As everyone should know we are huge fans of balls. Particularly RuPaul’s. We mean of course the balls that segue into the final coda of each season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, you filthy heathens. This season’s ball came a bit prematurely compared to previous seasons, and featured yet another of the show’s biggest hi-coups of guest sponsors/stars. We haven’t seen any Absolut spokesperson this year, or the expected appearance of Bob Mackey, but we did get another “first in Drag Race herstory” with the appearance of Hello Kitty!!! KittyGurl Margaux, let’s break down the agony and the ecstasy this week served us, shall we?
Margaux: As a grown woman, who’s also an unabashed Hello Kitty fan, I can safely say last night’s episode came in a real close as my second favorite episode this season, obvi John Waters 4Ever is #1. Recently, for me at least, the mini-challenges have most fun to watch, but Ru’s last addition of having the queen’s create a BFF for Hello Kitty had me at the edge of seat for the runway. I know Ginger loathes designs challenges, but I live for them!
Samir: I was very surprised that we were doing all this with 5 queens left. Normally this all happens with 4 queens remaining. After we mourned the loss of Trixie, than we were onto the Everybody Loves Puppets mini-challenge. This year’s wasn’t as great as last season’s but the winner was clear and as you have said we then got to the real meat of the episode. When RuPaul prefaced Hello Kitty’s arrival with her statistics, I forgot he was talking about a Sanrio character. I didn’t realize how big she still was in all media. Even though I know you went to Hello Kitty Con.
Margaux: Going to Hello Kitty Con couldn’t of prepared me for this challenge – though, I’m always taken aback that a little girl/cat is worth over eight BILLION dollars. In retrospect, the puppet mini-challenge has some foreshadowing to it too, even though in the mini-challenge the queen’s had to make their puppets look like a fellow contestant, and in the maxi-challenge, they had to create a new BFF with a monstrous Hello Kitty head – I’m going to go ahead and draw that comparison.
Since Ginger won the mini-challenge, she was able to get a head start at wandering the Hello Kitty craft table for first pickings on materials to make her Hello Kitty eleganza look. Which, if I had my first crack at it, would be looking dazed and confused as to where to start too, it was a fucking avalanche of Hello Kitty swag.
Samir: Good thing too, because she’s not a sewing queen, unlike past seasons where the older queens had the sewing skills, and the younglings had none with the needle and thread. This reminded me of that ANTM challenge a few years ago where the models donned garments made entirely of HelloKitty merch, including that one unfortunate girl who wore an entire dress of lunchboxes. Here the stress is double because the queens are the models and the designers. AND they had to create the BFF characters and walk blind down the runway. Ru was really channeling Tyra that day Again Kennedy struggled the most with having an idea…. until we got to poor Katya. My heart broke for Katya throughout and I was in a state of denial at what the editing was telling me was going to happen.
Margaux: As Ginger said at the onset of the challenge, “take your Metamucil, girls”. I will say this for Katya’s untimely demise from the show, at least she had an idea, but as much as we were in denial of seeing it, it was written in the stars (and the editing). Katya stood in her one too many times, but I was relieved when Kennedy finally admitted during runway critiques that she doesn’t have as big an imagination as the other queens.
And, I giggled when Pearl made her Kennedy puppet take a dig at that disastrous “Death Becomes Her” chicken/horse/Tony the Tiger cremated in crystals by a John (?) runway look. That needs to be called out, constantly.
Samir: After a night of hooking and being thrown in the fire. That was a rough night for everyone apparently. I loved Katya’s BFF character; Hello Katya’s belief that “my socialism will balance out Hello Kitty’s decadent capitalism” is a line for the RPDR ages.
Samir: Far more than the tired cliche Kennedy dragged out. Violet clearly rocked both of these challenges, as we expected since she was the most excited for this of anyone there. And she was the one trying the hardest to pick Katya up from the doldrums The sisterhood bond showed a lot this episode, and in Untucked, which softened the blow of seeing Katya self-destruct because at least you could sense there was some real love there. It was also hard to hear Katya say in UT that she had a panic attack and didn’t reach out for help, to which Kennedy responded “We’re your support group.” I think I legit cried at the end of this week 🙁
Margaux: It was definitely the first time I had to hold back tears by the end of a LSFYL. It was really hard to deny Kennedy when I obviously wanted to see Katya stay, and in an ideal world, BOTH would get to stay. To quote Violet by the end of Kennedy’s performance, “YAS QUEEN, COME THROUGH”. I mean, no one was pulling on anyone’s tuck last week or this when other queen’s confessed they’d just give up instead of face Kennedy in a LSFYL, her jump into splits ONTO THE BOTTOM RUNG OF THE STAGE? What?! I’ll go home now too, or just start practicing shitty cartwheels into splits no man or woman should ever attempt alone.
