RuPaul's Drag Race Season 18, Episode 4
"Red Carpet Mash-Ups"
Host: RuPaul
Cast: Athena Dion, Briar Blush, Ciara Myst, Darlene Mitchell, Discord Addams, Jane Don't, Juicy Love Dion, Kenya Pleaser, Mia Starr, Myki Meeks, Nini Coco, Vita VonTesse Starr
It's best for everyone that I didn't recap last week's RDR Live episode. That entire challenge is a trap. It's a challenge designed for post-production tricks and the wackiest of critiques, all so producers can engineer the win and loss that further their storyline. Juicy Love Dion gave a safe performance, and Mandy Mango was sent home for the punishment of correctly identifying the unusual thing in her sketch, heightening it, and actually being funny in a laugh-less bit.
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Picking up where we left off last week, half of the cast is feeling some type of way about not just Briar Blush sending Mandy Mango home, but about Briar Blush in general. It starts with Mia Starr, who poked Briar a little too hard while getting ready for the runway. In unseen footage, we get a glimpse of this poking — which was just Mia asking Briar about her relationship status, and joking that Briar probably did something to mess her ended relationship up. It's the kind of light-hearted riffing that girls do, but apparently the tea — tea that's still in Briar's kettle, mind you — is still scalding hot. Briar did not spill, and the steam was visible.
Mia's a little plucked that this is still bothering Briar, especially after Mia apologized and backed off. Making matters worse is the fact that everyone else more or less agrees that Briar is the queen of pushing and poking and prodding, even when a queen tells her to back the fuck up, brochacho. That's especially the case off-camera, where apparently Briar told Athena Dion that she loves how Juicy Love Dion doesn't stick up for grandma. That is kind of a sinister remark to make. So if Briar respects no one's boundaries, Mia clocks it as wild for Briar to ask for respect in return. Briar accepts Mia's day-old apology, to which Ms. Starr replies, "'Cause the cameras are on, is when you forgive me."
After keeping it professional, and therefore mostly devoid of screentime, for the past three episodes, Mia Starr comes out swinging with the exact kind of star quality that powers Drag Race moments. I love this for Mia, and this — plus her performance this week — makes me think she has staying power in the competition.
And then comes this week's Ru-Mail, which has inexplicably been rebranded as "Ru Rules," without any larger context or marketing push. It's so unlike Drag Race to make a change like this without a tie-in attached! But, oh man, this week's is a doozy: "Ru Rule #21: If you lend a. friend your lace front, you'll lose both your friend and your lace front." I know there is no way this was directed at the currently-unfolding Ginger Minj drama, since this season was filmed last spring/summer, but — considering this all started with a story told way back in the pandemic era about Naomi Smalls loaning a lace front to Ginger Minj, only to have Ginger "destroy" (Bob the Drag Queen's words) it? The timing is juicy, to say the least.
Now it's time for the Maxi Challenge which starts with the cursed prompt for the queens to pair up with their Drag Race bestie. Girls, y'all know this is a trap. They're going to pit you against each other, every time! I do have to commend the Drag Race producers. It's a design challenge, yes. And It's a "who wore it best" head-to-head face-off, which is a conceit we've seen before (I know we saw it in UK Season 2). But the added wrinkle of having each pair randomly choose two iconic red carpet moments to mashup to create new looks makes this all feel fresh. It's nothing like the stunts Canada's Drag Race pulls when it rethinks a Maxi Challenge, but I applaud the effort.
The pairs and inspos are as follows:
Queens: Juicy Love Dion / Briar Blush
Inspo: Lil Nas X (2020 Grammys) / Rihanna (2015 Met Gala)
Queens: Discord Addams / Jane Don't
Inspo: Cher (1986 Oscars) / Sarah Paulson (Ocean's 8 premiere)
Queens: Myki Meeks / Nini Coco
Inspo: Jennifer Lopez (2000 Grammys) / Nicki MAGA-j (2011 Grammys)
Queens: Ciara Myst / Kenya Pleaser
Inspo: Lady Gaga (2010 VMAs) / Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake (2001 AMAs)
Queens: Mia Starr / Vita VonTesse Starr
Inspo: Katy Perry (2019 Met Gala) / Lil' Kim (1999 VMAs)
Queens: Darlene Mitchell / Athena Dion
Inspo: Kim Kardashian (2013 Met Gala) / Zendaya (Dune 2 premiere)
Plenty of these looks are legitimately iconic as well as Drag Race staples, like Cher's Bob Mackie bondage/showgirl gown, Britney and Justin's double denim moment, and (of course) Jennifer Lopez's barely there Versace gown. The only tweak I'd make: I wish that the show had pushed the S****y P*e button that would edit out all references to Ms. MAGA-j, accompanied with a disclaimer up top that the show does not condone that traitorous grifter's actions. Obviously this was filmed almost a year ago, and no one could have predicted just how nasty things would get on that front.
