This fall, the second season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars” premiered, and it has been capturing the attention of a dedicated audience for the past four weeks. Unlike the usual seasons of “Drag Race,” “All Stars” brings back the favorites from previous seasons and has them compete for the title of “All Star.” This edition of “All Stars” has drag queens from a variety of seasons, including Tatianna from season two and more recent contestants like Katya and Ginger from season seven. With “All Stars,” the queens have the unique opportunity to show the audience who they are again and have the chance to redeem themselves after their previous appearance. Now, with five drag queens already sent home in the competition the season is kicking it into high gear and it is every queen for herself. Here are some aspects of the show that make it must watch television.
1. The Drama
Season two started off with high drama and lots of emotion after season six competitor Adore Delano makes the decision to send herself home. After an emotional critique from the judges, Delano makes the decision to head home on her own. Later on in episode three, Alyssa Edwards, who originally walked the runway in season five, created some drama after switching up the original plan for elimination. When she season began, RuPaul told the queens that they would be the ones sending the other drag queens home, after discussing it together. The drag queens decided that they would send home the queen who received the more serious critiques from the judges for their runway outfits and the week’s challenge. When Alyssa Edwards won the lip synch challenge and got to choose who went home, she took the previous week’s performance into consideration and chose to send Ginger home, even though Katya had received harsher critiques.
2. The Queens
Since we have already seen these drag queens in action before, they no longer have anything to prove, so they can let their freak flags fly. Each Drag queen has their own fun style, like Phi Phi O’Hara’s comic book inspired fashion or Alaska’s trashy elegance.
3. The Fashion
This season, the runway challenges have got the drag queens testing their limits and creating some really creative and interesting looks. On the second episode of the season, the runway outfits were created out of latex and rubbery fabrics. One of the winners of the challenge, Alaska, wore a fashionable latex dress, similar to something that would be worn by Posh Spice, with long black gloves. She topped off the look with a sleek bob and stunning eye make up.
4. The Challenges
This season, the different challenges performed by the queens has definitely been one of the highlights of the season. The challenges that have taken place so far include a talent show, a round of “Snatch Game,” drag race’s version of “The Match Game,” where the drag queens impersonate different celebrities. One of the celebrities included Ariana Grande, who was impersonated by Tatianna. The most recent challenge was the drag movie “shequels,” where the drag queens acted out the sequels to popular films, like “Thelma and Louise,” and “Showgirls.” The drag queens also got the chance to showcase their talents in a challenge where the portrayed famous women from history, like Annie Oakley and Helen of Troy.
5. The Eliminations
When RuPaul announced that the drag queens were going to eliminate each other this season, this was a shock to the contestants and the audience, because it is usually the judges and RuPaul who decide to send the drag queens home. Since "All Stars" features drag queens from previous seasons, there is a good chance that many of these queens have worked together and have formed some friendships. Sending your friend home during the middle of a competition can be tough, and this was seen during this weeks elimination when Alaska emotionally announced that Alyssa Edwards was the drag queen sent home. Even though these eliminations have been difficult, with Coco Montrese, Tatianna, Ginger and Alyssa Edwards now out of the competition, the show has been finding new ways to keep the audience at the edge of their seats. After the past three eliminations, the drag queens have walked off set to write their signing off message to the other queens. Before they get the chance to mope about their departure, RuPaul pops up on a near by TV screen and lets the eliminated queen know that she still has the chance for “revenge.” At the end of the most recent episode, the eliminated contestants returned and are now ready for this chance at revenge that they have been given.
With the anticipation over finding out what the “revenge” for the eliminated drag queens is, and the nonstop entertainment with the challenges, drama and fashion, the second season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars,” is turning out to be one of the best seasons of the show so far.
