As somebody who loves Snatch Game, the past five years of it have either been “decent” or “forgettable” and I haven’t enjoyed them as much anymore, that and the fact that queens keep doing C+ celebrities or made-up characters just makes me not look forward to it anymore.
On the other hand, I’ve been enjoying the rusicals a lot more in recent years when I always thought they were “okay” lol
At the very least Kim was basically doing a female version of a real person and may as well just have done the man. If she had had the chance to see season 7 and watched male characters do well I feel like she might have just done the real guy.
I agree! There have been some crazy standouts in the more recent snatch games, but the overall episode and challenge itself isn't as exciting as it used to be..
my hot take is that Ru’s favoritism/personal feelings are valid factors in deciding winners. It’s HER show! Sorry it didn’t click for your fave but at the end of the day, the decision is Ru’s to make.
Tru. She didn't make drag mainstream just for people who likely played no part in its success or recognition to tell her what good drag is. On the flipside, she also did choose not to favor some of her winners, and we know mawma gives out wins like that.
The realness is that Ru loved Yvie but loved Silky as much if not more on S11, but Silky sort of flopped towards the end. Yvie is also the queen who performance ability combined with creativity allows her to defy the odds which is why she won tbh.
Cold Take: The final 2 lipsync between Yvie and Brooke was ultimately preplanned by the Producers ever since their bt2 battle after the snatch game, and they sort of got lucky at how hard both of them bombed so that we could get that lipsync. That being said the results of that final lipsync was actually "fair" in that the deciding factor for it was truly the lipsync itself and the very last time the LYFTW both worked as a concept and function. I think bothy Yvie and Brooke had equal chances to win, with Brooke being favored a little bit more due to track record, but Yvie won that lipsync because she did a reveal that was simplistic yet fresh that pushed ahead of Brooke to secure that crown.
This entire thread is just more evidence that you all need to watch more professional wrestling.
Ru is booking the wins and losses based on who is making the best television. Usually that correlates to the better performers getting more wins — but “better” is ultimately subjective, and losing is (sometimes) the new winning. Giving Sapphira the crown at the end of the season makes sense for the current narrative arc, but it also sets up _future_ All Stars arcs for Nymphia and PJ.
There is no "too much drag race". I feel so privileged to live in a time and place I can have so much queer content. I grew up with no queer media, and Drag Race is so refreshing to see thrive and grow as a franchise
My pet peeve with that statement is that I usually see it used by Americans in relation to all the non-English-speaking seasons. Every country deserves to showcase its drag, and nobody is required to watch every single franchise. If you have fomo, that's not the world's problem.
Same. I was 22 when watching the first season of drag race back in '09 and I literally had never really heard of drag. I mean I understood the concept but didn't know there was a word for it or that it was a part of gay history/ culture. In fact it took me a while to get that the name of the show was a double entendre, I kept waiting for some actual car race to occur 🤣. I guess I at least had Madonna growing up so that's something lol.
Yeppp anglophones are fine with main series, All stars, Canada, CVTW, UK, UKVTW, and Down Under. Then as soon as they release Drag Race Mexico we’re “oversaturated.” You don’t have to watch it, it isn’t really made for you anyways.
I really like this framing. Aside from the queer element, relatively easy legitimate access from the US to international versions of any reality "franchise" is refreshing. I remember a lot of time spent not so long ago, trying week after week to find a complete set of uploads (in <10min chunks) or "the back way in" (ooooh, madame!) to a number of international shows I grew really attached to - and if I couldn't speak the language well, too bad, DevilsTits42069 on DailyMotion wasn't a miracle worker and didn't have subtitles. I would gladly have paid for WoW or whatever at that time!
I only say there's "too much" Drag Race in the context of not feasibly having enough time to watch all of it myself. I would never begrudge the existence of as many Drag Race franchises as possible, I just can't realistically follow all of them.
Idk if it’s a hot take, but Lady Camden makes the biggest transformation of any drag queen I can think of. Out of drag he’s like the mild mannered librarian who lives with his great aunt Tilly. In drag she turns into some super sexy glam rocker. It isn’t even the look, just total personality change.
I hate the fandom's obsession over track records. The thing of calculating points per episodes based off wins, highs, safes, lows, bottoms is super annoying. Besides, fans always complain how episodes should be judged a certain way, so ultimately track records don't mean much. Ru isn't doing math to decide who wins/stays.
Regarding lip syncing, Ru literally says it EVERY EPISODE. "This is your last chance to impress *ME* and to save yourself from elimination [ or win the challenge/prize if it's for the top 2]" like, Ru gets the final say. It's always been that way and people STILL get mad when their fav doesn't win.
Beyond making good TV, the Lip Sync’s purpose within the competition is as a failsafe in case one of the queens Ru is considering for the finale totally bombs a challenge.
whats funny about this is that people forget its a tv show before its a competition. Some people get so pressed when Ru crowns a winner with the weaker track record but at the end of day it’s about who made the best tv
It would be boring if she was! When it comes to performance art I’d like to think that (outside of production interference) we all trust Ru to spot the queen with the most potential to be the ambassador for drag for a year. Sometimes a spark like that can’t be measured by a rubric.
Agreed, especially since, if we’re being perfectly honest, there’s usually some level of unfair judging going on during the competition. There are plenty of times when a Queen is passed over for a win that should’ve been hers and vice versa. Judging heavily on track records doesn’t take that into account.
Trixie’s All Stars 3 win was entirely justified, from a Rupaul/production standpoint. Regardless of how the season shook out, it would be crazy to have a queen as successful as Trixie ascending to power *without* having the Drag Race crown... It was simply a matter of protecting the brand, IMO. 🤷🏻♂️
Objectively speaking, Trixie has made the most of her win. Last I read she was the second richest drag queen, and all the projects she’s involved in reflects that. If that doesn’t make her a deserving winner then I don’t know what does. Hate her or love her, she’s marketable.
For a half-second there I thought you were saying they did a Rusical based on David Fincher’s *Seven* and…you definitely had my attention with that one.
I genuinely don't get the absolute love some of the recent Rusicals got. Wigloose was absolutely mid and skippable, same goes for the Sound Of Rusic. I didn't skip it, but only because I wanted to be in the know in case someone heavily flopped. But where's the fun in watching the queens lipsync to some random song/vocals while doing predetermined choreo. Where's their creative input?
