RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Season 10, Episode 4
"Eight Ball"
Director: Nick Murray
Cast: Jorgeous, Kerri Colby, Lydia B Kollins, Mistress Isabelle Brooks, Nicole Paige Brooks, Tina Burner
Turn it and burn, y'all, there's a new bracket in the Werk Room — and they are here to prove that pink is the stink. First up is Tina Burner, entering in an all-silver gown. That's about as far from red, orange, and yellow as a queen can get, but I still see some orange — it's a bowl of Doritos, on her shoulder, because Tina Burner is carrying a lot of chips on those broad shoulders.
Kerri Colby enters in a purple suit illusion and a 700-inch human unit — but can I point out her confessional look? All those gems, those stones, a reference to the Infinity Gems (or Stones in the MCU, but "Infinity Gems" is draggier). I just ... my mind rattles like the San Andreas trying to comprehend the million miles between psychedelic superhero storyteller Jim Starlin coming up with the Infinity Gems in the 1970s all the way to Kerri Colby stepping into her power as Tranos, the trans Thanos. It's everything I love about pop culture ... this deserves its own piece.
"Haven't had to change my face to change my career." I'll admit it: I don't rewatch the first three seasons of Drag Race often, so Nicole Paige Brooks is a mystery to me. But coming in and dropping that read? I'm seated.
Mistress is as Mistress does, and Mistress Isabelle Brooks is here to do her big one. Seriously, Mistress is in her "big one" era and we are going to hear that phrase on repeat for the next three weeks. I run hot and cold on Mistress; I actually low-key love her YouTube channel, but I find the tee-hee gaslight queen she portrays on Drag Race to be ... frustrating. Will that change this time around???
In a first for the franchise, Lydia B Kollins is back in the Werk Room — or did she never leave? This is going to be interesting because not only is she fresh off her season, she also hasn't seen herself on television yet. That is frequently the catalyst for major evolution in a queen's post-season journey, and Lydia only has her recollection of judges' critiques to pull from. Her entrance look, a mish-mashed potato sack gown, still feels Lydia 1.0. Will we get to at least Lydia 1.5?
And last but not least (except in height), Jorgeous. She presents a quandary similar to Lydia's ("Quandary"? What am I doing?). She was just on All Stars 9, and has to hit those recently-summitted heights again. As her intro montage illustrates, she really slayed on AS9. That M3GHAN dance? Bitch. Good luck, Jorgeous!
The Werk Room
It's wild to say that Bracket 1 was the kumbaya bracket, considering that it had Aja in it — but the immediate vibes of Bracket 2 in the Werk Room are wild. Tina wastes no time bringing up a random tweet of Mistress's from who knows how long ago. Mistress is somehow already under Tina's skin and she hasn't done anything yet (yet). Nicole is already cozying up to Mistress, soft forming a Brooks alliance. Meanwhile, Mistress is already locking in another alliance with the Texas girls (Jorgeous and Kerri). Meanwhile, Tina's flirting with Lydia, presumably unaware of Kori King (Battle of the Bricks?). And Lydia's knocking over mannequin heads.
Jorgeous reveals that she's actually known Mistress since she was 17 and doing drag in clubs with her parents chaperoning. It's at this point that you need to know that Mistress was 18.5 years old at that time. Because Mistress is 1.5 year(s) older than Jorgeous.
The Maxi Challenge
This week's Maxi Challenge is the Eight Ball — which isn't actually a ball, but literally a ball, as in a giant novelty eight ball with eight mystery materials in it from which the queens have to fashion one show-stopping look. It's a neat twist on the design challenge format, especially since all eight materials have to appear in the finished garment. And since the queens chose all of their balls blindly, it's actually hard to see the producers' strings here. This feels like a fair challenge!
And since none of these girls have seen Season 17, we get to see them all be absolutely gooped when they learn little Lydia made all of her runways. Love that moment.
Ru's walkthrough really solidifies what this bracket is all about: it's RuPaul's faves — and Tina Burner. Seriously, she connects with five of these girls in very unique ways. Like, there's a very "this is your life" kind of ... reverence? ... she has around early season queens like Nicole. And then there's Jorgeous, who treats the walkthrough like a Maxi Challenge — one she absolutely bodies by making Ru laugh so hard she has to run away and come back. Lydia made all her runways? Jorgeous made Ru run away laughing. Bitches be scared.
Now it's time to get ready for the runway and, wow, something Lydia says must be given the respect, the spotlight, it deserves:
"It sounds like a fucking gay chicken coop in here."
Y'know, hats off to whoever decided to put these six queens together because the Mistress/Tina/Lydia mentorship/one-sided (?) flirtation triangle is certainly television. First Lydia is innocently flirting with Tina (Lydia makes it clear in her confessional that she's a one-queen kind of girl), and then Lydia makes a half-serious (if even half) plea to be Mistress's drag daughter. Tina takes this ... so seriously ... and reacts to Lydia like DJ Tanner trying to keep Kimmy Gibbler from smoking cigarettes or something. It's bananas. I think the producers asked Lydia back because Lydia low-key knows how to stir the fucking pot.
This moment reveals Tina to be the perfect foil to Mistress. Tina is all about projecting confidence, Mistress is all about projecting IDGAF. When these two mix it up, Mistress is always going to come out on top because Tina needs people to react to what she's saying — and Mistress refuses to acknowledge anything on anyone else's terms. So Tina just keeps pushing Mistress, trying to win a game that Mistress refuses to play. All Mistress does is laugh, say whatever the hell she wants, and as long as she remains unbothered by Tina, she wins.
Mistress is rubber and Tina is glue. That saying finally makes sense.
The Runway
Jorgeous comes out wearing, I dunno, a half-gown with two front slits and flowy butt cape. Kerri's look, with that wig, feels very Cindy Lou Who turns 21 and gets an influencer pass to Burning Man. I think both of those slide into "safe" territory in most Drag Race seasons.
Lydia shocks by actually showing growth from Season 17. She's wearing a zebra-print bodysuit with sickening green fabric draped around it and oversized, hella ruched hot pink fringe gloves and leg warmers. It's actually streamlined. Mistress wears a Mistress look. You know what I mean.
Nicole Paige Brooks, proving she's never been judged by Michelle Visage, comes out in a bodysuit with star cutouts glued to it. It's the kind of unhinged design challenge look that powers memes for weeks. And then Tina Burner comes out in a look that is such a serve, she should have let it do all the talking this episode. A full, "leather" and "fur" winter coat, covering a pair of exquisitely tailored gold trousers??? Like, it looks like she just went shopping at Macy's, and I mean that in a good way.
The Critiques
No lies were told. Nicole gets clocked for doing Season 2 drag as opposed to 2025 drag; make it bigger, Nicole! Mistress has a hilarious response to the question, "How have you grown since your season?" She hasn't! She should've been crowned the first time! But Lydia and Tina are the clear tops of the weeks, and it's kind of a gag: The new girl and the girl that I'm not even sure the show likes are in the top.
The Lip Sync
"Love Sensation," a fiery disco number, gives Tina an excuse to utilize a tearaway dance look that reveals into a fiery bra and hot pants look. But it's Lydia, stealthily a confident stage performer, who sneaks in a win thanks to — honestly, thanks to that huge, aerobics-ready mountain of gorgeous curls on her head.
And we're done with Week 1. Points have been awarded, and now it's time to see just how messily these messy queens award their Messy Points.
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