Call me basic, but I love a sewing challenge. It's the only challenge, aside from the makeover challenge, that really puts the queens to work in a way that feels the most spontaneous, creative, and combustible. Performance challenges all hit the same beats, with choreo and recording "studio" segments that are ultimately interchangeable. But sewing challenges? The girls get stressed during those because it's just themselves, fabric, and time.
Juicy and Briar's struggle doesn't spring from the materials, as their inspo is fairly cohesive. It comes mostly from Briar's emotional state after getting called out by Mia, Athena, and whoever else was cut out of that moment in order to streamline the narrative. These two have gotten close, which is just a little odd considering that Briar was low key trying to stir up shit between Juicy and her drag grandm — I mean, best friend. Briar has a tearful breakdown about her confidence issues, and it reads as genuine, I guess? There's a lot going on here that we'll get to later.
Discord and Jane are immediately clocked as the dueling duo to watch. Jane's pissed because, in choosing her "best friend," she also chose one of the more capable seamstresses in the cast. Now a win is not guaranteed. The other problem with Jane: she's running the risk of Asia O'Hara-ing herself by helping others. She offers Mia help, and Juicy keeps asking for help; fortunately this story just provides some humor and not much story, as Jane's final look is perfectly finished. And while Discord's confident in her look, she does have to reconsider her now-viral walk, which we'll get to later.
Myki and Nini have one of the more out there combinations, with rainforest florals and leopard print combining to form something far outside either queen's usual vibe. But, that's it for their story this week. There are 12 queens to cover!
Ciara and Kenya also have a tough combination in denim and, uh, raw meat. Ciara doesn't see this as a problem, though; remember, she's a creature feature gal with professional prosthetic makeup experience. Nothing is outside her wheelhouse, and she proves that to be true. Kenya has a lot going against her: there's this mismatched inspiration, the fact that she was in the bottom for the first design challenge, and her miscalculation re: sharing too much personal information. Kenya — easily the heart of this episode, if not the season so far — reveals that she came out to her mom during choir practice, and the rest of the choir surprised her by serenading her with "You've Got a Friend In Me" and hugging her one by one.
Sidenote: Yes, I think this is the actual Randy Newman song from Toy Story, which has apparently been adopted by churches as a hymn. I don't know. You ask me, "Poor Unfortunate Souls" is more appropriate, but maybe that's just me coming from judgmental Southern Baptist culture.
On top of all that, Kenya reveals that she was a fucking toilet baby, the result of an honest-to-god, didn't-know-I-was-pregnant cataclysmic event. Her mother had her on the bathroom floor of her college dorm. Good god, girl, save some of the story for later in the season! Give the producers a reason to keep you around!
Mia and Vita, the Starr girlies, work very well together, even if Mia knows immediately that she's absolutely in the bottom this week. This attitude is re-enforced when we see the looks that Vita turns out at home, complete couture recreations of actual celebrity eleganza. This challenge was literally made for her.
And lastly (as is becoming the theme of the season) are Darlene and Athena. Y'know, at least Athena is more salty than bitter this episode. She is very annoyed that Briar immediately snatched Juicy in the pairings, but Athena tells herself that she and Juicy both agreed it would be good for them to not be seen as an inseparable duo in the competition. And, for what it's worth, she likes Darlene and Darlene likes her. I like this for them. They work better together than their inspo, florals and Mugler metal.
Also, oh my god, can we please, as a queer culture, please retire "Florals for spring? Groundbreaking." I feel like this has been said, in some variation, every episode this season; if not, it was said twice in this episode, and that makes up for it. There are so many other Meryl Streep quotes. Work in "NOW a warning?!" into these moments instead.
Now, let's pit the queens head-to-head in battle!
Juicy Love Dion vs. Briar Blush
Who Should've Won: Juicy. If they had had better fabric and feathers, Juicy's look would have been a slam dunk — so I can't blame the Party City-ness of it all on her (Michelle). There's a lot going on here, a lot of sewing going on, especially compared to the nothingness of her first week creation! But yeah, she shouldn't have put the fur in her muff-ular area.
Who Did Win: Juicy. Briar's look, which I think would absolutely work in a bar or club, wasn't enough for the Main Stage. Although, Law correcting Michelle about the shoes and shutting her down ("I was there") — I'm so glad Law is back.
