RuPaul's Drag Race Season 14 Episode 14 Recap: "Catwalk"
Our fabulous five remaining queens - Daya Betty, Bosco, Angeria Paris Van Michaels, Lady Camden and Willow Pill - come into the Werk Room shaken up after last week's double elimination. The season's unusual structure has allowed the audience more time to get to know the cast, and many of us at home are also struck by the fresh absence of Jorgeous and Deja Skye. With only this week's challenges and a reunion show remaining before the finale, it won't be long before we know who wins Season 14's crown.
"This is only the third time this has happened in RuPaul's Drag Race herstory," Willow Pill says of the double elimination, "and we're just a little bit speechless."
The queens marvel at Daya Betty's ability to blow away both Deja and Jorgeous in the last lip sync. During their previous match-up in Episode 2, Deja had beaten Daya Betty, and Jorgeous "sent home half the cast" as the season's seeming lip sync assassin.
Then the contestants compare wins. Bosco has three, Lady Camden and Angeria have two each, and Daya and Willow have one respectively. Though Bosco is leading by the numbers, it's still clearly anyone's game, and the "final four" going into the finale could be any combination.
A Top Five Maxi Challenge: "Catwalk" the Music Video
Dancing into the Werk Room the next day, the top five are greeted by RuPaul announcing their next and final maxi challenge. They will be strutting their stuff in the music video for the single "Catwalk."
"Catwalk" celebrates the concept of the supermodel. In preparation for the video, the queens will write and record their own lyrics. They will also work with RuPaul's Drag Race choreographer Miguel Zarate. Finally, the contestants will design their own catwalk couture. In addition, each queen will have a "Tic Tac chitchat" with RuPaul and Michelle Visage.
"If you want to make it to the grand finale, you need to slay this music video, girl!" Mama Ru urges.
The Revealing Tic Tac Chitchat
Spilling the tea in their chat Daya Betty shares her struggles competing with type one diabetes. The queen whose name is inspired by her condition says, “sometimes I can feel when my blood sugar’s low and sometimes I can feel when it’s high.” For Daya even with padding and corsets, she has to be cognitive of her insulin pump and have it tucked away while performing yet she does not let that get in her way.
Health struggles are not new to this cast. Willow Pill was candid about her fight with cystinosis and the darkness it gifts her. Not only does it impact the art of her drag but how it is executed. She tells Michelle and Ru, “You learn little ways to make shortcuts.” She uses her teeth and added elbow greases for things like makeup where her hands may fail her.
“Make it art.” That is advice AngeriaParis VanMichael cherishes. As a drag mother to 8 drag kids, she shares the pressure to not let people down weighs heavy on her throughout the competition. Luckily, she has a big support group sending her love, especially that from her parents.
Lady Camden’s Tic Tac chitchat pulls on our hearts. In confessionals, she tears up reflecting on her drag race journey. This underdog shares that “taking risks paid off the most” and she can’t wait for people back home to see how far she’s come.
While risk is helping Lady Camden, Bosco’s comedic skills have carried her far. Laughing with Ru she says, “my ability to shit on my competitors has brought me several wins so far.” More wins than anyone else in the competition if I might add.
Express Yourself
As the top five get down to business in the Werk Room, each queen focuses on the tasks ahead and how to express herself best in her "Catwalk" look. Lady Camden wants to go for an underground raver vibe with a Tinkerbell twist, which she says will be something the judges haven't quite seen from her yet.
Meanwhile, Bosco plans to move away from her standard panties-and-corsets aesthetic to a structured catsuit. She hopes to channel supermodel Linda Evangelista, although she also wants to work in the backstory of the Bosco character by doing penance for her "devilish" behavior.
Angeria has a singing background, but is choosing to forgo it in the maxi challenge. Surprisingly, she decides to rap for the music video instead.
Willow, as always, plays the game of strategy. Though she jokes that she'll jazz-scat the music video instead of actually singing, she refuses to show the other queens any of her work. Angeria, who has become Willow's close friend during the competition, guesses that this means Willow is developing something really good.
Last Runway Look: “You’re a Winner Baby”
After the music video shoot, the queens have one last opportunity to leave it all on the runway. Thankfully Bosco leaves the bra and panty combo home, opting for a regal look in a diamond-encrusted gown.
While Miss Angeria proves she does not need any glitz and glam to stand out, delivering an all-black classic dress. Then comes the opposite of classy, Daya Betty, in a look she says is tearing down conventional beauty standards. Even more outrageous is Miss Willow dressed as a mouse on the runway as only she can.
Similar to Bosco, Lady Camden is diamond galore, spilling the shine onto her accessories. She gives Cinderella a run for her money in her snow blue and diamonds. It is not just Cinderella she outshines but her fellow competitors becoming this week’s winner.
Who Will Go Home?
Before this episode, there was some speculation Daya Betty would be asked to sashay away before the grand finale. However, her performance in "Catwalk" didn't land her in danger of elimination.
Angeria Paris VanMichaels and Willow Pill are asked to lip sync to "Telephone" by Lady Gaga and Beyonce. However, by the end of the episode, no one from the top five is eliminated!
This means that all five of the final queens remaining will proceed to the Grand Finale of Season 14. Will anyone ever go home? Could there be more than one winner crowned? You'll have to keep watching to find out...
Watch New Episodes of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 14
Catch next week’s episode - the much-anticipated reunion show - on April 14 at 8PM ET on VH1. See what you missed on RPDR with our episode recaps here. Stay up to date on RuPaul’s Drag Race through VH1’s website.