RECAP: RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 17 FINALE
I have a feeling that if you hated the result of the Season 16 finale, you are going to be more open to the result of the Season 17 finale. Meanwhile, if you are a viewer who believes that the lipsynch for the crown really should determine who gets the crown, you’re probably going to be frustrated by this episode.
Overall I thought the Season 17 finale was…OK. I think the four finalists gave us good or better solo performances. I thought most of the runway looks were quite good. The interview bits are by now predictable and cliched, and I would strongly encourage the producers to consider if that format or those questions are giving the viewer anything interesting, because every one of those queens gave very rehearsed, very calculated answers and emotions. I thought the Liza Minnelli tribute was lovely, although some of the younger viewers at my viewing party wondered aloud when RuPaul was going to move beyond pop-culture references from 50 years ago (do not yell at me, I would personally never suggest that). The final lipsynch was not great, with one party completely shitting the bed IMO, and the other party giving us a much stronger performance even with less-than-successful reveals.
Below find my thoughts on RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 17 Finale, along with some general thoughts on the season as a whole. SPOILERS AHEAD!
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After a RuPaul number in which Ru moved more than I think she has in 10 years — and yet that mustached dancer still stole the show (and did in every number of the night; if anyone knows who he is, please drop a line) — we got our whole Season 17 cast back on the runway one last time. I won’t go over every queen, but I will say that many of them looked terrific, and standouts for me were Acacia Forgot (who I think was consistently done dirty by the show this season), Lydia Butthole Kollins (I feel like the execution is finally living up to the creativity), Lana J'a’Rae (the body stoning was absolutely stunning), and Suzie Toot (absolutely brilliant outfit, and Suzie was consistently conspicuous in the audience the entire episode; she’s a smart cookie).
Since we’re discussing the cast as a whole, I’ll jump ahead and talk about the crowning of Miss Congeniality, decided upon by the Season 17 queens via vote. Last season’s dual winners, Xunami Muse and Sapphira Cristal, were on hand to crown the new winner. I’m gonna be real honest here: I thought both those outfits were duds, Sapphira’s in particular. Xunami’s was OK overall but the detail on the back did not read at all. Sapphira, gal…what happened? I was gagged. As many viewers were when the Season 17 Miss Congeniality was declared to be Crystal Envy.
I think there are two elements at play in the confusion. First, Crystal was not portrayed as overly congenial on the show. I distinctly remember her telling one of the queens in the top in the Monopulence challenge that if she saw her dress on the rack she would “throw it in the garbage.” Harsh. Second, to the viewers at home, Crystal was barely a factor this season. She was a relatively early out and was never given much of a storyline whatosever.
But this is a great example of the edit vs. the reality. Because Crystal’s relationship to this cast was hugely different than what they showed us. After Crystal was eliminated, S17 queens posted about all the gifts she left for the remaining girls to help them win the crown. I believe she left every single girl still in the race specific items of her drag to help fill out what they’d brought from home. Additionally, Crystal was seen as a real threat by these girls, and her elimination was a shock. Crystal was Top 2 in Week 1 and was regularly in the Top 3 up until her unceremonious boot in her first Bottom 2 appearance. The edit downplayed most of her successes and didn’t really give the fandom a sense of who she was. I think that’s a big part of the disconnect with her winning Miss Congeniality.
Personally, I think Crystal is a good fit for Miss Congeniality. She was one of several queens this season who were getting pushed out the door the first chance they got, while other queens who performed less successfully were consistently protected. Besides, who else in this cast would you give Miss Congeniality (assuming the F4 were not in contention for it)? This was a cast of bitches. None of them were fully congenial the way that Xunami and Sapphira were.
Now let’s move into the main competition, which I will break down by segment — Runway Look, Solo Performance, Final Lipsynch (not counting interview portion, all of them were pretty evenly meh) — and ranking by most successful queen to least successful queen.
Final Runway
My Take: Jewels >>> Lexi > Onya > Sam
Let me be clear: nobody looked bad here. They all looked good, but some (one in particular) transcended to great.
