S09.E09: Your Pilot's On Fire

[OnceSane]

Quote

The queens create, write and star in their own TV pilots. Noah Galvin (The Real O'Neals) and QVC queen Lisa Robertson guest judge.

[DasFlavorPup]

Valentina, luyva, but fuck off.  Absolutely no excusing that.

Edited May 20, 2017 by DasFlavorPup

[Michichick]

Whaaaaaaat? How do you come on this show and not prepare for the lip sync? I thought Valentina was doing well this season, but that was inexcusable. How dreadful.

So sick of Nina's stank attitude, but there was no way she could get the boot based on the lip sync.

[Eater of Worlds]

No kidding.  How many times would she blow things off if she had gotten the crown and had to do things that the other queens didn't?

[Primetimer]

There are glorious successes, and a uniquely memorable failure.

View the full article

[KenyaJ]

I'm still trying to pick up my jaw after that lip synch. W.T.F? I figured Nina and Valentina would be in the bottom and Nina would go home because Valentina's body of work has edged Nina's. But when Valentina wouldn't take that mask off, I stunned. Oh girl, I love you, but no. That's unforgivable. It gagged me so hard that I forgot to keep hating on Alexis for that shitty stunt she pulled during the critiques. She is awful.

On a happier note, Shea is everything. I loved her in the pilot, and I adored her runway look. Loved Sasha and Peppermint tonight too, but I'll be kind of shocked if Shea doesn't win.

[CaioF]

I would be shocked by tonight´s outcome haven´t I saw the spoilers for all the rest season outcome on a post last week =_= Like, I wont get into any details, but really, how could they let it happen? I saw ALL the details from this week: The winners, the middle, the top and the fact that Valentina would be gone for not knowing the lyrics of her song!

Anywaaay, for me, even with the spoilers, one of the best of the season: Great/unique runway, good challenge (too bad Nina and Valentina had to ruin part of it) and yeaas, drama. Can´t wait for the Untucked.

If you said me couple weeks ago that Valentina would live at this point, I would say: ROBBED! But after comming from like three/four weeks just being there in the middle, slowly fadding away in the background and fail like that? Young kid, maybe finally her age caught up to her, but in other hand, watching her talking head saying that her and Nina would be fine cause ´´the judges love us`` looked like she got waay to confortable with her position on the show that she expected to be safe. That would explain not only the lack of preparation for the challenge, but for the lip sync aswell.

Edited May 20, 2017 by CaioF

[rustyspigot]

When Bob and Katya making fun of Baywatch in commercials is the highlight of the episode, Thelma Houston we have a problem.

Has no one told Valentina the watermelon watermelon trick?

How many terrible lip syncs can one season have? This may be worse than Charlie. 

And they made us almost have to listen to that terrible Ariana Grande song twice. The worst injustice of all.

Edited May 20, 2017 by rustyspigot

[CaioF]

One more thing about Valentina´s atittude that caught up to my attention and now I see people talking about it too: If you look back at some of the previous lip syncs, while the other queens are cheering, shes just looking bored in the background. Nina X Aja lip sync for example. They are killing on the runway, the girls all feeling it, you can see Valentina standing holding her head with one her hands. It really seems she really took the season for granted just because the judges/producers were impressed with her charm and charisma on the earlie weeks.

[Michichick]

What's the watermelon watermelon trick?

Alexis didn't do herself any favors by trying to take credit for producing and writing. That doesn't excuse the weak performance. She's on thin ice. 

[JakeyJokes]

Quote

Has no one told Valentina the watermelon watermelon trick?

So funny, because when I hosted a drag show (as a comedian, not a queen), I had this great idea to do a lip-sync with a drag queen friend of mine. The day of, she wanted to do a different number (which, in retrospect, was waaaaay better; we did "Up Out My Face (Remix)" and I was Mariah Carey and she did Nicki Minaj). There was one part in the second verse that I wasn't entirely confident about, and one of the queens in the show told me to do the trick of spreading your arms across your mouth to look dramatic while covertly blocking your mouth. The very second Valentina took her mask off, they showed her doing this. I gagged!

I can't get over Valentina not going over the song. It's okay if you don't dig it, rusty, but I thought every gay boy had the Dangerous Woman album????? I went to the Ariana concert and I was the oldest non-custodial parent there. The whole album is a sexfest, btw. 

