This week’s episode is the turning point of the competition. There is no mini challenge this week, because RuPaul’s Drag Race is bringing out the episode that every racer waits for the entire season: it’s Snatch Game!
The 1960’s game show, The Match Game, featured celebrities trying to match answers with us regular folk. For Drag Race, each queen performs a celebrity impersonation that tests their wit, bravado, and the ability to keep their heads above water. We’ve seen Cher, we’ve seen (horrible) Beyonces and Lady Gagas, and we’ve even seen one queen (Pittsburgh’s own Sharon Needles) perform as judge Michelle Visage. Breathe. It’s going to get good. Or does it?
The drama kicks off from the beginning when Violet and Miss Fame both proclaim they are going to perform as Donatella Versace. Violet claims she’s been working on her impersonation of the Italian fashion maven for 8 months, and Fame initially backs off to let Violet have the character. As RuPaul goes around the room (quenching everyone’s thirst to know who is playing who), she tells Fame, “being kind is one thing, but being the winner is another.” This prompts Fame to snatch (see what I did there?) back Donatella and Violet scrambles for another character. She does an impression of season 5 contestant Alyssa Edwards, and RuPaul eats it up.
Violet’s Alyssa isn’t the only former contestant on the panel this year. Max tries for spooky as season 4 winner, Sharon Needles. It’s…interesting, but more on that later. Katya dons a short wig as Suze Orman, Jaidynn widens her eyes all night long as Raven Symone, Ginger performs as Adele, and Pearl looks like an overly tan refrigerator as Big Ang from Mob Wives. The biggest head scratcher of the night is Kennedy as Little Richard. It’s probably one of the riskiest moves in Snatch Game herstory, and Katya puts it best: “Snatch Game…snatch…vagina…”
RuPaul asks the guest contestants a question (in this case Michael Urie and Tamar Braxton), and their answers have to match the answers from the celebrities on the panel. It must be a hoot to sit there and watch the hilarity and the train wrecks. Let’s go over said train wrecks, shall we? Miss Fame’s Donatella is bad. She’s nailed the icy exterior, but she probably could have gone further with parodying Versace’s appearance. Fame doesn’t know how to make a joke land, and it’s painfully obvious in this challenge. Max’s Sharon Needles is the worst. She’s going to be haunted by this challenge forever. The look was spot on but she didn’t capture Sharon at all. Violet’s Alyssa had me from the moment her fake nail flew off near the beginning.
Ginger’s Adele had a collection of trophies on the counter, and she kept popping food into her mouth. Surprise, surprise: Kennedy Davenport was awkwardly amusing as Little Richard. Ru poses the question, “Rumor has it that they are making a gay Batman & Robin. In this version, the dynamic duo convert the batcave into _______?” Kennedy’s Little Richard replies with, “a bathhouse with a dark room and gloryholes!” That’s it. Snatch game over.
The runway theme this week is leather and lace, and, ironically, the worst two Snatch Game competitors have the best looks. Max is dressed as a couture black widow, and Miss Fame delivers a look unlike we’ve seen from her on the runway. Kennedy’s padding is ridiculous. You won’t find a figure like that in an hourglass factory. Kennedy and Ginger win the Snatch Game challenge, and Max and Jaidynn fall into the bottom two. As soon as Max starts getting critiqued, she loosens her corset, and the entire runway stops. It’s disappointing and distracting. At one point, Max is sitting on the stairs to the runway—shirtless with a bowl of water by her side? It’s kind of like she’s going to start belting out a 1940’s version of “Memory” from Cats, but the moment never comes (even though she does sing a few bars of a song). Jaidynn has way more energy, and she sends Max packing. I need a moment…she was one of my favorites from this season…how will I go on…
Ru ends the runway by announcing that she too makes mistakes. Next week, she will be bringing back an eliminated queen from this season. By who could it be?!?! Gee, I have no idea…
