Photo Credt: Vh1Get ready to dance along to Janet Jackson, learn a bit too much about the queens, and see butterflies in a totally different light, because the Drag Race finale was a rollercoaster.
Before we venture into spoiler territory, let’s go over the main details and unpack some general reactions. First things first: this was a long finale, with a full hour devoted to interviews with the queens that, frankly, felt like a waste of time. We’ve already gotten to know these queens, and the interviews failed to provide any new information about them – even though it was fun to see some of their friends and family members supporting them from the crowd.
This opening hour also gave Ru the chance to celebrate the fact that this was the tenth season of Drag Race, and she spent quite a bit of time with the original contestants from the show’s very first season. These moments were inserted into the episode at somewhat random moments, but they were charming. It would have been nice to see more queens from throughout the series’`AA“ whole run, however. So many drag legends had their careers start on Drag Race, but only a handful of queens made appearances during this episode. That being said, last year’s winner Sasha Velour had the look of the night, with a stunning body suit that was half-Old Testament, half anime villain. Her walk onstage was one of the night’s best moments.
But as uneven as the first hour may have been, all was forgiven once the lip syncing started. To say these last thirty minutes included gag worthy surprises is an understatement and, at least based on these final showdowns, it feels like the right queen was crowned at the end. Spoilers to follow…
As with last year’s finale, the final episode of Drag Race was a lip sync battle between the top four, with the queens facing off one-on-one until only one competitor remains standing. But how could this year’s queens ever live up to the high bar that Sasha Velour set with her iconic rose-petal wig reveal? Well, in the first round, Asia (a favorite-to-win) tried her best to shock the audience by pulling off her bra and gloves to reveal butterflies. The only problem? The butterflies were already dead! This led to a wholly surreal moment of reality television in which the crowd, Asia, and Kameron all slowly figured out that what was supposed to be a gag-worthy reveal had gone horribly wrong. On one hand, this was a sad footnote for Asia, who many thought would win tonight. But, on the other hand, it birthed some hilarious memes and became the most buzzed about moment of the season. Furthermore, Asia is still a fierce competitor; hopefully she’ll get a redemption arc on All Stars and truly rock our worlds again.
But the night’s other gag-worthy moment was when Ru decided to save both Eureka and Aquaria, who faced off in the finale’s second lip sync, to somewhat disappointing results. The two fierce queens, who many pegged as front-runners at the start of the season, sort of dropped the ball with their first challenge of the night, failing to deliver any memorable moments, and making their outfit reveals too early in the song.
That being said, saving them both proved to be a fun surprise, and lead to an exciting three-way lip sync between Kameron, Aquaria and Eureka. It must be said: Aquaria absolutely killed this final showdown. Her outfit was gorgeous, she pulled out a firecracker and two confetti cannons, knew all her lyrics, and completely obliterated her competition, so much so that the camera barely focused on Kameron and Eureka. Of course, having three queens compete resulted in some sloppy editing choices, but by the end of the song it was clear: Aquaria deserved the crown.
This was a peculiar season of Drag Race in that many of the queens were good, but many of the competitors who showed promise were eliminated prematurely. At first glance, the final four felt somewhat disappointing, especially since some of the season’s most memorable queens (The Vixen and Monet come to mind) were eliminated to minimal fanfare and, in the former’s case, surrounded by controversy. But it must be noted that Aquaria simply slayed tonight: her final look of the evening was stunning, and her last lip sync had so many theatrics it was impossible to not cheer for her.
Between this season and All Stars 3, Drag Race has been on our television screens for almost half the year now. It’s time for a break. At 90 minutes, this finale felt too long and repetitive, and the enthusiasm felt when Sasha Velour was crowned last June was missing from the air. This isn’t to suggest that RuPaul’s tenth season was bad, or that Aquaria was less deserving of the crown. This series is still a lot of fun, and its an important series overall, bringing queer culture to young LGBTQ+ viewers without a community in their hometown. But it is time for a short hiatus – this way, when Season 11 (or the rumored All Stars 4) starts, we can all watch with enthusiasm.
Overall rating: 7 out of 10
