S06.E11: Glitter Ball

[radishcake]

The queens compete in a pageant of jewelry inspired couture.

[heckkitty]

Didn't we already have to put up with this Kardashian once already this season? Having trouble getting guest judges, Ru?

[Nerdlove]

If he has to reuse guest judges, why not reuse that actress from "Community"? She's such a fan of the show she'd probably be delighted to come back every week, and even if she doesn't have specialized drag knowledge, she's smart and more importantly, she's game.

[dolphincorn]

At least it's the smart Kardashian.

[Mya Stone]

No. Just no. That is all.

[Ananayel]

That was some bullshit, right there.

[heckkitty]

Uh-oh.  I'm on the West Coast and not liking the sounds of this. What happened?

[Nerdlove]

I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't....

 

On a small, un-sad note, in Untucked (if anyone was able to watch it through their anger), did anyone else notice that the drawing little Lola made for "lady-Roy" was clearly of RuPaul? There was even a word bubble, "Shante you stay!" It made me a little twitchy that Bianca/Roy didn't figure that out. Poor kid, having her drawing misunderstood on national TV! Don't worry, kiddo! *I* knew what you drew and it was great!

[Aldo Alvarez]

I was so mad this is the first time ever that I couldn't be bothered to watch Untucked right away.

[Monty]

Boooooo.

 

On the bright side, I like that Untucked started with two ready-made drama bombs in Ben's comment that Bianca was "sailing through" and everyone picking Darienne to leave. And both of those got dealt with and dismissed in like five minutes.

[Stardancer Supreme]

Darienne should have gone home.  Those outfits were a hot mess!   That is all.

[Kaboom 2.0]

Like I posted over at TWoP...that was some shady bullshit, Miss RuPaul. SHADY. And stop inviting Kardashians to be judges, they lower the quality of your show with their presence.

 

To me Adore clearly had help from the wig down, Darienne's runways were the worst ever and Michelle gagging over Adore's greatness was OTT.

 

I just realized that I didn't post anything about Courtney until I realized...yeah. She was just there yet again.

 

Need more time to process this (rubs temples)...

 

[Sarah D. Bunting]

Here's what Mark Blankenship thought of the episode!

[Nerdlove]

The person who should be angriest about this is Joslyn! Before this, she had a good chance at Miss Congeniality. Now it looks like Ben will win Miss Congeniality. Depending on what that prize is, maybe it's the best thing for Ben that she was eliminated now. If she'd made it top three, she would have lost to Bianca anyway. This way she's a lock for Miss Congeniality. And it's not as if she needed more time on the show to get fans/exposure -- she already made her mark. So, while I'm seriously bummed about her elimination, I've come to grips with it, because now she's going to win some sort of decent prize. What was it last year, $10k or something?

[kscoaster]

I was so mad this is the first time ever that I couldn't be bothered to watch Untucked right away.

 

 

I usually start spoiling myself around this point in the season so I can work through the first few stages of grief/anger before watching the episode.  Untucked was actually pretty good.

 

Sad about Dela, but it's probably worse for Darienne to have won the LSFYL.  This just gives her one more week to make people dislike her even more..,

[Ananayel]

It's not even that I'm mad Adore won - I can see it. She nailed the banjee girl (I'm still not 100% sure what that actually means, but somehow I know none of the others were really it.) Her executive realness was a different twist on the power suit, and she sold it hard. And really, for the handmade dress, it looked like she just decided to work within her limits and hot glue some tulle around a premade corset. As long as Darienne was around in that droopy said brown thing, she still wasn't the worst for that look. Bianca missed the mark on banjee girl, and gave the same old same old for the eleganza dress. Very well done, but essentially the same.

 

No, the problem I have is that Darienne didn't get the boot. Figures that this is the time they decide not to consider Ben's body of work (two challenge wins, many close to the top finishes, multiple mini-challenge wins), vs. Darienne's (one win, and they virtually came out and said that she was just the best of the worst, and if Ben had been on that team, Ben would have won.) Now they decide to base everything on a lackluster lipsync, where it did look like Ben lost the words for a second or two. I've been pretty much okay with all the eliminations so far, but that was just ridiculous.

[buttercupia]

Ben has been clocked on her sillhouettes before, and her Banjee and Executive looks were both terrible. Her glitter look was the same old same old and she'd been told about it already.  Don't get me wrong, i love Ben and figured she was a lock for top 3 so I'm very disappointed.  But Darienne killed that lip synch.  None of her looks were great but at least she had a decent concept going even if the execution was poor.

