RuView: ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 17’ Premiere, Part 2

Last week on RuPaul’s Drag Race, the 14 drag artists competing for the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar made waves in the first part of the premiere episode. This week, the second half of the queens will be performing in Drag Queens Got Talent. Who will rise to the top, and who will rise … belly-up in the water?

Back in the Werk Room

“I’m on cloud nine right now,” Suzie Toot shares in the first confessional of the episode. As she should be, seeing as she stunned last week with her tap-dancing talent and lipsyncing victory. Others, however, are feeling bothered. “These queens should be scared because I have some emotions, and I am ready to take it out on Rate-A-Queen,” says Acacia Forgot, the contestant who was put in the bottom by the other queens’ rankings. Lexi Love expresses doubts some of the queens’ ability to vote fairly, and the queens overall titillate nervously about the fact that the tables will be turning soon. The voting is expected to be based on many different factors such as strategy, alliances, or just straight-up honesty, depending on who you ask. 

The next day the queens skip happily into the Werk Room to start getting ready for the talent show. They get to work on their faces immediately, and start spilling the tea about their strategies in the upcoming vote. A few queens are weighing their options on what to base their votes on. Some feel shady, but others feel a bit more judicial. They also begin to discuss their planned talent performances, and Hormona Lisa tells the group she’ll be doing standup comedy (although a recent post on her Instagram reveals that it wasn’t even the queen’s first or second choice to perform standup in the show.) Her competitors seem to have a lukewarm response to this information, and a few seem to cast doubt on Hormona’s ability to pull it off.

A Surprise Visit

Suddenly, in the midst of queens getting ready, randomly, out of nowhere, a bagpipe shrieks a Scottish tune from somewhere behind the walls of the Werk Room. The queens look around, mystified, before the Scottish queen and Drag Race UK 2 winner Lawrence Chaney enters in RuPaul’s usual place, flanked by the Pit Crew. She’s clad in a traditional Scottish outfit that’s been dragged to the nines in purple Tartan. But why is Lawrence Chaney here? Evidently it’s to shout unintelligibly at the girls in her thick Scottish accent, and she warns the cast that it’s about to get real … and that one of them is about to be “murdered … just kidding!” After delivering the cheekily foreboding message, Chaney announces the runway theme for this week, “Is It Cake?” and cuts a chicken statue in half, asking the queens if it’s cake or cock. It is, as it turns out, cock. Then she tells the Pit Crew, “Come on boys, I got haggis boilin’ on the stove!” And they’re off, presumably to be served some traditional offal-based dishes by the Scottish queen.

After this bizarre and wonderful interruption, it’s back to work on the queens’ faces. Acacia Forgot is scheming around the Werk Room and asking what the other contestants’ strengths are. “I’m sussing it out,” she says of this process in a confessional. Upon asking, Crystal Envy shares that she loves dancing and doing stunts, so Forgot decides against rating Envy badly. Next she approaches Hormona Lisa and shadily asks what her talents are, doing a bad job of thinly veiling her strategy as “curiosity.” But when Hormona hesitates to share about her talents, Forgot makes a mental note of who she wants to put in the bottom to go against.

Runway

RuPaul enters the main stage in a blue, high-slitted gown with a dramatic, draped shoulder cape. She’s joined on the judging panel this week by Michelle Visage, TS Madison, and special guest judge Doechii, who is currently sitting pretty with five Grammy nominations for her new album Alligator Bites Never Heal. They quip about reality TV before RuPaul announces the cake-themed runway and the show begins.

The queens have several different interpretations of the cake theme, as some show out and show their asses, and others have a literal cake-themed outfit. Both are the case for Sam Star and her backless, wedding cake dress. Onya Nerve comes down the runway in a peach themed gown with an ass-revealing tearway, while Crystal Envy shows some skin in an airbrushed nude illusion body suit.

Kori King models her look off of a Monét X Change look, complete with pussycat wig and tearaway skirt revealing to a bodysuit. Lexi Love’s outfit includes a holographic screen in her TV headpiece, while Hormona Lisa comes out in a Marie Antoinette-themed look, earning a shady sound effect and scowl from Michelle. Lana Ja’Rae walks the catwalk in a green dress with a lace-up back reminiscent of Detox’s backless dress from Season 5 of Drag Race.

Acacia Forgot’s dress is big, with two big bustles on her sides, but the back does open to reveal her cakes. Arrietty’s look is space themed, and features a sparkling butthole on the bodysuit. Jewels Sparkles struts her stuff in assless chaps, and Joella comes out in the second Marie Antoinette-themed look of the night, but this time with an ass-spanking gag that amuses the judges.

Lucky Starzzz’ look is … indescribable. It’s … purple with white bits, and that’s about all that can be said. She shares in her confessional that she intends to shock, and indeed she does, although it’s unknown if the shock is for the right reasons or not. Lydia Kollins has spiky cakes, flouncing down the runway in a red and assless chiffon gown with spikes applied directly to her skin.

Suzie Toot closes the runway show and comes out in a Snow White inspired look, and she drinks a potion on stage … Instead of dying, though, the gag is that she transforms into a goat with furry legs and her bare butt showing. There were definitely many ways to interpret this theme, and many of the queens showed out of the box thinking with this prompt, but the same theme remained through each look: ass out. 

