RECAP: “RuPaul’s Drag Race UK 6” Episode 9 (Roast)
Well, we finally got it — a challenge on “UK6” where the majority of the queens either flopped, or were mixed at best. It’s Episode 9 of 10, so that’s a damned great track record this season, which has truly performed beyond my expectations. And even though four out of five of the remaining queens struggled with the roast of the eliminated queens — and the judges — the one that succeeded laid down one of the best roasts in the history of the entire “Drag Race” franchise. That one three-minute massacre of the cast was worth watching this episode alone, and most of the other queens got in at least a good dig or two.
Read on for my takes on “Drag Race UK” Season 6, Episode 9. SPOILERS AHEAD!
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With very little preamble we got to the main challenge of the episode: a roast — circus themed for some reason — with the eliminated queens in attendance and the Top 5 all dressed as clowns. Most of the girls seemed apprehensive about the challenge, especially Rileasa Slaves (now officially Rileasa Leasa? I need clarity on this) and Lill. To assist the queens, Ru brought back previous “Drag Race UK” roast champions Ella Vaday (Series 3) and Michael Marouli (Season 5).
It was great to see both of them. Ella looked terrific — that massive wig really helps with proportions, as Ella has traditionally masculine build — and Michael was consistently a riot. I would eagerly welcome both of these queens back for a “UK vs. the World” or “Global All Stars.” Ella is frankly the best thing left to explore from Series 3.
I’ll go through my thoughts on each queen, based on their roast performance as well as their Semifinal Vinyl runways. Note that I’ll critique them in order of least successful to most successful.
Rileasa Slaves: Swing and a miss on both fronts. There were moments in the roast that I laughed a bit, and I was really happy that above all, Rileasa seemed to be having fun. She was so worried about this challenge but she tried not to show it on stage. She may have been privately dying inside, but she didn’t project that to her audience. After Bumpa Love’s iconic-for-all-the-wrong-reasons piss fantasia in “Down Under” Season 3, I think all queens should avoid making pee jokes in their comedy bits — you will never meet that moment, and certainly not exceed it. The buffet jokes had at least some charm to them, but there were other points where Rileasa’s set came to a screeching halt. Mind you, she put herself first, which was strategically a terrible move. She explained her reasonings, but I think the reality was she just wanted to get it over with. On the runway, the judges correctly told her the look simply was not enough for this stage of the competition, and they were right. I also don’t understand what she was attempting with her make-up, but it didn’t work. Easily the worst of the night.
Lill: There were moments of Lill’s routine that I absolutely loved. When she was on, she was really on, and I think some of her material was better than Kyran’s. But there were also massive disruptions in the set where she just lost her place. She played it off as charmingly as she could. No surprise there — Lill is a charm supernova. The problems were just too glaring to overlook. (Lill did have the best clown look in my opinion, I LOVED her make-up.) On the runway, Lill gave us a very cool concept that took Marilyn Monroe’s iconic “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” outfit and combined it with an S&M gimp outfit. Weird, wild, perfectly executed — pure Lill. A friend at my viewing party was concerned that some people could accuse it of being blackface, but I certainly hope that is not the case.
Kyran Thrax: For the first week in this competition, Kyran showed some cracks. I think the issue came from overthinking, and trying to replicate what had already been successful in this competition — playing a camp character — and forcing that into this challenge. (It’s weird that Rileasa did the same thing in Snatch Game, with disastrous results; it speaks to queens either not trusting themselves, or being overwhelmed.) Her roast character was a nonstarter, and completely unnecessary. She did great when actually roasting the eliminated queens, getting in a few good digs here and there. RuPaul was notably displeased when Kyran made repeated jokes at how rich she is. Note to future queens: you can make fun of Ru’s age, her music, her inability to remember who any of you are, but never ever joke about her money. On the runway, Kyran looked cool, punk, and chic in her outfit sporting massive spikes, but I’ll agree with Michelle Visage that this is not a particularly original silhouette, and we’ve come to expect the unexpected from Kyran’s runways.
Marmalade: Marmalade made the rookie roast mistake of confusing mean with funny. A few of her jokes cut a little too deeply, and at least one of them — regarding Kiki Snatch and her skin — is likely to get her a few critical comments on social media. Marm explained that, since this was the semifinals, she did not want to play it safe, and she deliberately went hard. I think everyone would agree she went too hard, at least in a few instances. A multitude of sins were forgiven for that gramophone runway, which was fucking incredible. Marmalade has sent down a stellar runway package this season, and she made almost all of the looks herself. The level of talent: too much.
La Voix: And then there’s this bitch. There was no tops this week; there was a single, obvious winner, because La Voix demolished this challenge. She gutted these hookers with aplomb. I was left gasping for air as she just went one by one and dragged them mercilessly, but never once did I think that she crossed the line into maliciousness. The cackling from the queens in response shows that they were fully on board for whatever La Voix was serving up in this master class of roasting. One of the judges said it was a Bianca del Rio-level roast, and they were absolutely correct. This was savage but civilized, and La Voix seemed so at ease, so comfortable during the whole thing. Incredible. Now, as for the runway…the judges loved it. I did not. It felt like the first draft of a concept, but felt clunky and unsophisticated. If the records had been manipulated in some way to look like something other than just records ziptied to her body suit, maybe I could see it. But as it stands, I found the judges’ praise over the top for this look.
La Voix was of course named the winner — four main-challenge wins in 9 episodes! — and our first finalist. A very nervous Kyran and Marmalade were called Safe, which I think is fair. That’s three out of four finalists.
That left a Bottom 2 of Lill and Rileasa lipsynching to “Crazy What Love Can Do” by David Guetta, Becky Hill, and Ella Henderson. Just as La Voix wiped this main challenge, Rileasa cleared this lipsynch. It’s tough to know if Lill would have done better had she not been in a full vinyl body suit, including a fakekini that made her emotions completely inscrutable. My feeling is that it wouldn’t have helped much. This song was right in Rileasa’s pocket, and she was on the vibe from note one. Lill seemed awkward in the body and in her head throughout.
And so, Rileasa was declared the winner and our final finalist, while Lill was eliminated. She was so lovely in her exit, and seemed so genuinely touched by this entire experience. I think Lill emerged as the heart of this season. She’s just so damned lovable, and she did SO well. She exits as a fan favorite and she did The Family Gorgeous beyond proud. We better get Lill back on this show someday for an “All Stars” or “UK vs the World.” We all deserve to be Living In Lavish Luxury!
Next: It’s the finale! On Thanksgiving Day in America, so my recap will probably be late. Who do you want to win? Who do you THINK will win? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
