Let’s talk about ‘All Stars 6’ premiere episodes: A game within a game?
WARNING: If you haven’t seen the first two episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 6, there are major spoilers ahead!
We were told before this season of All Stars started that it would be a “game within a game” — And many of us have finished the first two episodes sort of knowing what the game is, but not REALLY knowing what the game is. I’ll explain in a few.
This episode began with the introduction of the thirteen queens competing for the crown this time around: A’Keria C. Davenport, Rah’Jah O’Hara, Jiggly Caliente, Kylie Sonique Love, Eureka, Yara Sofia, Pandora Boxx, Ginger Minj, Scarlet Envy, Eureka, Trinity K. Bonet, Jan, Serena Cha Cha and Silky Nutmeg Ganache. I must say that I was pretty impressed with everyone’s Werk Room entrance looks. They were all elevated versions of themselves — even Silky — and it made me excited to see the rest.
The first mini challenge rolls around, with RuPaul and special guest Miss Piggy opening the library for the queens to read each other. Damn Ru, in the first episode? They haven’t even had time to read each other one on one at their makeup stations yet.
Ginger Minj ends up winning the Mini Challenge, and then we find out what the first maxi challenge will be: A variety/talent show challenge. Immediately, I let out a sigh. These can be either really bad or really amazing, with no middle ground. Thankfully, this one was pretty good, even if many of them just performed lip syncs. It’s the safe choice because they’re drag queens, and drag queens lip sync the house down. We see where “taking a chance” got Trinity K. Bonet.
That’s not to say I don’t enjoy when queens take risks. But, I just don’t think doing comedy for the first challenge was a great idea, especially considering the fact that comedy challenges are traditionally the absolute hardest on the show, and they usually put some of the most talented queens in the bottom — which is where Trinity landed, along with Serena Cha Cha.
I wasn’t that upset about the bottom two this time around, and I wasn’t really disappointed with Serena being eliminated. The first elimination is always the hardest, because NO ONE wants to be the first girl to go home.
But, as Serena is leaving the Werk Room with her bags, Mama Ru appears on the screen telling her not to leave yet. And here is where it begins — As promised, Mama Ru and her shenanigans have started.
But after telling Serena not to leave, the episode just… ends. And the next episode just begins as normal, with no mention of Serena at all. What the…??
The second episode rolls around, and Ru introduces the Maxi Challenge: The Blue Ball. This excited me at first (no pun intended), because I love seeing a queen in a blue gown. Something about the color blue and the way it shimmers on television that makes it both classy and sassy.
The challenge is for the queens to design three looks: A blue-collar working woman look, a denim look and a high-fashion look made with donated blue materials. Again… Damn Ru, a three-look design challenge in the second episode?
Nevertheless, the queens get to work, and immediately Jiggly Caliente is complaining about not knowing how to sew well enough. I’m not one of the people who’s too hard on queens for not knowing how to sew a garment. Yes, there are many sewing classes available, however making gowns is a talent not everyone has. Knowing how to sew two pieces of fabric together is a skill, but knowing how to design is a talent — and we learned that Rah’Jah O’Hara can do both in under a minute with her performance in the variety show.
(The only thing that stopped Rah’Jah from winning the first challenge was Yara Sofia’s insane tit-sync, which made me laugh until tears were streaming down my face. I also have the sense of humor of a 14 year old boy, so there’s that.)
What annoyed me most with Jiggly in that moment is that, because she doesn’t know how to sew as well as some of the others, she should have been first in line when everyone started grabbing materials. She lagged behind and was upset that nothing was left but a blanket — and she basically just ended up gluing some string and rhinestones to it and draping it over her body. Oh, Jiggly… No.
The queens each make three looks, which makes thirty-six looks in total. Even though many of the looks were great, I found myself a bit overwhelmed with fashion, especially considering the fact that we are only in episode two. Ru seems to be taking off way too fast this season. We need time to get to know these queens all over again, and I feel like the queens and the viewers are being thrown into a race that already started before we got there.
But anyway, the fashions were very good — even though I disagreed with the judges about Eureka’s high-fashion skirt. I like a short skirt on a large queen, but there’s short and then there’s “awkward, lumpy-looking panties unevenly pulled up in a bunch over your padding” short. Was I the only one who saw that?
I also disagreed about A’Keria’s denim look. I loved the long, red Bantu Braids with the tight denim suit. Did it look like something I could have seen on the D train in Brooklyn? Yes. But, A’Keria sold it to me. A’Keria can serve both Banjee Girl Realness and Eleganza easily, which is why she’s always been one of my favorites.
Speaking of Brooklyn, my other season eleven fave, Brooke Lynn Hytes, came back as the secret lip sync assassin to lip sync against the Blue Ball challenge winner and her season eleven sister, Rah’Jah (who absolutely deserved to win). Yara Sofia and Jiggly Caliente were in the bottom.
Even though I like her, I totally agree with Jiggly being in the bottom. I didn’t quite agree with Yara being in the bottom. Michelle said she didn’t understand that Yara was supposed to be a female construction worker with her “blue-collar” look — and that comment didn’t make sense to me. I got it immediately, especially since she was wearing an orange construction vest and a tool belt. Come on, Michelle. Imagination!
Yes, I agree with the judges that Yara’s tits were getting a bit redundant, and the construction worker look was a bit basic — but it’s Yara Sofia! She’s so crazy that she could come out in a burlap sack (no shade to Rah’Jah), and I’d still be entertained.
Anyway, Rah’Jah and Brooke Lynn both end up SLAYING the lip sync to “Miss You Much” by Janet Jackson. RuPaul declares a tie (even though I think Rah’Jah was better), which means TWO queens can go home. However, both Rah’Jah and Brooke Lynn have lipsticks with Jiggly’s name on the. No shade, but it was definitely the right decision.
But… Not so quick! Because, as Jiggly is leaving the Werk Room with her bags, Mama Ru appears again, just as she did when Serena was leaving, to tell Jiggly not to leave yet. “You can’t fuck with me like this. What’s going on,” Jiggly says. Well, Jiggly, the feeling is mutual, girl.
My first guess is that Ru is going to put all the eliminated queens in a second group. And in the end, the top queens from each group will have to face off for the crown. My second guess is that the eliminated queens will have to compete for a chance to come back into the competition.
Whatever Ru is doing, it appears to be a secret that the other girls don’t yet know about. They appear to think the eliminated queens are all going home. But when they find out that Ru is keeping them all around to play this “game within a game”, they’re going to GAG!
Well, we’ll have to wait to see what Jigsaw — I mean, Mama Ru — has up her sleeve next.
Oh, and side note: Does anyone else feel like Pandora Boxx is unusually quiet this time around? Aside from her very animated and slightly shady facial expressions, she hasn’t said much, and appears to be hanging out on the sidelines a bit. I wonder what that’s all about.
And, so far, Silky also seems extremely toned down. Let’s hope it stays that way.
Nice commentary: just one note. Miss Piggy was in Episode 1, not 2.