 

I'm about tired of seeing Bianca come down the runway the same way all the time too.  And I love her to death.  She's my favorite. But she needs to mix it up.

[Holly F.]

Adore's pure joy at seeing her 15-year-old self in Untucked was magical. I, too, would have pointed out the hickey—especially if it had been my first one! Someone (DeLa?) asked if she was at the batting cages, but to me it looked like she was standing on a freeway overpass. I just love that chica.

[haydensterling]

Ugh, Darienne is still here.  Why?

 

Seriously, her looks last night were so busted.  I can't even with her.  Comparing her work thus far to BenDeLa's and it's Ben all the way.  This is the most boring run-up to the finale ever.

[eli]

Oh man, the moment Ru turned to Darienne first, I turned the tv off. I can't. It's not just that DeLa is my favorite. It's that while DeLa didn't do a good job of hitting the three challenge points, Darienne didn't AND put out three horrific outfits. Not to mention the rest of the season to this point. So what the hell, no.

 

As for the rest... I totally understand why Adore won this challenge. The only one who actually fit all the descriptions. Good for her.

 

I'm incredibly glad Michelle read Courtney for her outfits. I'm so tired of them.

 

And as much as I love Bianca, yeah, she did in fact need to be a little more versatile, and it's coming off worse because she is the one who had no excuse not to kick everyone's asses in this challenge.

 

Ugh. I'm going to have to watch the rest on tivo delay so I can ffwd through everything but Bianca and Adore.

[Nerdlove]

If anyone is interested in what Ben wrote on the mirror -- did you notice it was a total novel? -- someone on youtube of all places transcribed it: "Dear top 4- howz it going? I'm doing pretty good. Sometimes you have to have Mama Ru you atcha a bunch of times before it sinks in. I guess I never reached that number of times, Darian. I knew the second I was up against you i waz out the door. You get it lady. I wish you all the luck in the world and only harbor enough resentment to write a long pointless message that you will have to clean and clean and clean and clean. But fo real tho you girlz are my heroes. XX BDLC"

[Stardancer Supreme]

I said the same thing when I saw the mirror.  "Damn, Bendela practically covered the mirror!"  Heh.

[Egg]

They might as well have just called this episode "BIANCA WINS, EVERYBODY!"

Seriously, the elimination of her only serious threat, and the gagging over her that the other queens did in untucked, was pretty much a giant spoiler for the finale.

[Kayleigh1717]

Really unhappy with the outcome.  If Darrienne had gone home, I would be ok with any of the final  4 winning. Now I have to grit my teeth through another episode and hope Ru gets it right next week.

[heckkitty]

I think Bianca winning was already a foregone conclusion, but yeah, this cemented it.  And I'm fine with that.  But I was really hoping that they were editing Courtney to be bitchy because Ru seems to have this thing for having one person everyone hates at the end, and that would mean Darriene would be out.  I'm bummed, to say the least. This would have been an excellent finale without her.

Edited April 30, 2014 by heckkitty

[Milaxx]

I think Bianca deserves the win. I hope she wins, however Ru also seems to like a diamond in the rough. Adore was one of the few this season to understand her weaknesses and also see the assist given to her by Ru & Bianca and run with it. Adore has been spoon fed this season, but she deserves credit for taking those lessons and running with it. Trinity didn't, Ben de la didn't, even Courtney hasn't. Not using this platform to stretch and grow is the downfall of many a queen. I want Bianca to win, but I won't be surprised if Adore takes it. As much as I think Darriene deserved to go home, I wasn't that upset over Ben de la going home because I didn't see her as final 3 or the winner. 

[Kaboom 2.0]

Thank you for providing Ben's mirror message, nerdlove, even on pause I had a difficult time figuring what the whole thing said. :-) And LOVE that part of Ben's message is "I wish you all the luck in the world and only harbor enough resentment to write a long pointless message that you will have to clean and clean and clean and clean." HA! LOL

[MrMattyMatt]

Based on the lip sync, Darienne certainly won, but overall Ben should have stayed.  I think Ru is falling to the pressure of not keeping a true plus-sized Queen in the mix til the end. 

 

I agree with Adore's win, she really cleaned it up this week.  I'm over the "Jesus knows" crap, it gets old fast.

 

I thought Bianca's reaction to Ben's comment was unexpected.  Yes, she's known for her crude humor, but really...  Maybe she was crumbling under the pressure of a less than glittering critque.  I do think she's all that but if she wins it will be anit-climactic. 

