Snatch or Pass (RECAP)

RuPaul's Drag Race S16E8 "Snatch Game"

Snatch Game week! And frankly? I’m pretty disappointed. We need to open the schools. And by schools

I mean the $400 a pop improv classes. I never thought I’d say this, but I miss UCB. Del Close you have left so many children behind. 

Nymphia Wind – Jane Goodall 

“She was the first woman to find out that chimpanzees were basically the same as humans.”
“Is she funny?” 
“No.”

This perfect conversation is, unfortunately, the most funny we get out of Nymphia. Nymphia lands in the bottom three for the first time in the competition for her abysmal portrayal of famed chimpanzee-stan Jane Goodall. There’s very little to enjoy in Nymphia’s performance (though I did laugh when I saw she was wearing her Africa necklace backwards). It’s a lot of monkey sounds and non-sequitur answers: kOoKy comedy with no concept or game to guide it. Flop :( 

Of course, surprising no one, Nymphia looks exquisite on the runway in an editorial interpretation of a Butoh dance costume. And luckily for our banana buddha, it’s juuust enough to save her from lip syncing. Nonetheless, Nymphia’s vulnerabilities have been brought into sharp focus this episode. She better hope there are no more improv comedy challenges in her future!

Dawn – Meghan McCain

 “I wanted to pick someone who I was absolutely fine reading the dog shit out of.”

Well, despite her artist’s statement at the top of the episode, Dawn’s snatch game amounted to a whole lot of nothing. While Snatch Game never has and never will be a “flawless illusion” contest, Dawn’s Meghan McCain neither looked or sounded anything remotely like the conservative reactionary. Not to mention, we didn’t touch on any of Meghan’s vast, iconic source material! Dawn never accused anyone of “interrupting her” she never once shouted “my father…” Dawn I know your Brooklyn-ass is as terminally online as the rest of us are. You must have seen the memes! Dawn is safe this week, and – safe to say – she got away with murder.

Q – Amelia Airhart

And don’t think I’m letting you off scot-free either, honey!! Q is another safe queen who could have easily found herself swapped into a bottom three slot this week. Q’s scattershot responses to Ru’s volleys (which she plays off as ditsy) are a dead giveaway that she had very little prepared. I’d also like to point out that Amelia Airhart’s voice is identical to the Stonewall Brick’s from the RPDR Live challenge a few weeks back. To me, this is clear evidence that Q has one “goofy voice” that she deploys indiscriminately when comedy is the name of the game. Tiresome! Q is saved by her one (1) good quip: when Xunami fumbles a line, Q pipes up “...and I thought I didn’t know what direction I was going!” Though only a brief moment, it demonstrated a level of attention and wit that elevates Q above the bottom half of this week’s crop.

Plasma – Patti LuPone

While Plasma has a very solid physical and vocal impersonation buoying her, we don’t get a lot of laughs. She approaches Patti with a buttoned-up seriousness and politeness, but the reason we love Patti is just the opposite: the Broadway icon in fact has a  very impolite tendency to go off the rails at any given moment, a trait which would have made for much better comedic fodder. She, like Q, is saved by her ability to quip back at Morphine, who insults her in character as Anna Delvey by calling her poor and ugly. “I’ll drink to that!” Plasma replies, sipping her martini. It’s simple, but it’s an in-character button to a joke that Morphine sets up but can’t bring home. A welcome comedic release valve for the awkward tension Morphine has unintentionally created.

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t discuss Plasma’s runway. “These taps are not dubbed, I’m legitimately tap dancing!” Oh, don’t worry we know, girl! Watching Plasma’s unselfconscious joy for all things musical theater is healing in a way. I feel like she’s me if I hadn’t been bullied in high school. Also those pull backs were clean as hell.

Xunami Muse – The Gold Tooth Fairy 

“A made up character! Ok, that’s always gone over well, sister, good for you…”

As the Gold Tooth Fairy, Xunami is totally and completely lost. Nothing crazier to me than making up a character without making up any concepts or jokes to go along with it, but here we are. She gets not one intentional laugh from Ru, and I would describe her singular character trait as, at best, “confused.” During critiques Michelle and Ru describe her character as “a good idea,” which begs the question: what idea? I’m very glad Xunami had a chance to shine in her salsa outfit this week, a bright light in an otherwise tough final episode for the NYC queen.

