'...and DON'T *bleep* IT UP!' -- the RuPaul's Drag Race thread

That Branjie situation was so inevitable but what a great lip synch and that exit is probably my favourite ever from any series.

I know when you watch reality tv shows like this there is always a narrative being constructed from the editing but the obviousness of it has been a huge problem this cycle.

Yeah, it’s been clunky. Anyway, Vanjie as season narrator hands down. Roll on the reunion.

I did appreciate how Vanjie and Brooke Lynn were just a pair of pros during the lip sync. No drama, no histrionics. Just solid work.

i do feel like the producers would prob have rather dragged that storyline into the final but vanjie was the clear one to go... RIP queen

yeah Vanjie’s exit was great, so bummed to see her go. I hope someone gives her a tv show or something. That is one light that should not be hidden under a bushel!

The queens are really good at doing Vanjie, so Brooke Lynn better watch out.

Nina’s Vanjie is great

That was an amazing exit, I love Vanjie. Part of me was watching Brook Lynn fall back on her ballerina bullshit and I'm thinking despite myself "this is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen on this show".

I kind of wish Silky had got the boot earlier, I really felt like the producers were leaning into pitting Vanjie and Brook Lynn up against each other for dramadramadrama, but oh well. Brook Lynn is my runaway favourite but I hope she loses to Yvie and comes back to win All Stars with a thousand new eye-popping tricks up her sleeve

Yvie is really so incredible

I love that Brooke Lynn is a ballerino and a ballerina, but ... you do not perform "A Deeper Love" on pointe. You just don't.

WELL YOU DO NOW

Don’t mind me. We’re just coming off of three straight weeks where I strongly disagreed with the shantay/sashay decisions (based solely on the lip sync performances)

I love that Brooke Lynn is a ballerino and a ballerina, but ... you do not perform "A Deeper Love" on pointe. You just don't.

I agree. Pointe work doesn't fit with disco or really anything with a very strong rhythm.

plus she’s already done her whole on pointe thing & much as i love it, the nature of the show is just we need to see something new or stepped-up

I don't mind that she did pointe more than once, it's her thing so why not. But my complaints come more from being a ballet snob than anything else.

Well, I thought it was exquisite

Especially after the previous week's disaster

I thought Vanjie’s actual rap was great, like the best of all of them but she was so off her game in the video performance & even the runway her dress was weird ugh she just broke my heart

Right, I couldn't figure out whether you were supposed to be able to see the black boob cups or not. They were neither one thing nor the other.

Also, greatest exit ever. I love Vanjie so much.

god yes

There's some benefit there to knowing, more or less, that it's your time to go home.

aside from whatever the prize money etc is i think it would be hard to say that vanjie hasn't "won" drag race in a more... existential sense

i want her to have a reality show or something - dont let her interview gold from this season go to waste

Well there’s one big heartbreaker in the reunion. Except not really because I’m glad for it.

True, that wig shouldn’t have ended up on the floor but at least Ariel got it back as you say.

LOL

I hope no one ever feels some type of way ever again. (Am I turning into Old Man Yelling at Cloud? I'm not even a "use your words" type of person but this turn of phrase bugs the hell out of me.)

I was kind of expecting at least a few of the flashpoints to get straightened out or at least explained, but everything remained a muddle of walkbacks and qualifications.

IF I NEVER HEAR ABOUT ANOTHER FUCKING WIG AGAIN IT WILL BE TOO FUCKING SOON

i dont caaaaaaaaaaaaaare about Ariels fkn wigs and i dont think anyone else does either god shut uuuup

For some reason, Netflix UK/Ireland hasn't put this episode up. I don't feel like I'm missing anything. This is almost always the worst episode of the season, and it definitely sounds like this time round it was more tedious than usual.

I will be an Old Man with you. I hate feel some sort of/type of way so much and my former coworkers would use it alllllll the time.

Now that it’s been a couple days, I’m glad that Vanjie is now free (if maybe not psychologically yet) from the apparently narcissistic Brooke.

Black Swan II

Thorgy and Yvie werq the world tour 2019 https://t.co/iC8fZk4c1e

— mr pretzels (@mrzenitram) May 24, 2019

xpost yeah i am inclined to agree, re Vanjie/Brooke

I really enjoyed the finale this year. The video packages were way more fun than either the choreographed numbers or the onstage interviews of previous years. The final two queens had great outfits, and the right queen won on the day. I also enjoyed Vanjie's segment (missus).
The only thing I didn't get was the parade of alumni during Christine and the Queens' performance. What was the unifying theme there, or was it just "previous contestants we could get"?

Yes, this is the most satisfying winner since Bob the Drag Queen.

I just learned that Nina West’s gown was a tribute to Tom Tierney! In fact, it literally says so on the back.

Agreed on the quality of show and the right winner chosen. I also appreciate how Twitter immediately celebrated Yvie's dad to be worthy in numerous aspects of life, if you will.

Okay this is what I was needing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6NLdrTIaaA

Silky seemed so nervous and defeated the entire time she was on stage didn't she?

There was a real self-congratulatory tone to this season I just could not warm to. It's great that Ru can say a show by and for queer people has had all the Emmy nods but the show seems *straighter* than it has ever been and I think it has lost a lot of the magic it ever had.

Very RuPaul of the show to have a tribute to Stonewall without mentioning trans or Johnson/Rivera, which is pretty much 101 shit at this point? (yes, I know that what happened at Stonewall is disputed but still)

They showed a still of Johnson in the montage.

Also, more DRAMA etc.

https://www.etonline.com/rupauls-drag-race-season-11-finale-5-things-you-didnt-see-on-tv-126030

I think it has lost a lot of the magic it ever had

My gf said last night that it had long since jumped the shark and on several levels that's hard to argue. (At least they didn't jump further last night.) But mostly it's just become so all encompassing -- it's been almost six months of weekly episodes and with Drag Race UK en route there's barely going to be any break here.

Anyway, from that link above:

Yvie's win had to be filmed twice, because her original final words upon being condragulated were, "Um, stay odd. And does anyone have a baby I can eat?"

xxp well gee thanks Ru - next time say their names, explicitly mention trans folk, I promise you doing these things won't alienate the straight audience

anyway, I also could have done without the hour long clip package lead-in to the lip syncs - can't imagine actually being in the audience and having no choice but to watch, at least at home I could be distracted by any number of other things going on

I know they've always done those but it felt esp egregious this year

pretty sure their game plan is to burn the franchise into the ground vs. rationing it to avoid overexposure

omggggggggggggggg Yvie in that INSANE headdress and doing a fucking backflip and not revealing a single goddamn thing except that she is badass

the work that must have gone into making it stay on her head!

even the three-headed mirror concept + front-back two face was just breathtaking before you even see her move in it

HAIL HAIL QUEEN YVIE

her obligatory song is actually kinda great too

https://youtu.be/KcUiEBORgh4

Veg as usual OTM about Yvie not gimmicking with reveals too hard. The flashing her panties kind of was, though, and so was the back of the mask, but they were both subtle and awesome and demonstrated the creativity she's been talking about this whole time. And put everyone else and their obnoxious stunting and tired reveals to shame.

Agreed that Silk look terrified onstage.

Stunned that Vanjie didn't win Miss C. Her video was the only remotely entertaining one. Actually Yvie's was as well. I just realized what she reminds me of: a box of syllables falling down metal stairs.

Despite my surprise, I'm quite happy with Nina getting More C.

Too bad about the baby eating being cut.