Let me tell you something – everybody looks forward to a good snatch game. And with a team like this – a group that has proven to be both funny, and astounding impersonators – it should have been an AMAZING one. Unfortunately, we were given a game that went on too long, and a bunch of drama that grated on my nerves. I don’t know what it is about this season, but something isn’t right. Is it the weird fabricated mind games? Or is the clear divide between the talented girls and the girls who don’t really deserve to be there?

I don’t know.

THE POST-CHALLENGE MEET-UP

This episode was absolutely filled with pettiness – and Milk kicked it off postmortem with her mirror message. It didn’t phase any of the queens, because everybody knew how shady Milk was. Nothing jumped out at me with this opening – just Kennedy essentially saying that she sent Milk home for discrediting her drag (which she did). And BenDeLa chose Chi Chi because, well, she’s been in the bottom four goddamned times.

Then there was Trixie’s little, last second observation. She said that no one was safe, because eliminations weren’t based on critiques – they were based on relationships. And that’s the gospel truth, because that seems to be the only game most of these girls are playing now.

THE ASSIGNMENTS

There weren’t any real assignments this go-around. But RuPaul did reveal that we were doing Snatch Game this week! And right away, everybody is excited. They all start talking about how this challenge shows who the best of the best – and who deserves to be there – which is true. I can’t think of one Drag Race winner who didn’t do a good job on their Snatch Game performance/

There wasn’t a lot that happened during the initial set up – except that Shangela was trying to start some beef with Trixie for no reason – except to get into Trixie’s head. It starts with Shangela noticing the note she received from Thorgy after Thorgy’s elimination. The note says that Shangela is a shady bitch, and all that. And Trixie is confused – because she also kept Milk’s note too.

And yeah, it does seem like a shady thing to do – but I don’t think Trixie meant anything by it. Especially because it was hung up in her private area – and it’s not like Trixie has ever shown any outward aggression towards Shangela in the past. It seemed very fabricated to me – and Kennedy didn’t make it any better after she chimed in. It seems that she and Shangela are taking this alliance thing all the way.

Shangela forgives her, but has Trixie on her list.

Other than that, you have RuPaul going around with special guest, Marc Jacobs, and shading all of the queens’ choices. The most shaded were Bebe (who chose the amazing Grace Jones) and Shangela, who actually did a last minute switch from Miss Cleo to Jennifer Lewis.

In the end, this was the line up:

Trixie: RuPaul

Chi Chi: Maya Angelou

Poor Chi Chi didn’t get a GIF!

BenDeLa: Paul Lynde

BeBe: Grace Jones

Shangela: Jenifer Lewis

Kennedy: Phaedra Parks

Aja: Crystal Labeija

THE CHALLENGE

This Snatch Game went on forever. Like, far too long – and it wasn’t even that good. I sat there watching a lot of the queens go through this train wreck – and the issue was that so many queens who should have done well… tanked. Like bad.

Aja and Bebe were okay. Aja gets some major points for being a huge drag icon and educating some of the masses. After all, who is as iconic as the original mother of the Haus of Labeija? And Bebe was uncharacteristically crass, yet elegant as ever, as Grace Jones. They were both fine, but not incredible.

OH YEAH – AND KRISTEN CHENOWETH WAS JUST THERE? For no reason, except to just hang out and play the game. It’s was cute, and she was definitely funny.

BenDeLa and Shangela killed it. BenDeLa once again brought out an iconic portrayal of someone we’ve never heard of – Paul Lynde – who appeared on a lot of television and film stuff way back when. And Shangela’s perfectly sassy portrayal of Jenifer Lewis was hilarious – and had Ru rolling. Of course, I knew these two were going to bring it – they bring it every episode.

Now, we get to the disappointing part of this whole mess. First, Kennedy fell flat as Phaedra Parks of The Real Housewives of Atlanta – she had jokes, they just weren’t landing. I was mostly surprised, but also, she has been super up-and-down this season, so not really. And Chi Chi was just bad – she misspelled Maya Angelou’s name, and then didn’t even deliver on RuPaul’s references. It was a train wreck.

The biggest shock of the night was how bad Trixie did as RuPaul. I have always been a fan of Trixie, and I expected her to turn it out this season. She’s known for being hilarious, and having watched videos of her live performances – I know she’s funny. But her RuPaul was embarrassingly flat – and it didn’t read at all. And you could say how much that hurt her throughout the rest of the episode. I was shocked, and disappointed, but also worried.

