Having grown accustomed to season-ending lip sync smackdowns (and even a virtual finale that exceeded most expectations), the All Stars finales are starting to feel a little “small” by comparison. A choreographed group number with an original solo already feels like a retread of earlier challenges, even if the difficulty has been ratcheted up. When Shea originally…
Category: TOWLEROAD
RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE ALL STARS: SEASON 5, EPISODE 7 – “STAND-UP SMACKDOWN”
Yikes. Watching comedy challenges on Drag Race always feels like toeing the line between cackling and cringing while wearing six-inch stiletto heels. This week’s stand-up smackdown challenge led to a bit too much of the latter. Something of a hybrid between the standard roast and season 12’s more personal, storytelling-style one-queen shows. Most of the gals leaned…
RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE ALL STARS: SEASON 5, EPISODE 6 – “THE CHARLES FAMILY BACKYARD BALL”
What family BBQ is complete without a little drama (and potato salad with raisins, apparently)? Just as important as who’s invited to the party is who ISN’T invited. On last night’s RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, it was our dearly disinvited that made the biggest impression. The specter of India continues to hang heavy in the…
RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE ALL STARS: SEASON 5, EPISODE 5 – “SNATCH GAME OF LOVE”
Do not adjust your screen: You are not still watching Hamilton. Though, you’d be forgiven for confusing it with last night’s episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, because in both there were certainly shots fired. The Drag Race drama went down with a lot less singing and a lot more laughs. Not only was it an episode destined…
RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE ALL STARS: SEASON 5, EPISODE 4 – “SheMZ”
Of course RuPaul, whose adoration for Judge Judy has been well documented, would have a sweet spot for TMZ on TV. The long-running FOX program takes the most base parts of E! News, distills them down to their most vile and then runs it all through a Tosh.0 filter. Like Judy, it’s become an institution (it’s renewed through 2023!), but its cultural…
RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE ALL STARS: SEASON 5, EPISODE 3 – “GET A ROOM”
I don’t know about you, but my fragile state of mind couldn’t possible withstand such a ruthless Drag Race coup as was teased Friday night on All Stars. Had the ladies acted to oust this season’s (former?) frontrunner, it would’ve been forever known as The Red Runway. Luckily, however, we got away with just a slight scare. It…
RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE ALL STARS: SEASON 5, EPISODE 2 – “I’M IN LOVE”
It didn’t take long for the twists of this season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars to have an effect on the competitors, did it? This week saw the young Ru-mocracy reckoning with its choices as frontrunners raced to establish themselves ahead of the pack. Fresh off the first runway, the gals have a lot to process….
RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE ALL STARS: SEASON 5, EPISODE 1 – “WERQ THE WORLD VARIETY EXTRAVAGANZA”
It feels like just last week we were tuning in together to see the virtual coronation of America’s next drag superstar. Now, it’s ten All Stars back from the beyond (Vegas shows, never-ending roast tours, Taylor Swift music video cameos, etc.) vying for a spot in the Drag Race Hall of Fame. All Stars really found its groove since its…
RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE: SEASON 12, EPISODE 12 – “THE GRAND FINALE”
They say necessity breeds invention, and, if that’s the case, RuPaul’s Drag Race season 12 made invention a sloppy, little bottom. Already hamstrung by controversy, the shaky start to season 12 was just the beginning as production (and the rest of the world) was pummeled by the pandemic. Instead of the appropriately grandiose grand finale, the queens,…
RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE: SEASON 12, EPISODE 12 – “VIVA DRAG VEGAS”
Of all the tropes RuPaul’s Drag Race trots out each year, the penultimate episode (I don’t count the Ru-union) is perhaps the most dependable. In an attempt to maximize tension, the judges typically spend the episode lavishing near universal praise on the remaining queens. It’s not undeserved, but they want us to be on the edge of…
