S11.E10: Dragracadabra

[OnceSane]

Quote

The queens must razzle and dazzle in their very own magic show. Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin) and Katherine Langford (13 Reasons Why) guest judge.

Airs May 2, 2019.

[Temperance]

This episode was kind of boring in the middle.

The right person won. The wrong person went home imo. 

[DanielleC.]

I was very happy about the episode until the very end rubbish results... I thought that finally the show would stop giving Silky and Vangie life savers and both would be the in the bottom 2.. And than, they let Silky safe again, put Shuga on the bottom without deserving it and Vangie win that souless lip sync with they pretending it was somehow great?Neither was really great, but at least Shugar was trying to sell some real emotion. I was hopping even for a double elimination (cause that song, could have gone way further), but Vangie staying was rubbish.

Happy for Nina and Brooke (both own the challenge and the runway), Nina deserved that win because its clear she leader not only behind but at the scene time around, but I´m worried on how much they will keep dragging Silky and Vangie and who might be robbed next week (is becoming exausting to have them with the same struggles, same tired characters).

Edited May 3, 2019 by DanielleC.

[Keywestclubkid]

Nina 100% deserved that win from challenge to runway 

[Adeejay]

Suga was robbed. Silky should have been in the bottom 2, instead. And in the lip sync Vangie should have been eliminated.

[phoenix780]

Nina needs to be hired as their skit writer moving forward. She was great here, she was great with the religious show thing. I want more. 

The editors are the real magicians. So many good misdirects. 

I'm fine with the outcome. I tend to forget Shuga, who is solid just not exciting to me. 

[Lois Sandborne]

This season sucks.

[DanielleC.]

11 minutes ago, phoenix780 said:

Nina needs to be hired as their skit writer moving forward. She was great here, she was great with the religious show thing. I want more. 

The editors are the real magicians. So many good misdirects. 

I'm fine with the outcome. I tend to forget Shuga, who is solid just not exciting to me. 

My worrie is more about what is comming next and on how far they will keep pushing Vangie and Silky. IMO, now, both should go one after the other, Brooke, Nina, Yvie and A´keria proved themselves and would be a great final 4 but I´m really worried that producers will do with one or more of them the same they did with Scarlett, Plastique and even more obvious now with Shuga:  Make sure to knock one of them in the bottom in order to keep either Vangie or Silky safe so Ru can save either in the lip sync. Next week in particular, the make over challenge most of the times have some questionable feedback from the judges, when they can be really nit-pick with the queens they want in the bottom and overlook the same (or even worse) flaws on the queen they want to keep.

Edited May 3, 2019 by DanielleC.

[Aerobicidal]

I enjoyed Silky Narcolepsy Ganache a lot more than Silky Nutmeg Ganache. Maybe this can be an inspiration to rebrand.

[Gothish520]

First off, that was the best mini challenge they've had all season!

I thought Shuga stepped it up for the magic show, and I dug her runway, though maybe it was one reveal too many. She's a sweetheart though and I liked her exit scene on Untucked. 

Vanjie put some real emotion into the lip sync, so I'm ok with her staying, but her days are numbered. 

Brooke's mom seems like a great lady and her video was awesome. Silky being so touched by her words made me soften up a bit towards her.

Nina totally deserved the win. I am ready for a Brooke/Nina showdown for the crown. 

Ru looked great on the runway, loved the dress and the red hair. I have no idea who either of the guest judges were, but I liked them. I love Michelle and her 80s and 90s references.

[KillahBee007]

*sigh* Silky stays another week. I was disappointed that Shuga was eliminated and as much as I like Vanjie, I think her days are numbered.  It was kind of a boring episode.

[Glade]

Nina looked fucking amazing on the runway and she nailed the challenge too, I'm so glad she finally got her win.  Akeiria definitely didn't wear a caftan.  I disliked all 3 of Shuga's "caftan" looks (but I'm surprised she didn't do the reveals during her lipsync), which got progressively worse, and she was the worst of her team, but I'd definitely rather Silky went home.  Brooklyn looked great, but damn from her magic act I hate to think of how much dirtier bm's original jokes were. 

