‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars’ season 9 episode 2 recap: ‘The Paint Ball’

“RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” kicked off its 9th season on Friday, May 17 with the first two episodes featuring returning queens from seasons past. Making their way back into the Werk Room for the second time are Angeria Paris VanMichaels (season 14), Gottmik (season 13), Jorgeous (season 14), Nina West (season 11), and Plastique Tiara (season 11). Three queens are returning for the third time: Roxxxy Andrews (season 5 and All Stars 2), Shannel (season 1 and All Stars 1), and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo (seasons 10 and 11).

In addition to their chance at the coveted crown, this season the queens are competing to have a $200,000 contribution, provided by The Palette Fund, to a charity of their choice. Series judges RuPaul Charles and Michelle Visage will be joined on the dais by friends and series regulars Carson Kressley, Ts Madison, and Ross Mathews as well as a rotating cast of guest judges to help determine episodic winners and their choice for “next drag superstar.”

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In episode 1, Angeria and Jorgeous earned the first Beautiful Benefactress Badges as the top two performers of the week. When Angeria was declared the overall winner, she earned $10,000 for her charity, the NBJC, and cut off Roxxxy from the eligibility to earn a badge of her own in the next challenge. In the race to be one of the three queens with the most badges by the end of the season, Angeria and Jorgeous are in the lead with one each.

Now, check out our recap of episode 2, titled “The Paint Ball,” featuring guest judge Stephanie Hsu below:

Immediately following Angeria’s challenge win and her decision to cut off Roxxxy, everyone got to chat on their own before Roxxxy made her re-entrance into the room. Jorgeous admitted that if she had won she would have cut off Nina and Vanjie told the group that she actually thought she would have been named as one of the top two. When Roxxxy returned, Angeria told that she sees Roxxxy as the legend among them and so she had to cut her. Nina thought that it was a “big move” for Angeria to make, but the correct one.

Ru joined the girls the next morning with Bruno and a handful of art puns because it was time for “The Paint Ball.” He explained that they’d serve three looks in the categories: Monochromatica, where they’d show a look all in one color; Drag Imitates Art, for a look inspired by a famous work of art; and Paint Ball Eleganza, showing a hand-painted original garment created overnight in the Werk Room.

Because Roxxxy is known to be a skilled seamstress, Angeria announced to the room that she “absolutely” made the right decision to cut Roxxxy off from earning a badge this particular week. It was a frustrating thing for Roxxxy because she knew that this was a week she could get the badge, but she was still focused on the win because it would earn cash for her charity and the chance to cut Angeria or someone else off. The queens most worried bout this challenge were Vanjie and Nina, both of whom needed assistance from Roxxxy at the sewing machine.

Ru returned to the Werk Room to see what all the girls were working on and inspired by. Gottmik showed a “punk rock damsel” inspiration, Shannel talked about designing her house for Christmas, Plastique talked about incorporating “Asian finesse” into all of her looks, and Vanjie got worried when Ru said “it looks really simple right now.” After some time had passed, Angeria decided that she wasn’t confident enough in what she created and so she made a second garment that she could use as a backup in case she wasn’t feeling the original on runway day. She also made the “mistake” of admitting to Roxxxy that on her original season she was Team Jinkx Monsoon and not an early fan of Ms. Andrews.

On runway day, it became apparent that the room had divided into strong pairs. Vanjie and Gottmik discussed their belief that Plastique could be named a winner this week, Jorgeous and Angeria were concerned about being a target to be cut off, and Roxxxy and Plastique discussed the need to cut off someone that already has a badge. The pairings left Nina and Shannel as the fourth pair where they were conscious of how to avoid being snipped. Nina was most worried because of how Jorgeous said she would have cut her in the first challenge had she won.

On the Main Stage as judges for the ball this week were Michelle, Ross, and Stephanie. The standouts in the Monochromatica category were Roxxxy in “ravenous red,” Vanjie wearing “Michelle green” to poke fun at Michelle’s hatred of green, and Plastique in a crimson gown to represent the Vietnamese flag. The standouts in the Drag Imitates Art category were Shannel in a Hokusai gown, Gottmik in an Edvard Munch-inspired dress, Vanjie in a babydoll dress inspired by Van Gogh, and Plastique in a polka dot gown inspired by Kusama. The standouts in the final category were Roxxxy in a three piece pantsuit with cape, Gottmik in her punk rock red and white word-heavy gown, Plastique in a slim gown painted to look like a nude body with a very long pink train, and Jorgeous in her hand-stenciled dress with a simple bra top.

During judges’ critiques, Angeria learned that Ru thought she was “a little literal” with her second look and that Ross was impressed with her third look. Ross thought that Shannel’s second look was literal, too, but it was exaggerated in a way that made it exciting and drag. He was lost with the overdesign of her other garments. Stephanie was highly complementary of all of Roxxxy’s looks and Ross went as far as calling her third look “extraordinary.” Michelle thought that Gottmik soared in what Ross called the “raw and unfinished” final look. Ross said that Nina had a “major fashion moment” in her pink monochromatic look, but Michelle called the third look a “kindergarten project.” Michelle was impressed with Vanjie’s version of her green Michelle look while Stephanie thought the Van Gogh dress could have had more nods to the art that inspired it. Plastique’s looks were called “stunning” and “magnificent” with Ross saying her last look “should be in a museum.” The judges thought that Jorgeous wore stuff that worked for her and Stephanie appreciated the detailing in her stencil work.

Based on their three runway presentations, the top two all stars of the week were Plastique and Gottmik. Their placements earned them each a Beautiful Benefactress Badge and positioned them to Lip Sync for Your Legacy to “Jump in the Line.” Gottmik benefited from wearing a garment that referenced “Beetlejuice” where most people might know the song from while Plastique arrived with a feathered coat that she used to reveal a sexier number underneath. While Plastique relied on body and sex appeal, Gottmik chose to go the humorous route with her facial expressions and mannerisms. Those comedic elements worked for Ru and Gottmik was declared the winner.

As the winner, Gottmik earned $10,000 for her charity and the decision on which queen to use the Ruby Snippers on. Gottmik considered that a comedy challenge might be on the horizon so she decided to cut off Angeria from earning a second badge in the next challenge.

NEXT TIME: The queens compete in “Snatch Game of Love,” serving up their best celebrity impersonations with an emphasis on making Ru laugh.

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