Behold: the best episode of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars so far this season

As the competition enters its final stretch, a final top four has finally emerged. Jaida leads the pack with three stars, with Jinkx, Trinity, and Yvie following with two each. The remaining four queens have a star each. Of course, it must be qualified with the fact that Yvie and Jaida both benefited from a charity star, and Trinity, Jinkx, and The Vivienne, having suffered inopportune blocks, should have one additional star each. It suggests a tight race in which anything could happen, but Raja, Monét, and Shea should perhaps worry about their current placements. The math is too complicated for some of the queens and myself included, but it is clear anything could happen especially in a series that loves to throw in sudden twists.

The video message this week is full of sexual innuendos involving Santa, which suggests some sort of holiday theme. When RuPaul enters, Monét jokes about Halloween, as if she didn’t get the Christmas clues, and RuPaul hints that she may not be that far off. It turns out that the queens will be acting in “Santa’s School of Girls,” a Christmas movie crossed with a horror film in the vein of a high school comedy like Mean Girls. Considering it is an acting challenge, it feels clear from the start that Trinity wasted her block on Yvie and should have handed the plunger to Jinkx.

When the queens get to work, Trinity has them go over the script and let her know what parts they are interested in. It is full of teen archetypes, mostly inspired by Mean Girls, but also dipping into varied teen films like Never Been Kissed and The Craft. True to her word, Trinity does her best to match queens with their preferred roles. She gives precedent to The Vivienne, who helped Trinity out last challenge, in a reciprocal nod. While past seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race have amplified drama from casting of roles, this goes relatively smoothly until Monét and Jinkx lobby for the same part. An audition is preformed, which fills The Vivienne with glee, and while Raja, objectively, believes Jinkx should have the part, Trinity is bound by her alliance with Monét. In the end, the alliance wins out. Monét gets the part she wants and Jinkx is left with none of the top three roles she wanted. Though Trinity championed fairness, this also felt like good strategy that could hobble Jinkx a little in a challenge that is her forte.

The queens converse about their roles and their processes for a little while. They all seem to have a handle on the material. Satisfied with her part, Shea is slightly worried that by playing the straight role she may fade into the background, which has been a consistent concern for her since the first episode. Raja less bothered by her smaller part and wants to focus more on the look, which could backfire. Trinity approaches Jinkx with mea culpa, but Jinkx attests that she is not bitter and is taking this as a challenge to make a smaller part shine through.

They arrive on set to be greeted by RuPaul and Janicza Bravo, an A-list director known for Zola, surreal short films, and a delightful Instagram. In reality, Bravo turns out to be the MVP of the episode with concise direction and considered critiques. They should have given her a Legendary Legend Star. Every time she makes suggestions to the queens, they apply them, and it makes the scene better. The Vivienne has RuPaul laughing from the jump and even has to tell him to stop so she can get through the scene. Like the Mama Bear in the improv challenge, Shea has the thankless role of the straight woman, the Caddy, but her solid competent work allows the other queens to shine in their zaniness. Yvie, Jinkx, and Trinity in the respective roles of Regina George, Gretchen, and Karen, are decked out in the Christmas outfits from Mean Girls. This is media corporation synergy as it best with Paramount+ getting to cash in on a Paramount film. As the three begin, Bravo encourages them to present a more unified performance, which seems to clash with Jinkx’s approach to intensifying her role. Despite this, Jinkx adjusts quickly and becomes an ensemble player. Bravo works with them closely and we actually get to see how the relationship between actor and director can change and improve what is on the page. Bravo’s approach really impresses Yvie, in particular. Monét, Jaida, and Raja also work tremendously under Bravo’s careful direction. Without the standard edit of a queen forgetting lines, it’s difficult to ascertain who will be in the top. What really makes the episode work is that RuPaul and Bravo never resort to negative critiques, but rather offer constructive suggestions of how to improve the work. The season would work so much better if this mentality could be applied to the judging as well.

Back in the workroom, The Vivienne learns some American slang and dances with Jaida. They also compliment each other on their performances. Shea thinks The Vivienne did very well, Trinity earns praise, Monét is celebrated, and Raja is commended by her fellow queens. Without seeing the final product, it does seem like anyone could win this challenge, which makes for a compelling episode of Drag Race. The focus shifts from kudos to strategy again as the queens discuss their star count and the process of blocking with only a few more challenges ahead of them. Trinity points out that Jaida and Raja are the only queens who have not been blocked. Jaida retorts with a compelling and logical answer that it would be foolish to block her as she is in the lead and that the other queens should just acquiesce to her being in the top four and focus on blocking other queens. It’s funny because it makes some sense and seems to suggest that maybe Jaida may be the most strategic player of them all. With a little foreshadowing, Yvie warns that another twist could be coming. Another pair of charity stars could really upend the competition, just saying.

