Delusions and Paranoia
The episode begins with Geneva's feeling that she was misplaced last week and the remnants of the dustup between Plane Jane and Amanda during Untucked. Plane Jane issues a non-apology, and Mirage cuts the tension with a joke, but the rivalry lingers over the episode. The mind games and paranoia begin when the queens start to assign roles. Three faceoffs emerge between Plane Jane and Morphine, Sapphira and Mirage, and Dawn and Plasma over who gets what part.Plane Jane and Morphine show a little drag-sister rivalry over one sketch. Plane Jane encourages Morphine to take a different part, which Morphine interprets as Plane Jane thinking Morphine will overshadow her. Speaking of delusion, Megami eventually gets the role and continually thinks she's better friends with Plane Jane than might be the case. The next clash comes with the role of host, which both Sapphira and Mirage desire. Sapphira eventually relents with Mirage winning the role and immediately questions the results. Overthinking the situation, Mirage is convinced that Sapphira has a master plan to sabotage her. A similar plot develops between Dawn and Plasma. Plasma resents the pressure to take a certain role. Plasma's disinclination to take the role is comical after she confirms her firm grasp on the life and career of Barbra Streisand, but also because the role is essentially exactly what she did for her talent show: singing and impressions. The mind games continue as Plane Jane and then RuPaul make walkthroughs, questioning and challenging the contestants about their comedic talents.
Representation and Misrepresentation
In contrast to the silliness of sketch comedy, the Werk Room discussion takes on more serious matters as the queens discuss the importance of reputation. Mirage shares how she's learning to incorporate her Mexican and Indigenous heritage into her drag. Likewise, Geneva and Xunami reveal that they are Dreamers and consider how that unpredictable state has impacted their lives and perspectives. In one of the most drastic tonal shifts in Drag Race herstory — worthy of Hershii's whiplash — the focus shifts to Amanda's day job ghostwriting for female OnlyFans creators, which makes the queens erupt in laughter.RDR Live
Like most of SNL these days, the sketches range from mid- to slightly funny. The show starts with its weakest segment, an apocalyptic New Year's Eve countdown with Xunami, Morphine, Geneva, and Mhi'ya. Xunami and Morphine give safe performances next to Geneva's confusion and Mhi'ya's over-the-top news reporter. During the critiques, the judges gave Mhi'ya points for going big but challenged her to give it levels next time. The problem with Geneva's impression of Lindsey Graham is clear when she admits she doesn't know who the senator is. For the monologue, Mirage is slightly hesitant and commits a performance sin by asking for applause. While the host role won Kandy Muse the challenge in All Stars 8, it lands Mirage at the bottom. The deck sketch, the night's strongest, relies on the Drag Race standard of double entendres. Plane Jane and Megami create comedic contrast that works well. However, the sketch is not going to help Plane Jane beat those Jimbo comparisons, considering they play the same character type in their respective RDR Live performances. Still, it should be noted that Jimbo's season would not have aired before the production of season 16, making these parallels coincidental. The judges praise Plane Jane, in particular, for downplaying the comedy, thus making the scene funnier.A musical number from RuPaul is a welcome break from the sketch comedy, which picks back up with the Drag Race spoof of Weekend Update. Amanda and Dawn deliver pre-written jokes well as anchors, but the focus is on Q's role as the brick from the Stonewall riots. In a role modeled after Bowen Yang's iceberg performance, the judges compliment Q's ability to bring life to an inanimate object. Plasma, Nymphia, and Sapphira close the show with three Barbara Streisand impressions. Nymphia and Sapphira give solid performances, but it is clearly a sketch written around Plasma's role, and she milks every moment. The judges are enamored with her performance and are baffled by her reluctance to take the part.
Night of 1,000 Chers
This runway category of celebrity looks celebrates Cher. She's an interesting subject for imitation because she already does drag; you can't really drag up a Cher look. The real test is about the choice of look and its execution. It's a tall order, considering most of her looks were created by an exquisite craftsman like Bob Mackie. The runway category begs the question of why the challenge wasn't a spoof on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour rather than Saturday Night Live.Overall, it was a fairly impeccable runway from start to finish, with Nymphia, Sapphira, Plane Jane, and Morphine shining most. Dawn gets points for selecting a more unexpected, early Cher look, but it faded next to all the glitz and glamour of Cher's Mackie era. The weakest look was Mhi'ya, who chose a rather pedestrian red-carpet ensemble that did not capture Cher.
Considering the challenge, runway, and without rate-a-queen, the judges award the win to Plasma, who cannot retire her delusions of being an underdog. After Plasma's celebration, there is a telling and tense cut to Q, who radiates a combination of envy and rage. Q makes it to the top every time she competes but never wins. It'll be interesting to see how she handles it all next week. Geneva, Mhi'ya, and Miage end up in the bottom three. It's Mhi'ya's second consecutive time in the bottom, along with Geneva, which normally secures a lip-synch position. However, Mhi'ya saves herself with the world's worst Cher impression that tickles RuPaul so much there is no way she would put Mhi'ya in the bottom two.
