The previous episode’s shocking elimination promised to be a game-changer. While “Sex And The Kitty Girl” ultimately reverts to form, the ripples from Naomi’s choice are felt throughout the episode, making for the most exciting deliberations yet. Previous polarizing eliminations have prompted fan backlash toward the…
For the first time this season, the elimination comes as a genuine surprise. The producers and editors on RuPaul’s Drag Race have made sure each of the All Stars 4 eliminations have felt organic and earned, and in retrospect, inevitable. With “RuPaul’s Best Judy’s Race,” that changes. The audience will find out next…
After weeks of comedy challenges and last episode’s lip-sync bonanza, RuPaul’s Drag Race changes things up with a design challenge. That’s not entirely accurate. As Valentina says, this is a design challenge, a hosting challenge, a comedy challenge, and a branding challenge, all wrapped up in one. The queens must work…
After weeks of build-up and fan speculation, the eliminated queens are back on All Stars 4, and it’s—well, it’s fine. “LaLaPaRUza” is a victim of overhype, with promos playing up Ru’s dramatic revocation of All Stars rules two episodes ago, after “Jersey Justice.” When this twist didn’t materialize until the final…
RuPaul’s Drag Race is many things. It’s a drag revue; a variety show; a vehicle spotlighting queer excellence, acceptance, and understanding; a branding and merchandising engine; and a giant billboard promoting RuPaul Charles, Michelle Visage, and the various queens who have broken through to new audiences via the…
Let’s take a moment to honor esteemed queen and Drag Race royalty Latrice Royale. Heading into All Stars 4, Latrice’s name was one of if not the most exciting on the docket. Fan favorite isn’t strong enough; she is, as Valentina says, the Dearly Beloved. At the start of the season, the notion of Latrice being only the…
In the season premiere, RuPaul promised twists on twists in All Stars 4 and while the first—the heavily promoted return of Latrice Royale and Manila Luzon—hardly qualified, the season’s second surprise is genuinely intriguing. In a welcome break from the Drag Race routine, Ru reveals that the top eight queens will not…
Several of the queens returning for RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars 4 have received villain edits. Manila and her fellow Heathers came off as bullies in season three, Gia stirred the pot in season six, and by the season nine reunion, Valentina had worn through her fellow queens’ goodwill and got called out, most notably…
The week after Thanksgiving should be a time of rest and recovery, a few glorious days’ respite before the second wave of holiday craziness crashes down. Not so in my family. Each year, my mom and I take on a task of Herculean proportions: baking, boxing, and delivering dozens of Christmas cookie care packages. This…
RuPaul’s Drag Race has had quite a 2018, going from the controversial All Stars 3 right into the Emmy Award-winning Drag Race season 10. Now All Stars is back for season four, and in its first episode, it’s off to a solid start. However, fans will need to wait to see whether RuPaul and the rest of the producers have…
The #MeToo movement is still going strong, historic numbers of women are up for election this fall (and voting and protesting across the country), and between Crazy Rich Asians and Netflix’s To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, the stereotypically “female” genre of the rom-com is back with a vengeance. American pop…
It’s been a long season, but we’ve made it at last to the final. Brendan, James, and John remain, promising a study in contrasts for the final three bakes. What will take the day: Brendan’s consistency and precision, James’ flexibility and flavors, or John’s creativity and innovation? All three have acquitted…
It’s been a long road to the semi-finals. Each of the four bakers remaining has won Star Baker, and each has been up for elimination. The competition is fierce and they all know one small mistake is all it takes to send them home. The theme this episode is patisserie, or fine French pastry, and that means there’s…
The quarterfinal is here and for the first, and only, time in The Great British Baking Show history, the theme for the antepenultimate round is biscuits! Usually burned off earlier in the competition, it’s exciting to see the humble biscuit reserved for this more competitive stage and considering the challenges the…
After a tumultuous few episodes, The Great British Baking Show returns to its typical approach with “Sweet Dough,” for better and worse. The episode begins with a brief refresher, catching viewers up on the non-elimination in “Pudding,” and the high stakes the bakers face this episode: two contestants will be going…
From one series first to another, The Great British Baking Show is ramping up and delivering one hell of a mid-season run. First Ryan had his remarkable turnaround in “Pies,” going from barely escaping elimination in “Desserts” to Star Baker one week later. The very next episode, in another Baking Show first, no one…
The Great British Baking Show doesn’t do drama. It’s not interested in last minute saves and surprise turnarounds, in emotional twists and turns and challenges that set the bakers up for failure. That’s one of the show’s chief pleasures, its low-stress, high-empathy emphasis on process, hard work, and the satisfaction…
It’s been a warm and inviting season thus far, but something has been just a little off with The Great British Baking Show. There’s been a bit of a remove between the hosts, Mel and Sue, and the bakers, and while some of the challenges have worked like gangbusters, others have been underwhelming. This may be airing as…
The scent of fruit, pastry cream, and innuendo is in the air- it’s tart week at The Great British Baking Show! Mel and Sue barely have time to lampshade the pastry puns they won’t be deploying this episode before we’re off to the races, with the bakers back in the tent and ready to get to work. For the signature…
