RuPaul's Drag Race Season 8 Ru-Cap: Episode 3: RuCo's Empire


It’s Tuesday, which means it’s time for another Rupaul’s Drag Race ru-cap! We’re gonna fill you in on all the details from episode 3 of season 8 of Rupaul’s Drag Race. Last week’s episode ended with a thrilling cliffhanger. Two queens were sent home, but the drama didn’t seem to end here, since mama Ru hinted that a queen from the past would be brought back to the show to stir up the competition. Who was this mysterious queen who was on the phone with RuPaul? Could it be one of the fan-favorite queens from the previous seasons? Were they gonna bring back Shangela (halleloo!) for a third time?

The episode starts, and the queens speculate about who could be the returning queen. Bob The Drag Queen takes the viewer way back to the very first season of the show and wonders if the returning queen could be Victoria “Porkchop” Parker, also known as the first queen to ever be eliminated from Rupaul’s Drag Race. Acid Betty being Acid Betty vowed to ignore whoever they were bringing back and to “treat her like poo”. Oh, Betty. The girls are interrupted as they receive a ‘vague as always’ message from Ru.

For the mini challenge, the queens had to put on a Supreme Court Realness runway show and drag up basic black robes. They also had to write a funny introduction line about their characters and what it was that put these judges on the map. The challenge is won by the beautiful Naomi Smalls. As the mini challenge comes to an end, we still don’t know who’s coming back this season. Luckily we don’t have to wait long until the returning queen is revealed. It turns out to be Naysha Lopez, who was sent home in the first episode of this season after lip syncing against Laila McQueen. Ru makes Naomi and Naysha the team leaders for this week’s main challenge.


Ru makes Naomi and Naysha the team captains for this week’s main challenge, which means they get to form the teams. Naysha picks Derrick Barry, Thorgy Thor, Kim Chi and Acid Betty. Naomi picks Robbie Turner, Bob the Drag Queen and Chi Chi Devayne. She also picks Cynthia Lee Fontaine, who might be one of the funniest queens on the show (although sometimes it seems as if she’s not really in on her own joke). For the main challenge, the girls are presented with an acting challenge. They have to act in two different scenes that are inspired by the popular and slightly over the top television show Empire, that takes place in the hip-hop recording industry.


When the queens are practicing their lines together we find out that Robbie Turner has an acting background. Some of her knowledge is shared with the group as she teaches her teammates some acting techniques that could come in handy, and we expect her to really excel at the challenge. Unfortunately, this is not the case. She seems to over-think her performance, which seems to happen to a lot of self-proclaimed acting queens. Her acting fell flat and she didn’t manage to fully step into her role. Her performance ultimately lands her in the bottom. Other queens who didn’t do too well were Cynthia Lee Fontaine, who tried her best but ended up being funny for all the wrong reasons, and Derrick Barry, who’s performance could best be described as plain boring and very… white. Kim Chi also seemed to be heading for a disaster (she even had to be taught how to tongue pop!), but luckily redeemed herself after receiving some well-needed advice from Ru and guest judge Faith Evans. Others did find a way to shine: the New York queens in particular really seem to feel at home during this challenge. Especially Bob the Drag Queen, who unsurprisingly dominates the scene, shows off her amazing sense of humor and was absolutely máde to play Rucious’ ex-wifeChocolate Chip Cookie’. Thorgy Thor was also hilarious and did almost just as well as Bob in the same role. Like Bob and Thorgy, Acid Betty comes prepared. She does a great job as a slightly crazy character with multiple personalities, something that Robbie wasn’t able to do.


After filming their scenes, the teams get back to the work room and start working on their runway looks. For this week’s runaway, the queens all have to get on roller skates and serve disco derby realness. We learn a bit more about Thorgy Thor’s intense backstory. We find out that his family kept his mother’s cancer a secret from him when he was in college, and that she died the same day he came back home.

After the judges critiques on the runway we find out that Bob gets the very well-deserved win and that Derrick Barry is safe, and will move on to the next round. This means Cynthia Lee Fontaine is the one who has to lip sync for her life against Robbie Turner. They have to perform Mesmerized by guest judge Faith Evans, and RuPaul gives them the choice to perform in ‘heels or wheels’. Cynthia chooses heels, while Robbie decides to go with wheels. Cynthia gives her all and is obviously a talented performer, but it somehow doesn’t work. Robbie on the other hand is feeling herself, and does trick after trick after trick whilst not missing a single word. She ends up doing so many tricks that she eventually even breaks a light at the edge of the stage. Oops! She’s twirling and twirling, until…. she flies off the stage. Luckily the stage is surrounded by soft pads that break her fall, and she’s fine. She’s more than fine actually, because she also turns out to be safe. It’s time for Cynthia Lee Fontaine to ‘sashay away’. We’ll miss her!



Looks like that's it for this week! What team was your favorite? Tweet @ailurophelle and let us know.