RuPaul’s Drag Race Recap: 10s Across the Board (Season 10 Episode 1)

Halleloo, halleloo, RuPaul’s Drag Race is back and better than ever on RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 10 Episode 1, “10s Across the Board.”

14 girls walk in, but only one cross-dresser will walk away with the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar. Let’s see who is in the race to take over for current reigning Queen of the Weirdos, Sasha Velour.

Things kick off with the return of Eureka, who suffered an injury during Season 9 and ultimately had to walk away from the competition. She’s sporting a wig that makes her look like Jack Jack from The Incredibles.

Am I even wrong?

Other notable entrances include Yuhua Hamasaki serving “Asian Bianca Del Rio,” MonetXChange mixing Rosie the Riveter realness with a janitorial flair, and actual clones Miz Cracker and Aquaria bringing in the Alyssa Edwards vs Coco Montrese level drama with matching makeup.

MINI CHALLENGE: Walk It Off

Mama Ru immediately throws the girls to the lion’s den by shoving them onto a runway flanked with every Drag Race alum you’ve ever loved.

No, really.

From Season 8 winner Bob the Drag Queen to the iconic Raven, from fantasy come to life Kim Chi to All Stars 1 winner Chad Michaels and All Stars 3 winner Trixie Mattel (spoilers!), you can’t spin without hitting one of your faves.

Or, like, Aquaria can’t spin without literally hitting Jinkx Monsoon in the face. Yikes. That’s one way to make an impression, right?

There’s a lot of family on the runway:

MonetXChange is Bob the Drag Queen’s drag sister, and Miz Cracker is Bob’s drag daughter (so that makes Cracker Monet’s…drag niece?). Tiny ball of fire Vanessa Mateo is Season 3 contestant Alexis Mateo’s drag daughter.

Mayhem Miller is the drag sister of Season 2/All Stars 1’s Raven and Season 2/All Stars 3’s Morgan McMichaels…oh, and she’s part of the same drag family as Season 5/All Stars 2’s Detox and Season 3’s Delta Work.

Aquaria is the drag daughter of Season 4 winner Sharon Needles. And Asia O’Hara is the drag mother of Season 4/All Stars 2 contestant Phi Phi O’Hara.

(Did anyone want a drag family herstory lesson? No? Okay, then keep reading, because it’s over now.)

MonetXChange rightfully nabs the mini challenge win. After everyone spends some time thirsting after Kameron Michaels (THOSE ABS, THOUGH), Ru ruveals the maxi challenge: we’re going all the way back to the beginning and rudoing the first challenge ever.

MAXI CHALLENGE: Drag on a Dime

Come on, craft supplies! The preparations for maxi challenges always give us a look at how the girls interact with each other, but it’s especially delicious when everyone is brand new in the Werk Room.

Eureka reveals that Mama Eureka fell ill before she entered the race, and opened up about her struggles after her injury in season 9. Eureka is going for those waterworks, and wow are they working. I just want to wrap up that nerd in a giant hug.

Elsewhere, Yuhua shows off some casual racism by being unable to tell any of the black queens apart (really, girl?) and Aquaria digs into the really dramatic meat of the season: Miz Cracker is her style stalker.

Eureka quickly piles in and asks Aquaria what the situation is, so let me lay it out in Mean Girls terms: Remember that one time that Cady Heron wore army pants and flip flops, so everyone else wore army pants and flip-flops? Well, this is exactly…nothing like that.

Apparently Cracker, who is 12 years older than Aquaria, once wore a yellow latex top with a cutout like, two weeks after Aquaria did. And then she was so copying Aquaria’s eyebrows while they were all getting into drag! GASP!

(Nevermind that Cracker was looking through a book of her own looks to decide what makeup she wanted to do, and that they wound up with wildly different looks…wait, no, maybe keep that in mind. If you want. I’m not your boss.)

Anyway. Forget the It Takes Two gag, because it is runway time, y’all. Here we go.

Out of all the things at the dollar store that you possibly could make an outfit out of, here is a list of the things I would not have picked that the girls wound up slaying: sponges, gloves, a straw hat NOT worn as a hat, car visors, and tissue paper —

HANG ON, RU HAS AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE: THERE IS ANOTHER QUEEN IN THE HO– USE.

It’s Farrah Moan[‘s doppelganger], Christina Aguilera! Okay, now that that’s out of the way, back to the girls.

Mayhem Miller walks away on top with her dress made out of black gardening gloves, and it’s so couture that I lowkey wish I was wearing it right now. Kelly Mantle impersonator — sorry, Kameron Michaels — is somehow safe, despite walking down the runway basically dressed as an Easter basket.

Also safe? Aquaria, who kind of looks like she’s wearing a bunch of diapers. She made it work, though.

Unfortunately, the bottom two winds up being Kalorie Karbdashian (yes, you read that right) and Vanessa Mateo. Despite Vanessa’s best efforts, you just can’t beat a girl pulling money out of her bra and making it rain on stage.

See you at ru-union, Vanessa!

13 girls remain, and the race is only just getting started. Until next week, my queens.

What did you think about this episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

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RuPaul’s Drag Race airs Thursdays at 8/9C on VH1.

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