Anyone else got feelings about this last season of Ru Paul’s Drag Race? Yeah me neither.
Except! It’s been a bit of a roller coaster, hasn’t it? Explosive arguments, dubious ejections (imho), conversations about race, gay conversion therapy, more rows, tears and above all fierce as fuck looks across the board.
*Spoilers*
And now we have our Queen and I’m not that sad about it. Sure, Aquaria is young, thin and white with a privilege not all contestants can claim themselves but she’s been open and conscious of that – and she has werked her arse off consistently to the end. Man, her looks time after time have been rich and powerful, with a mind-blowing attention to detail.
Aquaria is super young but she’s incredible – can you even imagine what more time and experience will make of her? That said, I was sort of counting on Kameron Michaels for his incredible lip syncing talent. Plus, I kind of like the concept of a quiet queen smashing the competition.
In some way I was also rooting for Eureka, the big girl who has also been an incredibly strong contender. The only downside is that Eureka isn’t completely likable and at times I feel she isn’t genuine. Shock horror someone might be playing up the cameras, right? But I sometimes get a disingenuous vibe and it puts me off. I guess we’ll have to wait for a fat queen to boast the crown in the future, then.
If I’m completely honest, I wasn’t that fussed about who won this season, they were all deserving in their own ways – and Season 10 despite its drama wasn’t as exciting as past seasons. Which is a shame because there were some queens with real potential in the line up – Miz Cracker, Monét X Change to name a couple – I was seriously pissed when Miz Cracker was booted out but then again she didn’t always nail the performance she was going for.
I don’t know, really none of them had the spark I saw in Detox, Adore Delano or precious Kim Chi – and that’s okay. We’ve all got our favourites. That said there were some stand out elements and here are a few of my highlights:
All of Aquaria’s high fashion looks
It’s hard to pick a favourite because they all bang but I would say that the bone mask, the rainbow fur, the wrestler look and Aquaria’s oil slicked mermaid were my favourites.
Dill With It
In episode 5 Miz Cracker dressed up as Dr. Dill, a giant pickle to help cure Mayhem Miller’s picklephobia on the “Bossy Rossy Show”. It was sublime with perfect comic timing and in my eyes marked Cracker out as a real contender.
Butterfly-gate
The finale was fun and all but lovely Asia O’Hara really missed the mark with her dubious bra contraption. During the final lip sync for their life, she opened it out to release real butterflies into the open air. I’m not sure who green-lit an idea this dodgy but let’s just say it did not have the expected wow factor and many, many butterflies were crunched under foot by our queens. There’s a great reaction shot of Kameron processing what has just happened.
Oh, but apparently Asia donated a lot of money to a butterfly charity to make up for the faux pas, which is kind of cool, if a little too late.
The Reunion
Oooh gurl, the dramas! The Vixen stormed off set, Ru got shouty and Asia O’Hara went way up in my estimation when she showed really empathy for her sister (Vixen) – it was all popping off.
When Ru asked The Vixen and Eureka to open up about their dramatic fighting during the season, all hell broke loose, with The Vixen pondering why she was always been told how to react, while nobody got on Eureka’s case for the way she was acting. Which is a valid point. I’ve read a bit of backlash against the way Vixen has been portrayed and I’m inclined to agree. Asia’s call to help Vix rather than apportion blame fell on mostly deaf ears but she was pretty much the only person to speak up in her favour, and I loved her for it.
Oh, and lots of queens called Kameron out for being a snooty bitch. She did not like that one bit. LOL.
Mermaid Power
This was so relevant to my own interests because I was obsessed with mermaids as a kid – and none of the queens really let me down. Aquaria took hers to the next level but I also really enjoyed Kameron and Miz Cracker’s more girly traditional takes. Asian O’Hara’s fish face was also hysterical.
Twinning
Episode 11’s Double Trouble challenge was super fun and I can’t deny I was very partial to Eureka’s Divine/Clueless inspired double header.
Miss Vanjie!
The undeniable real winner of the entire season.
~
A Voluptuous Mind 
I LITERALLY found this season the dullest of all of them. I think we are beginning to see the queens who grew up with the show appearing on it, rather than the down and dirty, stripe earning club acts. Many of this season’s queens didn’t seem as honed as the previous queens who had to hone their art in a different time and culture, right in the pit of it. I miss the likes of Bianca and Chad and Latrice who didn’t have the show as a guidebook, but had to figure it all out for themselves.
LikeLike