This recap of RuPaul’s Drag Race 1702 contains spoilers.
Trans women can be tops and trans women can be bottoms. It’s true in life and it’s true on the second episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 17.
The week one queens walk into the work room positively giddy. Except Acacia, of course. Jewels and Suzie are giggling about getting to be the ones to rate the queens this week and even the safe week ones are sighing with relief.
The girls are already FLIRTING. Kori and Lydia are getting close and Kori says it might be turning into a relationship. What does a drag queen bring on a first date? Also Lucky says she feels an artsy fartsy spark with Arriety and Arriety says Lucky can paint all over her. I love it.
Drag Race UK winner Lawrence Chaney shows up with bagpipe players to make some jokes and announce the runway theme: Is It Cake?
As the queens get ready, the week twos talk about their talents and Acacia says she hopes she’s lip syncing against Hormona. Hormona says she’s doing stand up comedy which was the first clue that Acacia’s dream might just come true. Onya also talks about how she didn’t start drag until she was 27 and she’s struggled to form community. I really like Onya! I hope she makes friends!!
The guest judge this week is Doechii! And she’s joined by Ts Madison! Sorry Katy and Carson, but that is quite an upgrade.
The runways are solid with several queens both showing their cakes and making fun cake puns like Lucky as a purple kitchen sponge aka sponge cake). But the true standouts are Lexi who looks so cool with her TV head and Suzie who solidifies her place as frontrunner when her Shakespearean maiden drinks potion to become a donkey.
Time for the lip sync lalaparuza— sorry, I mean, time for the talent show. Sam starts us off lip syncing to an original song that’s about being Southern. The only South I’m from is Southern California, but even I’m raising an eyebrow at her calling her song authentic country. It’s fine.
Next up, Onya lip syncs and turns me into a hypocrite, because I had so much fun with this one! It might not be wildly original, but she has lots of charisma. Crystal follows and also has a solid lip sync. She has some nice gimmicks, even if her song is less fun.
Alas, there is a pause in the lip syncing for some truly bad standup comedy from Hormona. All of her jokes are about serious topics and aren’t funny?? It’s really awkward.
Kori and Lana follow with pretty good lip syncs and then just when things are getting really dire Lexi swoops in to perform on roller skates! She’s great! Hooray!
If I was doing Rate-a-Queen I would’ve gone:
1. Lexi
2. Onya
3. Kori
4. Crystal
5. Lana
6. Sam
7. Hormona
The queens vote Lexi and Crystal as the top two and they lip sync to Doechii’s “Alter Ego.” It’s a really fun lip sync and Lexi wins!
Then we have our next lip sync between Acacia and Hormona to “yes, and?” by Ariana Grande. It’s a wild drop in quality, which, sure, can be the difference between a winners lip sync and a losers lip sync. But I don’t know… they’re lip syncing for their LIVES. I expected more.
At one point, Acacia pulls a make up brush from out of her butt and that pushes her to the win. Alas, Ru always has to have another trick, so she introduces the Badonka Donk Tank where the losers get to try their luck in pulling levers to save themselves/dunk Michelle. (Sponsored by Las Vegas.) (Literally.)
Hormona pulls lever seven and Michelle goes plunging into the water. No queen is going home and obvious weak link is safe to slay another day. Or if not slay, at least stay.
Teleport Us to Mars!! Here Are Some Random Thoughts:
+ Jewels calls Lexi auntie grandma, but later Ru reveals she’s only THIRTY-THREE. I’m glad she roller skated all over that cute baby’s expectations.
+ Some notable voting from Rate-a-Queen: Jewels put Sam first because they’re in the same drag family and she thinks other people will rate her low. Lucky put Kori last. Lydia put Sam last. And people rated Onya low due to her runway which okay fine is fair.
+ Michelle rightly says there should be a moratorium on queens dressing as Marie Antoinette and she is correct. Not only has it been done by several winners throughout the show, but it’s done by MULTIPLE queens in this runway.
+ Queen I’m rooting for: Arriety, Lexi, Lucky, Onya
+ Queen I’m horniest for: Arriety
+ Queen I want to sashay: Hormona
