As what has become somewhat of a custom for the opening episode of a new Drag Race UK season, nobody was eliminated at the episode and instead, we had a top two lip-sync to see the overall winner of the episode. While we did have the classic werk-room entrances and the top two lip-sync this episode, we had a lot of interesting twists to the usual structure of Drag Race UK opening episodes. To get to the crowning of the top two queens of the week everybody had to showcase three unique looks for the first-ever fierce impressions ball. What was unique about this episode was the fact that the queens were actually judged on their entrance looks which to this point were just a showcase moment. From here queens had to walk a night club-inspired runway which was flooded with a wonderful plethora of international queens who also contributed to the judging process. While these twists were somewhat interesting I do think they were simply added to make the season feel different rather than making sense within the Drag Race universe. After their three runways had finished, it was announced that a whole group of queens were the top performers this week despite all receiving mixed feedback throughout the episode which to me felt like a time filler rather than a welcomed dramatic twist. Ru Paul went on to announce that Cara Mel and Vicki Vivacious were the top two queens of the week as so they had to lip-sync to crown the overall winner of the episode. I do think that Cara was somewhat slighted due to the song choice and the outfit she had decided to wear but it was fairly obvious that Vicki would be the episode winner. You can read our full thoughts on the episode at https://rhysreviews.com/2023/10/02/drag-race-uk-05-x-01-review/ However, we see this week a few cracks beginning to form in the goddess Cara Mel begins to show a different of her character with two intense confrontations but more on that later!
The mini challenge this week however saw the queens line up in the inaugural cat out of the bag competition which was essentially a game of pass the parcel mixed with a “whose most likely” game. The queens were passed a handbag around until the music stopped where they would remove one layer to be greeted with a cat-related, pun-infused category they had to select their fellow competitors in. I do have to say that the actual passing of the parcel made for fairly uncomfortable viewing as the queens themselves looked uncomfortable at the unusual game. The game took an unexpected turn as Tomora Thomas received the lucky chew toy which granted her and a queen of her chosen first picks for the main challenge this week. While I appreciate the mini challenge was intended to create a pet-related theme for the episode with the “cat out of the bag” pun and chew toy, I do think the challenge felt fairly disjointed and needed tweaks to make every challenge fit together. Also, I’m not sure that cats actually use chew toys which was the desired prize for this challenge upon reflection!
The main challenge this week saw the queens being tasked with creating original outfits out of pet-related supplies. As previously stated Tomora was given an advantage of first selection for the items but could also select one other queen to get the next pick. It can as a surprise to everyone when Tomora chooses Dede Licious to also get an advantage this week considering that she and Cara are housemates back home. I can appreciate that Tomora chose Dede as the latter is a very talented costume designer and in fact, helped to create many of Krystal Versace’s on their season and so Dede would be a very useful asset to have on your side however this decision did lead to a lot of drama. This advantage gifting ceremony led to both Tomora and Cara having an intense row in front of Ru Paul and Edward Enniful (editor and chief of British Vogue) during the judges walk walk-through. Which then spilt over from the werk room leading to Cara becoming very confrontational later in the episode. These queens not have to deal with this spat in the werk-room but they will no doubt have to talk about it when they both get home.
I have to admit that thus far I have not been able to get behind Banksie but this was the week they were able to fully showcase what they are all about. Their blank and white houndstooth, channel-inspired outfit made entirely out of handkerchiefs looked absolutely incredible! There was an almost fashion-forward cow-person vibe to the look and it looked as if it was something made by a designer rather than being created in the werk-room. This was by far the most professionally made look of the week!
I was very excited when Cara Mel announced that she would be doing a parrot-inspired look as this tied perfectly into the pet theme of the episode. The feathered outfit itself looked amazing from the waist up with colour-blocked feathers perfectly placed but the bottom half remained totally plain and bare. She had fused a toy parrot onto her shoulder to give a visual comparison which only highlighted the lack of decoration on the bottom half of the look. Now despite the negative feedback from the judges, I have to admit that I really like Alexis st Pete’s sexy fish funeral look.
Considering the fact that earlier in the episode she had presented a different design at the beginning of the episode and the fact that she had never made a gown before this episode, I thought that her entire ensemble was stunning. I personally think that the deep blue, sparkly netted dress really portrayed a nautical theme that fitted beautifully with the theatrics of the recently departed pet fish which in turn sat comfortably in the pets theme of the entire episode. I thought that the extremely high slit added a sense of sex appeal to the dress and while it was maybe a little bit to high, I think it added an interesting layer to the look. The judges made it very clear that the outfit was not the most professionally finished with an extremely hard cam on the hem of the outfit but unless you went close I don’t think you would have been able to see the mistakes!
One of my least favourite looks this episode was from Tomora (despite her advantage) who wore a chaotic pink and yellow outfit. Now don’t get me wrong Tomora looked absolutely stunning showcasing her natural body and her hair/make-up looking amazing but the outfit was absolutely a mess! While she tried her best to sell and present the outfit, I think this warrants a bottom placement more than Alexis! I don’t know what style of storyline the producers are trying to push with Dede Licious but this episode she was positioned as one of the leading queens only to be pipped to the post by Banksie. Her black and white print outfit looked amazing with ingenious dog collars used for shoulders and hips with stunning make-up that would make her sister Krystal proud! I also really enjoyed Vicki’s starry pink look this week with the over-sized hat being a highlight for me.
It was announced the the winner of this week’s episode was Banksy and I have to say this was absolutely deserved! In the bottom this week were Mrs Naomi Carter and Alexis St Pete and I have to say that I would have swapped Alexis for Tomora as I don’t think she deserved to be in the bottom this week. As soon as the incredible “Hot in it” by Charlie XCX started blasting I thought that it was Alexis to win! She showcased her wonderful spinning, twirling of her veil and stunning splits but there were a collection of moments when the lip-sync was visibly off and the flaws in her outfits became more clear as the number progressed. It was when she began rolling of the floor with her shoe in her hand that she really lost my support for this performance! Now that I think about thought it should not come as a surprise that Alexis had struggles with her shoes as she famously had similar struggles during her performance at the Glee Club Cardiff (which you can read about at https://rhysreviews.com/2022/07/22/red-wig-and-a-silver-dress-experience-review/) I thought that Mrs Noami did a decent job throughout the number but yet again if Alexis had a more durable dress then this would have been a very different battle. It was announced that sadly one of my favourite queens this season, Alexis, would be leaving the competition which came as a total disappointment to me!
Overall, I appreciated the fact that the producers of this episode tried to create a cohesive theme throughout the episode. However, I think the “cat out the bag” mini-challenge came across as very forced and disjointed with two iconic games being squashed together to create an unusual hybrid challenge. The main challenge of the episode allowed many queens to showcase their sewing abilities with both Banksie and Didi really shining in this task but three queens visibly struggled with this pet-related challenge! I would rate this episode 3.5 stars out of 5!
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