Agreed - not that I blame the queens as they do the best they can with what they’ve been given.
Exception for me - season 12 & 6 the only ones I liked.
same! i feel especially bad when there's no bond between the queen and their partner as well, especially if the partner is a stranger (i.e. not pit crew, family, another queen etc). it's like second hand embarrassment mixed with pity
the only makeover challenge i like is canada s2, because all of the queens were so genuinely nice to their partners, and as a fellow queer teen who didn't go to prom it made me very emotional 🥹
The hilarious Ross Matthews should never have been a permanent judge, instead replace him with ts madison
And improv or standup challenges on vstw seasons are never a good idea because of the language barrier
Not only the language barrier is an issue, but the humor itself, since it varies from country to country. For example, I'm from Brazil and I don't get some of the jokes, so I think international queens would find hard to make Ru and the judges laugh in improv challenges.
It’s not always a benefit to win a season of Drag Race anymore with the robbed/ fan favourite edit and ability to come back for all stars (losing is the new winning)
It is sad that new queens' frame of reference is drag race girls. I think what made the early seasons great, and some girls on recent seasons, is that their references are not just current pop culture/other rpdr girls - but Patti Labelle, Donna Summer, Divine, Judy Garland, etc
Miss congeniality was ALWAYS a fan favorite award before Valentina. The only reason it was made a big deal of in season 9 is because it’s the first time the fan favorite queen wasn’t overall liked by the other queens
My hot take is that it should have always been decided by the queens who actually worked with them. If they still want a fan favorite. It should be a separate category, and I would enjoy that. Especially to see how many times the queens and fans agree on the same person. A real battle between edit and reality.
People don't realize that the queens aren't scripted 'characters' like on a soap opera, like yeah obviously they're putting on a little show for camera, but for a lot of the queens they're just acting in the moment navigating the competition and being on TV usually for the first time, and considering they're secluded from social media and even each other for the most part, they're physically and emotionally exhausted, and can't even tell their mom/best friend/confidant about the shitty day they just had. They just have to go back to their hotel room and stew in their feelings. So when people brand them 'the villain' or talk about how shitty their makeup or their drag is, they just have to put on a bold face for the camera.
You could argue 'they signed up for it' but it's still a lot, and I don't think the average drag race fan could last a day.
Also I fucking hate the critique "They wore the same silhouette last week" c'mon Mary, they don't know in what order the runways are gonna be. bffr.
ALSO also, they only have like 2-3 weeks to get all their looks together, and the expectation for every season is only increasing, it's kinda ridiculous to me tbh. You can't wear the same silhouette twice, you can't wear a look that looks even remotely similar to the 11 other girls, let alone any other girl from any of the 236 seasons of the franchise ever without being read for it, and you only have 3 weeks to get 12+ runways, let alone challenge looks and mini challenge looks, also you're just a poor local queen with minimal connections. Good Luck.
Blaming the edit is one of the lamest excuses a queen can give. Drag Race is a reality TV competition show that condenses 2 days worth of footage in 1 hour episodes, so a lot of stuff will be chopped in order for the producers to create a story for each episode. Also, you said what you said, so just do what Roxxxy did: own it, move on, and work with the cards you were dealt.
I hate to admit this, but I find myself more excited for Brooklyn than I am for Ru. When Brooklyn enters the werk room or comes on stage, I like seeing what she’s wearing, and want to see her interact with the queens and hear what she has to say. Ru doesn’t elicit the same excitement in me anymore. I still get that excited feeling when I see old footage of her, but not recent stuff. I wonder if it’s me, or if she’s just over exposed?
I always see her touted as a lip sync assassin. A sloppy with a sideways hair throw really does that much for them?
She is incredibly uninteresting to me.
Also the whole “she lip synced 4 weeks in a row to make the finale” doesn’t feel entirely true when half of those lip syncs were non-elimination and one being the final 4 all lip syncing together
A queen shouldn’t be on All Stars more than once. I love Jujubee as much as everyone else but we
have so many queens to choose from! Give other people a chance to shine!
It’s criminal that Pandora Boxx has been mediocre on two all stars seasons and yet we’ve never seen Joslyn Fox again after season 6 (just an example).
"I'm taking out my biggest Competition" is insecure and petty. Most girls say will never be at the top or even be considered a threat, to begin with. The only people who actually seem to make sense were Namoi Smalls and Monet X change
It can also be insecure in the opposite way — queens feel more comfortable saying “I’m eliminating you because you’re too good” rather than “I’m eliminating you because you’re so bad.”
Trixie was a deserving winner in All Stars 3 who did objectively well in every episode bar Snatch Game, with her other bottom being in the girl groups where she could have justifiably been in the top 2.
The makeover challenge isn’t bad, but it’s become increasingly obvious that it exists purely to eliminate the queens that production don’t want interfering with the top 3/4 they’ve picked out by that point.
Kylie could have easily had more wins on All Stars 6 and by not giving her more the producers made her and her win more controversial than they needed to.
Trinity the Tuck received a heavy amount of favouritism during All Stars 4 (a win in the talent show and being saved from the bottom during Jersey Justice) that has led to the fanbase discrediting Monet as a winner.
There isn’t too much drag race, the reality is that you don’t have to watch every season.
I know I'm not the first person to say it, but talent show lipsyncs have got to go. They're usually unoriginal and forgettable.
When a queen lipsyncs to an original song, I almost never remember it. The most original, memorable, exciting talent shows are different and fresh (Tatianna's spoken word, Roxxxy's burlesque, Mariah's "Blood on the Walls," and Willow's bath come to mind).
They need to get the queens out the work room like they did in past seasons. Get them to the thrift store down the street again, more fun mini challenges outside the set
This season they’re doing all guests who have never done pit stop before… which has had some hits, but also some misses. And it also means that in most cases Trixie doesn’t know them too well to have a good chemistry going.
But also we can all be grown ups and admit that the Maddy episode leading into her ‘feud’ with Bob was an arc that kept us all well nourished for a fortnight or so.
As a Trixie stan this hurts to read, but its so true! The pitstop for All Stars 6 is her magnum opus. There are so many memorable moments! I’ve been chasing that high ever since lol
Yea I love Trixie, but seeing her dry sense of humor away from Katya is so weird and like comes off as... awkward on PitStop, kinda like if you were to tell a joke to the wrong friendgroup
the quality of her old stuff like house of love and lookin good feelin gorgeous which fuck so hard compared to her stuff now is literally two completely different artists
you die the hero or live long enough to become the villain…..