 

Courtney was just "there" - I agree.

[marsha]

Yes, at this point it would seem it's between Bianca and Adore but I just can't see Adore being crowned the winner. As much as she has grown I completely agree about her being spoon fed the entire season. I didn't care for her at all when the season began (and it didn't help that she was pals with Laganja) but she slowly but surely grew on me. It helped that Bianca (my queen!) took her under her wing and that Adore was smart enough to accept any and all help she was offered. I think I turned to liking her on the Snatch Game episode. It turns out she's quite a good mimic (as many people who can sing are) and her Anna Nicole and, just this past episode, Ben DeLaCreme were spot on. She has a lot of charm and youthful energy and, in time, she'll be quite the queen. Maybe if she had waited a couple of years or perhaps a future episode of RPDR All Stars.

 

As much as I love Bianca and hope she does indeed win it is very anti-climactic at this point. At least this time last year Alaska was coming on very strong at the end and, until the actual crowning, it seemed that it could go either way (between Alaska and Jinkx). This year ... I really can't see anyone but Bianca winning. Maybe I'm wrong and Ru really wants Adore (as it seems she does) and will pull all kinds of shenanigans out of her drag bag to make it happen.

 

Oh, how I long for the days of the real reunion shows where all the bittercakes and bobby pins fly! These scripted-to-death, let's film three winner reaction deals are ... just not the same. I suppose it would be virtually impossible to film a finale without the results being leaked but ... oh well.

 

Oh, I almost forgot (and I hope this is the last time I have to say this!): and Darienne Lake can fuck right off.

[jonesingjay]

At least it's the smart Kardashian.

Oxymoron. 

[Mya Stone]

It's been two days and I'm still not over it. It's really not even that DeLa is my favorite (Lady Roy takes that cake) but this was just blatant Ru-nanigans, and I'm just sick of Darienne's bitter butt staying over DeLa, who was nothing but gracious and sweet to her the entire time (if not a little perplexed at the amount of shade thrown her way). I expected more of Pandy's Drag Mama. 

That mirror message? AMAZING. I'm slow clapping. 

[Happytobehere]

How the holy hell is Darienne still in this? I mean if those outfits were anymore atrocious. I'm still trying to get over the disco ball spots on my eyes from that thing she wore for the Banjee Girl portion. She is the definition of mediocre and is clearly benefitting from the criticism of big girl treatment on the show, especially after Latrice Royale. Keeping Darienne doesn't address or correct the problem, it just highlights the pandering.

Almost as bad at this point is Courtney Act. Stop with the BS criticism of her doing nothing but resting on pretty when you keep rewarding her by keeping her in the safe zone. She is just there, and guess what, at this stage of the game, the pretty ain't but so pretty anymore. IMO, she should have had to LSFYL along with Darienne. Leave it to a vapid Kardashian to defend Courtney being accused of bringing nothing to the table other than looks.

Adore, should have been gone a long time ago. Her winning would be a Tyra Sanchez level slap in the face, because just NO! And I say this as someone who likes Adore.

If anyone other than Bianca wins this, RPDR will have little credibility. I just feel bad because when you win in the face of subpar completion, your win is never as respected as it is when you won in a legit race and I think Bianca would have been a top two contender in just about any season.

[jace]

I am not a fan of Dela, because boring. I do think Darienne should have gone home first. However, based on the show, Darienne did the better lip sync. She felt the song more, that's how it looked from here. And I really don't like Darienne.

However, something I haven't seen pointed out and something that wasn't on the show, Ben was assigned with the task of choreographing the number and she passed the buck. And it sucked. I wonder if Ru, in commentary not shown, punished Ben for this. Normally, the queens do get dinged when they fail in such a way.

 

I am fine with a Bianca or Adore win.

Edited May 1, 2014 by jace

[Gringa]

Courtney should go home for being boring. She doesn't have a single over the top quality, but she's a solid B+, so she just lingers. At least Darienne and Bendela have charisma.

[bunnywithanaxe]

I kinda like Courtney, but boy was I pissed at her for not tearing Lake a new one with the puppet challenge. What a missed opportunity!

[freesia]

I actually quite like Darienne, especially after this episode.  Sure she throws a lot of shade (what self-respecting queen doesn't?), but she's also self-depracating (not afraid to poke fun at herself) with a wicked sense of humor.  I thought her puppet show with Courtney this episode was hilarious, and I love how she didn't melt into hysterics after everyone else picked her for elimination (including herself!).  She acknowledged that she f*cked up and then proceeded to lay it out in the LSFYL like a pro.  Plus, she's got mad make-up skills - love the way she paints her face.  That being said, Bianca better win this!!!  But I'm not mad that Darienne is still in it.

