RuPaul's Drag Race Season 14 Episode 12 Review
Hello there! Glad to have you back for yet another review of Season 14 of RuPaul’s Drag Race! The competition carries on after a lacklustre Snatch Game and an incredible LaLaperusa! This week the queens were faced with.... RUSICAL! As an obsessed musicals fan myself, this was very exciting! And I must say that the queens pulled through an delivered perhaps one of the my favourite Rusicals in the Franchise!
Once again, we get no mini-challenge and RuPaul announces the main challenge for the week. The girls are set to feature in the ‘Moulin Ru’ production, with various different roles playing homage to the iconic musical!
Perhaps my favourite part of the episode was the drama between Lady Camden and Bosco, two queens who have been relatively quiet when groups have decided past roles. I was totally here for the back and forth, with shady comments being added here, there and everywhere. I think they should both have presented a snippet of Saltine to the other girls, and the group should have decided based on that! However, the tense group vote was still gripping to watch! In the end, the roles went as follows:
Lady Camden – Mama Z
Bosco - Saltine
Angeria – Charisma
Jorgeous – Talent
Daya – Uniqueness
Deja – Nerve
Willow – Green Fairy
The queens are directed by non-other than camp incarnate, Leslie Jordan. I love it whenever he is featured in the show, he’s so cute and always a laugh! The rusical is composed by Leland and choreographed by Miguel Zarate. I knew that these two would keep the queens in check and make sure that they perform to the best of their abilities. Straight from the beginning, we start seeing who would most likely excel in this challenge and would might need to start learning those lip-sync lyrics. Lady Camden comes out strong, with a good grip of the choreography and a great stage presence. Angeria, on the other hand, takes a little longer to come to terms with the movements and starts to show a bit of a struggle. All in all, the girls did great in rehearsals and it definitely sets up the tone and anticipation for the show!
I’ll be ranking the queens on overall performance as well as taking into consideration their runways! This week’s theme was ‘Mirror, Mirror’.
Lady Camden deserves the undisputed top spot this week, with her rusical performance and runway being top level! Her performance of Mama Z was a demonstration of how to take a role and run with it, she added flair and her own touch whilst still presenting a fully thought out character. She was constantly on stage but never dwindled in energy. Her runway outfit was by far my favourite garment she’s worn so far! So fantastical and DRAG! 10/10 for Lady Camden this week!
The runner up is definitely Daya Betty, with a very solid performance as Uniqueness in the rusical and an ICONIC KISS-inspired runway. Seriously, this queen is killing it with the looks and she’s definitely differentiating herself from Crystal Methyd! She is going on an upward trajectory and I’m here for it!
Jorgeous ranks third for me this week because I actually enjoyed her take on Talent. I think it was incredibly challenging to command the stage in this rusical because of the sheer amount of personalities sharing the stage at once, but she did a really solid job! I must also praise her for changing it up this week and not wearing the bare minimum on the runway. I love the wet, chic look on Jorgeous and the silhouette was noticeably unique!
Willow Pill falls right in the middle of the pack this week, serving a good runway and a safe performance. Her take on the Green Fairy was actually very strong but she didn’t quite have the choreography down, which was an important part of her act. Her runway also didn’t seem to meet the brief as it gave pocket rocket rather than mirror.
Angeria’s performance as Charisma was nothing special but it wasn’t necessarily bad either. However, I thought her runway was particularly uninspired and the nude illusion wasn’t quite there. The garment itself was incredibly well constructed, but it didn’t give mirror, more ice.
Unfortunately, Bosco’s performance of Saltine didn’t really radiate star power! And her runway...oh my god. I was truly torn because she came out in what I first thought was breath-taking, but then I realised that she has repeated the same silhouette so many times. I love Mugler-esque runways but this one wasn’t enough for me to overlook the repetition. Show some versatility girl!
Last but not least, I’m sorry Deja but it’s you! I hate to do this because her performance as Nerve was actually so incredibly captivating but I can’t possibly place her any higher...because of that runway. I just didn’t know what was going on, but it’s safe to say that it wasn’t my cup of tea. From the crown, to the iridescent cage structures, it just gave Ice King from Adventure Time rather than ‘Mirror, Mirror’. Sorry girl, it’s a no from me!
The judges this week chose Willow, Daya and Lady Camden as the tops, which I aint mad about! Lady Camden was named victor, securing her second win of the season! Onwards and upwards my lovely!
Bosco and Jorgeous were the bottom two and I was terrified for Bosco because I would not want to go up against the lip-sync assassin of the season. They lip-synced to ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ by Whitney Houston and I lived! They were pretty even but Jorgeous did have the more solid performance. Jorgeous shantays and Bosco is asked to reveal her chocolate! The tension is high as she peels away layers of wrapping to reveal...A GOLDEN BAR! I was gooped and gagged but extremely happy. I thought it wasn’t Bosco’s time and I’m so glad she gets another chance!
Catch RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 14 exclusively in the UK via the streamer of all things drag, WOW Presents Plus every Saturday, subscribe now here!
