RuPaul's Drag Race: L.A.D.P.!
April 26, 2019 2:58 PM - Season 11, Episode 9 - Subscribe

The queens clash with the law in the hit TV series “Los Angeles Drag Patrol”. Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll), Cheyenne Jackson (American Horror Story) and Fortune Feimster (The Mindy Project) guest judge.
posted by supercres (21 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Not nearly as down on the challenge as T&L. All but the bottom two’s scenes were watchable, and I agree with the tops; both were surprisingly good.

I get A’keria’s win, and the concept was great, but BLH’s execution was 👏 (though yes, she commissioned the really intricate metalwork).

Yvie’s runway was the best to me... but man she didn’t do much with the scene. I kept yelling “GET OUT OF THE CAR!” I get the feeling they didn’t watch the others’ scenes first, because she probably could have been on par with BLH’s movement work and boosted into the top.

Is Silky in trouble? That’s how the episode was cut, especially with Untucked. She didn’t get mad about the reading challenge like I thought; just seemed a little over it.
posted by supercres at 3:11 PM on April 26, 2019


Silky’s runway wasn’t just bad; it was contemptuous of the very idea of effort. That said, they spent an awfully long time on her in the edit for someone who was just safe, so she’s falling soon.

The reading challenge... were they all drunk? Good lord.
posted by Automocar at 3:24 PM on April 26, 2019 [1 favorite]


Also yikes Plastique’s lips. Looked like she’d been living in a desert and/or sandblasted around the mouth.
posted by supercres at 3:43 PM on April 26, 2019


I keep thinking about why Silky was so 😐 this episode after winning the signature challenge. Doesn’t make sense. UNLESS

(Sorry for the armchair psychoanalysis)

She wanted the storyline of winning the challenge where either the villain (in her mind) or the front runner goes home. The double shantay bothered everyone else but only in Silky’s mind did it duck up her narrative arc. And she’s the only one trying to backseat-produce the show.

This comment on AVClub about Silky off RPDR is interesting. Makes a lot of sense— as TV viewers we get a very different picture of queens than on their traditional (i.e. pre-RPDR) stage.
posted by supercres at 4:34 PM on April 26, 2019


Ru’s bits as the dispatcher were totally hilarious. “Yes, I speak cat. Mraow. M-r-r-ew.”
posted by sixswitch at 8:55 PM on April 26, 2019 [4 favorites]


Yeah, that was the messiest goddamn read mini challenge ever. It was just...anarchy. Like, fun anarchy, but what.
posted by Jilder at 5:33 AM on April 27, 2019 [1 favorite]


Plastique Tiara dropped a video for her single, Irresistible, yesterday, not to be confused with Blair St. Clair's Irresistible. Where some see a rip-off, I don't.

Anyway, this episode. Yeah, the library has been condemned, and L.A.D.P. has not been extended beyond this disastrous pilot. The queens didn't work together on their pieces, or if they did, it didn't show.

But from all this, A'keria definitely deserved her win. BLH did a great job in the acting, but she wasn't a scene partner, and I agree with T&L -- her runway was more costume than drag.

Back to Plastique: her runway was ... confusing. Her "mask" felt like how not to wear a bike helmet -- did she have her straps on backwards?
posted by filthy light thief at 8:21 AM on April 27, 2019 [1 favorite]


I hated the maxi challenge this episode! No one was funny at all. I don't know if it was the production or what, but I just found the entire thing tedious. I could barely tell who was "good" from it. I feel like in other episodes, Brooke Lynn's performance would have been read and everyone was just flat. I think this season just isn't that good.
posted by urbanlenny at 9:58 AM on April 27, 2019


It’s astonishing to watch this season and think there was a season in which Katya lost. And that was thought of as not a very good season! Put Katya up against this season. Or Alaska. Or Adore Delano. Or Ben de la Creme. They’re giants by comparison, I feel.

There just isn’t a great queen in this pack. Is there? Evie is a good story and has her moments; Brooke Lynn Heights is about as clever as her name; Vanjie has the best confessionals but that’s about it. Am I missing anyone?
posted by argybarg at 10:47 PM on April 27, 2019 [7 favorites]


The game has changed. I follow Yvie and BLH on Instagram and damn can they turn a look there. Many of the others are priceless in 5-second quip chunks (Silky and Vanjie). But other than that? ...