[kieyra]

I kinda like Courtney, but boy was I pissed at her for not tearing Lake a new one with the puppet challenge. What a missed opportunity!

 

For me it was very like her performance in the Library challenge and the stand-up challenge. She's capable of some dry humor but most often her jokes just don't land. 

[Nerdlove]

Yeah, Kieyra, I see you on that. Her jokes in the puppet challenge were just like her "shrimp on the barbie" joke. It was one of those really tortured jokes an 8 year old tells that you're like, ok, I see how that was sort of like a joke, and I'll polite laugh at it, but it's somehow not funny.

[kieyra]

My favorite puppets were Darienne's and Adore's. Adore's Ben was actually so inspired I kept glancing at her mouth when I could to see if it was really her doing the voice. As for Darienne, she nailed Courtney, and did a tolerable accent even. 

 

I guess I'll say, a bit late in the game: I like Darienne. I think she's getting a shady edit, and even if she was exactly as shady as they are trying to make us believe, she is still a thousand times more laid back and benign than, say, Phi Phi O'Hara. If she's the villain, she's the least villainey villain we've had. I know people are upset about Ben, but Darienne is probably getting trashed on social media now. She didn't make RuPaul make the choice and she's no Phi Phi/Roxxxy. 

 

I love Adore but I'm not totally sure I believe her win (meaning, I'm suspicious about just how *much* help she had). 

 

I'm overall Team Bianca  but I think this week we saw that she really won't deviate from that look. I don't want to see another huge round flower on her head, dammit.

 

I will be the most unhappy with a Courtney win. Too much meh.

 

I would be okay-ish with an Adore win because I do love her, but there will be a certain amount of side-eye as to whether she really worked at it the way Jinkx did. I still think Adore needs more time to cook. 

 

Bianca seems obvious and she deserves it. 

Edited May 2, 2014 by kieyra

[marsha]

This is the thing when it comes to whomever TPTB deign to cast as the season' villain. First, I agree that even though she is this years villain that Darienne is not on the same level of PhiPhi or Roxxxy.  One of the big differences being that PhiPhi and Roxxxy had specific targets (Sharon and Jinkx) and since they thought they were more talented and 'polished' than them it drove them nuts that they (Sharon and Jinkx) were doing so well.

 

I don't think Darienne feels (or felt, I suppose) the same level of *hate* towards Ben and, via the most recent episode and Untucked, showed some insight to her own behavior which I don't think PhiPhi and Roxxxy ever did (that we got to see at any rate). I do believe TPTB have always had a pretty heavy hand in their editing but this year has been just ridiculous.  I also think that after the extreme amount of internet hate that Roxxxy experienced last year they knew enough that they'd have to have some kind of redemption moment for this year's villain. That said, I still don't like Darienne as a performer and feel her runway is always lacking (again, this is just my opinion) and her particular brand of 'bitchy' I find tiresome and just not funny. Maybe she's a doll in real life but for now she's just a 'character' on a glorified game show.

 

I certainly don't know what it is like to be a contestant on a show like this and why someone would decide (at this point, it being season six after all) to be so shady during their talking heads. They must know on some level how it could be used to cast them as a 'villain' or do they think folks will just find them funny and somehow charming? I don't know.

[MrMattyMatt]

I certainly don't know what it is like to be a contestant on a show like this and why someone would decide (at this point, it being season six after all) to be so shady during their talking heads. They must know on some level how it could be used to cast them as a 'villain' or do they think folks will just find them funny and somehow charming? I don't know.

I often wonder if it's not the production staff and/or talkng head interviewers getting them to say shady things simply so they can use it for editing.  they probably rack up nasty comments made by all the queens about everyone and then use it when they develop the shows.

[snowblossom2]

I think this is the first episode where I've seen someone say they should be eliminated and they weren't. Any other competitive reality show judge would have booted Darienne just for that!

[Mattipoo]

I can't believe Darienne Lake wasn't eliminated for that godawful Princess Leia inspired brown monstrosity alone! Either way I think she is toast this coming episode. Yes Courtney Act seems to be just there and she hasn't really tried to get out of her comfort zone, so I think she will be top 3 but not win. It is Bianca's to lose, but Adore may present some competition for the crown since she is the most improved, as the show would like to have us believe, but she screams runner-up to me.

Edited May 4, 2014 by Mattipoo