AS4 Episode 8 - RuPaul's Best Judy's Race
 

The first look has been released

https://www.facebook.com/RuPaulsAllS...7297835020877/

I have absolutely nothing to say about this episode because I have not seen the spoilers at all nope no way x

I would’ve preferred a Judy Garland challenge to be a little more Judy Garland and not just a small preformance thing inspired by her that rarely ends up mattering in the makeover challenge

Do you read them intentionally or by accident?

I get so much less enjoyment out of an episode when I know what’s going to happen

this one was by accident - I only knew that Farrah/Jasmine were the first two to go and since then it's been pretty new to me. It's just uh... this is going to be an episode a lot of people are itching to spoil. Sort of like the "Valentina doesn't know the words!" episode from S9. So like, the main Reddit (the spoiler-free one) has been pretty rife with people just casually hinting at something happening, so I'd be careful to avoid all social media today lol.

Yea I know the outcome of this episode too and I never go out of my way to look for spoilers it just seems to be everywhere
It’s usually like Instagram captions or thumbnails on recommend YT videos that give it away, thankfully there seems to be a lot of fake spoilers this season so I don’t always know what’s going on

Well I saw...... *kind of a spoiler but also not really*



But that’s all

.......... **** Naomi Smalls.

Naomi is cancelled. I hope they redo the Jury twist and Shangela that boring bitch.

Well, I know queens usually drop their singles the week theyre eliminated so when I saw that Shaun had made a thread for a Manila single I was like.... go figure

THANKS SHAUN :fist:

And I just went in that Manila single thread, like if someone hasn’t seen the ep you’ve just spoiled the whole thing for them Shaun that’s really kind of cunty :/

1) You checked threads about Allstars without seeing the episode? Sweetie
2) Trinity released a single last Friday
3) I'll spoiler the text tho

No I went on the TiBB homepage and it was in the recently made threads

I didn’t see anything about Trinity’s single :shrug: and you didn’t make a thread about it last week, the only reason you made a thread about Manillas is because you wanted to say she was robbed etc etc

B Y E Miss Naomi did THAT huh I'm screaming ****ing legend

I’m just so confused, when I heard who was eliminated this week I thought there was surely some event that would have lead up to it being either
Manila done AWFUL this week
She sacrificed herself for Latrice
Or Naomi made a massive deal out of being a game player now that she’s not a front runner

And none of that happened, it almost seemed like the whole thing was arranged before hand sorta like how DeLa’s elimination felt

Anyway, thoughts on the ep, I’m never really a big fan of these challenges bc sometimes some queens have it a lot easier if the person they’re paired up with look more feminine naturally, it gives a bit of an unfair advantage.

But I’d have argued Trinity over Naomi bc Naomi’s looks are always so basic, there’s never any body shape to them...ever.

Fuming she sent home Manila, but by he looks of it’, it didn’t matter, she didn’t stand a chance



Also thought the lip sync was the worst of the season, Monet waiting the whole song to do something which was underwhelming and Naomi pulled out the same floor sliding trick as last time

Naomi Smalls just became my FAVOURITE Drag Race queen of all time (okay, hyperbole). Get rid of the overrated front-runner!

A damn mess that we’re getting ANOTHER white blonde winner

It was a pretty poor episode on the whole... the challenge wasn't great, the "performances" were by and large exactly the same and aside from an obvious "last place" (Latrice) I didn't see much difference.
The lipsync was also something of a default win for Naomi: Monet, once again, did nothing. After the strong start to the season, the lipsyncs have really fizzled out :(

Based on the runways, I can't argue too strongly with the placings although:
- Monique's got fairly good reviews and... I can't really see why? The costumes were pretty rough around the edges and the combined look of the two wasn't exactly that eyecatching a pay-off? :shrug: I didn't get the rave reviews about her makeup, either... it looked pretty average to me. Manila's, whilst underwhelming, was at least more polished and creative. We've seen Monique do a cartoony-face runway before.
- Trinity won her S9 makeover challenge for basically making her partner identical to her: here it only gets a safe placing? Aside from a mustache moment, Naomi's runway was pretty blah and something we've seen on her a lot before (long black weave, sudden bowlcut, signature makeup).

I saw the result coming but that didn't make it any less of a blow... at this point though I'm beginning to tire of All Stars. Perhaps the show in general, and this is why: it seems VH1 are desperate to treat it as just another reality TV series, constantly one-upping itself in its gagworthy moments, its dramatic tropes and its villains and underdogs storylines. It feels like a lot of the heart that made me fall in love with the show has faded: Ru doesn't seem to care any more, seasons are being churned out en masse, the process of elimination is now almost random and done without any consideration for form, performance or fairness, and talented queens are being shafted in the name of making shocking television.

