"ShakesQueer" is the third episode of the seventh season of '' RuPaul's Drag Race''. It originally aired on March 16, 2015.

Kat Dennings Katherine Victoria Litwack (born June 13, 1986), known professionally as Kat Dennings, is an American actress. She is known for her starring roles as Max Black in the CBS sitcom '' 2 Broke Girls'' (2011–2017) and as Darcy Lewis in the Marvel ...

are

Mel B Melanie Janine Brown (born 29 May 1975), commonly known as Melanie B or Mel B, is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. She rose to fame in the 1990s as a member of the girl group Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Sc ...

are guest judges. The episode earned

Mathu Andersen Mathu Andersen is a make-up artist, costume designer, and photographer. Andersen has collaborated with RuPaul and was previously in a relationship with fashion designer Zaldy. Career Andersen has a background in fashion and textile design. ...

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

nomination for Outstanding Makeup for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program.

Episode

For the episode's mini-challenge, the contestants "sissy that walker" perform in a ''

Soul Train ''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. It aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. Across its 35-year history the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists. The series w ...

''-inspired dance line, wearing '' Golden Girls-''inspired attire.

Kennedy Davenport Reuben Asberry Jr., better known by the stage name Kennedy Davenport (born September 9, 1980), is a drag queen, television personality, and dancer from Dallas, Texas, who came to international attention on the seventh season of ''RuPaul's Drag ...

and

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

are deemed the winners, and therefore became team captains for the main challenge. Max selects Ginger Minj,

Jaidynn Diore Fierce Jaidynn Diore Fierce is the stage name of Christopher Williams, an American drag performer who competed on season 7 of the American television series ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. Williams, who is originally from Tennessee, lives and works in Nashv ...

, Miss Fame,

Mrs. Kasha Davis Mrs. Kasha Davis is the stage name of Edward P. Popil, Jr., an American drag queen, actor and television personality from Scranton, Pennsylvania. She is best known for competing on the seventh season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. After appearing o ...

, and Trixie Mattel. Kennedy Davenport selects

Jasmine Masters Martell Robinson (born October 16, 1976), known by the stage name Jasmine Masters, is an American drag queen, internet celebrity, YouTuber, and stand-up comedian. He is best known for competing on the seventh season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' an ...

Kandy Ho The seventh season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' began airing on March 2, 2015. RuPaul and Michelle Visage returned as judges, while the space previously occupied by Santino Rice was filled by new additions Ross Mathews and Carson Kressley. Matthe ...

Katya Katya is a feminine given name. It is a very popular name in Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Serbia, and North Macedonia. It is a Russian diminutive form of Yekaterina, which is a Russian form of Katherine.This name is also can be spelled Katia.MFnames ...

Pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

, and Violet Chachki. In the work room, RuPaul confronts Pearl in front of the others, accusing her of "sleepwalking" and needing to "wake up". Jasmine Masters

For the main challenge, two teams must act in

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

-inspired plays: ''MacBitch'' and ''Romy and Juliet''. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' described ''Romy and Juliet'' as a "lesbian-themed anti-teen suicide parable". RuPaul gets upset at the contestants, and says Kennedy Davenport's team is "the biggest trainwreck

he had He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

seen in seven seasons". On the runway, the category is "bearded and beautiful".

are

are guest judges. Katya's look was inspired by

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

. Max is declared the winner of the main challenge.

and Kennedy Davenport place in the bottom two, and face off in a lip-sync to "

I Was Gonna Cancel "I Was Gonna Cancel" is a song by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue, released as the second and final single from her twelfth studio album ''Kiss Me Once''. The track was written and produced by American recording artist, songwriter and p ...

" by

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

. Jasmine Masters is eliminated from the competition.

Production

The episode originally aired on March 16, 2015.

and RuPaul collaborated for many years, until the show's ninth season; Andersen initially did RuPaul's hair and make-up, and later directed challenges and became a creative producer of ''Drag Race''. He was a guest judge on

season two Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album) * ''2econd Season ''2econd Season'' is the second and most recent album by Atlanta-based rapper Unk. Release It was released on November 4, 2008. Guest Performers The album features gue ...

's "Here Comes the Bride" (2010), and he was a special guest on the fourth season's "The Final Three" (2012), the fifth season's "

The Final Three, Hunty "The Final Three, Hunty" is the twelfth episode of the fifth season of '' RuPaul's Drag Race''. It was directed by Nick Murray and originally aired on April 22, 2013. Gloria Allred, Mathu Andersen, and Candis Cayne are special guests. Episode ...

" (2013), the sixth season's "

Sissy That Walk ''Born Naked'' is the seventh studio album from American singer-songwriter, actor and drag queen RuPaul. It was released on iTunes and Amazon through RuCo on February 24, 2014, coinciding with the sixth season premiere of '' RuPaul's Drag Race ...

" (2014), and the seventh season's premiere episode "

Born Naked ''Born Naked'' is the seventh studio album from American singer-songwriter, actor and drag queen RuPaul. It was released on iTunes and Amazon through RuCo on February 24, 2014, coinciding with the sixth season premiere of ''RuPaul's Drag Race ...

". He directed the sketches for the season's final challenge in the twelfth episode "

And the Rest Is Drag "And the Rest Is Drag" is the twelfth episode of the seventh season of the American television series ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. The episode was directed by Nick Murray and first aired on Logo TV on May 18, 2015. It was followed by an episode of th ...

Reception

Allison Shoemaker of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cr ...

'' gave the episode a rating of 'B'. Moon Abbott included the main challenge in ''

Screen Rant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and film theories. ''Screen Rant'' was launched by Vic Holtreman in 2003, and originally had its primary office in Ogden, Utah. ''Scr ...

'' 2021 overview of ten times RuPaul "got angry" at the contestants on the show. Bernardo Sim of Pride.com included the performance of MacBitch in a 2023 list of ten "legendary fails" on the show "that actually became iconic". The episode earned Andersen a

nomination for Outstanding Makeup for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program.

References

External links

ShakesQueer
at

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, p ...

* {{Portal bar, LGBT, Television, United States 2015 American television episodes 2015 in LGBT history RuPaul's Drag Race episodes