We got the tease. Now it’s time for the big show.
There’s an art to making jaw-dropping and captivating season teasers. The queens learned this lesson firsthand by creating their own outlandish season teasers on RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 14 Episode 4.
Acting challenges can be hit-or-miss, but the improv here hit it out of the park—a strong highlight for a not-so-serious challenge.
“She’s a Super Tease” was a fun and hilarious round that made me laugh.
I want to watch whatever fake season came from those teasers. It’s the type of brainless shenanigans that you can’t help but stare at when it’s on the screen.
Surprisingly, Drag Race hasn’t done a challenge like this in the past. Sure, they’ve acted in lip-sync parodies of iconic Untucked moments, but this challenge was very referential of the franchise overall.
Based on how Drag Race can be, these fake seasons felt pretty real in many cases. (And that’s why we love this show so much!)
Before we get into the two teasers, we need to chat about the Kornbread vs. Jasmine Kennedie drama.
Kornbread had a point to call Jasmine out and give her helpful advice. Jasmine would’ve continued to overtalk and rub the other queens the wrong way, which would’ve hurt her chances in future rounds. Like, no one would’ve wanted to work with her.
Plus, the critique was sound advice for her in everyday life.
If you’re talking, you’re not listening. Listen to the words I am saying, and then give a conversation about it. That’s all I’m saying.
Kornbread
The problem, however, where Kornbread fumbled was letting her frustration cross into annoyance territory. She gave Jasmine the feedback, and Jasmine seemed open to change. But, her lashing out at Jasmine whenever Jasmine did anything made her look like a mean girl.
The group can’t move forward if Kornbread is staying in the past. It’s a bad trap in life and reality TV; Kornbread shut down because she couldn’t deal with her frustrations. Hopefully, she moves past this, or it’ll hurt her in future rounds.
The best teaser out of the two groups came from Willow Pill’s team.
The teaser was more structured and had more memorable jokes. Willow Pill shined as the love-obsessed Bitchelor contestant; she stole the show and genuinely made me laugh. Willow might be the underdog contestant who could take it all at the end.
Kornbread and Jasmine both did a good job too. Jasmine owned up to her talking persona, so she easily channeled the energy needed to match. And Kornbread played an exaggerated version of herself.
Once she moves past all the weight and food jokes, she’ll become a powerhouse in the competition.
Maddy Morphosis’ team performed amazingly as well. “She’s a Super Tease” is a case where both teams excelled positively in the challenge; it was a very close race between them.
Angeria Paris VanMichaels was a clear winner for how easily she assumed her character and got into all the fights. Her “This is not RuPaul’s Southern Hospitality Race!” will no doubt become another iconic GIF. (Just like Willow’s “I want love!” and Daya’s “I’m straight too!”)
[In confessional] I am happy that my girl Maddy is here to slay another week. But, Maddy needs to show a little bit more of her personality or she’s just gonna get buried by the other girls.
Daya Betty
Part of her acting win also came from her strong scene partner. DeJa Skye was giving Angeria everything she needed to perform and deliver.
DeJa served it right back during the fight, and she gave an emotional speech during the mirror moment. DeJa came across as a queen with strong improv and acting skills, so we might have to watch for what she serves next.
Speaking of serving, the runway theme of “The Night Of A Thousand JLOs” luckily avoided any Madonna mishaps from RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 8. Each queen served an opulent and chic look that would make Jennifer Lopez happy.
Kornbread, Kerri Colby, Daya Betty, Angeria, and Alyssa Hunter would be my Top 5 favorite looks of the night in no particular order.
Kornbread once again showed off her curves and fashion excellence in a stunning gown. She exuded confidence in that Met Gala-inspired ensemble; it’s another highlight for her strong runways so far.
Alyssa’s hustler suit looked ready for the stage and a photoshoot, and Daya Betty’s Super Bowl-inspired outfit felt like it was pulled right from the performance. Both queens shined with the polished touches; a big surprise from Daya Betty as the non-fashion queen of the two.
Kerri and Angeria, on the other hand, blew everyone else out of the water for their runway choices.
Kerri using the exact iconic 2020 Versace gown on the runway was a flex that no other queen could match. How much did that dress cost? Where did she borrow it from?
[In confessional] I can admit, I am a very Chatty Kathy. Just because … I don’t like dead air.
Jasmine Kennedie
She exuded peak JLO energy whenever she strutted the stage, and the fabric flowed behind her. Or whenever she whipped the fabric around.
In Angeria’s case, she looked like a million dollars. The diamond-encrusted gown inspired by the Met Gala screamed opulence and refinement. If there were any doubts about who should’ve won the round, Angeria’s gown pulled her to the forefront.
Kerri and Alyssa were good options for the bottom two placements based on their acting performances only. As mentioned above, their runways were spectacular.
Kerri got too much into her head and played a one-note role. Being pretty works for more challenges, but she needed to give more than just being the “pretty queen” in the funny teaser. It’s an easy way to get outshined by strong personalities.
Alyssa tried to break out of her shell, but it was too one-note from a high-note outlandish direction.
Past queens fell victim to the “screeching curse” when doing acting and improv challenges; simply being loud and messy doesn’t always equate to being funny. Alyssa needed to pull back and figure out what kind of character she wanted to be.
And those same questions and habits seeped into the lip-sync of “Play” by Jennifer Lopez too.
Kerri delivered a very sensual and sexy routine. Alyssa delivered a high-energy and high-impact routine. Both worked with the song, but Kerri was more attuned to what worked for her than Alyssa did.
Kerri Colby: Do you feel richer?
Willow Pill: Oh, I am richer! Oh my gosh!
I’m not blaming Alyssa’s gun for not working for why she lost the lip sync.
Having a prop isn’t a surefire way to win; it’s how a queen uses that prop that makes a difference. Alyssa had performed a strong number, but she probably wasn’t stealing focus from the judges as Kerri did.
The money wouldn’t have made a big difference based on how evenly matched they were. RuPaul wanted a more sensual routine to win the battle.
Last Thoughts From The Werk Room:
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JLO would’ve been an amazing guest judge to critique the runway. At least she sent the queens a video message.
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You could tell that the judges liked Kornbread way more than Alyssa Hunter. Both queens crying on the main stage got two different reactions; Alyssa was basically rushed out.
- Could Jorgeous’ self-doubting be a warning sign to come?
Now, over to you, Drag Race fans.
What did you think of “She’s a Super Tease”?
Are you sad to see Alyssa Hunter go? What was your favorite teaser? Who is the front-runner?
Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Justin Carreiro is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.