Quote

What's the watermelon watermelon trick?

When you don't know the words, you just lip sync the word "watermelon" because your mouth moves a lot while saying it and it's hard to decipher. Most kids learn it if they've ever been in church choir.

If Nina & Tina had even tried to do a script, they might have edged out the Mary girls. Improv is more than just "we'll go out there and wing it"; you need a structure, a known set point from A to B. It's "yes and", not "we're just gonna stand here and think of something". They were both charismatic enough that had they had ANYTHING, they had a fighting chance, IMO.

I do love that Trinity came in as the feisty pageant queen and she's actually been one of the fiercest stealth comedy queens. When filming the Scary Movie films, Keenan Ivory Wayans once told Anna Faris that there is no vanity in comedy; Trinity gets this and this is why she excels at these challenges so much. I don't think it's vanity that's blocking Alexis, but there's something that is preventing her from just going balls-to-the-wall and willing to look foolish. Stuffy doesn't work in broad comedy.

I was living for the club kid looks! I'm younger than Peppermint, but I am like her in that my introduction to it was on the talk shows of yore. I loved that Sasha had all those pics! We get a little bit of that now, but it's different; a few years ago, I would attend these speak-easy warehouse parties that were held after bar close. The costumes were to die for!

Edited May 20, 2017 by JakeyJokes

[annewithaneee]

Well, now I feel a lot less bad for never really gagging over Valentina as much as some other people. That was appalling. Also that's twice this season that a queen has just full-on given up in the lip sync, which really doesn't speak well for the season as a whole.

I guess we might see more in Untucked, but my sinking suspicion is once they went off-stage and the bottoms did some lip sync prep she realized she had no hope of getting the words and decided to Willam her way on out of there and create a moment on her way out. I can't imagine what headspace you'd have to be in to genuinely think that wearing a mask for the entirety of the song was a solid plan. That had to have been a stunt, right?

Speaking of Willam moves, the Nina and Tina pilot reminded me a lot of Willam and Katya's Paint Me Bitch where they beat each others' faces with groceries. And it likely came out shortly before they started filming the season.

I do love how we've lost the horrendous Wendy Williams interstitial for Drag Race themed tie-ins. The King Arthur "shade" one was unfunny but kinda silly, but the Baywatch ones with Bob and Katya were fantastic. 

[Jesse]

Well, there's the answer to everyone saying they couldn't believe Valentina had only been doing drag for however long it was. She's a lot of look, but no performance. If she had been dancing, she might have gotten away with not knowing the words, but I believe that she just totally froze, because she's not a seasoned performer who's been doing this for years!

[Julie Firestone]

I thought we were finally going to be rid of Nina this week. I find her issues exhausting. And then Valentina totally shits the bed. So, great, we get another week of Nina telling us how everyone is out to get her. The call is coming from inside the house, Nina!

[Ruby Gillis]

4 minutes ago, Julie Firestone said:

I thought we were finally going to be rid of Nina this week. I find her issues exhausting. And then Valentina totally shits the bed. So, great, we get another week of Nina telling us how everyone is out to get her. The call is coming from inside the house, Nina!

My theory is that Rupaul expected Valentina to win the lip synch.  That was why she put her in the bottom instead of Alexis.  She was ready for Nina to be gone.  But we'll see if it's clear in Untucked that Valentina didn't know the words.    

THIS EPISODE WAS CRAZY AND I LOVED IT!

[le bordel chaud]

I smell a stunt. This show, while fabulous, is pretty inauthentic in the vain of any true competitive reality show. A part of me is rolling in the grassy knoll and thinking Valentina was paid extra for this "shocking" exit storyline. Only to get a redemption story on the next All-Stars. 

I mean they do say truth is stranger than fiction, but I tend to give a side eye when it comes to this show.

Also, I really can't stand Nina, but I was begging for her humorless sister Alexis to get the boot. I've come to the conclusion that she really is the worst.

Edited May 20, 2017 by delicatecutter

[Eliza422]

I agree with sending Valentina home, but frankly I couldn't see Nina lip sync either because of her makeup. She did give a performance, however, and didn't just stand there like a lump. She's lucky Valentina fucked up so bad!

