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Darlene just had some sort of charm
This season is really impressing me so far!! Loving Darlene, Jane, and Vita especially!! So distracted by Ciara’s makeup this episode though lol
I’m actually really bummed DD went home. I love her personality and I don’t feel she deserved to be in the bottom this week.
I feel like the punk girls got the sourest deal on the song. Was not a great base to work with. They did really well though!! Briar, Jane, Juicy all shined in that group.
I need y'all to up your attention span. Saying the verses were too long... They were roughly 25 seconds each.
Athena should have been in the bottom just for her unprofessional attitude.
Pop and punk groups actually fucking turned it. I haven't vibed with a girl group like those two groups in a long time.
Sad to see DD go but Mandy gave a great lip sync.
Maybe I need to get my eyes checked, but I kinda liked Mandy's table look lol.
I also think that DD Fuego wasn't the worst in the group.
It was giving a better version of Just May's Old Vic look from DRUK4. But the bottom half needed some editorialising
I didn’t vibe with Athena, and I found her make up way to harsh, I still don’t get how Michelle took her as a reference
mandy mango seems sweet but there is something SO uncanny valley about her and i can’t figure out what it is? idk something about her deeply unnerves me
What a bizarre thing to say
Same. Seems lowkey unpredictable
Does anyone else think Darlene looks like Michelle Trachtenburg? also I just love her and her smile
same i love her energy, she’s so bubbly and cute
Is someone going to tell Athena about her back rolls?
Mandy Mango and the judges
juicy and kenya both could’ve easily been in the top. i loveddd kenya’s verse
darlene is so sweet and beautiful i feel like it’s impossible to dislike her
i think about mandy in the lipsync approximately every 5 seconds…. she wanted it BADDD
Juicy and Kenya’s performances were great, i esp loved juicy dancing ! I felt like their verses left a little something to be desired though just imo
I must say that I have no idea who Dove Cameron is (googled her of course) and thought she was a great judge - so often the guest judges don’t give real critiques or have good jokes and she had both!
The songs were god awful. Jane was great but the bottom choices were a mess!
I do really love Kenya’s commentary but worry she will not last. I am sick of Athena. And I’m sorry to see DD go but she definitely lost that lip sync.
The songs were ok but the individual verses were too long. Short and sweet would have made them more tolerable.
i love that you thought the songs were terrible because for once i actually enjoyed them 😭😭
And here I was foolishly looking forward to a season free of dumbfuck baby Queens making stupid age jokes.
So fuck my drag.
I would fight and die for vita, I think
also darlene
yes and yes
Mandy did not deserve the bottom 2. It should've been Athena.
What's that bullshit critique of her energy being too high? The others were too low! She was fine! 🙄
I still don’t get how the only one I don’t like the make up is taken as the reference 😅 I feel Athena's make up is really harsh and need blending
At least we got to see her EAT that lipsync!
RIGHT like was she supposed to maker herself look worse for the team?? Wut
"I can't bend like that!"
"And on the left side is a
"table!" 😭🤌
"We all know Ru LOVES disco, so we all want disco!!!! Punk is obviously the worst choice!!!!!!!"
Rupaul, literally having been in a punk rock band; "..Yeah!"
Punk wins almost every time it comes up on Drag Race! It's the easiest genre to make some laughs out of which is the Golden Ticket to winning over Ru.
i kept yelling PUNK IS THE EASIEST ONE. being messy is part of the vibe and you don’t have to sing. it seems like in every girl grip challenge, punk is the best one
Were these songs made with AI? 😭
OMG MANDY MANGO!!!! i was shrieking and squealing my way through that lip sync oh my godddddd she ate so legendarily hard!?!? release the mango cut!!!!!! i was so IMPATIENT when the camera was off her
Yaaaaaaaaaaas omg
i was hooting and hollering in my living room watching it at 9am the next day
it makes no sense but i can clearly see the family resemblance plane has to athena now that ive watched her speak out of drag
Some interesting judging! The Punk group were clearly the best, honestly would have picked the tops from there, Briar Blush or Juicy could have both been up there with Jane. The Pop group were fine, nice energy and loved Kenya in this one. The Disco group, I got being bottom, I found Athena the bottom performance-wise during it and Darlene apart from the high note bit. I have been loving Mandy's energy and was gutted they were bottom 2 but that lip sync was good, surprised DD lip sync was so lacklustre wondered if they couldn't get the organza off their hands as it really hampered it.
