SPOILER ALERT: This article contains details about the episode 6 of RuPaul’s Drag Race

This season of RuPaul’s Drag Race felt as if it was finding some sort of rhythm last week, but after this week’s episode, it may still be finding its footing – with a little more confidence. The first handful of episodes in the first MTV season of the Emmy award-winning reality series were clearly introducing the franchise to a fairly new audience that were probably zygotes when BeBe Zahara Benet won the first season.

It’s not that the new season isn’t doing its job, it’s acclimating to a new network and time constraints with shorter episodes – something many fans have expressed concerns about. We get less walkthroughs and we don’t get to see the judges deliberate so there seems to be familiar pieces of the show that we are all used to. Hell, in this episode, we didn’t even get to see Amethyst’s departing lipstick message on the mirror.

However, as Drag Race alum and All-Stars winner Monét X Change mentioned on the Sibling Rivalry podcast when talking about this same exact issue, the show was one hour in season one and the subsequent seasons. As the show became more popular and moved from Logo to VH1 and now to MTV, Drag Race has evolved. We were spoiled with one hour+ episodes and now that we are back to basics, the show is in a very interesting reset.

Nonetheless, this week’s competition has the queens forming girl groups. Luxx feels that she, Anetra, Loosey, and Sasha are the frontrunners because they all have wins. If some of these queens don’t step their pussies up if they want to excel in this competition. Then again, it’s still anyone’s game because RuPaul always like to throw in some gagworthy twists.

Mistress and Malayasia continue their friendly shade banter in this episode – more so than usual. RuPaul reveals it’s a “golden gal” girl group challenge, which means the queens will be singing as older, more mature and seasoned ladies. And yes, they will actually be lip syncing to their own vocals in the final performance. Aura immediately thinks this is her challenge to win… of course she does.

Ru calls upon the Pit Crew but instead of the normal half-naked guys, we get the popular “Old Gays” of social media fame  for a very brief minute – feels like they could have been more folded into the competition. It was clearly a cameo and nothing else.

 The groups are as follows:

• Salina, Marcia, Mistress, Luxx
• Anetra, Loosey, Jax, Robin
• Sasha, Aura, Malaysia, Spice

There are three music genres the queens to choose: Heavy Metal, Country, and Hip Hop. Anetra, Loosey, Jax and Robin decide on hip hop while the remaining team both want heavy metal. This is where it starts getting very reminiscent of Drag Race season 8 when, during the girl group singing challenge, the groups were doing the most when it came to deciding on New Wave sub genres Party, Synth, and Punk.

Luxx’s team and Sasha’s team spend an enormous amount of time stating their case in why they should get Heavy Metal. No one is budging – and this moment is taking way too much real estate in this episode. It’s a back and forth that becomes more than it needs to be – with the occasional shade. Anetra is living for it and just wants some popcorn to see how this mess turns out. Sasha is adamant and knows that her team will end up getting Heavy Metal, coining the term “OH CHILD PLEASE!” aka “OCP!”

We come back from commercial break and they are still arguing about who gets Heavy Metal. Since no one can agree, the two teams end up randomly choosing genres from a hat. Malaysia pulls Heavy Metal for her team and Luxx accepts defeat. Mistress is confident her team can turn out the Country song.

We cut to the recording sessions and team hip hop is thriving and they are dropping some serious bars. Anetra, Loosey and Jax are spitting hot fire while Robin struggles.

After Salina fell into the bottom two last week, she is determined to excel in this challenge alongside her Team Country members. She is insecure about her performance as Luxx, Mistress, and Marcia – who makes sure to tell us her entire Broadway resume – effortlessly record their lyrics.

With Team Heavy Metal, Sasha makes us gag with her demonic performance while Spice and Malaysia perform adequately. Then Aura steps up to the mic. She is having a tough time with the assignment because she’s not used to performing so aggressively. Things are not lookin’ good for her.

