RuPaul's Drag Race Episode 6: The "Let's Get Sea Sickening Ball"

Editor's note: Before you dive into episode 6, read our recap of last week's episode.

Last week’s episode of RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked! sparked an argument about what is and is not fashion. It made this week’s ball challenge all the more timely. The debate pitted performance-based contestants like Onya Nurve and Suzie Toot against "look" queens like Arrietty and Lana Ja’Rae. The competition is creating cliques that call back to the drama of the fifth and seventh seasons.

After the season’s first true mini-challenge, RuPaul announced the "Let's Get Sea Sickening Ball." The queens were tasked with presenting three different looks corresponding to a singular category, with the final look being constructed out of refuse. It was the second design challenge of the season, though decidedly not a sewing challenge — if only Lucky Starzzz could have gotten a second chance this week.

With 12 queens competing across three categories yielding 36 different looks, it would be impossible to comment on them all. The first category — built around the idea of a bathing beauty — was largely forgettable, though Lexi and Arrietty stood out. The second category, on the other hand, was inspired by sea creatures and revealed some of the most breathtaking looks in recent memory. Jewels Sparkles, Sam Star, and Arrietty led the pack during that round. The final group of looks (always given a heavier weight in judging) utilized unconventional materials from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It tested the queens' ingenuity and ability to manipulate materials to express their sartorial vision.

Before the ball commenced, Lexi cried sabotage. Onya Nurve and Arrietty were eventually exposed as the culprits, but there was no ill intent — they simply mistook the spray-painted tarp Lexi was using for a scrap on which they thought they could spray-paint. It was easy to understand the confusion, and the queens could have used better conflict-resolution skills. But that's not necessarily a standard drag queen trait.

Outside of the tops and bottoms, the vers girls got to work. Kori King spent what felt like her sixth episode coasting in a safe spot. Save for her excellent Victorian orphan joke, Lydia faded into the background again after a lively lip sync. Jewels presented wonderful second and third looks but got little screen time. Despite her trippy jellyfish look and well-styled finale, Lexi missed the top three. Perhaps her "crabs" joke was a bit too blue for the inconsistently prudish judging panel. And after nearly winning the last design challenge through sheer charisma, Onya’s performance lacked the same punch this week.

Last week's winner, Suzie, also took a back seat. Questions about the throughline of her drag aesthetic were left unanswered with inconsistent looks. Her first outfit was all humor, no fierceness. Her second look was aesthetically strong and maintained her patented kookiness. The look she created relied heavily on character but was adequately made.

Fashion girls Arrietty and Lana struggled to find their footing. They strategically used an alliance to survive Rate-A-Queen and put forth a valiant effort in performance challenges but, as established in Untucked, Joella’s intoxicating delusions give them a false sense of superiority. Arrietty’s looks have dazzled, but her performances have not been as impressive. Similarly, Lana has failed to live up to her reputation as a self-professed look queen — nothing has stood out and many of her looks have been ill-fitting. It begs the question: Is "look queen" just code for "tall and thin" these days?

Acacia Forgot, who has struggled to make an impact, stumbled. After she lambasted the other queens for "ugly" looks, it was easy to predict she'd end up in the bottom three — the producers love that trajectory.

Hormona Lisa fell prey to the idiom that "consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds." Her downfall was her lack of innovation.

Sam and Crystal Envy did well but lacked the narrative arc for a win. Arrietty’s journey from "near-elimination" to "winner" was dramatic, to be sure, but she also produced an exceptional collection of looks this week. It was a properly deserved win.

Acacia, Hormona, and Lana wound up in the bottom three, and with the specter of the "badonkadonk tank" gimmick looming, an Acacia-Hormona rematch seemed apropos. But Law Roach’s underlining of Lana’s crisis of confidence sealed the deal — she needed another opportunity to prove why she should stay. Unfortunately for Hormona, her storyline appears to have petered out. Perhaps producers would have kept her in the competition if she'd picked a fight with Kori in the last episode. Lana did enough to stay this week, but she's not doing well enough to suggest she'll stay much longer. In the end, Hormona made her second exit from the competition this season, and this one was final.