RuPaul’s Drag Race is back and as sparkly as ever, which should be expected with Season 18’s “Let There Be Light” theme. This time around, each of the 14 queens 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 the word 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 7.
Drama: Athena. That’s it. That’s the prompt.
Jeanette: Despite Myki talking about having to face the queens who voted her in the bottom, it was really never addressed. Instead, Athena’s going to pretend that her group was naive about what was going on with Rate-A-Queen when I spent two entire episodes watching her and (most of) the other queens plot and scheme is hilarious. Maybe it’s just me here, but as soon as Athena started playing the “victim,” I rolled my eyes and thought, “This again.”
Meanwhile, Myki is tearing up in the background, and nobody was like, “Hey, are you okay? How do you feel?” The same thing happens again when the queens review the Rate-A-Queen results. Myki is clearly upset, but it’s never addressed. Can I have the alternate universe version of this episode where somebody hugs Myki and says, “It’s okay, you did a good job,” please?
MORE: Catch up with our RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18, Episode 6 Breakdown!
Lyra: I think this is where I lost any respect I had for Athena. Because she has played up the mother trope on Drag Race and did well. But acting like you didn’t strategize with your family to give them top marks no matter what happened… it’s messy. And ok, it is mother. But it’s dishonest mother. I would’ve respected Athena more if she stood on business and said, “Yeah, I voted for my family. And that was always going to happen.” The fact that she brought up voting to clear herself in the first place also means that somewhere inside she felt icky for rating the way she did on Rate-A-Queen.
Also, I want to talk about Darlene’s face. Because it could be the edit, as always, but it could also be that her face was clocking Athena’s b*llshit. It helped temper my anger that Myki was over there tearing up and nothing was said to her. Messy messy.
Runway: Any looks you want to scream about?
Jeanette: I loved Juicy’s crinoline and tulle outfit. It had almost a Glinda the Good Witch meets The Hunger Games’ Capitol kind of vibe that just made it so much fun.
And, for the first time ever, I actually really liked Darlene’s look. I’m an absolute sucker for Frankenhooker, so as soon as I saw the sideways mouth and purple eyeshadow, I was like, “Yes, Darlene! Get it!”
Lyra: Juicy’s look was absolute elegance personified on that stage. It was made all the better by the way that the dress and headpiece moved and how Juicy carried herself. I also really loved Darlene’s look. She has a very specific style. And while it might not be for everyone, she keeps in her lane while elevating her looks. It’s always campy and fun. And finally Nini Coco. The way that you create art everywhere you go. Loved your look and how the headpiece was removable.
Now… to the bottoms. What even was Athena wearing? Because it could be the lighting on stage. I’ll give her that. But everything was so reflective that I really couldn’t tell anything about the construction or what her outfit was supposed to give. As for Discord, if you’re going to be a biblically accurate angel, you need more eyes. Like a lot more.
About That Challenge: What did you think about the political ads challenge? With the current political climate, did you appreciate the parody or crave more escapism?
Jeanette: Political challenges and spoofs are nothing new to Drag Race, and I like the idea of throwing shade at political ads since they are annoying, confusing, and frequently corny. While drag is escapism from the real world in so many ways, it’s also inherently political, especially with certain states tossing around threats and legislation about restricting drag shows. I like that Drag Race can have fun with these very serious topics because, really, that’s what drag is to me and so many people. It represents freedom of expression, freedom of creativity, and the freedom to be whoever you want to be as long as you’re a good person.
MORE: Need more? Read our RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18, Episode 5 Breakdown!
Lyra: While I didn’t really like any of the political ads, the fact that Drag Race is doing them in the first place says a lot. Because art is the clearest way to fight back against a world that increasingly attacking the LGBTQ+ community. And like it or not, drag is art. It’s self expression. And this self expression put an eye on political ads and how trash they truly are in minimizing the realities of vulnerable communities.
Gooped, Gagged, and GOATED: Do you agree with RuPaul’s choices for bottoms and tops in RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18, Episode 7?
Jeanette: No complaints from me about the tops. Darlene, Jane, and Myki were definitely the best of the lot. If anything, I found Jane to be the weakest of the three, which, honestly, surprised me. That said, a big condragulations to Myki Meeks for having a full circle moment. The girl went from being unfairly put in the bottom last week to taking the first-place spot this week. It looks like manifesting “revenge” with her shirt really paid off.
The bottoms get the same review from me. Juicy and Vita ultimately struggled the most with the challenge, although their downfalls seemed to be caused by different things. Whereas Juicy got in her head too much, Vita maybe didn’t get in her head enough and let time run out when shooting her project. At least we got one heck of a lip sync performance from them both. I’d probably burst into tears if someone told me I had to lip sync against Juicy, but Vita held her own.
Lyra: No complaints on the tops for me. Myki was unfairly put in the bottom last week and you know the queens are going to be gooped when they have to enter the workroom after this episode. And Darlene and Jane make sense because they consistently do well.
As for the bottoms, I wasn’t surprised by Juicy and Vita being at the bottom. Juicy has some strengths, like dancing. But she isn’t a comedy queen. It’s almost like she’s afraid to let herself go because she’s a pretty queen. As for Vita, she really just seemed in her head and was really cerebral about the whole thing. And when facing off against Juicy, there was no way that Vita was going to survive. It was her time.