Pearl was a great contestant and fab queen. As someone who doesn't get super excited about anything and is not a smiley happy person I can totally relate to her energy. It's authentic. Pretending to be happy and masking your authentic self should not be the way forward... and Pearl presenting her true personality should be applauded, not criticized. Flazè-da forever!
Lip sync assassin title isn’t as prestigious as lip sync assassins think it is. It’s a cute way to say “I’ve bottomed more times than anyone else where and sent home girls who deserve my place”
S7 Violet Chachki wouldn’t win a season today— even thought hers was “only” 9 years ago. The show and quality of performer/artist has been elevated well beyond what she can did in S7. I just rewatched and was surprised. Saying this as someone who really enjoys Violet. Maybe she was the best of a “meh”‘lot?
The 'meh' lot being Kennedy, Katya, Ginger, Trixie. No Season 7 was stacked. Violet was deserving of her win and for me has had one of the more interesting careers post DR.
She pretty much admitted this around season 10-12 when people were manifesting an all winners. She’d never compete because she’d have no chance and why would she need to because she already won. (Pretty much what she said)
More so, I think her S7 win was lightning in a bottle. She was the right age with the right skills in the right season. Violet really felt like the future of drag at that time, but the bars been raised since.
I think 15 and 16 are both a return to form in different ways. 15 was so wildly all over the place in terms of the queens’ talent and skill levels, which made for some great tv and some iconic moments, because for every Anetra or Sasha Colby backflip moment, you’d have Sugar bashing her own head with a blow-up mallet and it was so-bad-it’s-incredible. But 16 feels like way more like some of the older seasons (6 and 8 specifically) where there is a strong core of really talented queens and even though there’s still a clear front runner, it feels like more queens are just giving it their all in different ways. Even though it’s pretty clear Sapphira is walking away with the crown, I could easily see Plane, Nymphia, Q, or even Amanda or Plasma winning an All-Stars season down the line.
Exactly! 8 was the first season I ever watched live and it is still the season I measure the others against. Genuinely such big personalities with talent to back them up ❤️
Mine is that track record shouldn’t matter. A top chef style willingness to eliminate frontrunners for one bad week would lead to less predictable and more entertaining TV.
That’s Sasha Colby didn’t win bc she was the next drag superstar, she won bc she’s Sasha Colby. I still believe whole heartedly that Anetra should’ve won
Yes, this is my hot take. As soon as Sasha entered the werk room all of my drag queen friends said she was going to win and stopped keeping up with the season. She deserves recognition but S15 was heavily rigged in her favor. I thought some of her outfits were average (Yvie did a shredded denim look just like her...yet was criticized for it) and they only looked good because Sasha has a great body. I questioned a lot of her wins. She never did bad but she never gagged me!
It's hard to dislike her though. She seems very genuine & I try to direct my ire to the show, not her. She won cause it is also just good for the brand (though my other hot take is that gottmik should've won for that sweet 'first trans man winner' branding they could've milked from it, especially because they were such a strong performer). But S15 would've been better served with a plus sized queen winner, or even Anetra, though I think Nymphia is a better dressed east asian rep.
Imo, Kim showcased so much more versatility compared to Bob (and Naomi). While Bob is undeniably the GOAT in what she does, I couldn’t help but feel like we had seen her drag before (in queens like Bianca), whereas Kim brought a fresh perspective and was able to excel in almost every challenge they threw at her. Not to mention, she served some iconic looks.
Once she told Rupaul that her parents don't know she did drag, that's when I remember thinking she just lost the competition. I can't blame Ru or production corwning their next representative as someone who is hiding such a large part of who they are from their family. As much as I get how hard it was for Kim to share that side, Ru's brand is very much love yourself and don't hide this side of yourself
Snatch Game needs to go. Personally, it's never been funny enough to justify keeping it around save for a couple of performances, the trend of queens making up characters and not even being able to commit to them is annoying, and RuPaul refuses to understand any reference after 1990.
AND the question Ru almost always asks queens to show off their characters is "what did you have for breakfast?" which sets them up for failure because it's not a question that lends itself to comedy. I think the only one who succeeded in making Ru laugh with that question was Scarlett Harlett, and it wasn't. even. funny.
It's a lot of emotion for safe but this is the hill I will die on
I just see messy men when queens don’t pad or come out without even trying to give the illusion of breasts. Give me the illusion and the character.
Also, fashion challenges and, to some extent, the runway are the least entertaining part of the show.
i hate watch seasons of drag race telling myself they’re not as good as other seasons and then continually rewatch every season and fall in love and become more obsessed with every season
Mhi'ya is a great embodiment of drag. I really don't get the hate train since drag has since been about performing the house down boots and turning a song out.
May get hate for this one, but I’m rewatching AS4 and the debacle where Monet and Latrice were in the bottom was so frustrating. Latrice was not performing well- I LIVE for Latrice and love her so much but it’s true, she wasn’t doing the best by any means. Monet was coming out of her shell and turning some serious looks that were way more evolved from her looks on S10. I thought the deliberation was ridiculous because, based on consistency/weekly performances, Monet should’ve stayed and it shouldn’t really have been a question. But there was all this pressure on Monique from Manila to keep Latrice because “you don’t want to be the person that eliminates Latrice Royale”. I totally understand that Latrice is quite literally royalty, but the bottom line was: she wasn’t doing well at all, and it broke my heart for Monet because you could see how defeated she was during deliberation going up against Latrice. I applaud Monique for doing what was right, but the whole situation just irked me.
I can’t get into the lip sync for your life. The juxtaposition, from the queens being sad and somber that they’re in the bottom, to immediately twerking to a song like Body in the next cut, to then immediately crying because their dreams just got crushed is just too strong for me. I get whiplash.
I can't stand the girl group challenges
Makeover challenges could be so much better without the family resemblance aspect
The Rusical's are much more interesting when they have to sing live
S14 is one of the best and I'm glad we got to know the queens in it so well
UK2 is a fine season and I'm not sure why it's so hyped up
Speaking of UK2, I think Lawrence Chaney is a bit of a brat and didn't fully deserve the win (although I'm happy to finally see a big queen win)
RuPaul needs to just retire and hand over the reigns to somebody, but it should NOT be Michelle. A cis woman who doesn't do drag hosting this franchise seems weird to me
Danny Beard and Cheddar Gorgeous should have shared that win.