[CaioF]

9 minutes ago, delicatecutter said:

I smell a stunt. This show, while fabulous, is pretty inauthentic in the vain of any true competitive reality show. A part of me is rolling in the grassy knoll and thinking Valentina was paid extra for this "shocking" exit storyline. Only to get a redemption story on the next All-Stars. 

I mean they do say truth is stranger than fiction, but I tend to give a side eye when it comes to this show.

Also, I really can't stand Nina, but I was begging for her humorless sister Alexis to get the boot. I've come to the conclusion that she really is the worst.

IDK... Back on earlie seasons, like when Willam was eliminated? For sure. But this time, watching her crying after the elimination/the other queens stepping to the stage to hug her? I still think she really was counting on be safe and was totally caught off guard.

[annewithaneee]

12 minutes ago, delicatecutter said:

 

I smell a stunt. This show, while fabulous, is pretty inauthentic in the vain of any true competitive reality show. A part of me is rolling in the grassy knoll and thinking Valentina was paid extra for this "shocking" exit storyline. Only to get a redemption story on the next All-Stars. 

 

Yeah I got my tinfoil hat on too a little bit. I mean, to not even write a script for the challenge? Maybe Valentina was wanting to hit the eject button on the season for whatever reason, or she was brought on just for this purpose. Freezing in the LSYFYL I can understand, especially for a really green performer. But she didn't really put in any work during the challenge, either. It's all just a little too weird to take a face value.

[okerry]

1 hour ago, rustyspigot said:

When Bob and Katya making fun of Baywatch in commercials is the highlight of the episode, Thelma Houston we have a problem.

Those two were more entertaining in their commercials tonight than all the rest of this season has been, combined!

[le bordel chaud]

Another thing I'm thinking is that maybe Ru was trying to send Nina home , but that doesn't hold water with me because Valentina did not have a lot of performance experience. The fact that one of the judges said the Mary Nun pilot (or whatever it was called) was the worst certainly raised my eyebrows for shady editing at play.

I'm still smelling a stunt.

Edited May 20, 2017 by delicatecutter

[Ruby Gillis]

36 minutes ago, annewithaneee said:

Yeah I got my tinfoil hat on too a little bit. I mean, to not even write a script for the challenge? Maybe Valentina was wanting to hit the eject button on the season for whatever reason, or she was brought on just for this purpose. Freezing in the LSYFYL I can understand, especially for a really green performer. But she didn't really put in any work during the challenge, either. It's all just a little too weird to take a face value.

I think her performance was pretty in line with what she did at the Rupaul Roast last week.  She was counting on being whacky and charming and getting by without writing a coherent story.  Plus, Rupaul seemed genuinely pissed to me, and I don't think she's that good of an actor.  

[le bordel chaud]

48 minutes ago, Ruby Gillis said:

I think her performance was pretty in line with what she did at the Rupaul Roast last week.  She was counting on being whacky and charming and getting by without writing a coherent story.  Plus, Rupaul seemed genuinely pissed to me, and I don't think she's that good of an actor.  

Really? Ru is an amazing actor. There have been several queens who thought he actually gave a fuck about them. ?

Edited May 20, 2017 by delicatecutter

[HunterHunted]

2 hours ago, Michichick said:

Whaaaaaaat? How do you come on this show and not prepare for the lip sync? I thought Valentina was doing well this season, but that was inexcusable. How dreadful.

So sick of Nina's stank attitude, but there was no way she could get the boot based on the lip sync.

This was worse than Charlie's. Charlie was injured and kind of over it, but Charlie knew the words. Valentina thought she was slick enough to bullshit her way through by wearing the mask. More than anything it's insulting because she thought no one on the panel was smart enough to catch on. Fuq that.

Nina's attitude and paranoia are so tiresome. She needs to go too.

Alexis is such a theater kid. The most entertaining thing about her is that she is just so mediocre at this thing that she is so passionate about.

[apollonia666]

1 hour ago, annewithaneee said:

Yeah I got my tinfoil hat on too a little bit. I mean, to not even write a script for the challenge? Maybe Valentina was wanting to hit the eject button on the season for whatever reason, or she was brought on just for this purpose. Freezing in the LSYFYL I can understand, especially for a really green performer. But she didn't really put in any work during the challenge, either. It's all just a little too weird to take a face value.

