RECAP: “Drag Race Down Under” Season 4, Episode 3 (Snatch Game)
This was an odd episode, and I’m going to put it mostly down to the editing. On the one hand, we had one of the defining challenges of any season — Snatch Game — but we barely got to see it. Seriously, I think each queen got one, maybe two answers — three tops — and then it was over. We didn’t get a Reading Challenge, which at this point is pretty much always paired with Snatch Game. Instead we spent way more time in the work room, with the queens interacting and sizing each other up in the competition and establishing/furthering several storylines.
To a degree I understand that, and some of it was unavoidable. Two queens doing characters from “Kath & Kim”? You have set that up before the Snatch Game starts. Two queens bizarrely picking the same fictional character? (TWO PEOPLE thought, “Hey, I’ll do Mrs. Claus”?) You have to address that. Max’s breakdown obviously needed to be established. I even understand all the queens reacting to Lazy Susan’s early-episode domination. But I don’t understand focusing on that to the detriment of the challenge itself, which I really think is what happened here. I think overall this seemed like one of the more successful Snatch Games — especially for “Down Under,” which has a pretty terrible track record with Snatch Games — and I would have loved to have seen more of it.
Read on for my takes on “Drag Race Down Under” Season 4, Episode 3, “Snatch Game.” SPOILERS AHEAD!
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I’m going to go through all 9 remaining queens in order of strongest to weakest, from their performance in “I’m a Celebrity Impersonator, Snatch Me Out of Here” — an Aussie-related twist on Snatch Game, which I thought was neither here nor there — their Queen of Desserts runways and their overall progress on the show.
Mandy Moobs as Jane Turner: While Mandy didn’t win this episode, she won it for me. I’ll agree that the actual challenge winner stronger in Snatch Game, but between a very good challenge performance and EASILY the best outfit on the runway, Mandy impressed the hell out of me this week. This bitch looked so cunt in that licorice mix latex gown. The hair, the mug, the body — everything was perfection for Mandy this week.
Brenda Bressed as Gina Reilly: I totally understand why Brenda won this week. It was well earned. I’ve consistently enjoyed Brenda thus far, and she was truly great in the Snatch Game — so quick, great volleying with Michelle and Mandy, fun props. I guess I’m the ignorant one who had no idea what she was referencing with that runway, but I appreciate that it was capital-D Drag and the judges sure seemed to love it.
Vybe as Julia Child: You can tell that Vybe is getting frustrated at not being able to grab a badge — we are nearly halfway through this season, I understand her urgency — but I think that’s more of a statement on the strength of this cast and less on Vybe’s performance. She’s doing well. Her Julia Child was completely solid, she had some funny answers (the pilot light one), some good ad libs with the other queens. I thought her dessert runway was a great idea that ended up looking a bit awkward in real life, but I did love the wig and mug. Vybe is doing great and I hope she knows that.
Lazy Susan as Lindsay Lohan: Torn on this one. I thought the birthday candles answer was funny — Susan is so sharp — but what was that accent? Bizarre. Anyway, I actually think Lazy Susan shot herself in the foot because I thought either of her other two Snatch Game characters had more potential than LiLo; I bet she could have destroyed with the horse. It’s also possible that Lazy gave even funnier answers, but we literally only saw two of them. Another well-executed runway from Susan. No doubt she’s a force in this competition.
Lucina Innocence as Tabatha Coffey: I was proud of Lucina this week. She has improved so much over these three episodes, and I thought her answers in Snatch Game were consistently funny. She still has a very sleepy energy, but there is personality and wit there, and I want to see more of it. She looked great in her pancake-and-syrup runway, and I continue to chuckle at the wide shots where she is easily a full foot taller than anyone else on the stage.
Freya Armani as Ms. Claus: I feel Freya has tons of potential but struggles with execution. First, I don’t blame her at all for ClausGate; I believe she was sincere when she offered to switch characters to help Max, but Michelle was clear in her walkthrough that Erika Jayne was a lousy pick. (She’s not wrong; I don’t know how you make Erika funny, much less likable.) As far as Mrs. Claus, I could see that she had put in work developing a character and backstory, but it wasn’t particularly funny, and again, a bad accent. I thought her churro runway was so chic, but I don’t think she needed the actual dangling churros, which were distracting and too literal. But she looked gorgeous, as always.
