RuPaul's Drag Race Season 15 Episode 11 Recap: "Two Queens, One Joke"

Returning to the Werk Room following Salina EsTitties's latest escape from lip syncing, the queens tell the emotional performer to trade Beyonce in for Taylor Swift: When it comes to feeling anxious about being in the bottom, you've got to "shake it off."

As the cast shifts to congratulating Sasha Colby on her third maxi challenge win, Loosey LaDuca immediately remarks - to no one else's surprise - that she's surprised she didn't win. Luxx Noir London, meanwhile, explains in confessional that she believes she's always been a frontrunner throughout the competition... at least in her own mind. Getting out of drag, all eyes are on Loosey and Luxx as they snipe their way to second place.

This is the first week all season that 90-minute episodes have been aired, so this is sure to be a drama-filled goody bag all the way through.

The Beyonce Aftermath

Upon a new day dawning in the Werk Room, the queens reflect on their Night of 1000 Beyonces looks with fondness. Loosey, who dressed as Beyonce at the 2011 VMAs where the artist notoriously revealed her baby bump, says she loved her look. She's bluntly - though justifiably - asked by Luxx, "Why weren't you pregnant?"

The two bark at each other again, debating Loosey's choice to wear a corset instead of a pronounced pregnant belly. The girls all wonder what defines a "Beyonce body" when Loosey points out that Luxx didn't pad herself to be more like Queen Bey. Mistress Isabelle Brooks, ever the shady queen of the season, gleefully declares, "Let the unraveling begin!"

Harlem Vogue

But what's actually beginning is the fun of another challenge. RuPaul first appears in drag via a "RuMail" video to namedrop famous comedy duos: French and Saunders, Key and Peele, and Cheech and Chong. With this seed planted, Ru then enters the room in boy mode to explain the mini challenge that the contestants will need to face right away - a Harlem-style voguing ball.

Can these divas death-drop?

Luxx starts off serving face and passable moves. Loosey pulls out bells and a literal whistle, though her only real move of note before her finale is a cartwheel. EsTitties is everywhere in a floor exercise hot mess. Marcia Marcia Marcia uses her dance skills once again to execute the challenge with flawless precision. Sasha proves you basically don't even need quick drag when you have body-body-body already, and she's able to slay her routine effortlessly, even doing her notorious hair tricks with her real hair. Mistress manages to deliver hilarious interpretive dance reads (and props to RuPaul for going way back with the Our Miss Brooks reference). Anetra brings up the rear by walking that fucking duck all the way to the pond and back.

A Comedy Tonight

Moving onto the maxi challenge, this week the queens will face a live audience for a comedy performance. True to Ru's hint, they are expected to work in pairs. Can enemies become friends when Loosey and Luxx are coupled up? Anetra and Sasha are a highly anticipated duo. Mistress and EsTitties will work together. But Marcia has the added challenge of performing solo.

Netflix comedy empress Ali Wong joins the judges' table for this thrilling installment of top-tier drag. Ts Madison is also back, and has gone - based on her outfit - nearly tits-out for this episode.

The Bubly Comedy Festival opens with Marcia's solo set, which has some gentle laughs but overall seems to fall flat. Luxx and Loosey are next, and they actually have great chemistry as a comedy duo (who knew you could get so much mileage out of a teeth-whitening joke?). Though everyone was likely looking forward to Sasha and Anetra, their canned bits don't hit with the audience. And even though their concept of stoner comedy could have been an interesting take on the genre, they unfortunately ended up reinforcing a ton of dumb, lazy cannabis stereotypes. Not what you'd expect from the same Sasha Colby who won just last week for a breathtaking ode to the plant in her "weed bag" ensemble.

EsTitties and Mistress close out this segment with a lot of energy, but their shared story about rough trade goes on far too long. It seems like the punchline should have been that they both encountered the same guy, but they never got there. Is this a blame-the-production-edit issue?

