Snatch Game

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs. The World Season 2, Episode 4 – Snatch Game Power Rankings

March 2, 2024 by krisis

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!

Drag Race Belgique Season 2, Episode 5 – Belgium Season 2 Snatch Game Power Rankings

March 1, 2024 by krisis

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.

This episode was a great reminder of a critical Drag Race maxim: never reveal to something more underwhelming than what you started with. Both of our front-running queens and both of our bottom two queens made puzzling, underwhelming reveals this episode in both Snatch Game and on the runway.

In Snatch Game, one top queen made an ill-advised choice to switch characters in the middle of a well-played game. Meanwhile, a bottom queen hinged her entire performance on one gag reveal that landed with a splat.

On the runway, one top queen revealed to a pair of even-blander bottoms, while one bottom queen revealed to an even-blander top.

That left a clear path for a surprising queen to notch what I can only call a “pity win” after a disastrous Snatch Game performance (though it included no flubbed reveals). That gives two queens a swap in my power rankings compared to last week’s “Masquerade” Drag Government challenge power ranking – plus, an eliminated queen gone a week earlier than I expected.

(Want to watch Drag Race Belgique outside of Belgium? For most of the world, it’s available with a Wow Presents Plus subscription as soon as the episode is done airing.)

Lecteurs, start your engines. Et, que la meilleure Drag Queen gagne!

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 16, Episode 8 – Snatch Game Power Rankings

February 26, 2024 by krisis

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 16, Episode 8 was the Season 16 Snatch Game! That meant we also got our annual “The Library is Open” reading challenge – plus, an unusually animated Dancing Queens runway theme.

It’s incredible that an oddball challenge spoofing old game shows from way back in RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 2 has become the most iconic challenge on every franchise of the show – and also the most harrowing gauntlet for its contestants.

Hearing Drag Race queens talk about their Snatch Game experiences is like hearing war stories, even when they are from queens who do well.

No matter how well you prepare for Snatch Game by working on your impression and your improv skills, there’s just no way to completely anticipate how Ru will react and volley with your character. Planning answers and bits ahead of time isn’t always the wisest move, because you’ve got to be able to follow Ru’s lead in the room and pick up on what she finds amusing.

I was fascinated to see some strong queens miss these hints, while one in particular snatched every one.

What does that mean for our Power Rankings compared to last week’s epic “The Sound of Rusic” Rusical performance power rankings? Things have been truly shaken up, with one unlikely queen pushing into contention for the finale while a previous surefire winner sags in the rankings. Plus, we have a new supreme as a certain Russian doll turned into a real live queen over the course of this episode.

Readers, start your engines. And, may the best drag queen win!

Drag Race Sverige Season 1, Episode 4 – “Snatch Game” & Mitt Liv Som Tant runway Review & Power Ranking

March 28, 2023 by krisis

Welcome to my review, recap, and power rankings of the fourth episode of Drag Race Sverige (AKA Drag Race Sweden) Season 1 – “Snatch Game,” Sweden’s first try at the iconic Drag Race improv comedy challenge. It was paired with a Mitt Liv Som Tant runway, which translates literally to “My Life as an Aunt” but in the subtitles was “My Life as a Golden Girl.”

Content warning for this episode: the “Elimination Day” workroom scene after Snatch Game and before the runway includes a graphic discussion of sexual assault and sexual violence.

I get frustrated when Drag Race is an entertaining reality show first and a serious competition second. I react negatively whenever a season trends towards making things a game of random chance.

This episode combined two elements that tend to turn me off: bringing back an eliminated queen and making a surprising elimination.

Bringing back an eliminated queen doesn’t always have to be a bad thing. It’s what gave us more of Trixie in Season 7. It created amazing dramatic tension with Latrice’s return in All Stars Season 4 and Silky’s battle to conquer lip sync island on All Stars Season 6.

