‘All Stars 6’ Episode 10 Recap: The Silky Smackdown
WARNING: If you haven’t seen episode ten of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 6, there are major spoilers ahead!
So… The moment we’ve all been waiting for: WE FINALLY FOUND OUT WHAT THE GAME WITHIN A GAME IS! I honestly kind of felt like it would be something related to lip syncing, but I didn’t think it would be a full on RUDEMPTION LIP SYNC episode!
Can we also talk about how Silky has been on Twitter talking about this “game within a game” for weeks, and dropping hints that it was going to be epic? And with good reason. I can’t say that Silky was ever my absolute favorite Drag Race contestant ever, but Miss Thing absolutely SLAYED this “game within a game”, and I LIVED. It’s all about finding your strengths and using them to your advantage, and Miss Silky is clearly one of the most best and most creative lip sync performers in the drag game.
The episode starts as the remaining queens — Ginger Minj, Ra’Jah O’Hara, Kylie Sonique Love and Trinity K. Bonet, come into the Werk Room after Eureka’s elimination. It’s like any other average night — they all discuss who was eliminated and why they made the choices they made before de-dragging and calling it a night. However, that wasn’t the case tonight. The queens are surprised with a message from RuPaul, and Kylie calls it exactly as it is:”Bitch, we don’t get calls this late at night!”
So, what’s the tea? Mama Ru and Carson Cressley finally introduce the “game within a game” — The eliminated queens had all been taking part in a winner-stays-on “Rudemption Lip Sync Lip Sync Smackdown.” It started with the first two queens to be eliminated — Serena ChaCha and Jiggly Caliente. Jiggly ended up sending Serena ChaCha packing again to “Free Your Mind” by En Vogue.
Because Jiggly won the first round, she moved on to the second round to compete against the Reverend Doctor Silky Nutmeg Ganache, with Silky describing them both as “Two Big Bitches in Leopard Print” — and THIS is where it gets interesting. Jiggly does well in the first half of their lip sync to “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper, but when Silky pulls out an entire cocktail bar (ice included) from her bosom and proceeds to make cocktails on stage, she absolutely steals the show and sends Jiggly home.
Silky then moves on to take on Yara Sofia with an epic lip sync battle to “Point Of No Return” by Exposé. Even though Yara does something that no one has ever seen on Drag Race before by pulling her legs back and using her snatch as a guitar, the gag still wasn’t enough to outdo Silky. Silky dances circles around Yara, somehow managing to make a snatch guitar pale in comparison to her moves. Epic. She sends Yara home.
Silky then twirls her way to a win against Scarlet Envy with a lip sync to “Song For the Lonely” by Cher. Let’s be honest — Scarlet was never going to beat Silky in a lip sync, even on Silky’s worst day. However, after Silky pulled out a color guard flag and that was it. Silky wins.
For the next round, Silky comes completely covered in an aqua green house dress and a silver veil, which lets us know that some insanity is about to occur. However, before the lip sync can begin, it’s revealed that the next eliminated queen, A’Keria C. Davenport, has turned down her opportunity to compete in the Lip Sync Smackdown. I can totally understand where she’s coming from — after such an emotionally charged season, she probably just wanted to go home and have sex. It’s no doubt that Drag Race can be emotionally draining, and A’Keria did right by protecting her mental and emotional health.
And once we saw what Silky had prepared, well … As fierce as A’Keria is (and I do mean she is absolutely FIERCE, and one of my all-time faves), I don’t think she would have topped Silky’s insane half-woman, half-man performance of “Barbie Girl” by Aqua. Yes, even though A’Keria doesn’t show up to the battle, Silky still asks the judges to let her perform. I mean, after all, she was prepared. So, why not? The lip sync was EPIC again, even if she did do it alone. Another win for Silky.
For Silky’s next lip sync against Jan, it was ALMOST a close call. ALMOST. Jan gave an amazing lip sync performance to “Heartbreaker” by Pat Benatar, and at one point I thought she was going to end Silky’s winning streak. That was until Silky pulled out her guitar prop, and proceeded to give us full-on guitar solo vibes before smashing her prop to pieces at the end of the number. At that point, it was clear she had snatched another win. Sorry, Jan. Your JANatsies just didn’t come true this time.
Next up, Silky versus Pandora Boxx. Like, honestly, Pandora Boxx is a treat. I enjoy her whenever she performs. However, when it comes to lip syncing, there was no way she was ever going to beat Silky — even if Pandora did come looking absolutely stunning. But, Silky’s lip sync abilities are so good that she was able to wear sneakers (which is like a huge drag no-no, right?) and still slay the lip sync. I mean, her Ariana Grande cosplay — complete with ponytail — probably helped as well. Silky wins again.
And then, here it comes — The Final Smackdown: Silky versus Eureka. I’m gonna be real — at this point, it’s very clear that Drag Race is being heavily produced and probably a little (a lot) scripted. Because it almost seems written in the stars that Silky is going to be the Lip Sync Smackdown champion and return to the competition — that’s until her lip sync against Eureka proves that even champions fall sometimes.
During this lip sync against Eureka to Kelly Clarkson’s “Since You’ve Been Gone”, Silky attempts to tell a story about her mothers weight loss, donning a fat suit at the beginning of the number, then ripping it off to reveal her “new” body. Great idea, except the reveal ends up being a little messy when the body suit gets wrapped around her ankles as she still attempts to dance with her feet tangled in it. Meanwhile, Eureka is commanding the stage and the judges’ attention with an emotionally charged performance.
The episode ends before the winner is revealed (of course), but it’s obvious that Eureka won that lip sync. So, this can go one of two ways: Eureka wins the lip sync, sends Silky home and returns right back to the competition after only being eliminated last week; or they BOTH win the lip sync and return to the competition. At this point, you can’t put anything past Drag Race. They love to play with these queens’ emotions… and ours.
But, while I’m on the subject, I’m going to address the elephant in the room. Yes, this episode was entertaining. However, all these stunts and shows are indicative of one thing: Drag Race has lost the spirit of what it was originally intended to be — a fair competition. I have a bit of a toxic relationship with Drag Race now. I’m entertained by it, but i know it’s over produced, and that cheapens its impact.
I also don’t like the way they manipulate and use these queens to boost ratings. It’s obvious that RuPaul and the producers do not actually want to let Silky swoop in and return to the competition — and possibly win All Stars — at the last minute, and I think the other queens know that too, considering how none of them seemed bothered (aside from Trinity, who is always a little bothered) by Silky’s winning streak, nor the possibility of her returning to the competition. It’s all for the drama, and they know it.
And let’s be honest — Silky won’t struggle to get bookings after this epic lip sync battle. I mean, she’s already getting tipped major coins on CashApp and Venmo for her performances on the show. She will forever go down as the ultimate Drag Race lip sync assassin.
But having Eureka come and snatch a win from Silky after Silky has slayed six weeks in a row, then return to the competition a week after she was just eliminated would be both anticlimactic and melodramatic. And regardless of whether we know it’s overproduced and slightly unfair or not, they know we live for it.
So, are we the blame? I don’t know, but I can’t wait until next week!
