RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 14 Episode 12 Review: Moulin Ru: The Rusical

The news is golden over at the Moulin Ru!

After weeks of guesses and eliminations, the RuPaul candy bar saved one lucky queen on RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 14 Episode 12. It’s a big surprise for a reveal we didn’t see coming.

“Non-elimination March” finished its run with three weeks of a queen not going home. But did the Parisian festivities make up for another non-elimination round?

“Moulin Ru: The Rusical” packed plenty of drama and excitement to keep us hooked. Between the casting drama and the runway surprises, this round kept us fed with all the Drag Race shenanigans we love.

The golden candy bar twist? That reveal was the cherry on a stellar episode.

We don’t typically need more than a classic Drag Race challenge, a stunning runway, and a strong lip-sync battle. But “Moulin Ru: The Rusical” brought more and more to the table, making this one of the best episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 14.

It didn’t need to go this hard, but we’re glad it did. Drag Race serves up an amazing round when all the pieces fall into place.

One of the best parts about a Rusical challenge is the debate over choosing the roles.

The characters aren’t written equally, and Drag Race herstory has shown that the right role can guarantee a strong win. (We’re looking at you, Silky Nutmeg Ganache and Gigi Goode!)

[In confessional] I think I’ve established that compromise is for losers.

Daya Betty

I loved that the queens threw away any pretension of playing fair and fought for the roles they wanted. This is a competition, after all. Daya Betty may be the villain, but she had a point that you have to fight for what you want.

The queens who stuck their ground, like Bosco and Jorgeous, got their dream roles. Granted, it blew up in their faces, but queens like Daya and Willow Pill excelled in the roles they demanded.

The Moulin Ru Rusical proved that if a queen is going to fight for a role, she needs to serve it all on the main stage.

The Bosco vs. Lady Camden fight was the more uncomfortable argument between the two role battles (Jorgeous vs. Angeria Paris VanMichaels and Bosco vs. Lady Camden). But, it was the juiciest with lots of drama.

Good job to both queens for standing their position. If they wanted to shine, getting their dream role would be the only way.

Bosco: Do you think you would’ve beaten me in “Swept Away”?
Lady Camden: Yes, I do.
Bosco: That’s a bold opinion.
Lady Camden: Yeah.
Bosco: It’s okay to be wrong sometimes.

However, Bosco’s rude quips to Lady Camden were too much.

It’s one thing to fight for what you want; it’s another thing to be petty because you’re not getting your way. Being shady to Lady Camden was a bad look.

Plus, she had talked a big game about rocking the role of Saltine. Bosco needed to step it up since she fought so hard and claimed to be better than Lady Camden in it.

Overall, Moulin Ru: The Rusical was a fun, upbeat number that captured the style of the movie and the musical. All the queens needed to do was serve overdramatic expressions and big moves while lip-syncing the lyrics.

For the most part, the majority of the cast did a great job.

Lady Camden slayed in the role of Mama Z. She captured the outrageous vibe of the character, and she tied the show together with both her big and small moments. And, she performed with the best acting; none of the others matched her skill.

Daya Betty and Willow Pill would be the next top performers. Willow had her big dance moment that stole the show, while Daya made the character match her vibe as a drag performer. Both queens shined in their short amount of screen time.

I agreed with the judges about their critiques on Bosco and Jorgeous. Something seemed off about their performances.

For the role of “Talent,” Jorgeous fell flat against Charisma, Uniqueness, and Nerve.

Talent is the big flashy role within the four Moulin Ru girls, but Jorgeous was too focused on getting her steps or hitting her marks. There wasn’t any energy there to steal the show.

But when it comes to a competition between, like, being a giant hoe, you’re not gonna beat me!

Bosco

On the other hand, Bosco didn’t match the acting needed for Saltine. The sneezes were poorly acted, and she felt disconnected from everything happening around her. Either the role didn’t work for her, or she didn’t work in it.

Surprisingly, she didn’t push for Mama Z because that role would’ve been perfect for her drag and performance style. She needed an outlandish character, not the ingenue.

The runway category of “Mirror Mirror” could’ve helped her, but she stuck to what she knew (i.e., a sexy robotic Mugler). Michelle Visage was right in her critiques: Bosco has done the look and the eyebrows to death on the runway. There needed to be some versatility.

Lady Camden, Angeria, and Daya Betty had the night’s best looks.

Lady Camden’s icy shooting star looked so chic and opulent. The silhouette was simple, but the mirror placements and the wig combined into a stunning ensemble. The same goes for Angeria and her mirror mermaid gown; the placement of the scales worked flawlessly together.

Daya’s outfit screamed too much, but it had the level of camp that worked for Drag Race. The judges love music references, and Daya’s KISS-inspired spikey rocker poked fun while still being fashionable. It overloaded the senses, but it worked for this round.

The lip-sync of “Heartbreak Hotel (Remix)” by Whitney Houston was a strong battle! This lip-sync could be even tighter than the Jorgeous vs. Jasmine Kennedie battle on RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 14 Episode 9.

Both queens served face and emotion like it was their bread and butter.

This song worked best with controlled movements, emotions, and the queens feeling the lyrics. Tricks would’ve only taken away from the music. Luckily, Bosco and Jorgeous knew that; they each gave a sensual number that paired well to the beat.

Willow Pill: Oh my god, one of you is going to hate me.
Angeria Paris VanMichaels: You’re the RuPaul, so what’s the tea, girl?

Though, Jorgeous did win this lip-sync. She felt the music more, and her movements were sharp to the point that the judges were blatantly turning to look at her.

Bosco is lucky she had the golden candy bar because she didn’t win the lip-sync. It’s a strong contender for a Double Shantay, but it had to come down to the win since that was off the table. Jorgeous served it better.

Last Thoughts From The Werk Room:

• 
  Angeria should’ve stuck her foot in the ground to get the role of Talent. After giving up the Green Fairy role to Willow, she had more than enough reason. Angeria could’ve demanded someone switch.
  
   
• 
  Now that the golden chocolate bar is gone, are all the non-elimination episodes done?
  
   
• 
  Leslie Jordan could’ve won this challenge had they been in contention. RuPaul loved the cameo.
  
   
• 
  The queens saying who they want to be eliminated is savage, but it’s fun to watch. The easy choice was Bosco because of all the reasons above. However, it was the most logical answer too.

Now, over to you, Drag Race fans.

What did you think of “Moulin Ru: The Rusical”?

Who was your favorite performance in the Rusical? Are you happy that Bosco had the golden chocolate bar? Did you want someone to go home?

Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Justin Carreiro is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.

You can view the original article HERE.