But Katya’s Hello Kitty BFF will always remain in our hearts, I was happy to see Katya showcase some of Russian accent that she’s so known for in her off RPDR act. And, for whatever it’s worth, Rebecca Romijn got what Katya’s runway eleganza look was going for. Can’t take that away!
Samir: That’s why the bottom two surprised me so- Kennedy admittedly had no ideas (and I don’t know why Rupaul and co. keep insisting she does have some) and Ginger Minj didn’t really have an idea for her runway outfit either, cute as it was. So when everything balanced out, I felt Katya was a little above the two of them. But Kennedy was so amazing, you completely forgot that the show actually forbids the queens to use the lower platform for the LSFYL ever since Mimi ImFurst picked up that India Ferrah and carried her back up to the stage to get some attention. And curse you RuPaul for making a Katy Perry song entertaining. I guess that’s really the queen’s fault, but still. I always have a problem when one of the people in the bottom is one who really was better all around, going against someone who failed at the challenges and can survive based on the LSFYL. Even more curious that Alyssa Edwards was in the previous week’s UT message to Kennedy, because that’s how she envisioned herself getting to the top in her own season. Yet even I can’t deny Kennedy’s mastery tonight. And her letter to Katya was really sweet.
Margaux: You didn’t have to watch UT to catch the vibe that neither wanted to face each other, but still love and respect each other, but that wasn’t going to hold them back when it comes down to it. The behind-the-scenes interactions, from the letter you mentioned, to the “I love you/good-byes” between them, only fueled the water works, so, thanks a whole lot Untucked.
Samir: It’s official, we care about these bitches! Damn, I was hoping my general misanthropy would have prevented that but here we are.. I’m wondering if Kennedy will make it to the top three? Normally someone I love goes home and someone I don’t love makes it to the finale. However…In San Francisco, one of the local bars that has Drag Race Mondays has had a different queen from this season there each week performing after the episode and spilling dirt. And the last performer booked before the finale is Kennedy Davenport. And the only three who weren’t booked for these events were Ginger, Pearl and Violet. Could this be a clue to our top three?
Margaux: I really wouldn’t be surprised if Pearl and Violet locked up their top three spot last night, both of their respective looks this week were thoughtful, well-executed and stayed perfectly true to their drag personas. Pearl is right, they need a new joke about her because that bitch has woken up. I loved her accidental read on the runway about why she opted out of trinkets, when literally everyone BUT her had Hello Kitty accessories hot-glued and/or sewed into their outfits.
Margaux: I think it’s a toss up between Kennedy and Ginger, I like the both of them, but for different reasons. Ginger is hilarious. A fucked-up, chain smoking June Cleaver. Kennedy is a through-though performer, I’d love to see her in the Broadway rendition of To Wong Foo. Whoever ends up in the top three, they’ve already won in a lot of other ways already.
Samir: I think that Ginger would win out over Kennedy if came down to the two of them. Kennedy did also bust out the “I have to stay true to my drag” card that is another well-known kiss of death on this show. Ginger has a genuine character in her drag persona, so I think that will trump Kennedy’s amazing performance dance skills. And ditto on Pearl’s read- it was totally intentional and perfectly played. A tip of the hat and an add on Grindr for that one (is that what you do with Grindr? I honestly don’t have one). I’m sure Violet is in the top three as you said, but I feel it might come down to Pearl and Kennedy. But since there will be an acting challenge, that could also take Violet down a notch too. I’m getting too Miss Fame about all this and getting lost in my own head. The crushing blow of Katya’s departure was part and parcel of a 5 star outing this week. In the end her socialism did balance out Hello Kitty’s decadent capitalism. And even Kitty Girl was digging it.
Margaux: What…the FUCK…did you call me?
About Author
