RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, episode 2 review: Sum Ting Right
Sum Ting Right (BBC).
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK returned for it’s second episode tonight with Downton Draggy. Should it be shown-off upstairs or hidden far below with the monstrosities of acting challenges past?
Drag Race UK season 1 episode 2: The verdict.
How much Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve and Talent was episode two packing?
Overall: C.U.N.t.
Drag Race UK continues to be better than the sum (or ting or wong) of its parts.
The lip-syncs have sunk, the challenge was fine and the runway good. But the show remains excellent.
Dame Graham Norton (BBC).
That’s mostly thanks to to the strongest cast in herstory bringing humour, sass and heart every week.
But it’s also down to RuPaul’s enthusiasm for trying to understand and value the cultural differences between the countries. Oh, and Dames Alan Carr and Graham Norton spark immense joy, too.
Challenge: C.U.
The acting challenge was never going to be a seasonal highlight, but to its credit we have endured worse.
To create a bit of drama The Vivienne split the cast into the older tops (of the competition, of course) and younger bottoms.
BrightYoungBottoms (BBC).
I was following – and laughing – with TeamOldTop’s Vivienne and Vinegar Strokes, while Baga Chipz’ ability to embody a look won her both the challenge and runway. Sum Ting Wong’s storyline, meanwhile, was a hot mess. But after last week’s robbery I was just glad she wasn’t thrown straight under the bus.
We see the BrightYoungBottoms through the lens of rattlesnake sounds and the raising of a Visage brow, and know they performed less well.
But the highlight? That Vinegar’s laughing face is also her Vinegar Strokes face.
An insight into Vinegar Strokes (BBC).
Runway: C.U.n.
Category is: Bond Girl Glamo-rama.
Crystal expertly laced the sovereign with sadomasochism last week and continued showing us the ropes by turning Bond to bondage. Other highlights included Blu’s triple tats and high-fashion glamour from Vivienne and Divina De Campo.
James Bondage (BBC).
Vinegar was – for the second week in a row – disappointing.
Drag Race UK gets Sum Ting Right.
Amidst some quite confusing crying over whether or not they were “here” yet, the queens of Drag Race UK chatted sexual fluidity, race and intergenerational acceptance from migrant families.
It’s great and – judging by last week’s reaction to Scaredy Kat – necessary the show includes these stories.
Drag Race UK really has you all fucked up huh? Has the world forgotten that being a male person with a girlfriend doesn’t mean youre automatically not queer…? You know bi, pan, and queer people exist and they arent less queer when they date different genders to their own? ?
— Courtney Conquers (@courtneyconquer) October 6, 2019
If Drag Race has really become mainstream then non-queer viewers can get a more nuanced understanding of LGBT+ (or just GB+, really) lives. They won’t be able to consume the art and remain ignorant to the artist’s journey.
The most touching moment was Sum Ting Wong’s candid explanation that after her dad ignored her coming out at aged 12, they never spoke about it again. And they still don’t know she does drag because:
“I don’t want to throw it in their face like: ‘Aah look you’ve got a gay son, aah look he dresses as a woman as his job.’”
Blu’s triple tats (BBC).
It’s all about the WAGs.
A WAG hasn’t caused this much of a stir around gossipy gals since – well, yesterday.
But I don’t get it. Cheryl isn’t fake, annoying or overly Americanised like the queens suggest.
She’s not Laganga-ing around with a ‘no smoking’ sign on her head, speaking in catchphrase and screaming that other queens stole her ever-elusive ‘moment.’
Playing up? Maybe, but she is a tucking drag queen. I get cheeky, honest and down to earth from her.
But maybe that’s just me?
LSFYL.
Lip sync, lip sink or split lip?
Lip sink. They looked fierce and the song choice was a hoot, but Charlie Hides is being proven right when he said U.K. queens can’t lip-sync. Please can we not let Charlie Hides be right.
Scaredy Kat’s first lip sync (BBC).
Scaredy Kat.
Scaredy kept her nerve and would have made a brilliant competitor, but the editing gave her away. The writing on the wall came when they dedicated minutes of the show to discussing her dark horse status. Dark (or black, thank’s Joseyln) horses aren’t recognised as such on episode two.
“That’s A level drama right there.”
Line of succession: Who is on their way to snatching the crown in Drag Race UK?
1st: The Vivienne.
The Kim Woodburning is still on fire (although surely she can’t do it for Snatch Game now we know the surprise?), and so is she.
2nd: Baga Chipz.
The loveable maniac is hot on her heels, and with those performance chops looks unlikely to slow down.
3rd: Divina de Campo.
Ru seems especially fond of our camp queen. She went from OK yesterday to slay today.
4th: Crystal.
Her fashion is flawless she’s done well the last two weeks. All to play for.
5th: Cheryl Hole.
0-0-Dipsh*t stole my heart. I don’t care if the show tries to make her look like an agitator or even hits her with a villain edit. It will fail (see: Courtney Act).
6th: Vinegar Strokes.
If last week’s TFL dress hadn’t been cancelled Vinegar would be right up there, especially after today’s performance. But two meh runways in a row isn’t an enviable position.
7th: Sum Ting Wong.
If the judges won’t give her a win when she deserves one then who knows how she’ll go about redeeming herself from tonight. She really wasn’t that bad. But she’ll have to do every ting right from now on.
8th: Blu Hydrangea.
After being wound-up by Ru (“are you flying under the radar?”), our flower is in trouble. She’s at the bottom now, but as Ru said, it’s time to blossom.
