Share your comments on the show (and Untucked) tonight, and I’ll be back with the full recap tomorrow! The queens compete in a star-studded TV game show that showcases their celebrity impersonations.With guest judges MTV’s Julie Brown and Downtown Julie Brown.
Game Face
It’s Snatch Game! Always a standout episode and one which separates the fierce from the fodder.
We start with Roxxy wandering the Werk Room in shock after the double elimination. This means she’s the bottom queen at the moment. Jinkx isn’t shocked by Roxxy’s placement. Rolaskatox, she notes, is not invincible.
To the invisible interview producers, Jade notes that Alyssa called her out on the runway to go home. It was a bitchy-ass move, she remarks. She retaliates by mentioning Alyssa’s rolls of back fat. I didn’t even realize “back fat” is a thing. Shows you how much I know about drag.
The next day, Rolaskatox announces their arrival to the Werk Room. The She-Mail talks about reality TV, and warns the queens that their fifteen minutes of fame “start now!”
The mini-challenge is based on US Weekly’s “Who Wore it Best?” feature. The Pit Crew wheel in a rack of snuggies, in three different fabrics: zebra print, leopard print, and solid pink. The queens rush the rack, and Jinkx loses the fight, getting the last pink snuggie and looking upset about it.
A senior editor from US Weekly comes in to help judge the contest. Detox wins in the zebra group, by cutting her snuggie into a mini-dress and accessorizing with pink and lime green. Very Twiggy. Alaska wears a lion’s mask with her leopard print, but Roxxy wins by hitting a great photo pose. Alyssa does an amazing job turning her pink snuggie into a red carpet creation, while Jinkx tries to pull it off by doing a comic blind lady character.
The winners all receive a swag bag from US Weekly. Which means I’ve had to write that name three times now. Way to earn that product placement fee!
But the main challenge is what we want. It’s Snatch Game! “This is what I came here to do!” Jinkx declares. To her mind, Snatch Game requires improvisation, wit, and impersonation — all skills essential to a drag queen.
As the queens prepare, Jinkx is asked who she’s doing. Her answer is Little Edie, from Grey Gardens. Little Edie was Jackie Kennedy’s cousin. She and her mother were the subject of a documentary in 1975, which was used as a source for an HBO film starring Drew Barrymore. They were extremely reclusive, strange individuals.
This obscure choice elicits blank stares. Except from RuPaul, who naturally knows all pop references. He advises Jinkx to find a way to make Little Edie “pop for the unwashed masses.”
Moving on, RuPaul reminds Ivy that her icon, Marilyn Monroe, was a smart dumb blonde. He warns Detox that she has only thirty seconds to make an impression with her Ke$ha character. Coco mentions to Ru that she plays Janet Jackson six nights a week in Las Vegas.
RuPaul spends a lot of time with Lineysha (while Roxxy laughs in the background) trying to coach her to find the funny in Michelle Obama. It’s not working.
Afterwards, there is much second-guessing from Alyssa and Lineysha. Alyssa is worried about doing Katy Perry and considers changing her celebrity. Lineysha finally does switch to Celia Cruz, despite not having the proper costume pieces.
The guest judges, Julie Brown and Downtown Julie Brown play the contestants on the mock game show. The standouts are definitely Alaska, Roxxy, and Jinkx. I haven’t seen either version of Grey Gardens, but Jinkx is cracking RuPaul up something fierce by peering through a magnifying glass at everything. She presents a complete character. Alaska is brings lots of crude jokes as Lady Bunny, and Roxxy’s Tamar Braxton is a grand ball of self-absorbed energy.
Jade is surprisingly good as Taylor Swift. She nails the character and the jokes. She also doesn’t get thrown when Detox’s Ke$ha starts messing with her. Ivy’s Marilyn Monroe is better than Katherine McPhee’s. But that isn’t really saying much. Coco’s Janet Jackson is good, but not funny. Alyssa’s Katy Perry is neither good nor funny. Detox’s standout moment is when she gets up and pees in front of Roxxy. Like Ke$ha herself, it’s shocking, but not witty. RuPaul can’t even crack a joke at it.
The runway theme is “Fishy Fierceness.” As they put on make-up, Jinkx questions Alyssa’s lack of preparation for a challenge that everyone knows will happen sooner or later. Alyssa dodges the issue by pointing out that Jinkx has only one runway look. Jade jumps into that fight, but Jinkx says she can defend herself and counters that she’s brought a different look each week. We get some trash talk about Jinkx from both Coco and Alyssa, then a tearful talking head from Jinkx about always getting crap (in Seattle) about favoring character over look.
Then Coco and Alyssa start in on the pageant feud and…. I’m sorry, I fell asleep for a minute there.
The Runway! RuPaul sashays down the runway in black and purple fringe. Fabulous!
Some of the queens take that “Fishy Fierceness” literally. Ivy (who makes many of Manila Luzon’s outfits), wears a goldfish gown, complete with fins and eyes. It’s pretty great. Alaska carries a trout around. Detox wears what looks like a mushroom dress, but she explains it as being a fierce jellyfish. Jinkx is pretty in a blonde wig and a bohemian scarf dress.
RuPaul calls Jade, Coco, and Alyssa safe. But only because Alyssa has immunity. And RuPaul demands that she tweet Katy Perry that night with an apology for her terrible impersonation. Alyssa, looking terrified, promises to do so.
Roxxy and Alaska are praised for their impersonations. Jinkx whispers “water off a duck’s back…” as Michelle Visage rips into her for not bringing ultra-glamor to the runway. “I think we have a slightly different aesthetic,” Jinkx replies. Julie Brown tells Jinkx she ruled the Snatch Game and says anyone who wants to win should study what she did. As the judges deliberate, Santino compares Jinkx to Pandora Boxx, which is not good news for Jinkx’s long-term prospects, since Santino’s critiques of Pandora were horribly harsh.
Still, Jinkx wins the challenge, getting a custom package from Fierce Drag Jewels. Ivy squeaks into safety and Lineysha and Detox square off for the Lip-Synch to “Take Me Home” (by Cher).
Both Detox and Lineysha are very good, but Lineysha goes for sexy and Detox shamelessly pulls out a Cher imitation that wins the day. Lineysha sashays to the Werk Room, delivering half her farewell speech in Spanish.
