RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 14, Ep. 11 Recap: March Madness Brings Viewer Gladness

After the abysmal week that was last week’s Snatch Game episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race, the delayed payoff had finally arrived, and Ru (+ the producers) definitely delivered. As a reminder, the twist last week was that save for DeJa (who was the de facto winner) all of the queens would have to lip sync for their lives this week.

The episode starts off with the queens fairly split in level of concern, particularly because they don’t know how this week will unfold. Willow, being the boss ass bitch that they are, is feeling justifiably confident. Her Drew Barrymore Snatch Game may have been a bust, but this queen has proved herself week after week as a force to be reckoned with. On the opposite side of that spectrum is Bosco, who isn’t feeling so sure of herself. One of the reasons I loved this episode and the structure of the challenge is that it brought out the inherent natures of all the queens. The competition is intensifying, and who has the “killer instinct” (and who doesn’t) is really beginning to show.

On the topic of “inherent natures” being brought out, Daya leans into her growing villain edit saying that Jasmine and Jorgeous should have been the bottom two. She is, to a degree, understandably frustrated, because whether Jasmine and Jorgeous (or any other pairing), two could have been chosen to face off last week. But as is often the case with most bitchiness, it’s really just a deflection of her own displeasure with herself (Bosco admits as much about herself, which is one of the many reasons I love Bosco). Daya being Daya voices her complaints aloud to the gals, though Jasmine calls her out. Jasmine calling bullshit on Daya was wonderful since Jasmine has been the target of Daya’s shit this whole season. If Daya were a ghost, she just might need some punching.

Drop the punching the ghost tutorial, @jorgeous_1! #DragRace pic.twitter.com/RvZcbjc5hS

— RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) March 19, 2022

DeJa was really in the catbird seat this episode. Safe from elimination, she was free to stir the pot and have as much fun as she wanted with the girls. She got the rumor mill churning, wondering if previously eliminated queens may get to return this week. Thank gawd that did not come to fruition. And because she was safe, she could watch the group challenge unfold. The queens learned what the structure for this LaLaPaRuZa challenge would be: in honor of March Madness (college basketball tournament), the lip syncs would be done in a bracket style competition.

The pairings were picked more or less at random, and power was divided evenly. A queen would be selected at random, and then they could choose who they would face off against. But to keep the power even, the competitor they picked got to choose the song they would both perform. The first queen to be randomly picked was Jasmine, who in turn picked Daya to be her competitor. We love it! This is the time of the season to lean in to those killer instincts, and this is also what’s going to give us some great TV. Daya picked “RESPECT” by Aretha Franklin, and when the dust settles, she picked wisely taking the first win of the challenge.

The next queen picked was Willow, who picked Bosco as her competitor. This week was a perfect showcase for the “Willow the Competitor” even more than “Willow the Drag Queen.” Willow picked Bosco because she understands not only herself, but her competitors and how they think, as well. Sun Tzu could never! Her instincts paid off, and Bosco picked the song she hoped she would pick, and the two squared off singing “Never Too Much” by Luther Vandross. With two W’s in her name, it’s no surprise Willow constantly takes the W in competitions. I love her so damn much.

There’s an old saying that goes, “three’s a crowd, but four’s an orgy.” Some may dispute the accuracy of this quote, but those people are haters and should be ignored. The next competition was a threesome in the form of Jorgeous, Angeria, and Lady Camden. This was a really solid showing by all three queens, but Jorgeous wins the moment after having picked “Radio” by Madame Knowles.

Spoilers ahead!

In the third round of the lip sync LaLaPaRuZa smackdown, three of our Queens performed “Radio” by Beyoncé! What'd you think? #DragRace pic.twitter.com/kyk2jC7Y77

— RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) March 19, 2022

Now as the previous losers start to face off, things get intense! The next pair to go up against each other are Lady Camden and Bosco singing “Don’t Let Go.” Lady Camden wins! Jasmine and Angeria! Friends to the end get emotional about having to go head-to-head against each other to the tune of "Love Don’t Cost a Thing". Angeria wins! Bosco and Jasmine! THE FINAL LIP SYNC BATTLE. The song: “Swept Away” by Diana Ross. Going into this, Bosco is feeling a bit defeated to be in the bottom, and it doesn’t help that she’s going up against the season’s lip sync assassin, Jasmine. How will this pan out? Who will go home after last week’s embarrassment?! Well, I’ve said it in previous articles that although Jasmine is an exceptional lip-syncer, there’s also something to be said about the fact that she was constantly needing to lip sync for her life in this competetion. And alas… this week proved to be the final battle.

With Bosco now safe, Jasmine is left alone on stage to say her goodbyes to the judges and to Ru. Jasmine wrapped up her season by ending where she started saying, “This is just the exit look.” Jasmine is young, hungry, and talented as fuck, and her career is no doubt going to be stellar. I do wish after all the hullabaloo of non-eliminations that we had multiple people go home this week. But that aside I did love this week’s episode.

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