RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 7 — Episode 6 – Results and Recap (VIDEO)

Previously: There was an award show. Mrs. Kasha Davis went home for flubbing a couple lines.

Now: It’s down to 9 queens. Kandy’s decided that Ru is using her to get rid of the queens she doesn’t like. But, privately, she thinks she needs to go wild and “act the fool.” Violet expected to win the “Shadiest Shade” award, but she resolves to work on how she’s coming across. Max and Pearl won custom jewelry, which is much more useful to a drag queen than three years of designer diapers. Miss Fame is having bitch face about it. She’s done with Pearl’s toxic ennui. I am now afraid for Miss Fame, because the first three queens eliminated did the last talking head before the theme song. Break that curse, Miss Fame!

We see a glimpse of the guest judges. Is Ariana Grande six years old? She looks like a pre-schooler. In Starbucks terms, she’s not even a Tall, much less a Grande.

In the morning, the queens talk about who they want to have sex with. Miss Fame wants more than one choice. Ginger notes that Katya won the “Meatiest Tuck” award. Max looks completely uncomfortable, which Violet notices.

Then RuPaul appears on the video screen to talk about stories having “three sides.” Yours, mine, and the T. There’s a couple wig puns, and Ginger guesses it’s a wig challenge. Spoiler alert: It’s not.

The mini-challenge is called “Monster in Your Pants.” It’s a Pit Crew. About a dozen Pit temps enter in Justin Case underwear and name tag caps. Each queen has to pick a temp, who will then reveal either a number hidden in his undies, or a picture of a monster. If the monster appears before they “freeze” the points they’ve accumulated, they lose all their points. That took longer to explain than it did to play. Ginger is the only queen to get any points at all.

Her prize is to divide the queens into three teams. Each team will act out the same story (“Whatever Happened to Merle Ginsburg?”), but each scene will be told from the perspective of a different character (RuPaul, Merle Ginsburg, or Michelle Visage). Ginger grabs Kennedy and Katya for herself, saddles Max with Violet and Kandy, and Jaidynn with Miss Fame and Pearl. Miss Fame is beyond annoyed to be on a team with Pearl for the fourth time.

The scenes are directed by Ross Mathews. Kennedy stumbles on her lines, making her character of RuPaul the “weirdest fucking thing ever,” according to Katya. In team Max’s scene, Max’s portrayal of Merle confuses Ross, until she explains the story is being told from Michelle Visage’s point of view. But Violet, as Michelle, cannot handle props. Kandy is fairly funny as RuPaul. The editors, however, want to make sure we know that she’s flubbing one of her lines.

We see Jaidynn try really hard to lead her team. But Miss Fame stops the scene to have a small breakdown. It’s a Detox kind of breakdown, which means that, instead of crying or walking out, she tells us that she’s having one — and can’t decide whether to talk about that, or just shut up and do her lines. “I feel like I’m dating you!” Ross squeaks. (“Just shut up and do your lines,” Pearl drawls in a talking head.)

By the way, these scenes all look terrible.

The big story on Elimination Day is that Jaidynn still hasn’t come out — officially — to her family. They know that she does drag, but her mom keeps asking if she’s found the right woman to settle down with. Max advises Jaidynn to “Do you and be happy.” But Miss Fame and Violet sympathize with the fear of rejection. It’s interesting to see someone on the show who is still in the struggle. Most contestants have faced that already. And either have, or have not been rejected. I wonder if we’ll get a Jaidynn video in Untucked this week.

The theme this week is “Death Becomes Her.” RuPaul enters in a black gown with huge diamond florets. Ariana Grande looks terrified. “This is the best day of my life,” she lies. “I’m not even lying,” she insists.

So, each queen’s outfit illustrates their eventual death. Katya is eaten by a shark, during a tornado. She has the stringy blonde hair to prove it. Ginger Minj is evidently devoured by a bear… costume. Kennedy explains that, after a night of hooking, she’s thrown into a fire and transformed into a fabulous… chicken-horse.

Max is an exquisite ghost in a white silk slip. She carries her heart in a jeweled box. Kandy is a vampire who lost her skirt. Miss Fame looks like she stepped out of Chicago, with a knife stuck through her Marcelle waves. Pearl is a plastic surgery victim. Who lost her clothing. Maybe she dies from a cold? Jaidynn is electrocuted trying to climb over a prison fence. Violet has an oxygen tank, but more importantly, she has an 18-inch waist! Ariana Grande gasps at it! It’s tinier than she is!

We watch the scenes, which look better onscreen. It turns out that Merle, Michelle, and RuPaul all narrate their own stories. There’s some fun sight gags, but there’s not a lot to describe. It’s mainly just an excuse for the editors to pretend there’s bad blood between Merle and Michelle.

In the end, Ginger’s team is the best, and Katya wins the prize for her runway look. It’s a $2,000 gift card from Fabric Planet. They go off to safety with Kennedy. Max is praised for her gorgeous look, except that Michelle is getting impatient for that non-grey wig she requested. Michelle hates that Violet used a Staten Island accent, instead of New Jersey, in the video. But everyone is in awe of her 18-inch waist. I thought Kandy did a pretty good RuPaul portrayal, but the judges disagree. I do agree with Michelle, that Kandy’s beard returned.

Miss Fame babbles to the judges about “getting in her head” during the taping. “How is your head?” RuPaul asks. Miss Fame still doesn’t get that joke! Two weeks in a row! Michelle has to deliver the punchline for her. RuPaul tells Miss Fame that she must learn to listen. She’s always a bit ahead of the story.

