‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars’ season 8 episode 10 recap: ‘The Letter ‘L”
“RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” season 8 continued on July 7 with the tenth episode streaming on Paramount+. For the first time ever, RuPaul Charles announced a “second way to win” in addition to earning the coveted crown and $200,000 prize given to the traditional winner. One of the eliminated queens will also be named Queen of the Fame Games and earn a $50,000 cash prize.
The queens still in the running at the start of episode 10 were: Jessica Wild, Jimbo, and Kandy Muse.
Check out our full recap of episode 10 below to see the next evolution of their drag families when they makeover a lesbian sister in “The Letter ‘L'”:
It was a first for Jimbo when she won the Lip Sync for Your Legacy over Silky Nutmeg Ganache, her first ever win in four years of competition in three different series. The win came on the heels of her fourth challenge win this season, a tower above the single wins that both Jessica Wild and Kandy Muse had at this point. Jimbo told Jessica and Kandy that she chose to eliminate Alexis Michelle because sticking to track record and judges’ critiques is the best way to encourage them to do the same if and when she’s vulnerable to go home. Once their own lipsticks were pulled from the box, it was clear that Jessica and Kandy also eliminated Alexis despite Kandy’s pact with her to keep each other safe. Kandy used the excuse that Alexis went back on her word with LaLa Ri to allow her to go back on her own word with Alexis. Luckily Alexis was no longer around to combat that or hold her to it.
The next morning the final three learned that it was time for an exceedingly rare mini challenge. For this one they had the chance to transform a Jean Paul Gaultier fragrance bottle into their own special edition. Instead of working on tiny bottles, the queens worked on mannequin torsos and then modeled them for the camera. Jessica made “Forbidden Juice” with a jungle and pineapple motif, Kandy created “My Muse” for girls that are broke with expensive taste and only available in The Bronx, and Jimbo delivered “Lady Nightshade” for ladies of the night that sleep all day. Ru declared Jessica the winner, offering her a $2500 cash prize.
For this week’s maxi challenge, Ru asked the finalists to honor “our queer sisters” by dolling up three lesbian identifying women as part of their drag family. The guests were writer Amanda-Faye Jimenez, barista Angie Evans, and non-profit worker Lisa Changadveja. To determine the pairs, Ru asked the three women to pull a lipstick out of the iconic furry pink box. Amanda-Faye pulled out Jimbo’s lipstick, Angie grabbed Kandy’s, and so Lisa was paired with Jessica.
Angie confessed to Kandy that she’s nervous about opening up the door to femininity in this challenge because she feels most confident presenting in her masculine side. Kandy knew exactly how Angie felt because her own mom is butch and rejects any time Kandy tries to get her to feed into feminine side. Jessica had her work cut out for her with Lisa, an admittedly shy person who feels at home with her cats. They bonded over the shared experience of being bullied as teenagers which they hoped would help open Lisa up to the experience of letting herself shine. Jimbo and Amanda-Faye immediately recognized a shared sense of humor and Amanda-Faye’s goal to show a side of beauty that doesn’t always feel accessible to her. But when Jimbo started offering up some “clown fantasy” options for their looks, Amanda-Faye started getting worried that the experience wouldn’t be as beautiful and glamorous as she hoped.
As the six girls worked on their ideas, Ru stopped by the Werk Room to get a sense of their direction. Kandy and Angie planned a “mod moment,” which would be the first “girly moment” for Angie since her high school prom. Ru dropped the advice to Angie to stay on the ball of her foot rather than the heel when trying to walk in heels. Jimbo and Amanda-Faye decided to go “hard into the fem” with a “sexy, slutty sister” vibe. Amanda-Faye was excited about the chance to lean into her fem energy and to draw attention to herself. Jessica and Lisa told Ru that they connected over their similar hearts and how this would be Lisa’s first experience choosing to wear a dress. Before leaving the queens to their work, Ru dropped the twist that each pair would also perform to the new mashup “Charisma Peanut Butter, Bitch.”
Each pair made their way to the Main Stage to choreograph and rehearse their lip sync performance. Amanda-Faye was intimidated by the stage, but determined to not let Jimbo down. Jessica stressed “poses” with Lisa as a way to own the stage, but it was pretty clear that the sexy movements she was encouraging did not come naturally to Lisa. Kandy wanted Angie to exude “cutie” and “cutesy” looks, but she “walked like a cowboy” according to Kandy.
Jessica was feeling more positive the next day as she painted Lisa’s face and realized that she was showing more confidence and attitude. She explained that the key to her success was believing in herself and so it was music to Jessica’s ears that Lisa was starting to believe in them as well. Jimbo told Amanda-Faye that she wasn’t disappointed that her original plan was thrown off because part of being a drag clown is going with the flow and finding opportunity when it presents itself. Angie told Kandy that the experience was helping her not be fearful of her femininity and to respond to some of the emotional traumas of having it pushed on her as a young person. The women opened up to the queens about their reclamation process over words like “dyke” and the comfort levels even within the queer community on who possesses the power to use and reclaim those terms. For all of them, it felt empowering to be learning more about a different part of the larger queer community that they don’t always get up close and personal with.
On the Main Stage, Ru was joined by Michelle Visage, Carson Kressley and this week’s guest judge Zooey Deschanel. Jessica and Kitty Wild opened the runway in leather body suits with strong, pointed shoulders inspired by Lady Gaga, Jimbo and Sissy Delicious came next in glittery mini dresses with day glow wigs, and Kandy and Kookie Muse matched in pastel go go dresses and 50s beehive wigs. In critiques, Michelle told Kitty it was clear how nervous she was but that her trust and connection in Jessica was equally apparent. The judges thought the family resemblance was very strong and Zooey thought they brought the most fashion to the runway. Michelle clocked Jimbo for going too simple with the looks, but the resemblance of being too floozies for a night out was strong. Zooey agreed that they played it safe despite the obvious friendship they developed. The judges gave Kandy praise for how much work went in to making Kookie feel comfortable and Carson thought the reverse color story made them look like a clear and obvious pair.
Before the drag sisters exited the stage, Ru had each of the pairs perform live in the lip sync mashup. Later, and based on the judges’ critiques, Kandy was declared the top all star of the week, leaving both Jimbo and Jessica vulnerable in the final elimination. That left Kandy with the sole decision of who would join her in the final two since even if she lost the Lip Sync for Your Legacy against the assassin, the tie between Jimbo and Jessica would revert the decision back to her anyway. Still, Kandy was set to face off against this week’s assassin Priyanka to “Jumpin’ Jumpin'” by Destiny’s Child. In the battle, both had some smartly placed drag trick standard high kicks and cartwheels and used sex appeal from the ground to bring a feminine edge to the performance. Overall, they performed similarly, setting up a tough decision for Ru.
In the end, Ru gave Priyanka the win and added the $10,000 cash tip to the Fame Games pool, making that $60,000 instead of $50,000. In light of Kandy’s loss, Priyanka confirmed that there was a tie between Jimbo and Jessica, giving Kandy the final decision on who to take to the finale with her. Kandy told the room that both options are “standing between me and the crown,” offering it as the reason to give Jessica the chop. That decision placed Jimbo and Kandy in the finale and Jessica in the running to earn the Fame Games prize.
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