Morphine Love Dion – Anna Delvey

Morphine brought the look and the voice to Anna Delvey in the snatch game, which was enough to elevate some of her competitors to “safe” status. However, Morphine erodes that head start over the course of the rest of the challenge. Not once, but twice she is one-upped and embarrassed when trying to read her fellow queens in character on stage. If your “thing” is going to be antagonizing people, you’ve got to be able to land the joke! Instead, her performance consists of teeing up other queens for punchlines rather than claiming any laughs for herself. This crucial misstep lands her in the bottom next to her bff Xunami.

Mhi’ya Iman Le’Paige – Tiffany pollard  Trina’s Cousin Shaquita

“Mhi’ya decided to make up a character that is at least somewhat relatable. We know who Trina is, so we know who Shaquita must be.”

You know what? Sure, actually. Mhi’ya gives a solid performance as Trina’s cousin Shaquita: a Miami party girl. Yes, the performance is somewhat one note, but that’s one more note that many other queens this week were able to find (let alone hit consistently.) You never feel nervous watching Mhi’ya. She always has answers at the ready, she’s able to consistently relate answers back to her character, and she seems to have fun while doing so. Props, girl. That said, something about the way the judges praise her on the runway feels final to me. Ru seems to be indicating that Mhi’ya’s growth arc (and, thus, her narrative function on this season) is complete. Potentially teeing her up to be eliminated next week? I’m having a Madame Web-esque vision of it all.

Plane Jane – Jelena Karleusa

Sorry, haters, Plane Jane once again nails it this week. Her proficiency with comedy and character creation is leagues above her peers, and it’s a breath of fresh air in this week’s Snatch Game. Plane plays Serbian pop star Jelena Karelusa, an abrasive, horny, jetlagged BBW (“Beautiful Balkan War survivor.”) As you have likely gathered, the persona overlap between Plane and Jelena is not insignificant, which only enhances the performance. Plane has her own slew of jokes, of course (mistranslated pop culture references, plastic surgery bits) but she also shines in her off-the-cuff quips. And it’s those quips, towards Morphine, Nymphia, and even Ru, that elevate her snatch game from good to great.

As usual, Plane is abrasive and dismissive of her fellow competitors begging for her immunity potion in the Werk Room and thank god. I hate a bitch who grows and self-improves! Instead, she focuses on looking fucking correct and the runway, which she does. A well-deserved second win.

Sapphira Cristal – James Brown

Really solid work from Sapphira this week, as we’ve come to expect. More than anything, it’s clear Sapphira is a competitor at heart, and her package reflects that of a prepared queen who came here to win the whole damn thing. As Plane points out, she’s in her sucking up era this week: a James Brown snatch game (Ru’s first ever concert) and a Majorette Drag U runway (Ru’s beloved pet project)? It’s definitely very much giving teacher’s pet teas. But can you blame her? Sucking up is a tried and true Drag Race strategy because it works. That said, Sapphira’s James Brown is far from just a cynical strategy play. She came prepared with bits and vocals, and she’s more than prepared to volley back and forth with Ru whenever the situation requires it. I’ve got a real soft spot for this savvy queen. 

Kyra Sedgwick – Madeline Khan

The true winner of this week’s ep tbh. Our secret 15th queen bursts onto the scene with a banger of a Madeline Khan impression. Kyra is incredibly dropped in, her vocal impression is on point, and she brought the jokes. I wouldn’t be surprised if she goes all the way. Absolutely robbed. Nothing but respect for my star of TNT’s The Closer.

It’s besties Xunami and Morphine in the bottom this week, and I’ll be sorry to see either go. If you know me, you know I loveee an emotional lip sync and this one (to Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody”) delivers. However, at my core I’m a Morphine stan, and I demand that she stick around as long as humanly possible, so the final result is a relief. Morphine Addicts rise! I just know our queen will eat the makeover challenge if she makes it another few eps.

READING RUNDOWN

“Plasma, my girl, where were you on January 6th” – Xunami

But notice how she didn’t answer the question…

“What if Mhi’ya won… I would shit.” – Q 

LMAOOOO

“Nymphia, knock knock.”
“Who’s there?”
“Banana.”
“Banana who?”
“Knock Knock!”
“Who’s there?”
“Banana…”
“Banana who??
“That’s what it feels like to talk to you.” – Dawn

Get her ass, Dawn!!