‘Drag Race: UK vs. The World’ Got You Down? Try Watching Just 2/3rds of It!

Are you like me? Do you start every episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK vs. the World with a feeling of excitement — and then end up being so angry an hour later that you set your Drag Race group chat ablaze with scorching takes? If so, I have a tip that will spare you all sorts of TV trauma: have you tried only watching the first 2/3rds of every episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK vs. the World? Try the 2/3rds Methyd™ (no relation to Crystal)!

That’s right! You can just turn off the episode right around 46 minutes in, pretty much right after the conclusion of the runways. Just close your browser and go for a walk right as the judging begins, because we’ve been down that road many times before and it keeps leading to heartbreak and confusion… but mostly confusion.

The 2/3rds Methyd™ (no relation to Crystal) works because it allows you to watch RuPaul’s Drag Race not as a competition show, but instead as a variety show that is in competition show drag.

We want to see drag queens perform, clap back, read the room, camp it up, be extra, serve lewks, and — it needs to be said twice — perform. You really only need to watch the Werk Room segment, the Maxi Challenge, and the runways to get a sampling of the best of every single queen. That’s it. That’s the show! Watching UK vs. the World as a variety show means that when a queen disappears at the top of a new episode, you can just tell yourself that they booked another gig and had to duck out. Is that a lie? Yes, but doesn’t it feel just about as truthful as the show telling us who the bottom queens are? And then, when the dolls line up to be judged 45-ish minutes later, you can just turn off your TV and instead look at your cat(s) and think about how much you love them.

Doing that keeps you from watching a different show, a.k.a. the last third of every Drag Race episode. As soon as the judging starts, that’s when the confusion steps in. Why is that queen safe… again? Why is that queen in the bottom? Why is that queen in the top? Those two did the exact same thing, so why are they being judged differently? Why doesn’t a sickening runway look make up for a so-so performance? Why do the runway looks just not matter? The queens spent so much money on those runway looks! You see where this gets confusing?

That’s because the episode of television that we just watched is frequently not the episode of television that’s being judged. That’s really the only way to explain it! You don’t need to put yourself through that, not when there are 146 episodes of The Nanny on HBO Max that you either need to watch or rewatch right now.

Now, I know where your mind immediately goes when I talk about the 2/3rds Methyd™ (no relation to Crystal). Say it with me: “What about the lip syncs?” Yes, I know — the lip syncs are frequently the best part of every episode. They frequently deliver iconic moments. Hell, Pangina Heals has proven to be a lip sync assassin in this very season by turning out two performances that you will want to watch on a loop again and again and again. So while I am suggesting you just skip all that for now, you don’t have to skip it forever.

The problem is that every lip sync — oftentimes an episode’s high point — is inextricably tied to a queen going home who shouldn’t have been in the bottom to begin with — the very thing that leads to many fingers wrecking so many laptop keyboards after pounding out tweets in all caps. So instead of putting yourself through all that, you can hold all of the lip syncs to watch after the season finale, after you’ve endured 2/3rds of the intense, emotional mind-spiral that is a season of Drag Race. Knowing who goes home — er, has to leave due to a prior engagement — and who ultimately wins takes a lot of the sting out of those lipstick pulls.

Some of you may also be thinking, “Uh — but what about all the duh-rama that comes after judging when the queens deliberate?” I’m not a therapist, but here’s the tea: TV drama that actually makes you mad IRL is not the kind of drama you should seek out.

Repeat: TV drama that actually makes you mad IRL is not the kind of drama you should seek out.

The drama in the last third of every episode is frequently drama caused by the stunts, shenanigans, and tomfoolery of the judging which, as we’ve established, often seems to have no connection to the actual performances and looks. That’s not drama worth watching. Do you want to watch queens that you truly adore be broken down and reduced to tears because they too don’t get the disconnect between what they served and the critiques they received? I don’t want to see that. That’s not good drama.

Good drama is when the show swerves in ways that no one, not the producers or judges or queens, could have ever predicted. We’re talking “I’d like to keep it on, please” and “life’s not fair” and “I’m going home.” Those are moments where the queens were serving drama of their own choosing. The other kind of drama? Note to self: I don’t need to see that!

So, there you have it — the 2/3rds Methyd™ (no relation to Crystal)! It’s as foolproof of a technique as I can think of to preserve all the fun of RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK vs. the World and get rid of all of the neon-lit gaslighting and the ensuing Bad Vibes that comes by the time the credits roll. Drag Race is a frenetic joyride of a TV show about the best drag queens in the world, and you can have 100% fun if you just watch 66.67% of it!

Stream RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs. the World on WOW Presents Plus