S02.E07: Family That Drags Together

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

The queens must makeover family members and vogue the house down. Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation) guest judges.

[lyric]

Goddammit, Detox.  Really?

This season is starting to piss me off.  Tatianna and Alyssa for Roxxxy?  Mmkay.

[Primetimer]

Also: voguing!

View the full article

[CraftyHazel]

Alaska sure acted like a spoiled brat tonight.  I may have to rescind my unqualified love for her after that. Detox, I still love, but I feel like she won for showing off her ass...ets, rather than anything else.  Sigh...Katya gets no respect.

[briochetwist]

So much to hate. Alaska's temper tantrum, Detox relying on her plastic ass to win a lip synch, Katya losing YET ANOTHER lip synch, and the biggie, Alyssa going home instead of Roxxy. 

I hate this season. I hate the queens sending each other home. I hate the top two lip synching because there's not much variation in the winners, it's just blah...  Not sure I care enough to tune in next week.

[Haberdasher]

Fuck. Just fuck.

What's it going to take for Katya to win a lipsync? 

Edited October 7, 2016 by Haberdasher

[Ananayel]

Man, I love Alaska, but that was some PhiPhi level of entitlement right there. Quite disappointed.

Other than that, and of course the WTF choice of Alyssa to go, I loved it. I loved all the family stuff so if I watch again I'll just watch that part.

And if there's an AS3, there needs to be no more than 2 from each season. Just like the pairs ruined AS1, the S5 overload has ruined AS2.

[nodorothyparker]

Great.  Because we were all just clamoring for a redux of Rolaskatox against a solitary queen many people like better.

Yawn.

Edited October 7, 2016 by nodorothyparker

[Granimal]

Hate. Alaska's reaction vid to losing Season 5, her behavior tonight, knowing she'll be ripped to shreds. The Roxxxy save. I can't anymore. I'm having an Alaska bratty meltdown at home- and I know it doesn't make me look good. Dammit.

[annewithaneee]

Katya is going to have a Raven-esque legacy. She's the real winner of Season 7, and All Stars 2. In Season 7 she was surrounded by Instagram-famous husks with no performance skills, and now she's surrounded by a sea of fabulously talented assholes (and also Roxxxy is there). 

Alaska should have been fucking disqualified and sent packing Willam style. She wasn't, and I think it's because: 1.) production is quite literally in the Alaska business (the YouTube arm of World of Wonder has a long-running Alaska show) and 2.) I bet they didn't have the queens' contracts fleshed out to include a clause about prize money bribery in their rules. It's my understanding that most shows where contestants eliminate each other, or nominate each other for elimination, make such things strictly verboten. I know US Big Brother has had houseguests discuss these rules, because they can't promise any portion of the winnings but can make deals based off of the luxury prizes they win or whatever. I'm guessing with the queen vote being a new twist/gimmick that the rulebook wasn't rewritten, which it should have been.

I've been giving her the benefit of the doubt, because I was a fan of hers going in, but tonight she surpassed the shittiness of Phi2. What a smug, entitled, nasty piece of work she is. 

The edit is blowing my mind a little, even though I think it's also pretty beautiful. It seems unlikely that Katya or Detox is going to surge forward and win, I still think Alaska's the inevitable winner, but this is not a winner's edit. This is not Bob getting shitty with Lucien because Thorgy is on his last nerve, or getting showboaty during/after Snatch Game. If it was, we'd see Michelle gently calling Alaska to the carpet for her attitude, so Alaska could cry, apologize, and show some vulnerability, in time to be an endearing winner. My mind is blown that they showed all that ugliness (and I'm sure more petulant goodness was left on the cutting room floor). Maybe they're figuring it's been so long since Tyra won, it's time for a new winner who inspires a lot of controversy in the fandom? 

I both loved and hated this. It certainly kept me on the edge of my seat, but ugh this season. 

Edited October 7, 2016 by annewithaneee

[Glade]

Fucking fuckiddy fuck!  I did not come to see rolaskatox' best friend race!!  The past two weeks have been the most predicktable, depressing shit ever.  Of course the moment Detox shows her ass, the camera stays on her and then what do you fucking know, she wins and sends Alyssa home.   Katya is an amazing queen, but she never gets to win a single challenge while roxxy gets her own little season pass to pull out some tacky leopard print fabric and recycled wigs.   Obviously the producers knew that yotoxicrash will never eliminate each other, so just make sure they win to guarantee the results they want.   Season 5 was my least favorite (maybe tied with season 7, but season 5 was toxic) so I didn't need to see it replayed, but if Katya is the new Jinx then she better win...if they even respect the fucking fan vote. 

I hope this is the last season of all-stars, since they can't do it without making it a pre-judged shitshow with gimmicks designed to send the amazing wild-card queens home. 

