Are you up to speed with Episode 4 of RPDR Season 13? Let’s recap.

This week, the entire cast came together and the competition got under way for real.

“All these chihuahuas beside me, you’re going to go for the pit bull?” asked Tamisha, as Elliiott tried to stir up some drama. “No, ma’am.”

No mini-challenge this week, it was straight into a big acting challenge.

The cast was allocated into three groups, with the scripts being parodies of Hallmark channel movies.

• Group 1: Denali, Elliott, Kahmora, Olivia.
• Group 2: LaLa Ri, Rosé, Symone, Utica.
• Group 3: Gottmik, Joey, Kandy, Tamisha, Tina.

The Main Challenge

Ross Matthews was in charge of directing the scenes. In true Drag Race style, the scripts were pretty flat, so the challenge is really to try and find a way to bring your personality to the screen.

• Group 1: Probably the weakest group, no one really popped and Kahmora really struggled.
• Group 2: Symone really shone, while LaLa Ri looked overwhelmed.
• Group 3: Tamisha started shaky but got there, Joey didn’t bring much to the table, while Tina can do this all day.

The Runway

The category this week was Trains For Days.

• Denali: This was stunning. Hit the brief but also felt fresh.
• Olivia: Gorgeous. Hit the brief.
• Elliott: On brand for Elliott with an 80s vibe. It was a put-together look that hit the brief.
• Kahmora: Gold dragon drag excellence. Kahmora serves looks.
• Symone: Demonstrating again that she’s determined to tackle these runway categories differently, this durag train really worked. Symone also has great presence on the runway – she’s wearing these clothes.
• LaLa Ri: This snake look was smart, and the way she shed her skin on the runway was well thought out.
• Utica: This was a great costume from Utica – drawing from a look that Bob Mackie did for Carol Burnett. It looked really good – didn’t necessarily read as “Trains For Days” but did the job.
• Rosé: Solid. Hit the brief.
• Gottmik: I liked this concept, and the leaf-blower was a good idea. I’m not sure that the end result really delivered on the concept and didn’t really give me “Trains for Days”.
• Tina: Giving us the conductor of the train, with a train, this was solid.
• Joey: Joey was a tongue. From the back, it looked great, but that made it a bit one-dimensional.
• Kandy: This was messy.
• Tamisha: Hit the brief and served some pageant drag.

The Critiques

Guest judge this week was Loni Love, bringing some warmth to the panel.

The tops were: Symone, Rosé, and Kandy. Symone was declared the winner, which seemed the obvious choice.

The bottoms were: Denali, LaLa Ri, and Kahmora. LaLa Ri was declared safe, which probably gave us better storyline options – both Deanli and Kahmora are from Chicago, and Denali gets that top-to-bottom arc from last week.

The Lip-sync

With everyone safe, the Top 2 were lip-syncing to win $5K.

The track was 100% Pure Love by Crystal Waters.

Not the easiest track, and Kahmora’s gown clearly restricted her movement, but Denali delivered an outstanding lip-sync. The result was never in doubt.

We’re at Week 4 and Denali has already delivered three lip-syncs – that’s probably going to stand her in good stead as the competition progresses.

Sad to see Kahmora go, but it seemed to be her time. The good thing is that it doesn’t feel like she’s first out, she’s had plenty of screen time.

Week 4 done!

The cast

Denali

Home town: Chicago.

USP: Ice-skating acrobat.

Current Ranking: She’s on a roller-coaster but clearly talented and clearly ambitious.

Elliott with 2 Ts

Home town: Las Vegas

USP: Professional dancer.

Current Ranking: Solid work from Elliott, but it’s not clear if she’s going to be able to challenge the frontrunners.

Gottmik

Home town: Los Angeles

USP: Transmasc makeup artist.

Current Ranking: Serving looks, but will that be enough?

Joey Jay

Home town: Phoenix

USP: Professional dancer who doesn’t wear wigs.

Current Ranking: We’re seeing consistency from Joey. We’re probably going to need to see more.

Olivia Lux

Home town: New York City

USP: Pageant glamour.

Current Ranking: The camera loves Olivia, but she doesn’t have the biggest personality.

Rosé

Home town: New York City

USP: She’s a singer.

Current Ranking: Top 2 in Week 3, Rosé has demonstrated that she is Team Talent.

Symone

Home town: Conway (it’s in Arkansas).

USP: She’s a fashion queen.

Current Ranking: The winner of Week 2 and the winner of Week 4, Symone is one to watch.

Tina Burner

Home town: New York City

USP: She’s a comedy queen.

Current Ranking: Very strong start. Tina is not here to mess around.

Tamisha Iman

Home town: Atlanta.

USP: Old-school drag.

Current Ranking: Solid start, emotional back-story. It’s just a question of whether she can translate all of that experience into this format. So far, so good.

Utica

Home town: Minneapolis

USP: She’s wacky.

Current Ranking: Goofy. The personality is going to serve her well.

Kahmora Hall

Home town: Chicago

USP: Drag excellence.

Current Ranking: Gorgeous, but not a performer. Eliminated in week 4 – lost the lip-sync to Denali. Kahmora is officially the Pork Chop of the season.

Kandy Muse

Home town: New York City

USP: She’s Dominican.

Current Ranking: Personality with a capital P. It’s really just a question of how far can you get on just your personality.

LaLa Ri

Home town: Atlanta

USP: She’s an entertainer.

Current Ranking: LaLa Ri is serving Atlanta drag, and that’s a force to be reckoned with, but she’s going to need to bring it harder.

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