RuPaul's Drag Race: Snatch Game First Watch

October 24, 2016 5:22 PM - Season 4, Episode 5

The queens compete in a star-studded TV game show featuring their most fabulous & funny celebrity impersonations. With extra special guest judges comedian Ross Mathews & original Dreamgirl Loretta Devine.
posted by duffell (5 comments total)

• Phi Phi, Kenya, and Jiggly were annoying the fuck out of me. I'm with Chad and Latrice on this. Phi Phi, honey, LADY GAGA DOES NOT ACT OR TALK LIKE THAT, AT ALL AT ALL AT ALL. Kenya, wtf was farting Beyonce? Snoring Beyonce? What even were you doing? And Jiggly, girl, I mean... you did *ok* but your weird grinding was just out of left field.
• My faves in the Snatch Game were Willam, Latrice, Chad, and Sharon. Jessica Simpson is the role Willam was born to play. And Latrice slapping Willam's hand was a perfect little moment. Chad's Cher was very well done and came off as very authentic, but it was Sharon that stole the show as far as I'm concerned. That Michelle Visage turned out very well! Surprisingly well!
• In other news, Milan's Diana Ross was a hot mess. Dida's Wendy Williams wins the award for Most Forgettable (which is to say, still better than half of the other queens.)
• HOLY SHIT, Milan's Jenelle Monae! That was amazing! And her fancy-dance runway prance was SPOT ON. Love.
• Whoa shit you guys, did you know Willam has done TV acting? Why hasn't this come up in previous episodes?
• DAMN, the lipsync game is intense this season! I could've seen either (or both) of these queens staying around after their performances. And while I could take or leave Milan most of the time, I feel like I could watch an entire runway and lipsync competition show with her at the helm.

posted by duffell at 6:01 PM on October 24, 2016

I kinda wish Milan would have done Janelle Monae for Snatch Game - but how do you make her funny?

The Snatch Game was a hot, hot, hot mess. Really separated the pros from the not-so-pros. I found myself warming to Willam for the first time and Latrice can do no wrong (loved her smackdown in the workroom). Sharon's smart but the trophy had Chad's name on it from the second he was cast.
posted by kariebookish at 4:09 AM on October 25, 2016 [1 favorite]

I feel like this is the first time I could see Willam demonstrating that he has some self-awareness. That Jessica Simpson was hilarious.

What is it about Drag Race always putting the presumed winners in the upper left and bottom right corners? Whoever is in the bottom right corner also has a 80% chance of changing their wig.

"Romper Room fuckery" is an instant classic. Latrice is so great.
posted by tchemgrrl at 4:53 AM on October 25, 2016 [3 favorites]

That was a mess of a Snatch Game, the worst in Drag Race herstory. Which is an impressive accomplishment because Snatch Games are always underwhelming. Maybe 1 to 3 queens bring the humor and the rest are forgettable. This one stands out as an outright disaster!

I expected Sharon to win based on making RuPaul laugh so hard. But, like Pandora Boxx as Carol Channing, that doesn’t mean a victory. By the way, Sharon will up her Michelle for a Drag Race special a few years later.

I am not a Cher fan, so assume RuPaul saw elements in Chad’s Cher that totally hit home, but I missed. I enjoyed Chad, don’t get me wrong. I’m just thinking why Sharon didn’t win.

It was interesting in the workroom when Chad talked about doing a true Cher impersonation and not going for how pop cultural normally depicts her. I did not know that was an issue with Cher. However, I am a huge loser nerd, so know that William Shatner never spoke with odd pauses and emphasis on random words. That just became the go-to way to parody Captain Kirk.

Latrice and Willam were very good, just not quite up there with Chad and Sharon. Also, out of all the queens that rely on body (Rebecca Glasscock, Tatianna, Carmen Carrera, Courtney Act) Willam had the best runway looks.

Kenya and PhiPhi made the same mistake Tyra and Sonique did in season 2. There is not much to parody about Lady Gaga’s and Beyonce’s personalities. Neither have tabloid antics and we don’t know much about them other than what they present while performing. At least Tyra had a solid Beyonce look her season. PhiPhi’s was so flat for a Gaga. I don’t know what Kenya was thinking.

In contrast, there’s a lot Jiggly could have done as Snooki if she had comedy skills. Willam was beating her at the play a character as stupid angle. So she went to the South Park Snooki? That takes me back (‘member when South Park created cultural memes? No one is talking about Garrison-as-Trump, and that makes me a sad panda).

Milan as Diana Ross was bad, but not Bottom 2 bad. Not in this Snatch Game. She was punished for her runway look. Which I really liked! At least she killed it on the lip-sync.
posted by riruro at 3:11 PM on October 25, 2016 [1 favorite]

Phi Phi should have been B2 with Kenya here, but I suspect Kenya would've destroyed her in the lip sync and they needed Phi Phi to be a foil for Sharon.

SG is one of those challenges that really separates the contestants, but this SG is one of the most high-variance, I think. Willam, Sharon, and Chad were all amazing (Willam's bonus footage in Untucked is so fucking funny), Latrice and Dida did fine, Jiggly was okay, and Milan, Phi Phi, and Kenya were just hilariously terrible and annoying.
posted by en forme de poire at 3:57 PM on October 29, 2016