I loved Blair in the girl group as well
They were both good too but I thought Mia Star ate down! I thought she could have taken the win if her runway was a little stronger
It should’ve been Athena lip syncing. I’m tired of Mommie Dearest.
I feel like the cast is doing what they think will work based on the latest seasons. The Disney/Sesame Street song lyrics and the random finger runway were so out of place.
I lived for Briar showcasing her finger 🤣🤣
I felt that way with the hamburger boobs too
Fuego deserved better 🥲
My problem with the judging is I don't think it was fair to put the whole disco group in the bottom and no one else, yes they were the worst but I feel like other individual performances could've been in the bottom 2
They would never risk eliminating Nini over DD at this point in the game for example though
Still I was very happy with this episode! Amazjng step up from the first one
It was so weird having only two queens in the top when some great queens like Juicy Love Dion or Cierra Myst did really good and had great energy. I think Darlene Mitchell did great too so she could have been safe instead of low to make place for another queen in the top. Also Mandy didn't deserve bottom 2, she was the best in her group
Yeah I thought it was a shame to only have two in the top - the songs weren’t great but they never are, I thought the queens did a decent job of it!
Also: how did NO ONE step up and help Mango fix her wonky lash?! (Best Supporting Lash for those that follow ‘Alright Mary’) 😆😆
Tbf Mia told her about it in untucked
What’s the last wonky lash we’ve had? I can’t think of any except Gia, but Aiden Zane did have the wonky contact lens on S12.
Ep 1: solid Ep 2: terrible….and not the queens!… the content. The material was total crap, the runway was humorous but a total toss away. Definitely a drop in the quality from Ep 1 to Ep 2. Here’s hoping Ep 3 onwards picks up. Mango’s got some work to do to not be an obvious next out.
The disco group was, as the kids say, super cringe. It was painful to watch. Each time they cut to TS at the judge's table with that deadpan look? Ouch. Ru's critique about the vibe of their lyrics and chirpy sing-song cadence was correct. They completely missed the assignment (which, to be fair, was not clear at al to mel) to embody Sylvester, or even disco itself. Instead they embodied Rock Lobster on Sesame Street.
Guest judge Robert Baratheon says: "Give me something for the pain and let me die."
The pop group was...fine. A couple of them did very well, were fun to watch, gave good performances. A couple were just fine. Altogether- not terrible. That group did catch the assignment to embody Wham! and that song, specifically, so maybe it was made clearer to the queens off camera? Still, I'm bored to tears with the "original track" draq queen lyrics. "I'm the fiercest, I'm here for the crown, yada yada."
Guest judge Arya Stark says: "What do we say to the god of laryngitis? Not today."
The punk group was clearly the winner, the best in show. Almost every one had good lyrics and performance, some were actually great. Jane and Briar and- surprisingly- Juicy gave the best, imo. I was pleasantly surprised by Dischord after the delusional edit she's had. But Jane's lyrics were clever, the voice was hilarious, and she performed them with confidence and attitude. Loved it. Love her. Love pink.
Guest judge Cersei Lannister says: "When you play the game of girl groups, you win or you die."
I thought the judging was mostly fair, except why why why didn't they do top group and bottom group? If you have one entire group in the bottom, why then have one queen from each of the other two groups in the top? Riggory but for no reason. SMH. If punk had all been in the top the outcome would've been the same- Jane wins. Whatevs i guess, just thought that was dumb.
i cannot for the life of me figure why almost all of them default to a “my name is X and I’m here to say” format when they write verses. do they know you’re allowed to….sing? or at least rap in different cadences? it’s so swagless. Kenya’s verse wasn’t even that good but it looked Grammy aware level because it had an actual melody
Come on Game of Thrones
what even is going on in this season
Thought the lip sync was really bad overall. For a moment, I thought it was going to be a double elimination. I really liked Athena initially but I feel like her ego is getting in the way and making her a little unlikeable. I don’t agree that Jane Don’t won at all.
Ru’s reactions to Mandy’s moves in the lip sync confused me. Was she enjoying them or thinking they were too much? Michelle’s face said the latter too I think.
They were both living. Maybe in a different context it would be too much but come on, the song is literally called Too Much and Mandy embodied it perfectly. Some parts were slightly rough but even that still works for a song that's a bit chaotic
Oh yeah I agree I thought she was great. Michelle just looked a bit off.
