Joining me this week is Ariel Italic, a NYC queen who also writes hilarious Drag Race recaps for Queerty!

Chad: Okay, Ariel, at the end of a weirdly abbreviated 8th season, I have one question: Where was Mathu?

Ariel: SERIOUSLY. I've read theories that they got into a fight.

Chad: Between whom? Bob and Mathu, about whose makeup was better?

Ariel: Oh, sweet Bob. I love her so so much, and I wish wish WISH that she would learn to do a better face. Like, I know it doesn't REALLY matter, but it does KIND OF matter.

Chad: What should she improve? I don't know enough about makeup to actually know anything.

Ariel: For most of the season, she just wasn't doing much. Not a lot of highlight or contour. Kim's read about it looking like she wasn't wearing any make-up was pretty accurate. For the finale, she tried to amp it up, but then her blending was off. Like, a thick, dark line down each cheek is TECHNICALLY a contour, but it wasn't necessarily helpful in making her look pretty. And again, I adore Bob. Her paint is FINE. Just not, you know, GOOD.

Chad: Ha! I agree that Bob doesn't necessarily need to be a glamazon. But I do sort of wish, given their similarities, that she would get more of a "Bianca" thing going on. Where she at least gets a polished level of consistency, a very exaggerated but recognizable aesthetic. But again, she's about to win the season, so she's clearly got it going on.

Ariel: Yeah, I understand her point that she's a performer and the beat is secondary, but to call on Kim Chi again (I think she's the one who said it), your face as a drag queen is your calling card. A stronger aesthetic would help Bob make a better first impression. She puts so much work into what she does, but you couldn't necessarily tell that by looking at her, the way you could with Naomi or Kim.

Chad: Right, I think that's a fair point! So what did you think of this week's challenge? Or do you need a reminder of what it actually was?

Ariel: Oh, the infamous music video that never actually factors into the judging. It was so irrelevant this week that they didn't even bother to show finished clips for the runway.

Chad: I know! It felt like a complete afterthought. The "floatography" part reminded me of the ridiculous photo shoots they usually have in the first episode of a season -- physically taxing and sloppy. And then the rest of the shoot was... well, I assume there was more, but I don't remember much of it.

Ariel: It all seemed entirely arbitrary and ultimately useless. Of course Ru needed that footage because she actually will release a music video, but in terms of its impact on the game, it may as well have happened after the crowning. It would have made more sense to just do a Tic Tac luncheon and retrospective for the whole episode. Everyone was clearly being judged based on cumulative performance rather than video-making skills.

Chad: Right, it felt like half of it was the “Rucap” episode with Ru and the judges discussing each queen's personal growth, the journey they underwent over the course of the season. Did you buy any of it, or do you feel like it's mostly contrived for good TV?