Drag Race isn’t Drag Race without Snatch Game.

Designed to test queens’ improv comedy skills through celebrity impersonation, Snatch Game has generated some of the show’s most memorable moments. We’ve had Snatch Game every year since Season 2 plus All Stars and the international adaptations of the show. It doesn’t carry the same weight that it once did. Some viewers have even gone as far as to call for the challenge to be retired.

Over the years, queens have found creative ways to push the limits of Snatch Game—impersonating the judges, past Drag Race queens, or male celebrities (taboo until Kennedy Davenport won as Little Richard in Season 7). New contestants are running out of celebrities to do for Snatch Game, unless they want to repeat one, which can be risky.

So how do you find fresh energy in the 79th iteration of this challenge? Fictional characters are out-of-bounds for copyright reasons. Some recent queens have resorted to “made-up” characters, bending the “celebrity impersonation” requirement, (which Myki Meeks called “avoiding the challenge.” Debates on Instagram ensued). In Season 18, both the producers and queens went to great lengths to snatch our attention this time around.

“Just Do Something Greek”

Drag Race producers have created new “flavors” of Snatch Game to keep it interesting. We usually see these versions in All Stars seasons, but Season 18 brought us “Snatch Game of Love Island” featuring friendly hotties Zane Phillips, Froy Gutierrez, and Chris Renfro.

The queens reacted to the Love Island twist with a healthy dose of trepidation. Many thought their prepared characters wouldn’t translate well to the new format and decided to pivot.

Athena originally planned to do “Charlie Chaplin breaking his silence and coming out as a homosexual,” but RuPaul dismissed it as too meta (boo). “Now, I know you have Greek heritage,” she counseled, leading Athena to cobble together a MILF based loosely on Greek heiress Tina Onassis Niarchos (first wife to Aristotle Onassis, who ultimately married Jackie O). RuPaul clearly has no qualms about made-up characters. She’s just here to laugh. And she loves ethnic stereotypes.

Athena’s Greek cougar and Darlene’s horny Mrs. Claus were entertaining, but didn’t give us much beyond what we’ve already seen from them. As Bloody Mary, Mia gave us virtually nothing at all besides a bad case of secondhand embarrassment. “I’m shitting myself,” she said of her performance. At least she’s not delusional.

Discord also went down the concept-as-character route. “I’m not doing any specific Pope, but just the idea of a Pope,” she explained. Her version of the Pope as a lisping old queen showed us another facet of her talent, and her “Christ Almighty” yoga pose had me howling. Discord was rated as safe, to her disappointment, and mine. She should’ve been in the top.

 

 

 

The Horniest Snatch Game Ever

The rest of the queens impersonated actual celebrities for Snatch Game. Emerging superpower Myki Meeks did a brilliant rendition of Drew Barrymore, outshining most of her castmates (as well as Season 14’s Willow Pill, who did Drew too. That Snatch Game was so bad that RuPaul put everyone but DeJa Skye in the bottom).

Myki had the voice, mannerisms, and references down to a T, and made everyone laugh—a technically perfect Snatch Game.

Nini went for a randy version of Sir David Attenborough. The physical transformation was impressive and the jokes were there. Hearing our favorite British naturalist talk about his lost-to-time documentary, My Anaconda Do, was so funny that the other queens had trouble staying in character.

Kenya gave us her day job, impersonating Lizzo for Snatch Game. She looked like Lizzo, she moved like Lizzo, but at the end of the day it was Kenya telling dick jokes. “It was not that good,” she admitted. No drag delusion here, either.

Juicy panicked when the twist was announced, agonizing over her character options with Jane in the werkroom. Her image has shifted from drag prodigy to kid sister that everyone has been mothering through the competition. “I don’t have time to ghostwrite jokes for you anymore,” Jane asserted. It’s every queen for herself.

As Jojo Siwa, Juicy reminded us that she could dance, but that was about it. Judge Carson Kressley said of it, “I didn’t Siwa she was doing with her Jojo.” Thanks, Uncle Carson. Juicy landed in the bottom three.

With her nimble wit and encyclopedic knowledge of gay culture, Jane Don’t was a favorite for this Snatch Game. She pulled out a never-seen-before (a rarity) celebrity impersonation of American novelist and homosexual icon, Truman Capote. Her mid-century mannerisms and horny quips had RuPaul cackling, earning her a top placement for the week.

A Child Left Behind

After Snatch Game, Darlene opened up about feeling constantly out of place growing up in the Midwest. “[I was] made fun of for being gay before I even knew what that was,” she shared. I wanted to reach through the screen and give her a big bonecrushing Midwestern hug.

Mia was in remarkably good spirits despite her abysmal Snatch Game performance, acknowledging her shortcomings with a wink and a grin. “Listen,” she explained to the other queens, “I grew up in the Florida educational system.”

“A child was left behind,” Jane said gravely, drawing laughs from Mia and everyone else. Honestly, a queen that can stare down the barrel of being eliminated from a reality television show and treat it like being eliminated from a reality television show is a breath of fresh air.

80s Ladies (ft. Brooke Shields)

The queens brought more celebrity impersonations to the mainstage as “80s Ladies.” We love a runway that speaks to the main challenge.

We got Joan Collins from Athena, Dolly Parton from Darlene, and Olivia Newton John from Myki. Discord shapeshifted into Reba McEntire while Jane pulled out a gorgeous dragged-up version of Kate Pearson of The B-52s. Nini’s Cyndi Lauper was a perfect foil to her dirty David Attenborough, earning her a second win.

 

 

 

Among the bottom three queens, Juicy’s Celia Cruz was by far the best. Mia went for a costumey version of Prince (“80s Lady-Adjacent”). And Kenya… Kenya must have run out of clothes. “Somehow, you de-dragged Chaka Khan,” Michelle Visage said of her basic look. Ouch, gurl.

Guest judge Brooke Shields was a treat, giving effortless glamour and charm on the mainstage. Her legendary career as an actress and model was unknown to some of the cast. “Who is Brooke Shields?” Juicy asked. “We literally named eyebrows after her!” Jane chastised.

When introducing the judges, RuPaul playfully asked them each about their first kiss, with Michelle Visage and Carson Kressley offering the usual lol-bait gay drivel. But Brooke Shields kept it real. “I was 11 and he was 28, I believe,” she answered coolly. “I was filming Pretty Baby. That was technically my first kiss.”

Her response was glossed over with a corny sound effect and awkward chuckles from the other judges. But Shields’ powerful admission highlighted the culture of misogyny and child exploitation that still haunts us. (The 2023 documentary film Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields is a timely watch.)

But, I digress: back to Drag Race. Juicy was declared safe, leaving Kenya and Mia to lip-sync-for-their-lives. While “Head Over Heels” by the Go Gos was a perfect song choice for the night, this one was weird.

The lip-sync felt uncharacteristically low-energy, unsurprising given the marathon that is RuPaul’s Drag Race. The edit focused on Mia, which made me think she would be saved. However, on closer inspection, the cuts distracted from Kenya dropping her words! After multiple warnings from the judges, I thought this was the final nail for her.

Don’t get me wrong, I love me some Kenya Pleaser–but her being saved yet again after another sloppy lip-sync was a strange choice. The Miami Alliance lost its first queen, with Mia Starr sashaying away. Pour one out for a real one, y’all.

Next week, we’ll be back with another perennial Drag Race challenge: The Rusical.