RuPaul’s Drag Race – Episode 7 – Maxocism
Jaidynn grime vows not to be in the bottom again as she wipes all traces of Kandy off the Werk Room mirror. Max warns the other queens that she’s going to wear a colored wig on the runway — and then she’ll be going back to grey. Violet chortles that she’s fine in her 18-inch corset, while Kennedy mutters like a member of the Bitter Old Lady Brigade. Violet rolls her eyes, commenting that Kennedy always misses the mark on the runway. She dubs Kennedy’s look as “Tony the Tiger on crack,” which is bitchier and better than anything I’ve seen all week on the internet.
The next day, they all skip back into the Werk Room. Max enters last, with an umbrella and bare chest, looking like Big White Sambo.
Bianca Del Rio makes a guest appearance in the video message, warning the queens to be funny! RuPaul appears to announce that it’s Snatch Game time!
Snatch Game! The episode that separates the drag queens from the little boys in a dress! It’s so big an event that there is no mini-challenge this week! Instead, the queens get right to work, whipping out their wigs and brushes.
“I’m doing Donatella Versace,” Miss Fame announces.
“I’m doing Donatella Versace!” Violet exclaims. They look at each other in confusion and horror. I bet the producers have been rubbing their hands together in anticipation of this moment ever since their audition tapes arrived. Violet claims that she has no back-up character, so Miss Fame nicely steps aside, deciding on Teresa Caputo, the “Long Island Medium.”
Meanwhile, Kennedy elicits a record-scratch sound effect when she tells Ginger and Katya that she’s planning to do Little Richard. They remind her that Little Richard is a dude and suggest that she try Sweet Brown. Kennedy bites her lip, uncertain.
RuPaul makes the round as the queens are halfway done with their make-up. Jaidynn is working on Raven Symone, because she likes her. RuPaul reminds her that the goal is to be funny. Katya tells RuPaul that she’s doing Suze Orman, causing RuPaul to ask why she’s not doing a Russian, which leads to RuPaul telling Katya that she’s “addicted to anxiety.” This hits Katya hard — she’s been addicted to pills and alcohol, but never thought about her anxiety as such.
RuPaul reacts to Kennedy’s Little Richard plan with shock. “I can’t tell you what to do,” RuPaul says, backing away with hands in the air. He emphasizes that Kennedy will be taking a risk.
Miss Fame explains the Donatella kerfuffle to RuPaul, who doesn’t think she should allow Violet to get her way. “Go for the jugular,” RuPaul tells her. Miss Fame starts over, as Violet makes a bitch-face from across the room. Duelling Donatellas is on!
And then it’s off again, as RuPaul discovers that Violet’s Donatella isn’t very funny. As it turns out, Violet did have a back-up character after all: Alyssa Edwards, from Season 5. As we leave the queens, she’s swearing up a storm and tearing through her clothing rack.
The guest judges as Michael Urie and Tamar Braxton, who looks hot on that runway. I know who Tamar is, because Roxxxy impersonated her in Season 5. I had to look up Michael Urie because I never watched Ugly Betty. He seems like a cool person. His Wiki entry is mostly about theater. It’s impressive for how young he is.
The Snatch Game starts with Max as Sharon Needles, Jaidynn (“Raven Symone”), Katya (“Suze Orman”), and Violet (“Alyssa Edwards”) on the top row. Bottom row is Pearl as Big Ang, Miss Fame (“Donatella Versace”), Kennedy (doing “Little Richard”), and Ginger Minj as Adele.
Right away, Max whiffs the joke that RuPaul lobs at her. Loser music and stock footage of Katya staring hatefully plays. Jaidynn, as it turns out, can make Raven funny, by pretending to see the future. But she doesn’t have any other jokes up her sleeve. Katya’s Suze Orman is consistently funny. Violet is great at imitating Alyssa’s movements and scattered thought process, but her voice is way off.
All I can say about Pearl’s Big Ang is that it’s the weirdest thing I’ve seen since Yara Sofia played Amy Winehouse. Last week, Pearl was going to do Death by Tanning. This week, she’s beyond death. She’s mummified by tanning. Miss Fame’s Donatella is a whole lot of nothing, while Kennedy’s Little Richard steals the entire show, sending Tamar into spasms of laughter. Ginger’s Adele is sweet and dumb, with an accent as come-and-go as Max’s normal affected voice.
On Elimination Day, there’s a moment that has to happen onscreen (as the queens are completely isolated off camera), but it feels a little intrusive to watch it. The anxiety conversation from the day before has spun Katya into spiral of emotion. Knowing that Miss Fame is in recovery, she pulls her aside to ask for help. She’s near the edge, with voices in her head telling her how terrible she is. Miss Fame is incredibly supportive, hosting an impromptu recovery meeting on the spot. She tells Katya that her endless babbling stems from her own self-sabotaging voices. Katya, restored to equilibrium after their session, starts getting ready for the runway.