FWIW Katya and BDLC didn’t need to win a season to become internationally touring one-woman shows. Can’t say the same for a majority of recent queens. I wonder if they’ve hit a point where everyone who is (1) fully established, (2) fully fleshed out and mature, and (3) wants to go on the show already has.
posted by supercres at 5:58 AM on April 28, 2019 [1 favorite]


I wonder if they’ve hit a point where everyone who is (1) fully established, (2) fully fleshed out and mature, and (3) wants to go on the show already has.

I was just wondering that. There are plenty of amazing queens who are not into fitting the RPDR mold, and there are good glamorous Ru-like queens who've been doing this for eighteen months, but they pretty quickly hit their limit. There aren't that many Aquarias, who are amazing enough to have top-of-the-game mentors like Susanne Bartsch before they can legally drink.

I was thinking at one point that I really like that these are rougher queens; this is closer to how most people experience drag at a bar on a Thursday night, or whatever. I kind of had hopes that this was drag returning to its roots, of things thrown together or sewed or just a little wilder, punker, a little more dollar drag. I think the problem is that the format of the show isn't conducive to making good television with less-experienced queens anymore. Snatch game is really hard! Improv is really hard! So is sewing for HD and performing and learning choreography. (This week's What the Tuck featured an incredibly good breakdown of why their improv scenes weren't working and it wasn't even a masterclass, just a class. Honestly, this week's episode was one of the best of the podcast since I've started listening.)

I wonder if the show will have to do a reformat soon, a la Project Runway, to be able to make good TV with drag queens who aren't as already-accomplished, or who aren't all-rounders. I know Nina is super-experienced and a bit of a titan (who...doesn't already know how to proportion her bust and hips? Urgh.), and I wonder how she in particular would do in a more supportive environment. And open the show up to trans queens and bioqueens and bearded queens, and see who shows up!
posted by kalimac at 8:51 AM on April 28, 2019 [6 favorites]


Wow, tough crowd.

I am actually enjoying this season quite a bit, and don't agree that the quality of the queens has gone down. I think this particular admixture is rather... volatile, but I actually think they're amazing considering how the entire drag ecosystem has changed in the last decade. There are expectations and pressures on these queens that those in the early seasons didn't have to deal with, both on the front end of applying for and getting selected for Drag Race, and on the back end with social media and an increasingly rabid fandom. Queens competing now know they are operating on multiple levels, both in the moment and for the future.

In any case, Brooke or A'keria could stand up to any season, and the other remaining queens would not have been out of place among previous casts. As for What the Tuck, while they did a smart breakdown of the improv scene dynamics, they are also judging by what I consider to be an unfairly high standard, since they come from the comedy world. Were the reads ready for the stand-up stage? No. Were most of them terrible? Yes. Was I still entertained and even charmed by many of the queens as they bombed? Also yes.

Different strokes, I guess. Meanwhile, I'm having a good time, even as I'm at the very bottom of my fantasy league leaderboard.
posted by Superplin at 11:38 AM on April 28, 2019 [2 favorites]


- Why is my sister named Rose?
- Because your other father loves roses so much
- Oh OK thanks Dad
- No problem Nina's Polka-Dot Runway
posted by en forme de poire at 3:19 PM on April 28, 2019 [7 favorites]


(In this version of the meme I am apparently married to Valentina)
posted by en forme de poire at 3:20 PM on April 28, 2019 [2 favorites]


The worst thing I can say about this season is that I keep thinking it just started because I’m waiting for them to get rid of the dead weight... and next week is episode 10.
posted by Automocar at 4:13 PM on April 28, 2019


I want to learn more about level 4 veganism.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 3:06 PM on April 29, 2019


Nina's look was fucking amazing and I was gutted she didn't get a shoutout for it. Just gorgeous.
posted by Jilder at 4:17 AM on May 1, 2019 [2 favorites]


I want to learn more about level 4 veganism.

Just watch Simpsons ca 1995 🙄
posted by supercres at 4:16 PM on May 1, 2019 [3 favorites]


I want to learn more about level 4 veganism. Just watch Simpsons ca 1995 🙄

I know a lot of people on Reddit et al. are ragging on Brooke for "stealing" this joke, but honestly, a lot of improv consists of making these kinds of popular culture connections. I thought it was smart.
posted by Superplin at 5:21 PM on May 1, 2019


It was a good reference, she should have just switched it up a tiny bit.
posted by en forme de poire at 10:01 PM on May 1, 2019 [1 favorite]


In my experience, those kinds of pop culture references just kind of bubble up into your consciousness during a scene. I very much doubt she planned that in advance.
posted by Superplin at 1:41 AM on May 4, 2019


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