Pearl is praised for waking up. She tells them she “came alive” when she put on the Michelle Visage(™) Breastplate. Jaidynn’s runway was clear, but not up to the level of the others. Plus, she didn’t know her lines.

Kandy and Jaidynn are put into the bottom. They lip-synch to Ariana Grande’s “Break Free.” Both give energy and style. I would say that Kandy just edged Jaidynn, but it’s her third time, and there’s only queen who ever survived three lip-synchs. RuPaul sweetens the exit by telling Kandy that the world will have a “Kandy Krush” on her.

Kandy feels bittersweet. She comforts herself in being one of the few Puerto Rican queens to make the show. For the record, she’s gone further than any Puerto Rican queen since Season Four. (Kenya Michaels was eliminated early on, but returned for Top 5 week.)

I’ll be back in the morning with links and the Untucked recap. In the meantime, what do you think about Michelle’s demand that Max wear non-grey hair? Is that reasonable, or should Max stick to her character?

Episode link:

Untucked

Team Ginger take off the most painful parts of their outfits and sit down to ki-ki. Ginger is miffed that she didn’t win the challenge. Katya asks Kennedy to explain her outfit. She goes into her complicated story, which Ginger sums up as “You had a costume and you had to make it fit the theme.” Ginger explains her outfit as “representing her people. The bears.”

They hope that Jaidynn doesn’t have to lip-synch, but it’s obvious that she will be — along with Kandy. Katya says she can’t figure out how Kandy died. “Crows ate her,” Kennedy guesses. Ginger says she died from lip-synching too many times.

Time for Max. “How does it take Max two and a half hours to wear no make-up?” Katya wonders. Ginger really wants Max to lip-synch. She reveals that, off-camera, Max is the bitchiest one of all.

“Violet!” Katya suddenly exclaims. There are no words. Just a lot of fanning, and Kennedy falling asleep. Katya loves Pearl’s death look — because there is nothing to it. Just lingerie and a bandage across her nose. “You died from First Aid?” Kennedy shrugs.

The unsafe six join them. They ask Kandy what her look is about. She says it’s about the lip-synch, which she knows she’ll be doing.

Max was only critiqued (by Michelle) about her grey hair. Everything else was good. “Don’t look so disappointed,” Pearl tells Ginger, who is rolling her eyes immediately behind Max’s back. “I’m not,” Ginger says, rolling her eyes even more.

Violet and her waist were deemed sickening by the judges. But her performances are lacking. “It’s almost like they want me to be someone I’m not,” she whines. There are silent reactions to that.

Violet remembers her pledge to seem nicer, and compliments Pearl on her runway. Pearl smiles and says she hates what she’s wearing. That’s what Violet loves. That Pearl just pulled it together and then sold the hell out of it.

Max asks Kennedy why she’s making faces. Seriously, did the producers coach Team Ginger to make as many faces as possible? Kennedy denies making a face, but agrees with Pearl that her look is hateful. Kandy is disgusted that Pearl didn’t even have a prepared look. Pearl explains that her “death” look had to be used for the episode three video. “I was going to be Death by Tanning,” she says, as we flash back to Pearl’s tanning look — which was pretty clever.

Jaidynn is almost in tears. She messed up her lines, and the judges ripped her look. She created it herself from scratch. Looking at it for more than two seconds, it’s pretty elaborate. She has a headpiece made from barbed wire. That’s pretty great. Ginger asks if Jaidynn’s pissed that she serves a different look every week, but other queens, who serve the same look, are praised?

The video starts. It’s not Jaidynn’s folks, but Miss Fame’s mom. Who is pretty, in a cool rocker chick style. She drops the news that “Curty” was an addict as a teen, but has been clean for nine years. Miss Fame cries and laughs that her mom is spilling all her secrets. The others laugh that Mrs. Fame won’t shut. “Now I know where you got it from,” Ginger laughs. But they love it. Mrs. Fame is funny and cool. “I have to go, I still have three pussies to shave,” she says. (She’s works in a vet’s office.)

Five minutes. Jaidynn looks sick with worry. Outside, Ginger commiserates that, as big girls, she and Jaidynn have to work harder than the size 2 girls. She’s wound tighter than Violet’s waist today. Pearl tells Jaidynn not to worry. Kandy can’t possibly survive a third lip-synch.

Speaking of Violet, she and Max are fuming about Ginger’s “same look” comment. Violet says, “I don’t discredit what she does… I could, though.” Max checks her non-existent make-up in her hand mirror.

At two minutes, Ginger is back inside, assuring Violet that her “same look” comment wasn’t directed to her. “We all said you look sickening.” Violet asks who she was talking about, and Ginger tells her it was Max. “Oh,” Violet laughs. “Maybe that’s a Werk Room conversation.”

Kandy gives Jaidynn a final little pep talk, as they wait to go back on the stage. “I adore you,” she says. It’s not the end of their friendship, it’s just the beginning. Jaidynn is struggling to keep herself together. After the lip-synch, she does an ugly cry onstage. “Looking a mess,” she sighs. “That’s what I get for making fun of Adore Delano.”

You have to admire Kandy’s pose in loss. She’s like a tragic princess going to the guillotine. She dances for the crew as she walks back to the Werk Room. She admits that the judges got it right to cut her, this performance contest wasn’t her thing. But they saw who she was, and what she had to give. There’s a sweet moment when Ariana go back to hug Kandy and praise her beauty.

Kandy continues to give good banter all the way to the van. She’s really fun. You’d think she’d have gotten more screen time.

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