RuPaul's Drag Race Season 14: The Ross Mathews Roast
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.
Welcome back to Power Rankings with P! With some big developments in my personal life, namely moving back to Chicago and resuming life as #BigCityBoi, I'm tragically a little behind on My Stories. No worries, I'll be catching up on Drag Race this week, just in time for the finale viewing party (co-hosted by Kornbread!) at Roscoe's this Friday. The best way to watch Drag Race is in a bar, it's actually been scientifically proven to be true. Roast Rankings follow:
7. DeJa Skye (eliminated, last week: 6th)
A rough note to go out on. DeJa Skye really crashed and burned with a terrible roast, an ill-fitted, not-on-theme runway, and a severely lacking lip sync. Obviously, she wasn’t my favorite of the season, but I’d still tip her if I saw her performing at the bar!
6. Daya Betty (bottom 3, last week: 3rd)
Mid-MO monster Daya Betty took us on a journey with every single one of her set-ups, with a destination to nowhere. Maybe she's more of a Storyteller than a Stand-Up, but wow was her timing just completely off. As much as I hate to see Jorgeous go, I'm glad we are one step closer to crowning our first true villain since Violet Chachki in season 7.
5. Jorgeous (eliminated, last week: 5th)
Like Alyssa Edwards, LaGanja Estranga and Farrah Moan before her, Jorgeous delivered an awful, awkward, and audacious roast that made me laugh harder than anybody else did. Yes, it was bad, but not as bad as the judges were making it out to be. I’ll remember “hey you nasty bitches” for years to come.
4. Angeria Paris VanMichaels (last week: 4th)
May we all be blessed with the confidence of Angeria Paris VanMichaels. What her set lacked in jokes was more than made up for with her delivery; it was giving her Tammie Brown Snatch Game all over again. Who cares? Angeria just oozes charisma. When she laughs, you laugh. What more could you want?
3. Willow Pill (last week: 2nd)
I really wanted Willow Pill to snatch up one more challenge win before the season’s end, but I fear it’s too late. If there was one last challenge for Willow to win, this would have been the one. Unfortunately, while her roast was certainly one of the best of the evening, it still just wasn’t quite there when stacked up against Lady Camden and Bosco’s performances. I'm still rooting for her, if not Angeria, to win the whole thing, but she's the only queen in the top 5 with only a single challenge win (depending on if you count Daya's "top 2 queens of the week" as win). Luckily, Drag Race isn't about statistics - it's all about being RuPaul's favorite. There's still hope for Willow Pill!
2. Bosco (challenge winner, last week: 7th/golden chocolate bar)
Lifting Bianca del Rio's challenge-winning set from 8 years ago really worked in Bosco's favor! I'm pleased Bosco was able to turn things around and score a win after a rough performance the past few weeks, but c'mon. We obviously all watch Drag Race and we're all going to recognize this joke structure. Bianca's "versatility" set-up is iconic, and executed in much funnier fashion than Bosco's. Why would you want to have yourself inevitably compared to one of the most indisputable winners of the franchise? On the positive side of things, her other jokes were strong (Ross is not a top… he’s a blouse) and her delivery was aces. But still. C'monnnn. I've mostly enjoyed Bosco this season, but she’s certainly no Bianca del Rio.
1. Lady Camden (last week: 1st)
Bosco and Lady Camden were neck and neck this week, but Camden edges her out for not stealing her set from a previous contestant and working the fuck out of that gorgeous ballerina runway. Was the echo joke really as egregious at the judging panel made it out to be? I don't think. She had me laughing throughout her set, then gagged me with that runway. Slay, queen. I need to think on it, but it might have been the best runway of the season. Just... don't quote me on that. Lady Camden continues to build incredible momentum going into the finale; God saved the Queen!