RECAP: RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 17, Episode 14 (Vegas Show)
Well, that was some bullshit.
First let me be clear: I like the whole Top 5 for this season, and I don’t begrudge any of them making the finale. I genuinely do not. But I don’t think we had the right Bottom 2 this week, and I certainly don’t think the right queen went home. This was not based on the work presented, this was about who production wanted to see in the finale. That’s literally it. Usually the Makeover episode is where the obvious hand of the producer becomes apparent, but a) the person they wanted to chop did undeniably well in that challenge, and b) they needed another episode for the season. Hence we got this mess of a Drag Race Vegas Live! promo challenge.
Below find my thoughts on RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 17 Episode 14. SPOILERS AHEAD!
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Gonna be honest: I missed the first 10 minutes or so because I arrived late to the viewing party at Washington, D.C.’s Number 9 bar, hosted by All Stars 2 icon Tatianna and Crystal Edge. If you’re visiting D.C. during Drag Race season, highly recommend their viewing party. They have great banter and flow and speak honestly about the show and their opinions; it’s not overly sanitized or an opportunity to vent their own personal, tired grudges. (Read into that what you will.)
The challenge for this episode had numerous components, all based around promoting the Drag Race Vegas Live show at the Flamingo. I have no issue with that; to paraphrase Tracy Turnblad, I’m all for (product) integration. And I love the Vegas show. I had front-row seats back in 2023 and saw Jorgeous, Aquaria, Derrick Berry, Coco Montrese, DeJah Skye and host Asia O’Hara in the show, and it was absolutely wonderful, easily the best part of that Vegas trip.
So the concept of the challenge was fine to me. The execution? A mess. The queens were tasked with multiple promotional elements — which again, is a smart and practical challenge. They had to do a photo shoot for the show but stand out against a bunch of shirtless dancers. They had to shoot a social media reel to promote the show and their theoretical stint in it. They had to sit down for an interview with the Legend Latrice Royale. And then they all had to perform in a perfunctory group dance number on the main stage called “Gift Shop,” in which they repeated the line, “Meet me in the Gift Shop” like 15 times, and maybe one other line.
The photos were the best part of the challenge, and like in Season 16’s book-related promo challenge, had Ru interacting directly with the queens and giving them 1:1 advice. I’m not convinced that all of the queens were treated the same here, or that their best pics were used — in the spirit of America’s Next Top Model, I think some had worse shots taken deliberately to justify poor placement. That said, Suzie Toot struggled mightily with this portion, Lexi Love was again in her head and awkward, and while Sam Star posed well I could not stop looking at the major creases in her silk gown. I’m sorry, it was so distracting.
The Latrice sitdowns were fine. Always happy to see Latrice, always happy to see her get a paycheck. Tatianna at the viewing party pointed out, “So now we’ve gotten to the point where Ru and Michelle can’t even be bothered to do the TicTac lunch?” and that’s a great observation, because this is precisely where that would have happened in the season. I thought Suzie did well here — it helped that she had a previous connection to Latrice, I think — and Sam struggled to drop the veneer that she has admittedly turned down over the season, but there was still a distinct air of pretense. Jewels was simultaneously the best and worst. Best because she got real and spilled the tea about Arrietty stealing her jokes at the roast — which the judges allegedly still did not know until this — but worst because she completely froze when asked the hackneyed, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” question. Like, froze. Had nothing to say. Girl, make shit up. It’s not that deep. It’s really not.
We didn’t even see them filming their little TikTok-style social promos, which I find interesting. Could be a timing thing (although as Tatianna pointed out, we got a lot of boring work room discussion instead), could be because none of them came off particularly well while filming them. There is no denying that Suzie flopped this. The energy was all wrong, her typical 1920s aesthetic didn’t vibe with the aesthetic at all (which is weird, because vaudeville and flapper are frankly not that big a leap from Vegas showgirl, it just required a slightly different application of the style). Jewels was easily the best, followed by Onya, whose natural charisma worked brilliantly here. Sam had the same artificial issue, and Lexi just radiated sadness in her video — that was a consistent feeling for me the whole episode. Guest judge Tracee Ellis-Ross said that Lexi just gives off pure love vibes, and all I see is anxiety. She is absolutely open with her emotions, no doubt about that. But to me, she’s really broadcasting how uncomfortable and uncertain she is almost every second, and that’s not great to watch as a viewer.
The “Gift Shop” number was a total dud. It was like 60 seconds, the song was shit, I literally couldn’t tell you what ANY of the girls were doing, because they got like seconds of screen time each and frankly the male dancers were far more compelling to me. Flop-tina.
