We have a great history of queens who are downright uproarious in their confessionals in ways that they're simply not able to translate to the pressures of the actual comedy challenges. It seems at least a few of the queens - Nina, Pepper, and Sasha - seem to have crested the worst of their in-their-own-heads…

Bob is a great example of a recent winner who's sold themselves on being particularly politically astute, but with a performing instinct that gives that political voice a necessary infotainment edge.

(for both @T Taz:disqus and @kirblar:disqus )

See - in those comparisons, I see those queens being presented as just a bit more natural in their affect than what we see of Valentina. We see Valentina expressing some real talk, in Untucked in particular, but in the way I see therapists having a practiced grade of speaking their minds in an incredibly…

I mean, that was true even in early seasons, to no small extent.

I hope the competition heats up at this point, because i feel like the filler is really gone, but its still been a meh season so far due to the editing.

Her Superbowl Madonna look was the most detailed and accurate of the night. And her fluorescent green muppet fantasy was probably among the better offerings from the faux fur runway.

We know the queens get at least a day or two to prepare (and craftier queens can get ahead on their reading as soon as they all meet each other). But yeah - I'm surprised that didn't get edited out - or called out for being a rehash.

I'm in agreement about Sasha - she acquits herself well in performance, but in a way that feels like she's getting a bit of a participation award for having shown up. If there's one end of the divide she's going to be remembered for more - it's Team Look.

I imagine, in Oliver's head - he was referring to country tracks that've been dropped over the previous seasons of the show. Where a country LSFYL almost guarantees a mess.

You blocked me, you tramp!

Ooo, good catch on Sasha. I might give Valentina just a teensie bit of an edge there - it's conjecture, but I'm guessing Valentina might have a bit more experience painting others than Sasha might. Especially given Sasha's very signature minimalism - it might not translate onto someone else, depending on who the…

It was enough to keep her out of the bottom three, at least. Standup is tough enough, if you can keep from crashing and burning, that's a win in my book. And two of those were favorites going into the roast, too, to boot.

It seems like (save Charlie, natch) - a lot of the older queens are still in it. Alexis, Pepper, Nina, and Trinity are all over 30. And Sasha, even at 29, I'd be hard-pressed to imagine she's not down with the whole Slimelight-Michael Alig-Party Monster scene.

Oh, definitely.

I might only add that it's been seeming like the challenges thus far haven't been playing up to her Team Look bona fides? There's the princess challenge, but most the main challenges have been more talent-oriented, which she's been acquitting herself pretty well in, if not necessarily been shining brightest.

No one needs to read or write with that much highlighter.

Shea was a good choice to lead. She's among the more dependable comedic voices remaining. And her comedic style reminded me of her Snatch Game Naomi Campbell - a haughty bitch. She landed all of her jokes, even if her set was lower energy slower burning comedy than a best-case Alexis or Trinity might've been.

1,3) I never got around to chiming on the thread last week - where commenters were assigning the queens to categories. Rather than think of it as a strict, categorical divide, I've come around to thinking of it as an axis, a dimension along which the queens segregate, mostly by virtue of the skillsets they've clearly…

Most of my concern for Pepper going into this challenge being the last couple of times she's had to perform comedy - she carcrashed so painfully. Especially in a live format, I'm reminded she has at least a couple of instances where she's almost incapable of recovering once her train has left the rails.