Start your engines. and may the best Season- Win!
Much to my absolute delight- Drag Race has become somewhat of a cultural phenomenon in recent years. It has both opened up conversation about LGBTQA+ culture, and brought mainstream attention to the art form that is drag, and is only continuing to grow as cultural attitudes are shifting to be more inclusive, and people are wanting to see more representation on screen. We really do have shows like Drag Race to thank for some of these changing opinions, and I can't wait to see the direction it might take the world entertainment in, in the future!
Being the cultural tor de force that it is, Drag Race has now had a lot of seasons! 13 seasons to date (June 2021) in its original cannon, as well as 5 (almost 6!) seasons of All Stars, and spin offs in Thailand, the UK, Holland, Canada, Spain and Australia!
So, for the purposes of this list we are just looking at the thirteen original RPDR seasons, and ranking them from WORST to BEST of all time (so far!). I will be looking separately at both All Stars and Spin Off seasons rankings in another future list- so be sure to look out for those if you are interested!
I also just want to make clear before we begin that I am not saying by any means that any seasons of RPDR are 'bad'. There are just some that possess even more Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve and Talent than others- and that is what we are looking at today.
13. Season 10
Judging by many other fan reactions, I'm not sure that the placement of this Season will be too much a surprise to most. While it did contain some of my favourite ever queens namely Monet, Monique, Dusty Ray Bottoms and Miz Cracker (and many other talented cast members besides them) these amazing queens sadly either didn't stick around long enough, or weren't featured enough to truly save this season from last place ranking. The main issue with the season- was the challenges. They just weren't very good. In fact, many of them are actually amongst the lowest ranked IMDB episodes of the entire show, which honestly sort of makes sense. The other issue with this season for me- was the clear bias. I am never a fan of when shows are clearly pushing for a certain person, or type of person to win. And unfortunately there was clearly a few queens being pushed towards that crown, who perhaps should have been judged a little more fairly throughout the competitions run. My final grievance with this series was incredibly toxic Eureka Vs The Vixen debacle. Which, the less said about the better honestly. But I think we can all agree that it was not pleasant, nor fun to watch.
12. Season 11
It is so difficult to rank these series, because every iteration of RPDR has its own special charm, and each is enjoyable to watch in a different way. However, each has to be placed, and the reason for Season 11's low placement is much the same as Season 10's. While I adore winner Yvie Oddly, and the cast contained some of the most talented queens we have ever seen, there was also a very obvious amount of favoritism going on... while we can all agree she is a beautiful and talented queen, this series did at a certain point become the Silky Nutmeg Ganache Show, to the detriment of showcasing other amazing queens. It was clear that the judges adored her, and this unfortunately led to a few notable occasions when lack lustre lip syncs and shoddy looks were ignored to push her further in the competition, when other queens did not get this same special treatment. To a slightly lesser extent, I also felt this favoritism extended a little to Vanjie. However, aside from this, the show again suffered from some slightly less exhilarating episode in its run, lets not forget the infamous 'Diva Worship' challenge... and yet again a slight undercurrent of bullying, which gave the season a slightly sour edge.
11. Season 7
Season 7 is a strange one for me. I have heard others online accuse this series of being 'boring' and having a less than stellar cast, but these are two claims that I actually completely disagree with. Lets not forget that this season had the debuts of both Trixie and Katya, among many others great queen. No, for me, the issue with this series lies again in the issue of favouritism, although this one is a little more complicated. Basically, it was made clear to us as the fans throughout the season that they were pushing for a younger, more fashion forward winner to try and appeal to a younger, and growing audience. This is pretty much confirmed when you look at the both the winner, and the top three. Pearl, for example had maybe the least impressive track record of any Top 3 queen before her. And many still find Violet winning over Ginger to be a little unfair to say the least.
