S04.E03: Snatch Game of Love

[OnceSane]

Quote

The All Stars compete in everyone’s favorite game, The Snatch Game, but this time with a romantic twist! The Super Queens impersonate celebrities to win the hearts of hunky bachelors. Guest judges: Gus Kenworthy and Keiynan Lonsdale.

Airs December 28, 2018.

[Temperance]

I could have divided everyone into top and bottom groups.

I love Monet X Change, but I'm surprised she was safe so soon. I was a little disappointed with her performance and her runway wasn't my favorite.

Given the way she rode Farrah, I'm short on sympathy for Gia.

Trinity looks a little like Joan Rivers with that hair. 

Edited December 29, 2018 by Temperance

[CraftyHazel]

I love Trinity but if she won this season the backlash would be enormous.  I almost want her to be eliminated soon for that very reason, but then again she does deserve to be here, so...

[Temperance]

14 minutes ago, Marmiarmo said:

I love Trinity but if she won this season the backlash would be enormous.  I almost want her to be eliminated soon for that very reason, but then again she does deserve to be here, so...

As a new fan. why the backlash?

[rlc]

Ding dong the Gia’s gone, the Gia’s gone, ding dong the shady bitch is goooooone!

[CraftyHazel]

9 minutes ago, Temperance said:

As a new fan. why the backlash?

Every single All Stars winner has been thin and blonde.  I can’t think that...with her as the only white queen remaining in the competition among a sea of talented queens of color...Trinity winning wouldn’t be met with a pretty huge outcry.

[Glade]

It's funny that Latrice and Manilla both avoid mentioning they were in another unconventional version of snatch game on As1, and as I recall Latrice's Oprah was one of the lower scores there too despite the absence of romper room antics.  

It is true that Gia has a greater right to play a fellow transwoman then Trinity, and since they would have been on two separate segments anyway, maybe she should have insisted instead of playing a character she knew almost nothing about. Not that Gia would have been great, but maybe better then this atrocious trainwreck?  I'm glad she's gone and Manilla didn't ax Valentina.

I too cringe at the thought of a Trinity win. I'm hoping Manilla, Valentina or Latrice come ahead of her.

[annewithaneee]

Demographics aside, I'm not here for a Trinity win because I'm just not seeing what the judges were seeing. I thought her Caitlyn was pretty weak, and didn't at all understand the laughs she was getting on set or the praise afterward -- the characterization wasn't really there. Being a fellow plastic surgery enthusiast and barking "Malibu" ad naseum doesn't make for a perfect impersonation. Caitlyn the person certainly sucks, but she's not known for reading anyone, and I thought her cutting into the others was just a slightly less annoying version of Gia's disruptiveness. There needed to be something about Kris and kompany, or some actual cutting remarks re: her highly problematicness. Sharon Needles did it far better on the BoTS tour. I don't think she deserved top two for the talent show, and I think she should have been safe here. 

Overall, this was yet another not-good Snatch Game. There's probably only been like two good ones ever -- I think a celebrity impersonation challenge is completely necessary for this competition, but they really need to switch up how they're doing it. Maybe a fake interview or talk show appearance or something, as their chosen celebrity illusion? I think having fewer queens improv-ing at the same time could really help, but mostly I think they just need to rest the game show shit for a bit.

[futurechemist]

If Gia and Trinity weren't even in the same group of 4, why couldn't they both be Caitlyn Jenner?

[Temperance]

3 hours ago, Marmiarmo said:

Every single All Stars winner has been thin and blonde.  I can’t think that...with her as the only white queen remaining in the competition among a sea of talented queens of color...Trinity winning wouldn’t be met with a pretty huge outcry.

Ah, well anyone can a blonde wig, but I take your point. Still Trinity does seem like one of the top contenders. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I still can't believe that Gia Gunn came to All Stars without a backup plan/personality for snatch game.

No one in the first group of snatch game really amused me. There was so much potential for both Whitney Houston and Wendy Williams but they did almost nothing except try to look like them (if the strongest part of your performance is falling down just before you exit, that's a problem). Valentina seemed to think that purring was enough to be Earth Kitt. Trinity's Caitlin Jenner wasn't that good, but compared to the other three, at least she made a few jokes (most of which had nothing to do with Caitlin but at least she tried).