I don't suspect production fuckery. I just think she got overconfident.  After all, she's perfect, she's beautiful, she looks like Linda Evangelista, she's a model, everything about her is perfect!

Edited May 20, 2017 by apollonia666

[Glade]

This is a stunt that they pull every year--take one of the best queens and give her a 'shocking' elimination. The whole thing felt really produced/staged this time.  I'm sure the producers also handed out the catholic/gay son theme since the star of the Real Oneil's was going to be a guest judge.  I don't buy that Valentina/Nina were so off-track for the challenge all on their own either.  Valentina is a fucking amazing queen and the only star of this bunch; honestly, who else is going to win? The remaining queens are bland as hell, it's worse then the top 3 for season 7 no matter which way you twist it. It's hard to get angry since this show has become so watered down and lame and just serves us these disappointments every season.  Alexis should have been the one lipsyncing, I'm so sick of her petty drama.  

Valentina should be proud, she still did, no matter what prove wrong all the bullshit the other girls were throwing at her for being 'too new' or 'too young,' she was neither, as her performance up until this staged episode showed.  She is an amazingly talented queen, and will go far, reality show bullshit notwithstanding.

Edited May 20, 2017 by Glade

[Stowaway]

1 hour ago, delicatecutter said:

Really? Ru is an amazing actor. There have been several queens who thought he actually gave a fuck about them. ?

Yes!

 

53 minutes ago, HunterHunted said:

Alexis is such a theater kid. The most entertaining thing about her is that she is just so mediocre at this thing that she is so passionate about.

And yes!

I know how pointless it is to armchair-diagnose someone whose week (lived in unusual circumstances) has been edited down to eight minutes of screen time, but I've pegged Nina for Borderline Personality Disorder since about week two. I become more convinced with every episode. I feel a huge amount of sympathy for her, but from the outside BPD basically just looks like clinical levels of brattiness, and it isn't fun to watch.

[kissedbyarose]

I know Valentina totally shit the bed this week but I can't watch Alexis and Nina anymore. For that reason alone, I totally disagree with this elimination. But then, I shouldn't be surprised because I feel like every season there's at least one elimination that makes me consider heaving my drink at the tv and quitting this show.

(BTW, Hi everyone! Long time lurker here, first time poster.)

Edited May 20, 2017 by kissedbyarose

[rozen]

I think Nina was actually kind of a bad influence for Valentina. Valentina seems like someone who has to relentlessly self-talk herself into being fearless, but has a ton of self-doubts that got sucked right out when she was stuck in Nina's orbit. Nina knows how to live and work under the heavy cloud of depression she has built around herself, Valentina didn't. Nina also goes straight into 'oh, I guess I'm/we're just not good enough' and seemed to drag Valentina down that rabbit hole with her.

Does Alexis really think she's going to win being RuPaul's Best Stage Production Manager? And the way she always weasels away from her attempts to throw others under the bus when the other Queens call her out for her shit is even grosser. 

Trinity is doing that shit! She dishes it out, but she can take it, and she focuses on giving her best work without screwing over other people. 

Girl, I wish you'd made it to the other side too, Peppermint. She'd have Toe It Up acting as their old black church lady spy handler or some other shenanigans. 

Sasha begging Shea's toes not to jump was literally one of my favorite acting challenge moments, ever. Her gangly side-rolls had me busting a gut too. She is really quite good at subtler body comedy, even her facial expressions during the roast elevated her so-so jokes to hilarious.

Shea is going to have that mask stuck to her face for a minute. Craft strength hot glue freaking HURTS and could probably glue a rhinoceros to Sasha's head. Like, put a towel under there if you have to glue more rhinestones on last minute!

Edited May 20, 2017 by rozen

[CaioF]

Hearing Valentina on untucked, specially her last words after break down right after her elimination, looks like she really put alot pressure on herself and with her being in the bottom for the first time, on a more crucial moment of the competition, with the probability on her having to lip sync, she couldnt deal with the stress. People mentioned about her come of as someone that feels the need to be perfect and I see that. Quotting her after her elimination ´´the world will see me failing`` ´´ This was never supose to happen. I was going to win!`` ´´I wasnt prepared and thats something I gonna have to live with it``, it says alot about how much pressure she put on herself. And the post above might be right... Not saying it was intentional (specially cause on untucked you see Nina being surportive towards Valentina) but yes, maybe her energy came at the time that Valentina was already becoming fragile (on last week untucked she was already unhappy with her performance/being just safe).