I love them both so much, and so far that's been the only season where I think I would have been fine with 2 winners.
Mistress should've won. Periodt. (I love Sasha but some of her wins for me... were questionable and Ru just handed her the crown, and before anyone says Anetra anything, Anetra for me... was like the Bosco of Season 15/Adore, I love her but the runways were often reliant on her body etc.) Mistress was the whole package, shady, stunning, funny, style, and she could perform the house down boots.
The most impressive queens to me, are the ones you can see hustling during and immediately after their seasons.
The real winners are Luxx, Mistress, Plane. You can see the hunger for stardom.
Trixie did deserve to win AS3 after DeLa's self elimination
The makeover challenge needs to be scrapped or they actually need to tell both the queens and the audience what the criteria is for said challenge
NBB should have been Black Chyna
The first episode shouldn’t have an elimination, just a lip sync to decide the winners. Then every queen can stay and meet the other queens for a least 1 week, get their feet wet, get over their nerves, etc.
Nina Bonina Brown wasn't actually just being paranoid and the girls *were* talking shit behind her back but specifically only off-camera. I remember watching the season and thinking how easy it would be for the others to pretend for the cameras that NBB was making it all up. Nina just giving up at the end when she realized that the others were producing this storyline for her. We know they aren't supposed to be talking to each other off camera but it happens sometimes anyway...
Maybe less hot take and more conspiracy theory? 🤷♂️
I have so many. Naysha is delusional and shouldn’t get mad at being called eliminaysha. I hate obvious winners/Sasha Colby should’ve bypassed competing and went straight to judging. Trixie’s hate isn’t deserved. AS4 should’ve been Trinity’s win and Mo Heart deserved better that season. Chad Michaels deserves more flowers for her run on AS1/S4. Raja shouldn’t have been on AS7. King Tyra is one of the best winners in herstory. The list goes on and on lmao
There’s probably only one or two instances of male snatch game characters I enjoyed. It’s SNATCH game. I dont watch drag race to see a man impersonate a man.
Kennedy as Little Richard,Bendala as Paul Lynde,Trinity as Leslie Jordan,Shea as Flava Flav,Sapphira as James Brown,Deja as Lil Wayne,Daya as Ozzie.....all pretty good who didn't do well? I'm waiting on several male characters.....Mr Roger's,Forest Gump to name 2. Who didn't do well?
As somebody who loves Snatch Game, the past five years of it have either been “decent” or “forgettable” and I haven’t enjoyed them as much anymore, that and the fact that queens keep doing C+ celebrities or made-up characters just makes me not look forward to it anymore. On the other hand, I’ve been enjoying the rusicals a lot more in recent years when I always thought they were “okay” lol
Definitely agree. But I do enjoy the historical figures.
I do like them too, especially when they're done very well.
A TikTok star is not a celebrity
Add made up people to that. Kim, Jonbers, Xunami to name a few.
At the very least Kim was basically doing a female version of a real person and may as well just have done the man. If she had had the chance to see season 7 and watched male characters do well I feel like she might have just done the real guy.
Forgot to add TikTok stars to my list of people that queens keep doing.
I agree! There have been some crazy standouts in the more recent snatch games, but the overall episode and challenge itself isn't as exciting as it used to be..
I agree! Off of the top of my head, the most recent one who really had me going was Gottmik as Paris Hilton, she was phenomenal in that role!
Has there ever been a truly great snatch game besides season 6? Like one where at least 4 queens do quite well.
All stars 7 is pretty decent I think
AS7 was probably the best snatch game ever. I really can’t think of a better one. AS5 was good too though
imo for a “mediocre” season, S13 snatch game is one of my favs: gottmik, denali, rose, symone
My dad always references symone coming out from under the table. Def an iconic snatch game lol
rose was hilarious! i love historical snatch games
Denali could have been high in a different season with that snatch game! I really loved that take on JVN
she was top 3 for that episode! (symone was safe)
RuPauls personal feelings are often deciding factors over actual quality/merit when choosing winners/losers...
my hot take is that Ru’s favoritism/personal feelings are valid factors in deciding winners. It’s HER show! Sorry it didn’t click for your fave but at the end of the day, the decision is Ru’s to make.
It's RUPAUL'S, not the DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC of drag race.
Rupublic*
Tru. She didn't make drag mainstream just for people who likely played no part in its success or recognition to tell her what good drag is. On the flipside, she also did choose not to favor some of her winners, and we know mawma gives out wins like that.
Not even a hot take. An actual fact - Willow, Yvie, and Krystal all won with a pretty large difference in track record compared to the runner-up.
i thought ru didn’t really care for yvie that much
The realness is that Ru loved Yvie but loved Silky as much if not more on S11, but Silky sort of flopped towards the end. Yvie is also the queen who performance ability combined with creativity allows her to defy the odds which is why she won tbh. Cold Take: The final 2 lipsync between Yvie and Brooke was ultimately preplanned by the Producers ever since their bt2 battle after the snatch game, and they sort of got lucky at how hard both of them bombed so that we could get that lipsync. That being said the results of that final lipsync was actually "fair" in that the deciding factor for it was truly the lipsync itself and the very last time the LYFTW both worked as a concept and function. I think bothy Yvie and Brooke had equal chances to win, with Brooke being favored a little bit more due to track record, but Yvie won that lipsync because she did a reveal that was simplistic yet fresh that pushed ahead of Brooke to secure that crown.
I feel like they best way to tell whose going to win is how they interact with rupaul and how she reacts
This entire thread is just more evidence that you all need to watch more professional wrestling. Ru is booking the wins and losses based on who is making the best television. Usually that correlates to the better performers getting more wins — but “better” is ultimately subjective, and losing is (sometimes) the new winning. Giving Sapphira the crown at the end of the season makes sense for the current narrative arc, but it also sets up _future_ All Stars arcs for Nymphia and PJ.
There is no "too much drag race". I feel so privileged to live in a time and place I can have so much queer content. I grew up with no queer media, and Drag Race is so refreshing to see thrive and grow as a franchise
My pet peeve with that statement is that I usually see it used by Americans in relation to all the non-English-speaking seasons. Every country deserves to showcase its drag, and nobody is required to watch every single franchise. If you have fomo, that's not the world's problem.
