RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars E1 - Let's Get All Star-ted
Saturday, August 27, 2016 at 4:00PM By Chris Feil
RuPaul is bringing back some of the biggest names in Drag Race herstory and honey she is not holding back.
The premiere of this new season of All Stars (let's full-stop forget the team-based first All-Stars existed, shall we?) is a new benchmark for the series, providing more drama and unexpected twists than ever before while still keeping the focus on the queens' personalities. Even the evolution of the contestants' personas provides some refreshing surprises with past villains like Phi Phi O'Hara and Roxxxy Andrews out to prove that they should be known for something more than their past bitchery. In fact, assumed early frontrunners took a back seat in this premiere in favor of the girls looking to battle perceptions on their way to the crown.
But Drag Race is quite eager to shake up the formula this season, something that the show desperately needs in order to raise the stakes on these powerhouses and to combat the diminishing returns of series staples like Snatch Game. And the first big twist is ruthless: the queens that perform best in the main challenge will Lipsync For Their Legacy, and the winner gets both $10,000 and the right to eliminate a queen. Oh, y'all wanted a twist? The genius here is that the very structure of the show is built to bring more drama.
The show is also here to give us what we want and give it to us now. The first mini-challenge was Reading is Fundamental (next week, we'll have Snatch Game) and the queens didn't hold back on the shade. This flagship challenge has felt more scripted in recent seasons, but since these queens have years of experience with one another they have much more to draw on from one another.
Best Read: Alaska - "Detox!... No really, I mean it. This is actually your intervention." (Though she also has an unaired doozy for Alyssa Edwards.)
The main challenge is a talent show allowing the girls to showcase whatever skill they choose. Many of them use it as an opportunity to show a side of themselves that they didn't have an opportunity to do on their original season, like Katya's gymnastics. One of the episode's highlights was Tatianna's wholy unexpected and hilarious kinky spoken word performance "The Same Parts". She gave us full Poonani Poets realness and made the case for her place in the competition even if some of you have forgotten about her. Especially after so many of the queens either bored and/or harmed us with singing routines, she was a refreshing standout.
Thankfully, the judges aren't holding back either. Michelle Visage prefaced the judging session by letting the girls know they will be rightfully under a harsher scrutiny, which Adore Delano took the hardest. Guest judge Raven-Simoné also made the case for being a permanent judge with spot-on evaluations of the girls and delicious facial expressions for the lackluster girls. Too bad the queens eliminating queens aspect is allowing Ru to take an even further backseat during judging.
Best Moment of Critique: Michelle Visage bemoaning Ginger Minj's outfit and resulting "Vag-edgy"
Michelle: "I couldn't stop staring at your vagina."Ginger: "Thank you."
Also adding to the drama is integrating the behind-the-scenes Untucked program into the main series. While Untucked has been intended as a fun bonus for the fans, it's been an essential part of seeing the contestants unpack the competition and reveal more of themselves. With the elimination shakeup, it also plays up the drama of the top girls deciding who they will eliminate. Roxxxy Andrews got to even show her softer side by taking each of the bottom girls aside and letting them hash it out while also lifting their spirits. She basically all but gave them a Tic-Tac lunch. In fact...
Episode MVP: Challenge winner Roxxxy Andrews - She's here to make up for her past behavior, and she's doing so with humility and complete sincerity. What we learned about her this episode (and it seems she's learned about herself) is that her viciousness was a distraction from her fabulous showmanship as a performer. That burlesque performance and Anita Baker wig? I mean, come on! Her smile is an infectious gift now that we get to see it.
Roxxxy rightfully eliminated Coco Montrese for her flat and uninspiring dance routine, proving that she's not here to be cutthroat. But wait, there are still more twists to come! In the final moments, Ru's video message to Coco showed there will be a revenge element for the eliminated queens still to come. Are they eliminated queens going to get to eliminate a queen themselves? Is it just a chance to return to the competition? Stay tuned.
Overall, this was the series' best premiere and one of its best episodes. As its profile continues to be on the rise, they've met the challenge to come back stronger than ever to win those new fans finally checking it out. If you thought a potential winner was obvious (they are just gunning for Katya and Alaska), the shakeups might even make this anyone's game. Here's my favorites from week 1:
- Katya
- Roxxxy Andrews
- Detox
- Alaska
- Tatianna
- Ginger Minj
- Alyssa Edwards
- Phi Phi O'Hara
- Coco Montrese OUT
- Adore Delano
Gif As Episode Grade:
How did you like the RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars premiere? Who are you rooting for?