The disco group was a hot mess but Darlene definitely should’ve been in the bottom 2 with DD, their verses and performance were terrible.
Also the top 2 should’ve been Myki and Kenya imo.
I can’t stop laughing at Discord’s crunchy walk lol it’s hilarious
I love how this cast is snarky to each other but not mean. Love the banter!!!
I just wanna say that one queen looks like male-Arya Stark and I'm in love with Darlene Mitchell.
The team captains knew what they were doing by picking who they did. That bad news bears leftovers crew fucking sucked. Goddamn
💀
Nini’s voice cracking was giving me S5 Can I Get Am Amen
https://i.redd.it/7x0kosoo9ocg1.gif
HeNrY CavILl
Was I the only one to find it weird that it was "Q-Pop" girl groups when they are clearly 80s/70s inspired (as always)?
Like there was nothing K-Pop about it
And why Q-Pop?? Gay-Pop was right THERE
Are you going to steal that name from the inventor of gay pop herself, Jojo Siwa?
Gay Pop! Here are the 💐 flowers 💐 I have to give because damn, you are so right.
Get the producers in here, we need to talk.
I'm ready for that contract
…who said it was meant to be kpop inspired 😭
Q-Pop is obviously a play on K-Pop mama lmao
And since they filmed this on summer 2025 I think it's pretty safe to assume K-Pop Demon Hunters was the popular thing at the time
Q-pop sounds like a play on K-pop is all
Q= Queen?
Queer?
Q als in, queer pop?
Yeah but gay rhymes with K
An no shade but I was gagged Juicy didn't win, or at least have a top placement, her tricks definitely helped her team
And Athena should've been in the bottom instead of DD, like, the whole "disconnect" between the group was because she didn't listen to their input in the choreo
If willow pill or aquaria wore Mandy’s exact look y’all would be living for it…
I'm curious how far away the judges' chairs are for them to say it didn't read as table. If they think it's sloppy just say that. I thought it was fine, and was confused why Darlene wasn't in her place. Her look read 'I fished this out my drawer five minutes ago, but I'm sunburned so it's camp' 🥱
Agreed!
If either of them had done it it would have been good.
“Exact look”
It would still be a boot. Some of my favorite queens favorite queens ie jinx,bob,monet,kataya wore some awful things. You can stan a queen without being delusional about it.
the critiques this episode was wild i already see productions claws sinking deep into this season… from wanting to “see mia’s eyes” on one of the best looks of the night to dd being in the bottom when they didn’t even MENTION her verse during critiques… drag race feels more about each queens brand and less about the challenges every season, and they edit everyone’s brand to look however they want so it doesn’t feel like it matters anyway 🥴🥴
Productions claws sink into every season it’s a reality tv show. It’s all produced and fake enjoy it for what it is
I rewound several times to make sure I heard this correctly -
did anyone else notice Kenya Pleaser pronounce "epitome" as "ep-ee-tohm" during her runway?
Yes!
THIS! I sat up and said ‘no way she said that and they didn’t correct her and re-film’ *smh
The fact that they left it in makes me believe it was intentional
everyone gagging over mango’s lipsync but most the dips were off beat 🥲. but work miss table
the way she moves her body (on and off stage) is so unnerving to me, i agreed completely when they said she was too frenetic
She had two dips that were off-beat but ngl one of them worked fine as an abrupt dip, and the one that was perfectly on-beat was also the best and most complicated one with how it wasnt just on beat, it was on several beats and stretched out really well.
also aside from the dips i do really feel Miss Mango embodied the song and was on-beat with a LOT of other things that werent those two dips
she truly lip synched for her life, i respect that
It was certainly very energetic.
Jesus famously said "let he who has not dipped off beat cast the first stone"
Work miss table has me DECEASED
I just hear “Honey, this is Christmas, baby” when Athena speaks 😂
Absolutely loving Vita. I would have put her or Briar in the top this week with Jane and Mia. Myki and Kenya are also standing out to me.
“You’ll need to write and record your own verse”
Nymphia found quaking - I swear season 16 is the only time they edited that part out of ru’s intro, maybe to protect her since to my knowledge she’s the only one in show history who’s fully had someone else write their verse (rather than just get help)
As a Gaysian, I still find it baffling how Kim Chi managed to survive any challenge involving movement and Nymphia any challenge involving words.
