Alright, let’s wrap this up and turn off the lights.
This was, we suppose, a nice bit of synchronicity for the Harris campaign, although we suspect they wound up wishing they could’ve had a do-over. It was a well-intentioned, but slightly awkward, slightly cringe way of getting an important message across, and it unfortunately didn’t have the energy or gravitas that a newly launched presidential campaign needs. Granted, we can’t imagine it will have much of an effect on the thinking of the average Drag Race fan. The opposition will likely have a field day with it, but that’s never a good reason for allies to be quiet or shy about their support. Drag Race has already cemented its status as a culture-shifting worldwide phenomenon, so we’d be tickled pink if it added “hosted the next President of the United States” to its long list of iconic moments.
Unfortunately, that was the only potentially iconic Drag Race moment in this snoozefest of a finale. It’s not the queens’ fault. It’s the producers’ for thinking they could stretch this thin finale out to two episodes. They barely had enough material for one. And for the final time this season, we’ll note that this finale, unlike every other Drag Race finale, completely lacked any tension because no one ever got eliminated and no one is winning anything for themselves except a title. Everyone is already extremely well-established in their careers and none of them would agree to returning without some promises made about how they were treated, which resulted in no critiques whatsoever. We’ve been saying for years that it’s not a legitimate competition and it’s easier to see Drag Race as a variety show with cash prizes, but once the show made that idea literal, it suddenly became deadly dull.
After a long stretch of filler material in the Werk Room, things picked up a bit with the talent show. Everyone was polished and gave it their all, although we wouldn’t rate any of these performances as legendary or iconic in the show’s history. Angeria was funny and surprisingly smooth.
Gottmik couldn’t have been better suited to her song and she looked great, although it felt like the energy was a little low.
Jorgeous really had herself a killer season, managing to completely change her image from lightweight to true contender. Her number was the most energetic of the bunch and we replayed that one move of her sliding across the floor multiple times because it didn’t even look real.
Plastique looked great, had a fantastic routine, and surprised us by being funny on top of everything else. We think it’s a bit of a crime that she didn’t wind up in the top.
All season long, much was made of Nina’s time touring in Hairspray and we tend to think it affected her performances. Just a bit too much of a “I’m a legitimate theater queen” energy but without the kind of jaw-dropping performances to back it up. This just felt awkward to us, like so much of her drag this season.
We say this with no shade at all because we consider it an essential talent to have in the art of drag, but Roxxxy is the absolute queen of doing the most with the least. This was fabulous, but it was all about attitude and visuals – which is, again, not a read. That’s drag’s essence.
We loved that Shannel’s approach to a talent show was as old school as it gets. We just didn’t understand the costume, which was distracting and ugly.
Not that Vanjie’s image needed all that much polishing prior to this season, but she really established herself as a force to be reckoned with. She looked cute, she lit that stage on fire, and she was funny on top of everything else.
As expected, the queens all brought their A game to the runway. This is the most gorgeous Angeria has ever looked.
This is stunning and high fashion. That wig is insane.
She’s really elevated her drag while remaining true to herself. This is fabulous.
Drop dead stunning. She really should have been in the top.
Not to be mean, but when they said this was the most gorgeous she’d ever looked on the runway, we were all “Yeah, doesn’t that say something?” We like Nina and we generally think her drag is great, but we don’t think her costumes have been slaying this season. This is nice, but not jaw-dropping, which is what it needed to be.
Gorgeous. As we said, she really knows how to deliver high drama with minimal fuss.
This was cutely gorgeous and we like that she came to have fun with her drag.
This was hot and she looked amazing.
They all changed into new outfits for the lip sync. Angeria, Roxxxy and Vanjie had the most badges and we’re not even going to try and figure out how or why it shook out that way.
Angeria was named the winner of the lip sync, although if you ask us, we think Vanjie killed it. Oh, well. Congrats to Angeria, but this whole season was a wash.
Legendary Children: The First Decade of RuPaul’s Drag Race and the Last Century of Queer Life, a New York Times “New and Notable” pick, praised by The Washington Post “because the world needs authenticity in its stories,” and chosen as one of the Best Books of The Year by NPR is on sale wherever fine books are sold! It’s also available in Italian and Spanish language editions, darlings! Because we’re fabulous on an INTERNATIONAL level.
[Photo Credit: Paramount Plus via Tom and Lorenzo, World of Wonder Productions, Inc./Paramount+]
Previous post:
Celine Dion, Lady Gaga, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande at the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony Next Post:
SDCC 2024: THE WILD ROBOT Stars Kit Connor and Lupita Nyong’o
Celine Dion, Lady Gaga, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande at the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony Next Post:
SDCC 2024: THE WILD ROBOT Stars Kit Connor and Lupita Nyong’o
-
Jodie Turner-Smith at THE AGENCY New York Series Premiere: IN or OUT?
-
Pop Style Opinionfest: T Lo Saw WICKED and They Have Opinions!
-
Katherine Waterston, Jeffrey Wright, Jodie Turner-Smith and Michael Fassbender at THE AGENCY London Photo Call
Please review our Community Guidelines before posting a comment. Thank you!