[Jesse]

8 minutes ago, annewithaneee said:

Katya is going to have a Raven-esque legacy. She's the real winner of Season 7, and All Stars 2. In Season 7 she was surrounded by Instagram-famous husks with no performance skills, and now she's surrounded by a sea of fabulously talented assholes (and also Roxxxy is there). 

Alaska should have been fucking disqualified and sent packing Willam style. She wasn't, and I think it's because: 1.) production is quite literally in the Alaska business (the YouTube arm of World of Wonder has a long-running Alaska show) and 2.) I bet they didn't have the queens' contracts fleshed out to include a clause about prize money bribery in their rules. It's my understanding that most shows where contestants eliminate each other, or nominate each other for elimination, make such things strictly verboten. I know US Big Brother has had houseguests discuss these rules, because they can't promise any portion of the winnings but can make deals based off of the luxury prizes they win or whatever. I'm guessing with the queen vote being a new twist/gimmick that the rulebook wasn't rewritten, which it should have been.

I've been giving her the benefit of the doubt, because I was a fan of hers going in, but tonight she surpassed the shittiness of Phi2. What a smug, entitled, nasty piece of work she is. 

The edit is blowing my mind a little, even though I think it's also pretty beautiful. It seems unlikely that Katya or Detox is going to surge forward and win, I still think Alaska's the inevitable winner, but this is not a winner's edit. This is not Bob getting shitty with Lucien because Thorgy is on his last nerve, or getting showboaty during/after Snatch Game. If it was, we'd see Michelle gently calling Alaska to the carpet for her attitude, so Alaska could cry, apologize, and show some vulnerability, in time to be an endearing winner. My mind is blown that they showed all that ugliness (and I'm sure more petulant goodness was left on the cutting room floor). Maybe they're figuring it's been so long since Tyra won, it's time for a new winner who inspires a lot of controversy in the fandom? 

I both loved and hated this. It certainly kept me on the edge of my seat, but ugh this season. 

Daaaamn, Alaska. I have had it with her -- officially! But really interesting point on the edit - they did not need to show us allll of that. And yeah, Big Brother this season made a whole Thing  after people were talking about giving money to their friends, and not even in exchange for anything, just because they are friends.  

I can't wait to hear Katya's ru-collections about that week....

[OhSayNow]

I am over Alaska after that temper tantrum, it is all fun and games until it doesn't go your way...ugh. Katya, please win! 

I did enjoy all the family stuff, but it was overshadowed by the end. Katya should have won that lip sync. Alyssa was very gracious at the end, especially considering the weird fake crying that Detox was doing. 

I actually feel for Roxxy, it seems like she is ready to go home and is almost embarrassed by being saved continually.

[rustyspigot]

This episode was a little too Drag U for me.

Aubrey Plaza's face bugs me.

Alaska needs a time out in the Shade Closet (or whatever that was called) to pray.

[MeloraH]

I kind of put this current miscarriage of justice on the judges (although, you know, have a backbone Detox) for making it a bottom three when it really seemed like, from what they said, it was more of a top three and a bottom two.

[Bo-Peep22]

I'm so spectacularly pissed with this elimination.

I still love her, but good lord Detox didn't even try to bluff her way through why she was sending Alyssa home over Roxxy. On one hand, at least she didn't try to pull an Alaska, ("She gave me this shirt.") but on the other hand...wow. I really have to hand it to Alyssa for being such a classy queen because that was some serious bull corn right there. 

I'm thinking Alaska is probably going to win but it's going to be very bittersweet-Detox and Alaska definitely lost some fans along the way.

I'm hoping for a Katya win but I'm not holding my breath. Rupaul isn't privy to all the shade that's thrown around behind the scenes so as far as he's concerned-Alaska's been slaying the field while the rest of them eat dirt. (though my baby Katya has been runner-up quite a few times so if she can just pull off an amazing finale week we may be crowning our first Russian Queen.)

Keeping my fingers crossed. 

[kieyra]

Hmm. And some of us got called out for referring to Alaska as "smug" earlier in the season. 

I miss her sweetness and vulnerability. A lot. 

[annewithaneee]

1 hour ago, Jesse said:

And yeah, Big Brother this season made a whole Thing  after people were talking about giving money to their friends, and not even in exchange for anything, just because they are friends.  

Ooooh, that's interesting!! I didn't watch BB this year, but I remember Vanessa a season or two ago making plans (don't remember if they came to fruition or not) to offer people some of her own personal $$$ if they voted her way, gaming the rules a bit. I'm not sure if there are legal implications (maybe reality competition shows have similar regulations to traditional game shows), or if it's just a fairness thing, but I think most shows consider this behavior completely out of bounds. 

[HunterHunted]

1 hour ago, briochetwist said:

So much to hate. Alaska's temper tantrum, Detox relying on her plastic ass to win a lip synch, Katya losing YET ANOTHER lip synch, and the biggie, Alyssa going home instead of Roxxy. 

I hate this season. I hate the queens sending each other home. I hate the top two lip synching because there's not much variation in the winners, it's just blah...  Not sure I care enough to tune in next week.