I was so sick of hearing about that fucking BBQ from the black magic group, make the joke once and then maybe reference…you know, black magick somewhere??  It was really bad, and Vanjie's act was the worst not only because of her lack of character differentiation, but because she was clearly clutching the condiment bottles with her hand when she flipped over the bag.  I really thought she was going home, I think her story is over. I was afraid for Yvie (since doing a 'shocking elimination' of a talented and popular queen is part of the brand now), but I'm glad she was safe. 

Edited May 3, 2019 by Glade

[Fake Jan Brady]

Just because Suga wasn't as great as Nina and Brooke does not mean she was worse than everyone on the Black Magic team! RIGGAMORRIS!

My bottom two would have been A'Keria for her "kaftan/caftan" and Silkie for looking a mess during the maxi challenge.

I loved Ross's reaction to A'Keria's kaftan, especially his "Let it go, Ru" at the end. He really is the hilarious Ross Matthews.

I love Nina. I loved how Gina Rodriguez loved Nina. Can't wait for the Nina & Gina show that Gina is hopefully plotting.

[Blakeston]

I’ve had it with Ru. She clearly wants to be seen as an Oprah-esque guru who helps people accept themselves and overcome self-doubt - but she’s also shamelessly stirring up drama. You can’t have it both ways.

She’s never been this over-the-top about asking questions to provoke conflict. And there’s no explanation for some of her terrible elimination choices except for maintaining conflict.

No way in hell was Shuga one of the two worst. She helped put together a terrific show. Her whole team should have been declared safe.

[stormy weather]

Let's be honest, it's quite obvious at this point that they (Ru) already decided who has to go home in order for her to keep her favorites on, no matter how anyone performs in the challenges/runway/lip sync, because the judges' critiques for the past 2-3 episodes have been completely random. This episode made zero sense.

First of all, since when are team challenges judged individually? Or did they say anything about this and I missed it? Secondly, team Black Magic was pretty bad as a whole (except maaaaybe A'Keria). There was no one in there who had a single joke that was funny, and all of their magic tricks were cheap and poorly executed. Yvie was right when she said they all insisted on improvising and it was a bad choice, because it showed. The whole thing was a mess. I don't understand how some judges found it even remotely good.

But let's get to the inexplicable elimination of Shuga. She did good in her team. Sure, she's not as hilarious as Nina and not as physically talented as Brooke Lynn, but she still performed better than anyone on the other team, and although I admit she might not have what it takes to win the crown, I reckon she could have definitely stayed for another 2-3 episodes, and it would've been the right thing to do. She is super sweet, always positive and cheerful, drama-free, and just a good example in general. So now the question is: why are they so desperate to keep Vanjie? Is it because they brought her back? Or because she has this thing going on with Brooklyn and the producers are all hoping for some major drama down the road? Since her shantaying required the sacrifice of Shuga, I would like an explanation! 

[2727]

I hard disagreed with Michelle about Shuga's runway reveals, which I thought were delightful. All three caftans in the purest sense, and I loved the winter, spring, summer theme.

I fell in love with Shuga because of her upbeat, infectious confessionals and backstage personality, which of course the judges are wholly ignorant of. Her performances have been middling and she wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway, but putting her in the bottom this week was blatantly unfair. According to me.

[Blakeston]

2 hours ago, stormy weather said:

Let's be honest, it's quite obvious at this point that they (Ru) already decided who has to go home in order for her to keep her favorites on, no matter how anyone performs in the challenges/runway/lip sync, because the judges' critiques for the past 2-3 episodes have been completely random. This episode made zero sense.

First of all, since when are team challenges judged individually? Or did they say anything about this and I missed it? Secondly, team Black Magic was pretty bad as a whole (except maaaaybe A'Keria). There was no one in there who had a single joke that was funny, and all of their magic tricks were cheap and poorly executed. Yvie was right when she said they all insisted on improvising and it was a bad choice, because it showed. The whole thing was a mess. I don't understand how some judges found it even remotely good.

