March 23, 2024
RuPaul's Drag Race/Twitter/X
Philly drag queen Sapphira Cristál teamed up with Plane Jane to create a hilarious 1920s speakeasy-themed powder room. The pair showed off their effortless comedic chemistry in the challenge.
It was evident from the start that Sapphira Cristál would be a top contender, and this late in the game, "RuPaul's Drag Race" season 16 is hers to lose.
To briefly recap last week's episode, Philly's own Sapphira Cristál continued her momentum from a major win the week before. Sapphira handily won the mini challenge, which had the contestants respond to prompts about their fellow queens.
She went on to win the maxi challenge, which put the queens in teams to deliver funny drag seminars in front of an audience — but her second maxi challenge win in a row created a rift between her and another queen.
Spoiler alert: they're not lying 😂 #DragRace @morphinelovemua @sapphiracristal @66wind99 pic.twitter.com/YHFPYPNYYZ
— RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) March 16, 2024
Kansas City-based queen Q was visually distraught by Sapphira's win, believing her and Plane Jane's performance to be worthier of the victory.
"I'm happy for you, but I'm gagged." 🫢 #DragRace pic.twitter.com/wVx6ey3dWz
— RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) March 16, 2024
That bitterness carried onto the following episode, with tension between Sapphira and Q at an all-time high. Immediately following the elimination of Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige, Q was holding down her emotions, even as Sapphira attempted to engage with her.
"But I'm not happy about seeing you the way that you look right now," Sapphira told Q, who gave a muted response when Sapphira gave her an "I love you."
When the queens returned to the Werk Room for the next challenge, Q admitted that she was in a "very heated headspace" and didn't want to express resentment, but she quickly undone that within the same breath.
"... because I love you and I didn't want to take away from you winning," Q told Sapphira in front of the group. "...even though I feel like it wasn't deserved."
Trying to keep a smile on, Sapphira tried to get Q to reframe it as a disagreement on who won rather than her not deserving it, but Q doubled down. But RuPaul's siren interrupted the deeply uncomfortable moment, leading to a rather silly mini challenge.
The challenge was inspired by Tammy Faye and the "I ran into Tammy Faye" gag t-shirt, leading the drag queens to put on garish amounts of makeup and plant their faces onto a white shirt; Plane Jane won the mini challenge with her almost Joker-like makeup face print.
Potty humor was the focus of this week's maxi challenge, and the remaining six queens were split into pairs, with each having to design a model for a gender-inclusive powder room in the fictional reality show "Bathroom Hunties." Sapphira and Plane, both with some of their own wins in the bag, were paired up.
While the two appeared poised to be a competitive power couple, Plane seemed apprehensive, citing previous group challenges where Sapphira overshadowed her teammates.
Still, the two came up with the original idea of a vintage speakeasy-themed bathroom, putting Sapphira's talents as a vocal performer at the forefront. "It is a boozy fun time with an opera twist," said Sapphira in a confessional. "This is my wheelhouse. I feel another win coming."
When the time came to make the actual bathrooms, Plane seemed reluctant to do any strenuous work. Watching the queens perform manual labor was almost like seeing Derek Zoolander in the coal mines. "Is this the definition of a white person?" Nymphia Wind joked to Sapphira, who quickly replied in the affirmative.
"Is this the definition of a white person?" 😂 #DragRace @66wind99 @sapphiracristal @the_planejane pic.twitter.com/RV87YDrNn1
— RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) March 23, 2024
The situation eventually devolved into a silly paint fight, while Sapphira diligently continued to paint and watch in the background.
The girls are fightinggggg! 🎨🤭 #DragRace pic.twitter.com/mfvVGO13nj
— RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) March 23, 2024
In the Werk Room before the runway challenge, the queens were able to get a few things off their chest. The contestants relayed their negative experiences in bathrooms because of their gender expression.
Meanwhile, Sapphira addressed Q head-on about her comments from earlier. Q clarified that she didn't mean to invalidate Sapphira's win, and eventually admitted that her choice of wording was poor.
"One word can be the difference between getting your point across and hurting someone's feelings," Sapphira told Q.
When it came to Plane Jane's headspace, she admitted to Dawn and Sapphira that the weight of being high up in the competition was getting to her, leading to tears from Plane and hugs from the other two.
Sapphira then gave her advice that could have come from a trained therapist. "Write down all of your worries," Sapphira told Plane. "Read it out loud. Then fold it, tear it up, throw it behind you."
"Write down all your worries, read it out loud, then fold it, tear it up, throw it behind you." 🥹💗 #DragRace @the_planejane @sapphiracristal pic.twitter.com/17O4Cuf2v6
— RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) March 23, 2024
Plane Jane did exactly that.
The runway category was "chain reaction," and Sapphira delivered a look unlike anything she had shown before.
Wearing a tight latex dog suit, Sapphira was dressed like a BDSM puppy, complete with a chew toy. Sapphira even panted and barked like a dog, showing off golden chains and a fire hydrant purse.
Category Is: Chain Reaction! ⛓️ Which lewk has you chained to the rhythm? 👇 #DragRace pic.twitter.com/EV9PUZV9px
— RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) March 23, 2024
In "Bathroom Hunties," each pair presented their gender-inclusive powder room to judges Michelle Visage and Carson Kressley, who took the roles of "eccentric German nightclub owners."
Plane and Sapphira's Prohibition-era bathroom was called "Bootylickers Speakeasy," and from their presentation, it was crystal clear that this pair had the best comedic chemistry.
While their bathroom was not as advanced or complicated as their competitors, it went all in on the speakeasy theme, with hidden bottles of liquor and the promise of live performances from Sapphira and Plane.
Scat-a-tat--tat! 😂 #DragRace @sapphiracristal @the_planejane pic.twitter.com/cjQeR1Z7QD
— RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) March 23, 2024
At no point did either of the two step on each other's toes or overshadow each other, even delivering some well-timed turns to the camera together for comedic effect, and riffing off each other with ease.
"I had so much fun watching you on the challenge," guest judge Mayan Lopez told Sapphira. "Your character had a backstory, and you had a truth and you had a point of view."
"I would love to be in an improv trope with you because you get it," Visage told Sapphira.
Unsurprisingly, Sapphira and Plane were named the joint winners of the maxi challenge, allaying all of Plane's fears. With that, Plane has three total wins, and Sapphira has four — with three of those wins coming in a row, an unprecedented feat.
Morphine Love Dion and Dawn faced off in a lip sync for their lives, with Dawn having to pack it up and go home. There are now five queens remaining, and the competition won't get any easier from here.
"RuPaul's Drag Race" airs Fridays at 8 p.m. on MTV.
