S11.E08: Snatch Game at Sea

[OnceSane]

The queens compete in a nautical-themed version of the legendary Snatch Game. Veep co-stars Tony Hale and Clea DuVall guest judge. Drag queen Jinkx Monsoon makes a guest appearance.

Airs April 18, 2019.

[Temperance]

Well I'm disappointed three of my favorites didn't do well.

Very happy for Nina West who did the best imo. 

I'm always happy to see Ross Mathews. 

[Stinger97]

As soon as Brooke Lynn and Yvie were announced to be in the bottom, I called that it would be a non-elimination week. Of course, it helped that the two of them turned out that lip sync. 

Vanjie should have done Cookie Monster for Snatch Game. C'mon, gorl. 

[DanielleC.]

After see Nina having a fair and square victory robbed and given it to Silky and once again they giving Vangie a free pass just because she is her and see they letting it be between the two best contenders (yes, Snatch Game was their lowest point but it was supose to be Brooke VS Vangie), I was about to give up on the show, 

Once they started the lip sync tho, I knew that Ru would call a double stay, unless they went out of their mind. That lip sync was everything.

I just hope that now, no more free pass on Vangie (girl is loved, already made her point.. keep advancing her like this, might actually hurt her by overexposing her limitations whiling showing blatant favoritism) or giving Silky a super star threatment when she does ok... Hope the competitions turns..

PS: Was Plastique´s look a mini version of Brooke´s Pisces look? Guiirl knows how to put some pretty looks but its always a sense of ´´I saw that before``.. Usually its from her, now its from other queens?

Edited April 19, 2019 by DanielleC.

[Stinger97]

25 minutes ago, DanielleC. said:

PS: Was Plastique´s look a mini version of Brooke´s pisces look? Guiirl knows how to put some pretty looks but its always a sense of ´´I saw that before``.. Usually its from her, now its from other queens?

Ahh, I thought the exact same thing! Although I could not for the life of me remember in the moment whose look specifically that Plastique's reminded of, you're absolutely right that it was Brooke Lynn's Pisces runway. 

[phoenix780]

Yeah, um. I previously asked for no more non eliminations. I was wrong. When they're earned, they're fine. Plus, prospect of a double later is somewhat exciting.

Runway clearly carries very little weight. 

I almost feel bad for Silky. She won a snatch game, and it was blown off the screen by Brooke on the runway and that lip sync. She's going to be so bitter next week.

Oh, I also said I felt like I'd seen enough reveals. I was wrong about that too, that was...so smooth. 

I still don't get what Silky and Akariah have against Plastique. They take her jokes literally, it's the strangest thing. 

[DanielleC.]

11 minutes ago, phoenix780 said:

Yeah, um. I previously asked for no more non eliminations. I was wrong. When they're earned, they're fine. Plus, prospect of a double later is somewhat exciting.

Runway clearly carries very little weight. 

I almost feel bad for Silky. She won a snatch game, and it was blown off the screen by Brooke on the runway and that lip sync. She's going to be so bitter next week.

To be fair, that victory belonged to Nina. Silky should be happy to carry this victory, specially since the Snatch Game victory is always something  queens like to brag about.

[laprin]

First, Biiiiitch!

Brooke Lynn Hytes gets my vote for sexiest queen ever. 

Now, for the rest of the episode.

Snatch Game gets harder to watch every season. I do not understand why these queens are not prepared.

Silky was basically 25% TS Madison and 75% Silky. Overall, she was pretty funny, but there is nothing she could do at this point that would make me Team Silky.

Nina would have won if her Runway was a little stronger. She moved up a notch this week for me.

The bottom two gave me anxiety, but those queens KILLED it. I am usually the first to call BS when there is no eliminated queen, but Ru did the right thing.

[KillahBee007]

I am way way over Silky but she did kill snatch game. Brooke Lynn’s runway was amazing. AMAZING.  I was happy with the double save.  

I hate to say this but it might be time for Vanjie to go. I am just not seeing it anymore.

[DanielleC.]

One more thing: I thing they shouldnt allow the queens to pick this random sub celebrities from other reality shows. First: Mostly are very unknow, second: usually their are just a random bitchy/ghetto  woman and third: for follow this sterotype, its easier for some queens to get away by just doing their own drag persona.

[CraftyHazel]

40 minutes ago, DanielleC. said:

One more thing: I thing they shouldnt allow the queens to pick this random sub celebrities from other reality shows. First: Mostly are very unknow, second: usually their are just a random bitchy/ghetto  woman and third: for follow this sterotype, its easier for some queens to get away by just doing their own drag persona.

I hate this trend so much!  I didn’t even know half of the so-called “celebrities” being impersonated, so it was hard to tell who was actually portraying their character well.

I really dislike Silky and don’t understand why Ru loves her so much.  She’s obnoxious and at the top of my least-favorite Ru girls of all time.

I would love a top four of Brook Lyn, Nina, Yvie, and anyone but Silky.

