I think a B+ is kind. I checked out of the episode the moment the final lipsync was announced as a three-way. As we already saw in the previous non-reunion episode, having multiple contestants lipsync results in something messy and indistinct for the audience. We couldn’t see enough to know who did well.

I’d been hoping for a Kameron win due to the “hard work, self-respect, and not being Aquaria” thing, but Asia’s outburst now has me on Team Asia. I didn’t think everything she said was entirely right in that situation - she can feel the need to help, but she can’t be responsible for the Vixen’s emotions - but it’s…

I’m fascinated by how intimidating DM can be for new players. I was sweating bullets when I first tried running a game as an adult, and was then pleasantly surprised. It was way easier than I’d imagined, although draining: I’d imagined it would be skill-intensive, but not energy-intensive.

I’ve got a friend who’s been…

Responding only to the article’stitle:
I was groggy when I saw this, and read it as “It Sucks to Be a God in Mom of War,” and now, I really, really want Mom of War to be a thing.

This season more than any has made me look at talking-head interview segments as a crucial part of the competition: the one that takes place after the fact. Each week a queen isn’t eliminated, she gets more screen time, not just during the challenges and runways, but during the talking-head segments, and those…

Without going into detail, but some of the changes the show is apparently making to Abbadon’s Gate are ratcheting up tension in different ways. If I recall correctly, Naomi’s placement on the Nauvoo as chief engineer is a major change, and for those of us who’ve read the books, it creates a very specific, intense…

Hm. Doing so as such could be construed as inappropriate, but I found myself wondering if Ru was in some altered state during the workroom interviews, without getting too specific as to what. There was definitely something up with his affect.

“She’s a good performer, has great fashion sense, but those aren’t necessarily the makings of good reality TV or even a marketable winner in this competition. And this isn’t RuPaul’s Actual Talent Race.”

That is master-class shade. I am awed.

Hm. I can’t tell. You’re right about hampered expressiveness, but in a sense, that might’ve helped: she did an incredible job *despite* having a stiff prosthetic on.

Maybe that’s what impressed me so much about Kameron’s performance. She turned in a performance fully in-character, despite the prosthetic being an…

I think you’ve been watching the same show I’ve been watching. Kameron’s lip sync performance was remarkable, and should go into a Hall of Fame somewhere. Eureka’s was... good. It wasn’t close to Kameron’s magic trick.

However, she did that death drop, then drew out the moment dramatically. On its own, it was nothing…

I’ll be interested to see what you think once you’ve started reading the books. Fair warning: they’re terrific, and they have some strengths that the TV show can’t have simply due to the format. You just watched what’s more or less the end of the second novel, Caliban’s War, and I expect this season will likely only…

I read “diverse” in the headline and assumed I’d see a lot more people of color in the photo. I think I just caught myself forgetting that women probably aren’t exactly overrepresented in sci-fi and fantasy writing. I’m really curious to see what the show might do.

When I saw the Todrick Hall documentary (Behind the Curtain, I think) last year, I got the sense that he’s that hard on himself. He’s definitely a perfectionist, and he appears to hold himself and others to exacting standards. He seems like a good guy and I like him, but yeah... it’s not actually fun watching him…

The Vixen was already making herself look bad with her criticism. That Eureka kept trying to talk over her made Eureka look bad, too. Asia and the Vixen kept their mouths shut when other people were saying they deserved to go home because it *wasn’t their turn to talk.* (Well, and Eureka was savvy enough to give Asia…

That Eureka was determined to talk over Vixen’s answer... Ugh. I’ve slowly warmed to the Vixen. If she’s the season’s villain, she comes across as much more human and relatable than prior villains. I know Eureka felt the need to defend herself, but GURL. You are in the top! She is in the bottom! You don’t actually…

My inclination is to take her at her word. If she’s being honest, she doesn’t believe she wrote those things, but she knows that she’s held some pretty homophobic views, so she’s not ruling out the possibility that she wrote them and then forgot. I think that’s consistent with how straight/cis privilege works. “I…

Yeah, I also read the Vixen’s lipsync as desperate-and-n0t-in-a-good way (although I actually kinda liked the air-trumpet.) Blair actually connected with the song and gave an emotive performance. If they were being judged solely on the lipsynch, the Vixen should’ve gone home. Then again, we’re past the point at which…

Terrific piece! The storm of comments about some of Blow’s public demeanor - the perceived pretentiousness - got me thinking. It feels like there’s a note of lamentation there; of “Why couldn’t the person who produced these fantastic games be more down-to-Earth?”

These games don’t strike me as something that could’ve…

The Drag Race Hall of Fame doesn’t seem all that attractive to me. The format of AS1 annoyed fans and tainted Chad’s victory. Katya’s elimination over Roxxxy tainted Alaska’s victory. Bendela’s self-elimination and Shangela’s elimination in favor of Kennedy tainted Trixie’s victory. The winners have all been very…

That Ned Stark comment was either a self-fulfilling prophecy or it was recorded after the fact.