45 thoughts I had watching Drag Race season 15, episode 11: ‘In what world was this not a double shantay?’

Drag Race, season 15, finally returns to hour long episodes – and questionable judging decisions – in episode 11.

The queens are challenged with flexing their comedy chops in a standup challenge, the producers finally give way to their need to psychologically torture Luxx and Loosey and the judges continue to give Marcia Marcia Marcia critiques yards harsher than anyone else’s.

Generally, the girls have been sent home in the order that I thought they should have been this season (though I was absolutely sure that they were going to bring Irene Dubois back for the drama).

In this episode, however, never has such an obvious double shantay been ignored after the bottom two both flop in the comedy challenge. When I say it’s giving Brooke Lynn Hytes and Yvie Oddly, I do mean it.

And because a longer episode means I (unfortunately) have more thoughts, here are 45 thoughts I had while watching episode 11 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, season 15.

• Salina entering the werkroom and saying that she’s confused at her placement last week; girl, you and me both.
• Why are the girls this season so obsessed with ranking themselves beyond winner and bottom two? “High-safe” is certainly not a thing.
• Case in point: Luxx saying she’s in second place behind Sasha. You and the other three girls who all have one win are all technically “second”. Luxx’s mind is a scary, scary place.
• This Luxx vs Loosey scrap is so… awkward. You know when neither girl wants to actually fight so their voices just go up the octave until the conversation ends? That’s this conversation.
• I miss Joey Jay. Drag Race‘s first ever gay contestant walked so Maddy Morphosis could also walk (slowly).
• Now this is the drama I’ve been waiting for. WHY WEREN’T YOU PREGNANT ON THE RUNWAY LAST WEEK, LOOSEY? YOUR LOOK REVOLVED AROUND BEYONCÉ BEING PREGNANT! I can’t take Luxx-the-pop-culture-connoisseur seriously with this bob though.
• Again with the placements as Miss Laduca tells us she came in second last week. Loosey, it does not matter if you think you “came in second”. You still didn’t win. Neither did Luxx. For all intents and purposes, you both lost.

• The episode already feels lighter and more fun with the extended runtime. There’s a mini challenge back and everything!
• Someone needs to tell Sasha Colby and Anetra that they don’t have to snap our necks so violently at every opportunity they get to dance. It’s a felony at this point.
• Luxx saying she prefers “sit-down comedy” as opposed to standup is so unserious, and a joke I would absolutely make.
• Wow! Luxx and Loosey have been randomly paired together! Completely randomly! After fighting just this morning! Randomly, I say!
• Salina steals Mistress from Marcia, meaning the Brady Bunch queen is by herself – and next week is the Rusical. I fear that production will be chopping their strongest lipstick thesbian before a challenge she would certainly win.
• Loosey and Luxx may be coming for the crown. As Mistress says, they’re the two queens hungriest for a win – and if they can come together, they could dominate.
• Anetra describing a migraine with a reference to Laganja Estranja‘s “dry vagina” comedy set is peak Drag Race. I miss Laganja. All Stars when?

• Marcia’s run through does not go badly, but neither did Blair St. Clair’s on AS5, and that was bad.
• Luxx and Loosey’s comedy routine is them insulting each other and just pretending to be joking; funny.
• Salina and Mistress. I did not sign up for an audible.com free trial.
• Really enjoying Michelle telling Anetra that she doesn’t need to worry about migraines, as if she is the one having a migraine. Thanks, Michelle!
• Anetra; I’m worried. Also the first time this season that I’ve not been 100 per cent faithful in Sasha Colby; forgive me mother.
• It’s Eliminasyha Lopez day and the girls are getting ready which means multiple things. Firstly, Luxx is playing more mind games with Marcia’s head (on the topic of her performing solo) than a Jedi master.
• Secondly, we get a nice bit of production tease for Anetra – she’s completely changed her routine.
• Thirdly, yet another queen is about to cry to Salina while she’s at exactly the same stage as her makeup. She should honestly keep this half-baked face on for her comedy routine because it’s hilarious.
• Mistress tells an honestly shocking tale at how her breaking her ankle led to becoming estranged from her mother – it’s important to hear these stories, but that doesn’t make it less heartbreaking
• I feel like I already know all of these queens so much better with the regular run time back.

• Let’s get into this heavily sponsored Bubly Water Comedy Festival! Marcia is up and I have the fear.
• I do actually feel like some of her jokes were funny. Once again; blame it on the edit. This set could have been “hilarious” if they’d slapped a laugh track over it.
• Luxx and Loosey are working well together but I wasn’t, like, screaming with laughter.
• Anetra saying: “And now… some canned bits.” Comedy. The rest of the set? Not comedy – Ms. Colby does slightly claw it back by calling Michelle’s balls Latrice and Eureka.
• Mistress and Salina are making me laugh – but you can tell that the producers aren’t going to give them the win because of a random Luxx confessional inserted in the middle of their set, saying it’s not funny.
• My final thought is that this is not the funniest batch of stand up comedy sets I’ve ever seen. Probably not even second or third.

• Runway Category is: Rip Her to Shreds. Weird theme but after 200 runways, I’d start making s**t up too.
• LOOSEY. WHAT IS THIS LOOK? SPOOKY OOKY KOOKY.
• Luxx is so clever – last week she wore a Beyoncé look that Ru later referenced, and now she’s doing a direct Ru reference. If there’s one thing Ru loves more than fracking (allegedly), it’s herself.
• I don’t want to be a twink apologist, but I really feel like they give Marcia harder critiques than she deserves.
• These judges are peeing over Luxx and Loosey’s routine… was it really that good? Granted, it was the best there, but still.
• Ru crying with no tears has sent me. Mama your tear ducts are sealed shut!
• The Judges’ Critiques are back! I completely forgot that these were cut.
• “It could have been tighter, as a whole.” If I had a dollar.
• Loosey and Luxx snatch the win! Thank god. It was about to be a massacre in that werk room if that hadn’t happened. Fun to see the two rivals succeed together. What a lovely narrative arc!

• Marcia Marcia Marcia and Anetra are in the bottom – but Sasha could have easily been there. I wonder if the larger cast of queens has prevented production pulling any double saves/returns this season? If so, that explains why Anetra and Sasha Colby couldn’t go up against each other, as production wouldn’t want to eliminate either of them. I feel like that meme with all the red string.
• This poor girl is about to get her Musical Theatre BFA stomped into the ground.
• WAIT. I LIED. MARCIA IS SERVING. AND TO THE GAY NATIONAL ANTHEM TOO!
• Obviously Anetra peed all over that stage but Marcia? My stan card is laminated, I fear. I cannot get over Anetra doing a literal dive roll over Marcia while she was doing a bridge/backbend.
• IN WHAT WORLD WAS THIS NOT A DOUBLE SHANTAY? If you can give it to Kameron Michaels and Eureka in season 10, you can give it to these women who just hurled their bodies around the stage. Marcia Marcia Marcia; you deserved more. Bet production didn’t realise this would be a double shantay too when they saved Sasha.
• And next week is the Rusical. Rigor mortis. Salina to get the chop, methinks.

RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 airs on Fridays 8/7c on MTV in the US and will be available to watch on Wow Presents Plus on following Saturday mornings from 2am GMT in the UK.

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