The queens sending each other home wouldn't be a problem if we didn't have this cabal of season 5 bitches who are gunning for everyone else or if they had at least adhered to their "one with the worst critique" goes home pact.

Alaska's bratty tantrum and bribery were beyond the pale. 

This was probably the only time that Rolaskatox has had a decent argument for saving Roxxxy. She's been pretty bad all season, but this was one of her better efforts and if this hadn't been the end of this season, Roxxxy would have safe with this effort. Alyssa has been mostly in the middle during the season. Alaska has been a front runner all season, but had a bad week. Katya said as much too. Sometime around the time that Tatianna and Ginger Minj went home is when the remaining queens should have had a discussion about what to do as the they start getting closer to the end.

[Julie Firestone]

I was living for Katya's Ann Jillian look. I was *It's a Living* for it.

...

...yeah, my wife didn't laugh either.

[Ananayel]

I hope someday PhiPhi can look at the classy sportsmanship shown by Alyssa (arguably robbed twice) and Tati (definitely robbed once, possibly can make an argument for twice) and feel spectacularly foolish. And Roxxxy has come a long way from her season - that's how a redemption is done, Miss O'Hara. Ultimately Alaska knocked herself down quite a bit with that ugly display - which was foreshadowed in the workroom when she said to her mom that she still cried when she didn't get her way.

Katya's stone cold "Party" was every.thing.

[Kaboom 2.0]

WTF was that, Alaska? Damn. And why didn't the judges entertain themselves tonight like they have been?? 

I do not watch any of those Real Housewives shows but would damn sure watch Real Housewives of Minsk! 

Love, love, love the family members, all of them although Alyssa and her sister had me sniffling whenever they were together and especially after Alyssa's WTF-elimination. Alyssa continues to show her class and professionalism and I hope that she gets tons more bookings, work, etc from it. 

My second fave to win was Katya but after Alaska's bizarre tantrum Katya just moved up to the front of my list. Girl, watch yo'self and I hope hope hope she snatches that All Star crown. To paraphrase Alaska in next week's premiere (I have a baaaad memory, ya'll, please correct if I'm wrong) to Detox and Roxxxy: "remember during our season it was us versus a freak? who won then?" Hopefully the freak will win this time around too.

[Granimal]

1 hour ago, kieyra said:

Hmm. And some of us got called out for referring to Alaska as "smug" earlier in the season. 

I miss her sweetness and vulnerability. A lot. 

I apologize if this was meant for me, since I think I'm the only one that didn't think Alaska was smug. I think I'm the only Alaska apologist on the board. I didn't mean to "call anyone out". I don't care if other people have opinions that are different than mine. I didn't see any smugness at the time, but I didn't hate on anyone that did. I'm not going to apologize for having an alternate opinion, but I will always apologize if my tone comes across rudely.

[phoenix780]

Um. 

I have to remember that all reality show all star competitions suck and this at least had good episodes. This was, sadly, not one of them. 

I hope Roxxxy doesn't get too much flack for mediocrity. She's not an awful person, I barely remember she's on. 

So...um...Katya has to magically take this now, right? Triumph over anxiety is a great story, and this is all about plot. 

Also, super ironic that they're protecting Roxxxy because of friendship when she had no problem sending Coco home. Is that ironic or just stupid? 

Edited October 7, 2016 by phoenix780

[film noire]

4 hours ago, annewithaneee said:

I've been giving her the benefit of the doubt, because I was a fan of hers going in, but tonight she surpassed the shittiness of Phi2. What a smug, entitled, nasty piece of work she is. 

Same journey for me -- but now, I raise my bottle of chilled wodka and say: Alasshole is dead! Long live Katya, the  Czarina! 

3 hours ago, OhSayNow said:

 Alyssa was very gracious at the end, especially considering the weird fake crying that Detox was doing. 

Fake crying but played with the same hysteria shown by Shelly Duvall in the final minutes in "The Shining" -- the fuck? Is wrong? With that rotten little clique? -- no need to fool me twice, ladies. Done and doner. 

I bow my head and think of fruity loops.

 

ETA: The great surprise for me this season was not only Alaska slowly melting into something I no longer liked (never mind loved) but that Alyssa Edwards shot upwards, all genuine sass and charm and -- tonight -- the graciousness of a First Lady handling a self pitying weasel demanding petting, even while biting. Somewhere along the way, Alyssa's drag (and her out of drag self) grew giant wings.

Edited October 7, 2016 by film noire

[rozen]

Whoo, that Katya v Alaska stare-down after Alaska stated her case and got nothing was fabulous. And Katya was great in that lip-sync again, and burned the runway. What does it take for them to let her win? Maybe she didn't sign whatever devil's bargain Rolaskatox did and they're terrified she'll actually trim the fat? Her and her mother are priceless and I love it.