Wow I actually didn't expect that queen to go home first
She didn’t deserve to imo
If anything, I like DD's and Mandy's verses better than Darlene and Athena
Honestly I don't want discord to change her walk, I love it so much, it's my favorite thing from the season so far
Her walk has even reached the straight side of the internet (according to my coworkers). Iconic
On rewatch, I don’t know if I’m being too critical but both the disco and punk groups verses didn’t sound anything like disco or punk. The chorus did, but almost every queen in those groups basically just spoke their verse over the music. So I really disliked both of those groups. The second group with the 80s song or whatever, I didn’t think they were great but they at least sang their verses to match their genre. This could’ve easily been one of those episodes where they could scold the whole cast for being terrible at the challenge and do one of those “everyone is up for elimination” stunts.
I agree, the disco group sounded more gospel than disco to me lol I have no idea why they fought for that horrible song
Can we talk about how bodied and snatched and padded the girls were tonight? My god, they all looked so good
the entire punk group had cheeks out i was living
... except Darlene Mitchell
Jane’s especially! Im particularly impressed since she is heavier set, her proportions in drag are 10/10!
For some reason Darlene to me translated as fancy free disco. Like Ms Girl was in her own world and it WORKED for me. THAT’S the kind of fun disco should be. Like someone turn on I’m Every Woman and let this bitch FLYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
https://preview.redd.it/3zyvbla07ncg1.jpeg?width=683&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d57075d00a4cc81aedf0c122a1294fc14d69730e
right like idk it totally worked. a lot of them cannot sing or dance, but she’s one of the few who managed to do something entertaining anyway
Kids, one thing you need to know about disco is that it was associated with fabulous dancing, even for the white folks. Darlene moved like a newborn gazelle.
LMAO SO TRUE
Y’all could not handle Broadway Divas if this is your reaction to Athena. That’s a DIVA through and through. Iconic television.
I hope she sticks around a long time. These confessionals kill me.
The tracks these girls were given were criminal!
How they are still making shit music and scripts for these girls is beyond me
Yeah. The music production is straight from Drag Race Spain season 1.
I adore Mandy and her performance was great but let’s not sit here and pretend that runway wasn’t atrocious. CONCEPT WAS THERE but like. Really bad execution.
https://preview.redd.it/ra19bhog2ncg1.jpeg?width=963&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1dff5ea63e0d23c590eecef980a38d1003bead8a
this look is soo ijbol and the selfie on the back MY QUEE
This reminds me of a Leonora Carrington painting, unfortunately that wasn't the assignment though.
But should a “bad” runway land someone in the bottom if their challenge performance wasn’t bad?
NO! But. People in the comments are lying to themselves. The look was BAD.
I’m sorry but the way this picture is makes it look like Mandy’s head is literally on a table and her body is just a column, with smaller Mandy’s hanging out under the table 😂
Sadly I must agree. If you're gonna be a table, be a table! It's hard to actually see it when the proportions are so off. (there's a lesson there, ahem) Like when is the last time anyone saw a table with a 6 foot tall leg (singular) and a 12" diameter top? The dollhouse sized teaset and tchotchkes made the headscratch even scratcher.
I wanted to love it. Her lipsync was goddamn great tho. And that's what counts. Literally.
You know how Bob is colorblind? Mandy Mango might be proportion-blind.
Briar looked like the most puss bitch not on estrogen to ever hit the stage during the challenge. Like absolutely
Well apparently I got spoiled by a random redditor on here a couple weeks ago who "heard a rumor" that DD was first out...
Gasped at Vita’s runway. The look was hottt but just the way she sold it omfg that was so cunt
I don't really get why the queens that are the underdog/not picked in these challenges don't lean into it because it immediately creates a narrative that will resonate with Ru of being the queer kid who isn't picked for the team.
Weirdly, I think DD was the only one who actually got that and tried to leverage it. Then she went poof.
I'm sad as hell, she was one i was really excited about from MTQ. But she lost that LSFYL, no ifs, backs, pussies or cracks.
Not everyone can understand how to be meta in the moment. A lot is going on. Most of these girls have never been part of a TV production.
Briar should’ve won and Athena should’ve been in the bottom instead of Mandy idc
They had to keep Athena safe for the inevitable Mother vs. Daughter LSFYL
Briar’s was not as “punk” as Jane’s
Was Jane punk or was she screaming?
