If there’s one episode a season I think should be formally made a permanent non-elimination episode, it’s the makeover. Much has been said (including by me) about how wonky the judging gets in these episodes: it’s all about family resemblance, except when it isn’t. That alone would be enough to get rid of eliminations in this episode, to spare us some of the incomprehensible results we’ve seen in the past. (Remember when Cheryl got sent home on the UK Season 1 makeover despite being one of the clear best of the week?)
But there’s other elements to consider here—first and foremost, the emotional factor of the makeovers. These are, by and large, some of the most heartwarming episodes that Drag Race has to offer. When I think of past makeovers, I think of Ru tearfully thanking the members of the Drag Race crew for participating, or the genuine and lovely connections that the Season 12 queens made with their superfan partners. The latter episode stands out in large part because, though Heidi N Closet and Jackie Cox had to lip sync, no one was sent home. The good vibes continued until the very end of the episode.
Finally, there’s the awkwardness of the actual judging segment. Once Drag Race largely shifted away from random makeover partners—back in the days when we got jocks and military vets instead of loved ones—the critiques got a lot softer. In episodes with such good vibes, why would the judges want to bring things down by being harsh? Telling someone they didn’t do a good job making over their family member isn’t exactly a testament to the power of drag. Maybe the most notable example of this was in Season 15, when Luxx Noir London really whiffed in the makeover (her only real misstep all season!), and out of an abundance of kindness, she barely got a negative critique for it. It only makes the screwy judging problem worse: not only are the ultimate decisions bad, but there’s less explanation than ever as to why those decisions are being made.
We see examples of all of these in this episode: the queens are tasked with making over their parents, and tears flow early and often. The notes to the queens’ faces are, by and large, positive, making it unclear until deliberations exactly how the judges really feel. And while the judging is largely fine, the choice of bottom two out of the lowest-placing trio feels poorly explained. Considering this episode ends in a double shantay anyway—which is probably what was always going to happen, given the episode schedule—why not just have the top two lip sync for the win instead? That way, everyone feels celebrated, there’s plenty of time to focus on feelings and we don’t go through the charade of an elimination episode that you could guess from the start will not feature anyone going home.
If I sound annoyed by this episode, I promise I’m not. I’ll admit, I’m generally frustrated with how the past few weeks of this season have been going. After a roast episode that felt like it had the potential to upend what was looking like a predictable endgame, we quickly settled back into an expected trajectory. There has been a clear final five since the earliest weeks of the season, and only Lydia B Kollins seemed like a threat to disrupt it. But her unfortunate snafu with the scissors during the “Unholy” lip sync likely foiled the show’s plans for Lydia to take Lana Ja’Rae out, which led to Lana blowing Sam Star away in their lip sync and Ru having to avert his gaze and eliminate Lana anyway. And now, we’re frozen at the final five for another week, Ru seemingly unwilling to eliminate any of them. I’m getting Season 14 flashbacks.
But those greater concerns aside, this is an enjoyable makeover episode. Bringing in moms and dads is always a winning idea—as we saw in the UK Season 6 makeover last year—and there are some genuinely interesting dynamics beyond the usual unconditional love and support we typically see. Yes, Sam and her mom Leslie are practically attached at the hip, and Jewels Sparkles loves that she can bring such joy to her dad Douglas’ face. But the other three parent-child dynamics are a bit trickier, each delivering something notable in this episode.
Let’s start with Onya Nurve and her dad, Andre. They are both remarkably frank about their relationship, Onya revealing that Andre was in and out of prison when she was growing up because he robbed five banks. (This revelation makes Andre’s suggested drag name, Roberta Banks, all the more shockingly funny.) Andre is hilarious and fully dedicated to helping his son, even shaving his beard for the first time in Onya’s 31 years of life. There’s a refreshing honesty to these two and their dynamic that may not translate into the strongest performance in the challenge, but makes their connection one of the highlights of the episode.
The opposite turns out to be true with Suzie Toot and her mom, Susan. Here’s a table-setter for what this dynamic is like: when Ru asks about the connection between their names and deems Suzie’s drag identity a tribute to her mother, both Suzie and Susan seem apprehensive about it. Like, that’s an obvious slam dunk Ru would love, but the interaction is just awkward. “Awkward” and “apprehensive” is a good way to describe Susan throughout this episode. Right off the bat, she throws up boundaries, saying she won’t walk in particularly high heels and can’t do much else because of her lack of energy. Suzie indicates in a confessional that while she’s happy to see her mom, it’s not all hugs and smiles like it is with Sam and Jewels and their parents.