A’Keria was way over the top with her reaction to the phone call.  I mean, glad you’re happy girl, but the cry/laugh/screech thing you were doing was NOT cute.

[Gothish520]

11 minutes ago, Marmiarmo said:

A’Keria was way over the top with her reaction to the phone call.  I mean, glad you’re happy girl, but the cry/laugh/screech thing you were doing was NOT cute.

I was more concerned that she was missing half the video while she was across the room on the floor wailing! 

[Gothish520]

Shuga's Charo was spot-on and she looked stunning on the runway - I would've been happy if she or Nina won. Silky seemed to be playing Silky to me, but then again, I'm not familiar with TS Madison.

[Sile]

I don't know who Ts Madison is, but is she really that obsessed with dick?  To me Silky was just being her normally obnoxious self, stepping on everybody else's lines.  But I knew they'd give her the damned win.  I would have liked it be Shuga but would have been happy with Nina because I love Harvey Fierstein and she had his voice down to a T.

Give it a rest with the leotard shtick, Michelle, you've made your point.  Obviously this was a specific runway look that was prepared just for this challenge and it fit with the cape and the concept.  

I just keep waiting for somebody to tear into Silky for wearing basically the same damned dress at least as often as Vangie's worn a bathing suit.  I know I'm prejudiced against Silky and am partial to Vangie but,, seriously, how many time has Silky come out in the floor length sequenced gown with some sort of trim on it. 

Brooke Lynn reminds me so much of Chad Michaels in drag, but not at all in her THs.  Other than that they are both intelligent, well spoken and likeable individuals.

1 minute ago, Sile said:

Edited April 19, 2019 by Sile

[2727]

6 hours ago, laprin said:

Nina would have won if her Runway was a little stronger.

Would she, though? I guess Ru thought Silky's Snatch Game was enough to make up for her boring runway, but Shuga and Nina both had great challenge performances and runway looks.

Like others have said, I'm really tired of Silky's pageant gowns. BeBe and Latrice never got called out for the same thing on All Stars, either.

Can someone explain why the judges were blown away by Brooke Lynn's runway? Was it because the reveal included different wigs? That's been done many times. Also, most runway reveals include a scanty garment underneath, and Brooke has done the bandage-y barely there wrap look before. I mean, I liked it and Brooke always sells it with her graceful movements on the runway, but Ru was acting completely gagged.

[Fake Jan Brady]

13 minutes ago, 2727 said:

Can someone explain why the judges were blown away by Brooke Lynn's runway? Was it because the reveal included different wigs? 

I think it was the Wonder Woman reveal; one spin gave us two completely different characters. I was impressed.

Jinkx Monsoon is my favourite queen in Drag Race herstory, so everything after her visit to the workroom was downhill for me [except for the motherflipping lip synch].

Nina was robbed.

Edited April 19, 2019 by Fake Jan Brady

[Keywestclubkid]

This is like the freaking season that will not end HOW the fuck are we at episode 9 and still have 8 queens left? Come on now... some double eliminations need to be coming or something cause this feel like pulling teeth esp with none of these queens being true stand outs..  Having said that Snatch game is always a shit show but JESUS CHRIST was that bad... Silky was just being silky I dunno what the fuck Brooklyn was thinking Yvie GIIIIRL don't call someone talent less unless you are flawless yourself cause KARMA will do what it did to you during that game lol .... Nina prob was the stand out but the way this was edited you wouldn't be able to tell ......

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I actually preferred Brooke Lynne's book pitch (from the title to the description) to Silky's, but Ru seems to love everything Silky does so I'm not surprised that Silky won.

Jinkx had some really good (and specific) advice for the queens in the workroom, which I really appreciated.

I was disappointed that Yvie and Brooke did so badly in the Snatch Game because they are two of my favorites this season.

A'Keria's black and white animal print gown was okay but nothing special.

Vanjie wore another leotard - big surprise. I don't want to totally harp on it every week since I know she couldn't just make a new sequined outfit for the runway, but I disliked that everything about her leotard and cape were so basic. Ha, I loved that the show gave us a flashback of her six previous runway leotard looks as a reminder. Her biggest mistake in Snatch Game was choosing a stupid character that is just a catchphrase that isn't even funny. How can you build an entire character for Snatch Game out of that?

Loved Nina West's colonial inspired red, white, and blue runway look. I love that she always gives us a very clear head to toe look. In comparison, A'Keria and Vanjie were just wearing outfits. I liked that she made an effort to listen to the judges' critiques every week, which is smart. And it's paying off because her makeup looked much better this week. I loved that she did two different characters for Snatch Game. Her Harvey was funny.

Shuga Cain's purple flamenco dress was such a lovely look. The dress was so pretty and flattering. She did a good job as Charo.

Damn, Brooke knew she had to step up her runway game after that terrible Snatch Game performance AND SHE DID. That was such a simple but effective costume reveal and the judges were living for it.