No she fr was not punk, the voice she was using was way more metal inspired than punk. They all seemed to lean more metal than punk and it was disappointing for me because i love punk and hate metal 😭 i had such high hopes… they didnt do bad but they were not serving punk
I mean “screaming” is a great vocal decision for punk lol. Briar’s lyrics were a little clunky, her vocal delivery wasn’t as punk and her dancing was more “80s hair rock strip club.”
I’m not saying she was bad in any way, just in comparison. I loved Jane’s lyrics especially.
I think Mandy got screwed over in the episode because like, critiquing her for giving energy when her group mates didn't is wild. Her look also wasn't nearly as bad as the judges were making it out to be.
I'm glad we got to see her kill it in the lipsync but it really should have been Darlene vs DD.
My hot take is it shouldve been darlene and athena 😭 i know athena is probably a front runner but she did act like the leader of her group and none of them did great, so I’d probably put that responsibility on her lowkey. Obviously she wouldnt go home, but it would be a massive hit to her ego which would be good tv.
Also i do like darlene, im really into her style of drag, but sadly loving someones drag doesnt mean they’re gonna last long on the show and i do get the vibe that shes gonna be an early out, so i wouldnt have been surprised if she went home first.
I agree about the "too much energy" critique. That was reaching. But I gotta say, Darlene's bit with the Sylvester high note was the only bright spot in that whole group's performance, imo. It was funny and cute and the only nod to that artist in the entire number.
Athena Dion and DD were the bottom 2 for me. Even tho i wanted DD to stay for selfish reasons.
The judges clearly hate her lol they’ve been shitting all over her for two episodes in a row. I feel like she should’ve been safe this episode
My exact thought, they clearly don’t like/vibe with her so are gonna put her down no matter what. She was safe two episodes in a row imo.
Yeah, I thought for sure Darlene was going to be in the bottom 2 along with Fuego. Regardless, the right queen went home.
She got the Electra Shock critique.
OMFG you are so correct. She gave the Electra Shock LSFYL, too. And we all did something good in a past life to be able to witness it now.
Yes, I said the same thing! So silly
Any other episode, that feedback would have been "wow, you were the star of that group" not "it's your fault that your group wasn't able to keep up"
I'm very glad Darlene wasn't in the bottom because she seems like such a fun queen! But guuuurl, she should have been!
(Although the elongated eeee was the high light of their song... but even the edit couldn't save her from how off her choreo was :'))
Idk.. I give her a pass because the choreo was rotten so it's not like she ruined it. At least she was entertaining.
Discord's walk is everywhere on my timeline, gahd I hope she doesn't change it. She is sooooooo iconic.
without any music or commentary was hilarious
Darlene Mitchell gives me NPBFAG -- very charming
She was giving me Sami Landri a lot!
Yess! Such a charming queen! She was the worst and the best for me in her group haha and I love that
she has a genuine smile and good attitude through everything, it's nice to see
This episode made me laugh out loud multiple times. I love a good classic punk rock number done right and now I think I need to listen to Dove Cameron’s music…
Yeah imo this should have been the premiere episode challenge, with no elim and then the design challenge episode two. Starting out with girl groups is way more fun
Dove is a great singer!! She gets dismissed a lot cuz she was a Disney kid but she actually has a great voice and some cool music. "Boyfriend" and "Breakfast" are two of my favorite songs from her.
My only reference point for her is her Broadway stuff and I’m already impressed.
Dove's delivery of her jokes was also on point! And she lived for the lip sync and I love artists geeking out over queens performing their songs 😁
Mandy really assasined DD at the lipsync, DD really looked like a bathroom loofah
I thought she was gonna take the loofah off but every time when it looked like that she didn't and the outfit swallowed her up... I would have liked to see more of DD, but Mandy murdered that lip sync!
Mia was robbed. The choreo she made for the team was fantastic and it didn't get enough attention from the judges.
Robbed is strong. Jane did a fantastic job as well and the judges liked her runway more. That’s it. You might not agree, but let’s not act like Jane wasn’t a very deserving winner
I just realized that Mandy Mango was critiqued in her girl group performance for “being too much,” and then proved herself by lip syncing to “Too Much” like “oh yeah? I’ll show you what too much is”