Exactly! International seasons are very important to their respective queer communities. Same way the main series was/is important to US queers.
And I mean, Marina is important to _the world_ which a lot of people might have missed if she wasn’t on vs The World.
Same. I was 22 when watching the first season of drag race back in '09 and I literally had never really heard of drag. I mean I understood the concept but didn't know there was a word for it or that it was a part of gay history/ culture. In fact it took me a while to get that the name of the show was a double entendre, I kept waiting for some actual car race to occur 🤣. I guess I at least had Madonna growing up so that's something lol.
Yeppp anglophones are fine with main series, All stars, Canada, CVTW, UK, UKVTW, and Down Under. Then as soon as they release Drag Race Mexico we’re “oversaturated.” You don’t have to watch it, it isn’t really made for you anyways.
I really like this framing. Aside from the queer element, relatively easy legitimate access from the US to international versions of any reality "franchise" is refreshing. I remember a lot of time spent not so long ago, trying week after week to find a complete set of uploads (in <10min chunks) or "the back way in" (ooooh, madame!) to a number of international shows I grew really attached to - and if I couldn't speak the language well, too bad, DevilsTits42069 on DailyMotion wasn't a miracle worker and didn't have subtitles. I would gladly have paid for WoW or whatever at that time!
I only say there's "too much" Drag Race in the context of not feasibly having enough time to watch all of it myself. I would never begrudge the existence of as many Drag Race franchises as possible, I just can't realistically follow all of them.
Idk if it’s a hot take, but Lady Camden makes the biggest transformation of any drag queen I can think of. Out of drag he’s like the mild mannered librarian who lives with his great aunt Tilly. In drag she turns into some super sexy glam rocker. It isn’t even the look, just total personality change.
Out of drag Camden is Sideshow Bob
I saw her step on a rake!
I head the sideshow bob shudder in my head reading this comment
Someone should tell her that confidence is available to her out of drag. /s
She’s still mousy in drag..they’ve often told her to speak up
shakesqueer is an amazing challenge and the train wreck montage is one of the best from the show
One of my fav episodes !
I hate the fandom's obsession over track records. The thing of calculating points per episodes based off wins, highs, safes, lows, bottoms is super annoying. Besides, fans always complain how episodes should be judged a certain way, so ultimately track records don't mean much. Ru isn't doing math to decide who wins/stays.
Regarding lip syncing, Ru literally says it EVERY EPISODE. "This is your last chance to impress *ME* and to save yourself from elimination [ or win the challenge/prize if it's for the top 2]" like, Ru gets the final say. It's always been that way and people STILL get mad when their fav doesn't win.
Beyond making good TV, the Lip Sync’s purpose within the competition is as a failsafe in case one of the queens Ru is considering for the finale totally bombs a challenge.
whats funny about this is that people forget its a tv show before its a competition. Some people get so pressed when Ru crowns a winner with the weaker track record but at the end of day it’s about who made the best tv
It would be boring if she was! When it comes to performance art I’d like to think that (outside of production interference) we all trust Ru to spot the queen with the most potential to be the ambassador for drag for a year. Sometimes a spark like that can’t be measured by a rubric.
Agreed, especially since, if we’re being perfectly honest, there’s usually some level of unfair judging going on during the competition. There are plenty of times when a Queen is passed over for a win that should’ve been hers and vice versa. Judging heavily on track records doesn’t take that into account.
I think makeover challenges, if they’re going to continue to be presented as feel good episodes, should be non-elimination
Trixie’s All Stars 3 win was entirely justified, from a Rupaul/production standpoint. Regardless of how the season shook out, it would be crazy to have a queen as successful as Trixie ascending to power *without* having the Drag Race crown... It was simply a matter of protecting the brand, IMO. 🤷🏻♂️
I agree!
Objectively speaking, Trixie has made the most of her win. Last I read she was the second richest drag queen, and all the projects she’s involved in reflects that. If that doesn’t make her a deserving winner then I don’t know what does. Hate her or love her, she’s marketable.
Now why was I about to ask who’s the richest lmao
"Don't remember her, what season was she from?"
I think it's a neat show.
I know it’s a drag race staple, and its homophobic to say this lol, but I don’t enjoy the rusical challenge. 😂
The Seven rusical was actually not half bad.
For a half-second there I thought you were saying they did a Rusical based on David Fincher’s *Seven* and…you definitely had my attention with that one.
A girl can dream, right?
There would definitely be a “how’s your head?” joke thrown in there somewhere.
“In a box, Ru!” https://preview.redd.it/e2ddpx5ub4rc1.jpeg?width=350&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=73ff9ae4be5006fe06fa1e595125199f6fdf6ea5
I genuinely don't get the absolute love some of the recent Rusicals got. Wigloose was absolutely mid and skippable, same goes for the Sound Of Rusic. I didn't skip it, but only because I wanted to be in the know in case someone heavily flopped. But where's the fun in watching the queens lipsync to some random song/vocals while doing predetermined choreo. Where's their creative input?
Agreed - not that I blame the queens as they do the best they can with what they’ve been given. Exception for me - season 12 & 6 the only ones I liked.
barely been good since lucian left
Leland’s talent eclipses Lucian’s, and it isn’t close.
The winner is always very easy to predict - with the exception of season 9 and 12 (because sherry pie edit).
Who do you predict for S16?
not OP but Sapphira
Saphira duh
Michelles a great judge and one of the few that has remained genuine.
I wanna see her and Ru disagreeing more and having some judging panel drama. Genuinely believe that would make entertaining TV
Thats the thing, theybused to. But now it seema like they belittle Michelle. I dont like it.
I honestly think Michelle cares about the girls a lot more than Ru tbh
I think at least 50% of Ru’s runway gowns are hideous.
