We're back for another incredible year of America's most addicting and interesting reality competition show. To say that RuPaul's Drag Race has changed the landscape of television is an understatement. This show has not only revolutionized the world of drag, but it's helping break down boundaries in society and is creating a more open conversation about sexuality and individuality. And it's all thanks to the mastermind behind the show, self-described Supermodel of the World, RuPaul. As we head into another year of the Race, be sure to expect the show to get even more national attention and be all-in-all an entertaining ride full of cat fights and shade being thrown left and right. Let's get to it, shall we?
Season V, or Season of the Goddesses, is proving to be the fishiest season yet. Every season has it's own feel, and this season every queen is basically gorgeous, and almost all of them could pass for real women. One reason that I'm really excited about the casting this season is that since all of the girls are gorgeous there is going to be an even bigger emphasis on their talents. In seasons past we've seen contestants such as Rebecca Glasscock who really were duds but made it through to the end solely because they looked beautiful. No one can hide behind that this season, and thus this batch of queens are going to have to pull out all the stops and show us that they know how to market themselves. This is also the first season where a lot of people have prior knowledge of these queens; such as Detox, Alaska and Penny Tration; and so we already had our favorites before the season even started. The queens are now in a situation where they have to work even harder than others did in prior seasons.
Ru refreshes our memory of the previous winners and promises big things for this season, and then we are shown the beautifully pink You Betta Werk-room which is sure to evoke nostalgia of all that has gone down in this room over the past few years. At long last its time for the girls to make their entrances. Detox is the first to arrive and she immediately sets the tone for the rest of the girls: they're all shameless self-promoters who are going to tell us exactly what type of queens they are. As the queens arrive it is clear this is the most polished bunch to date, and also the fishiest. These queens are by far the most diverse bunch the show has had yet in terms of location which is important because drag is an extremely regional art form. As they arrive it's clear that many of them are good friends (such as Detox and Roxxxy) and some are enemies (Alyssa and Coco). These girls have their catchphrases, and they're not gonna let us forget them.
The girls get their very first She Mail from Ru, in which it's clear there is a Hollywood (or RuPaullywood) theme that will dictate the main challenge as well as an aquatic theme for their mini-challenge. Ru arrives and does his usual beginning of the season speech before taking the girls one-by-one to their first mini-challenge which is always a photo shoot. This year Mike Ruiz has the girls doing an underwater photo shoot. These get crazier every year, and this is by far the most difficult these girls have had to endure. Some girls are standouts instantly like Detox, Vivienne and Lineysha. Some had some difficulty like Jinkx, Serena (who didn't tuck!!!) and Monica. Most surprising of all was Alaska who gave up. No queen has ever forfeited the photo shoot challenge before, and she didn't make a very good impression in Ru's book with that stunt. After the girls de-drag and get acquainted with each other, Ru and Mike come back to choose the winner. Unsurprisingly, it goes to Detox whose picture was by far the best of the bunch. After they celebrate with an Absolute cocktail, Ru tells them they'll be going on a shopping spree. But don't get too excited girls...
After a short bus tour of WeHo accompanied by a shameless self-promotion of Ru's music using the girls to do so, the queens arrive at a boutique where they are greeted by Camille Grammer. She tells them they have to use the "special VIP" entrance where Ru is waiting to tell them that they have one minute to dig through dumpsters to find materials that they can use to create a Hollywood Red Carpet couture outfit for their main challenge. This is always hilarious to watch as the girls are vicious when it comes to getting what they want. They then return to the Werk-room and get to making their outfits. It seems like almost every queen this year can sew, and most of them seem to be very creative. Many of the outfits look like they're going to be interesting to see on the runway.
Our life-size Barbie prances down the runway, and we're in for the very first runway challenge of Season V. The guest judges are Mike Ruiz and Camille Grammar, who are accompanied by resident judges Santino Rice and Michelle Visage.

Roxxxy Andrews
Roxxxy is the first to grace the stage. I wasn't really a fan of hers before the show, but after watching the premiere I have to say that she is one of my top favorites, and she could easily come in second or third place this year. Not only does she have a great personality, but she can read the house down, a trait that I LOVE in my drag queens. Her outfit this week was very goth and Raven-esque which I just adore. Roxxxy showed off her "juicy" figure. She had one of the best runway looks.

Jinkx Monsoon
Jinkx is the resident comedy queen this year. Jinkx is one of my favorites this year because she's very much like my all-time fav Pandora Boxx, but she has more confidence and she is also trained in Broadway. She calls herself "Seattle's premier Nacroleptic drag queen" a title which I'm sure she'll live up to. She had me dying laughing in this first episode, and I think she has the ability to go Top 4. Her outfit this week wasn't anything special, but it shows that she can sew and make a pretty decent outfit while under pressure.

Detox
The one and only Detox. You may know her from her collaborations with Season 4's Willam Belli and close-friend Vicky Vox with the viral sensation 'Chow Down (At Chick-Fil-A)' and the more recent 'Boy Is a Bottom'. Detox was my clear favorite this season when the casting was first announced back in December. She can do everything, and has one of the most intriguing lip-sync techniques out there. There is no doubt in my mind that she will be Top 2. She very easily could win. Her first runway look may not have been her best with harsh make-up and unflattering hair, but her dress was sick. I know Detox has more in store for us, especially with winning the first mini-challenge.

