RuPaul's Drag Race: Frenemies First Watch

November 4, 2016 5:18 PM - Season 4, Episode 8

Paired up with their best "frenemies," the dolls struggle through their differences to pull off live runway duets.
posted by duffell (3 comments total)

• The frenemy competition was a cute idea, and clearly one made with Sharon and Phi Phi in mind; of the three pairs up there, they were the only ones who really had the mutual hatred going on (though Sharon is right, they don't really have the "fr" part of "frenemy" down).
• Ultimately, Sharon and Phi Phi's need to show one another up did them in; they started out strong, but they forgot to have any fun with it. (Funny enough, they literally looked like they got the props for their outfits at Party City.)
• Still, while I enjoyed Latrice and Willam, nobody's performances exactly had me enthralled. The song and dance numbers felt a little bit like high school talent show performances (somewhat expected, since these are not professional singers!) So this felt like yet another weak episode to me.
• Phi Phi, there are times when gyrating madly around the stage is totally badass, and there are times when it just looks desperate. This was the latter. Sharon totally won that and Phi Phi is going homewhaaaaaat? Hey, that's not... what? Huh. Okay. I did not know that was a thing that happened in this season.
• Hasn't Martha Wash had other performers lipsyncing her tunes ENOUGH?

posted by duffell at 6:03 PM on November 4, 2016 [2 favorites]

Oh and I forgot to mention, I loved Ru's runway outfit in this episode. Princess Zelda realness?
posted by duffell at 7:31 AM on November 5, 2016

Polly Graff is a good drag name.

This was the most manufactured episode in Drag Race herstory. First, as dufell says, this was set up to highlight Sharon vs. PhiPhi. Having them lip synch against each other, because I don't see how any pair was better or worse than other. But of course the producers aren't going to end the rivalry that defines this season, so they throw us through a loop by sending Willam away for breaking rules (whatever they were). Which they could have done prior to this moment.
posted by riruro at 10:00 PM on December 7, 2016