Discord Addams vs. Jane Don't
Who Should've Won: Jane — but not without some nitpicks. Jane's look is a fabulous collage of inspirations and ideas, while still looking unmistakably her. I love the flying squirrel aesthetic of the cape. But the dress is a horrible length, and it looks like she's wearing Doc Martens somehow.
Who Did Win: Jane, and I actually think this could've gone to Discord if literally anyone else was wearing it. In critiques, the judges had way more to say about Discord — okay, mostly her walk, but also her look. All praise, too. The walk, on the other hand? Girl, these judges are fucking with her mind. Michelle and Law both tell her it's bad, while Ru is like, "No, keep walking like Herman Munster for Savage X Fenty." Discord's look is complex, intricate, potentially intriguing, but Discord is approximately a foot-and-a-half too short for it. And also walks like her pelvis is caught in a tractor beam.
Myki Meeks vs. Nini Coco
Who Should've Won: Myki — yeah, I said it. This feels like a whole vibe. It's like Isabella Rossellini in Hanna-Barbera's Death Becomes Her. The blue is bizarre, but alluringly so, and the excess of accessories makes it work! This isn't chic so much as drag, which is exactly what they praise Vita for in a sec.
Who Did Win: Nini, and, sure. It's deceptively simple, in that I can't imagine it was easy making a bodysuit and figuring out the math of all that exact draping. So, sure. But, in the Make It Make Sense category, they knocked Briar for making a bodysuit, yet praised Nini for hers.
Ciara Myst vs. Kenya Pleaser
Who Should've Won: Ciara, for taking two incredibly unappealing materials (denim and meat) and turning them into a cohesive story. The "MYST-ery meat" tag detail killed me. My only critique is the Utica-ness of Ciara's walk. Very over-the-top. When the look is this loud, this camp yet this chic, just give us a cunty walk and let us soak in the look.
Who Did Win: Ciara, because Kenya gave neither denim nor meat. That being said, Kudos to Kenya for pulling off something leagues, leagues above her Week 1 design challenge look.
Mia Starr vs. Vita VonTesse Starr
Who Should've Won: Vita, because, fuck, like, shit, I mean, what? What? I want an all-Vita edit of this episode, because I need to understand how she looked at those two pictures and came up with this design, and then executed it in a day. The cutout, the drape from the cutout, the cape, the shoulder pads, the head jewels, the mermaid silhouette, the stoning — did a bitch even sleep the night before? When something you make at Drag Race looks like something you brought to Drag Race, it's legendary. And Vita's done that twice now.
Who Did Win: Vita, but Mia didn't flop. This was a good look, turning Lil' Kim's jumpsuit into a risqué gown, complete with chandelier embellishments. I didn't hate it!
Darlene Mitchell vs. Athena Dion
Who Should've Won: Darlene. This was chic, retrofuturism by way of the trailer park, like Flo from the future (that's an Alice reference (look it up)).
Who Did Win: Athena, which ... sure. This isn't a bad look — which, honestly, there were no La La Ri-level flops this week. But Athena's look, while absolutely something I would want to wear at a gig, is nowhere near as innovative as Darlene's (which, actually, I also want to wear). I also was sure Athena was going to be clocked for not lining the cape, which is always a bonkers critique these judges have considering the time constraints they know they've put on these queens.
The tops of the tops end up being Vita, Ciara, and Jane. The bottoms of the bottoms are Discord, Kenya, and Briar — and I agree. The two instances where I disagreed with the judges get called as safe, so the judging wasn't that bad (or at least the bad calls were ultimately inconsequential).
And then Briar faints.
It's absolutely wild, unsettling, to watch a queen just completely tip over like that, and to watch production come to a screeching halt. Queens being queens, and Briar being Briar, some immediately wonder if this is a stunt because Briar just got read down by Law Roach. Law does have this affect on people! Never forget the time on Legendary when he literally challenged a contestant to a fight outside! Revoke my Gay Card, but I choose to believe the best in queens, and I think this was legit. Standing up, on stage, in heels and a corset, for hours, being critiqued by legends in the most high-stakes experience of your life? Yeah, fainting doesn't seem unfathomable.
Faint also doesn't save Briar from the bottom two. Vita is rightfully named the winner, a little bit of justice from Week 1; and Briar and Kenya are put in the bottom. They duel to Kylie Minogue's 2024 single "Lights Camera Action," and Kenya brings it. Jump splits! A fucking backbend! We have never seen a big girl do a Naomi Smalls-style backbend like this, and it's a gag — and Briar's backbend looks "meh" in comparison. Kenya owns the stage, while Briar still seems to be recovering from fainting (another reason to believe it was real and not a stunt).
Ultimately, Briar is told to sashay away, sending home a big personality whose absence will definitely be felt in the Werk Room ... emotionally, physically, and sonically.
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