RuPaul's Drag Race Episode 12 Recap: The Competition Needs a Shake-Up

Editor's note: Before you dive into episode 12, read our recap of last week's episode.

On this week's episode, Lydia Butthole Kollins struck a more cordial tone with her mirror message than Arrietty. The congenial moment dominated the start of the episode, even as the queens questioned why most contestants said they wanted Suzie Toot to go home. While there was a visual divide, with Suzie and Onya Nurve perched on one couch and the Never Tooters — Lexi Love, Sam Star, Lana Ja'Rae, and Jewels Sparkles — on another, the face-off ended with laughs. Still, with Suzie and Onya as frontrunners, the underlying tension that has sustained the season remained. The competition could use a shake-up, but this week's episode failed to deliver: The challenge felt like filler, and the runway was recycled.

It seemed promising at first. The mini challenge asked the queens to write one another's fill-in-the-blank biographies, a mix between the reading and puppet challenges. Personal storytelling and partner work bled into the main challenge as RuPaul announced the Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve, and Talent Monologues, a spoof of Eve Ensler's provocative stage work, the Vagina Monologues. Earlier, Sam had proclaimed, "It's every woman for herself," but RuPaul disputed that when he announced queens would perform an interpretive dance to match their partners' stories. Each queen picked a prompt, ranging from inspirational to supernatural, from the furry pink box. The quizzical combination of theatrical monologues and interpretive dance led to a muddled, rather than captivating, experience.

The moments before the actual challenge turned out to be the most interesting. From Sam's hurt feelings when Lexi picked Onya over her, to Jewels' stress over creating a lineup after the roast, to the queens revealing more about their backgrounds, the lead-up to the challenge provided better stories than the stage performances themselves. With an emphasis on competitiveness this season, the other, softer side of RuPaul's Drag Race has been put on the back burner. What did we really know about Arrietty as a person before this episode? What did we really know about Lana?

Jewels and Suzie appeared the most in sync, while Lexi hoped Onya's winning record and calm demeanor would rub off on her. The final pair, Sam and Lana, were less compatible. Sam was hesitant to work with Lydia last week, and she was almost hostile about partnering with Lana this week. While Lexi hoped Onya would lift her to a win, Sam worried Lana would be an anchor. As the queens moved to the dance portion, the disconnect between Sam and Lana grew wider. Jewels' frustration was palpable when Director Toot emerged again.

Every once in a while, RuPaul's Drag Race comes up with a challenge that is so under- or overthought that anything can happen, and anyone can win. Jewels had the best story, Suzie had the best-written story, Onya had the best delivery, and Lexi had the most entertaining dance. But the juxtaposition between the stationary monologue and the interpretive dance felt strained. Perhaps the challenge concept was thrilling on paper, but it was boring in practice.

With a weaker challenge, it was an inopportune time to recycle a runway theme, even if it celebrated the tenth anniversary of Season 7's "The Ugliest Dress" category. Celebrating Christmas and Thanksgiving respectively with their looks, Suzie's tree and Onya's turkey, while unabashedly ugly, felt like costumes more than dresses. The dresses worn by Jewels and Sam failed the ugly test.

While Jewels evoked the past with an '80s prom dress, there was something contemporary or even fashion-forward about her choice, like it would not be out of place in a Nicolas Ghesquière Louis Vuitton collection. While the body horror elements of her look horrified Sam, the construction and craft were undeniably beautiful. Lana's decision to re-wear an exceptionally ugly Kandy Muse look appeared derivative rather than referential.

Lexi's tutu look was the night's best option. The discordant color combination was an eyesore, yet its innovative silhouette commanded the eye. It felt like a quintessential technicolor Lexi Love look.

Judging was all over the place, as if designed to help the producers' heavy hand. Suzie and Jewels were deemed safe for their earnest performances. Onya and Lexi earned a double win by reading between the lines and remembering the most important element of RuPaul's Drag Race is making RuPaul laugh. The challenge highlighted Onya's undeniable charisma, and the interpretive dance element allowed Lexi to get out of her head.

Sam's discomfort with being silly or ugly landed her in the bottom two alongside Lana, who, despite some memorable recent performances, faded into the background again.

Before the music even started, the odds were stacked against Lana. Despite three lip sync wins, she would not be put in the pantheon of lip sync assassins. It was Sam's first time in the bottom and the judges so clearly love her drag, so the lip sync outcome felt preordained. The dual death drop was entertaining, but nothing could change the predictable result. Lana had a slow start, but she never gave up, and her endurance was endearing. After a season of saying her looks were atypical for her, she exited the competition in an archetypal sexy Lana look.