RuPaul's Drag Race Season 6: Episode 12
Dixie Lynn Cartwright joins me this week to discuss the Drag Race! She's a soft-spoken Southern belle with a sweet voice and a sharp tongue, and we dig deep into the final four contenders for that crown.Chad: After this season's controversial split premiere, were you surprised that the format of this finale wasn't, well, a surprise? It seemed very "by the numbers" in the tradition of past seasons.
Dixie: I'm so glad it wasn't, honestly. Change isn't always the best direction to go in. We have fallen in love with this show, in part, to the formulaic nature of it. Yes, surprise us in the beginning. We are just so excited it's back, we'd watch 2 premieres and a bonus hour of the queens eating tamales...BUT it's the finale. We are emotionally invested. We are a little tired. Don't fuck with us too much. No matter what happens, we will feel all the feels, we don't need any extra feels, ya know?
Chad: That's a good point, especially after last week's wrenching episode. Well, it was hard for me, at least, to see Dela go.
Dixie: Girl. She's not dead. She was allowed to live and return to Seattle. Her exit though, with the mirror? Yes. Yes. Yes.
Chad: Ha! Yes, I know. Thank you, I will wipe away the tears and summon the strength to continue this vitally important discussion of reality drag queen television.
Dixie: The children need us. Let's carry on.
Chad: So is it good or bad that we don't have a "bitch" in the final three?
Dixie: I don't know what your feelings are for Darienne, but her comments (however edited they may be) seemed so insecure, it stopped being entertaining for me. I didn't love to hate her. I just didn't love her.
Chad: She's definitely thrown a metric ton of shade throughout the season. However, it seemed to peak in the middle few episodes with Dela. Ever since the other queens called her out in Untucked, she's made a major attitude adjustment. Honestly, I feel like she really hasn't done anything objectionable over the last few episodes. Do you disagree?
Dixie: No. Nothing that I was super offended by, but she just isn't exciting to me. Yes, she's pretty, but any other girl would be read HARD for those outfits and that hair.
(Chad's note: I really like Darienne, and I'm glad she left on a high note! Plus, she seems to actually read this stuff sometimes, so... hi, Darienne!)
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Dixie: Adore has absolutely 100% grown on me. I...cough, cough...adore her. That one hurt to type.
Chad: So, here's my overall thesis about this episode: There wasn't any major drama, no huge conflicts among the queens. Instead, the show was all about picking apart each of the final four's own strengths and weaknesses and watching them struggle with their issues.
It seems like Adore was struggling with a lot of the same things she has been all season-- refining her looks, maintaining her focus.
Dixie: My experience in Chicago has been with mostly newer queens, myself included. So when they read her on her look or inability to focus her persona, I identified completely. Yes, I thought her shake-and-go wigs were terrible...but we've ALL been there. You take it out of the bag, give it a couple good shakes, plop it on your head and think "I'm pretty. This is fine." It isn't until you see pictures of yourself standing next to someone who clearly owns a brush that you think, "maybe that was a mistake."
My heart went out to her because once you're in that competition, you're stuck. There is no wig shop, dress shop, etc. She knew she wasn't up to par with everyone else, but there wasn't much else she could other than perform the hell out of everything.
And she did.
Chad: I do agree with you--she KNOWS she doesn't have the years of experience that Darienne, Bianca, and Courtney do. It must be a constant struggle for her to convince herself she deserves to stay there. But man, during her music video shoot, she was pure star power.
Dixie: THAT was her saving grace to me. You knew that SHE knew that she wasn't up to snuff and there wasn't much she could do about it. As condescending as it may have been, Courtney was spot on when she said that Adore looked like her from 10 years ago. Polish doesn't happen in 2 years. That's why I have 2 favorite instagram filters.
Not to get too serious here, but it reminds me of an Ira Glass quote that I love:
“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit.”
Chad: It boils down to "you're going to suck for a long time." (insert drag queen joke here)
Dixie: Adore is magic when it comes to music videos. The rap challenge. This challenge. She's unbeatable.
Chad: So, here's my thought: Adore could totally win this.
Dixie: I didn't think so until this episode.
Chad: The show loves an underdog. She's a star. Maybe even a superstar? And she would, by far, benefit the most from that prize money.
Dixie: She's got talent. She's got a brain. The look will absolutely come. You know there are people lining up to make dresses and wigs for that beautifully-talented hog-bodied bitch.
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Dixie: Can we PLEASE talk about Courtney's speech at the end to the judges? PLEASE.
