RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 3

[Musical Master]

The show would lose some fans if they did anything as ridiculous as the rumors imply. Ben, Shangela and Trixie deserve to be in the top 3. Oh and Ben's Paul Lynde on Snatch Game was freaking amazing as was his Maggie Smith during his season.

[Valentina3]

Okay you guys seriously need spoiler tags while discussing "rumors". I can't go on reddit during on-season for this exact same "if true then..." bs because people get lazy/desensitized about spoiler tags.

For the love of Alyssa Edwards. *tongue pop*

[Musicaldudepeter]

Valentina3, you're SMILE IS BEAUTIFUL.

Anyway, yeah if Ben is somehow mysteriously dramatically eliminated, I hope Ru pulls some strings to bring her back because yes she deserves to be in the top 3. 

[broadwayjim42]

Saw Ben in Orlando over the weekend with his "Inferno A Go Go" show. A lot of fun--just more proof of how talented and how well-rounded that talent is. I'll be pissed if any of the above is true. Even if he doesn't win, he deserves top three.

[newintown]

I found last night's episode something of a bore - that soup can (label) challenge was a real anti-climax, and the evaluations of the "Studio 54" looks was just subjective and weird (as if there is a definable thing as one "Studio 54 look," and as if Aja's really stunning outfit didn't fit that definition).

And why make a big deal of showing people's reactions to Bebe's claim that she made her own dress, but have no one call her out on the lie? I'm still mystified as to Bebe's presence (and why she won Season 1) - she looks like a grand diva on the runway, but I don't see any other talents going on there...

[Mildred Plotka]

Apparently there has been some serious bullying and racist comments directed towards Bebe today on social media. Aja quickly responded that she doesn’t support this behavior and hate speech. Something Valentina never did when her fans were sending death threats to the queens that criticized her.

[Musical Master]

Yeah the challenge this week wasn't as good as the previous ones but I'm happy Trixie was in the Top 2 finally. Plus the "Hand Maidens" twist ending was funny, "Under his e-iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii"!

[artscallion]

They did something similar to the soup challenge in a past season. Something with graphics like that. Though I can't remember what it was. I do remember thinking that the queens did not make those themselves. They all looked like the same person had made them for them. Which is fine, if that's how they present it. But they make it seem that the queens made them themselves.

 

[Mildred Plotka]

Was it maybe cereal? Both of those challenges look like they collaborated with a graphic designer who executed their ideas. There have been many challenges in recent s sons where I wondered how much outside assistance they got.

There was a rumor that the only reason Santino was around was to help assists the queens in making their costumes look more polished.

I’m so happy Trixie was in the top 2. She has r ally been a shining star off the show, but seems to calm up when she gets to Drag Race. Hopefully she’ll continue to let her wonderful personality and comedic chops shine.

[Lavieboheme3090]

It looked like there where only 3 queens being brought back, do you think only the Queens that left positive mirror notes get a chance for a Ru-demption?

[trentsketch]

The graphic design challenges always have the queens sketch out their concepts for someone else to produce. Remember the magazine challenge? Remember how Willam called out production on the show by acknowledging how much he hated the font and layout on the runway? The memoir challenge and at least some of the products on All Stars 2 seemed to have outside help. This is in contrast to the other design challenges like the cake in Season 3 or boat in Season 4 where we saw the queens do the work themselves.

Speaking of Bebe needing help sewing, there is a long standing rumor that all of the contestants in Season 1 received outside help for the Absolut Ball episode since none could sew a gown on their own. Porkchop, Tammie, and a few others have been very candid about how the original Drag Race concept (and what they agreed to when they signed up) was being able to bring in a support team to help execute hair, makeup, and costuming for the challenges. That got scrapped shortly before filming, so season 1 is literally the only season where the contestants were not told they needed to be able to sew on their own during the application process. Willam and Kelly Mantle have both implied but never confirmed they backed out of Season 1 because of this; both have said they were approached to appear on the original season. 

The returning queens twist isn't as straight forward this time if the rumors and spoilers turn out to be correct: 

 

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Apparently, the eliminated contestants were told they could fight to get back on the show or have the power to vote on the final eliminations. Aja, Chi Chi, and Morgan opted to compete for the chance to return; Milk and Thorgy opted for the voting power. Whether this is the rumored jury of eliminated contestants or Milk and Thorgy each getting to cut someone at the finale (lining up with the rumored Top 2 instead of Top 3 this season) has yet to be seen.

 

[newintown]

DeLa is just great. Just as a barbarian can’t understand civilization, bad people will never understand goodness.

[Musical Master]

 

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So...The rumors were true....BenDeLaCreme eliminated herself. Everyone's shocked reactions were the same as mine, I was completely stunned to say anything for 7 minutes. But with that said, her legacy during her season and All Stars 3 will never, EVER be forgotten.

Trixie and Shangela, I am rooting for you two all the way and Morgan's return better be freaking worth it.

