S08.E06: Joan: the Unauthorized Rusical

[davidcalgary29]

A surprisingly strong musical and shocking challenge placements add new layers of riggory to the season!

I will say this: Jaymes' runway was hideous. And Alexis has never looked more stunning.

Edited June 10, 2023 by davidcalgary29

[joanne3482]

Inconceivable! I think Jaymes is right and Kandy eliminated a threat. 

[Adeejay]

It's quite obvious that the show is rigged.  Not only was Kandi's "win" undeserving, but she most certainly didn't win the lip sync.  I believe Ru just wanted her to have the $30,000.   This is starting to be unwatchable.  

[Starchild]

I loathe Kandy but I have to admit she did pretty well. Good enough to win the challenge? No, but I could see her being safe. Good enough to win the lipsync? I think it was edited that way, and/or Angeria held back.

Either way, the obligatory Kandy tongue bath was as predictable and nauseating as usual.

[Madding crowd]

I thought the judging was off. Jimbo is always good but I don’t think she and Kandy were the best. I would have had Alexis and Jessica in the top two. I can’t warm up to Kandy and don’t get what the judges love about her. Wasn’t really a fan of any of the runway looks but I did like the Joan musical. 

[davidcalgary29]

3 minutes ago, Madding crowd said:

I thought the judging was off. Jimbo is always good but I don’t think she and Kandy were the best. I would have had Alexis and Jessica in the top two. I can’t warm up to Kandy and don’t get what the judges love about her. Wasn’t really a fan of any of the runway looks but I did like the Joan musical. 

Jimbo was safe and did not get a top placement.

Jaymes had the best performance, and no one can convince me that her dog's breakfast of a runway could have dragged her all the way to the bottom.

I didn't like Kandy's runway -- that bottom triangle was squashed and looked like she sat on it.

 

[Madding crowd]

Oh, ok I thought Jimbo and Kandy were called for top two. James was very good too and I don’t actually think anyone was terrible. Kandy’s outfits always look thrown together.

[davidcalgary29]

1 hour ago, Adeejay said:

It's quite obvious that the show is rigged.  Not only was Kandi's "win" undeserving, but she most certainly didn't win the lip sync.  I believe Ru just wanted her to have the $30,000.   This is starting to be unwatchable.  

Jimbo's lipsynch skills are bad (legitimately or not), but at least there is an entertainment value to them. This lipsynch was just boring, which was worse. Congratulations, Kandy!

[TiffanyNichelle]

They weren't even pretending to not rig this one. Kandy shouldn't have been in the top to even win. Jaymes should have been in the top and Jimbo should have been in the bottom and not safe.

This was ridiculous.

Edited June 10, 2023 by TiffanyNichelle

[davidcalgary29]

18 minutes ago, TiffanyNichelle said:

They weren't even pretending to not rig this one. Kandy shouldn't have been in the top to even win. Jaymes should have been in the top and Jimbo should have been in the bottom and not safe.

This was the ridiculous.

Can't argue with that, but Kandy did well enough in the challenge to justify the win. If we game it out, then it's likely that Jimbo would have been eliminated, leaving Kandy as the frontrunner for the season -- and its probable winner. I'm not sure Production is invested enough in Jessica to have her win, and they certainly don't give a shit about Alexis or any of the other queens.

[Glade]

I thought Jessica was the top this week, from the performance she gave (the editing made it seem like she was going to bomb, but she won the Rocker Chicks challenge in S2) to her gorgeous runway, but clearly they planned this Kandy storyline and gushed over the stuff glued to her minidress, so it is what it is.  Kahana's runway was world's better than Jaymes's.  I guess Darrienne had the best eliminated runway look this week, but this 'game' is still just sad. 

[7-Zark-7]

I love Jimbo and want her to win, but I still would have put her in the bottom two.

LaLa surprised the hell out of me. I did not see that performance coming.

Kandy was okay, but she had the best musical number. Anyone (except maybe Kahanna) who had that role would have been in the top. 

