
The horror! The horror! on RuPaulās Drag Race All Stars.
After a few weeks of exemplary challenges on RuPaulās Drag Race All Stars, we really got a stinker this week. When Ryan Murphy is involved, you know results may vary, and that was surely on display as the remaining queens threw themselves into an American Horror Story-themed acting challenge.
These acting challenges rarely reach levels above ācringe,ā but this was a doozy. The writers just named all the characters after the actresses who played them, and the jokes are similarly on-the-nose references. Even though the challenge felt excruciatingly overlong, it still managed to make even less narrative sense than usual.
The costumes were cute though!
The scares actually come a bit earlier in the episode, when the lipstick box reveals the last vote split evenly between Jan and the departed Scarlet. Jan doesnāt understand the judgesā critique and still feels she wasnāt being over the top. Step right up, step right up, see the queen with zero self-awareness! The other girls are quick to assert that, baby, Jan was at 110 percent, at least.
That energy will serve her well this week. In the script, thereās a character inspired by another deeply dark Ryan Murphy project ā Glee. Itās a part everyone knows is perfect for Jan, the self-confessed āRachel Berry of drag.ā Not all the characters are so cut and dry. Pandora and Trinity briefly clash over a part thatās a little Myrtle Snow and then a little Joan Crawford, but Trinity acquiesces with little drama. Ginger and Kylie both want the juicy Jessica Lange character, but Kylie takes it in a high-stakes game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.
Angela Bassett drops by via video to remind all of us that she is just one of the most g*ddamn beautiful people on the planet. She also give notes on acting that are honestly too good for this dreck. Like, what sort of real, lived-in emotion is Ginger supposed to channel when she suddenly sprouts a unibrow having a magic fight with a bearded lady? This is not the time for, like, the Abramovic Method, you know?

Two heads were not enough to help RaāJah on RuPaulās Drag Race All Stars.
If anything, everyone is already too in their heads. Filming with Ross and Michelle drags on. Aākeria, playing a part reminiscent of Gabby Sidibeās Queenie from season three of AHS, is trying so hard, it never really gels. Raājah tries to make a strong character choice playing one of the twins Sarah Paulson portrayed in American Horror Story Freak Show, but itās not quite what Ross and Michelle really have in mind. These two are in danger, for sure.
(Huge missed opportunity to use the Pit Crew in an ode to Finn Wittrockās Dandy Mott, by the way.)
Pandora delivers on the assignment as Myrtle Snow/Joan Crawford, but thereās not a lot of great jokes to land. Trinity gives us Angela Bassett Lite, and itās fine. Both will end up safe. Michelle tells Jan she was born to play āLea,ā which is truly worse shade than when Ru said Scarlet talking about how much she loves her moms made her āuncomfortable.ā Savage.
Eureka is a surprise, but not in a good way. Usually a top performer, especially in an over-the-top comedy challenge, she gets stuck on her delivery and canāt take the directorsā notes. It was like watching a less painful āI was rooting for US!ā

The judges were not Eurekaās BIGGEST FANS!!!! on RuPaulās Drag Race All Stars.
That leaves Ginger and Kylie, the two queens who clashed over the Jessica [Lange] role. Ginger plays the young, fashionable diva (a nod to Emma Roberts in Coven), and sheās great. She nails every bit of physical comedy, every facial expression, every punchline. (Well, whatever one might consider a punchline.)
Kylie struggles at first to meet Langeās KNOTTY PINE?!!! levels of scenery bingeing, but with some coaching from Michelle and Ross, she gets there. It certainly helps that she looks the part. The wig and makeup are on point.
On the runway, the gals give spooky-dookie with Oh My Goth eleganza. Honestly, everyone looks incredible, no exceptions. Much has been said already about the high-cost of competing on Drag Race, and this season has got to be featuring some of the most costly couture. Weāve got dramatic trains, enormous headpieces, sequins, stones, feathers, tulle, Voodoo dolls. Itās a macabre feast for the eyes, and itās giving me all the #HotGothSummer energy.
On a night where so many queens were dinged for not taking the directorsā notes, it makes sense the win is awarded to Kylie. (That and Ginger already got her redemption win last week.) Itās good to see Kylie get her first ever Drag Race win.
Sheās lip syncing this week against Manila Luzón, but it feels like Manila was told to give this one to Kylie. Theyāre facing off to Xtinaās classic āDirty,ā which already feels tailor-made for Kylie, who is, as usual, serving body-ody-ody. She dances actual circles around Manila, breaking out a few backbends into the splits that wow the crowd. On top of her challenge win, she pockets the $10,000 tip.
She pulls out AāKeriaās lipstick, and, really, thereās no arguing with that.
Where does that leave this seasonās crop of All Stars? Letās break it down in the rankings.
- On the heels of a few strong performances,Ā GingerĀ has clawed her way to the top of the pile, for now. I thought her performance was the strongest, given the circumstances, and she looked amazing throughout. Her performances, stellar runways and share of screentime have her in the position to beat.
- TrinityĀ has been delivering strong performances in every challenge (Iām still shook over her BeyoncĆ©), and she consistently has some of the best runways. I would be surprised to see her not make it to the end, and Iām rooting for her to win it all.
- They harped onĀ EurekaĀ for that one line reading, but thatās really splitting hairs. Eureka is a pro-fess-ion-al. She looks great, sheās prepared, sheās giving 100. I think sheāll easily bounce back from this week, especially if the lewks keep serving like her boudoir Bride of Frankenstein this week.
- RaāJahĀ is slipping. Granted, acting challenges are her Achilles heel, so she may still come back from this. I appreciated how she tried to show up on set with a full character, but she got tripped up with the directorsā feedback. Iām really digging RaāJahās runways. They may not be as showy as AāKeria or Eureka, but theyāre chic.
- What is it going to take forĀ PandoraĀ to push through? Sheās consistent, but I never feel like she surprises me. She does exactly what I expect her to do, and she does it well. Itās just not enough when the other queens are showing such growth and evolution.
- Had we not seenĀ KylieĀ struggle in filming, her performance would have been more impressive. Itās just hard to accept as a winner when we had to watch Michelle get up out her seat to physically demonstrate how to do it. Meanwhile, Ginger brought so much to set on her own, even if it was a less flashy role. Still, I donāt begrudge Kylie, and Iām happy to see her get a win. The sync wasnāt a favorite (just one backbend into a split would have had more impact, in my humble opinion). Kylie is always serving body on the runway, but I appreciate the variety in silhouettes in style.
- Oh,Ā Jan. You lucked out this week with that part, but Iām worried about the future. She really canāt see that thing everyone else ā fans, the judges, the other queens ā sees. (I mean, weāve all been there.) The first step to recovery is acceptance, though, and Iām not sure the high-stakes setting of the competition is the place to find that sort of clarity. It seems like weāre in for another couple weeks watching her fight off a Janyeurism trying to balance authenticity and āfunk.ā
- As much as I didnāt want it to be true, it wasĀ AāKeriaās week to go. Too many weeks in the bottom, too many struggles in the challenges. The runways are all so good, but it still bears stating that AāKeria regularly manages to still stand out. She just doesnāt have the theatricality of folks like Ginger, Pandora, Eureka, Jan, etc.
How would you rank the queens?
SOURCE: TOWLEROAD