Hello, RuPaul's Drag Race fans! Can you believe we are on episode 11 of this season?
We’ve got a fun challenge and some fierce fashions waiting for you. In this week’s mini challenge, the queens tested their Drag Race knowledge in a rousing game of “Are You Smarter Than the Pit Crew?”
Kandy, who earlier showed that math was not her strong suit, ended up proving that she was, indeed, smarter than the Pit Crew and had a firm grip on her Drag Race knowledge.
The main challenge this week is a branding challenge in which the queens have to create their own soft drink and create a commercial for their concoction. Reigning champion Jaida Essence Hall showed up to give the queens some valuable advice. Carson and Ross served as the coaches – and they certainly had their work cut out for them.
The runway theme was “Beast Couture” and we saw a lot of creatures featured. Utica served some spooky, Maleficent realness in horns, raven hair, and a fur-covered gown. Kandy Muse, in Michelle’s most hated color, was an alien caring for her dummy doppelgänger. Tina gave us a patchwork doll creation made of fun fur from various stuffed toys and Symone was a literal foxy lady, complete with hoops and heels. Gottmik was a purple people eater, Olivia looked like she stepped out of Monsters Inc. and Rosé had the judges seeing red as a “deep, dark mistress of the woods.”
After the queens strutted their stuff on the runway, we got to see their soft drink adds. Some sizzled and some fizzled. Utica gave us an ad for her (definitely not COVID-friendly) Utican soft drink that was pure Utica. It was trippy, made no sense and featured her sucking on a fake cow’s teat.
After that hard act to follow, we saw ads for Kandy’s K Special and Tina’s “Burnin’ Up” where she gave us a redux of the 50s housewife look she put Rosé in last week. And, while Gottmik looked super sexy, her ad for her “Got-Sexxx Sex Juice”, mocking awful infomercials missed the mark (has anyone ever impressed the judges with fart jokes?)
Olivia was cute as a button, but her ad for her “LIV(E)” soda was one-note, causing Ross to comment, “You always look happy…and that’s a problem.” Rosé allowed herself to not look perfect for once and produced a hilarious ad for her hangover relief drink, “RoseAid” (and probably sold quite a few “Jantasy” robes in the process.
Ru decided that two queens gave us their bubbly best this week and declasreed Symone and Rosé as this week’s winners and our bottom two, Tina and Utica had to lip sync for their lives to the Black Eyed Peas’ “My Humps.” Both competitors fought and turned the performance, but Ru decided that it was time for Tina Burner to sashay away.
This Week’s MVP – Symone
Yes, this season has pretty much been Symone’s to lose since the moment she walked into the werk room, but she brought her best to the branding challenge (I mean, her entrance look on episode one was a dress made up of self-portraits…she has branding down.) Her ad for “Sweet Toof” soda hit all of the right notes, from her sassy 70s bad girl attitude, deadpan delivery and catchy jingle (the free gold tooth with the purchase of two cans didn’t hurt either.)
And, if that wasn’t enough, her runway look (which would be the hit at any furry convention) was exactly what you would expect if Symone was a cartoon character. Her fox was decked out in a tank top and Daisy Duke shorts, wore gold chains and hoop earrings and sported heels and a side ponytail. It was such a fun look and one that earned her top honors.
Honorable Mention – Kandy Muse
Kandy was the subject of the funniest moment of the episode when, after she had difficulty with some math in the werk room, became the punchline for a math-related question on “Are You Smarter Than The Pit Crew.” When Ru said there was going to be a math question, all eyes turned to Kandy (and she got the question right.) On the runway, her look made the judges ponder, “Where’s the beast” and was described as “Alien Weekend at Bernie’s” but her ad for “K Special” was just that, special. From her leopard ensemble to her confident attitude, you had to agree with the judges’ assessment that she could sell anything.
This week, Kandy also revealed her softer side, sharing the fact that she was bullied as a kid. By showing that she can be vulnerable, she has earned the respect and support of her season 13 sisters.