I don't understand why Alexis didn't fight for either the "wire hanger" number or the "bring me the axe" one (actually, I do understand, she is realllly conflict averse). However, it doesn't take a degree in musical theater to know that those songs would most likely have props that would help steal the show. I think she was the best actor, but there was no way she was going to win with a short country/western number. And she needs a win, or else she's going to land in the bottom for no good reason, and never rise out of it. I also thought she had the best Grace Jones outfit, but nowadays the runways can only hurt a queen, not help her.

Kandy definitely sent Jaymes home because she was possible competition and Kahanna isn't. Kandy has been trying to pick off the competition from the get go. She helped run off Heidi last week and if Jimbo gets in her sights, there will be no pact. I know she's a Ru fave, but I see a potential villain edit on the horizon.

 

 

Edited June 10, 2023 by 7-Zark-7

[littlebennysmom]

I thought Alexis should have been in the top.

And I have to agree with this season becoming unwatchable -- that lip sync was edited to death.

After last week's depressing episode where Heidi left and the blatant favoritism of this week, it's becoming a cringe watch.

[pertho]

Production: Jessica, you need to introduce the coreographer

Jessica: Yes, this is a man, a man I have heard of, yes, I know this man, he does things

[violet and green]

I thought Lala Ri should have won that based on performance, and I was surprised Kandy escaped bottom two with that rank runway outfit, just because she did a few good kicks in a satin robe.

Jimbo did enough to be safe-ish in my view.

Oh, well, Kandy got the money. Very sad for Jaymes Mansfield to go out now.

[SemiCharmedLife]

Justice for Alexis!  She embodied Miss Crawford in looks (impeccable makeup- what a resemblance!), voice and attitude.  And her runway was superb!  I'm just glad the riggory is not wearing down her spirit this time around.  I see her rooting for other queens and being more upbeat than in the past.  

I thought the Rusical was really great.  I enjoyed all the performances.  I think "production" is sparing Jimbo from being in the bottom- because she would most likely be eliminated for being the toughest competition. Kandy proved what Heidi was saying last week was correct.  

[davidcalgary29]

12 hours ago, 7-Zark-7 said:

I love Jimbo and want her to win, but I still would have put her in the bottom two.

 

At the Roscoe's viewing party for this episode, Kahanna said...

1. They had to perform the Rusical three times.

2. She actually liked Jimbo's performance. She named other bottom performances (including Jaymes).

3. Kandy deserved her win.

4. Alexis' performance was "safe" and did not deserve a top placement.

I sometimes feel that I'd pay extra to see the raw footage of Drag Race episodes.

[belligerent]

Pretty annoyed at the praise Kandy got for singing when her track was the most obviously pitch-corrected of them all, especially when their criticism of Kahanna was that she was pitchy. Like, I realize all the queens had some level of pitch correction but it seems  disingenuous to pretend they didn't. Oh well.

[MsJamieDornan]

OMG ! I never want to see Kandy rolling around on the floor in her lip sync outfit ever again.

[luckyroll3]

Kandy's lipsync was good, but she did not win the challenge. Lala Ri and Alexis should have been top 2. Definite side eye on Kandy being selected as the winner. 

[Kaboom 2.0]

I am in a mood, ya'll.

Like I said on a previous post in another episode thread (when Jessica won the $30K), Kandy wanted that $30K tip again & this time Ru gave it to her. 

Why bother even having other contestants this season if Kandy is Ru's favorite & the show is priming us all for Kandy getting crowned? Just have this season be  ten hourly episodes of Kandy, no other contestants, being delusional w/Ru fawning over her. Oh wait. No one other than Kandy's fans want to see that. I know the preview for next episode shows Ru entering the werk room to referee something, maybe Kandy bellows she feels attacked/bullied by the other queens or some similar BS. We already know Ru will cradle Kandy & coo to her that everything will be fine, those other queens are just jealous of Kandy, Mama Ru will make everything better. 

I thought they all did very well in the Rusical, Alexis & LaLa were the tops for me. As for runway Jaymes & Kandy were the bottoms for me. Adam Shankman is darling. 

The stunning Angeria won that lip sync. 