Ivy Winters
Ivy may not be a huge personality, but she's the mastermind behind many of the outfits of popular New York queens like Season 3's Manila. She's an incredible seamstress and fashion-forward queen. She is also a fire-eater and juggler, among other things. Ivy was very low-key this episode, but I'm sure she'll prove herself in the coning weeks. The dress she made was completely hand-stitched which was marvelous, but the hair was the absolute wrong choice.

Honey Mahogany
Honey is the show's first San Francisco queen, and she also auditioned for The X Factor this past year. She's a music queen and has already released her first single (which I'm not a fan of). She's got a very RuPaul look to her, and is a beauty. I'm not sure how she'll fair in the show though. She's not a big standout.

Jade Jolie
Jade Jolie is also one of my favorites, and I think she could easily go Top 5. She's definitely the fishiest of the season, and has a very bubbly personality. She's a fun entertainer, and I think she'll bring a lot of entertainment to the show this season. She's definitely going to be remembered for her laugh though. Her runway look this week was all over the place. It looks like she went for NBC-realness with this one. Ru's advice should be well-heeded: Edit.

Alyssa Edwards
Alyssa is an interesting one for me. She's the Vanessa Williams of drag as her crown for Miss Gay America was taken from her (by Coco no less) so there's going to be a huge moment between the two coming this season. I really like her look and I think she's talented, but her attitude and catching flies face she give us gets old real fast. I think she'll be another middle pack contestant. You may be interested to know that Alyssa is actually the drag mother of Shangela! Her look this week was one of my favorites, except for the bouffant thing on her leg which was distracting.

Penny Tration
Penny, the queen with the greatest drag name to ever be on Drag Race, was the contestant chosen by the fans, and she is also the resident big girl. She hails from Ohio so I was rooting for her because she's from my backyard, but unfortunately her old school drag just wasn't right this year. She's an incredibly nice person and I was charmed by her infectious personality, but her outfit was wrong, her pads were off-kilter and her shading was far too dark. I personally don't think she would last very long compared to all the other girls.

Coco Montrese
Coco is a fierce competitor, and I think she has that going for her this season. She hasn't particularly blown me away thus far, although I did love her runway outfit. She was the only one that really had a themed dressed which I loved. It may not be conventional, but when has drag ever been conventional? The only thing that annoys me about her are the blue contacts. They're creepy, Coco. I think she may be middle-pack as well, but she may be a dark horse.

Vivienne Pinay
Vivienne is like Jujubee 2.0, but with less pizazz. The resemblance is uncanny at times, but I think she's relying on appearance way too much. Behind Jade she is the fishiest of them all, but I don't really know what she does or how she performs. There's no star power there. While her dress was absolutely gorgeous this week, there was no wow-factor. Unfortunately she may be leaving us in the next couple of weeks.

Alaska
We all know Alaska as Sharon Needles' boyfriend, and after five years of auditioning for the show she finally made it. I think most people think that she just copies Sharon, but she's got much more going for her and definitely has her own distinct style. After giving up in the mini-challenge I wasn't sure what to think, but this main challenge blew me away. Who knew you could take blue saran wrap and turn it into a stunning gown? She may have had a problem walking in it, but it was definitely in the Top 3. I think Alaska will easily make it into the Top 5.

Lineysha Sparx
Lineysha is the (one and only) Puerto Rican queen this year. This girl knows how to turn it out! She wasn't one on my watch list when the casting was first announced, but after seeing the premiere I can safely say that she's one of my favorites. Not only is she absolutely stunning, but she has fantastic skills. The dress is made out of wallpaper for god's sake! She'll go pretty far I think.

Monica Beverly Hillz
Monica reminds me a lot of Dida Ritz from last year as they both have the ghetto banjee style drag. She really hasn't stood out at all for me, and I wager she'll go home in the next couple weeks. Her outfit this week was not Red Carpet at all, and while it didn't look bad it was very pedestrian as Santino once remarked about Dida. Not an impressive debut.

Serena Chacha
SEND HER HOME. Oh my god I can't stand her. She's flat out annoying, and thinks way too highly of herself. While in the workroom she was so annoying and rude to the other queens. And then on the runway she looked a hot mess. The outfit looked like it was done by someone their first time in drag, and the outfit made no sense. She's Bottom Two for sure.

After deciding which girls were safe, Ru was vicious to them with the quote above. Safe is not something you want to be in this competition. Unsurprisingly, Roxxxy was the winner of the first main challenge and received a custom gown and immunity from next week. The Bottom Two was Penny and Serena. The lip sync song was Miley Cyrus' 'Party In the U.S.A.' and sadly Penny folded under the pressure. She basically gave up because she didn't know the words. It was a shame because I would have much preferred her to stay over Serena. Ru made the right decision based on the lip-sync, but unfortunately I think fans all over the world disagreed with the decision. I definitely think Serena will be eliminated next week.
Untucked was largely just behind-the-scenes stuff this week. Monica got very emotional which made for a nice moment, and Coco and Alyssa's feud blew up a bit more, but it was otherwise very boring. Roxxxy, however, stole the show with her shade throwing and she coined what I think will be the tagline of this season: "All T All Shade." This premiere of Drag Race was definitely one of the best and there is going to be so much to look forward to this season. Next week is supposed to be a lip-sync extravaganza, and the queens will be reenacting famous scenes from previous episodes of Untucked. This should be very fun to watch!