The second group wasn't much better but that was mostly because Gia Gunn was sucking all the air out of the room/stinking things up so much. I mean, she was SO bad. She wasn't funny and what she said made no sense. If you're going to interrupt other performers, then you'd better be hilarious or at least on topic. And you'd think that if an Asian person was going to play a FOB persona, she'd at least try to get the right kind of Asian. Jenny Bui is Chinese-Cambodian (her parents are Chinese and she was born in Cambodia and then fled to Thailand and Vietnam before coming to the United States), so she would not say, "Konichiwa!" Manila did a great job as Barbra Streisand. As Michelle pointed out, Manila played Barbra as a caricature of a caricature, and she made it all funny. Like Manila, I felt that Latrice got distracted by Gia's shitty performance and inappropriate comments, and it affected her staying in character.

I love watching the queens put on their makeup so I liked that we got a lot of time in the workroom before the runway show this week.

I liked Ru's runway outfit because she usually wears long dresses. It's rare that we get to see those long legs these days and she looked fabulous!

I felt like Monet's runway outfit was trying to be avant garde but it came off as too costumey. I liked Naomi's boots but I didn't like the rest of her outfit (including the viking horns). The only thing I liked about Trinity's look was the Marilyn Monroe-esque hair. I thought all the buckles on the boots made her legs look heavy. The actual outfit was meh. It was a black tank top with a bunch of necklaces. Valentina's face looked beautiful as usual, but I hated her tan jumpsuit. I agreed with Michelle about the crotch issue.

Monique's wolf boots were unique but the rest of her outfit was a throwaway. She was wearing jean shorts and a red top. Manila's bondage outfit was an interesting take on the runway theme and her face looked so gorgeous. Gia's outfit was boring to me, but I'm not a fan of denim. Latrice had the bling factor but the strands on her boots were so long that they were getting tangled which made them look messy when she was walking.

I thought it was not cool of Trinity to pull Manila aside to ask her who she wanted to send home and then going whispering to Valentina about what Manila told her.

It was hard for me to feel bad for Gia when she said she felt alone and like she was the black sheep. This has nothing to do with you being transgender. It has to do with you being a rank bitch. If you don't want to be seen as shady, then QUIT BEING SHADY.

I love that Manila killed the lip sync and showed that you can do an amazing job without death drops, splits, or being jokey. You can just straight up lip sync your ass off.

Gia's farewell was the most mature she's been since she arrived. At least she admitted that she brought this on herself. She performed terribly and she behaved terribly so it's not at all surprising that Manila eliminated her.

[CheetaraThunder]

I understand the whole narrative of another thin/white winner ( but I will say Alaska deserved her win) and Trinity is killing it, so u less she falls off, she wouldn’t be a bad winner. But, I am, rooting for Manila and Latrice ( though I think Latrice is someone that doesn’t need to win, she is already iconic enough without the crown)

Manila absolutely killed that lip sync, the moment she posed at the back of the runway, she won. And she looked fucking gorgeous too. Though, Naomi should have been in the top with Amani,a, in my opinion.

[Ruby Gillis]

12 hours ago, Mayberry said:

Trinity as Caitlyn was hilarious! 

Interesting what Gia said about how she felt competing as a trans woman. She was still shady af though.

Happy that Manila picked herself up but also liked that Valentina challenged her to compete rather than strategise against her. 

Poor Latrice, always stuck with the Romper Room Shenanigans!

To me Trinity and Valentina are strong contenders, so I wouldn't mind if either made it to the top. Behind them I see Manila, Latrice...But Tops and Bottoms seem to change in a heartbeat, so look forward to seeing where this goes.

BTW, I thought RuPaul looked great tonight. She switched up her runway look!

Trinity really impressed me.  She also brings the fun drama, making fun of Monet's outfit to her face, not gossiping behind people's back.  Throwing shade is fun if the queens have fun and laugh about it!  It's not fun when Gia tries way too hard to stir things up. 