The thing is: it isn't shocking any more. Since Alaska*, every winner has been suspect in some way or another, and whether that's something merely aesthetic (Aquaria would've been a deserving winner the organic way, but instead tainted it with a ridiculous "pre-reveal" outfit that made her something of a laughing stock), ruthlessly exploitative and soul-crushing to the participants (Ben literally having enough of the shenanigans and quitting), or something out-and-out ridiculous (Shangela not making top 2 because of queens that weren't even there to assess performances all season), it all adds up to the same conclusion: effort and excellence no longer matters. Queens can now coast to a crown (Trixie, Sasha) taking minimal risks and showing minimal "wow" moments.

It's all very well wanting the show to be dramatic and unpredictable, but at the expense of fairness and setting a standard for drag? No thanks.

*I put "since Alaska" knowing full well some hysterical people still believe Katya deserved to win All Stars 2. She didn't. She had the third-best form.

On a sidenote, I am a little bemused at the idea that Naomi is now likely to make two finals on the back of winning just two makeover challenges (both related to Judy Garland). Such versatility, such charisma :eyes:

I'm really disgusted, I can't lie. Like I wanna know what went on behind the scenes? Manila was the clear frontrunner.

They need to shake up All-Stars (or stop it lol).

Idek who I want to win now?

meh didn't like manila, next

The preview seems to show Trinity coming for Naomi/Monet (it seems Monet also chose her) so we're pretty much set up for a "Trinity vs. the World" finale and I know which team I am :laugh:

I know having another white allstars winner isn't needed but it's the best that's left :(

I suppose I do somewhat appreciate that this season isn’t extremely predictable, like who would’ve thought Monet and Monqiue would’ve outlasted Manila and Valentina pre-season - but I’d rather it would be done in a more memorable and iconic way
Like if Trinity had sent home Manila this week after playing it fair all season because she was the only one who could beat her, that would’ve been much better than a meh preformer who still isn’t going to win sending home a front runner for no reason and not even being overly bitchy or grand about it

If they don't plan on dropping the All Star rules then they should just cancel All Stars, They basically copy and pasted the format for the past three seasons and it's boring and contrived.

I agree with Shaun that the show as a whole though is becoming a bit crap and tough to watch. VH1 done ****ed up drag.

I do agree, I definitely think after this all stars season, all stars needs to be rested for about three years at least

I'm torn on that because if we do wait, say, until after Season 13 (so during the filming of 14) we are essentially going to be inundated by queens from S10-13 and all of the others from earlier seasons won't get a chance.

I think it'd be for the best to keep it to once every 18 months at most.

Honestly, before watching the episode I was ready to give up on the season (well, not really, but the enthusiasm wasn't there). It's been boring and predictable so far, and there have barely been any outstanding or gag-worthy moments. Didn't even rush to watch the episode like I normally do and wasn't looking forward to it.

Watching the episode, it was kind of the same blazé rubbish but even more so without Valentina's theatrical shenanigans. I'm so over Trinity's 'to be the best, you've got to beat the best' mantra and it was really patronising of her to say "My reason to keep you wasn't to save you" to Naomi. With that and her awful lip-sync last episode, I'm kinda over Trinity again.

I normally love the makeover challenges, but the whole 'family resemblance' theme is tired. Production needs to think of ways to freshen it up. ngl, I did eye-roll at the romance-induced tears from Trinity and Manila. However, I liked Latrice, Monet and Monique's best Judy's. Especially, Monet's because he was so refreshingly fun.

As for the critiques, I was surprised Monet was in the top two. I fully went into the episode expecting her to go because of the IG live she did, so that made me even more gooped by the outcome. tbh, I thought her look and makeover was a bit lacklustre. I liked both Manila and Monique's concepts and construction. Trinity's was immaculate albeit a bit boring. Latrice, I thought, actually did well and looked beautiful herself. However, it was that kind of look that was easy to put in the bottom. Naomi did the best, hands down. Generally, the Judy performances were so pointless and unnecessary.

OMG, the last ten minutes was really good and reminded me why I love All-Stars. I actually really enjoyed the lip-sync, though I thought Monet edged Naomi a little bit. The decision to send Manila home was a GAG. I did not see it coming whatsoever, especially from Naomi. I didn't even think Monet would have had the gall to send her home, so that was a surprise. Just really pleased the obvious frontrunner has gone, especially since Manila was getting more and more irritating by the episode. The coronation has ended. Been waiting for moments like this since Alyssa got rid of Ginger, and Alaska's fan favourite culling during AS2.