But let's get to the inexplicable elimination of Shuga. She did good in her team. Sure, she's not as hilarious as Nina and not as physically talented as Brooke Lynn, but she still performed better than anyone on the other team, and although I admit she might not have what it takes to win the crown, I reckon she could have definitely stayed for another 2-3 episodes, and it would've been the right thing to do. She is super sweet, always positive and cheerful, drama-free, and just a good example in general. So now the question is: why are they so desperate to keep Vanjie? Is it because they brought her back? Or because she has this thing going on with Brooklyn and the producers are all hoping for some major drama down the road? Since her shantaying required the sacrifice of Shuga, I would like an explanation! 

Sometimes Ru makes the entire winning team safe, and sometimes she doesn't - it depends on what suits her agenda. In the acting challenge this season, the two winners and the bottom two who had to lip sync came from the same team (the "Get Out" team).

i think they're keeping Vanjie around because she became such a big sensation after season 10, and she has a big fanbase. (And I think they're under the impression that Vanjie equals good TV, which is true to a certain extent - but I don't think too many people would be devastated if she left at this point.)

Honestly, I'm starting to feel sorry for Vanjie, because she just doesn't seem to be very bright. At all. When it comes to comedy, she's reminding me of Jasmine Masters on All Stars - yes, it can be funny listening to you talk smack in your super-mannish voice while you wear a dress, but that doesn't mean your material is clever.

She really does listen to the judges' feedback, but I don't think she's sharp enough to respond to it successfully. Last season they complained that she covered her body in an unsightly blob of flowers, so her response was "gotta show my body!" and she returned with eight suitcases full of virtually identical swimsuits.

And the choices she made for casting her team? How has she not figured out that Nina is the perfect partner for this type of thing?

Edited May 3, 2019 by Blakeston

[palmaire]

51 minutes ago, Blakeston said:

And the choices she made for casting her team? How has she not figured out that Nina is the perfect partner for this type of thing?

She probably picked for "personality" because she still believes, past performance and critiques to the contrary, that loudness = funny. She also chose her two closest friends that she trusts, plus Yvie.

Things like Vanjie's overjoyed reaction and hopping from foot to foot when Ru said it was a magic challenge make me love her as a person, but yeah. Not a particularly clever or thoughtful player of this particular game.

I'd also include A'keria in that, because how the hell she thought her team could improvise in such a structured challenge as a magic act is beyond me. There's no one to improv off of, no one asking questions or challenging them during the performance, no audience interactions to speak of. Did she think jokes were just going to pop into everyone's heads while they were doing their acts? Sheesh.

I know Nina was feeling a little bruised from last week when she thought she had mistakenly ceded Brooke the better role in their scenes, but she overcompensated a bit this week and I think didn't allow Shuga time to shine. Nina hogged it, in other words.

Edited May 3, 2019 by palmaire

[ladle]

Yaaaaaaay Nina.  Love her! 

Poor Shugs.  I didn't think she was going to win the competition or anything, but I didn't think she deserved to be in the bottom two either. 

[phoenix780]

Vanjie is a reliably entertaining narrator via talking heads, and that's why I think she's been kept around a little longer than she probably should have been. I'm super biased in her favor, though, so I'm fine with it. I also...don't really agree with their critiques of her personality. I don't need Vanjie to be anything more than pretty with a husky voice, because it makes me laugh nearly every time, and I certainly don't understand pushing her to be something other than Vanjie when others are either the same unoriginal thing every time or are, well, nothing that sticks out to me. 

15 hours ago, Lois Sandborne said:

This season sucks.

It's a very bizarre season. I don't know if I'd say it sucks (yet) because there are quite a few of them that I really want to see live. Nina, Vanjie, Evie, Brooke Lynn...which I guess is only 4, but that still feel like a solid number to me. There's definitely something off, though. Maybe just that it's an older show that never takes a break.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

2 hours ago, 2727 said:

I hard disagreed with Michelle about Shuga's runway reveals, which I thought were delightful. All three caftans in the purest sense, and I loved the winter, spring, summer theme.

I fell in love with Shuga because of her upbeat, infectious confessionals and backstage personality, which of course the judges are wholly ignorant of. Her performances have been middling and she wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway, but putting her in the bottom this week was blatantly unfair. According to me.

