Werq the World

Drag and the queer community as a whole are under attack. Drag Race's quadrennial politically-themed challenges are always fun while instilling a sense of fortitude in the audience. This one may be the best one yet.

This season's is a little different. That's a good thing- Seasons 4 and 12 had a "debate" and Season 8 was centered on campaign ads. This one is neither of those, but instead takes a well-tested formula on Drag Race and injects it with a politically-motivating zing. A song with original verses? Yes- but you've never heard one like this one on Drag Race before. Drag Race now has a catchy anthem they can use to get out the vote.

Drag has and always will be inherently political- this challenge excellently brings to the RPDR stage a form of performance that we've all come to love at pride parades and at register-to-vote drives. In a way, it's surprising that we haven't seen this exact challenge done already on RPDR.

Werk Room conversations are pertinent and insightful and the runway? Mawma. You aren't ready for the looks. All GORGEOUS and jaw-dropping.

This episode's premise was sold as either a verse composition contest or as a dance contest, but it was judged on neither. It was judged on aesthetics.

The editing is a nightmare. One queen in particular is shown as being very shady/villainous on stage and on confession cam, then later we are served their struggle story, presumably as an attempt to make them more relatable, but it honestly did not make sense.

This episode is completely skippable. There is no real guest judge even though surely there must be another model out there somewhere who is willing to smile and clap their way through a main stage appearance.

From the start of the episode it is clear that there are no stakes. All but three performances are textbook mid and the viewer is left unsatisfied at the end. Completely skippable.