Actually looking forward to next episode now. Would LOVE to see a Trinity elimination and have four underdogs in the finale

I’d say the only one who is really an underdog is Monique because so many expected her to be a very early boot
Latrice and Naomi aren’t really underdogs they’re just not preforming that well but managing to slide through, and they had pretty high expectations pre season which kinda eliminates the underdog thing

All four of them are underdogs in comparison to Trinity. She, as most people have said in this thread, is the inevitable winner at this point. No comparison.

tbh, and this is my two cents (out of love), but I would beg people to not be so emotionally invested in this show. idk if it's because I've watched seasons upon seasons of America's Next Top Model (and other international versions), Project Runway, etc. before watching Drag Race, but I have many favourites who never win (or even do well). In fact, most of the winners from those shows do no objectively deserve it. However, that doesn't retract the fact that one of my favourites didn't go on to be amazingly successful post-show (and maybe even better than the person who did win).

These queens are going to go on to do brilliant things after the season has completed. Yeah, it's nice to have a crown and be America's Next Drag Superstar, but they can still do that afterwards. That's the beauty of the show. Shangela proved that after not winning All-Stars 3. It's kinda tough at the moment because the current formats for both All-Stars (picking lipsticks) and Drag Race (lip-syncing for the crown) are designed to amp up the drama as opposed to treating the competition fairly. However, competition-based reality shows have always been that way. I guess I'm just kinda used to it, lmao.

Manilla should have won. Naomi used to be my 2nd fave but now I guess I’m hoping for Latrice to win. Her and Monét are the only alright ones left.

I’m over the AS format after this absolute joke of an episode. Everything Shaun said I agree with, VH1 are not allowing a fair format these days because they’re really just more interested in seeing what gets people talking. The shenanigans they’re pulling in these last two AS series have pissed off WAYYYYY more fans than pleased fans for some cheap drama.

Manila should’ve won this season, just as Shangela should’ve won last season. I’ll watch these last two episodes but I couldn’t care less who wins at this point now tbh.

I love the way Naomi announced ‘im gonna do boy drag’ as if she hasn’t been serving boy body the entire ****ing series, so over her and don’t get the hype whatsoever.

Fuming at the result tbh, it’s not that I was that much of a Manila fan, but for her to go home over Latrice who has been a let down all season is just foolery, but I am pleased about an unpredictable winner.

I disagree with the idea that a predictable winner is boring. Someone shouldn't sashay away for doing well, it's very unsatisfying since it undercuts the winner's achievement then since they only won because the frontrunner got eliminated for having a good track record.

It destroys a natural narrative in favour of a contrived VH1 narrative. Imagine if Alaska got sent home in AS2 or if Ben didn't quit and both she and Shangela got the boot in favour of Trixie (I love her, don't get me wrong but she's the most undeserving winner ever). Look at Season 9, the ending of that series wasn't made more entertaining by the surprise top 2, it completely let all the air out of the balloon because Shea and Trinity were the obvious frontrunners.

I say this as someone whose fave is Monique but Manilla should have won the whole thing, I love Trinity too but her inevitable win is gonna be dampened by the fact that she wasn't going up against the best.

How do you know Latrice wouldn't have beat Manila in a normal lip-sync set-up? All is fair under this format, nobody should be handed a win just because they're doing the best up until that point. There are still viable and deserving winners left in the competition. Plus, we don't know Naomi's reasons yet. It could be anything from 'I don't like Manila' to 'yeah, Manila was a threat' (good on her, if so).

The format of this season is set up for a VH1 narrative. You even said in the previous thread that production and Ru know what lipsticks are pulled before the lip-sync happens, so any 'natural' storyline can be altered, by that logic.

I can only speak for myself, but I actually really liked the lip-sync set-up at the season 9 finale. I wasn't even a Sasha fan but it freshened the format up, Trinity was able to pick the person she wanted to lip-sync against, and all of the lip-syncs were enjoyable. Only last season, when it became more about reveals than lip-syncs, it become tiresome imo.

WHYYYY

I was really rooting for a non-white winner this year but I only really want Trinity to win (Latrice has no hope and I wouldn't MIND Monet but) Shangela should've been the first Queen of Color to win All Stars but they gone fuq'd that up like they do with everything!

aaargh! Manila was robbed :( Trinity must win now.
Hate this format. Let them lipsynch for the prize but at least let all other queens vote who goes. Less chance of an unfair result.

**** episode. No talent in the top 5 now.

Queen Alexis Knight :clap1: :clap1: :clap1:

Latrice come on, make that complete journey and win it :love: you deserve to fighting yourself back into the competition