‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 10’ Recap, Episode 6

It’s my time RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars to deliver one of my favorite types of Drag Race episodes. No, I don’t mean a Russian (but happy Tonys week!). I mean one that is entrenched in RuPaul’s own lore. Starrbooty rises from the ashes and dares you to log it on Letterboxd!

But first, the Messy Points. Theoretically, it should be less drama with Jorgeous and Mistress at the top, but Tina gets upset that Kerri and Butthole had their point agreement to trade. Statistically, this final bracket feels far more dramatic than the previous one, with a number of potential outcomes — I guess I will have to begrudgingly thank last week’s half-point tie for making that possible.

The only one fully out of the running with her solitary point (like Phoenix before her) is the people’s princess, Nicole Paige Brooks. And ever the unpressed realist, Nicole knows that, realistically, she is shut out of the semi-finals. But it’s still a bummer that this ultimately forces the shady quotable queen to the sidelines of this episode. Farewell, NPBFAG, you knew we wanted the pie, and you served it on a platter! (Sadly, I have no faith the judges will bring her back for this totally, completely random-and-not-cherrypicked wild card to come.)

Last week, it seemed that Mistress and Jorgeous were so aligned that they didn’t stand out enough from each other, all of which was exacerbated by the tie. When the dust settles, this week is a different picture. Jorgeous has positioned herself to reap all of the benefits while taking essentially none of the blowback for their cutthroat alliance — everyone in the room appears mad at Mistress and Mistress alone, and that’s not entirely fair.

When there is most likely another curveball in the semi-finals, it is being a complete villain the way to go? It’s smart for Jorgeous to let Mistress take the heat, and it’s helping make a case for her in the semi-finals–smart strategy, improved drag, and success in the challenges. For Mistress, dare I say, her role as an instigator has fully overshadowed her typically stunning drag.

On the mainstage, the queens will have to star in a Rusical Rebooty tribute to Ru’s cinematic finger quotes classic Starrbooty. Now, I count myself as a cinephile with a deep well of movie knowledge, but I have never seen Starrbooty. I’m guessing this is true for most of them Drag Race audience, because you can’t find the film through normal means. Forget streaming; they don’t even want that thing on WOWPresents+.

I tried to watch Starrbooty for research (because I am a professional), but it appears to have been scrubbed from the earth. To procure a Starrbooty DVD on eBay sets you back about $100 (I am not that professional). I imagine the queens are forced to watch it in the workroom, Ludovico Technique-style, in order to prepare.

How will we ever understand the Rebooty if we’ve never seen the original booty? Luckily, it’s pretty simple: There’s a supervillain trio that kidnaps Ru as Starrbooty, who must be rescued by a crime-fighting trio. Naturally, the roles lend themselves well to the battle lines already drawn between the queens. However, if I’m Nicole, Kerri, or Tina, I’m pushing harder to be the villains, who have the better group number.

It’s maybe too simply because the us vs. say conceit doesn’t make for much of a Russian. There has been a Rusical with only six queens before, but this one demands less of the queens than what we expect from this challenge — not to mention heightened All Stars stakes. It was padded out by Ru, resurrecting her Starrbooty character for a number, but she doesn’t count. However, I do want to applaud RuPaul for this new era of (gasp) actually doing choreography in the past few years. This time, she sure does move both her arms and her legs in her number!

In the Booty Squad, Tina does a great job even if the only distinguishable traits she gives her character are “being fierce” and “slaying.” Perhaps this is why the judges think she gets overshadowed even though she gets high praise. Kerri makes a very smart choice to lean into slapstick to stand out, and she crushes it, with at least 50 percent of the comedic heavy lifting going to her wig’s comedically loose curls. Nicole has a somewhat nondescript character, so she essentially plays herself (which, in fairness, is an everything character).