From the main stage of #DragRace, it's the @bublywater Comedy Festival! 🤩✨ Which duo made you crack a smile? 👇 #ad pic.twitter.com/0a1fKmBukd
— RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) March 11, 2023

Runway: "Rip Her to Shreds"

Even the night's runway, "Rip Her to Shreds," invokes the lighthearted side of drag by bringing couture around to camp. The contestants are tasked with creating looks from different shredded fabrics.

Marcia appears in a shredded pageant queen getup, which judge Michelle Visage later critiques as too similar to Loosey's "Miss Runner Up" look in a previous episode. However, Marcia's iteration has a little more story and detail to it. But she misses the all-important Drag Race rule: Keep both your shoes on!

Speaking of Loosey, she goes for a Bride of Dracula style with her Victorian lace in tatters as she searches for her next prey. This is the second genuinely horror-themed runway we've seen from Loosey, and it makes one wonder how she would do on Dragula.

Luxx takes the opportunity to get on Ru's good side, with her interpretation of the prompt being an homage to RuPaul's look in the 1980s. At the time, Ru was performing with a punk rock band, Wee Wee Pole, and Luxx seems to embody her idol well with her nicely timed shakes and shimmies. She says her hair is the biggest she's worn yet - but is it 40 inches?

Sasha Colby travels back to the days when shredded jeans were all the rage. Her B-girl outfit is entirely made of ripped denim, and it is pretty impressive that the fabric stayed on where it did.

Anetra shows off a distressed catsuit with a metaphor about lotuses rising through the mud. Her narrative doesn't quite translate, but she can make any ensemble look good.

EsTitties includes a personal story with her tattered dress, noting that her inspiration for this runway was her mother's own experience escaping to the United States at age 17. Her dedication to her family and heritage is evident in this more understated but emotionally effective look.

Mistress says, "I didn't burn, I crystallized!" Her pink poufy dress is a play on Madonna's costume from the Material Girl video (itself a tribute to Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes). But Mistress has the fabric torn and singed to expose various layers of the dress. So maybe she is a Material Girl after all.

Category Is: Rip Her To Shreds! 💔 Which Queen tore this runway up? 😍👇 #DragRace pic.twitter.com/wF68DhPuFM
— RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) March 11, 2023

Who's On Top?

Mistress, EsTitties, Loosey, and Luxx are all judged to perform well in their comedy routines and are the pairings that make the biggest impression. But it appears that rivalry is in fact the finest creative fuel, because Loosey LaDuca and Luxx Noir London score the win for this week. Because this was a partner challenge, they share the win. (So in their minds, they're both still in second.)

For once, Sasha really struggled with an assignment. She places low, but manages to narrowly miss the bottom two.

Lip Sync For Your Life: Who's Going Home?

Marcia Marcia Marcia and Anetra land in the bottom two. They must lip sync to "Boss Bitch" by Doja Cat. It's a fierce battle, truly the pinnacle of every lip sync we've seen up to this point. The apex moment of course is Marcia walking Exorcist-style, bent backward, down the stage and Anetra deciding to jump over her. This move has instantly entered Drag Race memetic territory.

While both queens do justice to the song, the judges say Anetra has a slight edge on Marcia, and it's decided that the Brady girl must sashay away. In our opinion, this really should have been a double shantay week. Rigga morris much?

Spoilers ahead! ⚠️

The bottom two from this week's stand-up comedy maxi challenge took over the main stage in a lip sync to "Boss B*tch" by @DojaCat! 😍 What'd you think? 👇 #DragRace pic.twitter.com/FkhPdj8bjw
— RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) March 11, 2023

It must be noted that Marcia did achieve a record during her time on the show: Most consecutive "safe" placements in one season! That's pretty far out and groovy if you ask us.

Check out Marcia Marcia Marcia's exit interview on WHATCHA PACKIN':

Watch New Episodes of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 15

Catch next week’s episode on March 17 at 8PM ET on MTV. Stay up to date on RuPaul’s Drag Race through MTV.com and check back in with us for more episode recaps!