RuPaul’s Drag Race Recap S16E10: In the World of Verses, You’re Either a “Power” Top or a “Power” Bottom

The queens walk into the Werkroom shaken by Plasma’s exit as Mhi’ya further cements her status as lip sync assassin of the season. I know I said a couple of weeks ago that I hope she didn’t become complacent in that and, honestly, she hasn’t. I appreciate that Mhi’ya knows what to do when she has to lip sync but certainly isn’t a queen proclaiming, “I’ll lip sync every week if that’s what it takes to win!” She’s clearly trying, she just happens to also know how to put her entire soul into a performance. The ladies head to the couch in the Werkroom, my favorite place on this planet, to allow some back-and-forth reads between Morphine and Mhi’ya. “You’re cute at home, but I don’t know what you’re gonna do here,” Mhi’ya says to her. More, please!

The next day, the competitors find out they will be working with usual suspects Leland and Jamal Sims to record a verse and learn choreography for a “Power” anthem about the importance of voting and making the voices of everyone heard. It’s a little on the nose, but I’m willing to go there because the writer’s strike clearly took away many opportunities for the season. Three design challenges later, the Queens are writing another original verse because they were not, at the time, members of the Writers Guild of America. I don’t believe any of them have joined since the season began, but I’ll be watchful as the episodes go by to see if any of the Queens switch career paths towards spending less time performing and more time in front of a keyboard. 

After Sapphira educates Q on the Black national anthem, “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” originally written by James Weldon Johnson in 1900, Mhi’ya confidently informs the aforementioned two that she’s excited because she loves writing lyrics. She goes on to rhyme “equal” with “equal,” and I’m not angry at her! Nicki Minaj rhymed different forms of China/Chyna five times in a row in her feature on Yo Gotti’s “Rake It Up” so I really don’t think we should be policing Mhi’ya on word choice. You might be surprised reading this, but Nymphia uses her preparation time to become stressed and not accomplish too much. Dawn talks to her about Megami not being there to write her lyrics this time before realizing that she keeps finding herself next to Queens while they freak out about a challenge. I would like to say that I’m quickly growing tired of this season’s trend of the Queens breaking the fourth wall, starting with Amanda Tori Meating doing it a few times before trickling all the way to Nymphia showing the camera her blank page of lyrics.

Everyone hits the main stage to record their verses for the song, Leland there as always to help produce better verses for themselves. Leland then validates my thoughts by telling Mhi’ya that it’s fine to rhyme with the same word! Now what happens next is hilarious as Mhi’ya attempts different variations of singing the second “equal.” Cutting to her peers every time she changes it is hilarious, watching every facial expression when she hits that higher octave “equal” is worth rewinding to make sure you’ve seen them all. Dawn’s shock is probably the funniest to me, personally, but it’s a choose-your-own-adventure of who you feel most represented by in the moment. Nymphia takes the mic and does terribly, no exaggeration, enough for Plane to comment on her own Immunity Potion and if she’ll be giving it to Nymphia during this challenge. Q is asked to hold a note and the worst sound imaginable comes out of her mouth, a shocking wail that could collapse houses.

The choreography offers its own challenges when Jamal Sims comes in, Dawn awkwardly moving her body around when its her turn to learn. Nymphia hits the stage and all I can think of is what she is wearing, resembling someone’s grandmother in a massively oversized banana-colored vest. Dawn calling Morphine “chicken head” during her rehearsal was unexpected but truthful! Plane looks nervous immediately, the moment Jamal starts giving her choreography to follow, her confidence seems to begin to falter in a way that isn’t usual for her. After weeks of feeling like she’s on top, Amanda Tori Meating will be thrilled to see that Plane does apparently have things that she can’t do as well as others. Even when the Queens begin getting ready for the actual performance, Plane still seems convinced she’s going to do well despite not rehearsing well. Nymphia comes over to ask for the Immunity Potion since it’s the last week it can be used. The ladies have a quick conversation about the power of voting and expressing the power of democracy before moving on to the main stage.

The song itself, “Power,” is actually quite fun and the Queens look like they’re having a great time performing to it. Mhi’ya looks like a version of Kim Possible’s Shego with her green wig, but I love her outfit. Nymphia’s verse is, as expected, not exciting to watch while Plane looks a little shaken in this performance compared to what she’s shown previously. When the ladies are all on stage together towards the end of the performance, they look like an all-girl version of the power rangers that, at the last minute, decided they should enter a talent show to defeat Rita Repulsa. The performance as a whole is genuinely fun to watch, the Queens seem excited about the verses and the song itself by bringing a fun energy to the song. Everyone does at least fine, with Nymphia perhaps standing out as the worst in the group. After the performance ends, the episode moves onto the runway, where the category is “True Colors.”

A quick rundown of the runway:

• This is my favorite look from Mhi’ya so far in the competition because not only does she look beautiful, it seems to suit her style of drag better than any other look she’s presented thus far
• I’ve grown tired of Nymphia’s bananas and yellow, even with the category being what it is, it reminds me of Mo Heart’s insistence that brown cow stunning was a thing
• Plane Jane looks stunning, but the biggest draw of her presentation is the body, her hips are padded beautifully
• Sapphira comes out in one of my favorite looks of the season while giving Marge Simpson loses a glass slipper realness
• It’s fun to see Dawn change her makeup because her talent allows her to adapt to however she needs to paint her face
• Another stunning look from Q, the pants of this look are incredible
• Why does Morphine’s look make it seem like she could take flight when she spreads her arms?

Before critiques, Plane uses her Immunity Potion on Nymphia, which shocks the entire main stage. Once again the Queens look like a rainbow on stage, an assortment of colors that exemplify their drag. The Queens start hearing their names before subsequently hearing that they’re safe before finally reaching just Morphine and Sapphira. The confusion grows with each passing Queen that leaves the stage and takes her place behind it, no one quite sure what’s happening. The two bottom Queens engage in a lip sync that finds no one going home this week after both Morphine and Sapphira perform the best they can. No one goes home as a result, leaving all seven competitors to slay another day. Perhaps next week will see two Queens leave (but probably not).