Alyssa knows her career is more than this competition, she was on there to increase her exposure. I think Alaska lost the plot on that, what is being the AS2 winner going to do for her that being the sardonic barbie-bot everyone (previously) loved wouldn't? She surely gets paid more as an American Apparel Ad Girl than what she would get as a winner. I really don't get what she was thinking there, at all. 

Roxxy is useless and has stolen spotlight from queens who were better, and needed the exposure more, like Tati. She may be nicer now, but I literally don't care because she's being hauled like driftwood by her buddies, clunking witless survivors in the head, and causing them to drown. Whatever parts of being a drag queen she excels at (which must be a lot, because everyone throws their panties for her), it's not anything that translates on tv so there's no reason for her to be there.

Blah, Detox. Blah.

Edited October 8, 2016 by rozen

[Sew Sumi]

12 minutes ago, phoenix780 said:

Um. 

I have to remember that all reality show all star competitions suck and this at least had good episodes. This was, sadly, not one of them. 

I hope Roxxxy doesn't get too much flack for mediocrity. She's not an awful person, I barely remember she's on. 

So...um...Katya has to magically take this now, right? Triumph over anxiety is a great story, and this is all about plot. 

Plot dictates that Katya will take the next two lip synchs, setting up the inevitable Alaska/Katya showdown. Now, if they taped the ending a year ago when they filmed this, or whether they are really relying on fan votes, I guess we will see? But as everyone has said before me, WoW seems to have a lot invested in Alaska already for this not to be a pre-determined crowning. 

eta: I've never liked Alaska from her very first HIEEEEEEEE!!!!! I get her appeal, but it's never been mine. Silly me, I preferred her ex during her season. At least it was original. 

Edited October 7, 2016 by Sew Sumi

[CaioF]

Not much to say about the competition, judges were pretty much spot on this week. Katya and Detox stoled the show. Lip Sync could go either way, Katya had the best interpretation tho, but Detox ass won it for her.  BTW, if the victory was based on the challenges like it was on regular seasons, Katya would have at least two easy victories on the last two episodes. Lmao, even when queens were supose to react all like ´´aww, my mooom, cry cry cry`` when they got announced for the challenge, she made me crack up with ´´ my mom? I have that fuck$%$ bitch...``

Now, as far the elimination, the damm rollaxxkatox. Ru keep doing his surprise face (as last week with Alaska´s choice). How should it be a surprise? They are staying together, and they will hopefully sink together with the public vote. And the most revealing: Alaska´s mask fell of, we saw her ugly side and it was lame. This week exposed her limitations (very predictable jokes, like the horse face and the hie flag.. that was supose to be enough? Your direct competition twitsted the callenge and made a character/joke about her mo as a slave and made it  funny as hell), and than she act like that? Be frustated, sure... But that? Wow/Logo/Ru and the fans gaver her so much credit that she feels the queen of queens. Maybe now its time to face that she had way more credit she deserved.

#teamkatya

Edited October 7, 2016 by CaioF

[Fiftyninth]

Rather than discuss the terrible/predictable elimination choice, I'm going to make an unrelated observation:

Isn't it a true missed opportunity that Ms. Tantrum's mother/daughter act wasn't called "Alaska and Hawiieeeeeeeeeeee!"?

Edited October 7, 2016 by Fiftyninth
Avoid using the same word twice

[CaioF]

19 minutes ago, Fiftyninth said:

Rather than discuss the terrible/predictable elimination choice, I'm going to make an unrelated observation:

Isn't it a true missed opportunity that Ms. Tantrum's mother/daughter act wasn't called "Alaska and Hawiieeeeeeeeeeee!"?

Her sense of humor doesnt take that much of inteligence I guess. Just by the fact she had to rely so much on just that Hie thing for so long, shows the level of ther humor.

Going along with the idea to forget the elimination: Shout out to Katya´s mom! That ´´fucki%¨&# bitch`` was hilarious on stage, showing were some of her son talent came from.

Edited October 7, 2016 by CaioF

[Nerdlove]

I got a different feel from Alaska's meltdown. It wasn't a good look, don't get me wrong, and I think it will lose her the show, but what I saw was a mini-psychological breakdown. What I mean is: I think this competition means TOO MUCH to Alaska. I don't know if it's even about the money to her, or the fame. Maybe it's about catching up to Sharon, or just sort of proving something to herself. But I don't know. It seems to just be the THING SHE HAS TO HAVE. Maybe it's partly because of getting sober? Maybe she promised herself that she'd get sober so she could win All-Stars? That's the kind of thing I've done to motivate myself -- set my eye on an almost impossible goal. Regardless, the degree that it matters to her shows in how carefully she planned and how hard she's worked. She worked on her Mae West really hard and probably planned a lot those bon mots. I bet she even pre-thought out some catch-all ideas for things to do for the expected range of challenges -- a commercial, acting challenges, and so on, to include her catch phrases. Even the way she comes across in her talking head interviews. She has this *LOOK* on her face and I've seen it before. I'm in comedy -- improv, to be specific -- and a lot of my friends/acquaintances have their eye on the top: SNL. There is a certain look that people get when they have their eye set on something and they realize they *might* not get it. They've based a lot of who they think they are around this idea of success. So, tonight, I actually felt sorry for Alaska because that was the most honest thing she's shown since she got here -- in fact, that may have been the ONLY honest thing she's shown since she got here -- and she seemed so empty and sad to me that I felt sympathy. Don't get me wrong, like I said. She was a mess and it could easily be interpreted as entitled and immature and yeah it kind of was. But I know what it does to people, to base who they are on an external goal. It doesn't end well. (That's two weeks in a row that I think I've offered up some armchair psychiatry. Hmmm... what does that say about me?)