I wish Gia had just relaxed and not tried to force things with Farrah.  It would have been interesting to learn more about her feelings about drag that now she is out as a trans woman.  It was the first time I felt like she was being real.

Yeah, it was way too early in the season for Manila to take out Valentina.  It would have made her unpopular with the fans, but also it would have made her a target going forward from girls like Trinity.  As soon as she was in the bottom, Manila would have been gone.  (Sidenote, Detox should have voted Alaska off when she had her tantrum.  It was the perfect time, last elimination and a great excuse to do it.  She probably wouldn't have beaten Katya in the final, but she would have had a better chance.)

Also loved Rupaul's look!  She's really showing off her legs lately.

[Kaboom 2.0]

Love love love Ru's look last night! We all know Naomi Smalls has legs for days but Ru had that title first and maybe wanted to remind everyone about it? Also loved how into the experience Gus and Keiyon (spelling?) were. 

So happy Manila showed why she deserves to be an All Star. Her Barbra caricature of a caricature was devine and the runway look was totally her. I still like Trinity's gumption and competitiveness but did not like her telling Valentina asap who Manila was thinking of giving the boot to, I like that many times Trinity cuts off the BS by directly addressing someone to their face vs sneaking around and stirring shit. I'm still down for the crown going to either member of my beloved Team Latrila.

The less said about Gia the better. She gone, good. She and Valentina' s Snatch Game play was Awful.

[Temperance]

Since no one else said it, I'm so happy for Monique Heart. Her snatch game performance was so much stronger than last time, and unlike most of the others, her two performances were less than a year apart. I really liked her Tiffany Haddish and her Red Riding Hood look. 

Edited December 29, 2018 by Temperance

[kylies-lips]

Delurking to post on this episode..

Farewell to Gia! I want to like her, I really do but her personality leaves so much to be desired. The most self aware thing she has ever said was during her exit when she said she still needed to learn what type of woman she was becoming. I can only imagine some of the emotions and feelings she must be encountering being on the show now as the person she truly is vs when she was on her season. I would also think its especially confusing because she is the first trans woman to openly compete on the show among a bunch of men who strip off their drag at the end of the day. 

Does anyone listen to Bob the Drag Queen and Monet Xchange's podcast? It's called "Sibling Rivalry" and if you are a fan of either of those queens you will probably like it.  Bob admitted to helping Naomi and Monet write some of their reads for the first episode. And it was spilled that Sharon Needles helped Trinity craft her Caitlyn Jenner character for Snatch Game.

[bobbyjoe]

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And you'd think that if an Asian person was going to play a FOB persona, she'd at least try to get the right kind of Asian. Jenny Bui is Chinese-Cambodian (her parents are Chinese and she was born in Cambodia and then fled to Thailand and Vietnam before coming to the United States), so she would not say, "Konichiwa!"

Gia’s performance as Jenny Bui felt like a cringeworthy racist stereotype, no matter who was doing it.  I thought the judges came awfully close to saying this outright when they defended Jenny Bui and her real-life backstory.  Just really bad decision making all around tonight on Gia’s part, and she pretty much wrote her own ticket off the show.

Quote

Since no one else said it, I'm so happy for Monique Heart. Her snatch game performance was so much stronger than last time, and unlike most of the others, her two performances were less than a year apart. I really liked her Tiffany Haddish and her Red Riding Hood look. 

I honestly thought Monique should have been in the top two with Trinity.  I like Manila, but a lot of her Streisand jokes have been done to death by both SNL and other drag performers about eight hundred times long ago.  Monique’s Tiffany Haddish felt much more fresh and, like you say, the Red Riding Hood with the Wolf boots look was killer.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

35 minutes ago, bobbyjoe said:

Gia’s performance as Jenny Bui felt like a cringeworthy racist stereotype, no matter who was doing it.  I thought the judges came awfully close to saying this outright when they defended Jenny Bui and her real-life backstory.  Just really bad decision making all around tonight on Gia’s part, and she pretty much wrote her own ticket off the show.