Over at The Villainous Agents of PUSS, Jorgeous maxes out cartoonish facial expressions straight out of Looney Tunes that the judges are right to praise. Lydia stands out by being the sultry bad girl and kind of secretly helps set the queens matching villain aesthetic. Mistress does well as a more coy villain, but earns the most nonsensical Drag Race critique in a minute that she didn’t “extend her arms enough” and looked diminutive in her hairy costume. Finally, the truth is out: Mistress is actually three small children standing on each other’s shoulders under a trench coat!

The runway this week is Wild Wild West, but not one of these queens references Salma Hayek! Jorgeous is a pink saloon buffoon, Butthole gives herself a little cowpoke, and Nicole serves … a neon merry-go-round horse with a BDSM fetish? Nicole Paige Brooks From Atlanta Georgia is a national treasure and who am I to ask her.

The Sasha Velor Word Salad Prize for Updating A Classic Silhouette With A Commitment To Showing Women Who Are Strong goes to Kerri Colby, who calls her ivory cowgirl look “my interpretation of being completely dripping and soaking wet but also dry!” So, a gin martini? I sure am confused, but she looks beautiful!

In an upscale flame look, Mistress shades Tina, but Tina still beats her on the runway in a ropes-and-saddle bodice. The bracket’s main enemies both got to be the unlucky recipient of the judges talking out of both sides of their mouths this week. It reeks of wanting to keep both of them safely out of the top just for the sake of keeping as much suspense as possible for the final Messy Points vote. You can literally see the moment when Tina realizes that the judges never saw it for her, even if she gave them everything they wanted. Brutal, considering how much growth she’s shown.

That leaves Jorgeous and Lydia to be declared the winners, even though they were only supporting players in the backstage drama this week. Jorgeous safely wins the lip-sync but never really lets Lydia have it (no slight to “Texas Hold ‘Em,” but mid-tempo tracks never make for great lip-syncs on TV). If you’re going to use this song on this bracket, shouldn’t it have been a showdown between two of the Texas divas, anyway?

Kerri coming third in the challenge ultimately rendered Mistress’s place in the semi-finals inevitable since Kerri would have had to win a lip-sync to best Mistress’s point total. Despite Nicole’s last-minute scheming, there’s no realistic scenario where she, Kerri, or Tina can get to the five-point threshold. Once again, this bracket format shows that a queen’s chances are all but sealed after their second episode.

When she expectedly punted her point to one of the already advancing queens, Mistress drops her smiling demon routine and seems actually angry at Kerri for not giving her a point. Kerri was just as fired up in her confessionals, staring directly into the camera and dragging her once Texas sister. I, for one, reeled back. She may not have won the challenge, but Kerri narrowly wrestled the episode’s main character status out of Mistress’s clutches.

In saying goodbye to this bracket, it’s safe to say that the first group of queens outshined them in terms of memorable, exciting drag. The challenges themselves have been a mixed bag, so I don’t place the blame entirely on the queens. We’ll see what the third group can bring, but I think we’re all ready to be truly gagged again by something other than the drama.

But now is not our winter All Stars discontent. With Jorgeous, Lydia, and Mistress as the advancing queens, the anticipation for the eventual semi-finals hits immediately. In terms of how these queens will interact, consider my binoculars out. Mistress will undoubtedly have a harder time pulling her tricks on the first trio of Bosco, Aja, and Irene, but I still think she could out drag them. After a bracket of queens playing catch-up to her deceptions, she might finally face queens ready to go toe-to-toe. I see a war on the horizon.

• When will we get to see Starrbooty’s origin story in the prequooty?

• Starrbooty’s order at the Chaka Khan Chicken Shack is … this recap’s bonus section?! (DoorDash forgot the sweet tea and side of curly fries.)

• PUSS stands for “Powerful Underground Sister Syndicate.” It sounds like Haim before they became famous.

• Jorgeous enters the Untucked lounge and says “Aww, I’m gonna miss this place.” How are you gonna miss it when you live there, girl?!

• The formula for the advancing queens appears to be Underdog (Irene/Lydia), Center of the Drama (Aja/Mistress), and Makes Ru Laugh the Most (Bosco/Jorgeous). It’s a loose formula!