What is Shuga's accent?  She's from California. (And her non-drag name is Jesus Martinez.)

[ClareWalks]

Silky's confessionals make me actually, literally CRINGE. Her "shade" is straight-up nasty and mean. She doesn't understand the difference between an insult and a read. It blows my mind that Ru loves her so much. She tries so hard that she makes season 6 Laganja look GENUINE.

[Ruby Gillis]

6 hours ago, palmaire said:

I know Nina was feeling a little bruised from last week when she thought she had mistakenly ceded Brooke the better role in their scenes, but she overcompensated a bit this week and I think didn't allow Shuga time to shine. Nina hogged it, in other words.

I think Shuga had more jokes than it seemed.  They would almost land but not quite.  She'll probably be great once she gets more stage experience during the drag race tours.  I love Shuga and wish she had stayed another week instead of Vanjie. 

It would probably benefit Vanjie to get kicked off before her weaknesses show too much as well.  A'keria really should have been in the bottom for not wearing a caftan and I bet she would have killed the song and gotten some momentum going forward.

Edited May 3, 2019 by Ruby Gillis

[howiveaddict]

As a fat girl, I see Silky as nothing but a fat, sloppy girl.  I don't get Ru's love of her at all. Don't care for her personality either.  She should have been in bottom two many times. Especially tonight.  Loved Shuga and sad to see her go.

[Bobby88]

22 hours ago, howiveaddict said:

As a fat girl, I see Silky as nothing but a fat, sloppy girl.  I don't get Ru's love of her at all. Don't care for her personality either.  She should have been in bottom two many times. Especially tonight.  Loved Shuga and sad to see her go.

I agree. I feel like Silky’s whole identity rests on “I’m this season’s big girl”. That’s fine, but what else does she bring to the table? She’s delusional and is about as charming as a fart in a crowded elevator, so it’s not personality. Her looks are sloppy and unfinished, despite the fact the queens such as Latrice and Delta who were much bigger than her generally had their runways on point, so there’s goes fashion. And we’ve seen time and again with her picking people up that she has no concept of boundaries and personal space. Even though Ru doesn’t see a lot (if any)of the workroom and Untucked shenanigans, she can’t be so blind or stupid that she can’t see that Silky just from her runways alone is not on par with a lot of the other contestants. I just don’t get the attraction here. 

And is anyone else tired of every other word of Silky’s mouth being “trade”? It wasn’t even that funny the first few times she said it early on, and now it just comes across as crude and inappropriate. And for RPDR, that’s saying something. Of course, I have to admit that my feelings on that may be tainted by the sexual harassment allegations online which I really have a hard time dismissing as social media rumors.

Edited May 4, 2019 by Bobby88

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The mini challenges are hit or miss for me, but this one was fun to watch. Maybe I'm just easily amused by balls. I'm all for the queens winning prizes for the mini challenges but man, how long is it going to take Vanjie to spend $2500 on underpants?

I get that it's reality tv so some people (not me) want drama, but I really hate how obvious it is that Ru is trying to shit stir among the queens. He just would NOT let it go when he kept asking Brooke about Vanjie not choosing her for the magic act team. Thank goodness that both Brooke and Vanjie were totally professional about it, but it is gross to see Ru so obviously trying to cause trouble.

Oh, A'Keria. Improving is always a terrible idea in a group challenge. She was stepping on other people's lines because of the improv crap and they just seemed disorganized.

The other team's act seemed so much more polished and professional. If I were paying to see a show, I would much rather see their routine because it was obvious that they made an effort to write a script, memorize it, and rehearse together.

Caftans always remind me of Mrs. Roper so I wasn't too excited about this runway. A+ for Ru's Regal Beagle reference!

A'Keria's butterfly look was my least favorite because it looked like a cheap Halloween costume and it didn't actually fit the challenge. I loved that Ross was so offended by the lack of caftan.

Once again, Silky wore those weird eyelashes on the runway which I really dislike. Her performance in the magic act was Silky being Silky. I agree that she didn't look great during their performance but of course she slides by again because Ru loves her.

