Please welcome to the stage....Miss Ari Gance
Added 2021-01-30 20:28:02 +0000 UTCHappy Saturday, Patrons! How are we doing?? If you're feeling a little heavier today, no fear, this week we all have BAGGAGE.
Cause...ya know...the bag ball...
This week it's bags bags BAGS ACROSS THE BOARD!
Also I'm in classes for school all weekend and currently writing this post on a break so apologies if it's slightly shorter and slightly less sensical than the normal drawn out nonsensical mess it has been!
Where do we begin?!
Ohhhh what an episode for LEWKS. Almost too many lewks, imho. I need to pick up another bottle of eye drops because episode 5 had THIRTY SIX FREAKING LOOKS and I felt like if I blinked I might miss something fantastic and by the end of it my eyes had crusted over like the crispy onions on top of a green bean casserole. You get it.
Let's start with the drama up top. First, sweet Denali had her feathers all ruffled coming off yet another (well deserved) lip sync win and her fear of being seen as a bottom-bitch-loser was heartbreaking. When she said I want these girls respect almost as much as I want to win this competition I audibly 'AWWW'D'. That feeling of constantly having to prove yourself not only to the judges and but to your community and fellow contestants was real and raw and relatable. But I think it'll work in her favor...get that dark horse storyline pumping. Everyone loves an underdog. The only thing I love more than underdogs are...dogs.
But that sweet moment was usurped by ... guess who...Kandy. In my notes I just wrote "Kandy talks a lot." lol. She talks A LOT but doesn't say much. But I LOVED that the mature voice of reason, Tamisha, spoke up and spewed just pure stinging zingers. When Kandy was going on about Symone being the biggest competition and Tamisha said No, no, no. No, no, no. Don’t … no, no. She is competition, but she ain’t your biggest. You haven’t seen us yet. I practically stood up and cheered.
Tamisha with a fucking fire under her ass is SOMETHING I AM ALL THE WAY HERE FOR. Then she went on to give one of the greatest and wisest lines re: Kandy...
“There’s a thin line between confidence and arrogance”
Ughhhhh, I loved it!!! Tamisha is a wealth of quotes... wealthier than the actual cash prize of the whole damn show.
But speaking of babies, the mini challenge was to get into quick baby drag which made me all the way uncomfortable. I'm sure this is someone's kink, which makes me even more uncomfortable. They were all pooper troopers, but baby drag just isn't for me. That said, LaLa as a baby had the perfect kind of passionate, confusing commitment so I'm very glad she won.
Now onto the BAG BALL! Look, with social influencing being part of my job I fully respect a brand deal, but this was A LOT. Three looks each!? And one of them was solely so they could each hold that big ass coach purse that looked like they let actual babies put stickers on it before they hit the runway?? It did make me lol...I've always appreciated Drag Race's ability to embrace their blatant brand deals. But did we need three looks each?? That's so many looks. Did y'all think it was so many looks? Because it was so many looks. Three looks each.12 girls. THIRTY SIX FREAKING LOOKS. That's just so many looks.
Some of my highlights from the werkroom:
-Utica teaching Lala how to use a sewing machine...the cadence of her Utica's voice sounded like she was in some sort of after school special
-Finding out Tamisha was the first person that put Lala in drag and now they're competing together...spooky universal energy shit right there!
-Them giving Utica a little taste of ball culture
-Lala's stressed out talking head about her little hot glued gift bag mess of a dress saying "lord bitch... you know you’re not a bitch, lord!" Lord, I love Lala's talking heads. They're pure magic.
-The BLM conversations were wonderful and heartbreaking and I'm so glad to hear them talk about it so honestly
-Kandy asking Joey Jay about her outfit and then Kandy clearly immediately losing interest in everything she was saying
Then we finally get to the runway! For a quick parade of THIRTY SIX FREAKING LOOKS. First of all...Ru's short pink dress was amazing. Second of all, Nicole Byer was back to judge and that was also amazing. Now, I tried to take notes on all the looks...but...ya know...it was THIRTY SIX FREAKING LOOKS. So, here are my highlights...