Anyway, here's something interesting. I went to some hashtag counter online and checked all four of the hashtag "teams". At about 9pm EST there was a large spike for each one, and another smaller spike at about 11pm EST. But it was on a completely different scale. For the 9pm spike, Katya was VASTLY in the lead with 10,000 estimated by the site (based on a 1% sample of tweets). Detox had around 220, Alaska had 600, Roxxxy had less than 100 (and barely breaks 100 if you include the spelling "roxy"). I mean, even if there's a pretty big margin of error here, Katya is still insanely in the lead.

 

[Zuleikha]

It's not even a kindness to Roxxxy at this point. She's just going to be remembered as the mediocre queen who was saved over more deserving queens.

I think it's short-sighted of Detox and Alaska, too. They're risking fans turning on them. It was one thing to send home Tatianna back at the beginning when she arguably did perform the worst and didn't have a huge fanbase. But keeping Roxxxy multiple times looks horrible! I will be shocked if they don't have to defend their decision in every single interview.

[Glaadrial]

I wrote in last week's episode thread that if Kati had chosen Roxxy's lipstick case that there could be the possibility of scripting being involved in the choices that were made with regards to who won that lip-sync. Building on that, if ever there was a week where having a bottom two instead of a bottom three really makes sense, then this is that week. Not only did Alyssa challenge for being in the top two, but also, we bore witness to putting the Real into Reality TV. The tears she shed, IMO, were arguably the most sincere ever recorded in DR Herstory! I'm not a fan of tears on reality TV, but Alyssa's grief was heartfelt and very moving. Moreover, her interaction with her sister was also possibly the most real of anything we've ever seen on a Reality TV show. I mean, we all know the girl can't act her way out of paper bag, but this season for Alyssa Edwards, as far as I'm concerned, is worthy of an Emmy (like the one Bette Midler got for being Johnny Carson's last guest).

I can only conclude that RuPaul has another script in mind for the outcome of this race. I outright reject the notion that Ru wanted to "fix" season 5 by having Rolaskatox in the top three and giving the crown to Alaska. I may be proven wrong next week, but there is no way that I can believe that Kati would have sent my beloved Alyssa home this week. This suggests to me that, while she may have legitimately lost her first LSFYL, Katya's subsequent defeats were more likely a function of whom she chose to eliminate. Detox was interesting, but her actual lip-syncing was not tight, Kati's most certainly was. It's a testament to her performance that even with favorable editing for Detox, Katya still came off looking like the winner.

As to the script that Ru may have in mind, I can only hope that the season she does want to fix is S7.  This season was put in the can shortly after Ru broke our hearts by calling out Kati when preparing to announce the winner that season. Since Ru is asking for viewer's opinions, I assume that the ending is not in the can. In the past two weeks, Kati's stock has risen exponentially. Having Tati and Alyssa still in the mix would complicate matters greatly, because those two came to play. Alyssa, more so even than Tati, really surprised me with her performances in the challenges, on the runway and even in the workroom.  She rammed her way through every single stumbling block from her season. I think she may have a real shot at getting Miss Congeniality, although that's more Tati's thing...perhaps another tie! In any case Alyssa did manage to do better than fifth alternate, so it's all good.

After tonight's show, I'm predicting that if Ru chooses to listen to the fans, then this thing is in the bag for Katya...by a lot!

[violet and green]

An adult tantie. (Not entirely surprised, as entitlement entered the building day one, but what footage! Yikes.)

And a graceful and gracious exit.

And Katya robbed by ass, again.

This thing better redeem itself, but I'm not holding my breath.

[CaioF]

Another thing that bothered me: Detox, on her excuse to save Roxxy, saying she hasnt being judge fairly, that even this week she shouldnt be on the bottom.

[annewithaneee]

5 hours ago, Glaadrial said:

Since Ru is asking for viewer's opinions, I assume that the ending is not in the can.

I believe that starting with Season 4, the show has always had a fan vote/opinion supposedly factored into the results. In theory since all final queens have a crowning taped to avoid the winner being leaked months before the show even airs, they could change the results to give weight to fan response, but I don't think they ever had or will. I think it's just to boost social media engagement for the show. If the results were legitimately factored in, I think it would have to be from one easily trackable source rather than all mentions, hashtags, and poll results across multiple platforms. 