10. Season 2
Season 2 was a real mixed bag for me. On the one hand the jump in production value from Season 1, and the fact that the show started really to come in to its own in terms of the way it would be formulated, was absolutely a huge point in the shows history. Add to that the fact that this season saw some of the most beloved and best queens of all time- including Jujubee, Raven and Tatianna, PLUS the first RPDR appearance of Shangela, and this season should be one of the top right? Well.. the problem here lies mainly with the Winner, one of the most controversial, if not the most of the entirety of Drag Race- Tyra Sanchez. Although most of the controversy surrounding Tyra did occur long after the show, many people felt that Tyra's win was a bit unjust at the time too. When considering the incredible competition she up against, and general bad attitude throughout the seasons run. The show was also still working out some kinks at this point too, so while the season is still great, there are also arguably better ones.
9. Season 12
This season sadly suffered through no real fault of its own, due to both controversy and the pandemic. We saw some incredible talent this Season from the incredible winner in Jaida Essence Hall, to the quirky awesomeness that was Crystal Method, the fashion of Gigi Goode, and adorableness of Heidi N' Closet. To name just a few! However, the Season had a dark cloud looming over it from pretty much week one as news of Sherry Pie's corruption surfaced. This was of course a horrendous revelation, and one which ultimately and very sadly doomed this particular cast of queens. The show did their best to edit out as much of Sherry's screen time as possible, but this was very hard to do completely, and left the show feeling very jolty and oddly paced. This poor cast of queens also had the pandemic to contend with- having the finale episode and final lip lyncs have to take place over Zoom. To their absolute credit, the cast absolutely took this in there stride however. I do think this season also suffered a little from fan fatigue... as there seemed to be no real change or development from the few series that had come before.
8. Season 13
This Season just gone, was such a welcome beam of light in what was otherwise a very dark start to the year. A lot of fans of complained about the length of this season, but quite honestly, I think I needed each and every episode to get me through the beginning of 2021. I also love really getting to know the queens, and I love that we got more time to do that before anyone was eliminated this season. We also saw one of the best winners of all time crowned in Symone, as well as some much needed representation (and drop dead gorge fashion) with Gottmik. One small gripe I had with the season was again, the obvious favouritism- this time with Kandy Muse. I like Kandy a lot, but I think we can agree there was more than one occasion this season where her staying was a little questionable. This season was overall good, and the queens all set a very high standard, but I think having to compete with Drag Race UK Season 2, which was just so enjoyable and fresh, made this season seem maybe a bit less exciting in comparison.
7. Season 1
Right back to where it all started... Season one may be best known for the Vaseline like filter, and the raw and unpolished set up, but what it should be known best for is the incredibly high calibre of queens. Bebe Zahara Benet, Nina Flowers (maybe my all time fave) and Ongina to name but a few. You also have what I think are some of the most iconic moments of the show EVER from Tammy Brown clapping back at Ru with 'I don't see you walking children in nature'; to Ongina's powerful 'Viva Glam' campaign video, to Shannel's ehm unusual take on Absolut's 'Miss Mandarin'. The budget may have been small, but the heart in this season was huge. It saddens me that this is known as 'the lost season' and that so many fans have not seen it! The show may have been working out its kinks, and had a long way to go before perfecting its formula, but it was still super enjoyable for what it was. Warts and all.
6. Season 3
This feel to me like the Season that Drag Race really started to find its feet. It is iconic for so many reasons, the main one being the insane amount of drama that went on in the werkroom. We saw for the first time the queens split into 'cliques' with the self proclaimed 'Heathers' which included Manila, Raja and Carmen, constantly battling it out against the group they not so affectionately named the 'Boogers'. I personally find this level of drama hard to deal with, especially when I felt queens I loved like Alexis, Shangela and Stacey were being picked on. But no-one can deny that it makes for very watchable TV. As well as the infamous rivalry's this season was chock full of other iconic moments like the now infamous moment when Mimi picked up India during their lip sync . Or Shangela's grand return to the competition in a giant box! In a very fashion heavy season we also got Raja as our winner, which felt only right given the sheer number of sewing challenges Season 3 had on offer.
