RuPaul's Drag Race Season 18, Episode 1
"You Can't Keep a Good Drag Queen Down!"
Host: RuPaul
Cast: Athena Dion, Briar Blush, Ciara Myst, Darlene Mitchell, DD Fuego, Discord Addams, Jane Don't, Juicy Love Dion, Kenya Pleaser, Mandy Mango, Mia Starr, Myki Meeks, Nini Coco, Vita VonTesse Starr
Okay, so this is a bit late! So late that normally I'd consider skipping straight to 18x02, but ... you can't skip the premiere. And since the Drag Race devoted have already had the episode recapped for them by (if you're me) The Pit Stop, Drag Her, Bussy Queen, Naomi Smalls, etc. you don't need an additional beat-by-beat breakdown from me. So instead of doing that, I'm going to give my thoughts on the season premiere in a similar fashion to how I reviewed the Season 17 finale. I've got categories, so let's fill'em up with words!
The Queens
Overall, we're cooking. This is a group of girls who are here to get shit done and they also have the ability to do a lot of shit. It's a great combination! Here's a wild fact that I just figured out: Season 18 is, on average, the oldest — I mean, most seasoned — cast in the show's herstory. Season 17 was the youngest. So we've gone from the youngest ever to the most seasoned ever back to back, and I do think it shows.
For the curious, here's a chart:
Eight of the 14 queens are over 30. That number increases to 11 if you count 29-year-olds as 30, which come on, young drag queens totally do. That leaves Kenya Pleaser, Briar Blush, and Juicy Love Dion as the youngest cast members — and I kinda think that shows. Both Kenya and Juicy ended up in the bottom for not knowing how to sew. Athena Dion (38), mind you, took 25 sewing lessons before getting into the Werk Room and managed to put together a safe look. The seasoned girls know you gotta prepare.
Looking at the number of queens with a decade plus in the game — Athena, Vita VonTesse Starr (38) — or ones who are expert seamstresses — Discord Addams (35), Ciara Myst (32), Nini Coco (29) — or are working professionals — Mandy Mango (29) is a nurse and Nini is a mechanical engineer! — or who have actually stepped away from drag only to come back to it much later — Mia Starr (39) and Darlene Mitchell (34) — it's clear that this is a completely different kind of cast. I'm here for it. Let's get some smart, seasoned bitches in the room and let them cook.
My tops of the season, as of right now, are Athena Dion and Jane Don't. I think Myki Meeks (29) could slide into the finale too (she has great confessionals and a unique look), and —oh — Vita VonTesse Starr is a lock.
Then there's Discord Addams, who was (as Meatball put it on Drag Her) "run out of Chicago." There were a lot of rumors about this queen even before the cast was announced, and I wonder if all of the drama happened in the past or if any of the rumored on-set drama will prove to be true.
The Challenge
A design challenge! In the first episode! That, along with not having a split premiere, and casting the first on-average over-30 cast since Season 9, really made this premiere feel like old school Drag Race in the best way. The challenge was straightforward, and one we've seen done plenty of times before: fashion runway eleganza out of items both conventional and unconventional that have some sort of nod to past Drag Race queens or moments. Boom. That's it.
The results were, of course, all over the place. The tops were spectacular, particularly Jane Don't's pastel 80s power suit and Vita's immaculate umbrella gown. And on the opposite end of the spectrum, oof, Kenya's barely-there tulle (?) skirt and oversized popped collar (sans shirt) was among the roughest we've seen on the main stage.
The Judging
Nini Coco ended up with the win after beating Vita in the lip sync (more on that in a sec). I think the judging was fair — although I have to imagine that Discord's one-sided hatred of Nini pushed Ms. Coco to the forefront of the producers' minds. If you can actually justify a win that will absolutely cause agitation, go for it.
However, I actually think Jane deserved Nini's spot in the top two. Jane made so many separates, and they actually looked custom-made and had a POV (unlike Tina Burner in AS10, who made separates that looked like you could find at Macy's). The other point of contention: Discord Addams and her big feather moment — which ...
Girl. Okay. Even ignoring all the IRL pre-show rumblings about Discord, Ms. Addams decided to show up to Season 18 and play the villain, period. The talent is absolutely there; we saw two stunning looks from Discord, two looks that felt completely different yet part of the same overall brand. That's hard to pull off. But the delusion is just as strong. I mean, how do you not know what your runway walk looks like? And the way she looked Cardi B in the eyes and said, "What about ME?" It do take nerve! But, I appreciated Cardi B really coming to play, giving honest critiques and giving her Glam Team some time to stunt.
The Twists
The twist is that we got a straightforward episode of Drag Race where they let the queens and the challenge do all the entertaining. No twists (yet) and that's the best twist of all.
The Lip Sync
Nini won. She knew all the words. So while Vita absolutely won the design challenge, Nini won the lip sync, and therefore the Maxi Challenge.
Untucked
While I'm glad that the show put Cardi B's kiki with the queens in the episode, thus guaranteeing it an MTV audience — because oh my god MTV did not shut down on New Year's Day!!! — this kinda left Untucked feeling a bit overstuffed and aimless. We got to see way more of Discord Addams' supervillain origin story (the inciting incident: Nini Coco existing), but it mostly just reiterated points we saw on the main episode. But what do I know — I fell asleep for a chunk of Untucked. Which I guess is an indictment all on its own.
The Premiere
On the whole, I think this was a solid premiere — one that felt way more complete than any season in recent memory. Without any massive format overhauls, no Porkchop Loading Dock or Badonka Dunk Tank, we got to see the show do what it does best. Fingers crossed these geriatric queens* can maintain this pace for the long haul! As RuPaul once said in rapid succession, in increasing high-pitched tones, "You ain't gotta reinvent the wheel!"
* i'm older than all of them so i can poke fun at this somehow being the "granny season"! let me have this, i don't have many years left
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