RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 7: Fairytale Justice
Power Rankings with P
Welcome to Power Rankings with P, a newsletter ranking cast members on the reality shows I subject myself to on a weekly basis. What can I say? I love slop.
Last Friday night, I underwent a religious experience while seeing my beloved HAIM sisters in concert for the first (but not the last!) time, so I couldn't make it to the bar for this week's episode of All Stars All Winners. Instead, I half-watched in a post-concert haze from the comfort of my living room while I repotted some plants. Fully transforming into a plant gay!
This week, the winners improvised their way through "Fairytale Justice," a Judge Judy style courtroom show featuring classic and fair-use, fairytale characters that we all grew up with. Only a few queens stood out to me as nailing the challenge, while everybody else was middling to forgettable. I was more concerned with my Schefflera than this episode, so I've ranked the queens as HIGH and SAFE, along with a BTTM 2, just like a regular season:
BOTTOM 2
Shea Couleé, Monét X Change
Both Shea Couleé and Monét X Change gave fine, serviceable performances, but were ultimately lost in the shuffle when it came to the other queens. Shea has a great sense of humor, but I never really expected her to slay an improv challenge. On the other hand, I expected more from Monét here; she is a comedian from New York City after all.
SAFE
Trinity the Tuck, Yvie Oddly, Jaida Essence Hall
While Trinity the Tuck was a joy in this challenge, it reminded me a lot of her Lucifer and Leslie Jordan characters from Snatch Game two weeks ago. This is fine, Trinity knows her strengths and plays to them well, but it's pretty one-note. Speaking of one-note, Yvie Oddly as the Big Bad Wolf! The judges enjoyed her performance much more than I did, but it was nice to hear some praise for Yvie on the main stage, as I feel she's faded to the background this season more than any other winner. With Jaida Essence Hall we got a great performance, but unfortunately for her, she was paired with comedy titan Jinkx Monsoon for most of the challenge. Her performance was a lot of fun, but overshadowed by her pig sister.
HIGH
The Vivienne, Jinkx Monsoon, Raja
Finally, The Vivienne we all came to know and love in series 1 of Drag Race UK debuts! Viv killed this challenge, giving us multiple characters (Goldilocks! Little Red Riding Hood! Hansel AND Gretel!), accents (Scottish! German! Glendale!), and, most importantly, comedy, baby! More than anything, Viv's performance showed the lengths of her comedic prowess; transitioning from character to character without missing a beat is no easy task, and not to mention a total delight to watch. She may not be from the mothership show, but don't sleep on The Vivienne. Thrilled our UK winner is finally showing up in the competition.
For me, Viv just barely (barely!) edged out Jinkx Monsoon as Spare-Rib the pig. My pick for this season's winner is no doubt a comedy pro and gave a hilarious performance, but still came off a bit rehearsed for an Improvisation challenge. Jinkx's best moment came organically when her pig ear fell off and she Yes And-ed her way to comedy gold. "I'm sorry you're going to have to speak up, I can only hear you half as well" is nothing short of genius. The magic of Improv! (lol) Her top 2 placement was undoubtedly deserved, making it all the more painful that she did not receive a legendary legend star for her win.
Once again, Raja is praised but not receiving recognition; I'm glad she made a bit of a fuss about not being top 2 yet again while on the main stage. While I don't think she outperformed Viv or Jinkx, she came pretty close, and once again had an absolutely stunning runway presentation. Raja is looking like the Susan Lucci of All Stars All Winners, and I absolutely hate to see it. If she's not in the top 2 next week, we ride at dawn. Thanks for reading! :)