I liked Yvie's sequined jumpsuit because it was so different from the sequined gowns (which is what I expected from most of the queens). Her Whoopi seemed promising but she didn't take it nearly far enough.

Silky's dress was a nice color but ugh, those white shoes were so ugly. GIRL. Why did the judges not say anything about those shoes? And what was going on with her eye makeup (or maybe it was her lashes?) on the runway? One looked wide open and the other looked like it was mid-blink.

I liked Plastique's jumpsuit except for the visible boy chest.

I was dreading the LSFYL but damn if that wasn't the best one I've seen in recent memory. That was definitely worthy of a non-elimination.

[stormy weather]

9 hours ago, laprin said:

Silky was basically 25% TS Madison and 75% Silky. Overall, she was pretty funny, but there is nothing she could do at this point that would make me Team Silky.

Absolutely agree. Honestly at this point I CANNOT understand why Ru loves her SO. MUCH. She laughs like a madwoman at all of her jokes, even the meh ones, she never once criticized her for her shabby, overly simple outfits where other girls have received very harsh critiques from the judges for much better looks than hers and she keeps giving her wins that she doesn't deserve!! Today she even won the mini-challenge, where even Plastique (who for once played a different character than the quiet pretty girl, go Plastique!) did better than her! Are we watching a different show than the one they're taping?

8 hours ago, DanielleC. said:

One more thing: I thing they shouldnt allow the queens to pick this random sub celebrities from other reality shows. 

Yeah, especially when Ru is skeptical about their choices when she visits the workroom before the challenge and they decide to go for it anyway. I had never heard of Lovely Mimi, and if Plastique really wanted to portray an Asian character she could've had chosen Marie Kondo, for example. Everyone knows her and there would've been a lot to work with. And Brooke maybe could've played on her ballerina strenghts and be the Black Swan, in the Jim Carrey-SNL skit style. Or I don't know, still do Celine but drink straight from a maple syrup bottle, exaggerate the accent even more, throw in some Titanic references, bring a flute, sing something... there was so much material she didn't even begin to tap into. I mean, the Snatch Game is not a surprise challenge, do your homework, girls!

5 hours ago, Mayberry said:

UNTUCKED: A'Keria didn't own up to Plastique that she was the one who put those ideas about Plastique's family into Ra'Jah's head. 

Thank you for noticing! When Plastique kept saying Ra'jah attacked her "out of nowhere" and A'Keria didn't say a word I was like: no dearie, it wasn't "out of nowhere", it was out of you! Say something! It's on tape! So shady. All of this drama makes me appreciate the nice queens who keep to themselves (Shuga Cain, whom I adored this week, Nina West and Brooke) so, so, so much more.

I am so glad Yvie and Brooke were both saved because they absolutely killed that lipsync and I would hate for either of them to leave before some of the other queens.

Lastly, Ru looked like the 5th member of Jem and the Holograms tonight on the runway but she was gorgeous!! It's incredible to think she's 58, she is truly stunning.

[Blakeston]

So many things to be irritated about!

- That was easily, IMO, the weakest Snatch Game ever. It just wasn't funny. 

- They could have given the win to Nina, thereby encouraging future queens to play multiple characters, and fine tune their impressions, and pay homage to some comedic greats. But of course Ru gave it to Silky, instead...thereby encouraging future queens to choose some trashy non-celebrity, act like their usual selves, and be loud and obnoxious instead of being clever.

- Sorry, Ross, I like you and usually agree with you, but you were completely wrong about Miss Vangie. That wasn't a good performance, any way you look at it. "Vangie being Vangie" isn't enough anymore.

- Brooke Lynn, how can you be so smart about every other aspect of the competition and so dumb about Snatch Game? I can at least understand Yvie and Vangie's failures - they had their schticks, and planned some jokes, which unfortunately didn't land. But you seemed to put zero thought into it whatsoever. How?

At least we got a great runway and lip sync out of this episode. Just about everything else about it was so blah for me.

[Keywestclubkid]

Thats the funny thing about the snatch game EVERY queen knows its coming if they make if far enough and every fucking season we have a shit show of I dont know who to do... have you not ever watched this show before? you know what is coming why do you not prepare? there was no excuse for Brooklyn to be that flustered on who to do.. and Yvi girl did NOTHING Whoppi that wasn't Whoppi in the least NOTHING about that was thought out 

[Ananayel]

I've been saying for a long time I wanted someone to do Charo, JoAnn Worley, and Celine (among others.) I was so excited. Two out of the three were fine, but Celine. Oh man. She's such a talent, but such a s***. Huge lost opportunity. And I'm not a fan of doing male celebs on Snatch Game, so I would have liked all JoAnn. 

I could not be more over Silky if I tried. If she gets anywhere near the final I'm going lose my mind. The makeover challenge may be her undoing though.

