RuPaul’s Drag Race Recap S16E8: Breaking (Nymphia) Wind

Now that Mhi’ya has proven herself as a self-proclaimed lip sync assassin, she moves on to reading everyone around her. Starting almost as soon as everyone sees the lipstick message on the mirror, Mhi’ya tells everyone that Geneva was becoming too confident going against her, saying she wouldn’t be able to do her signature flips. When Morphine comments on the message, Mhi’ya turns around and says that Morphine “didn’t even like her.” Wow! I think the key to getting her personality to come out has been allowing (forcing?) her to participate in lip syncs on the show. She seems comfortable performing on stage, perhaps then allowing her to become her more vulnerable self. Either way, my hope is that she doesn’t become comfortable in the bottom two because of the lip syncs.

The next day begins with Morphine bringing up some random event in her and Xunami’s past that ended up not being funny, or even relevant. When Ru comes to see the Queens, it is announced that the library is, indeed, open! There are certainly some good reads (Nymphia digging into Plane Jane was incredible), but Xunami asking Plasma her whereabouts on January 6th was an immediate all-timer for me. What solidified it for me, personally, was Morphine not understanding the joke at all, having to be explained the joke by Plasma, then doubling over in laughter. As expected after a reading challenge, Ru tells the competitors it’s time for Snatch Game! The Queens squeal, a chorus of queer cries in such an elevated octave range that it can only be described as angelic, one my favorite sounds in this universe. 

Everyone begins getting ready for the most known challenge on Drag Race, so it’s time to find out who everyone has decided to be. Nymphia has chosen Jane Goodall, admits she doesn’t think she’s funny, then laughs about it. Plasma chooses Patti Lupone because she’s the same person who went on more than one tangent about Barbra Streisand in a single episode. Dawn (who has chosen to be Megan McCain, calling her a “trash goblin”) notices this and admits in a confessional she thinks Plasma is getting comfortable presenting similar styles every week. Dawn surely has a sore spot after being asked for versatility herself by Michelle Visage a couple weeks ago on  the runway, but is she wrong? Q is going to be Amelia Earhart, which seems exactly right for her. Ru walks in to see the Queens, Chad Michaels right behind her to offer advice to them while they prepare. Now, if you’re like me, you immediately thought, “Ru will surely ask Mhi’ya for her Cher impression in front of Chad.” You know the one. Keep that in mind when they start making their rounds like doctors from Grey’s Anatomy.

The first group comes to speak to the two, consisting of Dawn, Morphine, Plane, and… Mhi’ya! The time is near. They start going through the girls, Morphine revealing she will be portraying known scammer Anna Delvey and Plane admitting her choice is Jelena Karleusa, a Serbian pop star. We move on to Mhi’ya and I think, “the time is now. They’re going to bring it up.” The disappointment I felt when we only found out Mhi’ya was going to be portraying Tiffany “New York” Pollard without anyone bringing up the impression was indescribable. After I realized Ru wasn’t going to do it, I was mentally begging Plane to take the situation into her hands. She doesn’t. Ru brings Chad into the conversation to discuss Mhi’ya’s critiques, so now I think we are mere moments away from asking for this impression. The moment never comes. I’m left in complete disbelief with RuPaul when it is never brought up, only to hear Chad offer the exact same advice she tossed at the others: Make Ru laugh. I can only assume that Ru completely forgot about the impression. It’s a loss we all must deal with, but we will move past it. Well, you can. 

The next group is the rest of the Queens, including Xunami, Nymphia, Sapphira, Q, and Plasma. Xunami immediately admits she will be doing a fictional character that she created, the gold toothfairy, which feels like a copout to me. It seems the Queens would have enough time to figure out someone to pick for this particular challenge, so tossing in a character like this isn’t my favorite. Xunami could have picked pretty much anyone and it would have been better than what ensues when the Snatch Game begins. Sapphira is going to be James Brown, a man, another thing I don’t love when the Queens do. 

The Snatch Game begins and everyone finds out that Mhi’ya has made up a character named Shaquita only identifiable by being Trina’s cousin. I’m all for a last minute decision that will eventually prove to work out. Plane proves herself to be hilarious as Jelena, hilariously volleying with Ru at any presented opportunity, the highlight of Snatch Game being the expression on Plane’s face when Morphine, as Anna Delvey, insinuates a past relationship between the two before calling her an ugly man. Mhi’ya does fine in the challenge, finding herself some comedy chops along the way. Sapphira is hilarious, the back and forth with Ru about character shoes being one of the best parts of the season so far. Q is actually toned down from what I expected from her in this challenge, getting a couple of quick laughs while giving a funny impression of Amelia Earhart, but nothing compared to what Plane and Sapphira are bringing. 

Kyra “The Closer” Sedgwick is the guest judge on the main stage this week where the category is “Dancing Queen.” A quick rundown of the runway:

• Q clomps down the stage as a robot, living up to the reputation she’s created for herself
• Xunami’s salsa look is good but basic and doesn’t offer much of her personality
• Nymphia’s look is incredible, it makes up for her Snatch Game (almost)
• Dawn’s makeup is great this week, I think the look is fine but isn’t her best
• Sapphira makes me smile every week when she comes out on the runway, this week being no exception as she alludes to Drag U
• Plasma manages to mention her BFA again while describing her tap dancing outfit, and it’s getting old quickly
• Morphine’s beat is phenomenal as usual, one of my favorite looks from her
• Mhi’ya looks like Ronald McDonald’s wife
• Plane Jane’s look, similarly to Xunami’s, is good but a tad on the basic side

Plane saying she won’t be using her Immunity Potion for anyone else because she “believes in their talents” is another reasons to stay tuned in to this season. Ru tells Nymphia to open up to imperfection, Nymphia explaining she’s always felt shy. Ru laughs harder than she did in the Snatch Game when Michelle points out Sapphira’s dedication to wearing her dancing shoes on stage. Kyra Sedgwick is fabulous as a judge, being charming while helpful. Plane Jane takes this challenge win, which only makes sense given how great she was. Morphine and Xunami find themselves in the bottom two, Nymphia skating by presumably because of her runway.

This week’s lip sync to “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” was a show put on by the bottom two, I wondered almost the entire lip sync if this would be a week where no one went home, reminiscent of season 11’s Snatch Game episode where we saw the Yvie Oddly x Brooke Lynn Heights showdown of the century. Both Morphine and Xunami really sold the song for themselves, even joining forces halfway through to perform together in the spirit of the song. It was a fun lip sync, one of the better of the season so far, so it was hard to see Xunami go home tonight. Morphine came out to prove she’s more than a pretty face, but everyone at home (or the bar) is the real winner for being able to watch this lip sync.

Photo: MTV