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

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.