TV & Movies

Let's Break Down All Those Drag Race Season 13 Twists

The trailer teased an unprecedented season, and the Jan. 1 premiere delivered.

'RuPaul's Drag Race' Season 13 Cast via VH1 Press Site
VH1

Spoilers ahead for the Season 13 premiere of RuPaul's Drag Race. The Drag Race Season 13 trailer teased a season unlike any other, and the Jan. 1 premiere delivered. Not only did the episode kick off with six lip-syncs and seven pseudo-eliminations (aka "Pork Chops") on day one, it ended in a big cliffhanger. So if you're still feeling gooped and gagged about what just happened, let's break it down.

The Queens Entered Two At A Time

No season of Drag Race is "typical," but the werkroom entrances are pretty consistent: usually, the queens take turns walking through the double doors to show off their best look, drop a catchphrase, and join their other castmates to mingle and await more arrivals. This time around, however, a siren interrupted the first two queens — Kandy Muse and Joey Jay — to usher them onto the stage for their first lip-sync of the season. Yes, already.

Each Pair Lip-Synced For Their Lives

As Ru broke the news to each pair of queens who entered (all thinking they were the first to arrive!), their first-day confidence visibly faded. They had just gotten there (and probably quarantined before filming) — how could Ru already send someone home? Shaking in their heels on the main stage, they had no choice but to lip-sync for their lives. The loser received "the porkchop," though — and this is important — the word "eliminated" was never used.

There Was A "Porkchop Loading Dock"

The "chopped" queens were sent offstage to the "Porkchop Loading Dock," named after the franchise's first-ever eliminated queen, Victoria "Porkchop" Parker. A confused Joey was the first to enter, followed by Denali, Tamisha Iman, Utica Queen, Rosé (Jan's girl-group sister from her America's Got Talent days), Kahmora Hall, and Elliott with 2 Ts. Meanwhile, the winners sipped cocktails and basked in their victories in the werkroom.

Then Came The Cliffhanger...

As the "chopped" queens waited to learn their fate, Ru announced yet another twist: they all have a chance to remain in the competition, but first, they must choose a queen among them to eliminate, knowing almost nothing about one another. We'll find out their choice next week. But if Ru is breaking into his bag ofAll Stars twists — which appears to be the case — this is bound to be only the start of this season's surprises.