Nikita Iman as Mother Nature: Like Freya, Nikita played a fictional character, which allows for broad, wacky impressions. It’s smart, especially for queens who do not feel confident in their wit; it’s also increasingly a copout and I know many viewers are getting tired of it. As far as imaginary characters go, Mother Nature is a good one. You could do a lot with both the “mother” and “nature” parts of it. I think Nikita tried, but was simultaneously super obvious and somehow still not doing enough. On the runway, the dress was pretty but I agree that it barely red as ice cream. (That said, I LOVE an orange chocolate chip, and it’s been forever since I’ve had some.)
Max Drag Queen as Reese Witherspoon: The story of the episode is really Max, who first struggled when she had the same character pick (essentially) as Freya, and then flopped the Snatch Game as her back-up, Reese Witherspoon. This led to a work room confession that she is not engaged with the competition mentally, as her mother had passed just weeks before she went to film. This was difficult to watch, particularly the moment when Max literally ran out of the work room sobbing. In my opinion, Max should have stuck with Mrs. Claus. I don’t know where she would have taken it, but Reese is almost impossible to make funny. There just isn’t much to work from there, even if you borrow from iconic characters like Tracy Flick or Elle Woods. It’s just a non-starter. On the runway, she gave us a thoroughly slutty take on whip cream and cherries, and I was howling at her comment that she was sobbing over her dead mother and minutes later walking the runway dressed like an absolute whore, and that is “Drag Race.” We love a self-aware queen!
Karna Ford as Eddie Murphy: I knew we were in trouble when Karna said in walkthroughs that, like Eddie Murphy, she has a “big personality.” Is the big personality in the room with us? This has happened on “Drag Race” a few times before, when reserved/low-energy queens will state with absolute conviction that they are big, bold personalities at home — Mhi’ya Iman LePaige comes immediately to mind. And the thing is, I believe that they believe that to be true. I wonder if watching themselves on this show gives them a moment of clarity to realize that, while they might be bombastic performers on stage, as individuals the personality comes off quite flat. Anyway, Karna’s Eddie Murphy was his Rasputina character, which — based on what we saw — was just Karna growling, “How you doin’?” repeatedly. I thought she looked beautiful on the runway, with her gown inspired by braided fried dough. Easily the best thing she wore the entire competition.
Brenda won the challenge, Mandy was lavished with praise, and Vybe got more validation — all lovely to see. Max explained why she was struggling, and I thought Michelle was empathetic but still officious in her response. (Sidebar: guest judge Kita Mean looked SO great on that panel, I love her style of drag and would love to see more of her this season.) In something of a twist, it was the whole Bottom 3 lipsynching to guest judge Ladyhawke’s “My Delirium.” BTW go listen to Ladyhawke! I’ve loved her music for years!
I was glad to see that Max found her fire for this lipsynch, and she showed off some great musicality and moves. Karna threw down some good tricks as well, but there were whole stretches where she just fully did not lipsynch (“Drag Race Thailand” 3 girl group enters the chat). Nikita was by far the weakest lipsynch, but she had a few moments of hilarity that I think ultimately saved her. I found myself really warming to Nikita this episode, I think she’s secretly kind of hilarious.
And ultimately, Nikita and Max were saved, and Karna was eliminated. I think that’s right. I feel for Karna. You could tell she came in with very big expectations, but she just couldn’t find her footing on this competition. Karna reminds me of many early-season “Drag Race” U.S. queens, who are leaders in their individual scenes (Phoenix, The Princess, Nicole Paige Brooks) but that doesn’t always translate to “Drag Race.” They’re still amazing drag queens — they’re legends in their hometowns — but being a great drag queen and being great at “Drag Race” are not always the same skill set. I’m sure Karna will continue to have an amazing career in and outside of Sydney.
Next: it’s a design challenge!
What do you think of this premiere episode? Drop your thoughts in the comments.