RECAP: RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 17, Episode 3 (Design)
I was pretty underwhelmed by Season 17 Episode 2, and I went into this episode trying to reorient my expectations. Based on the two-part Talent Show, I had to downshift my goals for this group of queens. Overall — with a few notable exceptions — I’m not convinced that they’re going to be great at Drag Race the competition. But I do think that as a group they’re going to be good at Drag Race the TV show.
Even from the Meet the Queens, I got the sense that this was going to be a bitchy group of queens. Three episodes into the season, that has borne out. There is a lot of attitude, there is ample drama, and it’s spread fairly widely across the cast. If I go into episodes expecting to be entertained by pettiness and shade, I think Season 17 will keep me fed. If I go in expecting to be blown away by next-level drag…I am less confident.
With that said, I thought this episode’s design challenge was overall a success. Of the 14 looks inspired (VERY loosely) by Monopoly, I thought there were only two looks that were obvious flops, at least five very successful looks that could have been in the top. Most of the Safe looks were at least competent. But the true heart of the episode was not the challenge, it was the drama that unfolded at a seemingly breakneck pace. We had multiple “controversies” this episode — RhinestoneGate, TrimGate, RateGate. The girls are most definitely girling, and I’m enjoying the hell out of it.
Below find my thoughts on RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 17 Episode 3, the Monopoly design challenge, as well as some thoughts on Untucked. Which seems like required viewing this season! SPOILERS AHEAD!
First, quick rundown of the challenge: the girls each randomly picked a property from the classic Monopoly board game, assigning them a color to work with and also gifting them with the amount of money the property costs in the game. The girls that were assigned the same colors had to share the materials provided — they could not use materials from home — but this was not a team challenge. They were specifically asked to create an opulent look. Emphasis on opulent.
I’ll briefly go over my thoughts on each queen, in alphabetical order, as I feel like I have a sense of pretty much everyone by now.
Acacia Forgot: I have issues with the way the other queens are seemingly dismissing Acacia, as well as the way the show itself seems to be fucking with her. Even this episode, she pulled the Go to Jail card — I know it’s random, but the girl can’t catch a break. She picked one of the yellow properties, and I thought her 80s throwback look was solid (for the most part), decently constructed, and it spoke to her personal drag aesthetic. I did not care for the jeweled nipples, which cheapened the overall look. Still, I like Acacia and I’m rooting for her, because I don’t like seeing someone constantly on the outside of a cast.
Arrietty: This was a good episode for Arrietty, who turned out an inventive, eye-catching look after picking one of the red properties. Three episodes in, I think it’s clear that Arrietty will be one of our strongest runway queens this season. There was a lot to love here — it was astonishingly detailed for the limited amount of time we had, and the styling was impeccable. She has a great taste level, which I frankly wasn’t expecting from the Meet the Queen interview. What I was getting from Meet the Queen was a bratty, combative demeanor, and we started to get shades of that this episode, especially when Arrietty was called out for conspiring with Lana to skew the Rate-A-Queen rankings. I respect the skills but I’m not loving the personality.
Crystal Envy: I was worried about Crystal’s taste level after that awful talent-show wig and look last episode, but she gave us a wonderful dark-blue gown here that screamed Grace Kelly. This looked rich, and Crystal in red hair is sublime. She was pressed to only be Safe, which I can understand. I did think she was overly harsh with the third-place queen in Untucked, when she said she would throw her garment in the trash. Like, Jesus…
Hormona Lisa: This girl cannot get out of her own way. She was punchy after last week’s non-elimination, and it’s very apparent that several of the other queens do not like her, or want her there. Hormona picked an orange property, and I think she created a strong garment. But ESCANDALO: we discovered on Day 2 of the challenge that Hormona broke the rules by using rhinestones she had brought from home, and Lexi Love blew her ass in. Hormona seemed salty about this, but seriously, rules are rules, and you don’t get a free pass because you don’t listen to them. Overall I thought Hormona created a good garment, and it would have been even better had she embellished it with provided materials. These girls really do not like her, though.