One other interesting thing I realized when I woke up this morning. I still think she's the winner, but Alaska's edit/arc is very LaGanja and PhiPhi to me, which I find interesting and strangely satisfying. Like them, Alaska is guilty of transparent self-production, and this show historically doesn't reward that (which would make Alaska winning fairly shocking, still think it's going to happen though). She tried to construct a version of herself that endears herself to the judges and twitter/reddit while also doing whatever it took to stay ahead of the twists. It's basically an impossible task, and it finally broke her down. When she lost her shit and her (now quite irritating) vocal affect, it was just like the last time Ganj broke down on the runway. That's how she really talks, and that's who she really is. She's a hyper competitive, poor sport, who will do basically anything to get what she wants. Not the worst thing in the world, but it may make her stock tank. It'll be interesting to see how much damage control she'll feel the need to do, and what that ends up looking like. 

[okerry]

Real disappointment this week. Alaska was growing on me - girl truly does have talent, and I think the Mae West/Bette Davis proved it - but, wow. Just wow. I don't want to see her win now.

Never cared too much for Alyssa, but she's won me over by being so endearing. And yes, someone else posted that Alyssa is smart enough to know that you don't have to win this thing to parlay it into big success and making your dreams come true. Alyssa will be the Jennifer Hudson of RPDR, lol.

Detox has some awesome looks sometimes, but just doesn't grab me. YMMV, of course.

I have to say that Tatianna was robbed, robbed, robbed last week. Her T-Boz was drop-dead beautiful and she had some moves to go with it. How does something like THAT get sent home???

Roxxxy - no. Just no. Should have been gone a long time ago.

Please, no more queens voting each other off the island. There's no incentive to keep the best, but only to keep the worst so as to cut out the competition. THAT is why Tati was eliminated.

KATYA FTW. Loved her in her own season and here, too. She is fantastically entertaining, has the best sense of humor on the planet, doesn't take herself too seriously (anxiety aside,) and can be a fabulous beauty when she wants to be. #teamkatya

[DollEyes]

This week, in a nutshell: Detox showed her ass literally & Alaska showed her ass figuratively. Alaska's tantrum was bad enough, but attempted bribery should have been grounds for disqualification. I'm over Alaska.  As for Detox, anyone who's been in the bottom not once, not twice, but five times including this week should have been sent home, friend or not.  At this point, eliminating Roxxxy would have been a mercy killing. Roxxy's being saved again isn't just deep-fried fuckery; it's burnt to a crisp.

  Re Rolaskatox, IMO they're worse than the so-called "Heathers"(Raja, Manila, Delta & Carmen) from Season 4. At least when those girls had to lip-sync against each other,  while they hated losing a friend, in the end they did what they had to do to save themselves, not their squad. In fairness, that was Ru's choice to make, but if they had to eliminate each other then like they do now, I think that they would have chosen to cut two of their own, if they had been in the bottom as much as Roxxxy.  Although Detox and Roxxxy are good on their own,  Rolaskatox together are true evil and it must be destroyed.

  Alyssa, like Tati before her, was robbed.  Alyssa's exit interview was pure class, from start to finish. 

Katya for the win! Please, Mama Ru, make it so! 

[CaioF]

Also: Why weeks ago with more queens we had a bottom 2 out of nowhere Katya X Ginger and now, out of nowhere once again, we have a bottom 3 when if it was a bottom 2, it would be between Roxxxy and Alaska? It would even be more suspensefull, make some drama for tv have  the rolaskatox vote against themselves, but somehow, producers made it easier for hem always given them the power to choose who goes home most of the time/always giving them at least one choice to vote out someone else.

[cpcathy]

Wow, Alaska just killed any goodwill she had from me! I'm also done with her. Detox was foolish not to strategically eliminate her. Dumb. Katya for the win!

[Kostgard]

Oh, Alaska. I still like her, but man, that was not a good look on her. I still think she's going to win, but I agree that this is a strange winner's edit, unless she gets some sort of "redemption" in the next episode. Maybe this is WoW throwing some shade her way for breaking her NDA and telling her boyfriend what happened on the show, and then boyfriend leaked it on line (because, man does Ru HATE it when people leak stuff. That's why they have the stupid finale where they film crowning all three and we no longer get a genuine reaction from people when they win). 

And Detox...oy. Points for honesty, I guess, but that was just stupid. She said in her talking head that there was reason for elimination in each case, but...no. The only two options that were legitimate were Alaska and Roxxxy. Eliminate Alaska in a strategic move to knock out the top player so you have a better chance of winning (which is what Alaska was afraid of, hence the temper-tantrum), or eliminate Roxxxy because she's basically been in the bottom all season long. Alyssa should have been safe because she wasn't so strong that she was a real threat like Alaska, and yet she wasn't so poor that she was constantly in the bottom like Roxxxy. And I agree that keeping Roxxxy around for this long when she is well past her expiration date in this competition is not a kindness. It's just building up resentment in the fan base and now she's the queen who stayed in place of more deserving queens because she kept getting saved by her friends.