This eventually becomes a bit frustrating to watch, as it’s clear there’s an issue between the two, but Suzie won’t say what it is, even in confessionals. The closest we get is that after Sam’s mom explains that she sees Sam once a weekend in drag performances, Suzie explains that she feels the door on her parents being fully involved in what she does is not open. It’s hard to square that with Susan showing up to film this show, so I’m a bit lost. It also is a stark contrast to what Onya and Andre provide to the story: they’re open and honest about some really difficult shit in the past, while Suzie and Susan’s hesitance and lack of resolution can’t help but feel cagey in comparison.
The other interesting duo is Lexi Love and her mother, Tammy. If you’re thinking to yourself, “Didn’t Lexi say her mom threw her out?”, you are correct! This is indeed the same mom, which makes her appearance maybe the biggest shock of the episode. To put it lightly, this situation feels freshly mended—still healing, even. At multiple points in the episode, Tammy refers to Lexi using she/her pronouns, and Lexi verbally exclaims her surprise. It clearly means the world to Lexi that Tammy is here, and they seem to have needed this experience the most of any of the pairs. Their relationship feels stronger by episode’s end than at the start.
The results are all over the board in this episode, with little correlation between the makeovers’ success and the partners’ harmony or discord. The only real certainty is that Sam and Leslie, who are practically drag mother and daughter already, knock this out of the park. Sam comes into this episode quite thrown off her game after last week’s Lip Sync for Your Life, but seeing her mom emboldens her. She gives the newly dubbed “Sassy Star” a sexy makeover, and she nails the family resemblance between the two. While it’s not going to go into any Best Drag Race Makeovers compilation, it’s strong work that fulfills the brief. Sam turns things around for herself this week, and earns her third win at a crucial juncture.
Her only real competition for the win is Suzie, who comes up with a very clever solution for her mom’s hesitance. Her concept for the makeover is Mickey Mouse-esque characters come to life, rendered in black-and-white like in the old cartoons. Suzie casts herself as the confident leader, while Susan—now “Queenie Toot”—is the nervous but game second banana. Suzie gets credit from Michelle Visage for taking care of her mom on stage, while Law Roach says that theirs are the most fashionable garments of the lot. I almost wonder if their strangely awkward vibe isn’t what ultimately denies Suzie the win, because on paper, the critiques make it seem like she has a shot. Alas, she falls short, but sets a new record for number of weeks avoiding placing below safe: 12 total.
The other three teams all struggle in one way or the other. The clear bottom-placing duo is Jewels and Douglas, now named “Salchicha Sparkles.” Salchicha is a fucking trip, man. Like Wintergreen before her, Salchicha camps it up on the main stage, flirting with Ru in Spanish and generally having a blast. Unfortunately, Jewels commits the cardinal sin of bringing too-simple garments for the makeover: matching winter coats that have no real shape to them. We’ve seen this with others, most notably Alaska in All Stars 2 and Gigi Goode in Season 12: the judges don’t like it when they sense a queen taking the easy way out.
The other spot in the bottom two is between Onya and Lexi, and this is a matter of splitting hairs. Both outfits are bad. While Onya’s styling for “Nunya Bidness” is worse, Lexi’s mug for “Mimi Lovely” is inferior. In the end, it’s a close call, but I’d personally favour Nunya’s comfort and confidence and call her safe. Ru disagrees, instead calling Lexi safe and putting Onya in the bottom two for the first time. There’s not a bad call here, but I do think the slippery nature of the judging criteria lets Ru go the way he wants. While he loves Onya, there’s value in seeing a frontrunner be made to fight for their spot near the very end of a season. (Hello, Raja, Jinkx Monsoon, Bob the Drag Queen and others.)
The lip sync is to Amerie’s “1 Thing”—an absolute bop—and Jewels is prepared. She comes with a built-in reveal that she executes perfectly, dances the hell out of the song and generally pulls focus throughout. Onya has some good moments, including punting Jewels’ wig over the judges’ panel, but I think if there were a winner to be called here, I would pick Jewels. Of course, with four wins under her belt, it’s hard to imagine Ru actually sending Onya home.
So of course, at episode’s end, we get a double shantay, and no one is sent packing. Onya and Jewels practically explode into a hug when Ru calls them both safe—it’s a good moment! But now, we move forward to the final in-season, competitive episode with a top five, and one more win to be claimed. Who will snatch the last victory and cement their spot in the finale? Which queen (or queens) will fall short of the crown? We’ll find out next week as the queens audition to star in RuPaul’s Drag Race Live. Until then!