RuPaul enters the main stage in one of her best looks of the season, if not series. Donned in black, a color she doesn’t often wear, the sleek shimmer of the gown combined with the delicate draping creates such an alluring look. The red earrings that complement her red lips and the sexy voluminous up-do are ravishing. To complete the judging panel for the episode, there’s Michelle Visage, who offers a sexual Christmas joke Ross, who makes a Santa sugar daddy reference; and the amazing Janicza Bravo, who proclaims this her best Christmas yet (she’s Jewish). RuPaul announces the runway category as Knitty Knitty Bang Bang, nodding to the classic film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

This has to be one of the best runway categories in the history of the series. The Vivienne starts it off with an incredibly chic white gown. It is a cross between couture and a cozy blanket with a train to make Trinity jealous. The knitting needles in the towering up do give the perfect touch of whimsy to the sleek look. Shea leaves RuPaul and Bravo flabbergasted in her vibrant and impactful nod to the Ndebele tribe that manages to be both rooted in tradition and extraordinarily modern. It is another breathtakingly regal ensemble from Shea. Yvie’s deconstructed golden ombré look was quintessentially Yvie. The shaggy coat, open chest with two strategically placed balls of yarn, billowing pants combined with the mobile-like head piece, yarn wig, and even yarn inspired lips was perfection. Her attention to detail was spectacular and hearing it was self-made makes you think Yvie would win more design challenges if she was simply given more time. Jinkx presented one of her best looks ever, taking inspiration from Marlene Dietrich if Marlene Dietrich wore a knit gown. Perhaps not as directional as some of the other looks, it was still perfect and very Old-Hollywood glamour.

Trinity’s lavender leopard look, made by a fan, had a wonderful graphic element and felt like a better conceived version of her earlier pleather look. The leopard wig combined with the scarf-train and stuffed animal was a memorable ensemble. Monét also made the category work for her unique brand of drag. Sticking to the street wear signature she has refined over the years, Monét’s knitted puffer jacket and high waisted hot-pants fit like a glove. Her wig, knit bow in her hair, and little yarn puffs on her shoes were the perfect accessories. Jaida’s knitted jumpsuit and oversized scarf was adorable. The knitting needle shoulder detail was ornamental yet functional and the butt flap long johns was a sweet touch. Mimicking balls of yarn, the afro puffs on her wig were a stellar addition. The only hindrance to Jaida’s look: Her color combination was already seen on The Vivienne and Trinity beforehand. Raja’s golden knit look might have fallen to the same fate in comparison to Jinkx’s look if they weren’t so wildly different. Instead of Hollywood glamour, Raja went futuristic warrior meets ancient Amazon. The juxtapositions continued with the contrasting textures of the knit and the metallic accessories. It was a pleasure to see how each queen really took the prompt of knitwear and made it entirely their own.

When the final product is revealed, it quickly proves to be one of the best acting challenges in recent memory, if not the entire series. The cast is a fairly good group of actors, many of them having previously won acting challenges in past seasons. However, it is the writing that really sets this apart from past Drag Race acting challenges. This has a sustained narrative, clear reference points, and fully realized characters. Recent acting challenges have been a slog to get through, giving queens very little material to work with. But here, the writing and the apt direction give the queens a foundation to elevate their performances. It’s hard to pick a favorite part. The Vivienne’s Faye Dunaway meets Joan Crawford headmistress, Jinkx vocal fry turning demonic, Monét’s death scene…. Perhaps it was the visual jokes like the red herring or Jinkx dancing while dead in the final musical moment. The way it blended horror with Christmas and Mean Girls only to devolve into an Scooby Doo ending was great. Jinkx’s charging the camera at the end was the cherry on top of an epic challenge.

With everyone doing well and excelling on the runway, the judges lack of criticism actually felt entirely just. The judging should actually be commended this week as well. It went beyond platitudes and inane comments about being fierce and the like. The judges had thoughtful praise for each contestant that showed they were really paying attention to every part of their performance and detail of their look. It really did feel like an episode in which any of them could have won. With so many options, the judges eventually declare The Vivienne and Raja as the winners of the week.

Raja and The Vivienne perform to Rick James’ “Super Freak.” What a treat to get this song after such a tremendous main challenge and runway. Both give a great performance, but Raja is the first to earn a laugh when she suggests that The Vivienne is just “alright.” Perhaps The Vivienne relied on one too many gimmicks after her xylophone performance earlier in the season. The wet T-shirt contest, the arm pit lick after Trinity’s rimming moment last week, the air saxophone, also utilized by Raja, and a misfire of a cartwheel…it was all a little chaotic. Raja’s rendition, rather, was controlled and fully realized. Perhaps it was The Vivienne’s fatal error of combining water and a cartwheel on the slick runway that was her undoing, as she nearly fell over. Despite saving herself from disaster, The Vivienne is unable to fend off Raja, who is declared the ultimate winner. Raja was also enjoyable as someone who fully relished the opportunity to block one of her fellow queens. While some queens take the blocking as a dreaded obligation and don’t wish to upset other queens, Raja’s ruthlessness was refreshing and delightfully diabolical. She really knows how to produce interesting reality television. She also makes a fairly standard choice to block Jaida, who is clearly leading the competition as the only queen with three Legendary Legend Stars. With five queens (Jinkx, Yvie, The Vivienne, Trinity, and Raja) all tied for second place, it will be interesting to see if Jaida can maintain her lead—and if Shea and Monét can catch up next week.

Stray observations

• It’s interesting how the winner from last week is getting small advantages now. The Vivienne got to select the first Legendary Legend Look and then pick the next contestant. Trinity got to select roles this week. Yet, after being blocked, Monét was given the power to select the lineup for the Drag-uation speeches.
• Janicza Bravo is one of the best guest judges in the history of the show.
• Personal top two performances this week: Jinkx and The Vivienne.
• Personal top two runways: The Vivienne and Yvie.
• Shea did such a good job with a somewhat boring role.
• This challenge made me want to revisit The Blackcoat’s Daughter with Keirnan Shipka and Emma Roberts.
• Keirnan Shipka should be a guest judge with Christina Hendricks or January Jones in a Mad Men themed acting challenge called Mad Women.
• Considering Bravo cast Drag Race guest judge Ts Madison in Zola, maybe Monét can get a part in her next film.