On the runway, the category was Opulent Outerwear, which was largely elaborate coats, although a few went for capes. Overall a good runway, with Onya taking the lead for me with that gorgeous African-inspired look, followed by Suzie with a luxurious 1920s red look, then Lexi with a voluminous puffer coat (that again dragged on the floor behind her!) and bejeweled lingerie. Sam had my least favorite. It absolutely said opulent, but I don’t think it said “outerwear.” But given that most of Sam’s runways are coming from her drag family’s closets, that makes sense.
At critiques, it was abundantly clear that the Bottom 2 were Sam — criticized for not being authentic — and Suzie — told that she needs to mix up her style to be more versatile. But the thing is, Suzie HAS switched up her style, many times over the season. She has been very smart about this, I think. Early on she started giving us different make-up applications and characters that were not part of the 1920s fantasy. I don’t disagree that she flopped the photo and promo parts of this challenge, but the critique over her runway and her alleged over-reliance on her brand of drag is not based in reality. No other queen this season has been pushed out of their comfort zones this way, and Suzie has been doing it consistently and of her own volition.
Ultimately the challenge win went to Jewels Sparkles — fascinating, given that she fully froze in that interview; admittedly she was very good in the other components — while the Bottom 2 was Suzie and Sam Star. Personally, I think Lexi should have been in this B2. I get the notes on Sam’s used-car-salesman vibe, but at least Sam is in the game and focused. Lexi has been listless since before Snatch Game. She’s felt unmoored and the struggle was most definitely real. If you’re going for an underdog edit, at some point the underdog has to actually overcome the odds. I genuinely don’t think Lexi has done that this season overall. Yes, she had some strong moments — the Betsey Johnson challenge was great — but even there she struggled and needed someone else to focus her to get the job done. That’s a real problem. This episode, I thought she failed the promo reel and the promo photo worse than Sam. The fact that she’s cruising to the finale with zero bottom placements speaks to Production protecting her all season long, in my opinion.
The lipsynch was to “Love Child” by Diana Ross and The Supremes, an absolutely iconic song. Without question Suzie won this lipsynch. I don’t even know what Sam was doing; between this and the mid performance in her previous lipsynch, I am not convinced that Sam is actually a great live performer. And I say that as someone who genuinely likes Sam and wants to see her succeed. I don’t think she brought it to either of her lipsynchs this season. Yes, Suzie went to the tap dancing moment toward the end of the song, but she was winning this long before that. She was emoting, she was dialed in. Suzie Toot won that lipsynch and you cannot tell me otherwise.
But apparently RuPaul thinks differently, and Suzie was eliminated at Top 5. Listen, I never thought Suzie would actually win this season. She is a star, but I don’t think she America’s next drag superstar. She has a very specific niche, and arguably one that has already had a few successful contestants from this show (Broadway, and I’m thinking Jinkx Monsoon, Marcia Marcia Marcia, etc.). But Suzie was one of the main characters this season. Those girls were terrified of her for the bulk of the run. She had 3 wins and prior to this episode had never landed in the bottom. She had a great Drag Race run and deserved to be in that final. Had she lost the lipsynch to Sam — I mean, lost it in reality, not lost it according to biased judging — then I would be at peace with the elimination. But she didn’t. Production did not want Suzie in the finale, ergo Suzie was eliminated.
The crowd at the bar last night erupted in cheers when Suzie was given the boot, and I thought that was in, frankly, poor taste. The edit turned on Suzie terribly in the last 2/3 of this season. Ever since Snatch Game she went from quirky underdog to unbearable know-it-all — but it was all edit to me. What did Suzie do that was so awful? What did she say? She spoke confidently about her intelligence and talent, and that was enough to turn people off of her? I think the negative reaction to Suzie was completely disproportionate to her alleged sins. I don’t recall her ever attacking anyone. If she spoke unkindly to someone, it was usually in jest. Other girls are praised for their intense confidence, but for some reason Suzie is torn apart for it by the edit and the fandom. I’m serious, take a moment and tell me one concrete thing Suzie actually did that made her such a terrible queen/contestant. I don’t think her delusion around Snatch Game is the answer here — that hurt nobody but her. If you can’t come up with a good answer, this is a great moment to consider how easily this show and the narrative program us to think certain ways about certain characters, regardless of their actual actions. I think Suzie got a really bad edit for the last 2/3 of the competition, and the fan reaction to her is completely out of hand. We need to do better.
That leaves us with a Final 4 on Onya Nurve (4 wins, 1 bottom), Sam Star (3 wins, 2 bottoms), Lexi Love (2 wins, 0 bottoms), and Jewels Sparkles (2 wins, 2 bottoms). Who do YOU want to see win Season 17? Drop your pick in the comments.
Next: it’s the LaLaPaRuZa smackdown with all the previously eliminated queens. Who will be our Megami this season and surprise the hell out of us?
