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Hello, hello, hello! We are down to the final seven queens on RuPaul’s Drag Race, and this week, Mama Ru challenges them to inspire people to get out and make their voices heard through the magic of music—and, hey, it’s a week without a design challenge, so the dolls can put the glue guns away for this week.
As the episode opens, Morphine Love Dion points out that she didn’t feel Mhiya Iman LePaige’s wig cap “reveal” in the lip sync should have given her the win, and Sapphira Cristal jokingly (?) regrets helping Mhi’ya with her goth look. Q, getting another win, is hoping to keep the momentum going (especially after one of the queens she felt was competition was sent packing.) She also feels like there may be a target on her back (which there probably is – especially if we are having any more design challenges.) Dawn and Morphine are frustrated they haven’t gotten a win yet, and the latter and Mhi’ya have a tense exchange before de-dragging.
The next day, Ru tells the queens that for this week’s maxi challenge, they need to inspire the masses (in a funky way) to go out and vote as they collaborate on the new anthem, “Power.” Each queen has to write a solo verse about what matters to her as a drag queen in the USA. Leland and Freddy Scott are handling recording duties, while guest judge Jamal Sims is here to add some banging choreography to the number. Ru also announces that this song will be featured on the upcoming ‘Werk the World” tour, so that’s something.
Plane Jane comes into this challenge with full confidence, asserting she eats at everything she does. She also still has her immunity potion, which is set to expire this week. Morphine attempts to kiss up to possibly be the beneficiary of the potion, but her hints seemingly fall on deaf ears. The queens begin to work on their verses, and Sapphira decides to use the song “Lift Every Heart and Sing” as her inspiration. Mhi’ya says she fancies herself as a rapper and then proceeds to rhyme “equal” with “equal.” Oof. Dawn is having issues processing what power means to her, and Nymphia (as always) is having a meltdown as her former ghostwriter, Megami, is gone. She may not be crying wolf this week.
The queens met with Leland and Freddy to record the song. A few queens struggled—Mhi’ya was having a hard time selling her equal/equal rhyme, Dawn needed a rap assist from Leland, and Jane came off mumble-mouthed. It was also obvious that Nymphia Wind definitely needed Megami’s help. Morphine compared Q’s voice to nails on a chalkboard, and Sapphira channeled James Brown once again and brought the funk—no notes there.
Sapphira continues her path to the win (IMHO) this week as she nails Jamal’s choreography. Some of the other queens don’t fare quite as well, especially Q and her “Barbie hands” (™ Dawn), Morphine and her odd chicken moves, and Nymphia (because, of course). Mhi’ya proves she’s more than the queen of flips and also works well with the choreo. Jane is in her head…maybe she’ll need that potion..?
On elimination day, Morphine is confident she will be in the top (although Jane thinks she might be delusional.) Dawn talks about the importance of therapy and says that getting mental help has shaped her life. She says it’s okay to be imperfect and ask for help – which is what Nymphia is doing as she snuggles up to Jane, hoping to be saved by her potion. They all chat briefly about the importance of voting, and then it’s off to the runway.
Ru looks stunning. As for the performance of “Power,” it was good. It was no “American”, mind you, but it was good, nonetheless. Mhi’ya and Morphine were standouts, and even the struggling queens (Q, Nymphia, and Dawn) pulled it out – and they all looked so good. And Sapphira, again, no notes.
The runway theme was “True Colors,” and the queens brought the rainbow to life with some gorgeous looks. Mhi’ya looked radiant in red lace with sequins, appliques, and feathers (her best look of the season so far), Nymphia (not surprisingly) gave us another banana look, channeling both Carmen Miranda and Josephine Baker, and Jane wore a green outfit, even Michelle Visage couldn’t complain about – it was stunning. Sapphira wore her signature royal blue from her Marge Simpson-esque wig to her gown, which was fit for a queen. Dawn served her signature makeup along with a sleepy time/bedtime look incorporating shades of navy blue, Q was a vision in lavender (loved the oversized, fringed hat), and Morphine also rocked an impressive headpiece with the ostrich feathered hat that completed her beautiful purple Met Gala worthy gown.
Ru asks Jane about the fate of the potion and Jane bequeaths it upon Nymphia, who quaffs it down and heads back to Untucked.
The other queens get their critiques, with Sapphira’s “dancing biscuits” getting a shout-out and Morphine’s challenge performance blowing everyone away. And since we haven’t had a twist in a while, Ru delivers a doozy this week. The bottom two this week are Q and Jane, and the tops are Morphine and Sapphira – but no one is going home. Instead, Sapphira and Morphine battle it out for the win. They lip sync to Meghan Trainor’s “Made You Look,” and Sapphira gets the (well-deserved) win. So, we still have seven queens in the running…who is the next to get the chop?
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