[Stinger97]

I have to echo the sentiments that the producers need to put a moratorium on the Queens doing reality show stars as their Snatch Game celebrities. It's just so much less interesting when half of the panel are "celebs" from VH1 reality shows that I've never heard of before. That said, it's a testament to Nina's comedic abilities that I laughed at her Jo Anne Worley impression despite the fact that I have have 0 clue who Jo Anne Worley even is. 

Also, while I understand some folks are sick of Vanjie being read week after week for the leotard/onesie runway looks, Vanjie did it to herself. When packing for the show, it didn't strike her that she was reusing the same silhouette for all her looks? And now that she's there and stuck with whatever she packed, at least, like, slap a damn skirt on some of these onesies to appease Michelle. Honestly, I really enjoyed last week's look (despite the fact that the headpiece was literally just a strand of rope glued to what looked to be cardboard...) because it was something *different*. 

Edited April 19, 2019 by Stinger97

[AntManBee]

I like Nina, a lot.  But I am glad she didn't win Snatch Game.  I cannot stand when queens do two completely different people.  It is a cop out.  Commit to one character and follow it through.  I feel the character change is a gimmick for when you don't have enough material (or confidence) to commit to one character.  Her turning the game into another game show, with her own SnatchWord card, was genius.  (And you know how Ru loves her classic game shows!) I wish she had done Joanne the whole time, but made each response a different type of game show. 

Yvie really is beginning to bug me.   For someone that loves to dish out criticisms, she sure doesn't know how to take it. 

[DisneyBoy]

Snatch Game gets harder to watch every season. I do not understand why these queens are not prepared.

Seriously. They know it's a huge determining factor in winning the show, but they are too lazy to sit down with a comedy writer or acting coach and prep two viable options? Accents are hard to pull out of your ass. Prep them! Everybody who skips rehearsal for an important play will freeze up. Improv is even harder and requires relaxation. You can't be relaxed if you don't even have something to fall back on that you know works.

*Slaps forehead*

One more thing: I thing they shouldnt allow the queens to pick this random sub celebrities from other reality shows. First: Mostly are very unknow, second: usually their are just a random bitchy/ghetto  woman and third: for follow this sterotype, its easier for some queens to get away by just doing their own drag persona.

YES! I don't watch those shows and had no idea who half these characters were. I saw Charro, Whoopi, Harvey, Celine and...that's it. The rest were...????

To be fair, that victory belonged to Nina. 

Fully. I am more impressed by her every week and I'm usually indifferent to campy old school drag. I thought she deserved to win. Really like her energy and she did two successful characters and a unique runway - that's not enough?

I like Nina, a lot.  But I am glad she didn't win Snatch Game.  I cannot stand when queens do two completely different people.  It is a cop out.  Commit to one character and follow it through.  I feel the character change is a gimmick for when you don't have enough material (or confidence) to commit to one character.  Her turning the game into another game show, with her own SnatchWord card, was genius.

See, I was so lost with the other performances, it felt like Nina was picking up the slack (not that I was familiar with Joanne). I wish she'd done three characters. 

[Gothish520]

1 hour ago, Ananayel said:

I've been saying for a long time I wanted someone to do Charo, JoAnn Worley, and Celine (among others.) I was so excited. Two out of the three were fine, but Celine. Oh man. She's such a talent, but such a s***. Huge lost opportunity. And I'm not a fan of doing male celebs on Snatch Game, so I would have liked all JoAnn. 

I could not be more over Silky if I tried. If she gets anywhere near the final I'm going lose my mind. The makeover challenge may be her undoing though.

I do agree with the judges that Shuga could've taken Charo further out there - that's a perfect character to step over Silky - she could've cuchi-cuchied the whole panel, the contestants, Ru, everyone. She could've broken out a guitar and played a terrible song which would've been funny because as we all know, Charo is a great flamenco guitarist. Even introducing herself by her real name (María del Rosario Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza) would've been a hoot. But still, she did have the look and voice down pat.

[Dandesun]

*sigh*

Snatch Game, when you've got performers who can really bring it, can rise above the majority of the chaf but when there aren't any truly amazing stand outs it really doesn't work well. It's a hard challenge but, at this point, they need to hit it out of the park in order to be remotely memorable.

I'll join the chorus on being tired af with the 'reality show contestant' impersonations. It just highlights how many queens have ZERO references outside of current pop star/reality show persona. That Nina and Shuga both went to actual old school references with Harvey Firestein, Joanne Worley and Charo made me extremely happy. It was also nice that they both performed well. It was actually hugely disappointing that Yvie and Brook Lynn both went outside the reality show box and crashed and burned but, hey, I guess it happens.

Silky winning was... ugh. It reminded me of when Stacy Layne Matthews allegedly did Mo'nique but basically did her character from Precious and won. (Granted, that wasn't an especially strong snatch game, either. Although it was only the second time they did it so it was still in infant stage.) I know Ben de la Creme did Maggie Smith's character from Downton Abbey but having seen Dame Maggie in interviews there really isn't that much difference between the character and actor.