-JoeyJay's obliviousness to the double pun of her look lol
-I'm still dumbfounded by how Symone got those big ass fun bags inside her dress
-Utica's poodle saying "I'm a beautiful French poodle and I am just wiggling my nose"
-Denali's bitch ass long nail cigarette ...I LOVED IT
-Gottmik's Cruella Deville meats Pink! meets Devil Wears Prada with a hint of Avril Lavigne as a rich bitch in the loofa section ensemble was stellar
-Utica's SLEEPING BAG LOOK WAS EVERYTHINGGGGGGG!!! The camping section of Dick's Sporting Goods was quaking
I'm a little bummed that Ru thought Utica should try taking some of the campiness out of her looks. I totally disagree. I think Utica is doing camp on an elevated, elegant, eeeeextremely entertaining level! Like actual outdoor camping, I feel like camp in the drag world can get real annoying real quick and I think Utica is doing it so creatively and so cleverly. She's got that subtle sense of silliness that nails it for me!
I am glad that Gottmik won, even though I think it should have at least been a tie between her and Utica.
Then we get to our unfortunates...Joey Jay and LaLaRi. Which, fortunately, allowed us to get THE FULL LALA EXPERIENCE. And holy shit, was that an experience!!! That performance was FDA approved because she had by Full. Dang. Attention.
I also loved that I could hear a low, manly voice in the background scream YES BITCH during the performance. I have no idea where it came from, I think it might have been Kandy, but it truly killed me. Did anyone else hear that??
After that magic we sadly had to say goodbye to full time cutie, Joey Jay. It was a tough call because, ya know, Lala truly shit the bed on that outfit but she cleaned up that shit and put on fresh sheets with that performance. So I'm glad she's staying.
Then we have the messy aftermath which included the introduction of Miss Ari Gance as the newest contestant in the competition. lol. Tamisha and Kandy's fight was hilarious to me because Tamisha came straight for Kandy but Kandy responded as if a ghost was calling her out. She never seemed to make eye contact or respond directly back to her. She just vomited a bunch of noise in every direction but Tamisha's and then went outside and got chased by a bee for a while. God, I love this show.
Okay, I gotta get back to class soon but, as always, let me know what your thoughts are!! I really, really want Tamisha to kill it and I'm so freaking excited to see Utica continue to camp, camp CAMP IT UP! (aww memz) I think the next episode they're back to dancing so it's any lady's game! Have great weekends, y'all! ❤️G
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Comments
i heard the “YES BITCH!!!” !!! i rewinded it a few times to see who it was, but it was off camera!!! and i agree about the baby shit... one of the most uncomfortable things i’ve seen on television, i actually yelled to my boyfriend in the other room “don’t come in, this is this weirdest shit i’ve ever seen ” 😂😭😭
2021-02-07 00:05:53 +0000 UTCGottmik and Utica should have at least tied, Uticas looks were so damn good, and you know for sure she made all 3.
Megan St-Amour
2021-02-03 03:46:55 +0000 UTCTamisha is so wise. When she speaks, she doesn't always say much, but I feel like my life is changed for the better. Plz have her on Not Too Deep. :)
2021-02-02 00:39:36 +0000 UTCYes! Although Utica didn't win she's now quietly on everyone's radar and she's in a power position to sneak into the top without bearing the stress of someone like Symone who everyone is gunning for! And agreed about Tina...she's been surprisingly lacking and I still don't have a feel for her drag other than it's related to fires and suspenders and canned one liners. I'm hoping one of the next episodes she has a breakout moment for better or worse!