Reader Comments (21)
OMG. I love the gif as episode grade. Brilliant.
your ranking though. Yikes with Adore in LAST place. Although i admit to being disappointed because i loved her so much on her season. I was so happy Roxxy won the challenge, though.
Best moment of entire show was the read of Roxxxy. "I think of you all the time, especially when i'm at the bus stop" LMFAO
katya laughing hysterically at her own joke (in that gif)? not cute.
like alyssa, she's a fun contestant I suppose (alyssa >>>> katya though), but not a great competitor, nor would be a deserving winner.
I love how much Michelle read for filth this episode, and Adore's fans are so butt-hurt on social media. Homegirl looked sloppy AF. This is shaping up to be the best season in years.
I understand both sides... it's All Stars 2 and Michelle was probably told by producers to be uber harsh. HOWEVER, that is Adore's drag style. While it may not be everyone's cup of tea, it has to be accepted as a valid form of drag. Especially being that this is All Stars, the queens should be allowed to shine for being exactly who they are and what allowed them to become stars. A lot of people feel that what Michelle did was bullying...I'm a bit torn as I said because I understand both sides, but when Adore said she didn't feel she belonged there, I got it. And totally thought she was gonna quit for two seconds lol.
I'm happy with who went home.
Also, I have a feeling that the power the eliminated queens will have is going to be voting for who wins.
Nathaniel - I do like Adore, but I'm very confused by her so far. She's not really motivated to win or stand out, and it's hard to be excited for her if she doesn't have a reason to be there
Marcelo - this will definitely be a tough season for someone like Alyssa who never did well in challenges and someone like Katya who isn't very competitive
Philip H. - what I think gets lost in the critique of Adore's aesthetic is that it's about execution not the aesthetic. She's not lazy because her style is grunge, it's that it's often incomplete or not thought through
Chris - that's fair.
I thought this was a good clip to watch on the topic: http://www.logotv.com/video-clips/doh70h/rupauls-all-stars-drag-race-adore-as-a-musician
Also, there's a lot of speculation that Michelle actually criticized Adore's music, which is what made her upset. And why many queens, including Katya, called it "bullying"
I feel like Adore lost a bit of her charisma from her season. Hopefully we'll get a redemption arc for her
I do think Michelle crossed the line. Her critique, as aired, focused exclusively on Adore's aesthetic value in a talent show challenge. Even if it's a trick of editing, that's not what the challenge was. It would be like saying someone was a terrible singer if they brought back the rap challenge or had terrible clothes on an acting challenge where the show costumed them. There's validity to the critique, but this was not the time to make that the only focus of the critique. Like, she focused on Ginger's fashion in the context of the performance. For Adore, it was fashion isolated from the performance.
ALASKA FOR THE WIN!!!!!!!!!!!! (if Katia wins, I ll be happy) & please Tiatiana as to go...like soon ...
This was a fantastic opener. I was a little down when I heard the cast announced, mostly because I really didn't care for Roxxxy or PhiPhi as the villains of their season and wasn't here for a rehash of the Coco/Alyssa feud. But then one episode in, Roxxxy and PhiPhi seem chastened (and Roxxxy killed it), and Coco is already gone. I wasn't necessarily rooting for Coco to go so early, because her lip syncs were outrageous, but we seem to have sidestepped all the things I was worried about. Full steam ahead!
Although Detox's hair??? It's very My Buddy. In a bad way.
1. alaska
2. katya
3. tatianna
4. detox
5. adore
6. and the rest
Chris is right. This is a drag competition first and foremost... Aesthetic is always going to be a major component, and she looked awful. In general I can't hang with drag fans who think the most important thing in a competition is being nice and fair. I feel like they need to be sent back to Drag Herstory 101.
Never really warmed to Roxxxy before, though I do like her a little bit more now. I don't get how she won really...she definitely was good but Katya, Alyssa, Alaska, or even Adore or Ginger showed more talent to me and should have been there along Tatianna.
BD - but I do think this is a TV show first, so it's not just about aesthetics. Story lines are built for a reason, and charisma/persona are also crucial. I wouldn't say she looked awful, especially because her entrance looks was fun.
Aesthetics may make people look at you but you need star power to keep their attention.
Santy C -- this is very true.
Adore herself said that she was going for punk. But that sparkly shift dress was Liza Minelli (the cinching comment was supposed to be a joke, I think). It really was about execution. And Michelle did compliment the hair.
Regardless, I'm all Alaska FTW this season.
I like Alaska but I hope this season isn't just a slow march to her coronation. I lost interest in last season... Bob was off-putting and his dominance was also... And unwarranted in my opinion. I think this time around I'm team Katya and team Alyssa. Absolutely changed my mind on Roxxxy after episode one. A well deserved win.
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