While the two share a similar mood, the start of the episode exposes that their shared hometown does not guarantee a strong sisterhood. After some light verbal sparring, the other queens declare the "Miami girls are not friends," with Dawn putting a sharper point on it all, asking, "Is this what you do in Miami? That's a lot."
Write, Sing, Dance
Like Miami, there is a lot in this episode, so the queens skip a mini-challenge and jump into the maxi-challenge. Unlike the start of this episode, the remainder is one of those overly manufactured and predetermined results. Every season in a presidential election year, Season 4, Season 8, Season 12, and now Season 16 include a political-themed challenge. There was a debate in Season 4 and 12 and a political commercial in Season 8. Unfortunately, this episode is cross-branded with the Werq the World Tour, so it becomes a verse-writing and dance challenge. The queens need to write an original verse to the song "Power."One of the issues is that, like three challenges before, two talent show episodes, this is now the second verse-writing challenge of the season. The lack of different challenges might have to do with the writers' strike, and to be fair, the queens have consistently entertained, notwithstanding the repetitive challenges. In addition to writing their verses, they will also record with Leland and learn choreography with Jamal Sims, both frequent guests on RuPaul's Drag Race.
As the queens break off to start writing, Sapphira and Dawn have the most specific direction in mind. Sapphira wants to evoke elements from "Lift Every Voice and Sing," the Black National Anthem, which is political but also about equality and community. Dawn takes a nontraditional approach by focusing on self-help as the first step to helping the world. Someone with absolutely no direction is Nymphia, who confesses that Megami wrote her verse during the girl group challenge.
As the queens record, even those lacking singing ability are in good hands as Leland is always a generous producer. Morphine and Mhi'ya use their home state for inspiration to fight against anti-drug and anti-LGBTQ legislation in Florida. When we finally hear Plane Jane's lyrics, it feels like her brand of "burger finger" stupidity and overt sexuality might be a poor match for an inspirational political anthem. Many of the queens excel during the recording process, with the notable exception of Q, who might overestimate her singing ability, and Nymphia, who remains extremely unfocused.
After their sessions with Leland, the queens move on to choreography with the extremely professional Jamal Simms. Like Leland, Simms is an incredible teacher and really guides each queen to success. However, this week, there is a definite sense of balance between the performance queens like Sapphira, Morphine, and Mhi'ya and the more design queens like Dawn, Q, and Nymphia. The former queens pick up the choreography fairly quickly, while the others flounder. Interestingly, Plane Jane seems to show her first signs of weakness with her moves and lyrics.
Werq the World Power
The performance itself felt more like a commercial for the spectacle of the Werq the World Tour. Moving cameras, quick editing, and flashing lights make evaluating any queen's performance difficult. Although it seems like the performance queens Sapphira, Morphine, and Mhi'ya deliver comfortable and confident performances. Nymphia, per usual, ends up delivering in the final moment, making one wonder if everything leading up to it was an act. Dawn and Plane Jane were serviceable but just paled in comparison when they were dancing to their respective partners.The most curious performance belonged to Q. She sold her performance, but like in the rusical, there is a suspicious lack of choreography, and she never had to perform in unison with Sapphira, which feels like a gift to Q. Instead, all the queens return for the final segment of the number.