Actually, Silky got a storyline very similar to Stacy Layne in this episode. Her ability gets called out and she wins a lackluster Snatch Game as some sort of victory/redemption. Problem is, too many of Silky's talking heads were her carrying on about how Yvie called her talentless. It was at least three separate instances in one episode. Combine that with her sucking the air out of the room with her silent treatment bullshit.

Here's the thing, Vangie and Yvie buried the hatchet. Vangie apologizing to everyone about the hot mess that was Untucked scored major points with me. Yvie telling Silky she was wrong and acknowledging how well she did in Snatch Game scored points with me. Silky basically calling Yvie trash in her talking heads did not. Yvie and Silky were opposing forces from jump (and, to be honest, I sympathize with Yvie on that because having to deal with Silky's antics has got to be exhausting on a good day much less when you're dealing with chronic pain and trying to get over an injury as well) but Silky's attitude towards Yvie and her drag is way too much like the shit we saw with Alexis and Raja, PhiPhi and Sharon, Roxxxy and Jinkx...

Pageant looks just don't seem to change all that much. Yvie does different things. Silky's got one face that she paints, she only paints for 'beauty' and actively pooh-pooh's anything that is outside of her 'beauty all day long' box.

Also, it does surprise me that very few queens realize that current pop culture is not Ru's wheelhouse. Ru is 50. You know he barely has an idea who any of these reality show people are. But reference old game shows, the 60s/70s and you're already going to be ahead of the game. Most of the queens in season 5 had absolutely no idea who Little Edie was and questioned Jinkx's wisdom about it but Ru got it, Jinkx played the shit out of it and won. Ru's the deciding factor in Snatch Game not the audience. Nina already had a leg up on everyone else because Ru knew exactly who her characters were. And Silky had a leg up because Ru is enamored of her personality -- but Ru doesn't see all the rest of it so that doesn't surprise me at all.

[ClareWalks]

Fun fact re: Snatch Game: the queens aren't allowed to play "fictional characters," hence why they frequently choose Insert Actor Here and just play them as their famous character. 

Ru is dramatically overestimating Silky's star quality and I am over it. Silky behaves like a child who has been overly praised her entire life. Her attitude toward Yvie after the apology was gross to me. It's one thing to say "yeah, I don't know how genuine Yvie's apology was, but whatever." It's another to be so utterly gleeful about continuing to hate everything about Yvie. I guess Silky will never be the bigger person, unless it's physically.

[zengirl1215]

I have no clue who Silky was portraying in Snatch Game.  I had to look her up on the net.  And honestly Silky just seem to be portraying herself just hamming it up a bit more than usual.  I still don't see what Ru is seeing in her.  I thought Nina won Snatch and felt she got screwed out of that win.  

I was glad both Brooke and Yvie got to stay.  Both killed it in the LSFYL and deserved a second chance.  

[Glade]

Latrice would have rage-quit within seconds when Silky opened snatch game with her typical hyperactive intrusiveness, which the guest judges thought funny because they haven't seen her do it every single episode.  I'm sure no ones going to call Silky 'baby Latrice' again after seeing her on the show, she's baby Mystique.  I think Nina should have won this, she was so much better, but just isn't getting much screen time despite her talent.

I badly need Silky to GTFO, she becomes more repellent to me every episode, and no she won't appreciate her win (she's too petty, class-less and immature) since she was clearly upstaged by the supposed bottom two. Brooklyn and Yvie killed the lipsync, and there is no way either could be sent home after that, they clearly belong in the top 3, and unlike some queens aren't just being kept around for drama. Shuga's dress was amazing, though I can't say I've noticed her very much otherwise. 

As usual, snatch game was mostly bad, and the first third of the episode was tainted by way too many ad/product placements.   I don't approve of cramming past RPDR queens into every bit of dead space per episode and I love Jinx, but doesn't Bendelacreme hold the world record for snatch game?  I'm glad the runway and lipsync proved to be so legendary.

[Impalace]

2 hours ago, Dandesun said:

*sigh*

Snatch Game, when you've got performers who can really bring it, can rise above the majority of the chaf but when there aren't any truly amazing stand outs it really doesn't work well. It's a hard challenge but, at this point, they need to hit it out of the park in order to be remotely memorable.

I'll join the chorus on being tired af with the 'reality show contestant' impersonations. It just highlights how many queens have ZERO references outside of current pop star/reality show persona. That Nina and Shuga both went to actual old school references with Harvey Firestein, Joanne Worley and Charo made me extremely happy. It was also nice that they both performed well. It was actually hugely disappointing that Yvie and Brook Lynn both went outside the reality show box and crashed and burned but, hey, I guess it happens.

Silky winning was... ugh. It reminded me of when Stacy Layne Matthews allegedly did Mo'nique but basically did her character from Precious and won. (Granted, that wasn't an especially strong snatch game, either. Although it was only the second time they did it so it was still in infant stage.) I know Ben de la Creme did Maggie Smith's character from Downton Abbey but having seen Dame Maggie in interviews there really isn't that much difference between the character and actor.