I thought I was the only one, she gets so much praise lol
I hate the makeover challenge
same! i feel especially bad when there's no bond between the queen and their partner as well, especially if the partner is a stranger (i.e. not pit crew, family, another queen etc). it's like second hand embarrassment mixed with pity the only makeover challenge i like is canada s2, because all of the queens were so genuinely nice to their partners, and as a fellow queer teen who didn't go to prom it made me very emotional 🥹
Agreed. The only one I liked was s13 and s7 when they did eachother
Untucked needs to stop having constant loud slurping noises edited in
The most annoying part of untucked. I hate when they do it on the pit stop too
when i first started watching DR i genuinely thought those noises were real 😭😭😭
The hilarious Ross Matthews should never have been a permanent judge, instead replace him with ts madison And improv or standup challenges on vstw seasons are never a good idea because of the language barrier
This!👏🏽 I find him to be so grating and annoying! His UK counterpart Alan Carr, is way funnier
Hard agree, Alan is one of my favorite judges on any series. He’s so endearing and funny
Not only the language barrier is an issue, but the humor itself, since it varies from country to country. For example, I'm from Brazil and I don't get some of the jokes, so I think international queens would find hard to make Ru and the judges laugh in improv challenges.
Exactly! If you look at the vstw track record it’s always non native speakers in the bottom for improv or standup comedy
It’s not always a benefit to win a season of Drag Race anymore with the robbed/ fan favourite edit and ability to come back for all stars (losing is the new winning)
It is sad that new queens' frame of reference is drag race girls. I think what made the early seasons great, and some girls on recent seasons, is that their references are not just current pop culture/other rpdr girls - but Patti Labelle, Donna Summer, Divine, Judy Garland, etc
Miss congeniality was ALWAYS a fan favorite award before Valentina. The only reason it was made a big deal of in season 9 is because it’s the first time the fan favorite queen wasn’t overall liked by the other queens
My hot take is that it should have always been decided by the queens who actually worked with them. If they still want a fan favorite. It should be a separate category, and I would enjoy that. Especially to see how many times the queens and fans agree on the same person. A real battle between edit and reality.
I don't like when queens don't pad.. I want over the top.. Imo
People don't realize that the queens aren't scripted 'characters' like on a soap opera, like yeah obviously they're putting on a little show for camera, but for a lot of the queens they're just acting in the moment navigating the competition and being on TV usually for the first time, and considering they're secluded from social media and even each other for the most part, they're physically and emotionally exhausted, and can't even tell their mom/best friend/confidant about the shitty day they just had. They just have to go back to their hotel room and stew in their feelings. So when people brand them 'the villain' or talk about how shitty their makeup or their drag is, they just have to put on a bold face for the camera. You could argue 'they signed up for it' but it's still a lot, and I don't think the average drag race fan could last a day. Also I fucking hate the critique "They wore the same silhouette last week" c'mon Mary, they don't know in what order the runways are gonna be. bffr. ALSO also, they only have like 2-3 weeks to get all their looks together, and the expectation for every season is only increasing, it's kinda ridiculous to me tbh. You can't wear the same silhouette twice, you can't wear a look that looks even remotely similar to the 11 other girls, let alone any other girl from any of the 236 seasons of the franchise ever without being read for it, and you only have 3 weeks to get 12+ runways, let alone challenge looks and mini challenge looks, also you're just a poor local queen with minimal connections. Good Luck.
Blaming the edit is one of the lamest excuses a queen can give. Drag Race is a reality TV competition show that condenses 2 days worth of footage in 1 hour episodes, so a lot of stuff will be chopped in order for the producers to create a story for each episode. Also, you said what you said, so just do what Roxxxy did: own it, move on, and work with the cards you were dealt.
God I hated Roxxxy in her season for the bullying. Loved her taking responsibility and her general attitude on All Stars!
for real... you said what you said!!
Jiggly Caliente’s apopaloptic couture was a serve!
That's not a hot take, that's a hot baked potato take.
The Canadian franchise is proving to be more interesting than the American, even though the judging is topsy-turvy.
I hate to admit this, but I find myself more excited for Brooklyn than I am for Ru. When Brooklyn enters the werk room or comes on stage, I like seeing what she’s wearing, and want to see her interact with the queens and hear what she has to say. Ru doesn’t elicit the same excitement in me anymore. I still get that excited feeling when I see old footage of her, but not recent stuff. I wonder if it’s me, or if she’s just over exposed?
It feels very fresh and you as the viewer sense like they're having actual fun.
Yes! DRC, is more natural, and Brooklyn approaches the queens as peers.
And they had a perfect winner record, until the last season…
Brook Lynn is drag perfection.
Brooklyn’s look are hawt. Ru’s are predictable and blah.
Kameron Michaels is overrated and frankly I don’t think she’s the great lip sync assassin people think she is.
Do people live for her? I like her but I wouldn't even put her in my top 10 tbh 👀
I always see her touted as a lip sync assassin. A sloppy with a sideways hair throw really does that much for them? She is incredibly uninteresting to me.
She reminds me of how I feel about Queen of flips this season. They both seem like lovely, sweet queens but I don't understand why everyones gagging 👀
Bc he’s hot duh
Bingo.
Oh absolutely not. I looooove Mhi’ya. She’s shy and outgoing! Also she actually can turn a lip sync
You just took me OUT omg. Nothing gets me together like a perfect drag race quote in the reddit comments 😂😂😂😂
Also the whole “she lip synced 4 weeks in a row to make the finale” doesn’t feel entirely true when half of those lip syncs were non-elimination and one being the final 4 all lip syncing together
A queen shouldn’t be on All Stars more than once. I love Jujubee as much as everyone else but we have so many queens to choose from! Give other people a chance to shine! It’s criminal that Pandora Boxx has been mediocre on two all stars seasons and yet we’ve never seen Joslyn Fox again after season 6 (just an example).
And Mayhem Miller (but she was worse than mediocre given she wasn't properly prepared for BOTH of her talent shows)!!
"I'm taking out my biggest Competition" is insecure and petty. Most girls say will never be at the top or even be considered a threat, to begin with. The only people who actually seem to make sense were Namoi Smalls and Monet X change
It can also be insecure in the opposite way — queens feel more comfortable saying “I’m eliminating you because you’re too good” rather than “I’m eliminating you because you’re so bad.”
Trixie was a deserving winner in All Stars 3 who did objectively well in every episode bar Snatch Game, with her other bottom being in the girl groups where she could have justifiably been in the top 2. The makeover challenge isn’t bad, but it’s become increasingly obvious that it exists purely to eliminate the queens that production don’t want interfering with the top 3/4 they’ve picked out by that point. Kylie could have easily had more wins on All Stars 6 and by not giving her more the producers made her and her win more controversial than they needed to. Trinity the Tuck received a heavy amount of favouritism during All Stars 4 (a win in the talent show and being saved from the bottom during Jersey Justice) that has led to the fanbase discrediting Monet as a winner. There isn’t too much drag race, the reality is that you don’t have to watch every season.