It can’t be easy to know you’re failing.

GETTING READY FOR THE RUNWAY

This was surprisingly short, because of the length of the Snatch Game – or maybe it wasn’t and the Snatch Game just felt like it went on forever. Either way, this was a speedy transition. We saw Trixie feel horrible about her performance, and almost crumble because of it. BenDeLa admits that Trixie should have won the previous challenge – which Shangela thinks is ingenuous, because Shangela is playing a game that doesn’t exist.

And that’s all I could remember!

THE RUNWAY

FLOWER POWER

Before we go down the list. I have two points to make:

1. RuPaul’s dress was straight up hideous – it was this awful bacon-esque flower monstrosity and I don’t know who told her it was okay, but it wasn’t.

2. This runway was so fast, I could barely get my ratings down before we moved onto the next queen!

With that, here is my list:

Aja: 10/10 – gorgeous, beautiful, stunning.

Shangela: 9/10 – I loved it so much. She was giving me pregnant flower fantasy and it was amazing.

Bebe: 10/10 – gorgeous, stunning, amazing, ethereal, transcendent, goddess.

Kennedy: 7/10 – a sunflower dress with some sunflowers blooming out of a black dress. Pretty, but not that amazing.

Chi Chi: 6/10 – The judges loved this, but I thought it was too much.

Trixie: 5/10 – This was not her night and this dress reminded me of her Ugliest Dress from a few episodes ago.

BenDeLa: 6/10 – I don’t remember her dress.

All in all, this went too fast to really enjoy – but hey, what are you going to do?

CRITIQUES + DELIBERATION

SAFE: AJA + BEBE

WINNERS: SHANGELA + BENDELA

BOTTOM: CHI CHI + KENNEDY + TRIXIE

There wasn’t a lot that went into this deliberation. Bebe and Aja were praised for their outfits and told that their Snatch Game performances were decent – and then were told that they were safe. Chi Chi and Kennedy were read for their Snatch Game performances – as was Trixie/

Trixie’s critique upset me, because I’m not used to seeing her like that – so emotional. And you could hear the genuine fear and worry in her voice – and it hurt her to admit how scared of the competition she was. I was glad to heard Michelle sticking up for and saying what everyone is thinking: We want to see the real Trixie Mattel.

In the Work Room – we see Trixie confiding to everyone that she’s not handling the pressure well. She’s having a much worse time than she’s been showing, and she can’t help it. It’s heartbreaking – but it makes sense, because she hasn’t really been present. She’s faded into the background, and that’s not the Trixie I’ve come to know. It’s unfortunate, and I hope she picks herself up next episode.

Chi Chi, when talking with BenDeLa, basically says that she’s been in the bottom four times and she’s okay to go. It’s nice to see her being honest with herself, I just wish she would try a little harder and not sabotage herself.

Then there’s Shangela and Kennedy. Shangela gives Trixie a hug, and talks more about her alliance strategy. Trixie explains the note – and they seem to walk away on good terms. But Shangela is playing this weird, manufactured game that none of the other girls are actually playing. And she admits that she still doesn’t trust Trixie.

Kennedy thinks she doesn’t belong in the bottom – and she totally does – but she doesn’t deserve to go home.

THE LIP SYNCH

The lip synch to I Kissing A Girl by Katy Perry is dull. Shangela plays the sexy and BenDeLa plays up the campy comedy. HOWEVER, at the end, when Ru was deciding the winner, I was on the edge of my seat. I knew that if Shangela won then she was definitely sending Trixie home, and that BenDeLa was her only shot. AND THEN RUPAUL SAID THEY BOTH WON, AND I FLIPPED OUT.

BenDeLa revealed that she was sending Chi Chi home – thank god – and then Shangela took her sweet time talking about her choice, before ALSO REVEALING THAT SHE WAS SENDING CHI CHI HOME.

I breathed a sigh of relief, and shut my laptop. This episode wasn’t great, but it kept me on the edge of my damned seat, I’ll tell you that.

Shann Smith is a freelance writer, screenwriter, playwright, gamer, and film/TV lover. When he’s not working on his columns for Popdust, he’s doing his best to create and consume as much media as he can!

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