Drag Queens Got Talent, Part Two

It’s time for the queens to show off their talents, and the air on set is filled with excitement as the show begins. Sam Star is first with her country number, rivaling Acacia Forgot’s country singing from last week. Star exudes charisma and charm, and her song is catchy. She bucks and twirls around the stage before ascending a hay bale, only to death drop off the top of it. The dip is a little stiff, and Onya Nurve in her confessional wants to know, “Did that hurt?” Nerve herself is next up, deliverying a rap track with a catchy “in, out” hook, earning the admiration of the judges panel with her rhymes and stage presence.

Crystal Envy takes the stage next and delivers a high-energy lipsync performance complete with costume reveals, high kicks, and cartwheels. “All right, well, (bleep),” says Lexi Love of the performance, signaling her perception of Envy as strong competition. Hormona Lisa is up next and performs her stand up comedy to … not too much laughter. It’s a bit dry and doesn’t quite live up to expectations. She looks gorgeous in her purple gown, though. And, as mentioned before, she originally planned a different talent, which makes sense since … her stand-up was not very good. “Her talent must be stopping time,” comments Kori King in her confessional. 

King is next and comes out drink-first yet again in an ice themed outfit, and just like the chorus of her song that says “shake that ice,” she shakes the ice cubes on her costume until they’re literally flying off from the force of her performance-ending death drop. Lana Ja’Rae is next and appears in an orange catsuit that makes her look about eight feet tall. Her performance seems a bit lackluster except for the flying death drop she high-kicks into at the end, which unlike Star’s drop, looks smooth, effortless, and painless. 

Finally Lexi Love takes the stage in roller skates, absolutely zooming around the main stage as she delivers the lyrics to her lipsync track. She commands attention with her facial expressions and body language on wheels before cartwheeling and doing the splits over and over again by the end of her number. The other queens are visibly gagged, and rightly so. The intense performance is a great closer for the show, expertly executed by Love.

Rate-A-Queen

RuPaul dismisses the line of queens from the stage, telling them that while they rate each other, the judges “gon’ make that booty drop.” The queens file out of the main stage area, and the judges have a private discussion about the show. They like Sam Star’s charm, Onya Nurve’s flow, and Crystal Envy’s reveals. They don’t like Kori King’s runway, but praise her ability to fit the word “enema” into her song. They also don’t like Hormona Lisa’s Marie Antoinette costume, or her stand-up performance. “(The jokes) could have hit a lot harder,” says Doechii. Lana Ja’Rae earns the judge’s favor with her runway, but despite her fabulous death drop, they find her performance to be lacking that extra something. Their favorite of the week appears to be Lexi Love’s roller skating performance, and TS Madison shares her jealousy in not being able to skate herself. 

The scene shifts to the set of Rate-A-Queen, and the queens get into the rankings. They cast their votes, explaining the many reasons for their ratings. Strategy and alliances do play a part in some queens’ choices, but others give their honest opinon. Acacia Forgot is a little conniving in her rankings, choosing Hormona Lisa as her bottom queen, since she thinks she can go up against her in the lipsync and win.

Elimination

The queens return to the main stage and await the results of Rate-A-Queen. RuPaul announces Crystal Envy and Lexi Love as the top two queens of the week who will be lipsyncing for the win to “Alter Ego” by Doechii. It’s a bit questionable that the battle of the white girls is set to a song that includes lyrics about “Black vagina,” but it’s all in good fun. The lipsync is blistering, and both queens serve hot performances to the bop. Its chorus is particularly catchy and Love vogues across the middle of the stage, while Envy somersaults across the stage and tumbles all around.

In the end, Love’s rendition of the song is triumphant, which feels like the correct decision since her performance was a little more relaxed. Envy seemed to give a bit more a desperate vibe, like she had something to prove. Love is a winner, baby, according to RuPaul, and snatches up a cash prize of $5,000. The queens cheer loudly for her from the back before both queens are dismissed to the back of the stage. 

Next, the rest of the queens who performed in the talent show return to the front of the stage, where it’s announced that Hormona Lisa is the bottom queen of the week. Acacia Forgot’s plan seems to have worked, but it could also just be because the talent was lacking on Hormona’s part. The two battle it out in a Lipsync for Your Life to “yes, and?” by Ariana Grande, and at the end, RuPaul declares Acacia Forgot victorious, choosing her over Hormona Lisa. But all is not lost, apparently …

Ba-Dunk-a-Donk

RuPaul, instead of telling Hormona Lisa to sashay away, asks the queen if she’s feeling lucky. When H0rmona responds in the affirmative, RuPaul reveals this season’s twist: the Ba-Dunk-a-Donk. Michelle Visage, dressed in a leopard one-piece bathing suit, appears at the top of a giant dunking tank off to the side of the main stage. Ten levers are placed in the middle of the stage for the queen in limbo to select from. If she chooses the right lever, sinking Michelle when she pulls it, she gets to stay in the competition. There are two winners out of the 10 levers, and Hormona chooses lever number seven.

It’s her lucky day, as Michelle’s seat suddenly gives in, and she is dunked into the tank rather unceremoniously. “Your luckiness is … Michelle Visage’s unluckiness,” RuPaul snickers moments before this, and she seems to be wildly entertained and amused by how early she got to see Michelle get dunked. 

This means that Hormona Lisa will be safe to continue on in the competition another day. And that’s it for this episode, with the cast remaining intact for another week of the show’s run. Next week is a Monopoly-themed fashion ball, which is sure to produce many devastating acts of beauty. 

RuPaul’s Drag Race airs every Friday at 6 p.m.. The previous week’s RuView is posted the Friday morning before the next episode to help refresh your memory on the previous episode. 

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