I was ready to call Jane Don’t this season’s winner weeks ago. But in Drag Race, a record-breaking track record means nothing compared to whipping up a social media frenzy by axing a frontrunner just before the finals, which is exactly what they did. I was pissed. Jane was pissed. And so was every other commenter on Drag Race socials this week. But honestly, I can’t think of a better way to punctuate an episode that was basically a masterclass in cringe content.
Let’s start with the Mini-Challenge: Everybody Loves Puppets! The top five queens of Season 18 may have laid this Mini to rest, permanently. When it came time to caricature each other, there were no jokes, even from our comedy powerhouses Jane, Darlene, and Myki. The puppet show was so bad, in fact, that RuPaul awarded the win (and cash prize) to the crew for having to sit through the unedited footage of all five queens bombing. Power to the working people.
Then came Karens Gone Wild. We’ve seen these queens do plenty of comedy, from RDR Live to Snatch Game to a roast of Alyssa Edwards. One would think the queens who topped all these challenges would breeze through another improv comedy challenge, but Karens Gone Wild was a rough ride. “We just failed miserably at an improv Mini-Challenge, and now the Maxi-Challenge is an improv challenge. God be with me,” Juicy said nervously.
For Karens Gone Wild, each queen channeled a different incarnation of Karen alongside “a pop culture expert with a PhD in Karenology”: RuPaul himself. “Ru’s entire algorithm is Karens, which is why this challenge is probably happening,” Michelle remarked during the judging. So Drag Race challenges are now dictated by RuPaul’s Boomer media diet? Noted.
Casting was surprisingly drama-free, with each queen getting her first pick of the five Karen skits. But the performances themselves were much more complicated.
Parking Spot Karen
Juicy took a “spicy Latina” route to meet RuPaul’s recurring critique of her lacking a point of view. Good move, Juicy—ethnic tropes in comedy challenges are a Drag Race standby. “I loved the Spanish stuff,” Michelle said blithely of Juicy’s performance.
But Juicy wasn’t just channeling stereotypes. Her references included Cuban vedette Niurka Marcos, her birth mother, and her auntie. Combined with her clever Alice in Wonderland/Cheshire Cat-on-poppers reveal for the “From Wholesome to Folsom” runway, Juicy had a solid showing this week, earning her a coveted safe placement.
Shoplifting Karen
Darlene had a howling good time with RuPaul in the skit, though her character was judged as less Karen and more a Christian caricature. (I couldn’t help but notice that RuPaul seemed to want to be the Karen of the scene, which muddied the dynamic.) On the runway, Darlene’s demure housewife revealed to a bedazzled piss-play queen, complete with yellow handkerchief. It was pure Darlene excellence. “You feel like the missing Village Person we all wanted but never got,” guest judge and actress Julianne Nicholson commented, cementing a safe placement for Darlene.
Traffic Stop Karen
Myki was the clear winner of the week. She played well with RuPaul in the skit while ticking all the boxes of the Karen archetype: weaponizing privilege, feigning injury, and outright running away from accountability. The judges’ rave reviews took Myki by surprise, since there was virtually no direction or feedback during the scene. Myki vowed, “I’m learning to trust my gut more, because it’s gotten me this far.” Our little Arya Stark has shaped up to be a real contender for the throne! er, crown!
HOA Karen
Nini didn’t rule the scene. This was another skit where it felt like RuPaul was trying to out-Karen his partner rather than letting Nini take the wheel. At the same time, Nini’s Karen lacked direction during the performance. “You understood what a Karen was, I just think you ran out of steam,” Michelle said. Despite her sublime Statue of Liberty runway look, Nini fell into the bottom two for the second week in a row.
Late for Her Flight Karen
Our girl Jane Don’t came into the challenge with confidence. After all, comedy challenges are her forte. Before the shoot, she said that viral videos of Karens made her uncomfortable. (RuPaul, watching through a hole in the werkroom wall, probably made the call to chop her right then.) But Jane’s record-breaking track record—ten consecutive episodes in the top, and three wins—seemed to be enough to get her top four spot.
Not on Drag Race. Her performance as “Late for Her Flight Karen” was less Karen and more Helen Roper, according to Michelle. And judge TS Madison called her out for being too self-scripted: “I needed more foolishness from you.” The middling reviews were enough to land Jane in the bottom two.
The Great Jane Robbery
With the top four so close, Jane and Nini were ready to throw down. “I’m going to do what I need to do to get through this shit to the end,” Jane said grimly, as Lady Gaga’s “Garden of Babylon” began to play.
It was hard to watch. Jane did a great job, but Nini ate her up. “It looks like Gaga herself,” my partner said while Nini performed. I wasn’t surprised when Nini got the first shantay, but I was certain Jane would get a shantay, too—how could she not!?
The look of disbelief on Jane’s face when RuPaul told her to sashay away was heartbreaking. How could the spectacular Jane Don’t be eliminated? Well, Drag Race has pulled the late-game-shocking-elimination stunt plenty of times before, from BenDeLaCreme in Season 6 to Suzie Toot in Season 17. The real tension, as I saw across countless fan posts on Reddit and Instagram, is the inconsistency of Drag Race production around eliminations over the years. Is track record more important, or does it really all come down to the lip sync? In Jane’s case, it came down to the lip sync. She left the mainstage in a daze.
What now? Well, we’ve got a much more balanced top four—it really feels like it could be anyone’s game now, which is admittedly more exciting than a Jane Don’t victory lap. And Jane is smart, talented, and skilled enough to become a drag superstar even without the Season 18 crown. Plus, we will certainly see Jane Don’t in All Stars, if she deigns to walk the mainstage again. Seattle loves you, Jane.
If you’re still fuming over Jane’s elimination, I’m with you. But we’ll still be back next week, with slight reluctance, but more excitement to see which mullet Darlene pulls out of her bag for the final runway.
