‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 5, Episode 7: Not a Toast, But a Roast
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If someone asks me what the best episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race is, my first answer is “Revenge of the Queens.” My second answer has varied, though. The season 9 finale is a favorite. Recently I’ve taken a shine to the girl groups episode of Drag Race UK. But gun to head, I think my answer is the first “RuPaul Roast” in season 5.
Like “Revenge of the Queens,” “RuPaul Roast” works on basically every level: The challenge performances are strong, the challenge itself is clever, there are memes all over the place, and the drama turns up a notch. (Perhaps not coincidentally, the two episodes share five cast members between them.) Plus, it must be said, they both stick the landing with a killer lip sync smackdown.
Let’s start with the drama. After Michelle Visage’s warning last week that Alaska needed to break up with her cliqué, she starts the episode declaring herself not Rolaskatox, but simply “Alaska!” This utterly delights Alyssa Edwards and Coco Montrese, who are united by basically nothing in this world save their loathing of Rolaskatox. The remaining Rotox is bummed, but understands Alaska’s desire to not further draw Michelle’s ire.
In what I don’t think is a coincidence, Alaska immediately turns around and wins the Reading Is Fundamental mini-challenge. She directs jokes at Rotox and non-Rotox alike, but the general feeling of her set is that she’s off her leash and ready to take no prisoners. So it’s somewhat surprising, then, that she takes her reward from winning and immediately squanders it.
Backing up a second, though: The main challenge is a comic roast of RuPaul, in which all the queens will need to prepare short sets. These sets need to include jokes about not just Ru, but the judges’ panel and each other as well. It’s a big ask of a group that’s mostly pretty queens; Alaska and Jinkx Monsoon are really the only comedy girls. Detox is smart, though, so she should at least be fine … right?
Anyway, Alaska gets to choose the order for the set, and puts herself first because no one else wants to. I actually don’t think the issue here is Alaska going first, although both Michelle in the workroom and Ru in the critiques drag her for it. No, I think the issue is that Alaska frames her choice as some kind of selfless act, instead of spinning it into an advantage for herself. (“I wanted to set the tone,” something like that.) She opens the door to Michelle asking if she’s going for America’s Next Drag Superstar or Miss Congeniality, and it’s a fair question. We want the Alaska from the reading challenge, not this Alaska!
Alaska and Jinkx both do well in the challenge, but the win ultimately goes to a very surprising queen: Coco! To her immense credit, Coco figures out a straight-on approach to this challenge will only spell doom for her. She instead opts to create a character — Ru’s “good cousin from the Brewster projects” — and uses it to tell her jokes. It’s a triumphant moment for Coco, and while I don’t totally love her set, I do deeply respect her gameplay. She knows how to get out of this week alive, and is rewarded with a win for her cleverness.
Roxxxy and Alyssa, on the other hand, are punished for not being clever. They don’t do anything productive to avoid what anyone with two eyes and ears knows is coming: They’re going to try traditional comedy sets, and they’re going to bomb. Hard. Both are such disasters that they make the supremely awkward Ivy Winters look decent incomparison.
So both these pageant queens fall into the bottom two, and it’s hard to imagine either going home just yet. It’s both of their first trips to the bottom, and we still have a week in the schedule because of the double elimination a few weeks ago. A more cynical fan could say this episode was destined to be the double-shantay.
But even the most cynical fan would have to be won over by “Whip My Hair.”
There are no words sufficient to describe what Roxxxy pulls off in this lip sync. She genuinely redefines what a lip sync stunt looks like, pulling off her big, ugly wig to reveal a second that is glued to her head, allowing her to do all kinds of whipping tricks to fit the song. It’s not the greatest lip sync in the most technical sense, but who cares? Roxxxy delivers a jaw-dropping television moment, one that queens have been trying to replicate ever since.
Meanwhile, credit to Alyssa, she holds up her side of the bargain. She throws herself all around the stage and doesn’t admit defeat despite her lip sync opponent’s impressive gambit. Hers is the better overall performance, but without the reveal, it doesn’t have the same stunt. A double shantay was the exact right result for this week.
Truthfully, I don’t know what to make of Roxxxy’s breakdown about her mom leaving her at a bus stop. Untucked shows the story was at least on her mind, so it’s not quite out of nowhere … but the connective thread Roxxxy uses to explain why she’s crying about it onstage after the lip sync (“not feeling wanted”) feels forced to me. I ultimately don’t think she needed the sob story, because she was going to stay no matter what, but it does make for an interesting part of Drag Race herstory.
And so we freeze at seven! Ordinarily I hate slow-ups in gameplay, but we’ve been moving at such a quick clip all season, and this top seven is so good, that even I don’t mind it. “RuPaul Roast” is a great argument for this season and cast, and fully deserves its spot among the series’ best episodes. You can put that declaration in your wig and whip it.
Ru’s good cousin from the Final Thoughts:
- It is fully insane and deeply transparent that Jinkx is the one who gets the final confessional after Roxxxy’s breakdown and the double shantay. If you had any doubt that Jinkx was destined to win the season when it first aired, that clip should’ve dispelled them all.
- I don’t love all her jokes, but Coco’s “Hurricane Katrina” remark fully kills me every time I hear it.
- “Santino, would you please shut the fuck up with your no-drag-knowledge mouth?” Between this and Alyssa’s cackling at her own terrible jokes, this may be her meme-iest week ever.
- “Michelle Visage’s favorite movie is Showgirls, and much like Nomi Malone, she relies on the talents of her black friend!” Detox doesn’t have a ton of great lines this episode, but that line is it.
- Pass-Around Party Bottom Jeffrey Moran is as much of a pill as ever as a guest judge, but Leslie Jordan is a blast. He’s so fun both in the roast and in the judging. I wish they’d have him back!
- I really like that Alyssa hugs Jinkx when all the other girls are coming for her. It’s a lovely little moment!
- “Alyssa Edwards! Miss USA—oh, wait.” Perfect line, only made better by the cut to Alyssa asking Roxxxy “Why you laughing?”
The next Drag Race Rewind recap, covering season 5, episode 8, will be available to Patreon subscribers next Thursday, February 20.
