Conspiracy theories abounded as this episode kicked off, with the girls trying to determine if Briar Blush’s fainting on the Main Stage prior to her final lip sync was a genuine medical moment (according to Briar, it was).
The mood in the room changed instantly when the girls were informed that this week, there would be no elimination; this would be the Rate-A-Queen Talent Show! While no elimination would be occurring on that night, whatever queen was going to be in the bottom would be battling it out with the queen who falls into the bottom on the second week of the Talent Show. The event was going to be split across two episodes and the girls got to decide who would be going in the first and second rounds respectively. It goes without saying that these seemingly rapid fire format changes definitely shook up the competition.
The queens each had their own feelings about being judged, with queens like Kenya Pleaser and Athena Dion (among others) trying to find a way to crack the Rate-A-Queen code. Alliances started to be formed and queens started aligning themselves with each other, but the real truth would be told when they were given the opportunity to actually Rate-A-Queen.
The queens began planning who would be performing on what week and while Week 1 planning went smoothly, Week 2 was not as immediately cohesive. Queens including Ciara Myst and Darlene Mitchell were in Week 1, while queens like Discord Addams, Jane Don’t and Athena Dion landed in Week 2. While everyone moved through the Werk Room to prepare for Week 1’s Talent Show, we got some reflection from some of the queens, including Jane Don’t who looked back on a certain drag family member’s Talent Show performance that was not well received at all.
We moved to the Main Stage and RuPaul was joined by Michelle Visage, Ross Matthews, and Zara Larsson. This week’s category was a nod to Season 6 winner Bianca Del Rio’s signature line (“Not Today Satan”) and was titled “Not Today Satin”. The Talent Show itself was a mixed bag, from some spectacular dancing from Juicy Love Dion to Nini Coco giving us the praying mantis number to Vita Von Tesse Star’s workout number, '80s style. Ciara Mysts’s reciting of a poem was extremely emotional, but it may not be landing the way she wanted it to, while both Darlene and Mia leaned into their distinct talents and showcased themselves at their best.
Now it was time for Rate-A-Queen. When all was said and done, Juicy and Mia landed in the top, while Vita, Darlene and Nini all found themselves safe and unfortunately, Ciara Myst landed in the bottom. The lip sync between the Top Two, Mia Starr and Juicy Love Dion (to Zara Larsson’s “Pretty Ugly”) has gone viral for all the best reasons, making this one of the best lip syncs of the season. The queens didn’t have to worry about going home and just were able to perform a killer number together.
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