Actually, Silky got a storyline very similar to Stacy Layne in this episode. Her ability gets called out and she wins a lackluster Snatch Game as some sort of victory/redemption. Problem is, too many of Silky's talking heads were her carrying on about how Yvie called her talentless. It was at least three separate instances in one episode. Combine that with her sucking the air out of the room with her silent treatment bullshit.

Here's the thing, Vangie and Yvie buried the hatchet. Vangie apologizing to everyone about the hot mess that was Untucked scored major points with me. Yvie telling Silky she was wrong and acknowledging how well she did in Snatch Game scored points with me. Silky basically calling Yvie trash in her talking heads did not. Yvie and Silky were opposing forces from jump (and, to be honest, I sympathize with Yvie on that because having to deal with Silky's antics has got to be exhausting on a good day much less when you're dealing with chronic pain and trying to get over an injury as well) but Silky's attitude towards Yvie and her drag is way too much like the shit we saw with Alexis and Raja, PhiPhi and Sharon, Roxxxy and Jinkx...

Pageant looks just don't seem to change all that much. Yvie does different things. Silky's got one face that she paints, she only paints for 'beauty' and actively pooh-pooh's anything that is outside of her 'beauty all day long' box.

Also, it does surprise me that very few queens realize that current pop culture is not Ru's wheelhouse. Ru is 50. You know he barely has an idea who any of these reality show people are. But reference old game shows, the 60s/70s and you're already going to be ahead of the game. Most of the queens in season 5 had absolutely no idea who Little Edie was and questioned Jinkx's wisdom about it but Ru got it, Jinkx played the shit out of it and won. Ru's the deciding factor in Snatch Game not the audience. Nina already had a leg up on everyone else because Ru knew exactly who her characters were. And Silky had a leg up because Ru is enamored of her personality -- but Ru doesn't see all the rest of it so that doesn't surprise me at all.

He will be 59 this year and that hammers your point even more. 

[Sile]

27 minutes ago, Impalace said:

He will be 59 this year and that hammers your point even more. 

I was just about to say that, even though you'd never know it by looking at him.  I love her gowns but live for the rare times like this ep where she shows off the legs.   Who has gams like that at 58??

Jinx gave a lot of good, solid advice and it seems that absolutely nobody took it.  Vangie should have at least consulted with her drag mom.  Alexis had one of the top performances playing Alicia Keys as a pregnant lesbian.  Was it accurate?  No.  Was it entertaining?  You bet! I would have liked to see her Latoya, and Latoya probably would have as well.  She's in on her own joke.

It's not that hard.  Really, all you have to do is 1.  go to youtube  2.  check out old game show clips  3.  pick pretty much anybody in a Hollywood Square and you're golden!  There are some great stars on all those old game shows.  Ruth Buzzi, Betty White, Brett Somers, Fannie Flagg.  Come on, queens!

Edited April 19, 2019 by Sile

[Dandesun]

28 minutes ago, Impalace said:

He will be 59 this year and that hammers your point even more. 

Augh. I meant to say "over 50" and clearly my brain and typing were not in synch. But, yeah, the point remains.  I knew that Ru would love the Joanne Worley because she was on Martin and Rowan's Laugh-In and Ru did a send up of their cocktail party scene in the first All-Stars. Last I saw Amazon Prime had season 1 & 2 available. And young queens would do well to check it out because there is tons of stuff to mine there as far as looks go. Worley wore full on drag... dresses made entirely of feathers, big hair, big voice. Nina got that one RIGHT. (Plus, clearly Ru loved that show.)

I mean, I get a real stand out reality show contender but what even is that anymore? There are SO MANY reality shows and Ru clearly didn't know who was being referenced a few times.

The queens that can nail those older references come out with a lot of cred. It's surprised me that it took this long for us to see someone do Charo. CHARO HAS BEEN ON THE SHOW!! It continues to surprise me that no one has done Dolly -- I mean, you could argue that Trixie models herself after Dolly in any number of ways but no one has done Dolly on Snatch Game and it seems like that would be a no brainer. We've had several failed attempts at Beyonce and Gaga. We had a disastrous Diana Ross but I'd love to see someone do a really good send up of Diana.

I don't know, it seems like a no brainer to stop with the constant reality show contestants (and that includes other drag queens) and figure out that your audience is RU.

BTW, for those who aren't familiar with Joanne Worley, you might know her as the voice of the wardrobe in the animated Beauty and the Beast. She even gives a guy a makeover in that flick!!

[Delete]

It is too bad that Brooke Lynn wasn't able to impersonate Celine. The real Celine is a hoot! That said, Brooke Lynn is wonderful to watch, and moves like butter melting over a biscuit. 

I'm not gagging over Silky nor Yvie. They are completely overshadowing the show with their bs drama. 

