RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18 continued to bring 14 all new queens into the light on Jan. 9 with Episode 2. In last week’s premiere, 14 all new queens introduced themselves to America and the judges by creating original garments representing their own unique drag style using fabrics and accessories of other queens left behind in the franchise vault. Nini Coco was named the maxi challenge winner by reimagining LaLa Ri’s iconically bad gift bag look into something chic and fashion-forward. In the bottom two was Kenya Pleaser and Mandy Mango, but RuPaul Charles sent no one home.
This week, the queens sing and dance in rival “Q-Pop” girl groups with tracks inspired by Sylvester, Wham!, and The Runaways. Actress and singer Dove Cameron returned to the series to serve as the guest judge alongside RuPaul, Michelle Visage, and Ts Madison.
The queens competing for the crown on Season 18 are: Athena Dion, Briar Blush, Ciara Myst, Darlene Mitchell, DD Fuego, Discord Addams, Jane Don’t, Juicy Love Dion, Kenya Pleaser, Mandy Mango, Mia Starr, Myki Meeks, Nini Coco, and Vita VonTesse Starr.
Read on for our recap of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18, Episode 2, titled “Q-Pop Girl Groups,” which aired Friday, Jan. 9 on MTV.
Athena DionMTV
“You’re not gonna make a fool of Athena Dion on Week 2 of Drag Race.”
— Athena Dion
Once the pressed queens who didn’t win the first maxi challenge (looking at Jane and Discord) got over their frustration that Nini won for a dress they didn’t like, Ru was able to inspire them all to work a little harder for their own win by challenging them to perform in three Q-Pop girl groups. As the top two from the previous challenge, Nini and Vita got to choose their own groups, leaving the third group as a quartet of leftovers.
Once the groups were hand-picked, they were left to argue over who landed which of the three song options and everyone wanted to do disco. Eventually Discord was able to convince her team with Vita, Briar, Juicy, and Jane to take the punk rock track “Cherries” inspired by The Runaways. Nini, Mia, Ciara, Myki, and Kenya were fine to take the pop track “Go-Go-Go!” inspired by Wham!. Now dubbed “the leftovers,” Athena, DD, Darline, and Mandy were granted their #1 choice of the disco track “Funk Almighty” inspired by Sylvester.
Jane Don’tMTV
“It’s not that dancing is not Discord’s strong suit, it’s that all movement is not Discord’s strong suit.”
— Jane Don’t
During the choreography rehearsals, Mia led her team through their steps using a full-on playbook showing the plan for their performance and it managed to build immediate confidence in themselves as a group. Juicy was not as successful at getting her girls on the same page with timing and fluidity, calling out Discord specifically who had already been called out by the judges last week for her interesting runway walk. On the third time, Darlene admitted to being a “fart in a whirlwind” because of how difficult it was for her to pick up even the most simple choreography. In the recording sessions with producer David Steinberg, Jane, Vita, and Kenya stood out for their vocal ability while DD, Nini, and Darlene were singled out for pitch issues.
While the queens got ready for their performances, Jane stirred the pot by asking Athena how she felt about not being picked for one of the girl groups. She responded that she “felt plucked, gagged, and flabbergasted” so Nini made it clear that it is a team challenge and Athena always makes it “the Athena show.” The leftovers team backed Athena for working really well with them and they felt confident they’d show the other groups why they shouldn’t have been disregarded.
Kenya PleaserMTV
“I give a little titty titty titty, a little ass ass ass. People always tell me ‘Girl, cover up cover up.’ Bitch, no!”
— Kenya Pleaser
After the girl groups performed for the judges on the Main Stage and each of the queens walked the runway in the “Your Neck, Your Back, Your P—y, and Your Crack” favorite body part category, Ru and the judges informed the disco group that they were all up for elimination as the bottom group of the week and that Mia and Jane were the top two of the week. All of the other queens were safe and did not hear critiques.
Overall, the judges were disappointed that the disco group didn’t retain the soulfulness of their track and instead made it clunky. That being said, Michelle complimented Athena for being “the most draggy drag queen” of the season and Dove liked that Darlene created a whole character for herself. Ts gave Mandy props for bringing strong choreo in her advanced dance moves and then told DD she was “as stiff as a d–k.” On the positive side of things, the judges all agreed that Mia showed herself to be a star “from the moment she opened her mouth” and Michelle loved that Jane knew what she wanted to do with her vocal verse and executed it perfectly.
In the end, Jane was anointed the winner of the week for a perfect showing on the runway and in the challenge. When Darlene and Athena were given safety, the bottom two became Mandy and DD, leaving them to perform in the Lip Sync for Your Life to Dove’s song “Too Much.” In their performance, both queens were saddled with restrictive costumes — Mandy’s table-setting ensemble required an awkward slip-off moment that sent trinkets shattering all over the stage and DD’s leg-exposing pink puff look covered too much of her upper body that none of her body movement registered.
By the end of the number, Mandy had left her mark with a perfectly synced rap section and perfectly timed shablams to the floor. For that reason, Ru had no choice but to ask Mandy to “stay” and for DD to “sashay away” as the official Porkchop of Season 18.