RuPaul's Drag Race UK Season 2 Episode 2 Power Ranking

Let me start off by giving what may be a controversial (yet brave) opinion: this season of Drag Race UK is far more compelling to me than the Drag Race U.S. season that's currently airing. I think international Drag Race (at least the English language seasons) has yet to miss. The first seasons of Drag Race UK and Canada's Drag Race were some of my favorite seasons ever, and with this season already being amazing and Drag Race Down Under coming later this year, I think Drag Race U.S. could have some competition.

As for this episode, it wasn't as great as the first one if I'm being honest, mostly because I felt that the Rusical was a bit all over the place (although it seemed that it was written to be confusing and absurd), but this cast is a load of fun to watch no matter what they're doing.

Saying Goodbye to Cherry Valentine

I have a soft spot for Cherry Valentine. She's the only queen I knew about previously before the cast was announced, so I immediately was invested in her before any of the rest of the queens. I may be biased, but I think the judging was a bit off this week (as it was last week if I'm being honest). Cherry definitely held her own in the challenge and on the runway, but when everyone performs decently, I'm sure it's hard on the judges. However, like the judges always say in stand-up challenges: being one of the first ones in the show is hard. The same could be said for nearly any challenge. When you're one of the first performers, as the Rat Pack went second behind Tayce and Ellie, you have to stand out or else the audience will forget about you by the end. It definitely hurts the Rat Pack that they were followed by the absolute stunners of A'Whora and Bimini, as their performance certainly paled in comparison. I'll miss you Cherry Valentine!

10. Sister Sister

Sister Sister lands at the bottom of the ranking for me personally because she's been quite forgettable so far in this competition. Yes, she had a touching moment with Cherry and her surprise runway this week was fun, but she has yet to deliver anything that's been truly memorable for me. Also, I have to side with Lawrence on the argument in mini-Untucked. It's not Lawrence's fault that Sister wasn't able to shine! And it especially comes off as strange considering Sister was the only one of the Rat Pack that was safe! Lawrence and Cherry both placed lower than her, so she should really be counting her blessings at this point. Hopefully Sister delivers in the coming weeks, but as of now I haven't really seen anything noteworthy from her yet.

9. Ginny Lemon

Ginny Lemon is absolutely ridiculous and absurd in the best way possible. In a video reviewing the first episode of this season, Bob the Drag Queen or Aquaria mentioned that Ginny Lemon is just here to have fun and show her drag. I completely agree with that sentiment. I don't think she's here to win the competition, but just to have as much fun as possible. While I'm totally fine with that personally, I do think it will inevitably catch up to her in the end. Her particular brand is something we've never quite seen on Drag Race before, so I'm happy to have her on the season to represent but I'm not sure how the judges are feeling about her. They have yet to give her any critiques, so I can't tell how they're responding just yet. I would imagine Ginny will float by until the judges have finally had enough, but only time will tell.

8. Tia Kofi

It pains me to put Tia this low. I'm absolutely in love with her confessionals and ability to throw shade at everyone including herself, but it's clear that everyone in the competition, including the judges, have massive problems with her fashion choices. She undoubtedly has the talent in other areas, as she is memorable whenever she's on screen, but unless she steps it up on the runway, I don't see her being long for this competition. My biggest worry with Tia is that next week seems to be a design challenge, so the judges will certainly be looking to her to make improvements. She could be in big trouble.

7. Bimini Bon-Boulash

I'm a bit in love with Bimini if I'm being honest, so I could be biased in putting her this high, but she was easily my favorite in the Rusical this week. Yes, she was in the bottom last week and her runway unfortunately flopped this week, but she has an undeniable charm about her. It's clear that the character in the Rusical played exactly to her strengths, allowing her to fully embrace the punk rock aesthetic to hilarious and stunning effect. She's definitely a little rough around the edges, but she's aware of this and something about Bimini tells me she's gonna be here for a while.

6. A'Whora

I'm more conflicted on this queen than literally any other queen on the season. She obviously has incredible looks when it comes to makeup and fashion and she stepped up for the Rusical in a way that I wasn't expecting, but she seems to be the clear villain of the season. And as we've seen throughout herstory, villains rarely win. She has quite a few storylines with other queens already set up though (Tia and Tayce namely), so I imagine we'll be seeing her for quite a while.

5. Lawrence Chaney

Lawrence was the biggest shock for me coming into the season, as I wasn't prepared for her to be as hilarious and polished on the runway as she is. I've fallen a bit in love with her as well. I have to admit though that she's also shown some massive weaknesses in terms of self-confidence. Her inner saboteur has haunted her in both episodes so far. However, the judges are absolutely in love with her, so as long as she can get out of her own head, I think she'll be a clear frontrunner. But I can't put her any higher until I see that.

4. Asttina Mandela

Asttina clearly has the confidence it takes for this competition as well as the natural charisma on the runway and in the confessionals. However, her performance in the Rusical was a bit concerning for me. Perhaps it was just the character she was playing, but I felt her performance simply didn't live up to what Asttina was telling us it would be. She has claimed she is a true triple threat and can deliver in just about any challenge, so I was ultimately let down by her simply decent performance. However, Ru and the judges clearly love her and she claims she's an incredible lip-syncer, so I imagine she has a lot more to show us.

3. Ellie Diamond

Now, I'm not as in love with Ellie as the judges are, but I can't deny that she's had some of the best looks of the season so far. Her hometown look as well as her surprise runway this week have all been great. The judges clearly see her as the future of drag, which is really what this competition is all about. However, I can't stand by the decision to put her in the top this week because she and Tayce were a bit of a disaster in my opinion. I think she'll be here for a while though and is a clear frontrunner to win next week's design challenge.

2. Veronica Green

Veronica has the talent for sure. I knew that she was a good singer and had a musical theater background so I assumed she would do well at this kind of challenge, but what I was most surprised by was her level of confidence. She seemed a bit timid and unsure of herself in the first episode, but here, she fought hard for the role she wanted and it paid off. She had a great performance in the Rusical and a really smart runway look. I'm a little thrown off by the makeup if I'm being honest because it's not quite as polished as some of the rest of the queens in my opinion, but the judges haven't said anything about it so that's what truly matters. If she can channel that level of confidence that she showcased here into other types of challenges, I imagine she'll be a real threat in the future.

1. Tayce

I know that it really doesn't make sense to have Tayce number one after she was just in the bottom two, but when you deliver one of the most iconic lip-sync performances in Drag Race herstory, you get a ton of credit from me. It truly wouldn't have mattered what Cherry did in this lip-sync, as Tayce envoked the emotion of this song and delivered one of the most stunningly beautiful performance I've ever seen. I was reminded of Dida Ritz' lip-sync to "This Will Be" in terms of how well the performance perfectly matched the emotion and vibe of the song. This is incredibly high praise, I know, but I truly couldn't take my eyes off of her. Tayce is clearly a polished and talented queen who had multiple missteps this week in both her performance and on the runway, but her charisma and lip-sync ability will keep her in the competition for weeks to come.

Future Expectations

Next week appears to be some sort of design challenge and while it appears that Tayce may struggle based on the preview we got, there are always misdirects so I'm not counting too heavily on that. I think that Ellie Diamond and A'Whora are the two queens who I would peg to win this challenge since they've been quite open about making a majority of their garments or being seamstresses. I think Tia is the queen who I am most worried about going into next week, as she will really need to step it up in order to impress the judges. I also have a feeling that Ginny Lemon could finally get some critiques in this next episode, which could be quite interesting to see the judges finally speak on her drag.