RuPaul's Drag Race season 15 finale: an unsurprising but satisfying conclusion

Always a highly choreographed production, the finale of RuPaul’s Drag Race is full of spectacle, heart, and politics. This season’s finale differs from most due to the hostile political climate across the country concerning drag and queer rights. “Drag is not a crime,” infuses the entire episode from Aura’s fan to RuPaul’s lips, and makes the franchise an important voice in this battle. They even highlight local queer bars in states like Tennessee, Texas, and Kentucky where these anti-drag and anti-trans laws are most advanced.

The pageantry and spectacle launches from the start as each queen of Season 14 struts down the stage in a final look. Far too many ensembles to unpack here, each queen looks their all-time best tonight. As for the final four, they unveil their first of many looks for the evening. Anetra continues her brand of warrior drag while paying homage to her Asian heritage. Luxx sets herself apart from her contemporaries with a fashion-forward pink feathered dress. Mistress is the epitome of high glamor Texas drag in a red-orange liquid gown. Finally, Sasah stuns in a crystallized red dandy look complete with top hat that oozes sex appeal.

While the focus of the finale is the final performances of the Top 4, the show manages to fill time with entertainment segments ranging from a tribute to legendary designer Bob Mackie and a Chicago number and interview with All Stars 7 winner Jinkx Monsoon a decade after she won her first season of Drag Race. Other crowned queens return as well. Season 14 winner Willow Pill in a stunning cherry blossom inspired look concludes her reign with an irreverent middle finger to the audience. Last season’s Miss Congeniality Kornbread performs an original rap celebrating the queens of Season 15 before announcing Malaysia BabyDoll Foxx as the new reigning Miss Congeniality.

The remaining moments highlight drag as a political act. An edited video reciting the constitution and asserting that queer people are deserving of human rights, despite the efforts of ignorant politicians and their supporters. Echoing those sentiments, RuPaul invites composer Leland and queer musician Orville Peck to perform “Drag is a Protest” from this season’s rusical Wigloose with the cast of Season 15. Continuing from the reunion, Drag Race continues to spotlight the ACLU’ Drag Defense Fund as a way to fight against discrimination and support impending legal battles. The finale became not only a celebration of drag and Season 15, but a much needed protest against hatred and discrimination.

Between these moments, the Top 4 perform for the final time. Alphabetically, Anetra, Luxx, Mistress, and Sasha run the gauntlet in a final pageant consisting of a video package, photoshoot, performance, and interview in order to advance to the final lip sync for the crown.

Anetra

The video package for Anetra balances her powerhouse performance style with her personal perseverance through drag. She speaks about the power of drag and the support of her father, who figures greatly into her after-performance interview. She illuminates the inspiration of her original song and the meaning of the lotus flower to her. It’s a fitting theme considering she paid homage to the lotus in her “Rip Her to Shreds” runway and how many times the word “blossom” was used to describe her journey in the competition.

The lotus was central to her performance look with the flower embellishing her white bodysuit. The performance is polished but has a disconnect from her time on drag race. A very sincere number, the performance might benefit from the addition of more stunts or humor, which defined Anetra’s time on Drag Race. No martial arts, few stunts, no duckwalking or real voguing, the performance does not really live up to any of the lip syncs Anetra performed during the regular season.

Luxx Noir London

Luxx’s video package highlights that confidence is a key to success but not immune to attack. Addressing the inevitable backlash against her via social media, Luxx defiant poise shines through. It all proves to be genetic during the interview when Luxx’s mother gets to speak. Like Anetra, Luxx also shows emotion and vulnerability, a prerequisite for winning the crown.

A self-professed and proven look-queen, Luxx’s performance number centers on fashion. Slightly more superficial than Anetra’s song, it is catchy. Her crystal studded red jumpsuit conceals an impressive tearaway. The reveal, combined with a lifted flip, makes Luxx’s performance stuntier than Anetra’s, which is saying something. The real moment that Luxx cements her claim to be America’s Next Drag Superstar is her wink at the close of the number.

Mistress Isabelle Brooks

With confidence rural to Luxx, Mistress’s segment was all about outspokenness and authenticity. She reiterates the importance of representation and drag family, and in typically Mistress fashion, manages to sneak in a slight at Loosey. Despite her young age, Mistress is a worth ambassador of old school drag and a champion for continuing that art form into the next generation.

