This recap of RuPaul’s Drag Race 1705 contains spoilers.
Disaster avoided. But it should never have come to this! I know I’m biased because she’s my fave but Arriety did not deserve that placement.
But first! In the aftermath of Joella’s elimination, Kori is upset about being in the bottom. And a lot of people don’t think Onya should’ve won? I do not agree with either sentiment.
It’s a new week and Arriety’s hair is styled like devil horns because she’s ready to get a little crazy. All the queens seem to be having a good time as Jewels asks who is going to be piggy of the week and eat and eat and eat.
Unfortunately, this week is more comedy with RDR Live. Lydia says she’s not the most skilled at taking words and making them funny which is, in fact, the funniest she’ll be all episode. Hormona brings up having done comedy for the talent show which seems like something I’d choose to let people forget.
The roles are given out with minimal drama. Onya takes on hosting which no one else wants. Crystal and Lana fight over a dumb blonde character but Crystal gives in quickly. Hormona and Lydia fight over an old lady and Hormona gives in quickly too.
Crystal and Lexi are weekend update hosts with Suzie playing RuPaul’s former babysitter as their guest. Lexi says she wants to have Michael Che/Colin Jost vibes which is funny given how transphobic they are. Even funnier is how frustrated Lexi gets as Suzie takes on the additional role of sketch comedy expert giving very firm directions to her scene partners.
Hormona, Sam, and Jewels are playing lesbians in a beaver twist on the Schweddy Balls sketch. Sam says she has a hidden lesbian inside her and decides to honor that lesbian by doing the oldest joke in the book and donning a deep voice for her character. Meanwhile, Hormona decides to be southern for some reason, and Jewels decides to be Australian because it sounds funnier when she says beaver. (Correct.)
Acacia and Lydia are doing an emergency room-set Golden Girls riff. Lydia confesses to never having seen The Golden Girls which makes her fight for this role feel even more misguided.
Onya, Arriety, Kori, and Lana are doing a neanderthal town hall sketch and Arriety has decided to GO BIG.
That ends up being the opening sketch and Arriety’s big does not pay off. Onya in her minor role is so casually better than anyone else in the sketch. That said, Arriety isn’t bad. Her approach doesn’t have a lot of texture, but many, many queens in seasons past have been praised for going big in comedy challenges in ways that are humorous while not totally working. The biggest surprise is the writing of the sketch is kind of good compared to what we usually get — in Drag Race comedy challenges and on real SNL.
Onya continues to kill with her monologue. The jokes aren’t very good — unclear if she wrote them? I assume not? — but she’s charming and her delivery is great.
The beaver sketch is horrible. All three performers are glued to the cue cards and barely interacting with one another. Jewels’ accent is fun, but Sam is terrible and Hormona is a dud. Also the writing is bad.
Next, RuPaul performs as musical guest. No comment.
Weekend update is… a struggle. Lexi is so in her head after Suzie’s direction that none of the jokes land and the jokes aren’t good to begin with. (Why is Patti LuPone getting dragged??) Suzie is a standout as her character, but Lexi and Crystal are painful to watch. The thing Suzie failed to realize as sketch comedy expert is someone feeling comfortable goes a long way. Even if Lexi’s ideas weren’t good, she would’ve done better getting to do them with ease.
The last sketch is the Golden Girls one and Acacia does as well as Lydia does poorly. I thought Acacia really shined! Especially when guest judge Paul W. Downs showed up and she had at least one scene partner to work with.
Overall, I’d say this RDR Live! was still less painful than the one SNL episode I’ve watched in recent years — musical guest aside.
The runway theme is Tickled Pink. Onya’s outfit is entirely made of sneakers and looks so cool except the headpiece which weakened it for me. Arriety bravely keeps her same makeup look and looks incredible in latex spikes. Jewels looks hot in an elevated My Fair Lady bell bottom jumpsuit. Lydia is a penis with hot pink shoes that pull focus from the balls thus ruining the look IMO. Crystal is in silicone popped bubble gum look. And Suzie is a clown.
The top is Onya, Suzie, and Hormona?? Absolutely baffled by Hormona’s inclusion here. Her very prom runway gown is fine, but her sketch performance was so bland! Acacia’s 80s punk rock runway wasn’t my favorite, but it was good enough to get her a top spot along with her sketch performance. I would’ve even given a top spot to Lana in her Little Bo Beep look over Hormona.
The bottom is Sam, Lydia, and Arriety?? Again, Arriety did not do great, but she took a swing! And she didn’t miss so badly to be in the bottom. Sorry to Lexi and Crystal both of whom I like, but they belonged in that spot. Even Hormona should’ve been bottom over Arriety. On top of that, Hormona says she wanted Lydia’s role initially which feels like kicking someone when they’re down.
I can see an argument for putting Arriety in the bottom in order to give critique — yes, we said go bigger, but not like this. But I see ZERO argument for Arriety lip syncing instead of Sam. ZERO.
Alas Suzie wins — totally solid pick since Onya did win last week — and then Arriety and Lydia have to lip sync to “Boogie Wonderland” by Earth, Wind & Fire. From the beginning, Arriety looks so upset and defeated. She can’t find the energy and Lydia easily wins the lip sync.
Thank God for the badonkadonk tank! Arriety pulls the #1 lever and Michelle comes crashing into the water. So, yes, the right levers ended up being 17, the season number.
The judges have been so harsh on Arriety I’m not feeling optimistic about her longevity. But I’m glad she’ll at least have another week to show more of what she can do.
Teleport Us to Mars!! Here Are Some Random Thoughts:
+ In the confessional, Sam says she thought Kori was going to be a comedy queen so what does she do? It was funnier when Bianca said this in season six.
+ Hormona didn’t know beaver was slang for vagina until her sketch. What are they teaching the kids these days?? (She’s one year younger than me.)
+ Obsessed with Onya saying she was modeling herself after Jennifer Lawrence, a loud crazy Black lady, only to realize she meant Jennifer Lewis. A real Barbara from Abbott Elementary moment.
+ Untucked is finally back to being interesting. The fashion girlies came for Suzie’s clown look, but Suzie and Onya both very gently lessened the drama. Arriety still managed to go one-by-one and explain why all the other girls should’ve been in the bottom instead of her — including Hormona.
+ Queen I’m rooting for: Arriety, Onya
+ Queen I’m horniest for: Arriety
+ Queen I want to sashay: Hormona, Sam
Did it trouble anyone else that they showed Lexi’s LinkedIn page during the discussion of her day job where she’s not out as trans? Obvi she was openly talking about it with cameras on in the workroom, but to put the photo and government name there felt like asking someone to doxx her. I love Lexi & she must be protected!