RuPaul's Drag Race Season 9 Episode 3 - Power Rankings

Once upon a time there was a bunch of FIERCE queens!

The queens created their fiercest fairytale princess inspired looks this week, along with a nightmare inducing green-screened sidekick character. Which queens stood out and which ones faded into the background?

1) Valentina

Via tumblr.com

Valentina takes the top spot again this week, her endearing personality and Latina take on drag seems to have completely won over the fanbase and the judges. Personally, her challenge look did not deserve a top three placement this week, although beautiful, it seemed a little bit basic compared to some of the other queens that were only declared "SAFE".

Edit: 10

Challenge: 8

Storyline: 10

Valentina's edit continues to remain extremely strong. Unlike previous seasons, there doesn't seem to be a queen who is screaming "winner's edit", but if any queen is close to it, Valentina is the one. Although, others still might find her personality a little bit fake and performative. There seems to be some drama going on beyond the show that seems to indicate Valentina might not be all that she seems, so I can't wait to see how that all plays out. For now however, Valentina has the strongest presence on the show, and for that I keep her in first place.

2) Trinity Taylor

Via tumblr.com

Everyone was sleeping on Miss Trinity "The Tuck" Taylor pre-season, pegging her as an early out, but these last two episodes have no doubt solidified her as a front-runner. Trinity showed the judges that a pageant queen can be campy, fun and messy. Her sidekick was the only one that didn't make me cringe and genuinely laugh, and that headpiece she made was done with a stunning attention to detail. Trinity is in it for the long haul kitty girls. On top of all this, Trinity had heartbreaking development when the Pulse tragedy was discussed amongst the girls.

Edit: 8

Challenge: 10

Storyline: 10

Even though she won the challenge this week, I'm still putting Trinity one position below Valentina just because Trinity hasn't had as strong of a positive edit. The fanbase seems to still be warming up to her, as opposed to Valentina who was a fan favourite from the start. Trinity has proven that her humour and professionalism will get her far in this competition. On top of that, her rivalry with Eureka still has to be played out.

3) Peppermint

Via tumblr.com

Peppermint finally stood out challenge-wise this week! Although she's been doing well, I was completely in love with her fire based princess look this week and she proved that she could be a frontrunner. She was also one of the only ones to not make her sidekick completely cringeworthy, and she brought a backstory for her design choice.

Edit: 10

Challenge: 8

Storyline: 7

Peppermint continues to get a positive edit on the show, if she doesn't win the whole thing, I'm thinking she might get a strong Miss Congeniality edit. Although confessional-wise, she was a bit absent this episode, her last two episodes showed us how hilarious and loveable she was. I'm expecting her storyline to really continue once they explore her identity as a trans-woman.

4) Shea Couleé

Via tumblr.com

Let me be the one to say, the judging this week was a bit odd. Trinity definitely deserved the win this week, however, I think Shea should have definitely taken the place of Valentina in the top three this week. For this reason, I'm giving Shea bit of an extra point challenge-wise. Her gown was absolutely stunning, and although her sidekick wasn't the funniest, it definitely wasn't the most cringe-worthy.

Edit: 9

Challenge: 7

Storyline: 6

Shea is getting one of the most positive edits on the show. Even though she has yet to win a challenge, she has been given loads of confessionals, has been established as a narrator, and was shown in the workroom as a sort of replacement for Ru, prompting the girls to talk about their outfits and their last week placements. In Untucked, her personality really shined. She's a high fashion queen with a hilarious and loveable personality. I'm expecting her storyline to grow over the next few episodes.

5) Eureka O'Hara

Via tumblr.com

Eureka continues to surprise me in every challenge. For a big girl AND a pageant queen, she has definitely brought us some unique runway choices. However, like I mentioned last time, that hair-loaf wig has got to go. Up close, the detailing of her outfit as beautiful. I think she could have been a little bit more out there however, and done something more with the body of the outfit. Her "SAFE" placement was well warranted this week.

Edit: 7

Challenge: 7

Storyline: 8

This episode, Eureka's harsh personality started to come across a bit softer. We had her helping out Farrah with her sewing, showing us that even though she can be loud and boisterous, she's actually quite sweet and cares about her sisters. We still have that Trinity v. Eureka storyline just waiting to play out, but I can say, I am happy that the pageant girls this season are breaking all stereotypes we ever held about them.

6) Nina Bo'Nina Brown

Via tumblr.com

Nina once again showed off her extreme creativity by working with paper and her face paint. Although the outfit itself was a bit basic, her headpiece more than made up for it. I also thought her sidekick was quite funny, probably just missing the top three position for the week.

Edit: 7

Challenge: 7

Storyline: 7

Nina had SUCH a strong edit and storyline in the first episode that now it sort of seems like she's been fading into the background, which is somewhat true. She hasn't had any confessionals, outside of Untucked, since her win in episode 1. However, i'm sure that the show is waiting to get rid of a couple of queens to let her shine once again. The show seems to be evening out the edit in a new way this season, showcasing a specific bunch of queens every episode until its down to a reasonable enough so that they all get screentime.

7) Cynthia Lee Fontaine

Via tumblr.com

Sigh. This challenge, for me at least, proved even more why Cynthia did not deserve to come back for redemption. Yes, her cancer storyline was touching, and listening to her talk about Pulse this week continued to bring us to tears. BUT, Cynthia has just not been bringing it to the challenges. Her dress this week deserved a bottom placement, it was extremely basic and not very well put together.