Vanjie is extremely likeable but not worthy of the crown.  However, I have a real crush on the boy outta drag. He's beautiful. 

Shuga should have won. She was perfect as Charo, and her runway look was incredible. 

[Ohiopirate02]

I really need Silky to sashay away asap.  I did notice in this episode that while Ru seems enamored with her someone on the editing staff does not.  Her talking heads alternate between delusions of grandeur or bitching about another queen usually Yvie.  Then during the judges critique after someone praises another queen it's an immediate cut to Silky rolling her eyes or flashing a dirty look.  I don't want to call it a villain edit but its pretty close.  

[Dandesun]

Aside from the BIG DRAMA of Yvie/Vangie/Silky... there was also the A'keria/Plastique shenanigans. That little 'talk' they had in Untucked where A'keria's all 'so what was all that between you and Rajah?' and I'm sitting there going 'the thing that YOU started?!' And A'keria follows that up with 'some of the girls think this... or didn't quite understand that' and, again. I'm going 'YOU! YOU are the one who thought that shit and scuttled over to tell Rajah about it all! YOU!"

This isn't the first time contestants have not understood the deal that some Asian queens deal with in their families as immigrants and it made me sad that Mercedes was gone because I think she could probably share some empathy with Plastique about how their family's culture clashes with their LGBT+ identity and life. It was a similar situation with Kim Chi when she said her mother did not know she did drag and there was this huge push from Ru to come out and 'be your true self' -- and it's just not always that simple. And it seems, also, to be a case where you're either totally supported by your family or you don't have anything to do with your family because they don't accept you... there doesn't seem to be much middle ground among the contestants so the fact that some queens have strained relationships with their family because they may know but not fully accept so the queen shuts that part down when they're with the family, or that the boyfriend is working on showing the family members what an amazing performer and person the queen is while they're away. It seems that Plastique's relationship with her family is very complicated but A'keria jumped to a conclusion that she was lying, told Rajah about it, that escalated and now A'keria's all 'well some people think this' and not owning up to her part in ANY of it.

[heckkitty]

18 hours ago, Sile said:

Brooke Lynn reminds me so much of Chad Michaels in drag, but not at all in her THs.  Other than that they are both intelligent, well spoken and likeable individuals.

💯 I thought I might be the only one. 

I have a terrible feeling that Silky is going to win this shit because Ru is so hot for her. I can tolerate her less & less every week. 

Edited April 20, 2019 by heckkitty

[funnygirl]

Not sure how Vanji wasn't in the bottom because Brooke Lynn had a terrible snatch game but her runway killed. That at the very least gave her an edge over Vanji, who underwhelmed at both. 

That lip sync was amazing, though. 

Edited April 20, 2019 by funnygirl

[2727]

Oh, Brooke Lynn. If you're not good at accents, pick a celebrity who doesn't have one. I think she could have done very well with someone like Bea Arthur/Dorothy Zbornak. Wear a short gray wig, tunic top, and be bitingly sarcastic.

Everyone: Please brainstorm these things with friends before the show, see what suits you, and practice!

Also, I'm pretty burned out. This show needs to be on once a freaking year, including All Star seasons. There's too much repetitiveness (and tiresome shouting) to be airing 8 months at a time. I watch a lot of competitive reality shows that highlight creativity, but it's asking a lot even of me to sit through the 300th runway look of the year and still maintain any sense of excitement or anticipation. I stick with it because I love seeing what the queens come up with, but please give me time to recharge and anticipate!

[Jesse]

On 4/19/2019 at 3:02 AM, Mayberry said:

Thought it was going to be a Vanjie vs. Brooke Lynn lip sync to play off the romance but what a great lipsync we got!

I'm willing to bet that Vanjie wasn't up there because Ru wanted to put the fear of god into Brooke and Yvie, and assumed they would both kill the lip sync, so no one would have to go home. It was way better TV than Brooke v. Vanjie with Vanjie going home at this point.

[dolphincorn]

Brooke Lynn should have done Beyonce.

[Dandesun]

9 hours ago, dolphincorn said:

Brooke Lynn should have done Beyonce.

Well, she’d have fit right in with all the other Beyoncé disasters.

[Not4Me]

Not to sound all Comicbook Guy but: WORST. SNATCH. GAME. EVER!

In all seriousness I do think it was the worst one, I rarely laughed and it was largely due to the offensive, unknown social media/reality TV famewhores most of the queens chose to portray. Nobody should ever give the “Cashmeoutside Girl” anymore publicity than she actually needs. Nina and Shuga were clearly the best in a cesspool of dross.

Shuga was exquisite on the runway. Meanwhile I just want Silky to run away.

[Juneau Gal]

On 4/19/2019 at 4:58 PM, heckkitty said:

💯 I thought I might be the only one. 

I have a terrible feeling that Silky is going to win this shit because Ru is so hot for her. I can tolerate her less & less every week. 

