I’d probably count myself as a continuity stickler. At least insofar as having a deep and abiding respect for how surprisingly well Trek’s canon holds up as internally consistent with respect to the fictional history of the 22nd-24th centuries.

I’ll only add that - for as campily dated as all those gel lights are, no small chunk of the appeal of Starfleet design (for me, at least) through the TOS and TNG eras being that if you had the technology to travel through space comfortably, why wouldn’t you?

For my money, the trick to Trek’s obsession with the past is that we’ve gotten three different iterations of it now - between Enterprise, JJ-Trek (which one could count stringently for the Kelvin sequences, and more generously for revisiting the TOS premise), and now Discovery.

Ana Gasteyer’s SNL impersonation was largely built on those odd, lilting Quebecois francophonisms. But the physical mannerisms, especially in performance are all in there - all the high coloratura diva arms, where she’s crafting the voice in her own bosom like a great big ball of clay.

I’ve found it fascinating that even at her youngish age, Trixie’s one of the relatively few drag queens that’s talked openly and publically about finding a career path after drag.

Watching Kennedy’s dance numbers, she’s not exactly Twyla Tharp, but
Take this example here, from the pre-show for the Season 8 Reunionale:

I can see the distinction now that you point it out. I’d only add that the real incentive to a deep cut for Night of a Thousand Madonnas, especially in the do-over version, was to avoid doubling up with another queen - which was still a problem in season 9.

I don’t think it’s a bad general rule of thumb, to stick with iconic looks.

Three inch heels, and boom - difference made up.

I mean, even in UNHhhh and T&KS, her comedy works so well because she gets the opportunity to contrast it to Katya’s sheer alien weirdness. She’s uproarious, but in a subtle way that can come off just a tiny bit dad-jokey sometimes when she’s on her own.

I expect that it’s as much that she’s not mired in the permanent anxiety and self-doubt that was so evident in season 7, that she’s talked at length about since.

As long as we’re playing hypotheticals, I’d find it within the realm of reasonability that World of Wonder’s instructions may have been to bring multiple impersonations - I mean, we’ve still got Snatch Game coming, right?

I’m with Kevy on this one - the intuitive muscle memory of freestyle, versus the coordination skills necessary for cognitively thinking about the correct steps on the correct beat are just different parts of the brain. They may be related, but distinct skillsets where training for one isn’t synonymous with being…

Shit, was I among those?

Last season, I’d offered a defense of Alaska being that of all of AS2's competitors, she’d simply done more in her time since the show - from singles and EPs to videos, TV, touring, and the like. Most tellingly, all that productivity reflected in the skills and confidence she demonstrated throughout that season.

I’ll certainly grant that Herstory gave the queens more runway to create characters. In many ways, this challenge seems like a softball version of Snatch Game, one that plays even more to the traditionalist pageant and club gig avenues of drag - where capturing a look is even more central to an impersonation than…

I suppose we could pin it on the whole Club Kid aesthetic (beyond Milk) being touted as this expression of raw creativity - but looking back on Michael Alig, James St. James, Slimelight source material from back in the day - it’s clear there’s a certain randomness; almost a lack of rationale or logic, beyond just…

...is totally my point!

Chi Chi’s poverty queen thing was a bit of a crutch back in season 8; it certainly held her back, but there was also just a bit of a handicap one gave her styling, Michelle’s famous read of her basic leotard notwithstanding.