2021-02-01 20:07:45 +0000 UTCI'm late responding to this but damn there's SO MUCH great and thoughtful commentary here! I'm with you on all your thoughts about Kandy...I think I feel so strongly because she's got so much more to offer than bravado and aggression! She's her best when she's silly and enjoying herself as the butt of the joke! I hope she can reign it in because she's gonna waste her energy getting all hot and bothered and running from bees! She's gotta save it for snatch game at least! And iiiiiinteresting about the pageant queens playing games! I hadn't thought of that and maybe there's a little sprinkle of that going on. But really I feel like Tamisha is SUCH a mother that Kandy went off like one of her kids and she had to tell her that, as much as she wants to, she CANNOT TOUCH THE STOVE WHEN IT'S ON. I'm sure the competition and the show being filmed with covid restrictions is beyyyyyond stressful so I'm hoping the blow up was them just letting out some misplaced steam and they can go back to their regular slaying selves next week! Thank you, as always, for these incredibly thoughtful responses, Will! I love your perspective!
2021-02-01 20:04:32 +0000 UTCI have to say I’m finding Kandy less and less likeable 😬 I also thought Miss Utica deserved the win this week! SHE DID SO GOOD. But happy for Gottmik nonetheless! Rosé being from Scotland??? As a Brit I LOVE THAT Tina and Elliott have been very middle of the road so far, hoping to see bigger things from them next week! Have a lovely weekend, Grace 🥰 P.s. I know you’re busy with school & not really doing pile it on anymore but I would dieeee to hear you and elliott talk about drag race shenanigans
2021-01-31 17:01:08 +0000 UTCI certainly hope so but she should be doing some damage control today as from what I can see Kandy is receiving death wishes on social media all day.
2021-01-31 13:08:23 +0000 UTCwhat the heck is Identity Thief??
2021-01-31 04:58:29 +0000 UTCOkayyyy, I'mma little later to the post than usual, but I'm gonna chime in because I have some THOUGHTS about Untucked. First, Miss Kandy Muse, do you want people to speak up when they have a problem with you or not? Earlier, you came for Elliott and she asked why this seemed to be coming out of nowhere and why didn't you say anything in the moment and you played it off as you're telling her now because you're a "sister." But then when Miss Iman comes in and expresses her issues with you, you blow up. And don't even get me started on Tina acting like it's unprovoked. Like oml, which way do we want our issues to be expressed ladies??? Are we keeping them to ourselves or are we expressing them out in the open? Seems like Kandys not okay with either. Second, "telling it like it is" is not an excuse to be rude, dismissive, or to act like your opinions are suddenly somehow fact and infallible. Your words can still hurt, they can still bring you consequences. 4 years ago an awful man was elected to us presidency for "telling it like it is" and for not playing the politics. Politics matter: obvi in a government level lol, but also in day to day life with your peers (or competitors, in this case). You cannot just say whatever you want, control the conversation, and then get mad when other people tell you it's off-putting. Social etiquette exists for a reason Third, Kandy needs to learn that arrogance is not something to aspire to, it's not something to get defensive about, and it's not something that should be seen as an attack against her when people bring it up. I really don't know why her getting called arrogant made her explode the way she did (but remember back in ep. 2 when Elliott had that offhand comment about how people who bring up their drag families often go home early and she acted like Elliott had come over to her and slapped her face.) Not to psychoanalyze, but Kandy seems likes a stereotypical, cookie cutter example of a person who puts on a false bravado to cover up their own insecurities. It would explain why she gets upset when anyone unknowingly exposes those insecurities. If you are gonna ride the high horse, you have to be able to handle getting knocked off There's probably more I could say about Kandy, but I'm just *really* disappointed in her behavior this week from beginning to end (and I actually liked her at the start and want her to find success *and* I agreed with her last week that