Jewels Sparkles: This was a weird one. Jewels can sew and decided to compete in RuchePaul’s Drag Race with her dark-green dress, which was ruched throughout with big cone titties. (I found the cones unnecessary and not entirely fitting with the look.) The issue came when Jewels got into a fight with Onya Nurve over a beaded trim that Jewels intended to use on her look, but which Onya took for her own. Onya DID ask Jewels if she could use it, and Jewels DID say no. We saw that. Onya’s point that they were all given the materials to use, nobody “owned” the material is bullshit. Would Onya have been OK if someone had walked up and grabbed a fabric she had started working with? I doubt it. But Jewels was also in the wrong for talking about this behind Onya’s back in the chismosa corner with Arrietty. This is apparently going to be a thing with Jewels this season, and she seems to be passing it off as just part of her culture. But if you’re going to be a two-faced bitch, I’m just going to think you’re a two-faced bitch. That’s part of my culture. Jewels thought her finished look should have been Top 3; I disagree. It was solidly safe, but without the embellishment it looked simultaneously plain and overworked.
Joella: The star of the season so far, though likely not in the way she intended. I have been astonished by Joella’s cluelessness. The delta between the level she believes she performs at, versus what she has actually been laying down, defies belief. Science should study this, I’m serious. I wish I had even a fraction of Joella’s belief in herself, and I wish she had significantly more of the skills she seems to believe she possesses. Regardless, I have realized that Joella’s delusions and her inherent messiness make for television gold. Joella is giving us moment after moment of schadenfreude, and I love it. She didn't bother to learn to sew before coming onto the show, so she had to mangle some unforgiving geometric green fabric into, basically, a swimsuit with a long flowy cape thing. It was dramatic but it wasn’t good, and it certainly wasn’t opulent. The true magic came in Untucked, when a very clearly B2 Joella broke down regarding how the other L.A. queens will be so disappointed by her underperforming, because she’s one of the strongest girls on the L.A. scene. The faces of the other queens in that moment: PRICELESS. The editors aren’t even being subtle, they are so in on the Joella buffoon edit that they might as well start putting in comical sound effects. I am obsessed with this queen and her detachment from reality, plus her penchant for messiness. Great casting!
Kori King: Three episodes in, I think we can assume that Kori is going to be one of our struggle-bus queens this season, especially when it comes to looks. Kori also got yellow, and she created a feather mini dress that resembled a look RuPaul wore on this show seasons ago, as well as Manila Luzon’s All Stars 4 entrance look. One of the judges said she looked like Big Bird working the corner. Given how Sesame Street has been struggling to find a new home, that may not have been too far off. I should say, I thought Kori looked good. Her make-up is always flawless, and padding is excellent. But once again Kori served up a look that did not fit the brief, and felt deliberately, aggressively referential to previous queens from this show, and I simply don’t understand what is going on with her runways. It’s SO weird to me. Is she overthinking to play to the viewers’ nostalgia, or is she just not paying attention at all?
Lana Ja’Rae: Lana also got dragged for her Rate-a-Queen vote fixing, but at least Lana seemed to realize she should be embarrassed by it, unlike Arrietty. Lana picked a red property, and she created a perfectly fine cocktail dress in which she looked dead sexy. But can a cocktail dress give “opulent”? I don’t know, but I do know that this one did not.
Lexi Love: Lexi picked orange — which is probably how she realized Hormona was using unsanctioned items for her look, as she knew exactly which materials were provided — and she also gave us a cocktail dress. This one was slightly more opulent than the previous two, as it was 1) sheer and 2) seemingly festooned with feather appliques. What really helped Lexi here was the dramatic flourish of having a “train” made out of the fabric still connected to the fabric roll. It was a runway moment, and once again it showed that Lexi is clever and giving us things we haven’t seen before.
Lucky Starzzz: Oof. Lucky spent much of the episode talking about how she would do anything to help her family. Apparently that did not include taking a sewing class before getting cast, because Lucky was clueless about how to approach this challenge. While Lucky is a crafty queen who makes her gonzo expressionist looks, she does so out of unconventional materials and has no ability to design or sew. That was evident with what was put out here, which can best be described as a knockoff Princess Peach costume from a discount Party City. It was easily the worst look of the night, and it wasn’t close. Additionally, Lucky tried to show “range” by leaving behind her normal elaborate headpieces/make-ups, and going for a “regular” wig and beat and…oof again. This looked like a bad runway challenge from the early seasons of this show.