Chad: Ha! Sure! What are your thoughts about her appeal for the crown?
Dixie: "I'm already a drag superstar in Australia." Done. I don't want to hear anymore.
In her sit down with Mama Ru, RuPaul JUST said that she needs to show a little more vulnerability...and she leads with "I'm already a drag superstar?!?!"
I can't. I just can't.
Chad: So, yes, I agree. Not a good move. BUT, I do have to say that I find Courtney to be one of the most intriguing and complicated queens this season.
Dixie: Complicated? In what way?
Chad: I think she really is quite observant and calculating, to the point that the other queens referred to her as a robot. Her immaculate sheen of perfection helps, too.
I thought her challenge this episode was to finally show us her messier side, and I was happy to see her excel in the improv and lip sync shoots.
Dixie: I didn't feel her improv showed the messy side. I thought it was a good performance. Glasses askew and a straw in your does not a mess make, Courtney. She should've borrowed a wig from one of Adore's wig bags.
Chad: Ha! I think she does have depths, and she can surprise, but I agree with her assessment that she's been in "work mode" throughout most of the season.
Dixie: Here's the deal though. I love her. I really was afraid that I'd hate her for being so great because I'm a terribly small person, but she's hard not to fall for. I just don't think she's America's Next Drag Superstar.
Chad: Well, right, she's not going to win. But I was happy to see her do well throughout this challenge, and I do like her a lot. Though I don't LOVE her, and that's her problem.
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Chad: So, it seems like Bianca hasn't gotten a ton of attention over the past few episodes. My best guess is that the producers wanted to give some of the other contestants some more momentum to make them viable contenders.
Dixie: I must warn you: I fell for her...and I fell hard. She can do no wrong.
Now, let's get into what she did wrong.
Chad: Ha! I don't think she did anything wrong, it's just that the other queens needed some time to catch up to her!
Dixie: I feel like she was winning the competition way too early on. The producers did a wonderful job in highlighting the other queens in the past few weeks.
Chad: It's sort of how Jinkx took the lead early last season, and then Alaska gained a lot of steam just a little too late.This year, it still seems like Bianca has, by far, the most vocal fan base. And rightly so! But I think Adore could still pull through.
Dixie: Do you think Adore has a harder time of winning because a young, talented, unpolished girl won last season?
Chad: No, if anything, I think Ru and the producers LOVE an underdog! And in Bianca's shadow, Adore is certainly that.
Dixie: I know that all the girls will have careers after the show, but looking over the girls' work in this season, you want that work to be honored. For me, that means putting the crown on that big, beautiful clown head.
Dixie: What are you hoping for the finale?
Chad: I'm hoping they've shaken things up from the past two seasons. I'd like to see some real, unstaged drama. Especially about how the queens have reacted to their portrayals on the show. What does Laganja feel about how she came across? Darienne? And the looks! I expect some of these queens to BRING IT for the finale!
Dixie: That's one thing I will say for Laganja. By the end of her stay this season, my ears bled at the sound of her voice, but her looks were killing me. I loved seeing what she would wear. YES MAMA. I also hope there is an old woman in the audience so she can comment on the dryness of her vagina.
Chad: Wouldn't it be great to see some sort of live challenge? The top two lip synching onstage?
Dixie: That would be incredible. Or even better, a "do what you do best"-off. Bianca tells jokes. Adore sings. Courtney tans. I'd love it.
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Dixie Lynn Cartwright might be a fresh new queen on the Chicago drag scene, but she keeps busy! Dixie is starring as "Sleepy" in Snow White and the Seven Drag Queens, a fabulous show that runs through May 17th at Hydrate.
She'll also bring her live singing talents to the Drag Matinee pre-show at Berlin on May 24th and to #FACE at Hydrate on June 4th!
Dixie showcases her vocal skills, dry humor, and state-of-the-art video editing on her YouTube channel--here's one of my recent favorites, her rendition of that Frozen song everybody loves.
She also posts fabulous stuff onInstagram, so follow her there, too!
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With the "Rucap" episode coming next week, I'd like to revisit some of the funniest and most fabulous moments from the season that I didn't draw the first time around. I have a lot of ideas already, but let me know what you think I've got to draw before the season's over!
This weekend, I'm bringing my comics and queens up to Canada for the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, which is a truly fantastic and free show! So I expect to see every single Canadian reader of mine to come visit me there.
If you're not lucky enough to live near Toronto, you can find my Drag Race prints, postcards, and books at my Etsy store, or right here at The Sellout!