It’s a mechanic best used when a season has seen some queens eliminated early who felt like they they had more to offer to the show – either as drag queens or as personalities. Even less notable returns from Carmen Carrera or Joe Black still gave us iconic Drag Race moments, because they brought back great characters.

Yet, on Sverige it has felt like all three queens left with reasonable justification: Almighty Aphroditey for being too green, Antonina Nutshell for struggling with the runways, and Endigo for struggling to show confidence while in drag. All three of them brought some amount of certain “not ready for prime time” awkwardness to the show that the other queens never displayed. That’s not a statement about the quality of their drag, just about how prepared they and their packaged seemed to be for the rigors of Drag Race.

As a result, we had a Top 6 who felt like the strongest competitors in this race. Even if the show had already accounted for a returning queen mechanism, if ever there was a time to hold that in reserve an episode longer this was it! No matter who left this episode, they would be someone who had more to show.

Instead, we have a returning queen who already feels hopelessly outmatched by the competition. She proceeded to bomb Snatch Game and the Mitt Liv Som Tant old lady runway, but she was kept by Robert Fux and the judges thanks to a desperate, over-the-top lip sync win against the show’s frontrunner.

I’m not arguing in favor of protecting an early front-runner who makes a stumble – that winds up just as frustrating as an unfair early elimination! However, as a viewer I feel like I’ve lost the chance to see more of the best drag Sweden has to offer.

That outcome detracts from what was a solid, entertaining first Snatch Game from Sweden! Not only did several queens deliver comedic performances, but Robert Fux was a delightful host who upheld his end of the absurd game of improv with both the queens and the Snatch Game “contestants.”

Of course, the unusual developments of this episode shook up my power rankings from last week’s design challenge. With our front-running no longer in the race it’s not only a toss-up for who will come out on top, but there’s a sudden chance for a safe queen to sneak her way into the top three of the season.

(Want to watch Drag Race Sverige outside of Sweden? For most of the world, it’s available as part with a Wow Presents Plus subscription as soon as the episode is done airing.)

Läsare, start your engines. Och må den bästa Drag Queen vinna!

Drag Race Belgique Season 1, Episode 5 – Snatch Game & Night of 1001 Audrey Hepburns Runway

March 19, 2023 by krisis

Welcome to my review, recap, and power rankings of the fifth episode of Drag Race Belgique Season 1 – the first Snatch Game in Belgium, plus a Night of 1001 Audrey Hepburns runway!

I felt that this Snatch Game and accompanying iconic runway said a lot about the drag culture of Belgium.

Snatch Game was low on rude and uproarious jokes and heavy on studied character work. Even the worst queens of this panel presented better character illusions than the best queens of a typical Snatch Game in the United States!

Similarly, while queens on other franchises might take this runway theme as an opportunity to show off a “high glam” version of Audrey Hepburn, here five out of six queens presented near-exact replicas of some of her iconic looks. None of them were draggy for drag’s sake, and none amplified Hepburn’s petite frame with drag staples like exaggerated shoulder pads or giant hair.

As we have the chance to see Drag Race adapted to countries all around the globe, we must remember that the aesthetics of US Drag Race is heavily influenced by the pageant system. Critiques about proportions and “dragging things up” do not always apply equally in other drag subcultures.

From this season thus far I get the sense that Belgian drag values a much less exaggerated sense of femininity from its drag artists, which has been reflected both in the runways and the judging. It seems to be a season where smaller, more-thoughtful performances can thrive.

Snatch Game shook up my power rankings compared to last week’s acting challenge everywhere but the very top. While we maintained the same front-runner, spreading the wins around and putting a new queen in the bottom definitely shuffled the odds of who might wind up in the finale.

(Want to watch Drag Race Belgique outside of Belgium? For most of the world, it’s available as part with a Wow Presents Plus subscription as soon as the episode is done airing.)

Lecteurs, start your engines. Et, que la meilleure Drag Queen gagne!