More than Anetra or Luxx, Mistress shrewdly ties her performance number to her time on Drag Race. Building a song around one of her most infectious catchphrases, “drag delusion,” Mistress’ number is a lesson in branding. As a sexy nurse clad in white latex, Mistress gives an impressive performance. Starting alone is impactful, and her use of dancers and props make for a memorable number. The highlights include her lifted split, rivaling Luxx’s lifted flip, and the syringes squirting glitter at the close. It feels like the second best performance of the night, and judging from Mistresses face throughout the night, she agrees. As far as Mistress and Luxx not advancing, its the double edge sword of being such great reality television. They are destined for All Stars.

Sasha Colby

Like Mistress, Sasha is a student of old school pageant drag. As a former Miss Continental, Sasha knows her way around a pageant. As a result, her package is the cleanest of all the queens. Her interview has such an ease about it and shows that her great success this season is not luck, but rather the result of being a seasoned queen how has studied the art of drag for decades.

Sasha’s performance manages to combine darkness with divinity with a Medusa-inspired number. She nearly wins from her entrance as she is carried in by dancers as a snake and revealed into a Goddess. She demonstrates her proven command of the stage and her dancers. She has such a connection with the dancers on stage, which is conveyed when they latch onto her braided locks that mimic the snakes of Medusa’s hair. It’s a perfect performance that earns her entry into the final two.

Lip sync for the crown

A rematch of sorts, Anetra and Sasha already faced off earlier in the season during the LalapaRuza, in which Sasha came out victorious. Perhaps the second-best lip sync of the season, both Anetra and Sasha have proven to be electric performers, creating high expectations for the lip sync for the crown. Performing to Amii Stewart’s rendition of “Knock on Wood,” both performers give exceptional performances. However, something is missing and despite the stakes of this particular lip sync, it does not match the intensity of their previous match up.

Anetra comes out in a bejeweled nude bodysuit emphasizing a crystalized heart. The contrast of white and red works well on stage. Sasha makes a dramatic entrance in a gargantuan black goat that she quickly sheds at the start of the song. She later unveils a barely-there bedazzled bikini through an innovative zipper reveal. However, the key Sasha moment is when she turns her up do into the signature Sasha high ponytail that she whips around the stage. Anetra saves her own reveal for later when she removes the heart creating a long red ribbon that she swirls around. Each queen hits each beat of the song, but something about the lip sync just fails to lift off completely.

Perhaps it is just the high expectations of these two queens performing in the finale or possibly “Knock on Wood” is not the right song for them. In reality, it might have nothing to do with the queens. Something about the edit feels clunky and off. While the camera caught Aentra’s reveal perfectly, it seems unprepared for each of Sasha’s reveals. It’s also possible that Sasha is struggling a little with each reveal. Each lip sync is a difficult event to capture, the camera like the eye can only focus on one thing at a time. However, the edit of this performance feels oddly disconnected. Besides a few wide shots, it almost feels as if Anetra and Sasha are performing on different stages at different times. There is an absence of synergy that made their first lip sync together so magical.

Despite the technical flaws, both queens deliver and feel evenly matched overall. The ultimate winner feels predestined from the first episode when Sasha Colby finally walked into the werkroom. As a result, the finale feels both inevitable (in a good way) and anti-climactic (in a bad way). Sasha Colby earning the title of “America’s Next Drag Superstar” is almost antiquated considering she’s been a superstar for decades. However, her winning the title feels absolutely right and it is magnificent that she is expanding her audience.

Stray observations:

• Everyone looked great during the runway, but favorites have to be Irene, Robin, and Salina.
• Loved Aura’s message, hated the font.
• Were the people in the bars watching when the filmed last week or tonight?
• Could have done without the judges perfunctory comments after each performance.
• When they announced the Bob Mackie tribute, I was worried he had passed away.
• Best part of Luxx’s performance was when she said “Thread Count.”
• Spice wins for best seat in the theater. She got so much screen time next to everyone’s special guests.
• Mistress looked pissed off.
• Sugar wasn’t even trying to mouth the words to “Drag is a Protest.”
• Finally, Marcia gets to be a part of the rusical!
• Best moment was Salina looking at Willow’s ass.
• Marcia looks so hopeful watching Broadway queen Jinkx sing.
• Final thought of the season: Chevelle Brooks for Season 16?!?