RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Season 10, Episode 7
"Wicked Good"
Director: Nick Murray
Cast: Acid Betty, Alyssa Hunter, Cynthia Lee Fontaine, Daya Betty, Denali, Ginger Minj
After watching the third premiere of the season, it's super clear to me why the brackets dropped in this order. They knew Bracket 1 was going to be shafted by squeezing three episodes into two weeks, but they also knew that the season premiere would get the most attention (and indeed it did). So they chose the orange girlies, who brought a ton of talent and storylines (with a dash of spiciness courtesy of Aja). A solid start.
Bracket 2, though, would have to keep the momentum going and sustain three weeks of attention — with a brand new cast, mind you. That's a risk no other season has taken before. That's why they saved the pink divas for the next round, because the producers knew those girls brought ev-er-y-thing. Bracket 2 was so strong on talent and drama that I bet it retroactively boosted the viewership of the first bracket. In the Drag Race fandom, the three weeks since Bracket 2 debuted have been some of the most fun in recent memory. I felt so alive.
Now we're ready to close it out with the purple squad! I don't want to be a hater, but the producers may have been banking on sunk-cost fallacy keeping us engaged for the next two weeks until the semi-finals. It's a bit of a mid premiere thanks to a lackluster challenge and a lack of conflict.
We kick off with the third sports anchor intro, brought to you by RuPaul's love of wearing cheap wigs. And we finally get Law Roach's initiation into the judges' panel as he finally puts on a silly wig and delivers a frisky pun in front of a green screen. Welcome to the family, Law. Please don't completely abandon us for Heidi Klum.
Denali is such a well-rounded threat, and she's overlooked by the fans as much as she is by the judges. But never forget: she crushed Snatch Game, which is the achilles heel of pretty much every other high-octane performance queen in the franchise. Denali's one to watch.
Love seeing Acid Betty back on this stage, and she looks killer ... from the waist up. Pairing that fluorescent muscle suit top and feathered neon nightmare makeup with a few layers of Capezios and some basic black boots was a choice. But what's most chocking about Acid Betty is how she looks the same. It's like she hit the pause button in 2016, and has stayed at an untouched (but hard) 37 for the last 9 years.
Alyssa Hunter, she's a pageant queen with an edge who really wants you to know she has an edge (look at that horn-y wig and that silhouette). But she really comes across as a sincere sweetheart in her confessionals — and I think that means she's definitely not going to the semi-finals.
I think I know what I mean by this, but: Cynthia Lee Fontaine finally looks like the vibe she has always given off. The plumped lips, the soft, cartoonish ... flat top (?) hairstyle — she's aged into being your favorite guncle and/or wine aunt.
Daya Betty somehow knows how to make the teenage girl Hot Topic aesthetic look elevated and expensive, which are two words you would never use to describe Avril Lavigne. Here's the thing: No matter what you think of Daya Betty's drag or personality (I personally think she's just a straight-shooter, not a villain), she's going to go all the way to the semi-finals, if not farther.
Daya's journey from being the Porkchop to being in the finale of Season 14 should be studied by aspiring Ru Girls, because it's absolutely an example of a queen digging her nails into the competition and not letting go, no matter how hard producers pulled. The season had a top five, and I'm absolutely certain that it's because Daya performed so far past their expectations in the final girl group challenge that they couldn't cobble together an elimination-edit for her. I'm just saying: Watch out for Daya Betty.
And finally, Ginger Minj, whose ... her confessional look is fun! That pastel, crochet vest giving Greg Brady on Easter Sunday. The entrance look ... is absolutely something I would wear in drag, although the skirt is about 10 inches too long. But hey — nothing can be worse than her All Stars 6 entrance look.
As for Ginger's involvement this season — I don't like the narrative that she's here so World of Wonder can finally give her a crown, like Alyssa Edwards in Global All Stars. I think Bosco and [gulp] Mistress Isabelle Brooks deserve to be in the running, too. It should not a foregone conclusion — even though with WOW, it very well may be. Still. I love Ginger Minj. She's the kind of queen I love watching on Drag Race, and she's the kind of queen I want to be. So. I'm seated.