I have that same fear. She has favored Silky from the very start. For some reason I think Ru wants very large queen (morbidly obese, in truth) as a winner. She tried to get there with Eureka, but fortunately the other top three were too superior, it would have been obvious favoritism. This time Ru may just take it the whole way to the win. 

[KillahBee007]

So, I’d like to circle back to Yvie apologizing to Silky. I thought her apology was very sincere and Silky doesn’t have to accept it. She’s not obligated to but I thought she handled it terribly. 

I still think Silky did the best in snatch game but her behavior after was just so ugly that, imho, it doesn’t even matter. 

[Pallida]

A YouTube channel I watch occasionally filmed a video of teens reacting to Cashmeoutside Girl (Bhad Bhabie)'s rap music - and then a reaction video to her reacting to them. It makes me sad that this show gave her more publicity. 

I wish Ru wouldn't reward the aggressive performances in either the Snatch Game or when lip syncing. During Snatch Game, the queens should play off each other, and sometimes that's piping up - but Silky inserted herself before Plastique had a chance to respond to something Ru said. I'd also like to see a reduction in the reality "star" performances. I'd like to see a theme (like academy award actress or grammy award singer or Razzie winners.) that would keep that from happening. 

I agree with the above comment that someone on production doesn't like Silky - and the tinfoil hat side of me wonders if it's because of the physicality on the guest judges that came back stage. Early on, I wanted to like Silky, but now she's seeming so petty that I just can't.

[noveltylibrary65]

SG sucked, I hated Silky's eyelashes on the runway, they looked like they were falling off and that dejected look from Shuga hearing "You're safe".  At least the lip sync was something.

[Jennifersdc]

First time poster. Nina got robbed - kinda like Shangela on her All Stars season. 

Not a fan of Silky at all - and I generally root for the plus size queens. Ru may love her for some reason - but the editor’s definitely don’t seem to. Wasn’t impressed at all by last episode’s runway were she basically pasted beans on a tube top (her Aretha Franklin looks are getting old to me). And at least Yvie owns/admits her bad behavior. And seems genuinely apologetic about it.

That lip synch was awesome! I watched it three times. Halfway through the first I figured out Ru wasn’t sending either one home. Mr. DC was so upset Yvie and Brooke Lyne were in the bottom (they deserved it) he wasn’t even watching (chose to be on phone/Internet instead) until I poked him to.

Not too impressed by this season’s Queens. Despite Miss Vangie’s bad choice of continual bodysuits on the runway, I love him (believe she’s not Trans?). And didn’t see much difference between him and Silky being themselves rather than their “impersonation”.

I guess I’m old and I too had no clue who the Instagram “stars” a bunch of them were impersonating. 

[Blakeston]

On 4/19/2019 at 8:58 PM, heckkitty said:

💯 I thought I might be the only one. 

I have a terrible feeling that Silky is going to win this shit because Ru is so hot for her. I can tolerate her less & less every week. 

I think (or at least desperately hope) that Ru is overpraising and over-rewarding Silky because he recognizes that Silky makes a good villain. Loud, argumentative, cocky and delusional = everything that reality TV producers are looking for.

I think the producers were probably disappointed that the past few seasons have had fairly little drama compared to the days when Phi Phi and Roxxxy were chewing the scenery. I think the casting this season was an attempt to get away from the image-conscious, highly polished queens we've seen in recent seasons, and bring in some of the trashier, brasher queens we saw earlier in the series.

So I don't think there's any disconnect between Ru and the editors. I think Ru is allowing Silky to stay in the competition because he wants someone who can be portrayed so negatively.

But even if Ru really does want to crown Silky, I think he's a smart enough cookie to realize by now that the fans wouldn't stand for it. (Also, if the finale is anything like S9 or S10, I don't see how Silky could possibly beat Brooke Lynn and/or Yvie in a finale lip sync, no matter how many big-girl splits she can do.)

[Temperance]

 I'm not as picky about who the queens choose.  Not everybody knows who Little Evie (Grey Gardens, Jinx Monsoon) was, or who Dorothy Parker (Miz Cracker season 10) was, or Joanna Worley was/is etc., but you can make people who don't know laugh by being funny and showing who they are. Who is relevant as a celebrity varies person to person, but knowing how to take breakdown a personality, really play that character, stay in character and be funny is what counts.

I agree with the frustration about people not knowing the people they're portraying. You can google the celebrities and watch clips on youtube of who they are.  

Since queens have done men, I think Brooke Lynne would have done well with Justin Bieber since they're both english-speaking canadians. After googling it maybe Pamela Anderson.

On 4/19/2019 at 6:19 PM, Dandesun said:

A BTW, for those who aren't familiar with Joanne Worley, you might know her as the voice of the wardrobe in the animated Beauty and the Beast. She even gives a guy a makeover in that flick!!

Thanks for mentioning Beauty and the Beast. I didn't know, but that info is relevant to me.