During choreography rehearsals, Team Heavy Metal continues to struggle – with the exception of Sasha because, well, she’s Sasha. She is determined to make her group the best – but while watching their rehearsals, the other teams clearly aren’t feeling their performance. In Mistress’s words, “It’s not giving.”

On runway day, we get the chance to hear from Sasha and her story. It’s remarkable to hear what she has experienced as a trans woman and the trail she has helped blazed. While teaching the children and letting them know why they should be bowing before her, she comes to an emotional realization of how far the trans community has come and how Drag Race is a mainstream platform that is showcasing a fringe artform that was not meant to be seen.

“I get to show the world a happy trans woman being her authentic self – not hiding anything,” she tearfully said in a confessional.

And just like that, we go from a tender moment to the continuing feud between Malaysia and Mistress. It’s a war of “drag delusion” vs. “drag confusion”. It’s almost like they are flirting.

Ru is giving all legs with a sickening Brigitte Nielsen lewk as she walks down the mainstage to welcome judges Michelle Visage, Ross Mathews, and guest judge Megan “Hi Gay” Stalter — who gives some of the best runway commentary in the history of Drag Race.

The Banjo Bitches take the stage to give us some country realness – and they are on point and pretty much slay the challenge. It felt like a gay ol’ time at the Grand Ole Opry.

When they Rockin’ Ol’ G queens come out, Sasha steps on the stage with confidence to help convince us that they were the team that deserved Heavy Metal. Aura is surprisingly put together – and she’s hamming it up on that stage. However, some of these looks are giving me more  Lightweight Metal.

The final group, Ol’ Dirty Bitches have a bop. Seriously, this hip hop song is quite enjoyable and Loosey, Anetra, Jax and Robin do their best to serve Missy Elliott realness. Some of them are succeeding. Others are not. Of all of them, it’s clear that the judges aren’t feelin’ Robin’s performance.

The category this week is “Tie Dye to Die For” and this is how they fared:

• Anetra: I feel like her outfit might have been better in person because I wasn’t getting tie dye at all. I was just getting strips of fabric on a body.
• Jax: This look was confusing. It looked like a punk rock Oompah Loompah.
• Loosey: An on-brand exec “ladies who lunch” lewk but tie-dye.
• Robin: Ru was right to call this lewk “drop dyed gorgeous”.
• Mistress: Out-of-this-world geologic eleganza.
• Luxx: She is serving tie-dye Naomi and I’m living.
• Salina: I didn’t get this lewk, but it worked.
• Marcia: Another lewk that did not give tie dye at all.
• Sasha: She looked like a dripping, rainbow sherbert pushup pop.
• Aura: It’s gorgeous ‘90s boxy suit realness.
• Spice: The dress looks as if it was bought at Forever 21.
• Malaysia: It’s giving tie-dye florals. Groundbreaking.

It is ru-vealed that Loosey, Luxx, Salina, Marcia, Spice and Malaysia are safe. That leaves Anetra, Jax, and Robin in the bottom and Sasha, Aura, and Mistress are the top queens.

Those are… iInteresting choices. Didn’t really expect Aura to be in the top, but then again, they judges loved her performance and lewk. And we can’t let Sasha win all the time, right?

Anetra gets read for not knowing the lyrics. Jax and Robin gets some harsh critiques. Jax is dragged for her outfit and for rushing ahead of the beat in the performance. The judges feel that Robin is holding back and it could very well her time to go.

Aura wins the challenge while Jax and Robin are in the bottom two, as expected. The pair lip sync for their lives to “In Your Room” by the Bangles – and honey, it is a lip sync!

Jax pulls out all the stops and it is not question that she is dancer with capial D with the tricks and flips she turns out. That’s not to say that Robin doesn’t serve.. but Jax is giving a spectacular performance. She’s giving pure athleticism and it is making up for the Oompah Loompah outfit. 

To no surprise, Robin is asked to sashay away while Jax may be working her way up to lip sync assassin.