RuPaul’s Drag Race is back and as sparkly as ever, which feels right on brand for Season 18’s “Let There Be Light” theme. This time around, each of the 14 contestants feels polished and seasoned. Perhaps that correlates to the majority of queens being over 30, or maybe it’s due to better casting. Either way, Season 18 is shaping up to be one of the show’s most exciting seasons in recent years.
After the controversy stemming from Season 10 of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, most fans are ready to get back to basics and discover some new names to fall in love with. With Drag Race going back to its classic formula, you’ll find few complaints from us. And since RuPaul loves a good acronym, we’ll be conducting our reviews using our own acronym for DRAG (Drama, Runway, About That Challenge, and Goped, Gagged, and Goated). Read on for our thoughts, musings, and reactions to RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18, Episode 2.
Drama: We need to talk about Athena and Vita’s big disco stand-off.
Jeanette: First off, can I start by saying that I LOATH challenges that start with picking teams? Not only does it lead to drama, but it also causes hurt feelings. So many of the Drag Race queens have faced bullying in their past. They don’t need to feel unwanted on national television.
Anyway… I digress. What’s ironic here is how badly everyone wanted the disco song, and then the disco team lost. Honestly, this whole thing felt like a fever dream. At first, I wanted to defend Athena after Vita VonTesse hurled that “leftover” comment at her, but then Athena picked up a shovel and started digging into pushy, antagonistic territory. Seriously, her attitude during the actual challenge grated on my nerves, even if I agree with Michelle that her makeup is the dragest of drag.
However, the whiplash didn’t stop there. Vita explained to the rest of her team that arguing for the disco song was part of her “strategy” so she could get punk in the end. Sorry, sis. I’m not buying that. And honestly, that’s the funniest part about all this. She and the majority of her team (Briar Bush, Discord Addams, and Jane Don’t) all have punk backgrounds or sensibilities, so the fact that they fought for disco just because Ru loves it so much is wild.
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Lyra: It honestly would be more fun if Drag Race surprised the queens with the song they’re doing. Because we’ve seen the arguing over which team is going to do which song. I want the show to shake things up and throw the queens off kilter with no control over what they’re singing.
But also, the arguing over the disco song just for it to be revealed that Vira VonTesse didn’t even want it and wanted the punk song? Boring, and I should’ve seen it coming. Ultimately, both fought for songs that fell flat. Yes, I’m saying the disco song AND the punk song were major losses that didn’t impress.
Lizzie: This is my least favorite type of challenge, because I feel like they haven’t even had time to get to know each other and figure out who would really click, and a challenge like this really needs the team to click. And then all the “strategy” about what song they wanted or didn’t want also felt kinda weird. There’s a level of strategy to every reality show, of course, but this isn’t Survivor.
Pick the song you can perform better, and don’t argue just to antagonize someone. Unless the person you’re trying to antagonize gets eliminated right away (didn’t happen) or unless you are leaps and bounds better than the competition (not the case), then it’s just a bad idea.
Runway: Any favorite looks you need to scream about?
Jeanette: Nini Coco’s brain look was everything! Intelligence is sexy, and it’s about time we started celebrating that more. The fact that she made the outfit is just that more impressive. I’m no style expert, but it looks perfectly high fashion and drag to me.
Lyra: Darlene Mitchell’s sunburned look surprised me with how much I loved it. Country queens aren’t my favorite. But here comes Ms. Darlene being an absolute delight during the singing challenge and then delivering a look that is over the top but also simple, flirty, and screams drag. She really knows who she is as a performer and I really appreciate how she brings that to the stage. Also, the burgers in the bra top. Over the top but also fitting. It just works.
Lizzie: I actually loved Athena Dion’s look. The back?! Fire. She is the ultimate drag queen in so many ways, and I have loved absolutely everything she has shown us. I know it’s not as fun, but I can’t stop looking at her.
About That Challenge: Did we love, hate, or meh the girl group challenge?
Jeanette: I always love a girl group challenge, especially when the queens have to write their own lyrics. It’s classic. It’s fun, and it’s always intriguing to see who gets it and who doesn’t. What I liked about this was that the girl groups spanned genres and decades. We got ’70s disco, ’80s pop, and, well, I guess a little more of both decades with the punk-inspired stylings of Joan Jett’s band, The Runaways.
You best believe that I’m still walking around singing, “They call me big back, hey yeah, I’ve got a nice rack.” Thank you for that absolute poetry, Mia Starr.
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Lyra: Girl group challenges are always a hit or miss for me. And this one in Season 18 was mainly a miss, except for a few highlights. Firstly, going to talk again about my surprise favorite, Darlene Mitchell. She couldn’t sing, she knew it, and she still went for it. And that right there made Ru laugh when she kept going for that high note and failing. Darlene knows herself and her limits and looks to be is having fun. 10 out of 10.
Then there’s Mia Starr. Truly think she would’ve won this girl group challenge if we had seen her face on the runway. Because that pop song, Oh Baby, it was the best one. And it was because of Mia. She’s a dancer. But she’s also a leader who understands the limitations of her group of queens. So she put together a dance that centered her while not outshining the other queens. And she made sure that the moves were easy to follow but looked coordinated. That’s how you lead a girl group.
Lizzie: Somewhere between meh and hate. I think the punk group didn’t do anything to distinguish itself, and the disco group was so obviously the weakest, so I wasn’t surprised by anything that went on, which makes for a boring challenge! In fact, I don’t think even Ru was surprised. And the reactions from the judges were so flat, too, because they didn’t have all that much to say.
Girl groups can be fun, but my preference would be a little later in the season. I know, less people to do it then, but…
Goped, Gagged, and GOATED: Do you agree with RuPaul’s choices for bottoms and tops in Drag Race Season 18, Episode 2?
Jeanette: I love it when I’m on the same page as Ru when it comes to the tops. Both Mia and Jane were standouts for me. Midway through Mia’s verse, I thought, “This will be the one people talk about.” And, well, that certainly seems to be the case.
Jane Don’t was also an absolute delight. She came out with killer, campy lyrics and a husky, rocker voice that sounded a bit like Katya saying, “It’s Christmas, Dawn” in the masterpiece that is “Cha Cha Heels.” And yeah, it all just worked. As someone who had both Korn and RuPaul among their top 5 most listened to artists in my 2024 Spotify wrap (I know, it’s weird. Believe me, I know), the punk group is much more in my wheelhouse. Honestly, I thought all the girls nailed it, and I liked the uniformness of their looks. Plus, the deep voices with the slinky little outfits just do things for me.
Do I think the disco group deserved the bottom spot? Absolutely. However, I have some mixed feelings about DD Fuego landing at the bottom as opposed to Athena. Listen, there is no quicker way to lose me as a fan than by having an entitled attitude, and Athena was serving entitled. Her makeup and look were both fantastic, so I understand why she edged DD out, but still…
Lyra: I… don’t agree with Ru. At all. I didn’t like the punk group and thought that, besides the cherry line, they were pretty forgettable. And good looking out for Jane Don’t and her lyrics. But she was so forgettable to the point where I had to go back and watch her part of the girl group because I didn’t remember her.
I honestly think that Darlene Mitchell should’ve won. She was a standout in her group, and she embodied the challenge in a way that felt like why I started enjoying drag in the first place: because it was a fun, accepting, and weird place to just be yourself, no matter what kind of drag you embraced.
Lizzie: The tops, yes. The bottom, look …I cannot with Discord Addams. Her walk is atrocious. I was so distracted by her walk that I don’t even remember her look. And I noticed it in the first episode too. So, I would have put her at the bottom just because of that.