The theme is “Leather and Lace.” Which, for all the pretty girls (Pearl excepted. Pearl always excepted), translates into black corsets and garters. Ginger goes white, with a leather Elvis jacket and hair, plus a big old cross on her back. She is a Crossdresser for Christ! Kennedy’s wearing a chain-mail gown that’s so heavy it’s dragged her hair down flat.
Pearl’s wearing a pink leather jacket over what looks to be a lace pink nightie. Kudos for having some color, even if it’s the same “pearl” tones she always wears. Jaidynn has the absolute worst outfit on the runway. She’s taken her nude illusion body suit, tacked random pieces of black lace on it, and added a weird black skirt. The only good point is that she used a huge afro wig to draw attention away from the mess she’s wearing.
The judging goes as I would expect, although they like Ginger’s Adele a lot more than I did. Michael Urie is sweetly attracted to all the queens, it seems. Max’s brunette wig gets a grudging acknowledgement from Michelle, but Ross misses her grey hair. Max looks more and more defeated as the judges pan her Sharon Needles. She actually removes her corset, saying that she can’t breath. They give her a moment, and then Max bizarrely starts singing as she sits on the stairs — looking like the crazed, most drama-seeking attention queen since Tyra Sanchez collapsed during her coronation. (Note: Max tweeted during the show that these events played out much differently in real life than in the show’s edit.)l
In the end, RuPaul makes Snatch Game history by awarding the win (feather pieces by Motherplucker) to both Kennedy and Ginger. Max and Jaidynn fall into the bottom.
Weirdly, they lip-synch to “No More Lies” by Michelle, rather than a Braxton song. I liked Max’s sophisticated take, but Jaidynn really threw herself into the performance. So, it’s Max who sashays away.
Untucked
Violet and Pearl are the only safe girls. Safe being relative, because Pearl nearly twists her ankle leaving the runway. Violet laughs at this all the way back to the cocktail lounge. Violet remarks that this is the first time she’s ever been safe. Then she and Pearl look at each other in horror as they realize they will have to make conversation by themselves for the next hour.
But they manage, dissing the other girls. Especially Jaidynn, who bombed on Snatch Game and the runway. “Max is freaking out,” Pearl says. Violet says that Max set the bar too high in the early challenges — so the judges expect more from her. Pearl criticizes Miss Fame’s Donatella, and Violet talks about her own Donatella. But, whatever, she’s over it.
They both think Ginger won. “She was dunking twinkles in wine!” They don’t know about Kennedy’s Little Richard, but Violet asks “Who else could she have played?”
Pearl notes that there are only four or five more challenges. Unless they bring someone back. They both agree that, if the producers do bring a queen back, it should be Trixie. Even though she hates Violet.
As the others come in, Violet is trying to bum Pearl’s cocktail. All that tucking requires extra alcohol, I guess. Ginger goes over her critique as Max quietly dies in the corner. Ginger is proud to have gone outside her comfort zone. “I feel like Humpty-Dumpty!” she crows. The others praise her look, including Violet. But, for some reason, Violet’s approval is taken as a diss. Ginger says Ross called her fat. “He didn’t like your runway, ” Katya corrects her. Ginger rolls her eyes. “He called me the ‘other white leather.'” Yeah, he called her fat.
Miss Fame is in physical corset pain. She worried because she doesn’t know the words to the lip-synch song. “Don’t get into that hole!” Katya commands, returning the support she got earlier in the Werk Room.
Meanwhile, Max slips off to ask for an iPod. Pearl follows to give some support. Which consists of asking Max to go over her bad critique again. Max reports that the judges said she lacked heart and intelligence as Sharon Needles.
Ginger and Katya go outside to smoke and play around with sexy moves.
We see three different approaches to the upcoming lip-synch. Max rehearses and freaks out in her own space. Miss Fame surrenders to a higher power, asking God to help her though the crisis. Jaidynn turns to Kennedy for support, and Kennedy tells her she’s fabulous, and just to be herself.
As Max ad Jaidynn lip-synch, I can’t help noticing that Max steps out of the spotlight at one point. That’s a mistake you can’t afford to make.
As she packs, Max laments not being able to show all that she’s capable of. But she is proud of what she managed to do in her short time. She never thought she’d lose the Snatch Game. She’s in a dream state — but brightens up at the thought that this is only one of many dream states she’ll navigate in her career. “I’m going to be amazing from here on out.”
And, as a gesture towards that promise, she dresses up in a interesting boy drag outfit to leave the show. She blows smoke and kisses to the camera as the van pulls away.