Lydia Butthole Kollins: First, I am cracking up that RuPaul just calls her “Butthole” in the work room. Big LOL. Three weeks in, I have to admit that I simply do not get Lydia’s aesthetic. In Untucked, a few other queens said they expected that Lydia would be in the top, mentioning how much work she put into the garment. I have no doubt that Lydia worked hard on it. But to me it looked messy, unresolved, and overworked. I just didn’t understand what she was going for, and it read more high-school project than runway fashion. I like Lydia well enough, but I just don’t think her tastes are going to vibe with my own.
Onya Nurve: Another queen who came into this competition not knowing how to sew, but Onya did go to design school and got a degree in materials? None of it made any sense to me. Onya got green, and made a basic tube dress as a base, then accessorized the shit out of it with a massive headpiece, glasses, a huge necklace, a cigarette holder, etc. The result was actually chic as fuck, and Onya sold it on the runway beautifully. Other girls, especially the aptly named Crystal Envy, were dismissive of what Onya put out, but I thought it earned that Top 3 spot. The fact that it made Crystal and Jewels furious was an added bonus. Onya also seems to be living up to her name, as she has gotten into it with several of these girls already.
Sam Star: I had been really struggling with Sam in the prior two episodes. I loved her promo look, but the entrance look, talent show look, and first two runways did not work for me, and I find Sam to be overly activated in the confessionals — her intense energy makes me feel bombarded. Sam seemed to calm down this episode, especially when she wasn’t focusing on a camera in front of her, and I liked her a lot more. I loved her blue look, which she described — accurately — as Mae West-inspired. The whole thing looked like an Old West madame in high-class brothel, and I say that with the utmost respect. This was a smart mix of materials deployed with an exacting eye, and it finally put Sam on my radar.
Suzie Toot: I quite liked what Suzie put out, a 1920s-style sparkly garment in a devil motif (she also got red). I thought the headpiece/wig were great, and while the rest of it wasn’t super exciting, it was all well executed. Suzie also got a good edit this week, showing herself to be empathetic to her fellow competitors.
Ultimately, Sam Star, Arrietty, and Onya Nurve were the Top 3 of the night, with Sam getting the win. The Bottom 3 were Kori King, Joella, and Lucky Starzzz. I agree with all those placements. Credit goes to Kori, who takes the judges’ critiques with remarkable poise and grace; ultimately she was called safe, leaving Joella and Lucky to lipsynch to Paula Abdul’s “The Way That You Love Me.”
A few things happened leading up to this lipsynch. In the main episode, we had Joella tell the viewers that they were about to enter The Joella Show, and bragged about how Joella absolutely owns a stage. Maury Povich called and…that was determined to be a lie. Then in Untucked, we saw a pre-lipsynch sequence in which Joella approached Lucky, both understanding they would be in the Bottom 2, and essentially told her that she was so sorry, but that she (Joella) was going to have to send her (Lucky) home. Lucky seemed shocked by the audacity of it all. Anyone would be.
The lipsynch overall was not good. Lucky put up a fight, throwing herself all over the stage. Unfortunately, she kicked off both of her shoes (deliberately?), and also didn’t seem to know the words fully. Joella served us Drag Brunch 101. Windmill arm. High kick. Odd body movements. Repeat cycle. If Joella truly in her heart believes that this was a high-energy, compelling lipsynch, once again, I find myself fascinated. This wouldn’t play in a rural Virginia bar, I find it impossible to believe she’s running the L.A. drag scene if this is what she’s putting down.
Ultimately RuPaul called Joella the winner — I’m calling it a win by default — and Lucky Starzzz was eliminated. She was given her shot at the Bunka-Dunk Tank, but the foghorn of sadness made it clear that she did not pick the remaining save lever. And so Lucky Starzzz was our Porkchop of Season 17. That’s surprising. I would have put her Week 1 Talent Show number in the top for that week. She has already served up some memorable looks in just three…well, two…weeks. I felt terrible for her, because she seemed to want to make her family’s lives better by going on this show. But this was just not her time.
Memo to all queens seriously applying to be on Drag Race: I am begging you, learn at least the fundamentals of using a sewing machine, and one simple dress pattern that you can replicate easily. There is no excuse for this level of unpreparedness on Season 17 of this show. You KNOW this is coming. How does this keep happening?
What do you think of Season 17? Drop your thoughts in the comments.