I agree. There was nothing in her performance that was specific to Jenny Bui. Gia was just doing a FOB accent and saying she didn't understand what the others were talking about. She could have talked about nails or bling or Cardi B or how she is from New York so she will cut a bitch or ANYTHING ELSE besides the nonsense that she was spouting. If you're impersonating someone, we should be able to tell who it is and there was nothing in her impersonation that had anything to do with Jenny Bui.

[DrivingSideways]

The impersonations were all pretty bad across the board.  Kinda lackluster for an All-Star season.

[CheetaraThunder]

33 minutes ago, DrivingSideways said:

The impersonations were all pretty bad across the board.  Kinda lackluster for an All-Star season.

I mean, I do measure snatch game success with Alaska’s, Dela’s, Chad, and Jimks performances. That’s what I want to see in snatch game.

[Keywestclubkid]

I think each year we forgot just how bad 90% of all snatch games are. Yes there are stand outs some years but over all they are all forgettable or just ok at beast 

[Dewey Decimate]

On 12/28/2018 at 9:35 PM, Temperance said:

Trinity looks a little like Joan Rivers with that hair. 

That and all the face modification had me thinking the same thing. I almost can't NOT see Joan Rivers when I look at Trinity. I was not a fan of her runway look at all - from the chest up looked like Las Vegas impersonator and waist down was Hot Topic Michael Jackson.

On 12/28/2018 at 10:13 PM, Mayberry said:

BTW, I thought RuPaul looked great tonight. She switched up her runway look!

I loved the shimmery colors and hair, then the camera panned down and I squealed - she looks amazing in the rare non-gown look! (Though my favorite Ru look ever was a super simple black gown with a pink sequin/applique? bow on the front. So Marilyn Monroe sex kitten-y.)

On 12/29/2018 at 6:10 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I liked Ru's runway outfit because she usually wears long dresses. It's rare that we get to see those long legs these days and she looked fabulous!

I love that Manila killed the lip sync and showed that you can do an amazing job without death drops, splits, or being jokey. You can just straight up lip sync your ass off.

Love Manila!! She embodied that fresh girl-next-door look that I vaguely remember Whitney as back in the good ol' eighties. She made a smart choice by avoiding the LSFYL cliches and exaggerated mouth warblings. And can we talk about her Tom of Finland Easter bunny outfit? GAH - that'll be right up there with the pineapple gown for me. Manila is so darn cute - I'd be tickled pink to make out with her in either girl or boy drag.

[Jesse]

I was with Michelle on Trinity's runway look -- very Madonna. (If other people aren't Olds like me and Michelle, she said "Quien es esa nina?" which is a Madonna reference.....)

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I had to sing, "Who's that girl?" out loud after Michelle said that!

[Dandesun]

I've been watching a bunch of reaction videos to this episode and it's kind of hilarious how Manila and editing had everyone freaking out. Let's be real, this is not Manila's first rodeo. What's more, she learned some lessons from her season and probably from knowing the various queens over the years. So the whole 'I don't know... I mean, Valentina's tough and we have her backed into the corner' followed by Trinity running right to Valentina and being all 'Manila's going to send you home' and THEN we get the Valentina/Manila 'showdown' or whatever it was. 

I didn't think Manila was going to send Valentina home for a minute but, Lord, did that whole mess of shenanigans bring the drama and EVERYONE fell for it. Editing and storyline being what it is... either Valentina will send Manila home later on or Manila will send Valentina home. Whatever. The thing is, this whole 'my God, what a TRAVESTY for Valentina to be bottom two' feeling across the board was a bit much. Um... she wasn't all that great in Snatch Game. You could make the argument of Monet deserving to be in the bottom two as well, but there were a handful of queens who did poorly and that's what happens when you do poorly.

But Gia was so obviously deserving to go home and Manila is a hell of a lot more canny than she might be given credit for. Play up the drama, make 'em sweat, own the lip synch, send the right one home. It was rote in it's way but damn if it didn't work.

And Manila had that lip synch won in the first ten seconds. I'm sitting there going 'Sahara was a HUGE Whitney fan... and played Whitney in Snatch Game back in Season Two, there's no way Manila doesn't bring it with this.' And boy howdy did she.