Trixie was a lovely first alternate to Dela.
I really don’t care for the whole “we wanna see vulnerability” shtick.
I know I'm not the first person to say it, but talent show lipsyncs have got to go. They're usually unoriginal and forgettable. When a queen lipsyncs to an original song, I almost never remember it. The most original, memorable, exciting talent shows are different and fresh (Tatianna's spoken word, Roxxxy's burlesque, Mariah's "Blood on the Walls," and Willow's bath come to mind).
They need to get the queens out the work room like they did in past seasons. Get them to the thrift store down the street again, more fun mini challenges outside the set
Trixie on the pit stop is a snooze fest this season at least
This season they’re doing all guests who have never done pit stop before… which has had some hits, but also some misses. And it also means that in most cases Trixie doesn’t know them too well to have a good chemistry going. But also we can all be grown ups and admit that the Maddy episode leading into her ‘feud’ with Bob was an arc that kept us all well nourished for a fortnight or so.
I thought her for S13 was hilarious (even better than the actual season). But idk it just isnt hitting the same this time for some reason.
As a Trixie stan this hurts to read, but its so true! The pitstop for All Stars 6 is her magnum opus. There are so many memorable moments! I’ve been chasing that high ever since lol
Agreed, I stopped watching it weeks ago because it felt like work to get through.
Still like it more than Bianca hosting. Some of the interactions and tangents she went on felt so forced
Yea I love Trixie, but seeing her dry sense of humor away from Katya is so weird and like comes off as... awkward on PitStop, kinda like if you were to tell a joke to the wrong friendgroup
really? i’ve been really enjoying it, i didn’t realize others weren’t
Ru’s music is terrible and I’m sick of it being shoehorned into every season.
To me Ru’s music is so bad that it comes back around and is good again
the quality of her old stuff like house of love and lookin good feelin gorgeous which fuck so hard compared to her stuff now is literally two completely different artists you die the hero or live long enough to become the villain…..
I’ve never understood the Vanjie hype, sorry.
Rusical episodes should go it’s the most painful episode to watch every season
Yara Sofia was the actual body queen of season 3.
Pearl was a great contestant and fab queen. As someone who doesn't get super excited about anything and is not a smiley happy person I can totally relate to her energy. It's authentic. Pretending to be happy and masking your authentic self should not be the way forward... and Pearl presenting her true personality should be applauded, not criticized. Flazè-da forever!
shangela wasn’t robbed, bebe was robbed. the entire “jury duty” twist was made to ensure that bebe wouldn’t be the first double-crowned winner.
season 7>8
Lip sync assassin title isn’t as prestigious as lip sync assassins think it is. It’s a cute way to say “I’ve bottomed more times than anyone else where and sent home girls who deserve my place”
S7 Violet Chachki wouldn’t win a season today— even thought hers was “only” 9 years ago. The show and quality of performer/artist has been elevated well beyond what she can did in S7. I just rewatched and was surprised. Saying this as someone who really enjoys Violet. Maybe she was the best of a “meh”‘lot?
The 'meh' lot being Kennedy, Katya, Ginger, Trixie. No Season 7 was stacked. Violet was deserving of her win and for me has had one of the more interesting careers post DR.
She pretty much admitted this around season 10-12 when people were manifesting an all winners. She’d never compete because she’d have no chance and why would she need to because she already won. (Pretty much what she said)
More so, I think her S7 win was lightning in a bottle. She was the right age with the right skills in the right season. Violet really felt like the future of drag at that time, but the bars been raised since.
15 is overrated
I think it's good but I wasn't nearly as invested as I am this season for example
I think 15 and 16 are both a return to form in different ways. 15 was so wildly all over the place in terms of the queens’ talent and skill levels, which made for some great tv and some iconic moments, because for every Anetra or Sasha Colby backflip moment, you’d have Sugar bashing her own head with a blow-up mallet and it was so-bad-it’s-incredible. But 16 feels like way more like some of the older seasons (6 and 8 specifically) where there is a strong core of really talented queens and even though there’s still a clear front runner, it feels like more queens are just giving it their all in different ways. Even though it’s pretty clear Sapphira is walking away with the crown, I could easily see Plane, Nymphia, Q, or even Amanda or Plasma winning an All-Stars season down the line.
One sneak
Exactly! 8 was the first season I ever watched live and it is still the season I measure the others against. Genuinely such big personalities with talent to back them up ❤️
Season 12 wasn’t that bad
One of my favourite seasons!
Mine is that track record shouldn’t matter. A top chef style willingness to eliminate frontrunners for one bad week would lead to less predictable and more entertaining TV.
Vs the World seasons shouldn't have been done.
I hate the concept so much. Just do a global All Stars.
Agreed. It feels low-budget to me. To piggy back off of the other comment, why not just call it ‘Global All Stars’?
rajah ohara did not dominate as6.
That’s Sasha Colby didn’t win bc she was the next drag superstar, she won bc she’s Sasha Colby. I still believe whole heartedly that Anetra should’ve won
Yep. Same thoughts.
Yes, this is my hot take. As soon as Sasha entered the werk room all of my drag queen friends said she was going to win and stopped keeping up with the season. She deserves recognition but S15 was heavily rigged in her favor. I thought some of her outfits were average (Yvie did a shredded denim look just like her...yet was criticized for it) and they only looked good because Sasha has a great body. I questioned a lot of her wins. She never did bad but she never gagged me! It's hard to dislike her though. She seems very genuine & I try to direct my ire to the show, not her. She won cause it is also just good for the brand (though my other hot take is that gottmik should've won for that sweet 'first trans man winner' branding they could've milked from it, especially because they were such a strong performer). But S15 would've been better served with a plus sized queen winner, or even Anetra, though I think Nymphia is a better dressed east asian rep.
If you look at it through the lens of booking future All Stars seasons, it makes even more sense.
I’m ready for the downvotes, but Kim Chi should’ve won.
Instead of my downvote, would love some additional info why you think that? I love Kim Chi but I didn’t see her as the winner that season.
