RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE S13E9 “Snatch Game”: Everything’s Coming Up Gottmik

We had to sit in agony for two weeks for the Snatch Game, a RuPaul’s Drag Race staple where queens must use their wit and improvisational skills to make RuPaul laugh, and it was well worth the wait. Snatch Game is a notoriously difficult maxi-challenge that often makes or breaks the contestants as it always causes a shakeup in the competition; queens who’ve been coasting by will usually get the boot and the one’s who shine have the honor of being amongst the privileged few who go above and beyond to make Ru laugh, and maybe even get the crown.

There’s A Lot Riding On This Snatch

We’re over halfway(!) through the season now and it’s time to assess the queens’ progress. In terms of maxi-challenge wins from episode 2 to episode 8, Symone and Olivia are leading the pack with 2 wins between the two of them, while Denali, Gottmik, and Rosé have 1 win each. Meanwhile, there have been zero wins for Kandy, Utica, Elliott, or Tina. Out of all the queens so far, the ones that are still here after surviving their Lip Sync For Your Life are Elliott, Kandy, and Symone (who were both saved in the last episode). At this point, it looks like the queens who will go to the end of the competition (be it Top 3 or Top 4) and have a real chance at winning will be Symone, Olivia, Gottmik, and maybe even Denali. Unfortunately, this means that for the other queens, their performance in the Snatch Game has to completely destroy everyone and everything with laughter.

As for the celebrity that each queen is impersonating, there’s an impressive mix of historical figures, social media influencers, and white men with naturally curly hair:

• Denali as Jonathon Van Ness 
• Elliott  as Rue McClanahan
• Gottmik as Paris Hilton 
• Kandy as Patrick Starr
• Olivia as Tabitha Brown
• Rosé as Mary, Queen of Scots
• Symone as Harriet Tubman
• Tina as Richard Simmons
• Utica as Bob Ross

Wow! This is honestly a fantastic and deliciously unconventional rogues’ gallery of Snatch Game characters! And from the scenes in the workroom, where everyone is getting their looks prepared, there’s some contention over who the other queens are portraying and their….um, interesting choices in their portrayals. Right off that back, Kandy doesn’t know who Mary, Queen of Scots was, but thankfully the Scottish-born Rosé is there to fill Kandy (and the audience) in on this infamous royal trouble maker, all while showing off her native Scottish accent (which, ironically, is heavier than the accents of the Scottish queens currently competing on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK).

We also learn that Utica, in an attempt to be as non-offensive as possible, shows off her Bob Ross wig, which is made of plush squirrel toys. Utica states that she can’t wear an afro (presumably because she’s white) even after Symone and RuPaul remind Utica and the audience that Bob Ross‘ tightly-curled hair was his actual hair, essentially telling her that it’s a non-issue and wouldn’t be appropriative. However, Utica is adamant about the wig, and, uh oh, it doesn’t look very good for her, especially when Utica says that her humor is slow right after Ru tells her that the humor has to be quick in Snatch Game.

Elliott also has a walkthrough with Ru and talks about her choice for Snatch Game and how she’s confident that she can bring Rue McClanahan to life; this is an insanely tall order that Elliott has made for herself, especially considering just how beloved and iconic The Golden Girls TV show and its characters/actresses are within the drag and LGBTQ+ community, let alone Drag Race. The way Elliott’s walkthrough goes, it is almost certain that she will bomb in the Snatch Game. With each passing season, we see RuPaul give more and more tips and advice to the queens for their Snatch Game characters, and at this point, the only thing that matters is TO DO WHAT RUPAUL SAYS FOR SNATCH GAME. That is it, and it looks like some of these queens are already breaking that guideline.

Don’t Fuck It Up!

The Snatch Game begins and there is so much promise right off the back. Not only does Symone as Harriet Tubman sneak into her seat with a lantern and set the bar pretty high with her hilarious take on one of the most badass women in all of history but Gottmik takes that bar and puts it even higher with her perfect Paris Hilton mug with her perfect Paris Hilton fake vocal-fry. As RuPaul goes down the line to introduce the rest of the queens, just about everyone does a stellar job, especially Rosé’s Mary, Queen of Scots, and Denali, who impersonates Jonathon Van Ness of Queer Eye so well that I legitimately kept forgetting that the real JVN wasn’t in the studio.

