I’ve been wondering lo these many RuPauliday seasons why they have not paid homage to the late, great Divine. That 7 year itch was scratched until our skin was raw last night because the Titan of Trash, the Sultan of Good Bad Taste himself John Waters, who made magic with Divine from Multiple Maniacs to Hairspray, was the guest judge for a Waters/Divine inspired challenge. Seriously, we must have literally been dying and heading towards the sequined light, because this was EVERYTHING. If this isn’t what heaven looks like, then we’ll spend the rest of our lives decorating our handbaskets for our eventual trip to hell. M’lady Margaux shall we return to heaven for a moment and discuss #JohnWaters4Ever??
Margaux: This was pretty much the episode we’ve been waiting for since they announced John Waters would be a guest judge, and if I can be a lil’ shady for just a moment (let’s just get it outta the way), I’m bummed there wasn’t MORE John Waters. Why couldn’t he of directed the challenge scenes with Lucien, sorry Michelle, but Lucien is just who Samir and I wanna gawk at. With John Waters.
Samir: To quote Luther from Don’t Trust the B “Is this a pod? Because we are two peas in it!” Never ever take away my man Lucien Piane, I’d love to play on that Piane any day, and oh, the music I would make… anyhow, back to the episode and away from Kink.com fantasies. There can NEVER be enough John Waters, and I was really hoping he would be directing the challenge, because that’s really what I predicted all along. We knew if John Waters was there it would be directly related to his career intertwined with Divine’s, whom RuPaul aptly refers to as the first drag superstar. She really was, had dance hits on the charts and amazing concerts and shows when she wasn’t in a Waters movie. And the library opened just in time!
Margaux: Finally, the fundamentals of reading were on in full force and man, I want to talk about WHO did make me laugh, but we gotta touch base with Miss Fame’s out of touches shade. HOLY SHIT THAT WAS UBER PAINFUL. I mean, Kennedy nailed exactly what happened, uncomfortable silence that even crickets bailed out on.
Samir: Oof, that was bad. And it’s so weird because Miss Fame has always been funnier on the fly than in a staged format. I expected her to be able to turn it out, but whenever she’s put on the spot to do so, the funny withers and dies. When she’s not in her own head, she’s pretty damn funny. Like her speech at the “Despy” awards a few episodes back, and she has cracked more than a few good lines in the workroom. I wish we could have seen her be more free when it really counted. I think my favorites were clearly Katya and Trixie. Kennedy wasn’t terribly impressive, but Pearl surprised me by at least pretending she was going to read Ru. Priceless.
Margaux: I’m really impressed by Pearl’s laid back confidence, it’s really working for her. But, I have to agree, Katya and Trixie stole the show, which is good, cause this was not a theme that repeated itself into the maxi challenge.
Samir: They left no page unturned in the library that day for sure. Ginger wasn’t bad, but no one had a better line than Trixie’s “American Apparently Not.” Except maybe when Violet says “Thank God” when Trixie’s prize for winning the reading lesson was a gift card for some new gowns at Sequin Queen. And oh my Lord, the maxi-challenge. I loved the herstory lesson about Divine and in the Ru-Mail you could tell that Katya and Ginger and Trixie were aware of every Waters-line worked into the clues. The excitement read on their faces and told us instantly that they would be better at this than anyone else.
Margaux: And I think the queens who were less familiar with his work, let’s just say it didn’t exactly work in their favor. I’m looking at the last picked team of: Miss Fame, Pearl, and Violet. I had hopes, at least based on their run throughs of “Poo” – inspiration taken from Pink Flamingos – that Violet and Pearl would pull it together, but..umm, their three takes on Divine were fuckin’ strange. I’m still wrapping my head (SEE WHAT I DID THERE) around Miss Fame’s…acting choice. I know it’s another instance of Miss Fame getting in her own way and over thinking everything, but I agreed with remaining queens assertion on the final runway later, I think we’ve seen mostly all of what Miss Fame as to offer, barring that acting class she threatened to take in her good-bye interview.
Samir: I think an acting class would really help her, because she’ll have to learn to listen if she’s paying for it herself. And she could stand to brush up on how to play to a crowd. I said it when I first saw her in the preview videos before the season started, she’s got the look and visual character down, but was lacking in the performance area. To be fair, they were the only ones not playing actual characters from Waters movies. Because these musical parody numbers of famous moments (another one of these challenges was acceptable ONLY because it was all about one of my many gay deities, John Waters) involved the actual characters, but the “Poo” scene was a variation on the legendary shit-eating finale of Pink Flamingos (too bad they couldn’t work in the shrimping or singing sphincter muscle somehow) with imaginary angel and demon versions of Divine.
Margaux: I never got a sense of ‘homage’ from that team like I did from others, like Ginger and Trixie, which is sort of a bad example because they are vocal fans, but “Eggs” landed, at least for me, because they’re fans. Whereas Pearl, Fame, and Violet were reaching for something that didn’t land for me because it didn’t feel like they knew how to elevate the material.
