Posted in: TV | Tagged: drag race, rupaul

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 11 Drama Heats Up: Our Group 2 Thoughts

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 11 Group 2 was a shady one, but it was also full of fan-favorites, great challenges, and escándalo aplenty.

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Season 11 is officially two-thirds of the way through the first bracket round, and this pink bracket has been a trip. Did they just pack this one with all the volatile personalities? Who can say? Though having Silky Nutmeg Ganache in this bracket gives you a clue (the answer is yes). If you missed the last bracket, fear not! We got you covered with a recap right here. Okay, all caught up now? Fantastic, henny. Let's go! This bracket has everything: drama, scheming, pekpek, chismosa, and of course, queen of the ages, Ornacia. The competing queens of this bracket are Vivacious, April Carrion, Aura Mayari, Crystal Methyd, Salina EsTitties, and last and least, Silky.

A quick note, Silky is apparently still determined to be the villain, though kind of less so this season. I'm not sure if the blame here lies with producers or if she should still be held responsible and liable for how she acted on (and off) camera this season. She talks a lot about how she's changed and wants redemption from her original season, but even though she's talking a big game, I'm not seeing a changed woman in actions, if this bracket is to be believed. For what it's worth, she's less awful than Mistress Isabelle Brooks, but that's a bar so low that Satan (played by Trinity the Tuck) could trip over it.

That said, for as annoying as having the villain of the season in this bracket is, the rest of the queens roll with it pretty well, and overall it's generally delightful. The first challenge here is the pairs duet challenge, and nothing to write home about, like the first bracket's initial rap challenge (or whatever it was). Crystal is a clear frontrunner here, and Vivacious can do no wrong, and I won't hear any slander against Mother.

The second week is where we really start to stand out: how-to videos. Crystal's is giving Pickle Surprise down, and I am LIVING. Like, 17 million out of 10, one of the best things I've seen on this program. Yes, I'm linking it. Yes, it feels like doing drugs. Yes, you're going to watch it.

The rest of the videos were good to okay, very in line with Drag Race, and on brand for each queen. Crystal's absurdity and Vivacious's no-nonsense vibe basically saved this bracket from descending into absolute catty drama, with Salina being absolutely obsessed with alliances and April and Aura just trying to navigate all the massive personalities without being smothered.

The final challenge of this bracket sees our makeover challenge of the season, with each of the six queens being assigned a gay dad (not a daddy – that would be a very different makeover) to turn into their drag family. Everyone did a great job here, especially the dads in their lip sync group number. That said, the real tea of this episode is the final points ceremony, where we find out who moves on to the next bracket and who doesn't.

Salina won the lip sync, which tied her with Crystal…though only April, Aura, Crystal, and Silky have points to give away. Now, Salina has been making alliances in the open left and right this season, so nobody really trusts her. But here's where things get reaaaallllyyy shady – Silky went around and privately made deals in secret to trade points with EVERY SINGLE QUEEN with zero intention to give her point to anyone who could beat her out for the top. That shady c**t. Both Crystal and Aura fell for it, but thank GOD April had half a brain and gave her point to Crystal, because a shady alliance top is just not it, not from this bracket. Here's the thing: with the MVQ point system, if the queens get smart and not selfish, they can push literally anyone they want forward, or even game it so everyone is perfectly tied, so RuPaul is forced to pick the two who advance. But I suppose the drama is good or whatever. Yay, catty bitches ruining their reputations and being mean gays on national television…we hate to see it.

Congrats Crystal and nobody else moving on from this bracket, save your crocodile tears. RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 11 is streaming on Paramount+ with new episodes every Friday.

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