At least after it, while taking her stuff, she was able to see it from a better light, thinking that her bad ending shouldnt define herself cause she had great moments on the show.

Edited May 20, 2017 by CaioF

[Aerobicidal]

Shea, Sasha, and Trinity are the obvious final three (and I think they should be, though not necessarily in that order). The fact that this week's elimination was even arguably surprising was one of the few laudable things this season

[deannanikki]

Some thoughts:

1) This episode and Untucked were just really sad to watch. It was hard watching Valentina implode like that. I was really rooting for her to take the crown, but her elimination was justified. Hopefully, we'll see Valentina on AS3.

2) I honestly liked the Mary Nun pilot more than Sashea's pilot, but I was happy to see them win.

3) I was living for Peppermint's look tonight!

4) I've been pretty annoyed with Nina lately, but her note to Valentina in Untucked was very sweet. 

5) At this point, I hope Shea or Trinity takes the crown. They've also been my favorites.

[phoenix780]

Yeah. I also feel like there were shenanigans (an Ariana Grande song seems kinda perfect for Valentina) but said shenanigans didn't play out as scripted. Whatever, I was entertained and there were no sob stories, so I won't overthink it. 

[blaase]

So who's going to win now?? None of them stand out at all. It's such a bad cast.

[CraftyHazel]

I'm actually loving this season more than Season Eight...that one felt like such a straightforward march to Bob's coronation that the whole thing was dull as dishwater.  Even Season Seven was pretty lackluster, aside from Katya and some great looks from Violet.  I think Sasha, Shea, Trinity, and Peppermint are great, and I'm actually surprised by that because pre-season the only one of them I liked even a little was Sasha.  Trinity has been far more interesting to me than Valentina ever was...the pageant queens are rarely so funny or interesting.

I'm not in on the whole conspiracy thing.  I think miss Valentina got over-confident and over-comfortable because she had always placed either high or safe, and that's what led to her downfall.  Doesn't bother me that she's gone.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The club kid couture was one of the best runways this season. Even the looks I didn't like were more interesting than some of the boring ass stuff like basic evening gowns we've seen before. I also loved Sasha and Peppermint talking about the influence of club kids on not just drag but on mainstream fashion and culture.

Nina and Valentina's skit was the worst by far. They were SO unprepared when they came to set. I think it's a mistake to try to improvise something like that, especially if you don't have lots of experience at improv. That's an actual skill that takes practice. You shouldn't just wing it if you don't have a background in improv. The little that they planned ahead they couldn't keep straight (like referring to Valentina as Tina).

The guest judge pointed out the two major flaws in their skit: (1) if you are going to improvise, you need a structure so that you know where you are going and (2) the plot seemed more like a movie where everything was wrapped up at the end, rather than providing a premise that could be sustained over 20 episodes for a tv show. Most of their skit seemed aimless and pointless. Some of it made no sense. Like why would they decide to gon on RPDR once they were in jail? Once they got started on the makeover section, it was fun.

Valentina looked beautiful on the runway, but I agree with Michelle that it looked more high fashion than club kid. Nina's face was very dramatic (and that makeup was done very well) but from the neck down, it was just crap you could buy at Hot Topic. That part was realistic, but it didn't fit the couture part of the challenge.

In contrast, Shea and Sasha's skit was so polished. They had obviously written and memorized their lines ahead of time and it showed. The premise of the show wasn't super original, but the skit was really entertaining. They had some of the funniest lines this week too. Bitch, where are the espadrilles? Vote, bitch! Sasha talking to Shea's overhanging toes was hilarious!

I really liked Sasha's club clown look. And I love that the sparkly dress was one of the first things she'd ever worn in drag. I don't know whether to give Shea extra credit or demerits for hot gluing that stuff to her face. Ouch!

The premise of Peppermint, Alexis, and Trinity's show was more original and I liked a lot of things about it. I agree with the judges' critique that Alexis didn't stand out. Her excuse about how she did more of the organizational/producer stuff. Even if you only have one line, you have to use that opportunity to steal the show.