Elliott should've been in the bottom imo). I also lost a lot of respect for GottMik and Tina for excusing Kandy's obnoxious and volatile behavior and acting as if Tamisha was in the wrong. Like, if you are real friends, you call that shit out and help your friend become a better person. They also seem to be like they wanna be in their own little clique with the way Kandy kept saying (but not acting on) that she needed to leave but had to wait to recruit her friends. Ugh and then GottMik said to Tamisha that she should stop antagonizing Kandy. Like really sis?? The one who's talking calmly, rationally, and is standing up for herself after being talked over and told she doesn't have star power, to "choke on that bitch," and that she was gonna get punched if she kept talking... Is the one in the wrong??? C'mon GottMik. It's like they are forming a low effort Rolaskatox and I don't think anyone wants a rehash of that. Speaking of Alaska! She once said that pageant queens like to play games, and I think that Tamisha Iman played Kandy like a fiddle and got her to prove her point. Sorry for the incredibly too long post about Kandy, but her behavior in untucked *really* rubbed me the wrong way and the fact that *no one* apart from Tamisha, Rosé and kinda Joey stood up to her was kinda appalling to me. ALSO, UTICA WAS ROBBED FOR THE WIN...(if a bigger queen wore what GottMik wore, then they would be read for filth. Hell, even someone of a more athletic body type like Rosé probably would've got read for it, too) That's all. These are only my opinions, and in no way is it okay to send any kind of hate to Kandy or any of the contestants. They're humans underneath all the makeup, costumes, and wigs. Hopefully next week will be less dramatic and Kandy can do some self-reflecting 💙
Will Dudley
2021-01-31 04:52:39 +0000 UTCKandy is SO charming that I don't want her to become the mean spirited villain when she could be the lovable loud mouth! I think Tamisha wanted to let Kandy know that she couldn't just say whatever she wanted without consequence bc some people won't take it. She can scream over Elliott all damn day bc she's a bit beta but Tamisha reminded her that she can't get away with that with everyone and I fully appreciated it. AND GOD BLESS THAT DAMN BEE!
2021-01-31 03:10:56 +0000 UTC100% agree with that explanation Grace. Tamisha mamma bear'd all over Kandy's nonsense. She set the tone tone for all the girls and how they need to act.
2021-01-31 02:15:51 +0000 UTCyes I am ALL FOR kandy overcoming the things she's been bullied for in the past...I just worry she's bullying others without realizing it...I just need a TINY SPRINKLE of humility!
2021-01-31 01:37:20 +0000 UTCI know! I wish they had two prepared looks and that their last look was created out of bags and featured the coach bag! but i'm sure coach didn't want to risk having to be an accessory to looks like what Lala made...zoinks!
2021-01-31 01:35:47 +0000 UTCI do hear Rose when she says Kandy is arrogant but in a good way. Kandy is one of my favorites this season I mean I laugh at everything she does... I can’t help it! It’s her gift, honestly. I was fully assassinated when the bee chased out their bullshit drama 😂. I do sense Kandy is more emotionally intelligent than her big personality puts on. I think it’s easier for Tamisha to accept that Kandy is arrogant than accept that Kandy is a better drag queen than her... that was a total copout to me. Kandy did blow the f up, though. But I’m from New York too and I know girls like her. They blow up and are fully over it 20 minutes later. Hence the bee incident lol. This episode was pretty boring to me besides this drama lol. I love reading your reviews grace I always look forward. First time commenting 🙈.
Cody Singh
2021-01-31 00:34:35 +0000 UTChere's my take on tamisha/kandy...I think Kandy was coming in WAY TOO HOT and tamisha, deep down, knows that's not a good look and doesn't want her to ruin her season as the bully (esp to people like Elliott who have their flaws but don't deserve the degrading 'you have no self awareness and i'm saying that on camera in front of the whole world to because i want to "help you" BS)....so Tamisha's maternal instincts kick in and knows that Kandy will only hear/respond to matching Alpha energy ...so Tamisha has to puff up to shut her up so she can shine ... i don't know if that made any sense!
