Reunited, and it feels so good. All of the eliminated queens return to the main stage to lip sync for their chance to win a cash prize of $50,000…
Last week we said goodbye to Q after a writing and marketing challenge that saw the top four authoring their very own memoirs and promoting it on a podcast. Q’s elimination ahead of the finale means that this season there would be a top three heading to the last episode. Our final three queens for season 16 are officially Sapphira Cristál, Plane Jane, and Nymphia Wind, but this week they’ll get to take a well-deserved break ahead of the finale. This season, instead of a traditional reunion, all of the eliminated queens return to the main stage for a lip sync battle royal to win a cash prize of $50,000. Let’s get into it.
This week’s episode begins in the werk room with all of the eliminated queens following the top three in the door. Hershii gets a recap since she was out first and in confessionals, Amanda says she’s not super excited to see Plane in the top. Q says she’s rooting for whoever can perform the best to sing. Ru enters the room and welcomes all of the eliminated queens back and tells them that they’re the stars of this week’s episode. They’ll be going head-to-head in a Lip Sync LaLaPaRuza Smackdown where the last queen standing will win a cash prize of $50,000. They have two hours to get into sickening lip sync drag which they get to immediately.
Geneva is feeling confident since she lip synced on every episode she was on, and she only lost once. A lot of the queens feel like Mirage might pull through with her lip sync this time… that is, if she knows the lyrics this time. Mhi’ya vows to go full throttle with her lip syncs this week. This time around, there isn’t as much on the line, so the queens are feeling more confident about going all out on the main stage.
Out on the main stage Ru makes a grand entrance in front of a live audience for the smack down. This week it’s Michelle and Ts Madison joining Ru on the panel. All of the eliminated queens make their way out to the front of the stage joined by the top three who will be enjoying the show from the werk room. A pit crew member will pull a name out of a spinning drum to determine the pairings. Dawn’s name is pulled first and she gets to pick her opponent. Dawn chooses Amanda Tori Meeting, who in turn will get to choose the song. Amanda picks Damaged by Danity Kane. Right off the bat Amanda is giving more energy while Dawn goes for a more sultry and emotional performance. In the end Ru declares that Amanda is the winner of the first match. Amanda will move onto the next round while Dawn is finally dismissed from the competition. Dawn joins the top three in the werk room to watch the remainder of the smackdown.
The second name pulled from the drum is Q. Q chooses Megami as her opponent in a strategic move. Megami picks What About by Janet Jackson to lip sync to. Megami is giving a lot more than Q and her performance is filled with a lot more passion. Q brings a little more to the second verse but Ru picks Megami as the winner and sends Q back to hang out in the werk room. The third name pulled is Morphine who chooses Geneva, and Geneva picks Million Dollar Baby by Ava Max to lip sync to. Morphine is one of this season’s strongest performers but Geneva might give her a run for her money. Both queens are giving a lot of energy, outfit reveals, and splits for days. Morphine’s wig reveal in the eleventh hour really pushes her over the edge, so it’s no surprise Ru picks her to move on. Geneva heads back to the werk room to watch the rest of the show.
Pit crew member Bruno picks Mirage’s name out of the drum and she picks Hershii as her opponent. Hershii chooses Alone 2.0 by Kim Petras ft. Nicki Minaj. Mirage is a little nervous about the rap verse mixing her up but the song starts and both queens are absolutely serving. Mirage pulls the rap verse off along with an impressive display of acrobatics, but Hershii holds her own too.
Ru decides Mirage is the winner of this match and sends Hershii to the werk room. There’s only three queens left and they’ll all be lip syncing against each other but there will only be one winner. However, that winner will skip the next round and move forward to the semi-finals. The draw determines Mhi’ya will get to choose the song and she picks Milkshake by Kelis. Mhi’ya, Plasma, and Xunami face off and all three are doing a great job, but Mhi’ya immediately gives an outfit reveal and everyone is waiting with baited breath for her to flip and she does not disappoint. Plasma tries her best to keep up and Xunami is serving face and poses but Mhi’ya’s energy is what gives her the win and the advance to the semi-finals.
After the break Xunami and Plasma join all of the queens backstage as the next round begins. The Smackdown continues and this round there are only two battles and facing off in the first one is Amanda, who picks Megami. Megami chooses The Shoop Shoop Song by Cher. Both queens take a campy approach to their performance but Megami really gives comedy in the middle of the song which had the judges gagged, so it’s not shocking that she advances to the semi-finals. Amanda makes her way back to the werk room much to Plane’s disappointment. The last match up of this round is Mirage and Morphine and since Morphine’s name is picked she chooses This Time I Know It’s For Real by Donna Summer. Both of these queens are really strong performers, so this should be a good one to watch. They meet each other’s energy and it’s a really close lip sync. Morphine’s split prompts Mirage to go a little harder and Ru picks Morphine as the winner.
Mirage joins the rest of the queens in the werk room and Mhi’ya and Megami join Morphine on stage. Bruno will call one queen’s name who will choose another. Whoever’s name is not called will automatically move onto the final. Bruno cdraws Megami’s name from the drum and she chooses to have a rematch with Miss Mhi’ya. This means Morphine will move forward to the final lip sync. Megami and Mhi’ya lip sync to We Got The Beat by the Go-Go’s. Both of them want the win and they give it all they’ve got. Both are absolutely serving but unfortunately, Megami PULLS IT OFF and assassinates the assassin to move onto the final round.
Ru asks all of the queens to join the final two on the main stage. Everyone is seated and it’s the last lip sync battle, and this one is for $50,000. Megami and Morphine lip sync to Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) by C+C Music Factory. It’s New York VS Miami and both queens leave nothing on the floor. Megami knows she can’t out-dance Morphine, but she knows she can out-dumb her, so she relies on comedy to carry her through to the end. Morphine is doing her own thing on the other side of the stage and it’s just as impressive as it’s been all night but she also gives some comedy too. In the end Ru declares that Morphine is the ultimate lip sync winner of $50,000 and the Queen of She Done Already Done Has Hersus. This is her first win this season, and I’d say it’s a pretty impressive one to take home.
Next Week on Drag Race: The top three give everything they’ve got to secure the crown and the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar.
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