Last night’s episode marked the first time all the Drag Race queens came together as one group, but the cliquey damage had already been done. Sure, nobody threw pointed barbs, only a little bit of side-eye, but it was clear that alliances had been set. Even though the mini-challenge paired each queen with one she hadn’t met before, when Milk and Adore Delano selected their groups for the main challenge, they stuck with their old crews. It worked (at least for some of them), but obviously the two sides are going to have to mix it up sooner or later.
Mother Does Her Best: Milk
Even though Milk’s nose was still contoured in an, um, unique way, it worked perfectly for this challenge. Each team was tasked with screen-testing for a fake horror movie franchise, Drag Race Me to Hell. And as the team leader, Milk assigned roles for her team’s ’60s-style original perfectly — they won the challenge, and were all safe from elimination.
Acting Fabulous: Courtney Act
Given that she has “act” as her last name, Courtney doesn’t disappoint. Her effortless banter with Bianca Del Rio totally intimidated Trinity. But that’s OK! They’re all on the same team.
Deer in the Headlights: Trinity K. Bonet
Out of all of the queens, Trinity struggled the most with facing the camera (hello, that’s what it’s there for), but eventually managed to pull through, thanks to good direction from RuPaul.
Schoolgirl Cool: Joslyn Fox
Joslyn played ditzy schoolgirl to a tee, breathy and animated and totally freaking out when her friend pulls a prank on her. It’s cute and charming — especially when she actually gasps, “Gasp!”
Camp Awesome: Bianca Del Rio
Even though Bianca’s over-the-top persona can be a bit much in the real world, her ’60s style and exaggerated campiness were the perfect match for a B-movie horror flick.
Heads Up: Darienne Lake
Annnd this goes to show that rankings mean nothing on RuPaul’s Drag Race! Although Darienne was in the bottom two last week, she snagged the win amongst her group, for her hilarious part as the headless daughter, despite having the fewest lines.
Unprepared Gore: Adore Delore
It was like a trainwreck watching Adore Delore on set. She didn’t know her lines, she flubbed names, she looked confused. Still, her actual performance turned out surprisingly well, but maybe that’s because she has the Valley Girl act down pat.
Valley Girl Virgin: Gia Gunn
Just like Adore, Gia was totally clueless. But that totally worked in her favor.
Fly Away: Langanja Estranja
While walking down the runway on the way to meet the judges, Langanja Estranja sported an amazing outfit, topped with a butterfly fascinator. Wings seemed to be a big theme for her this week, because all the judges could talk about was how she carried April Carrion’s performance. There wasn’t anything that great about her acting, but she wasn’t bad.
Scream Queen: BenDeLaCreme
As the evil mother, BenDeLaCreme pulled off a delicious scream. If she had been paired up with Darienne Lake, they would have killed (literally).
Legacy Letdown: Vivacious
Alas, Vivacious found herself up for elimination again this week, due to her lackluster on-screen appearance. While her turn as head-in-a-box disappointed, her final lip sync rocked. But it still wasn’t enough to save her for the next round, so it’s the end of her unique, old-school style on Drag Race.
More Boy Than Butch: April Carrion
To be fair, this was just a case of poor casting. Girly-girl April Carrion had no capacity for playing the butch lesbian, but Adore stuck her in that role anyway. Still, she ended up fighting for her spot in the competition, and only very nearly pulled through.