The Film Experience

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?