Edit: 6

Challenge: 6

Storyline: 8

Her edit overall remains positive, providing some humour relief, and pushing forward loads of emotional storylines. Personally, I am already over hearing "cucu" every episode, so I'm expecting the fanbase to start thinking extremely negatively of Cynthia the longer she stays on the show, especially if she continues to be extremely mediocre on the challenges.

8) Aja

Via tumblr.com

I'm putting Aja this high for many reasons. Yes, she completely failed at the main stage challenge this week. Her outfit was all over the place and her sidekick story was contrived. This is a rare instance where being in the bottom two actually benefited a queen. Aja got to show off her amazing lip sync skills, absolutely destroying Kimora and doing completely justice to one of the most iconic gay songs of all time - "Holding Out for a Hero". Akin to Chi Chi De Vayne last season, Aja's lip-syncing abilities will definitely push her far, as long as she isn't in the bottom every episode.

Edit: 5

Challenge: 6

Storyline: 8

Her edit this week was slightly negative, especially in Untucked, where she was shown attacking Valentina for getting praise. Especially when Valentina is such a fan favourite right now, this is not a good look for Aja. Personally, I absolutely LIVED for Aja reading Valentina because it's the drama that we need after season 8's "RuPaul's Best Friend Race". Aja's edit could go two ways. She either continues to fail at challenges and gets sent home sometime soon, or she starts applying the judge's critiques and gets a "growth storyline". Aja has a lot of potential on the show, this is why I have placed her so high despite her lip syncing for her life this week.

9) Farrah Moan

Via tumblr.com

Farrah completely failed this week's challenge. She fell into the sewing challenge trap of "piece of fabric wrapped around your body". Fortunately for her, she still looked absolutely adorable from the top up. Her sidekick was probably the creepiest of the bunch, with her eyes looking down reading her script the entire time. Her "LOW" placement was definitely deserving.

Edit: 7

Challenge: 4

Storyline: 8

However, Farrah is a fascinating reality character. Unlike other queens who have complained about not knowing how to sew, I found myself cheering for her and just wanting her to really pull it together. Her whining and moaning was sweet? I don't know how but it just was! She came across as cute and as a queen who is just trying their best to do well. It's really hard to hate Farrah. I think that her storyline was also established in this episode, she might start getting the "pretty" queen who gets pushed to the top four. Just like Aja, she might fail again and get sent home soon, or continue to get a growth storyline. Her potential is what places her so high on this list.

10) Sasha Velour

Via tumblr.com

Sasha's look this week gave her a "SAFE" placement, which I'd agree with. I think she tried to be avant-garde with her look, but her story with her sidekick came across a bit serious. I think the judges were really looking for camp and fun this challenge.

Edit: 8

Challenge: 7

Storyline: 3

Edit-wise, Sasha is being placed so low because of her lack of confessionals and screen-time. I think Sasha is an extremely talented and original queen, but I don't think her personality is translating well into the reality show format. I don't think Sasha is giving the judges enough funny material to work with for confessionals, so that's why she might be getting the shaft. If her presence doesn't pick up soon, I'd start worrying about Sasha. It looks right now like she might potentially fail at snatch game and get eliminated around then.

11) Charlie Hides

Via tumblr.com

Charlie absolutely DESTROYED the runway this week, and even thought she was just placed as "SAFE", I'm giving her an extra edge because I definitely thought she deserved more praise for her look. She looked absolutely stunning and her sidekick was also pretty funny.

Edit: 8

Challenge: 8

Storyline: 3

Unfortunately for Charlie, she is not coming across well with the judges. I think the judges are glossing over her because they're looking for a reason to eliminate her sometime soon. The only storyline formation that was brought up for Charlie was back in episode 1, when Peppermint mentioned that her crude humour might not translate well with the judges. Next week being an acting/comedy challenge, I'm expecting this to play out, possibly landing Charlie in the bottom.

12) Alexis Michelle

Via tumblr.com

I think Alexis did extremely well in this challenge. Her look was not something I expected from her, her paint and hair were absolutely beautiful. I think a lot of queens did overall pretty well this challenge, so some of the "SAFE" placements seemed under-deserving to me.

Edit: 8

Challenge: 7

Storyline: 2

Alexis has been coasting these past three episodes, coming in "SAFE" in every single challenge. This does not bode well for her. She has yet to standout, and if she doesn't place at least "HIGH" next week, then I expect her to be gone soon. Even within the episode, she's pretty invisible, barely getting any development time. I expected more from Alexis, and hopefully she can turn herself around.

Eliminated - Kimora Blac

Via tumblr.com

It's time to say goodbye to another one of our queens, Kimora Blac! I don't even think that her look warranted her a bottom two placement, but i don't think she really had anything more to bring to the competition so the judges put her there. She gave bitchy and hilarious confessionals, and was definitely eye candy. Her ignorance of not knowing what an adjective was harkened back to the days of Gia Gunn. She made good television, but wasn't really going anywhere competition-wise. I'll miss Kimora, and I'm happy she left with such grace. Unfortunately for her, as she left, Kimora stated the only thing she had going for her in the race, "I'm pretty!!"

Alright sisters, that's it for this week. Next week, the queens take on the morning show wars, so who do you think will excel and flail? Will the queens I talked abut get their redemption arc? Will Valentina fail from grace? I'm so excited with the uncertainty and unpredictability this season has brought us! Let me know your thoughts in the comments!