WARNING: SPOILER ALERTS AHEAD. If you haven’t watched then don’t read on.
The latest episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race was downright insane. There have been some pretty intense fights on this show in the past but the one between Kandy Muse and Tamisha Iman may be its most volatile.
Kandy & Tamisha got into it right as the show began on Friday night. The New York City queen was in the middle of one of her rambles when she said that Symone was her biggest competition based on how well Symone has done so far. That didn’t sit well with Tamisha, who argued that Kandy hasn’t seen her other competitors just yet, which, she’s right about.
Tamisha has been a fan favorite for many from the get go for so many reasons and the way she’s able to handle Kandy is another. She’s logical, calm, and can get her point across, while fans of the show are saying Kandy just gets furious the instant she feels slighted. This initial argument was nothing, though, compared to what was to come between them later on.
The queens had to serve adult baby realness for the mini challenge which revolved around them dancing and acting a fool in their child-like ensembles. LaLa Ri, who was in the bottom three last week, redeemed herself with a big fat win thanks to her hilarious dancing abilities while rocking a diaper.
Ru then revealed that the maxi-challenge will be The Bag Ball! Categories are: Mixed Bag, Money Bag, and a look made entirely out of bags (this was the one they had to make from scratch).
To be honest, there wasn’t much happening in between them getting ready and the main stage. Panic set in for Symone who admittedly can’t sew, although she was lucky enough to have others help her with her bag lewk.
It is hard to believe that any queen can come on Drag Race at this point and not know the fundamentals of sewing. Every season has at least one challenge that centers on them making an outfit so for Symone to use this excuse is quite disappointing.
We are then treated to 36 different outfits from the 12 remaining competitors with some clearly shining while others struggled with more than just one outfit. It was kind of clear that Gottmik, Rosé, and Utica were the best as they delivered with every number they stormed the stage with while LaLa and Joey Jay pretty much failed with everything they wore (minus LaLa’s second piece).
Gottmik, whose last outfit reminded me so much of Aquaria‘s in the season 10 ball, was declared the winner although quite frankly it should’ve been a tie between her and Utica.
LaLa and Joey Jay, unsurprisingly, end up in the bottom two. I’ve grown to love LaLa’s personality but that Rite Aid/CVS paper bag outfit she made was an absolute mess. Luckily she did a phenomenal job in the lip sync and was saved from elimination. Joey, as a result, got the boot.
I never really include Untucked stuff in my recaps but today there will be an exception. First off, kudos to the Drag Race people for not teasing Kandy & Tamisha’s blow up ahead of time. We had no idea what we were going into and it was something thrilling to watch from start to finish.
Kandy literally lost her s**t in Untucked because she was called out by Tamisha and others for being arrogant. This led to the two getting in each other’s faces before Kandy stormed out of the werk room with Tina Burner and Gottmik in an attempt to calm down.
There are many layers to this that need to be addressed. Has Kandy acted arrogant on the show? Yes. Does she gaslight many situations, especially with her constantly criticizing Elliott With 2 T’s? Yes. Is she unaware of her actions and can’t process them correctly? Yes.
Hundreds of Instinct Magazine followers voted in our poll about Kandy being either confident or arrogant with the majority voting for the latter.
I think Kandy, ultimately, is good reality television. Without her this season feels a bit RuPaul’s Best Friends Race so it’s fun to watch, but my hope is that at some point she actually takes in what some of these queens are saying as they come with good intentions.
Other notes from this episode and UnTucked:
- The conversation about Black Lives Matter was touching to watch, especially with LaLa Ri who said she lived minutes from the Wendy’s where Rayshard Brooks was gunned down.
- Utica finally got her chance to shine. Her final outfit goes down in my history books as one of the best this show’s runway has ever seen.
- Nicole Byer should be a permanent guest judge in future seasons. She has a phenomenal energy about her that’s fun to watch.
- The bee chasing Gottmik, Tina, and Kandy was hysterical and a much needed break from the craziness that happened minutes before.