5. Season 4
Speaking of drama- Season 4 may have been one of the most dramatic seasons in Drag Race herstory! The absolutely iconic Phi Phi v Sharon Needles showdown being probably the most memorable scene of the Season. This was also the first time we really saw the 'underdog' storyline play out on Drag Race, with the often overlooked Sharon overcoming many of her castmates negative opinions of her spooky aesthetic to win the crown. We also were introduced to some of the best loved queens of all time in this season, including the always perfect Chad Micheals and fan favourites Latrice Royale and Jiggly Caliente! Throw in Willam's scandalous disqualification, that snatch game and some of the most exciting challenges of all time- and you have an infinitely watchable Season.
4. Season 8
I love every single thing about this season. Not only does it have some of my all time favourite queens including the late, great Chi Chi Devayne, Bob The Drag Queen and Kim Chi- but it also has one of the most clear cut and undeniable wins in the history of the show. Bob was an utter tor de force throughout this seasons run, slaying pretty much every challenge in their way. I know some fans found this clear cut winner a less impactful winner story, but I personally loved Bob's unabashed talent being on full display as they dominated the competition. The season had great challenges too, with the 'Empire' challenge, and 'Pitch Perfect Parody' being real stand outs. The only thing wrong with this season was that it didn't last long enough! It being one of the shorter seasons of the show.
3. Season 9
I think the impact of this season can pretty much be summed up with that GIF of Sasha Velour performing 'So Emotional'. It was moving, shocking and so gosh darn entertaining. This Season had some incredibly strong challenges from the first challenge where the queens had to give us looks from their hometown, to the amazing '90210' parody, it was all just so much fun to watch. The season also introduced us to some incredibly iconic queens from the unparalleled Shea Coulee, to Trinity The Tuck, to the incredible make up artist that is Nina Bo Nina Brown, to Aja. We were certainly not in short supply of incredible queens in this Season! Shea and Sasha's friendship was so compelling to watch, especially in challenges when they got to work together- and really shone as a duo! We were also not in short supply of drama from Charlie Hides infamous lip sync, to Valentina's win as 'fan favourite' is one truly has it all. Including one of the most fabulous winners of all time, who literally epitomises 'Uniqueness' in Sasha Velour.
2. Season 5
Season 5 was another season where drama dominated- but in the best, and most outlandish ways imaginable. The clique narrative reared its head yet again in this one, with 'RoLaskaTox' pitting themselves against quirky underdog Jinkx. With mostly Roxxxy Andrews, frequently trying to undermine Jinkx Monsoon's drag. But Jinkxy really got the last laugh here, as she rose above the competition to reach the top two against RoLaska (minus the tox) to snatch the crown, all while remaining true to herself. Dominating in acting challenges, and not letting anything dampen her spirit. This seasons cast was incredibly strong however with queens like Roxxy and Detox dominating with their fashion, Alaska with her personality and sense of comedic timing, and queens like fan favourite Alyssa Edwards killing dance based challenges. Alyssa also has her own drama with Coco Montrese and their previous baggage being a major source of issues throughout the competition. This season managed to have all the drama, all the feels, all the quotable moments and more. Making it fully deserving of its high placement on this list!
1. Season 6
And so we have reached the pinnical of drag entertainment, the creme de la creme (or should that be Ben de la creme) of Ru Pauls Drag Race. It couldn't really be anything other- than Season 6! Season 6 was actually the first season I ever saw, so I might be little bit biased, but for me it is quintessential drag race. It is also the first series I recommend that new comers to the show watch. For me, it just perfectly encapsulates everything that Drag Race is, and should be. It just has this entirely wholesome and one of a kind feeling about it that I can't quite put in to words. By far, the funniest season of the show with both Bianca (and her trusty Rolodex of hate) and Adore constantly leaving us as the audience, as well as the judges, in hysterics. It also had seemingly the perfect blend of challenges, with no one category (acting, singing, sewing etc) dominating the season. This is all without mentioning the many, many iconic moments that this season brought us- I mean, how often do we now hear iconic quotes like 'Not Today Satan', or see references to Vivacious' disastrous entrance. For me- there is little more to say. Put simply- its Drag Race at its finest hour. So 'Come on Season 6, Lets Get Sickening! Yaaaaas'
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