Yvie's yellow hole-y caftan was so bright, which I liked. I also liked her halo. I could tell she was trying in the challenge but it came off as too forced. I do give her and Vanjie credit for trying to find a way to get their group to write stuff instead of improving the entire thing. I don't know why Yvie made it sound like Vanjie didn't have anything to do with that during judging.

Vanjie adding a little matching turban to her caftan was hilariously accurate. I could totally picture Eartha Kitt in that outfit lounging around in a room draped with velvet and purring at people. Although Vanjie is not my #1 girl this season, I still feel I should defend her from the judges' critique that she is just being herself in the challenges because THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT SILKY IS DOING. Why is it okay when Silky does it but not when Vanjie does it?

Brooke Lynn was so great in the challenge and I loved her star covered leotard. Her caftan was simple but she definitely knew how to work it on the runway.

Shuga Cain looked so fancy and royal in her red caftan, but she should have stuck with that instead of doing TWO reveals.

Nina West had a classic caftan look. She really sold their act. I agree with whichever judge (Ross) said she did a good job creating a character.

Shuga being in the bottom two was bull shit. No, she wasn't the strongest one in her group, but she was still better than the Black Magic group. She shouldn't have been up for elimination at all.

[Diane Mars]

I really EFFING LOVE her ❤️

[2727]

3 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I really hate how obvious it is that Ru is trying to shit stir among the queens

It's been clear for a while that Ru doesn't give a shit about the contestants as people and barely remembers their names after the show. He's all about being a producer, getting eyeballs to the show, and making his cash. (Which I can't fault him for, tbh.)

Michelle's interview above makes it starkly obvious that she doesn't know a single thing about Shuga. Michelle, like Ru, also comes off pretty bored and rote: just another interview with some random queen ticked off her to-do list.

I wouldn't necessarily want the judges to be privy to backstage goings on during the show, but I hope they realize that being ignorant of it is the cause of most of the disconnect between their judging and fan reactions to their judging.

Edited May 4, 2019 by 2727

[belligerent]

I don't know if I'll be able to watch the Da Black Magic segment of the show again because I was embarrassed for them. I feel like it was such a disjointed trainwreck that it was painful to me. Sometimes things can be a trainwreck and still funny because the people involved are still having fun (or are so delusional that you don't feel that bad for them because they didn't feel bad about what they did) but I could tell Vanjie and Yvie were watching things go up in flames and felt powerless to stop it and their desperation showed through. The Mighty Tucks was a hard act to follow. If Nina doesn't get offers for writing gigs after that, there is something extremely wrong with the world.

I'm not sure the judges are properly conveying what they're after to Vanjie. She's trying really hard but I don't think they're really speaking her language as a performer. She killed the lip sync because she built it up. She started at a certain level to match the music, and as the song rose in intensity, so did she. That's what they want her to do with every performance, and now that they've seen her do it in a lip sync, they're going to be after her to do it elsewhere. She does happen to be a dancer, so maybe they should approach what they want from her in terms of that performance. I think it's the judges' failure to be able to give people critique that's meaningful to a specific queen who is obviously trying very hard but still struggling to get what they want.

I wish Yvie had thrown Silky specifically under the bus for that challenge. I don't think she's actually a villain, though, just honest and awkward about being honest tactfully. But Silky already doesn't like her, it wouldn't have been "off brand" for her, and saying something to the judges about Silky steamrolling them when it came to improv would have been a very lucrative maneuver. It would have grown the seed that Silky doesn't listen to critiques, kept A'Keria neutral because she wasn't being grouped with what took away from the performance even if she was part of the "let's improv" stuff, and not falsely implicating Vanjie would have kept their relationship more positive.

It also would probably have had the effect of making Silky more pointedly angry at Yvie. Silky loses a lot of her "charm" when she's angry at people or being mean, and that really throws off her "brand" of trying to be America's Sweetheart. Figuring out how to make Silky get in her own way I think is the only thing that will stop Ru from just handing this to her, and while Yvie might be smart enough to do that and clearly understands how shows like this work, I don't think she's cutthroat enough. I don't think most of the queens on this show use enough "strategery," but I feel like it's a legitimate and intelligent way to play the game when authenticity only matters if you're Ru's favorite for the season.

