It’s another week of the Olympics of Drag Race! RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs. The World Season 2 Episode 4 was the UK vs The World Season 2 Snatch Game – “Family Edition”! that was paired with a nautical “Gone Cruisin'” runway theme.
Snatch game often produces the most-iconic moments of each season of Drag Race. This time around, it seems to be about exposing habits and biases.
The first big bias has to do with the Snatch Game format. This “Family Edition” is a thinly-veiled version of survey-based quiz show Family Feud. The UK had a version of Feud called “Family Fortune” that ran for two decades and was recently revived in 2020.
Ru loves game shows. In addition to her obsession with old Hollywood standards like Match Game, Hollywood Squares, and The Dating Game. Ru has appeared on a riotous episode of Family Feud and she even hosted her own unfortunately-titled “Gay for Play” and a revival of Lingo on CBS.
Yet, in the UK, comedy panel shows are equally as popular popular than game shows. It would make more sense to reskin Snatch Game to be a copy of Quite Interesting (possibly my favorite television show!) or 8 Out of 10 Cats, where the entire point is to humorously volley with the host. If Ru actually was willing to somewhat localize Drag Race, this would be an easy change.
The second bias is also Ru’s. This is the bias that her advice is always correct. We very rarely see a queen go against Ru’s advice and be rewarded for it. Gigi Goode’s Maria the Robot on the RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 12 Snatch Game might be the best example. And, if Ru is diabolical with her advice in America, she is doubly bad in the UK. This is the RuPaul who on UK Season 3 told Choriza to be Cher and Scarlett Harlett to be Macaulay Culkin.
In this case, Ru had her heart set against a certain queen’s (very good) impersonation, and when that queen knocked it out of the park on Snatch Game Ru served her Total Neutch in response.
Next, we come to the habits of the queens. We saw some repeat offenses in this episode. Queens who impersonate a straight cis man by suggesting he is gay. Queens who pick a character known for one iconic trait but have no plan beyond that one trait. Queens who pick someone much funnier than they are.
And that was just on one panel! There was also a queen who gave the same answer three different times… and she won!
However, this Snatch Game also addressed one particular fan bias – or, at least, a common complaint. Fans loved to harp on how some queens get fewer shots at answering questions in the finale edit. Here, we got two full rounds from each team, presented in a way that meant they couldn’t have been chopped up or reassembled at all. The flops still flopped! But, I do think this edit was better at showing which queens stood on solid middle ground.
Big biases and bad habits in the Snatch Game meant that every single queen changed rankings this week compared to last week’s Drag Race World immersive experience commercial power rankings. It feels like we have a fully-formed Top 5 with two queens on borrowed time. Will either one of them be able to turn things around in the next two episodes, or will the real game begin with the cut before the final four?
(Want to watch RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs. The World outside of the UK? For most of the world, it’s available with a Wow Presents Plus subscription as soon as the episode is done airing.)
Readers, start your engines. And, may the best international drag superstar win!
Bon retour, mes chers lecteurs, dans plus de classements! Drag Race Belgique Season 2 Episode 5 was the Belgium Season 2 Snatch Game. Our queens came well-prepared for this iconic challenge! They were more unsteady for an “En rollers, baby!” rollerskating runway – both when it came to their balance and their fashions.