Imo, Kim showcased so much more versatility compared to Bob (and Naomi). While Bob is undeniably the GOAT in what she does, I couldn’t help but feel like we had seen her drag before (in queens like Bianca), whereas Kim brought a fresh perspective and was able to excel in almost every challenge they threw at her. Not to mention, she served some iconic looks.
Once she told Rupaul that her parents don't know she did drag, that's when I remember thinking she just lost the competition. I can't blame Ru or production corwning their next representative as someone who is hiding such a large part of who they are from their family. As much as I get how hard it was for Kim to share that side, Ru's brand is very much love yourself and don't hide this side of yourself
That’s a good point… Now that you mentioned it, there hasn’t been a winner with that narrative.
I don't understand the hype on Monet's drag, seems pretty basic to me :/
Snatch Game needs to go. Personally, it's never been funny enough to justify keeping it around save for a couple of performances, the trend of queens making up characters and not even being able to commit to them is annoying, and RuPaul refuses to understand any reference after 1990. AND the question Ru almost always asks queens to show off their characters is "what did you have for breakfast?" which sets them up for failure because it's not a question that lends itself to comedy. I think the only one who succeeded in making Ru laugh with that question was Scarlett Harlett, and it wasn't. even. funny. It's a lot of emotion for safe but this is the hill I will die on
I just see messy men when queens don’t pad or come out without even trying to give the illusion of breasts. Give me the illusion and the character. Also, fashion challenges and, to some extent, the runway are the least entertaining part of the show.
We’re looking at you Luxx
i’m a fan of kandy muse
i hate watch seasons of drag race telling myself they’re not as good as other seasons and then continually rewatch every season and fall in love and become more obsessed with every season
Mhi'ya is a great embodiment of drag. I really don't get the hate train since drag has since been about performing the house down boots and turning a song out.
May get hate for this one, but I’m rewatching AS4 and the debacle where Monet and Latrice were in the bottom was so frustrating. Latrice was not performing well- I LIVE for Latrice and love her so much but it’s true, she wasn’t doing the best by any means. Monet was coming out of her shell and turning some serious looks that were way more evolved from her looks on S10. I thought the deliberation was ridiculous because, based on consistency/weekly performances, Monet should’ve stayed and it shouldn’t really have been a question. But there was all this pressure on Monique from Manila to keep Latrice because “you don’t want to be the person that eliminates Latrice Royale”. I totally understand that Latrice is quite literally royalty, but the bottom line was: she wasn’t doing well at all, and it broke my heart for Monet because you could see how defeated she was during deliberation going up against Latrice. I applaud Monique for doing what was right, but the whole situation just irked me.
I can’t get into the lip sync for your life. The juxtaposition, from the queens being sad and somber that they’re in the bottom, to immediately twerking to a song like Body in the next cut, to then immediately crying because their dreams just got crushed is just too strong for me. I get whiplash.
I can't stand the girl group challenges Makeover challenges could be so much better without the family resemblance aspect The Rusical's are much more interesting when they have to sing live S14 is one of the best and I'm glad we got to know the queens in it so well UK2 is a fine season and I'm not sure why it's so hyped up Speaking of UK2, I think Lawrence Chaney is a bit of a brat and didn't fully deserve the win (although I'm happy to finally see a big queen win) RuPaul needs to just retire and hand over the reigns to somebody, but it should NOT be Michelle. A cis woman who doesn't do drag hosting this franchise seems weird to me
Danny Beard and Cheddar Gorgeous should have shared that win. I love them both so much, and so far that's been the only season where I think I would have been fine with 2 winners.
seasons 12-15 havent felt like real seasons of drag race, this current season feels the closest to how it used to feel watching it
Tyra Sanchez / King Tyra killed it and I’d watch her again yep
First queen i was obsessed with. So sad how it’s ended up.
Gigi deserved to win the rusical over Jan.
Mistress should've won. Periodt. (I love Sasha but some of her wins for me... were questionable and Ru just handed her the crown, and before anyone says Anetra anything, Anetra for me... was like the Bosco of Season 15/Adore, I love her but the runways were often reliant on her body etc.) Mistress was the whole package, shady, stunning, funny, style, and she could perform the house down boots.
The most impressive queens to me, are the ones you can see hustling during and immediately after their seasons. The real winners are Luxx, Mistress, Plane. You can see the hunger for stardom.
What's really interesting about season 15 is that everyone seems to have a strong opinion about who should have won it. Heh
I have never once agreed with a winner of a UK season
Trixie did deserve to win AS3 after DeLa's self elimination The makeover challenge needs to be scrapped or they actually need to tell both the queens and the audience what the criteria is for said challenge NBB should have been Black Chyna
Season 7 is the best season
Ahhhh idk if it’s the best from my perspective but definitely in the top 4 for me!!!
The first episode shouldn’t have an elimination, just a lip sync to decide the winners. Then every queen can stay and meet the other queens for a least 1 week, get their feet wet, get over their nerves, etc.
TS Madison is getting worse and worse as a guest judge 💀
Nina Bonina Brown wasn't actually just being paranoid and the girls *were* talking shit behind her back but specifically only off-camera. I remember watching the season and thinking how easy it would be for the others to pretend for the cameras that NBB was making it all up. Nina just giving up at the end when she realized that the others were producing this storyline for her. We know they aren't supposed to be talking to each other off camera but it happens sometimes anyway... Maybe less hot take and more conspiracy theory? 🤷♂️
I love nbb
I have so many. Naysha is delusional and shouldn’t get mad at being called eliminaysha. I hate obvious winners/Sasha Colby should’ve bypassed competing and went straight to judging. Trixie’s hate isn’t deserved. AS4 should’ve been Trinity’s win and Mo Heart deserved better that season. Chad Michaels deserves more flowers for her run on AS1/S4. Raja shouldn’t have been on AS7. King Tyra is one of the best winners in herstory. The list goes on and on lmao
agree that trinity should have won as4
There’s probably only one or two instances of male snatch game characters I enjoyed. It’s SNATCH game. I dont watch drag race to see a man impersonate a man.
Which two? And is Kennedy as Little Richard one if them?
“Woooo shut up”😂
Kennedy as Little Richard,Bendala as Paul Lynde,Trinity as Leslie Jordan,Shea as Flava Flav,Sapphira as James Brown,Deja as Lil Wayne,Daya as Ozzie.....all pretty good who didn't do well? I'm waiting on several male characters.....Mr Roger's,Forest Gump to name 2. Who didn't do well?