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Drag Race’s Latest Episode Shows Why We Keep Watching the Show

Drag Race’s Latest Episode Shows Why We Keep Watching the Show

yvie oddly brooke lynn hytes

Competition tops bottoming? This is what we like to see.

MikelleStreet

Warning: This post contains spoilers from the latest episode of RuPaul's Drag Race season 11.

Let's go ahead and say it: SometimesRuPaul's Drag Race can be a little boring, especially when the queens are operating on cruise control. Not always, no. Some. Times. Thursday night was not one of those times.

Last week's episode ofUntucked got it hot with a multi-contestant showdown where Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, Yvie Oddly, Silky Nutmeg Ganache, Plastique Tiara and the recently departed Raja O'Hara Davenport all faced off at different points. It got so bad that many of the storylines this week, competition-related and not, were addressing emotions from the altercation. Case in point: The Reverend Doctor Silky Nutmeg Ganache.

For Snatch Game at Sea, the queen chose the always viral, large and in charge The Queen's Supreme Court creator and personality TS Madison as her character. She pulled it off perfectly -- ok, that 23-inch wig did look chewed as Michelle Visage pointed out -- and went on to win the week. But Ganashe's fire for the competition had clearly been stoked by Oddly's insinuation that the queen was talentless during last week's Untucked dust up. Oddly went on to eat those words as she spiraled, and baby I do mean SPIRALED, to the bottom two after a Whoopi Goldberg impression that boasted no mannerisms from the The View host. Her lip sync competitor? One Brooke Lynn Hytes.

Yes, it was a night for the competition's tops to try their hand at bottoming. This honestly wasn't a match up we thought we would see until top three. But here we are.

Hytes similarly crashed and burned in the Snatch Game, boasting literally no mannerisms from her chosen celebrity, iconic Canadian Celine Dion. But Hytes understood her folly, and unlike Oddly, did what she needed to do on the runway to fight to stay in the competition.

In a move that judges said would go down in Drag Race herstory, similar to that amazing Violet Chachki reveal in season seven, Hytes pulled out a two for one as her redemption. Even though she has become a bit of the runway queen this season, she truly stood in that status going from "Crooklyn to Brooklyn" as Ru called it. While she started in an oversized afro and '70s inspired sparkly mini dress, a few seconds down the runway and a reveal completely reworked the look into a long blonde wig and cut out bodysuit. A few dance moves on the runway showed that she was already prepared to lip sync. And while it did not prove enough to save her from the bottom two, it gave us a taste of what was to come.

Now you want to talk about talent? Let's talk about talent!

It is no surprise that Hytes and Oddly have been two of the strongest competitors of the competition. Don't debate me, debate that Plastique Tiara stan on Reddit. So to have them going head to head as early as Top 8 seemed counterintuitive. But it gave the competition a much needed jolt of energy as the passion to stay, and the level of technical ability came together in the most seamless way to turn out one of the best lip syncs in the show's history. We're talking flips, dips, and even a little wig reveal. Tie it together with a few antics and a bit of sex appeal, a little gooper and a little gaggery from a former gymnast and a trained dancer and this is what I want to see ladies and gents! This.

Luckily for us, Ru wanted to see it to and we got ourselves a justified double save. Wow, what a moment.

RELATED | 'Drag Race's Brooke Lynn Hytes Has a Jockstrap Line Coming

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Mikelle Street

Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.

Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.