Samir: Ginger however was clearly born to play Edith Massey for the new millenium. I almost thought she was the egg-obsessed rotund toothless woman in Lane Bryant undergarments in a mobile home’s playpen. It was a little too on the nose in some ways that made me think Katya should have won the challenge, but there is no shame in saying that Ginger channeled Edith to the T.
Margaux: When John Waters said Ginger had a transcendent, Edie-esque feel to her performance, I knew Katya wasn’t gonna win, no matter that she elicited the most laughs from me personally. And, I gotta say, I give Kennedy a lot of crap for being blasé (here and in the podcast) but I truly enjoyed her and Katya as a team, I really thought they brought out the best in each other. I think Katya is talented enough, and is obviously proven in “Cha Cha Heels”, like Kristen Wiig in Knocked Up, she can take a “throw away”/smaller role and make it hugely funny. I really think Katya will go far post-Drag Race, she’s just undeniably hysterical.
Samir: I have to revoke Kennedy’s velvet mafia membership for not knowing that the Christmas tree comes down on Dawn Davenport’s mother to ruin Christmas. UNFORGIVABLE! I was really impressed that Katya was able to make the mama Davenport so freakin’ hilarious. That really is a throwaway role in the film, but you almost thought Katya made her the star of Female Trouble instead of Kennedy who was playing the actual star of the film.
Margaux: Let’s just say I wouldn’t be surprised if Katya and Ginger turned up in a new John Water movie.
Samir: Are you trying to murder me, because that would be the perfect way to do it and get away with it, my heart would explode #Officially. We also have to factor in the runway, where the queens had to come up with the ugliest outfit they could think of. Ginger played to the judges and wore Michelle’s most hated color, but Katya unearthed a macrame monstrosity that killed my eyes and still had me agreeing with John Waters that the most hip girl in Brooklyn would kill for that dress.
Margaux: That horrible macrame contraption will haunt my dreams for the next year, but I have to agree with Demi Lovato – co, and let’s be really real, lesser guest judge – Katya’s meth’ed out Raggedy Ann look was giving me LIFE. Her impression of the Cowardly Lion, because Kennedy points out she looks like a fucked up-nightmare version of the the Lion in The Wizard of Oz in Untucked – was SPOT THE FUCK ON.
Samir: Looking at it was so powerful that I actually could feel it and see it from the shattered images of my childhood. It looked like a museum piece of 70s nostalgia.
Margaux: It’s a filthy work of art that should be a museum of 70s walk of shame dresses. I also expect it to be a predominant look in H&M summer collection. Moving on, Miss Fame and Pearl…if they weren’t marked by the editing team as the two who’d LSFYL, their non-ugliest dress look sealed their fate. Bitch, brocade ain’t ugly, IT’S IN VOGUE. LIKE, LITERALLY. Did you see the Met Ball red carpet last night? I KNOW YOU DID FAME.
Samir: To play devil’s advocate better than she did in “Poo” this was filmed months ago so she started the trend! Maybe. Anyhoo, yeah it was actually kind of an amazing dress that she DIDN”T make use of in the LSFYL. Why? I would have been twirling up a storm, whipping my competitor with all the extra fabric, SOMETHING. And you just knew she was going home when she started talking about how the judges would tear her down if she ever wore something store-bought. It’s alway the queens who say things like that (ahem Coco Montrese) that go home almost immediately after.
Margaux: I can’t believe neither of them did the splits at the end of that LSFYL. I legit stood up and with my hands raised like I was at a fucking basketball game and someone missed an OBVIOUS three. I woudn’t of been extra incensed if Pearl didn’t drop to her knees, not after she’d won, but when Ru closed out the runway by “letting the music play”. BITCH, WHY DIDN’T DO THAT 5 MINUTES AGO, YOU’RE SAFE, NOW! Ugh. But yeah, Pearl is the new bitch in town to send a friend home.
Samir: Do you think Pearl could beat out Violet for Top Three? I would have said Ginger/Katya/Trixie, but Trixie looked a little in-her-shell as Divine, so not getting the best vibe there sadly and Violet actually has become the Adore Delano of this season.
Margaux: Violet was the only one on the runway, after Ru asked who the queens thought should be sent home, that named Trixie and not Miss Fame. Albeit be some typical reality show reasons, I do think there’s a hint of truth to Violet’s shade. I think next week will be make or break for Trixie, if they weren’t going to scrutinize her before, they certain will now.
Samir: We still haven’t heard Ross Matthews say to anyone that line from the super trailer “If you’re not going to go there now, when are you…?” and it almost seems like those could be words to Trixie if she doesn’t get back the groove she displayed so well last week. That being said, there was nothing on earth, heaven or hell that could still my palpitations because the Library was open, AND #JohnWaters4Ever “Divine Inspiration” challenge, AND Lucien Piane AND ugliest outfit ever runway, all in one episode had me living, dying and peeing myself from excitement. This season has given us the highest-ever of highs to counterbalance it’s lowest lows, and my heart is weak!
Margaux: I mean, we’re not bothering with star count, right? It’s a foregone conclusion “Divine Intervention” gets one million stars times infinity.
Samir: Obvi-so knocked out by John Waters being on this show I’m seeing nothing but stars. But I guess we only have 5 to give here.
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