As the queens returned to the Werk Rook, Lydia B. Kollins was visibly shook from Kori King’s departure after their climactic lip sync (and lip smooch) against each other. Jewels Sparkles was relishing her very first win, while both Kollins and Lana Ja’Rae were eagerly anticipating their own first victories.
Michelle Visage joined the queens in the Werk Room and let the queens know that their next mini challenge would include one of the very first twists of the season: the Badonka Dunk Tank. The queens would be posed questions, and should they answer incorrectly, they would be immersed in the Badonka Dunk Tank. As it turned out, Visage was evening the score with the queens, soaking each one of them. (A great callback came courtesy of Entertainment Weekly reporter Joey Nolfi who, when joining the queens and Visage on set, was also dunked and paid homage to Detox’s famed mini challenge pose inside a dunk tank.)
The queens were then assigned their next task; they would be roasting some devilishly villainous “RuPaul’s Drag Race” alumni, with Mistress Isabelle Brooks, Kandy Muse, and Plane Jane; it’s time for the Villains Roast. Visage and guest judge, comedian Whitney Cummings would be assisting on this challenge, and after winning last week, Sparkles was awarded the ability to choose the order of the show this week. Each queen did weigh in with their preferred place in the roast, and despite trying to keep the selection fair, some queens did bristle at their place in the roast.
The queens met up with Visage and Cummings to run through the jokes, and Cummings offered some sage words of advice to the queens about roasts, comedy, and making things funny. When Suzie Toot attempted to under-promise how her humor may translate, Onya Nurve clocked both Toot and this tactic in the competition, and let the judges and their fellow competitors know that she thought that she felt Toot was trying to under-sell her roast performance intentionally.
Friends since the beginning of the competition, Arrietty and Sparkles have a fallout that no one saw coming. After getting into her head regarding her placement in the roast (that Sparkles decided), Arrietty stole some of the jokes that Sparkles planned to deliver during the roast. Both Arrietty and Lexi Love felt that their placement in the challenge was a strategic move by Sparkles, resulting in a Werk Room dust-up prior to the Main Stage.
We head to the Main Stage next for The Villains Roast. RuPaul and Visage are joined by Cummings and Ts Madison at the judges table and Brooks, Jane, and Muse are all decked out in crimson red and ready to be read. The roast kicks off with Nurve, who is predictably hilarious complete with a razor sharp delivery. Arrietty’s roast was next, and it was arguably one of the most difficult roasts to watch in recent memory, right down to the delivery itself. Sparkles quickly noticed some very familiar jokes being delivered by Arrietty and was not happy about this thievery, to say the least.
A clearly rattled Sparkles was up next, with the joke snatching being clearly reflected in her roast delivery. Ja’Rae was a total star during the roast, delivering some jokes that made RuPaul and the judges panel roar with laughter. Sam followed Ja’Rae and was very funny, and Kollins truly shined during this challenge as well. Toot delivered some cleverly written jokes herself, and the show closed with Love. Love continued to struggle with staying out of her head, and got shook by a passing joke from Toot as Love took the stage, causing Love to stumble a bit during her roast.
“Who Wears Short Shorts” was the runway challenge, with Toot delivering a regal look, while Ja’Rae delivered her take on a classic supermodel look. Nurve delivered a polished and classic look, while both Sparkles and Arrietty went all out for their runway looks, with stunning precision. Love’s denim look both was stunning and cohesive, while Kollins offered a wonderfully crimson look that was signature Kollins.
Arrietty and Sparkles were the bottom two queens of the week, and they would be battling it out to Beyoncé’s pulsing anthem “Ya-Ya.” The performance was entertaining and showed both performers at their best, but Sparkles emerged as the clear winner. Arrietty departed the competition, but not before crafting a lipstick message in the Werk Room that was positioned to hurt some feelings and cause some drama next week, even after her departure from “Drag Race” Season 17.
Follow RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 17 on Instagram @rupaulsdragrace.