I can't find Untucked. Any suggestions? 

Oh and Leland was giving me Fred from Scooby Doo vibes. 

Edited June 12, 2023 by Kaboom 2.0

[davidcalgary29]

2 hours ago, Kaboom 2.0 said:

I am in a mood, ya'll.

Like I said on a previous post in another episode thread (when Jessica won the $30K), Kandy wanted that $30K tip again & this time Ru gave it to her. 

Why bother even having other contestants this season if Kandy is Ru's favorite & the show is priming us all for Kandy getting crowned? Just have this season be  ten hourly episodes of Kandy, no other contestants, being delusional w/Ru fawning over her. Oh wait. No one other than Kandy's fans want to see that.

 

These are fair comments, but the fact is that Drag Race has always followed this format: they've picked three or four clear contenders, three or four queens selected for drama (with little potential for the finale), and three or four unknowns (translation: filler queens). There's some evidence this season that both Kandy and Jimbo have been favoured by Production at times, but  this is in the edit more than throwing the wins; riggory has been most apparent in who has -- and who hasn't -- placed in the bottom each week. This week, Jimbo was probably "saved" by Production; rumour is that Jaymes was "saved" in week one. 

Kahanna, at least, has said that Kandy deserved her win this week and liked Jimbo's performance in the rusical. I think that the editing sometimes undermines the Judges' own rationale in the episode outcomes in their attempt to make episodes more exciting.

 

[Mahfouz]

I feel a bit weird about cheering for queens honoring Joan Crawford who, um, may have beat her children.

The whole "wire hanger" thing is weird. I mean I know the veracity of the book is disputed but, like, at least one of Crawford's kids says she was abusive.

Sorta weird to be honored on the show which does so much to highlight the abuse that some of the Queens received when they were growing up. Replace Joan Crawford and the proper placement of wire hangers with a conservative parent and the proper gender/sexual identity, respectively and think about that. 

[Adeejay]

10 hours ago, davidcalgary29 said:

Kahanna, at least, has said that Kandy deserved her win this week and liked Jimbo's performance in the rusical. I think that the editing sometimes undermines the Judges' own rationale in the episode outcomes in their attempt to make episodes more exciting.

 

I am not surprised that Kahanna said that Kandy deserved to win.  Afterall, she saved her arse.   Bet Jaymes wouldn't agree.  

[davidcalgary29]

1 hour ago, Adeejay said:

I am not surprised that Kahanna said that Kandy deserved to win.  Afterall, she saved her arse.   Bet Jaymes wouldn't agree.  

That's a fair comment, but a number of the eliminated queens have stated that they disagreed with challenge placements -- and Kandy's name hasn't come up as someone who's benefitted from favouritism. Notably, Naysha stated that Jaymes had the worst performance in "The Fame Games" and should have been in the bottom, and that "everyone agreed". Sour grapes? A personal vendetta? A clear reading of the situation? Probably a little of all of those things. 

I agree that Alexis and Jaymes were unfairly placed by Production this episode. But that's not the queens' fault.

Has the season been rigged toward Jimbo and Kandy to this point? Yes, but not in the way that I feel many are claiming. AS8 will probably have most of the same challenges of earlier seasons, but the comedy challenges have been packed toward the front end of the season -- and Jimbo won most of them (and two of them fairly), so it's felt stacked in their favour, and they certainly have positive momentum as a result. Let's not forget that AS7 was equally packed with comedy and improv too, with two balls and two dance challenges thrown into the mix, but more of the queens there were more versatile and the pacing was better, so it flowed much more smoothly.

Edited June 13, 2023 by davidcalgary29

[After7Only]

On 6/9/2023 at 9:49 PM, davidcalgary29 said:

I didn't like Kandy's runway -- that bottom triangle was squashed and looked like she sat on it.

I thought her outfit looked like a non conventional materials challenge that she made in the workroom.   Same old leotard look she wears every week.   I need Michelle visage to call her out on it soon.   

[DisneyBoy]

This was one of the better rusicals, I felt. Every number was cute and well-performed.