Sam Star came out in yet another cowgirl extravaganza, just highly elevated. From a branding standpoint, this is smart for Sam. She has a lane, and she OWNS that lane. But from a viewer perspective, we have seen all of this from her before. It’s very predictable, and the point of a finale is to wow us. Sam’s last runway was less “Wow,” and more, “Oh.”
Onya Nurve did something super interesting and out of the box for her, with a garment that was highly sculptural, metallic, and felt almost like it was biological. Fascinating. This looked better in still photos than it did on the runway, where the skirt in particular moved awkwardly. Gorgeous and unexpected for Onya, but it felt a bit like it was wearing her, not the other way around.
Lexi Love gave us an elevated version of her entrance look, now refined to a level where I could literally see this walking in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Lexi looked beautiful, so soft, and so happy. It was very on brand for her, and it was expected. But the execution was pretty much flawless, even if the outfit itself lacked visual punch.
Jewels Sparkle absolutely nailed this final runway with one of the best garments of the season. This was princess fantasy, Cinderella Realness. She looked incredible. Literally 10/10, no notes.
Solo Performances
Lexi Love > Jewels Sparkle > Onya Nurve > Sam Star
I thought all of these were pretty solid, and a few of the songs were actually catchy. We know Onya and Sam could sing, but it wasn’t clear how Lexi and Jewels would acquit themselves on the vocals. All the queens should be proud of themselves for this segment.
Lexi again referenced her premiere episodes — I would argue her peak this entire season — with another rollerskating number, this one specifically referencing that she’s the “old” one. At age 33, mind you. While Lexi did not have the strongest lipsynch, nor connection in the face, she was doing a LOT in this number physically, as she was rollerskating all over the stage and engaging with all the male dancers. It was a great number and when it ended, all I could say was, “Lexi has literally everything she needs to be a superstar. Except confidence.” It was the same note she had been given most of the season, and it happens to be true. She has ALL the ingredients and this number proved it again.
Jewels kicked off the night with a fun physical comedy bit, very much in the vein of Sabrina Carpenter’s Grammy performance a few months back. That was smart on Jewels’ part. She has oodles of personality, and had she done the pretty-sexy pout thing, I don’t think she would have stood out the way she did here. She was such a delight, and I think Jewels — who is gorgeous, no doubt about it — should continue to lean into comedy. It’s where she, pardon the pun, really shines.
Onya’s number had the best vocal by a mile, and her easy charisma and star power was undeniable. It was probably the least impressive number from a dancing/choreography perspective, but she just owned that stage and that crowd. Onya is not thinking when she performs; she is simply performing, putting on a show, and making it very clear to the viewer that she’s got this, and you should sit back, relax, and be comfortable. That goes a long way in a season defined by younger queens who genuinely did not know what they were doing most of the time.
Sam Star’s performance was chock full of tricks and costume changes; unfortunately, I didn’t like any of the outfits — they were matronly, and that’s being polite — and it was all very pageant. That’s not a pejorative, but I don’t think Sam is fully connecting with the audience yet. She has flashes where she’s dialed in, but by and large this number felt hollow compared to the others.
Final Lispynch
After the solo numbers and the interviews, we got to the big stuff: a chop from Final 4 to Final 2. The queens moving on to the final task: Onya Nurve and Jewels Sparkles. I do think that was the right call. Onya has dominated this season. The only queens really close to her were Suzie — who was taken out at F5 — and Sam Star with 3 wins. Had Sam possibly performed more strongly in the finale, I could see her in the F2 with Onya. But that’s not what happened, and Sam was eliminated.
And then there’s Lexi, who I think had a relatively strong finale…but I don’t think that was enough to make up for her overall performance this season. I think Lexi showed up to this finale as a dead girl rolling, as her fan support had cratered after the first month of episodes. I understand that she’s a highly emotional person, I understand Drag Race is extremely stressful, and on more than one occasion, Lexi explained that she was on hormones, which meant it was even more of a rollercoaster. But you cannot have meltdowns episode after episode of this show and expect to win it. It just isn’t going to happen. Had she collected herself and rallied for a great run in the back half, that would have been an amazing underdog story. She just didn’t get there. It’s a shame. Lexi has literally everything she needs to not only win Drag Race, but to be a successful performer for years to come. She is so likable, is so charming, has the talent, has the look. She just needs to do a lot of self work and — as Ru says every episode — truly love herself. It is all there for her to access. She just has to make it happen. I think she can do it, and I look forward to seeing her back on All Stars. But hopefully after some intensive self care.