The cast? Yes. The first challenge? That's where I'm hitting a wall. They're choosing to essentially redo the fairytale challenge from Season 9 — the one that gave us Stanky the Starfish and Princess Disastah, and forced Kimora Blac to not wear hip pads [sobbing]. It's a choice.
The Werk Room
As a superfan, one thing I appreciate about All Stars it the opportunity it affords queens to reflect on the past. God, that sounds boring. I'm boring! But I like seeing Daya and Alyssa come together from opposite ends of Season 14 (a finalist and the second-out queen), and I really loved seeing Acid and Cynthia together. I believe Cynthia brings out the best in everyone around her, and not even Acid Betty can disintegrate Cynthia's charm. There's a tenderness to their friendship, apparently forged during Cynthia's battle with liver cancer. It's lovely. Imagine how Acid would behave if they, I don't know, paired her with Thorgy Thor this season. Honestly that would've been a chaotic serve.
The queens have to pair off and create characters, one good and one wicked witch, and make their looks. The pairings don't go as expected. I really wanted to see Acid Betty and Daya Betty work together, and knowing where this episode goes, I think they would've done something much better than what both end up doing. But Daya, a smart competitor, knows that the story is key to this challenge and she goes for Ginger Minj.
Ginger and Daya are an odd couple, but they also make a strange kind of sense. Daya is bossy, and Ginger is confident enough in herself to not feel the need to be bossy. She knows Daya can sew, and I think Ginger knows that time spent arguing or even brainstorming is time wasted in this competition. Ginger initially wants to play wicked and go against type, but Daya thinks they need to lean into their established aesthetics (the "You Ain't Got To Reinvent The Wheel" law of Drag Race). Ginger says, "Yep!" and off they go.
The surprise pair has to be Denali and Acid Betty, which is not the result of them being leftovers. These two chose each other. And, ooooh girl, I think both of them needed a decision-maker as a partner. Acid keeps throwing out ideas: seasons, galaxies, stars, numbers and letters, hunter/predator, and "what about fish?" all make the edit. Somehow they end up with fire and ice, which was their first idea.
Cynthia and Alyssa end up together, which — how often do we see two Puerto Rican queens on a season together? It feels rare! These two come up with a theme immediately: the old auntie and her slutty niece story. It's around here that I realized Cynthia, with the rasp in her voice, now sounds a lot like Al Pacino.
The walkthrough with Ru is always a good indicator of who's going to go far. Case in point: Ru clearly has the most fun with Ginger, who merely has to say that her tan is "just rosacea" and Ru's in stitches. Otherwise, Ru seems pretty mild on the other groups. She doesn't even poke when she finds out that Daya and Ginger's theme is "water" and Denali and Acid are doing "fire and ice." Come on, Ru! That was your chance to make Denali and Acid change their theme to "what about fish."
The most interesting part of this section, though, has to be when Denali correctly clocks ... uh ... the entire game. She correctly guesses that the four bottom queens will have to give out points, and she says, warily, that then "it's more of a friendship game and less of a skill game." And she says that because the brackets are only three challenges long, you can do something shady and then peace out without dealing with the repercussions that would come from having to spend a whole season with the same girls (sound familiar, Mistress and Jorgeous?). Did Denali's Season 13 sister Tina Burner send her a telepathic warning?
Daya cheekily says that she's going to keep her thoughts about alliances to herself, and then cackles. Then there's a shot of Denali subtly making eyes at someone off-camera, and raising her eyebrows in a, "You in? Yes I'm in" kinda way? And then Acid goes on a pre-emptive rant to any bitch giving points to a queen who's already in the lead — and then she winks at someone. These girls are scheming on-camera to someone off-camera! Ginger is not interested in any of these hypotheticals, because they are all All Stars and their work should speak for itself.
