RuPaul's Drag Race UK Season 7, Episode 2
"Rumble in the Jumble"
Host: RuPaul
Cast: Bones, Bonnie Ann Clyde, Catrin Feelings, Chai T Grande, Elle Vosque, Nyongbella, Paige Three, Pasty, Sally™, Silllexa Diction, Tayris Mongardi, Viola
RuPaul must've been suffering from jet lag last week, because she's in top form this week, cutting up with (and laughing at) the girls. You can usually tell the queens who'll have legs in the competition by the proportion of RuPaul laughter to the effort a queen exudes to make RuPaul laugh. RuPaul losing her shit just from Elle Vosque labeling her design sketch "Aqua Mackie," or SallyTM opening her eyes wide, or — the best a queen can hope for — Tayris Mongardi just saying anything. At least Ru is locked in with these queens, even if the season's off to an odd start for me, the viewer.
Surprisingly, no one is plucked by Elle taking the win last week, even if said win felt designed to pluck. Elle's sitting there next to her look, which is a grade school art project, and no one's being shady. I will give the show some credit, though: we do find out who voted for who in the Lucky Cow, and Pasty actually did win it. But with the Lucky Cow twist being sent out to slaughter after just one episode, I have to wonder ... why? What was all that? Did World of Wonder come into a truck of old cow Beanie Babies that they're hoping to markup and sell as Lucky Cows at the next DragCon UK? Baffling!
This week's Mini Challenge accomplishes a few things: it gets to poke fun at The Traitors, as close as Drag Race has to a pure rival after those Emmy wins; the queens get to award each other shady superlatives, which is a Drag Race UK tradition that's spread to other countries; and, thanks to every queen grabbing a black shag wig and piling on the eyeliner and white lipstick, every American watching is introduced to Traitors UK host Claudia Winkleman — who really looks like that.
Oh — and the Mini Challenge sets up the episode's biggest storylines. Fresh off being voted the Lucky Cow, Pasty now boasts the titles "Most Distasteful" and "Most Fateful," meaning she has no taste and is fated to go home next. And then the other storyline: Viola is voted "Most Painful" for being annoying. For her trouble, Pasty is given the chance to assign materials "left over from every previous season" to the queen for the design challenge. Pasty tries to play it fair, but there doesn't seem to be much difference between the lots; the fact that we don't get much storyline out of, say, Season 1's "rucycled" materials being worse than Season 4's or something indicates as much. We do, however, learn that the UK calls yard sales "jumble sales," because of course they do.
All the drama this week really comes from Viola being named "Most Painful," and she's specifically angry at Catrin Feelings for calling her distasteful. She plays it off well at first, sassily telling Ru loudly for all to hear that she — a certifiably studied seamstress — won't be giving any tips to any of the other girls. So there! Except she did give Paige Three one tip, which she then repeated loudly ... to everyone. So, no tips after that one!
But as the work day wears on, Viola goes so deep into her feelings that she justifies the comparison to Milk that I saddled her with last week. Viola's just as devastated as Milk was in All Stars 3's comeback challenge, when the airing of grievances left her stunned (but not speechless). Unfortunately for Viola, this is like, Day 3 in the Werk Room. She just met these girls and they're already calling her "painful"? That's a tough one. Fortunately, the rest of the girls rally around her.
But a the rest of the cast surrounds Viola, like she's a wilted Christmas tree that needs Peanuts magic, Nyongbella delivers the line of the episode: "I don't know about you, but I have a lot of work to do. You cannot make a sweater out of tears."
On the runway, category is Rumble in the Jumble Eleganza! I've sorted my own picks for POPs and SLOPs. My POPS of the week are:
- Bones, who took a stack of yoga mats and carved them up, layering them and applying some 2D cel shading that made her look like if Cynthia from Rugrats had a cunty runway model aunt.
- Bonnie Ann Clyde, who ... ends up in the bottom. I don't disagree, but in my defense, she looks great when she's standing still. And if the camera shot is from the knees up. Really, her head — the makeup and wig — is perfection. I have no complaints about her head.
- Tayris Mongardi, who turned out a perfectly safe bodysuit with just enough detailing, the draped fabric, to hide the fact that it's a safe bodysuit. But, it fits way better than her blowfish look from last week, as does her wig. A step up.
- Catrin Feelings, who wanted to do a camp/punk look — and succeeded. Forget last week, this is how you mix fabrics and patterns for the Drag Race Main Stage. Plus the styling with those chains? Solid work.
- Pasty, who also ends up in the bottom two. Okay. I'm feeling a lot like guest judge Michelle de Swarte, who also complimented the girls to their faces and read them behind their backs. Pasty's look was not good, but it was — okay, I was going to say "well made," but it wasn't well made either. I don't know — Pasty can't sew. She set her sights on a damn disco jumpsuit — instead of a tube dress or a lesson pulled from the LaLa Ri bag of tricks — and succeeded in making something. So. I applaud that.
- Paige Three, who gave us a purple and green literal tube dress reveal into a sexy, campy, '60s-esque bikini alien moment.
- Chai T Grande, who made a simple red velvet gown with two interestingly placed pillows. If Chai had a more outgoing personality, I could've seen this being in the top. But even in her best look yet, she kinda fades into the background.
- And SallyTM, with her exquisite pattern-clashing picnic moment, one that defies all reason yet is the reason.
So, uh, the tops and bottoms this week are made up of my Pops and only one of my Slops: Viola, who talked a big game and could not back it up. The thought was there: a spider dress with additional arms could be cool, but she just didn't have time to execute ... and it came away looking very McCall's via Joann.
The winner is, of course, SallyTM, who has absolutely arrived in the competition. And Viola and Pasty end up in the bottom. After slipping on the runway earlier, Pasty's heels fell her once again during the lip sync when her bell bottoms get caught up in them. Not even holding her own against Viola in a fierce air-violin showdown can save Pasty. The Lucky Cow is put out to pasture.
Which sucks, because Pasty was the absolute cutest boy in that Werk Room. Ah well!
Next week, it's Girl Group time. Unless Elle or Sally prove themselves to be fierce rappers and/or dancing divas, it's likely a third person will score a badge.
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