2021-01-30 23:58:15 +0000 UTCd'aw THANK YOU!! Maybe I'll mess around with a video format in the future! I also loved the surprise scottish accent! also I'm unfamiliar with GentleWhispering but thanks for sharing the connection! flex flex!
2021-01-30 23:53:22 +0000 UTCI didn’t think I could love Utica anymore but after this episode I’m infatuated. I kinda wish it was a tie between Mik and Utica but I’m still so happy for Mik. LA LA RI’S LIP SYNC. OH MY GOD. I want the La La Ri exclusive footage of that lip sync because I could watch that performance for all of eternity. I do agree that there were too many looks. I love ball challenges but I could not keep track of who did what. I also felt bad for the safe queens. They had some incredible looks but with so many queens it was so hard to keep track. I wish Denali’s nail cigarette could have gotten the recognition it deserved by the judges. Now I really enjoy Kandy and I love that she’s found this level of confidence, especially in the things that she’s been bullied for her whole life (lisp, weight, etc). BUT I do think she can cross the arrogance line some time. Tamisha and Kandy gave us great tv and another iconic untucked!
2021-01-30 23:14:32 +0000 UTCWhen Ru said both their names I thought it might be a double win, Utica looked disappointed, she deserved props, and like Nicole said, she made that in the same time as La La glued those bags! Incredible. (Side not, Nicole for permanent judge!) Kandy, no. I am having less and less time for her. I don't think her looks deserve that level of arrogance, just my opinion. Oh! And when that bag guy literally said 'walk into the room purse first' and there were NO PROPS given to Bob, I got very mad on his behalf haha that was such a weird, bad brand deal. The bags didn't even match the outfits?
2021-01-30 22:28:58 +0000 UTCTotally if she owned it i would love her even more!
2021-01-30 21:39:20 +0000 UTCTrue. The looks were too many. But 3 looks is the standard for a Ball Challenge but we usually get that later in the season so we can keep up. I would have given the win to Utica tbh. Their first looks I liked equally, Gottmik's moneybags look was better, Utica's sleeping bag look was BETTER and it was a crafting feat of strength!!! Now as far as Untucked goes, I don't disagree that Kandy comes of as arrogant but I don't think it was the moment for Tamisha to go off on her. To be fair, Lord (who is not a bitch) knows in her 30 years of experience what she has seen to get triggered like that though.
2021-01-30 21:28:57 +0000 UTCListen! I consume more review contents than actual episode (Pit Stop, Sibling Rivalries, Fashion photo Ruview, etc.) But YOURS is the best of them! I think a video format would be really great, but I'm still super glad I get to read these. Now for this week's episode: I don't think our Queen Tamisha Iman should've been in the bottom. Kandy should have been bottom three instead. I wanted to see Utica with the win, but I knew they were gonna give it to Gottmik. Also, I love Rosé's scottish accent, that was unexpected! Finally, I don't know if I'm the only one here who is also a fan of GentleWhispering, but one of the bags Rosé used is feature in some of her videos (weird flex to recognize ASMR props in RPDR, I know).
2021-01-30 21:28:40 +0000 UTCyes yes yes!
2021-01-30 21:23:36 +0000 UTCagreed...c'mon Kandy if you own it we'll appreciate it!
2021-01-30 21:23:20 +0000 UTCOkay but did anyone stay on VH1 to watch Identity Thief afterward? That was a wild ride too.
Steve Jenks
2021-01-30 21:16:43 +0000 UTCQuick thoughts: Untucked was crazy! Kandy and Tamisha's fight was intense from the get go. UTICA WAS ROBBED THIS WEEK! Gottmik, I love you, but you wore two half-suits in a row, UTICA MADE A COWL NECK DRESS AND CORSET OUT OF A A SLEEPING BAG
2021-01-30 21:16:30 +0000 UTCThe untucked! Oof. So wild.
Steve Jenks
2021-01-30 21:16:11 +0000 UTC
