We’re back with Episode Two, where our biggest challenge is keeping track of who’s who among the fourteen shapeshifters we just met. The producers treated us to another Drag Race classic: the girl group challenge. We said goodbye to our first Season 18 queen, but don’t fret! Our hometown hero Jane Don’t’s success last week was no fluke.
“Quintessentially Queer and Queeny”
The main challenge was called Q-Pop Girl Groups, but if you expected a K-pop moment on Drag Race (!), you’d be sorely disappointed. Instead, the featured genres were “Funk Almighty” (disco, Ru’s favorite), “Go Go Go” (pop), and “Cherries” (punk).
Disco might seem like it’d have a leg up in the challenge. The disco scene of the late 1970s was the musical epitome of queer joy. Rooted in urban, queer, Black and Brown communities in the US, disco became a global sensation for its emphasis on movement, freedom, and defiance of rigid social norms—embodied by Sylvester, the Queen of Disco.
But the other girls had fabulous options. Pop group Wham! in the early 80s brought us gay icon George Michael. And queer culture and punk music alike are indebted to the sound, image, and attitude of The Runaways from the late 1970s—featuring Joan Jett, the Godmother of Punk.
(Your homework tonight is to listen to “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” by Sylvester, “Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)” by Wham!, and “Cherry Bomb” by The Runaways. Then, do a free-write on what “queer joy” means to you.)
Drama! Over Disco
Nothing generates tension like a Drag Race group challenge. Episode One top two Vita and Nini took turns choosing castmates for their groups. Vita chose Briar, Juicy, Discord, and Jane for her group; Nini picked Mia, Ciara, Myki, and Kenya. This left behind a disgruntled Athena, DD, Darlene, and Mandy as the third group.
The queens got heated when it was time to choose their themes. Everyone wanted disco, and when Athena confronted Vita on why her group shouldn’t get first pick, Vita smoothly clapped back, “Because you’re the Leftovers, doll.” While Athena’s protest was drowned out by the rest of the cast cackling madly, the producers spent much of Episode Two focusing on Athena’s displeasure at being perceived as “difficult to work with” by the other queens. She is clearly a Main Character of Season 18.
Eventually, Athena got her way when Nini’s group picked pop and Vita’s group pivoted to punk. Vita revealed she had secretly wanted punk all along, but chose disco to mess with Athena. Discord Addams of St. Pete, a punk guitarist, was thrilled with getting punk: she uses rock and drag as vehicles for queer political activism. “Drag has gotten Disney-fied,” Discord said in the episode. “There is a lot of drag that doesn’t say anything at all.” (Discord’s Instagram story on Saturday featured her hosting a watch party wearing a rad dress with ABOLISH ICE emblazoned across the front.)
Mainstage Takeaways
Nini’s group, Glam!, clearly had a blast during their performance. While Nini had a breakdown during recording after losing her voice from last week’s “screamography,” she ultimately managed a safe placement. It was professional dancer Mia Starr of West Palm Beach who brought tight choreography and a standout performance, launching her into the top two. Mia’s runway outfit captured the week’s theme of “Yo’ Neck, Yo’ Back, Yo’ Pussy and Yo’ Crack,” with a dramatic Gaga-esque black lace bodysuit that featured clever tearaways for all four assets.
Vita’s group, The Tucked Aways, brought cohesive looks in black leather, high energy, and entertaining verses that screamed punk rock. The smart lyrics and campy performance of Jane Don’t made her the standout. “Thank f*cking God we got the punk song,” Jane shared in a confessional after her team crushed their performance.
The “Leftovers” tackled the disco theme as The Studio Fifty-Whores. While they had the best group name, that’s where their chemistry ended. “You belittled the song,” RuPaul admonished the group, citing the elementary lyrical structure and “lack of soul.” Athena was declared safe, as was Indiana-born Darlene Mitchell of LA. “It’s one of the stupidest names I’ve ever heard, and I love it,” RuPaul said bluntly of Darlene, whose Midwest charm and trashy Americana runway saved her. (Darlene performed at the Drag Race Episode Two watch party at queer/bar…maybe we can convince her to move here.)
DD Fuego of NYC, who grew up in Monterrey (“the Beverly Hills of Mexico”), was read by the judges by her flat makeup and stiff performance. She landed in the bottom two with Mandy Mango, whose strange side-table runway outfit and frenetic main challenge performance also failed to impress.
Having been in the bottom last week, it wasn’t looking good for Mandy as she and DD lip-synced to guest judge Dove Cameron’s “Too Much.” But once Mandy fought her way out of her table dress, she lit up the stage with a killer lip-sync and multiple tricks, literally making the judges’ jaws drop. We have a lip-sync assassin on our hands! DD could not keep up and became the first queen eliminated from Season 18.
“Miss One-Take Wonder”
Jane Don’t already proved that she could design a top look from scratch, and began Episode Two with some shade, saying that she thought her mainstage look last week was better than winner Nini’s “orange brastrap.” Though Vita chose Jane last for her team, she demonstrated she’s much more than a look queen.
Jane is no stranger to the music industry. She’s managed punk bands (and helped manage Stranger arts editor Emily Nokes’s band, back in the day) and worked as an intern at a record label. So as part of Team Punk, she crafted her verse with time to spare, which she used to help teammates Juicy and Discord with their lyrics. (We love to see a congenial queen. It’s like British Bake Off with more wigs.) Jane’s clever lyrics and husky rocker vocals got no notes from judge Michelle Visage in the recording studio. Teammate Myki Meeks playfully recognized game: “Miss One-Take Wonder over there! She’s crushing it. Fuck you, Jane Don’t.”
Jane’s winning edit didn’t stop there. She was a standout in The Tucked Aways, with the judges calling her “smart” and her performance “pure magic.” RuPaul confessed she would rewind the track just to re-listen to Jane Don’t’s verse. Future collab?
On the runway, Jane featured her mouth: a giant pair of sequined lips with glittering teeth and tongue, complete with a lipstick tube headpiece. Judge T. S. Madison declared that it had her “speaking in tongues,” and Michelle sighed with satisfaction, “this is classic Seattle drag.” Jane’s brilliant performance and memorable runway earned her a win along with $5000. Seattle is making a strong statement in Season 18!
Until next week!
New episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 18 will air on MTV every Friday at 8PM PST.