I also feel like Shuga being in the bottom was bullshit but I think Vanjie has a better chance of bringing down Silky in a challenge than Shuga. And if the next episode is making over the eliminated queens, I think the elimination kind of makes sense. I don't think Shuga has been doing this long enough to have enough feel for how she'd create a family resemblance, and I like her and think she's perfectly lovely and competent, but she doesn't bring as much of a unique thing to the group as the other queens have established themselves as doing. She didn't run with the one thing that the judges liked about her early on (the black panther challenge) and that hurt her by making her less memorable.

A'Keria has one of the most pleasant voices I've heard on Drag Race, so I'm glad she's stuck around.

[kylies-lips]

What a cringeworthy episode. Yikes.

I am really happy that Nina got a much deserved win. She's funny, vibrant and seems so eager to take constructive criticism to show the judges she is serious. 

I'm bummed that Shuga had to sashay away. I don't think it was fair that she was in the bottom on the winning team. Yes, she wasn't as much a standout as Nina or Brooklyn but she did great and kept up with her teammates. That speaks better than Da Black Magic's team just plain being in the bottom.

So can we talk about Silky? I'm glad she got called out for being sloppy because that is the perfect description. She bothers me because I don't think she has any interest in being the winner of the show, she just wants to be on tv PERIOD. Right now, nothing we see of her on the show seems authentic and its grating.

For what its worth, people have been absolutely disgusting to her on social media which is uncalled for. Wishing death on a queen because she annoys you on a tv show? Awful. It does seem like she is aware of she is coming across on tv and has made some heartfelt admissions on twitter and IG.

[After7Only]

On 5/3/2019 at 10:40 PM, Bobby88 said:

I agree. I feel like Silky’s whole identity rests on “I’m this season’s big girl”. That’s fine, but what else does she bring to the table? She’s delusional and is about as charming as a fart in a crowded elevator, so it’s not personality. Her looks are sloppy and unfinished, despite the fact the queens such as Latrice and Delta who were much bigger than her generally had their runways on point, so there’s goes fashion. And we’ve seen time and again with her picking people up that she has no concept of boundaries and personal space. Even though Ru doesn’t see a lot (if any)of the workroom and Untucked shenanigans, she can’t be so blind or stupid that she can’t see that Silky just from her runways alone is not on par with a lot of the other contestants. I just don’t get the attraction here. 

I Iike Silky.  She came on way too strong the first couple of episodes, but has dialed back some.   She’s fun and seems to be pretty well liked.   She brings the funny.  She’s leaning heavily on personality and doesn’t have range but what she brings is funny (to me).    I get that she’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who likes her.  

[noveltylibrary65]

Miss Vanjie brought me to tears with that lip slay.  From her previous season before the season even started in the pre-interviews I was rooting for her.  I haven't stopped. 😘

[Kaboom 2.0]

Congrats to Nina on the well deserved win, her team was so much more cohesive than oof, Team Black Magic, which had one of the worst Drag Race performances I can recall. Shuga in the bottom two was imho unfair, she was on the winning team, ffs. I'll definitely miss her positivity and humor on the show and hope she continues to grow as a performer. 

The caftan runway was one of those "it's about time they did this!" moments. I immediately thought of he fabulous Three's Company's Mrs. Roper and Bewitched's Endora. LOL 

I've been over Silky for awhile now (I just find her not funny and, as someone else here pointed out, slovenly at times) reading here about death threats she has received (I do not follow social media) is unacceptable. Jump off the Silky train, Ru, she is not what you want her to be! 

[Diane Mars]

13 hours ago, Kaboom 2.0 said:

...
The caftan runway was one of those "it's about time they did this!" moments. I immediately thought of he fabulous Three's Company's Mrs. Roper and Bewitched's Endora. LOL
...

OMG ! I'd LOVE to watch a remake of Bewitched with Bianca Del Rio as Endora ! That would be amazing ! (EDIT : And Blair Sinclair as Samantha ❤️)

Edited May 8, 2019 by Diane Mars