have put Heidi in the top 2 this week (if it was not judged per team). Kahanna would have been in the bottom for me. I sort of liked the Lost concept of the first team.

Edited May 29, 2023 by Wonderlad71

[Kaboom 2.0]

On 5/27/2023 at 6:58 PM, MsJamieDornan said:

It doesnt matter what Kandy Moose wears, says or does, she will be praised. It's very obvious

Yup. The fix is in, she's cruising to the finale. 

The best part of this episode was the popping of balloons and especially Heidi's reaction to getting her balloon popped. The girl is Hilarious. The Hymen Trophy? Being "a good Christian girl"? LOL I would've elevated her to the top two of the week along with Jimbo. Adrienne seems like a good person, unfortunately it was her turn to go. 

And omg season one's Shannell! I love the OG season's queens. More early season assassins, please. 

I'm actually looking forward to next week's Snatch Game of Love. I love when the guests have a good time and next episode's guests seem like they seem to be having oodles of fun in the trailer. 

[Mahfouz]

On a show like "Face Off" Kandy would have been dinged for her biologically-incorrect padding. WTF was that? Why were her globe-cheeks up in the small of her back lol. 

Alexis Michelle continues to deliver! I love her "I want to apologize, I had nothing to do with that" was gold. Perhaps the lack of Esprit de corps she showed during the judging was the cause of that team doing poorly rather than vice versa. 

 

[davidcalgary29]

1 hour ago, Mahfouz said:

Perhaps the lack of Esprit de corps she showed during the judging was the cause of that team doing poorly rather than vice versa. 

 

I don't think that Production is invested on anyone on that team, so they were doomed from the start. Doomed, I tell you!

 

[SemiCharmedLife]

11 hours ago, Mahfouz said:

On a show like "Face Off" Kandy would have been dinged for her biologically-incorrect padding. WTF was that? Why were her globe-cheeks up in the small of her back lol. 

Alexis Michelle continues to deliver! I love her "I want to apologize, I had nothing to do with that" was gold. Perhaps the lack of Esprit de corps she showed during the judging was the cause of that team doing poorly rather than vice versa. 

 

The back of Kandy's skirt rose up, causing the buns to be at her back level.  She either needed something to hold it down (strap between legs?)  or change the design to a catsuit or shorts.  I CAN'T believe the judging panel ignored that blatant messy look.  They definitely play favorites...

[MsJamieDornan]

2 hours ago, SemiCharmedLife said:

I CAN'T believe the judging panel ignored that blatant messy look.

You must remember that it's Kandy, different rules.

She looked ridiculous.

[charliesan]

On 5/27/2023 at 4:56 PM, davidcalgary29 said:

And yet she knew all of the words and, as we saw in the first episode, can dance and perform choreography adequately. I'm still not convinced that this isn't part of Jimbo's "persona" and part of a deliberate and planned strategy.

I'm convinced Jimbo is losing these lip syncs on purpose. I mean sure, Jimbo's no dancer, but she's such a personality and performer that I find it odd that at the time of the lip sync she's so terrible. As of this episode, I think she's convinced she'll make it til the end and she'll surprised the judges at the final lip sync. 

I saw the first two episodes and right now I'm just watching Bianca's recaps on YouTube, maybe I got used to All Stars 7 but this group is really lacking, there's a reason why the early outs were... Early outs? I'm only interested in Jimbo, Jessica Wild and Heidi, and that's not enough to be glued to the screen whenever she show comes on.

[akr]

It would make strategic sense for Jimbo to lose lipsynchs - she looks less threatening if you think you can beat her in a lipsynch at the end.