Alyssa, though, is smart enough to keep her eyes on the prize and keep it classy. Even back in season five when they eliminated her over Coco for reasons I can't even begin to fathom, she kept her exit classy. I think she knew the minute Detox was declared the winner that she was out, and she was prepared for it. She came off smelling like a rose while RoLaskaTox did not, and she will reap the rewards of that.

So, yes, we're back to RolaskaTox plus one outsider again. But if this time they don't throw Roxxxy out in fourth place, I will call total BS. And people will riot if Katya is given the boot instead. The final three absolutely should be Alaska, Detox and Katya. They've been the strongest. I keep hoping we get a repeat of season five where the outsider ends up defeating that three-headed monster in the end, though my money is still on Alaska. Unless she pissed off people enough for violating the NDA that they want to punish her for it, it feels inevitable. 

 

In other Katya news, she was interviewed on Tom and Lorenzo's podcast this morning, and she was great. Without being really shady, she was pretty honest about the show and people on it (she agreed with T-Lo when they said the show is actually pretty scripted, and she basically called out Phi Phi when she said that if you don't know what you're getting into when you sign up for this type of show, you're an idiot, that basically while WoW weaves the web they sit in, the contestants are the ones providing the content, and finally, she talked about how cyber-bullying isn't quite like real-life bullying where someone throws a brick at you when you go outside your house and if you feel people are bullying you online, put down the phone and walk away). Sadly (for me), she also mentioned that she doesn't think she's going to do drag for much longer, but her reasons are totally legit.

Edited October 7, 2016 by Kostgard

[Ruby Gillis]

10 hours ago, Glaadrial said:

This suggests to me that, while she may have legitimately lost her first LSFYL, Katya's subsequent defeats were more likely a function of whom she chose to eliminate. Detox was interesting, but her actual lip-syncing was not tight, Kati's most certainly was. It's a testament to her performance that even with favorable editing for Detox, Katya still came off looking like the winner.

Katya posted her RuCall video this morning and says that she forgot the words during the lipsync.  She filmed it prior to the episode airing but she's said in the past that she thinks they do edit the lipsyncs to look closer. 

[Nerdlove]

If I were either Alaska or Detox, and I genuinely loved my friend Roxxxy -- and I think they actually do love each other -- I would eliminate her at this point. Because she knows she isn't going to win the season, and staying long past her expiration date is just going to make the fans hate her more. Roxxxy's main "mission" for the show was ru-demption, after all, and I'd say that so far, she actually pretty much *has* redeemed herself. If she had gone two episodes ago, especially at the hands of Alaska or Detox, and handled her elimination gracefully, she could have earned even more popularity from fans. As it is, she's just going down in popularity every week. So keeping Roxxy, if it was genuinely done out of affection (and again, I think that's a real part of it), was misguided at best and could even be seen as inadvertent sabotage. Luckily, I think fans hate PhiPhi and now Alaska so much that they don't have as much room left in their hate-buckets to fit Roxxxy in there.

[AntManBee]

I have admittedly been a Roxxxy defender for most of the season.   Now I am actually beginning to feel bad for Roxxxy.  Many times I feel she in unfairly ganged up upon and seen by many the new scapegoat villain now that Phi Phi is gone.  My issue with this is that Roxxxy literally hasn't done anything villainous.  Rather she has been a supportive friend.  While she is not the most competitive queen left, and certainly bombed a couple challenges, she is not the one making the final decisions.  Katya was the first lip syncer to select Roxxxy.  I suspect Ru/WoW really have a part in selecting who wins the Lip Syncs depending on which lip stick case they selected, but again, that is not Roxxxy's fault.  

2 hours ago, okerry said:

I have to say that Tatianna was robbed, robbed, robbed last week. Her T-Boz was drop-dead beautiful and she had some moves to go with it. How does something like THAT get sent home???

I stand by my opinion from last week.  The T-Boz look was cute, for a second.  It does not stand up to scrutiny though.  The look supposedly references the Creep video, but doesn't look anything like luxurious nightwear.  Instead, she came off looking more sporty, like Da Brat, then sultry like T-Boz.  Knowing three simple dance moves from 1995 doesn't impress me much.  In Raja & Raven's Toot or Boot, they also note Tati's shoe choice, which upon reflection, was unfortunate.  

I find it interesting that Alyssa supposedly 'flipped the script' by not eliminating Katya, the weakest contestant that week... then Detox eliminates Alyssa, instead of Alaska, who was clearly the weakest of this week.  Alaska's melt down was sort of legendary.  I felt like I was watching Gloria Swanson or Joan Crawford.   It was a train wreck of emotions, but so marvelously captivating and campy.