That left Onya Nurve and Jewels Sparkle in the Final 2. Onya dominated the season, winning 4 challenges and only truly flopping once (in the notoriously treacherous Makeover — although her Makeover truly was Bottom 2 worthy). Jewels has been consistently good all season, although she was frequently edged out for wins. But she smashed this finale, and I think that’s why she earned that spot in the Final 2. (I also think she has a better story than either Lexi or Sam, just my opinion.)
Going into the lipsynch to Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra,” I instantly thought it was Jewels’ to lose. We’ve seen her lipsynch before, and she moves like a dream. What we got was one of the most lopsided Final 2 lipsynchs in Drag Race history. Jewels completely outperformed Onya here, even after ditching her headpiece way too soon, deploying an underwhelming prop umbrella (you lugged that thing around for…that?), and then doing a dress reveal that was ultimately effective but took a while to get there. Even with all that, it was no contest, Jewels won this. Onya seemed uncomfortable and amateurish; I think we’ve only seen two lipsynchs by her, but this was easily her worst that we’ve seen. People at my viewing party straight-up wondered if Onya threw the lipsynch; it was that bad.
And yet, when the winner was announced, RuPaul gave it to Onya Nurve. The room I was in gasped at the decision. Most of us were #TeamOnya going into the episode, but the consensus was that Jewels had the stronger finale overall, and certainly the better lipsynch. If anyone wants to try to defend Onya as the better lipsynch, I would LOVE to hear it. But I truly do not think there can be an explanation, outside of, Jewels won the lipsynch, but Onya won the season.
Historically the show has been inconsistent on this. Let’s go back to Season 9, where Shea and Trinity Taylor came into the finale as the most likely winners based on track record, yet both were knocked out by better lipsynchs courtesy of Sasha Velour and Peppermint. In All Stars 7, it was apparent to pretty much everyone that Monet X-Change won that final lipsynch against Jinkx Monsoon, but Jinkx had the better season performance, by a significant margin, and was given the win. On Season 16, Sapphira was the most consistent challenge performer of the season, yet got outperformed in the last lipsynch by Nymphia Wind, and Nymphia won.
I think that last point is specifically why Onya won here. Having two seasons in a row where the super-strong African-American queen gets all the way to the end and loses via underwhelming final lipsynch is…not great. On the other hand, Jewels outperformed Onya so completely that we do need to acknowledge that the final lipsynch meant absolutely nothing here. And that’s ultimately an issue with the format, putting too much weight on that last live performance.
For my part, I am completely thrilled with an Onya win. I’ve been saying for months that she was the obvious person to crown, and sometimes it’s OK to give the crown to the person with the best overall track record. We don’t ALWAYS have to be contrarian/clever. Had Jewels pulled out a win tonight, I would have been ecstatic for her. I think she was brilliant in this finale and would have been a thrilling underdog victory. And we haven’t had a Latina winner in MORE THAN A DECADE (Bianca Del Rio), which is truly mindblowing at this point.
I hope we will see Jewels back in the future for All Stars, where I think she would do well. Meanwhile, I think Onya brings some new flavors to the winner’s circle, which I always like to see. She’s a vocalist, which we haven’t had in a while. She’s got a different vibe than any of our other African-American winners; she’s brassy and little bit crunchy, and I hope she never loses that. She is also a cook, so if I were her, I would focus on launching the first Drag Race cooking show and/or cookbooks. There’s a lot she can do, and I wish her only the best!
As for this season overall, looking back at the past five seasons, here would be my ranking: S16 > S14 > S17 > S15 >>> S13. As has been mentioned several times, great drama. Good television. Overall memorable queens, even if they weren’t particularly great at actual Drag Race.
Thanks for reading the blogs this season! We WILL be back for All Stars 10 — buckle up for THAT — although I’ll miss the first few episodes due to some very exciting projects. But we hope you’ll join us on this next ultra-messy excursion.
What did you think of the finale? What did you think of Season 17 overall? Let us know in the comments.
