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Furious Drag Race fans call shade on RuPaul after ‘bogus’ judging: ‘What is happening?’

RuPaul in a bralette

RuPaul. (YouTube/WOW)

In the opening moments of “Glamazon Prime”, the latest episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 14, Daya Betty is christened Bitter Betty by one of her competitors and the comment foreshadows much of her performance for the rest of the episode.

This week’s maxi-challenge is a design task which sees the queens tasked with creating haute couture looks from miscellaneous materials we’re told are the fruits of Michelle Visage’s online shopping addiction. Things kick off with a typical montage of queens scrambling for various materials and fighting over scraps and concepts as Daya and Willow Pill both have the totally original idea to do a baby-doll inspired garment – the latter basically working with scraps as she was unable to open boxes, due to her disability, and wasn’t given (on-screen at least) any help doing so.

Kerri Kolby makes an oddly specific comparison to receiving a Christmas present from your new step-parent and expecting to receive something good to welcome you to the family, only to be gifted with socks and deodorant – which we try to move swiftly pass. We think it’s probably meant to be a funny story but honestly there’s such of a famine of charisma among this group that it’s hard to know sometimes.

The Drag Race queens are soon joined by Mama Ru and judge Carson Kressley, who do their best Tim Gunn impressions as they survey the werkroom and speak to each of the girls about what they’re planning to create. While Ru takes this as an opportunity to mine Kerri about her childhood bullying trauma, Daya sees it as as chance to ask the judges for what they’d like to see more from her, though she’s not best pleased with the answer. Carson and Ru agree that Daya’s biggest barrier to success at present is that her drag feels derivative from her house sister Crystal Methyd, a critique she says she is sick of hearing, lamenting: “I didn’t know Crystal Methyd owned polka dots and colour!”

Ru makes a random and somewhat insensitive remark about Lady Camden’s “strong, strong chin” and lips. Willow Pill gets a warm reception from the judges as usual, with Carson telling her that the off the rack “real estate agent” look from the fashion ball challenge was so good that it warranted her a job designing at a high fashion label – huh?

Judging day rolls around and as the queens do their make-up we’re treated to a standard barrage of coming out stories. We learn of Kerri’s strained relationship with her family and the years of damage inflicted on her by her unaccepting father. Maddy tells the group she has essentially no relationship with her mother who left her family when she was only 8. Lady Camden came out to her father as he pulled up to drop her off at the boarding school she was studying ballet – the surprise of the century, everybody jokes.

Finally the queens hit the runway and for once this season of Drag Race, the standard is relatively high. Standouts include Willow Pill sporting a long-sleeved sleep paralysis demon-inspired number and Lady Camden serving Victoria’s Secret angel realness, both receiving high praise from the judging panel, this week bolstered by the excellent Taraji P Henson.

They are less impressed however with Maddy’s awkward length skirt and use of a blow-up doll prop which ends up landing her in the bottom two next to recent nemesis Jasmine. Jasmine herself more than earned her spot in the bottom two after daring to invoke the name Samantha Jones when talking about the mess of tulle and yarn she sent down the runway.

Ultimately it’s Jorgeous takes the top prize this week, much to the dismay of Daya(/Bitter) Betty who questions how deserved the win is – and honestly, we’re inclined to agree?

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Compared to what some of the other girls produced, Joregous’s design really was just a bodysuit with some stars stuck on it but she’s so sweet that we’re happy to celebrate her win regardless.

Maddy and Jasmine battle it out to Suga Mama by Beyoncé, another great selection by this series’ music producer. Sadly it’s the end of the road for the series’ first ever cisgender straight male drag queen, the one and only Maddy Morphosis, who only earlier in the episode told Ru that though her pussy wasn’t yet on fire, it was warming up – not quickly enough, we guess.

 

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