At the beginning of the season, I was excited for the elimination, Survivor-like, changes that were made.  It certainly has made the season more interesting.  I don't blame queens for playing strategically, or saving their friends in hopes their friends save them (a strategy in itself...), or simply picking the worst of the week.  I can't hate on any of the queens or their choices because, really, its a drag queen "reality" show.   I think it's getting a little eerie how fervent many online are reacting to the show.

11 minutes ago, Kostgard said:

[Katya on TLo's Podcast] talked about how cyber-bullying isn't quite like real-life bullying where someone throws a brick at you when you go outside your house and if you feel people are bullying you online, put down the phone and walk away).

While I didn't listen to the interview, I understand the literal sentiment Katya is making.  But I am a little surprised that Katya, with admitted self confidence issues, would be so cavalier about online bullying ... which finds ways to mess with one's psyche and often can develop and fester a type of feeling that can develop into actual in-person violence.  Bullying is mostly about harassment and creating unease, and it sounds like she is almost excusing the online bullying of others because she is currently the Chosen One by the social media populous.  Maybe she elaborates more?

[Zuleikha]

Yeah, that's exactly what I think. I know the show isn't live, so they don't have the benefit of knowing how well Roxxxy was coming off, but it sucks for her. I'm going to try really hard not to let my frustration with the results spill over onto Roxxxy. She's been classy; she's been beautiful; she's even been humble and shown awareness of her limitations. She'll never be a great comedy queen or actress, but she is still a great, polished, etnertaining performer. As far as we can tell, it's not her fault that her friends are behaving poorly.

In theory since all final queens have a crowning taped to avoid the winner being leaked months before the show even airs, they could change the results to give weight to fan response, but I don't think they ever had or will.

I think they have since they started it. Per rumor, Sharon Needles was NOT the Absolut-preferred winner but the fan outcry for her was too strong. Jinkx and Bianca were probably both fan and show choice. I am nigh positive that Violet was the fan choice over show-choice Ginger. Ginger slew the challenges, had a proven career as a dependable queen, and would have given the show its first plus-size winner. But her edit near the end KILLED her and Violet ran away with every fan polling thing that I saw.

At this point, if Katya makes it to the end, I think she's guaranteed victory (although I would argue that Alaska has actually outperformed her). My only fear is that Rolaskatoxx will knock her out. I suspect that Ru's going to take the power back for picking f3, though. I can't see her letting an obvious clique get to f3, especially over someone with Katya's fanbase. OTOH, I wouldn't have expected her to do a b3 and give Rolaskatoxx the opportunity to evade having to eliminate one of their member.

[OnceSane]

IDK if Ru thought this would cause more chatter or what, but most of us called this when they announced the queens for AS2, and when we found out the elimination formula.  Way to have your show be extra predictable, Ru!  Though I didn't think Alaska would figuratively show her ass the way she did. 

So glad Alyssa kept it classy while being robbed.

#TeamKatya 

[ClareWalks]

1 hour ago, Nerdlove said:

 

If I were either Alaska or Detox, and I genuinely loved my friend Roxxxy -- and I think they actually do love each other -- I would eliminate her at this point. Because she knows she isn't going to win the season, and staying long past her expiration date is just going to make the fans hate her more.

 

You said what I was going to say. I HATED Roxxxy in season 5, but I have come to really like her as a person this season (not a huge fan of her drag, although she is beautiful). The fact that she is being saved over and over is getting very annoying, and the only thing that keeps me liking Roxxxy is reminding myself that it's not HER fault other people won't let her go. I mean, last episode she was practically asking to leave, and they just keep her hangin' on.

Alaska's tantrum...oh dear. Not a good look. I really like both Alaska and Katya, but the level of sincerity and humility that Katya has continued to display has put her to the top of my list. In the world of drag, where artifice is put on full display, a queen being as real as Katya is so refreshing and necessary. The earnestness that Alaska used to have seems to be gone now, and I wish it would return.

[annewithaneee]

1 hour ago, Zuleikha said:

I am nigh positive that Violet was the fan choice over show-choice Ginger. Ginger slew the challenges, had a proven career as a dependable queen, and would have given the show its first plus-size winner. But her edit near the end KILLED her and Violet ran away with every fan polling thing that I saw.

I thought this too, initially, but I think the fan reaction echoed the show's direction. I don't think there was much likelihood that fan reaction surprised production/Ru and they switched it up. Granted S7 lacked for likeable characters in the final three and Violet had nothing like the strong winner's narrative that Bianca or Bob had, but in Untucked especially they knew they had a villain on their hands. That was an edit that was confident of what fan reaction would likely be. The fan polling confirmed it, but I don't think she was ever their pick. Which is too bad, because while she didn't have a breakout fan favorite personality like Latrice, she offered versatility I don't think we've seen from any other plus size queens, and was who I personally wanted to win.

[okerry]

No matter who wins this time, I just want to see Latrice Royale next time time there's an All-Stars competition. That is all.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Brings Tears, Love, And Grief To Family Week

Also: voguing!