As for people building alliances on All Stars. No. I don't like it. AS2 killed that one for me with 'Roxxxy gave me this used kleenex six years ago and I just can't forget that so I'm going to save her...' Boot who you're going to boot because, ultimately, your alliance is going to fail. This is fucking Highlander. Even when they did teams there could be only one winner.

[Keywestclubkid]

1 hour ago, Dandesun said:

As for people building alliances on All Stars. No. I don't like it. AS2 killed that one for me with 'Roxxxy gave me this used kleenex six years ago and I just can't forget that so I'm going to save her...' Boot who you're going to boot because, ultimately, your alliance is going to fail. This is fucking Highlander. Even when they did teams there could be only one winner.

lol god that killed me!!!  I know roxxy has been in the bottom two 6 times but she smiled at me last week so I'm saving her.... I get trying to be strategic but that just was beyond stupid.... Alaska didn't win because she was the best of the best she won because the queens kept voting off more deserving queens to make sure her "friend" made it top 3 knowing she had ZERO chance of winning which was unfair to Roxxy anyway she just became the joke queen again ... Gia is now tryin to claim that she really isnt a negative person and it was all an act...girl stop that was you 24/7 just because you got huge backlash you are trying to make excuses.... she did no favors for the trans girls by showing her ass like that and didnt give a shit how she would come across or how her representing them would go over she was selfish and nasty and thats what the cameras caught

https://ew.com/tv/2018/12/31/rupauls-drag-race-all-stars-4-gia-gunn-interview/

Edited December 31, 2018 by Keywestclubkid

[Gothish520]

On 12/29/2018 at 6:10 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I still can't believe that Gia Gunn came to All Stars without a backup plan/personality for snatch game.

No one in the first group of snatch game really amused me. There was so much potential for both Whitney Houston and Wendy Williams but they did almost nothing except try to look like them (if the strongest part of your performance is falling down just before you exit, that's a problem). Valentina seemed to think that purring was enough to be Earth Kitt. Trinity's Caitlin Jenner wasn't that good, but compared to the other three, at least she made a few jokes (most of which had nothing to do with Caitlin but at least she tried).

The second group wasn't much better but that was mostly because Gia Gunn was sucking all the air out of the room/stinking things up so much. I mean, she was SO bad. She wasn't funny and what she said made no sense. If you're going to interrupt other performers, then you'd better be hilarious or at least on topic. And you'd think that if an Asian person was going to play a FOB persona, she'd at least try to get the right kind of Asian. Jenny Bui is Chinese-Cambodian (her parents are Chinese and she was born in Cambodia and then fled to Thailand and Vietnam before coming to the United States), so she would not say, "Konichiwa!" Manila did a great job as Barbra Streisand. As Michelle pointed out, Manila played Barbra as a caricature of a caricature, and she made it all funny. Like Manila, I felt that Latrice got distracted by Gia's shitty performance and inappropriate comments, and it affected her staying in character.

I love watching the queens put on their makeup so I liked that we got a lot of time in the workroom before the runway show this week.

I liked Ru's runway outfit because she usually wears long dresses. It's rare that we get to see those long legs these days and she looked fabulous!

I felt like Monet's runway outfit was trying to be avant garde but it came off as too costumey. I liked Naomi's boots but I didn't like the rest of her outfit (including the viking horns). The only thing I liked about Trinity's look was the Marilyn Monroe-esque hair. I thought all the buckles on the boots made her legs look heavy. The actual outfit was meh. It was a black tank top with a bunch of necklaces. Valentina's face looked beautiful as usual, but I hated her tan jumpsuit. I agreed with Michelle about the crotch issue.

Monique's wolf boots were unique but the rest of her outfit was a throwaway. She was wearing jean shorts and a red top. Manila's bondage outfit was an interesting take on the runway theme and her face looked so gorgeous. Gia's outfit was boring to me, but I'm not a fan of denim. Latrice had the bling factor but the strands on her boots were so long that they were getting tangled which made them look messy when she was walking.

I thought it was not cool of Trinity to pull Manila aside to ask her who she wanted to send home and then going whispering to Valentina about what Manila told her.

