RuPaul's Drag Race Season 14 Episode 13 Review
Hello, Hello, Hello and welcome BACK to another rucap! This week 7 became 5 as the girls were pitted against each other in the iconic roast challenge, followed by the runway themed ‘TuTu Much’. Stick around for my thoughts on who I thought slayed the roast and runway, and who left more to be desired.
After Bosco unwrapped the golden chocolate bar last week, it’s safe to say that some queens are feeling a type of way about it. Deja mentions how now nobody has a saving grace and being asked to sashay away will be final. This is definitely an added pressure that girls have to accept moving forward in the competition. Bosco got saved by the drag gods but now must prove herself worthy, she has placed in the bottom two weeks in the row and can’t afford to keep that streak up.
I absolutely loved the mini-challenge in this episode, where the queens were split into two groups and had to paint massive canvas’ of RuPaul and Dolly Parton. I would have definitely wanted to be in the group that painted Dolly as I wouldn’t want to insult Mother Ru by painting her badly. In the end, the group that painted Dolly were victorious, winning the privilege of deciding the running order of the roast.
When RuPaul announces the roast, I could visibly see the fear and anxiety in some of the queens, particularly Jorgeous and Willow! This challenge is definitely not for everyone as you have to not only write good material, but improvise and deliver the one-liners in a specific manner. Straight from the bat, I expected Bosco and Angeria to exceed in this challenge as they have proven to be funny and quick witted.
When the queens are deliberating the running order, they seem to take everyone’s request into consideration...the girls are playing nice! In this challenge, running order is absolutely influential to the success (and failure) of the contestants. Having someone who is brilliant at a roast go directly after or before a queen who is subpar will really emphasise that. There will always be a clear distinction from the queens that deliver, and those who don’t! The traditionally hardest places to succeed have always been opening and closing, because you are tasked to set the tone of the roast or leave one last impact on the judges. All in all, the queens reach fair agreements and everyone gets assigned the position that they wanted.
Time to rank the roasts and runways!
Coming in at first place has to be Bosco, for her efforts in both the main challenge and runway. Bosco’s roast struck the perfect balance of snappy one-liners and carefully constructed heavy hitters. Although she didn’t necessarily roast Ross to the full extent that she could, her jokes were funny, witty and snappy! Then the cherry on top really was her runway, where she came out in a totally different take on the classic ballerina. The reason why she had my favourite look was because she took the often times overused concept of a ballerina and made it into something that we truly haven’t seen before on the runway. Bravo Bosco! Welcome back to the competition!
Willow and Lady Camden come in at second this week...I honestly couldn’t decide between them. Willow’s roast was weaker than Lady Camden’s, but her runway was just so unique and well thought out. Lady Camden’s roast was good but had its weak points, and Willow’s roast was consistent but I just wish she would have had more material! In terms of the runway, there’s no denying that Lady Camden looked spectacular, but we’ve already seen what a breath-taking ballerina outfit looks like back when Brooke Lyn Hytes served it in Season 11. On the other hand, Willow came out in such a cool and fresh take on ‘TuTu Much’, completely changing her face structure and embodying the essence of the character she created.
Daya Betty came out with a very edgy take on the ballerina and although I didn’t enjoy it as much as Lady Camden’s opulent display, I appreciate the originality! Her roast, however, was just not living up to what was asked and she didn’t make a mark on that stage. I’ve placed her as middle of the pack because I enjoyed some of her jokes more than Angeria’s and also gravitated more towards her runway.
Angeria was by no means bad this week, in fact her confidence in the roast and safe runway is what probably saved her. Her roast was...functional and kind of effective. It wasn’t anything wow but she certainly didn’t bomb as hard as Deja, Jorgeous or even Daya. My problem was with her runway which required her to have a tutu-eque feel and for me...it didn’t. She came out in a stunning gown that featured tulle, but tulle alone does not a tutu make! Once again, Angeria does look flawless embracing her pageant roots, but the brief isn’t necessarily being met!
Lastly we have Deja and Jorgeous who both bombed in the roast. Deja didn’t take on board the constructive feedback she receives and Jorgoeus allows her anxiety to sabotage her set. They also didn’t really deliver in the runway, with Deja presenting another flowy dress and Jorgoues with a mismatched Madonna-esque set. It didn’t sit right! All in all, it wasn’t a good week for these two stunning queens.
The judges seem to agree with me as they gave the win to Bosco, who very much deserved it. This makes her a three-time winner and the officially front runner! Daya, Deja and Jorgeous were the bottom three and all of them were asked to lip-sync to ‘Good 4 U’ by Olivia Rodrigo...they have BUDGET this season! The lip-sync was very much Daya’s cup of tea and they absolutely encapsulated the song! The gag this week was that Ru would be sending not one, but two girls home. Daya shantayed whilst Deja and Jorgeous shashayed, I think it was definitely their time and the right contestant advanced to top 5! Now go give Jorgeous and Deja some love!
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!
