Drag

“Real TV is back!”: Fans react to Drag Race season 17’s dramatic third episode

By Jordan Robledo

18th January 2025

The queens brought some piping hot drama on the latest episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 17.

Spoilers ahead.

Following last week’s shocking episode, which featured Hormona Lisa saving herself from elimination with the Badonka Dunk twist, the ladies returned to the werkroom to gag over the turn of events.

Understandably, the Tennessee-based talent was overjoyed, revealing to the other queens: “I feel good. It’s like I’m getting a second chance.”

After Arrietty joked that she may not have a third chance at being saved, Hormona called out Kori King for not being happy that she was staying in the competition.

“I’ve seen your face the whole time. I know you’re not happy I’m still here,” Hormona said.

In response, Kori said she “would love for the competition to dwindle.”

The drama didn’t stop there. When discussing the talent show performances, Lana Ja’Rae called out Joella for calling her number “one note.”

“Last week when we went into Untucked, our group made sure to give you your flowers and the first thing for you to say to me when I got into Untucked was how not good my song was, it seemed a little backhanded,” Lana explained.

Whole Joella apologized for making Lana feel some type of way, she doubled down on her opinion.

Surprisingly, Hormona entered the conversation and threw shade toward Joella and her wig, stating: “Did you have to hold your wig up in Rate-A-Queen, too or was it like attached.”

The LA-based queen didn’t take Hormona’s comment lying down, stating that her wig “would have been glued“ if she had to lip sync like the latter.

However, the “Southern Bubblegum babe“ was quick with a comeback, accusing the “Slaysasian Diva“ of wearing “off the rack“ *gasps*.

“With your uneven hems, with your tag sticking out because it’s off the rack– I get it,“ Hormona exclaimed.

Towards the end of their confrontation, Joella denied that her outfit was off the rack before telling Hormona to “fix her mug.”

The next day, the queens returned to the workroom to meet up with RuPaul, who revealed their Monopoly-themed maxi challenge.

“Now, if you want to be America’s Next Drag Superstar, you need to play this game like you’re the number one boss lady of the boulevard,“ Ru coyly explained.

“For 90 years, Monolopy has brought people together to feel that rich bitch fantasy. For this week’s maxi-challenge, you need to take fashion inspiration from this iconic board game and bring it to the runway.“

Ru then instructed the contestants to pull from the Pit Crew’s Community Chest to pick out a property deed, which also awarded them cash prizes.

After securing their own property, Ru revealed that the queens would need to design a “Monopulence” look based on the colours of their cards: red, yellow, blue, and green.

“Now, you can use the material provided, plus your own hair and undergarments. But queens this is not a team challenge, so you better play to win. Stich rich bitch,“ she added.

Following Ru’s departure from the workroom, the ladies quickly scavenged their fabrics from the available materials.

Like past Drag Race seasons, a handful of queens had little to no sewing experience– in this case,  Lucky Starzzz, Suzie Toot, and Joella.

“Listen, I may not sew. I may not do hair, but I’m a fierce drag queen, as Alyssa Edwards would say,“ Joella said in a confessional.

On one side of the workroom, Lexi Love was deep in her element. She revealed that she wanted to incorporate a bolt-roll reveal into her opulent look.

Jewels Sparkles also expressed excitement about making her garment, a bejewelled ruche dress, adding that the sewing challenge was “in her wheelhouse.“

Arrietty echoed similar sentiments, revealing in a confessional: “I get to showcase something that I’m actually good at. And I’m like, ooh, these girls have no idea.”

While most of the queens were hard at work on their outfits, Joella struggled to come up with an idea, resulting in her asking Acacia Forgot for assistance.

“Joella needs a few weeks of lessons, she needs a cocktail, and she needs to learn her lip sync,“ Acacia said in a confessional.

Halfway through their creative process, Ru returned to the workroom to get a feel for the queens’ designs

However, after giving the ladies some helpful advice, Mama Ru surprised them with a dossier that revealed how each of the queens voted during Rate-A-Queen.

Of course, the contestants wasted no time diving into the booklet, resulting in awkward confrontations.

Lana and Arrietty were called out for forming an alliance and voting in favour of each other. At the same time, Sam Star and Onya Nurve were gagged over their low placements by Lydia and Jewels, respectively.

After reviewing their Rate-A-Queen votes, the queens returned to their workstations and sewing machines.

Despite their tense exchange, Onya asked Jewels for advice on her dress, and the latter suggested she use a few more jewels to elevate her garment.

Taking Jewel’s notes to heart, Onya went back to constructing her ensemble before asking the former if she was using a specific trim, to which she replied, “Yes.“

However, their pleasant exchange didn’t last long, with the Ohio-based queen using the trim for her dress anyway.

“Ruching is done, so it’s time to embellish my dress. So I go to reach for my trimming that I’ve been saving for this moment and who do I see cutting it up, gluing it on her dress? Onya,“ Jewels says in confessional.

While the drama was brewed between the two green squad members, Lucky struggled to use the sewing machine and bring her outfit to life, which made her emotional.

On elimination day, the queens finished their outfits before painting their faces for the runway.

The tension between Onya and Jewels came to a head when the latter opened up to Arrietty about the former taking the trim she planned to use.

“Well, sister, I’m really sorry that it felt that way, and I really, like, genuinely want to apologize for using the trim that you were going to use. I should have asked for permission,“ Onya said.

In response, the Florida-based queen reminded Onya that while she had asked for the trim, she said no.

Onya then told Jewels that the entire roll wasn’t hers to own, resulting in the former stating that she claimed it first.

“You’re not giving me anything because we’re supposed to be sharing, first of all. I claimed the velvet first, and didn’t you use velvet? So what’s the big deal?“ Onya countered.

Jewels replied, “The big deal was that I told you this is the one thing I needed. You can feel that way, but at the end of the day, we’re told to go up and grab what we need.“

When the pair’s debate was brought to the rest of the queens, Crystal Envy took Jewels’ side, stating that she’s a “finders keepers, loser weepers girl.“

Following the explosive workroom fight, the ladies headed to the runway to show off their ‘Monopulence’ ensembles. The top and bottoms of the week met then met with the judges’ panel for critiques.

Arrietty, Sam, and Onya were all praised for their outfits, while Lucky, Joella and Kori failed to impress the judges fully.

In the end, Ru named Lucky and Joella the bottoms of the week, which resulted in them lip-syncing to Paula Abdul’s hit track, ‘Opposites Attract.’

Filled with dips, turns, drama and flying heels, their performance was an absolute hit.

In the end, Ru saved Joella, leaving Lucky one final chance to save her spot via the Badonka Dunk game.

Unfortunately, she did not pull the right lever to dunk Michelle Visage, making her the first eliminated queen of the season.

Since the release of episode three, fans have flocked to social media to share their thoughts on all the drama that transpired between the queens.

One fan on X, formerly known as Twitter, wrote: “2 drag queens fighting for 2 minutes and 36 seconds straight about a yard of rhinestone trimming from the craft store? RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE IS SO BACK.”

Another viewer tweeted: “We’re finally getting a season where multiple of the girls are getting nasty with each other instead of one queen being the “villain“ and carrying all the drama????”

See more fan reactions below.