 

[RippedMan]

With Ben gone I'm a little "eh" now. I love Trixie, but she's not great on the show. Ben was always interesting and exciting. I do feel like the producers kind of played their hand a little this episode. I think BeBe should have won the lip synch. And I'm not sure Ben should have won the challenge. She was fine, but she wasn't really funny or clever like some of the other girls were. 

[Mildred Plotka]

I think the producers were going to have the remaining All Stars win over the returning queens no matter what. I thought the eliminated girls’ performance was much better. And I agree, I don’t think Ben deserved top 2 this episode. I’m also a little meh going forward.

Shangela is my top pick at this point. Though Bebe seems to be able to do no wrong with the judges so I wouldn’t be shocked if she won. She’s starting to annoy me. She’s playing a good game, but her argument with Aja tonight really made me dislike her. I’ve love Trixie’s work off the show, but she really has been lackluster thus far.

[newintown]

The more I consider what DeLa did, the more in awe of her I am. It's clear that she no longer wanted to be any part of the goat rodeo that Drag Race had become - the vulgar, selfish, passive-aggressive (or just antagonistic) behavior of Bebe, Morgan, Kennedy, Thorgy, et.al. made her unhappy to be around.

And RuPaul seemed thoroughly enraged that someone took the power to run the show away from her. Could DeLa have been the winner? I think yes, very easily. Was RuPaul going to crown a third lily-white queen in a row? That seems iffy. Is it possible this whole "twist" was not just Ben's secret? Does this leave the field open for Shangela, who would otherwise have come in a distant second?

[Kad]

Was Ru actually enraged? I mean, let's face it- up until the elimination, Ben was steamrolling the other queens in an unprecedented way. Her taking the crown was even more inevitable than Bianca in her season. But now, all of a sudden, the race is very wide open, and Ben has gone down in Drag Race herstory. It's good reality television, but the strings definitely show.

Though I do care much less about who actually wins now. I love Trixie and would say she's nominally my pick, but I think she's far better suited to her own things and not the Drag Race brand.

The return of the eliminated queens really cemented how much I don't care for a lot of them. Of those eliminated, only Chi Chi and Aja came off well. Chi Chi is a mess but knows it and has a personality that makes her almost impossible to dislike. And Aja, for me, was the real revelation of this season. I hated her last season and came into All Stars expecting to continue to hate her. But she's really turned it out and turned it around. She was easily the best of her performance group.

[Stage Door Sally]

I was gobsmacked at Bendala's decision, but she's such a class act and was clearly psyched out by Morgan, Milk and Thorgy who just can not help but spew vitriol and hate whenever they get a chance. 

Ben leaves with class and style. And fans. Lots of fans. 

 

 

[newintown]

Kad wrote: "Was Ru actually enraged?"

Yes, that was what I meant, although I could have been more cogent; I suspect that this entire coup de TV may well have been planned/engineered, for both shock effect and to give Ru a chance to crown a winner of color, avoiding three ultra-white winners in a row as sole occupants of the Hall of Fame.

And speaking of diversity, it would be nice to have a plus-size winner sometime in the first 10 seasons...

[SonofRobbieJ]

I deeply disagree with those saying Ben shouldn't have been in the top 2 of this challenge.  Ben does something on Drag Race that no one else has come close to doing, which is creating true character throughout the challenges.  Perhaps he isn't the cleverest or the funniest, but his characterizations are so full and complete, they really are marvelous bits of acting.  He didn't drop Goth Kitty for one second during that routine.  Every movement was infused with that character.  That's truly awesome.  

I do agree that Aja was by far the best in her group, and a real standout this season.  I'm perfectly fine with Shangela winning, if that were to happen.  I think she's damn funny and has quite a bit of talent.  Trixie will always be better outside the confines of this show.  She's too unique to make this format work for her.  But the display of her insecurities to Adam Lambert was actually fascinating to watch.  

[newintown]

"I deeply disagree with those saying Ben shouldn't have been in the top 2 of this challenge."

Who has said that?

[Mildred Plotka]

Besides Latrice (who I adore)and maybe Ginger (who I find a tad overrated), there hasn’t really been any strong plus sized girls cast on the show. I think returning Eureka is the only plus sized girl on Season 10. I wasn’t really impressed with her last season. There have to better choices out there.

You have a good point about Ben there Robbie. I just found the entire episode last night to have the producers’ hands all over it.

[SonofRobbieJ]

newintown said: ""I deeply disagree with those saying Ben shouldn't have been in the top 2 of this challenge."

Who has said that?"

MILDRED DID!  BURN THE WITCH!

Just kidding!!! :) :)  

Yes...if you ran a blacklight over last night's episode, you'd find nothing but the producer's DNA all over it.  And Morgan just...oy.  

[Kad]

The fact that we're getting another acting challenge next week without Ben makes me cringe a bit.

[Jordan Catalano]

I love Morgan. Morgan has been one of my favorite drag queens for over a decade now and until AS3 started, I’d really never heard a negative thing said about her. So the absolute hate that one of the hardest working queens in the business is getting is just very confusing to me.