Unfortunately, the stars were in alignment for Utica and Elliott to tank as Bob Ross and Rue McClanahan: Utica has the wrong voice, the wrong disposition, and the wrong idea of how to play the Snatch Game, while Elliott just answers everything with a stumpy-not-suy southern accent and the word “men.” It’s quite hard to watch, especially when we see that Olivia isn’t doing so hot as Tabitha Brown. She started off okay when she made Ru laugh in her introduction, but begins to lose steam when she realizes there’s not a lot of meat (or meat substitute) in vegan jokes.

It’s the next day in the workroom and there is some delusion and some drama when it’s revealed that there may be a shady, possibly mean, side to Utica. When Denali asks her who she thinks may be in trouble, Utica says Olivia. Olivia overhears this and says that Utica had said the complete opposite right after the challenge the day before. Olivia is pressed like a panini and Utica mentions in her confessional that she believes that Olivia did a bad job when she compares her to everyone else. Is Utica being fake and shady? Is Olivia being too sensitive? We find out later on in Untucked that the other queens believe Utica to put on a sweet act when the cameras are on and to be rude when the cameras are off. Rosé points to Utica taking out a binder to share her unused jokes from the Reading Challenge in episode 7, and how Utica reading them to the other queens felt like vicious insults instead of something that everyone could laugh at together. It’s a curious development for Utica’s storyline, especially when it is obvious that she’s in danger of the bottom two this week.

Fascinator? I Hardly Know ‘Er!

TS Madison returns to the judging panel alongside RuPaul, Michelle Visage, and Carson Kressley where they’re all judging this week’s performances and the runway category, which is centered around headpieces known as “fascinators.” There are very few misses on the runway and many beautiful and elegant looks, particularly Symone’s political message, which is revealed when she walks with her backs to judges, showing two bullet holes in her back and the words “Say Their Names” written in stoned blood on the back of the fascinator, all while she holds her hands up; it’s equal parts breathtaking and powerful. Denali rollerblades as a cute little waitress with a coffee pot fascinator while Gottmik brings punk rock to the stage with an enormous safety fascinator going through her skull, combined with her signature clown-white mug. Most of the other looks are great, however, Rosé’s rose petal gown doesn’t quite stand up to the rest and Elliott’s look is just dreadful with the one baggy, beige-colored pant leg.

Symone, Kandy, and Tina are declared safe, with Symone getting a special shoutout from Ru for her incredible message on the runway. The three safe queens retire to the Untucked corner of the workroom as the rest of the queens get their critiques. To the surprise of no one, Utica, Elliott, and Olivia get the harshest notes while the judges have nothing but love for Gottmik’s Paris, Denali’s JVN, and Rosé’s Mary (who knew that TS Madison was obsessed with the Tudor Dynasty?). It really looks like it could be between Rosé and Gottmik, but the win ultimately goes to Gottmik! Yay! Not only is her win much deserved, but this puts her in the upper echelon of the competition, making her a frontrunner with Symone and Olivia.

Speaking of Olivia, Ru declares her safe, which means that it’s Utica and Elliott in the bottom two this week. As they lip sync to “Fascinated” by Company B, I found myself becoming a little nervous for Utica as she hasn’t been shown to be the best dancer. However, as the song progresses, we see that Utica is actually working it and as soon as I see her and Carson interact with each other during a moment in the song, I knew that she had it. I should have known that Elliott would be the one to sashay away though because, let’s face it, Elliott’s time on the show has been at its end ever since the producers stopped showing her interactions with Kandy Muse.

Conclusion: “Snatch Game”

After losing the lip sync in episode 1 and then being voted off in episode 2, Elliott With 2 Ts persevered all the way to episode 9 and it’s hard to say what her legacy will be. She started out as an underdog and then just stayed under the radar until she was being called out for “trying too hard” to fit in with the other queens. If Elliott were any other queen, she would probably be a slight favorite amongst fans, too bad she’s got all that social media baggage attached to her where she just doesn’t know how to talk about black drag queens without slipping a microaggression into the conversation.

There might be a Reunion episode coming up and it will be interesting to see if any of this is spoken upon, but until then, let us just bask in the glory that was Symone’s amazing runway Black Lives Matter runway look and Gottmik’s impressive win as the ultimate 00’s socialite in the Snatch Game (one of the best Snatch Games of the newer seasons! What a great episode!!). These two queens are the favorites to win the entire season and at this point, either of them is more than deserving of the crown (even though Gottmik can barely survive a lip sync, but hey, Bianca Del Rio still won season 6). Somehow though, it’s still a little too early to know for sure which way the season is going to go, and thankfully, there will be no filler special next week.

What did you think of season 13’s Snatch Game? Who do you think is the next queen to sashay away? Let us know in the comments below!

A new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 13 can be seen every Friday at 8/7c on VH1.