I loved Peppermint's costume. Not only did it fit the challenge perfectly, but it was a a great signature look for someone named Peppermint. I don't care if that's what it was originally used for. She made it work for this challenge.

Trinity's look was perfect for this challenge too, from the hair to the makeup to the venereal disease costume.

Alexis Michelle's makeup looked very pretty up close but on the runway, all I could see was a black stripe across a white face which wasn't as interesting. I didn't love her costume either. It looked too much like something you could buy from Frederick's of Hollywood.

I am beyond disappointed that Valentina blew the LSFYL. I really wanted/expected her in the finale but she just fucked up beyond belief by not knowing the words. I want to know if she just didn't bother learning the song or if she knew them and forgot. If it's the former, there's no excuse for that. If it's the latter, I feel for her because that happens even to professionals. Andrew Rannells said Josh Gad used to forget the words when they were in Book of Mormon. He also admitted that he forgot the words when he was in Hamilton:

 

Jonathan Groff said he forgot the words to a song when he was in Spring Awakening so he just kept repeating the same two words over and over:

Edited May 20, 2017 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Xazeal]

I thought this episode was incredible. Great challenge and easily the best runway since Death Becomes Her in season 7. Most of the looks were absolutely top notch. They should do this every season.

I read spoilers about how Val's elimination went down last week so while I can't say I was shocked, I didn't expect it to be THAT bad. I thought the rumors would turn out to be at least slightly exaggerated. I disagree that it was staged - I think the producers really wanted to get rid of Nina this week, but when Valentina shit the bed completely they saw the opportunity for a "moment". And while Valentina is a lock for All-Stars I feel like WoW is currently grooming Trixie to be the next winner (and they're not subtle about it).

Shea's track record is now on par with Bianca's, and that's my one minor gripe with this season right now - the road to the end is looking really obvious. Alexis and Nina are sliding while the other four are excelling, with Shea very clearly leading the pack. I guess things could still change, but the obvious frontrunner always wins on RPDR, and I don't expect this season to be any different.

Edited May 20, 2017 by Xazeal

[violet and green]

Very, very, very disappointed. God bless Nina and all but I've been wishing she'd go for the last seven weeks, and Alexis for the whole damn season, so was hoping they'd be the bottom two. Valentina was (is still!) my pick to win this season. Just awful she didn't think to make the effort to learn that crappy song and went out that way. But Valentina has immense charisma, beauty,  fashion sense and charm, so I hope she'll be back. I miss Charlie, too.

[Stardancer Supreme]

11 hours ago, rustyspigot said:

When Bob and Katya making fun of Baywatch in commercials is the highlight of the episode, Thelma Houston we have a problem.

Has no one told Valentina the watermelon watermelon trick?

How many terrible lip syncs can one season have? This may be worse than Charlie. 

And they made us almost have to listen to that terrible Ariana Grande song twice. The worst injustice of all.

I loved that commercial! Bob can do no wrong for me.

Valentina and Nina's pilot was painful. I did laugh at Carson being the only one to half-heartedly clap.  Shade.

Wow. I thought for sure Mama Ru was going to just tell Valentina to sashay away after she said she wanted to keep the mask on.  Gurl.  No excuse for not preparing for the lipsync!  

Shea, Sasha, and Peppermint are my faves.  I'll be happy for any of them to get the crown.

[ClareWalks]

I couldn't believe Valentina fucked that up so much. Basically, Ru: "Don't fuck it up!" Valentina: "...huh? Sorry, I wasn't listening." I was hoping we'd finally be rid of stank-ass Nina, but nooooo. I have not read spoilers and don't plan to, but *if* they are bringing someone back this season, I'd bet my tits that it's Valentina. 

Seeing Sasha do the Russian character, I was like "we have GOT to get Sasha and Katya together!" Can you imagine? The Russian scholar and the Russian hooker? They could take that act on the road and clean up!

[hgw]

Very, very, very disappointed. God bless Nina and all but I've been wishing she'd go for the last seven weeks, and Alexis for the whole damn season, so was hoping they'd be the bottom two. Valentina was (is still!) my pick to win this season. Just awful she didn't think to make the effort to learn that crappy song and went out that way. But Valentina has immense charisma, beauty,  fashion sense and charm, so I hope she'll be back. I miss Charlie, too.