This is where I think things could — and hopefully will — get interesting. I think Daya Betty is capable of pulling some Mistress-level shenanigans. I think Denali, the onetime Olympic hopeful ice skater, is very competitive and has shit to prove. I think Ginger has a strong sense of honor and is definitely not afraid to speak up. And I think that if anyone tries to pull some shit on Acid Betty, she will kill them. We could be in for some shit next week.
Oh — and Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande visit the Werk Room, looking like Business Bitches who've been hit with a de-aging ray and are now stuck as 11 year olds.
Fun fact: All Stars 10 was filmed last summer, months before Wicked was released in theaters. So Ginger Minj breaks down crying over the idea of Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in Wicked. Listen. I get it. It's how I felt for the years between Tatiana Maslany being cast as She-Hulk and seeing her as She-Hulk. Gay men love their green queens.
Also my favorite thing about Ariana Grande is not her music, but her concerned face.
The Maxi Challenge/Runway
Okay, so, overall, this challenge is a chop for me. The fairytale concept limits the aesthetic, the madlibs narration always feels juvenile, and I don't know how the queens are supposed to make pantomiming — not lip syncing! — that narration look fierce. It's all so Disney Gay, in the bad way. (Yes, there is a good way to be a Disney Gay. Liking something a lot is not inherently bad, haters.)
With that said — no, one more thing: Why the hell did every single group go with an elemental theme? The sameness of all three groups — wind/water, fire/water, fire/ice — made it really hard to get into, uh, any of this.
So with all that said — ugh, no, one more thought: These should be filmed. Let the queens actually say these lines out loud, play those videos, and then let the queens walk the runway together. There's no need for them to spend a minute wandering around the Main Stage, waving their arms, and performing as if their mouths were glued shut!
Okay.
Ginger and Daya have well-constructed garments (although that doesn't mean that Ginger's looks great) and really sell their storyline. It's big, campy, and funny.
Cynthia and Alyssa also do a good job, with Cynthia's "magic chancla" being the funniest reveal of the night. Although they kinda tank their performance when they bring out that kindergarten crafts tinfoil-covered cardboard star at the end.
I actually think that, of all three groups, Acid and Denali did the most to give their presentation a vibe. They framed it like a movie trailer and they even gave their witches a storyarc ... that ended with iced coffee being the peacemaker. Sure!
The Critiques
Loved Law Roach calling out Cynthia for saying that her magic chancla slaps cucarachas. Might seem like Law is joking, but Cynthia needs to look out because anyone who watched Legendary knows that Law Roach will absolutely try to throw hands at a contestant.
I was glad that Denali's gorgeous gown got its flowers, but it was a shame that Acid Betty's rushed draping (I'm assuming something happened off-screen?) kept them out of the top. I thought the judging could be interesting if they split up the groups; that way, we maybe could've gotten a Daya Betty vs. Denali lip sync. But then again, wasn't Ginger Minj going to end up in the top no matter what? Not undeserved, but still predictable.
The Lip Sync
I can now say I've heard "Defying Gravity" in full — at least, I think. I don't know, I'm Broadway agnostic. Both Daya and Ginger gave it their all (I do love that queens actually want to win All Stars lip syncs now), but I think Daya was performing for the camera and Ginger was performing for the stage. Daya was giving a lot of subtle emoting while Ginger was swinging for the fences. And while I think Daya was more captivating, clearly Ginger was selling it more on the Main Stage as seen from the judges' panel. Hey — they made Ariana Grande cry. The queens did it.
Ginger gets the extra point (reminder: Ginger is a lip sync assassin). Next week we'll see how the messy points shake out. The obvious move is for both pairs to trade with their partners (another reason why they should have judged this week as individuals!), but will one of them break with the pack? Or will we have to wait until Daya has a point to give out for the games to start?
So yeah, overall, a mid debut for Bracket 3. I like these queens, but the challenge was rough and we're still waiting for any claws to come out. We know Acid has them. She wears them all the time.
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