Television
'Drag Race' Season 14's Latest Twist Is the Face Crack of the Century
We did not see this coming.
March 11 2022 9:47 PM EST
May 26 2023 2:13 PM EST
MikelleStreet
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We did not see this coming.
This post contains major spoilers from the latest episode of RuPaul's Drag Race season 14.
Whew, that was rough.
Anyone who watched the latest episode ofRuPaul's Drag Race realized that things are going ... not well, bitch. This week, the remaining eight queens competed in the now-iconic Snatch Game. It became clear to most early on that this was not going well.
When it came down to judges critiques, Michelle Visage prefaced the critiques by saying that she expected more from the group. Afterward, Ru skipped the typical breaking out of the tops and bottoms of the week and the judges critiqued each. Only Deja Skye, who competed as Lil John, made it through unscathed.
\u201cThe stars are out for the #DragRace Season 14 Snatch Game! \u2b50\ufe0f\ud83c\udfac\u201d— RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaul's Drag Race) 1647049118
\u201cThis is a case for the FBI (aka @michellevisage) \ud83d\udd75\ufe0f\u200d\u2640\ufe0f #DragRace\u201d— RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaul's Drag Race) 1647051274
In a move that was slightly surprising but nevertheless deserved, RuPaul determined that all of the queens were up for elimination. In Drag Race season 11, RuPaul similarly sent six queens into a joint lip sync. In that instance, the six queens had formed one team that performed poorly in a Christian News Network-themed challenge. Tonight, Ru made the unprecedented move of announcing that all seven of the bottom queens would face off in a Lip Sync Lollapalooza next week. She did not announce the details of the set-up.
This follows the show experimenting with lip sync formats over the past few seasons. In Drag Race season 13, the show kicked off by forcing queens to battle immediately upon entrance. The losers of those battles were sent to the Porkchop Loading deck which divided the season into two halves. Each half then received their own premiere episode, and later the queens were then brought back together making a four-episode premiere. The season had the most episodes of any in herstory.
In Drag Race All Stars 6, after queens were eliminated from the competition, they competed in a secondary scheme: lip syncing in order to secure a place back on the show. All of those battles were compiled in a later episode aired before the top four faced off. Silky Nutmeg Ganache tore through almost the entire season, only losing to Eureka who was allowed back into the competition after her win.
The decision to do a Lip Sync Lollapalooza will likely make this season of Drag Race even longer. After the first two queens were eliminated, the season brought them back. There was also no queen eliminated in episode seven or nine.
Related | The 7 Best 'Drag Race' Performances Ever, According to Michelle Visage
Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.
Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.