Good point - are they going to do what they've done for quite a few of the seasons and have Ru do that 'some of the judges think I've made some errors in who I've sent home' shtick and bring back Valentina?

[MaryWebGirl]

14 minutes ago, hgw said:

Good point - are they going to do what they've done for quite a few of the seasons and have Ru do that 'some of the judges think I've made some errors in who I've sent home' shtick and bring back Valentina?

I've thought about that but it might be too late at this point maybe? Although I guess Carmen was brought back pretty late in the season. 

[Xazeal]

I don't think the episode count allows for a queen to be brought back. Remember, nobody went home in the premiere. So we have five episodes left now, and it's likely Top 6 -> Top 5 -> Top 4 -> Rucap -> Finale. Unless there's a double elimination, but I can't see them doing that this late.

[Ananayel]

Quote

Another thing I'm thinking is that maybe Ru was trying to send Nina home , but that doesn't hold water with me because Valentina did not have a lot of performance experience. The fact that one of the judges said the Mary Nun pilot (or whatever it was called) was the worst certainly raised my eyebrows for shady editing at play.

I agree that Ru was trying to send Nina home, but couldn't in the face of that mess. She could have done a double, but Nina did well at the lipsync, so that was probably off the table.

Lisa Robertson was the judge who said that, and she said it was her "least favorite." She's from the South, and I believe she went to a religious school, so that's not really surprising. Trinity and Peppermint completely saved that skit.

And we got Bryce back! Woo!

[Jesse]

Honestly, if it had been a setup, I would have expected more Tyra, but Ru just seemed pissed.

[cpcathy]

Ohhhhhhh, Valentina. Farewell.

Now I have no one to really root for. Final three, Shea, Sasha and Trinity. Ho hum. Shea for the win, she's versatile and funny and really good at the acting challenges.

[OnceSane]

Valentina tried to coast this week and was caught out.  She might have pulled it off in 3 challenges ago, but not now.  Wrong time to take  break, love.  Oh well, her bookings will go through the roof and she'll be fine. 

Sasha, Shea and Trinity deserve top 3.  Everyone else might as well go home now.

[HunterHunted]

13 hours ago, hgw said:

Good point - are they going to do what they've done for quite a few of the seasons and have Ru do that 'some of the judges think I've made some errors in who I've sent home' shtick and bring back Valentina?

12 hours ago, MaryWebGirl said:

I've thought about that but it might be too late at this point maybe? Although I guess Carmen was brought back pretty late in the season. 

 

I have only this to say about Valentina coming back--oh no she better don't. I like Valentina, but this was a colossal fuck up. She shouldn't get to just wipe that away.

Throughout this season, I've thought that Valentina's ultimate career is essentially to be Kelly Ripa. I think she could get there, but she's really young and she needs failures like this to toughen her up and teach her that she can't slack for a second. She also needs a little improv training just so she learns some comedy fundamentals and learns how to recover when things go wrong.

[noveltylibrary65]

23 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

This was worse than Charlie's. Charlie was injured and kind of over it, but Charlie knew the words. Valentina thought she was slick enough to bullshit her way through by wearing the mask. More than anything it's insulting because she thought no one on the panel was smart enough to catch on. Fuq that.

I don't believe Valentina thought she had a chance in hell, since she asked to keep her mask on.  She was saving face (literally) for her swan song.   I found RuPaul a bit overdramatic demanding she take it off.   What was the point other than to see how badly this was going to go?

[HunterHunted]

1 hour ago, noveltylibrary65 said:

I don't believe Valentina thought she had a chance in hell, since she asked to keep her mask on.  She was saving face (literally) for her swan song.   I found RuPaul a bit overdramatic demanding she take it off.   What was the point other than to see how badly this was going to go?

I think it was completely appropriate that Ru demanded that Valentina take off the mask if only because with the mask on it allows a weird conspiracy to flourish that Ru chose to save troubled Nina for story reasons and not on her own merit. The mask had to come off because Nina is owed the dignity of knowing that she truly won and not on a technicality because Ru couldn't see Valentina's lips.