It was hard for me to feel bad for Gia when she said she felt alone and like she was the black sheep. This has nothing to do with you being transgender. It has to do with you being a rank bitch. If you don't want to be seen as shady, then QUIT BEING SHADY.

I love that Manila killed the lip sync and showed that you can do an amazing job without death drops, splits, or being jokey. You can just straight up lip sync your ass off.

Gia's farewell was the most mature she's been since she arrived. At least she admitted that she brought this on herself. She performed terribly and she behaved terribly so it's not at all surprising that Manila eliminated her.

Well said!

This was a pretty great episode despite, or maybe because of all the shadiness and wrong turns. The two guest stars were so cute and so game - the wrestling match was too funny. Ru looked fabulous on the runway!

I find myself being drawn to Manila, she just might be my pick for the win, even with her lip service to "strategy". I knew she wouldn't send Valentina home, and I really like how V called her out in the confessional - beat me fair and square, bitch!

I thought Manila looked stunning on the runway and during her lip sync, and Trinity and Latrice both looked great, even with the footwear issues.

[Rai]

Part of me does wonder a bit if Trinity's impersonation leaned in a little too hard on making Caitlyn "mannish," which would be grounds for some strong criticism. On the other hand, I thought she was hilarious, so I hope everyone's cool with it. "Malibu, baby!" It's not even what she says, it's how she says it. She really does have great comic timing.

But Manilla lived that lip sync. THAT'S the kind of lip sync I want! Something that conveys the spirit of the song and singer. That's why Sasha slayed her lip syncs. No fancy dancing, just pure performance. And Manilla really evoked that era of Whitney and her contemporaries.

I was entertained by Gia's villainy during her time here, but it did feel like she got real for a mo', and that was touching to see. I hope Valentina can bring it in all her telenovela glory now. Be drag queens. Be total bitches. I love it!

I realize that this is basically damning with faint praise, but this is the second-best season of All-Stars so far. It's an electric group of personalities, and Ru seems way more into it again. Bring it to the runway!

[Gothish520]

10 hours ago, Rai said:

Part of me does wonder a bit if Trinity's impersonation leaned in a little too hard on making Caitlyn "mannish," which would be grounds for some strong criticism. On the other hand, I thought she was hilarious, so I hope everyone's cool with it. "Malibu, baby!" It's not even what she says, it's how she says it. She really does have great comic timing.

But Manilla lived that lip sync. THAT'S the kind of lip sync I want! Something that conveys the spirit of the song and singer. That's why Sasha slayed her lip syncs. No fancy dancing, just pure performance. And Manilla really evoked that era of Whitney and her contemporaries.

I was entertained by Gia's villainy during her time here, but it did feel like she got real for a mo', and that was touching to see. I hope Valentina can bring it in all her telenovela glory now. Be drag queens. Be total bitches. I love it!

I realize that this is basically damning with faint praise, but this is the second-best season of All-Stars so far. It's an electric group of personalities, and Ru seems way more into it again. Bring it to the runway!

When Valentina's telenovela persona is switched on and turned up high she is so much fun to watch - more please!

[Rai]

Absoluuuuuutely!

[ladle]

Why was Manila randomly dressed like Amelia Earhart in the workroom? 

[Rosenrot]

On ‎7‎.‎1‎.‎2019 at 9:49 PM, ladle said:

Why was Manila randomly dressed like Amelia Earhart in the workroom? 

LOL my thoughts exactly! She looked way cute though. :3

[Destiny74]

On 12/30/2018 at 9:23 AM, CheetaraThunder said:

I mean, I do measure snatch game success with Alaska’s, Dela’s, Chad, and Jimks performances. That’s what I want to see in snatch game.

You have to add Pandora Boxx's Carol Channing to that list.  It was spot on and hilarious.

Edited January 15, 2019 by Destiny74

[Not4Me]

I’ll give Gia this, her shade-throwing was entertaining.

[Rosenrot]

On ‎15‎.‎1‎.‎2019 at 7:02 AM, Destiny74 said:

I mean, I do measure snatch game success with Alaska’s, Dela’s, Chad, and Jimks performances. That’s what I want to see in snatch game.

 

Alaska's "why don't you come on up and fuck me in the ass sometime" still makes me laugh.