‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 10’ delivers a wildly entertaining finale—after a waste-of-time semifinals

Years from now, historians will still be seeking the answer to an important question: What the hell was RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 10 doing when they conceptualized the semifinals portion of this season?

Seriously, what was this? With only two episodes before the finale—owing to Paramount’s standard 12-episode order—All Stars 10 would need to pull off some pretty drastic moves to get the massive nine-queen merged cast winnowed down for the finale. Ideas of concepts abound: With a wildcard queen still to be added, perhaps the show would continue the points system, ultimately only sending three queens on to the finale to be joined by the wildcard? Would there be triple eliminations in the crucial Snatch Game and Talent Show episodes that, yes, would be brutal, but would signify just how critical this juncture of this competition would be?

Or would they just have two standard episodes of Drag Race, complete with Lip Syncs for Your Life, eliminate one queen an episode and then have an eight-queen LaLaPaRuZa? The fact that the producers went with this plan, after advancing three queens out of each bracket, is absurd. It meant that nearly half the cast made the finale, and the top four—usually a halcyon placement on Drag Race—only existed for about five minutes in the middle of the episode. Congratulations on making the final four, Lydia B Kollins! Okay, bye!

My editor here at Xtra and I were emailing about something else the other day, before this finale aired, and he told me he was “looking forward to you making sense of the last stretch of this Drag Race season.” I responded as honestly as I could, and as I’ll say to you now: I don’t think there’s any sense to be made of the semifinals of All Stars 10. I think it was a failure of production and game theory that threatened to sink this whole season. And it is a testament to the strength of this cast that, against all odds, we got as entertaining a finale as we did despite all that.

There was basically one story of the semifinals: Mistress Isabelle Brooks’ grand flame-out. After being the biggest character of any of the brackets, Mistress came in with a lot of hype. She immediately got to work annoying Ginger Minj, this season’s frontrunner, and generally caused her signature chaos. But absolutely bombing as Natalie Nunn in Snatch Game threw her off her game, to the point where she was eerily silent during the next episode’s cold open, all but calling out that Ginger was certainly going to win the whole thing. (It was very much giving Mariah Paris Balenciaga writing “Condragulations Raja” in her mirror message.) She recovered a bit, but then acted weird as hell to Aja, and generally made everyone uncomfortable.

Mistress and Aja seem fine now, so there’s clearly no bad blood. But nonetheless, the stage was set for the semifinals to be Mistress’ downfall. She landed in the bottom two once again after the talent show, lost a lip sync to adopted drag daughter Lydia B Kollins and was eliminated. What a bummer outcome after such a dominant performance this season—not in the competition, but as a reality TV character.

The problem with this laser-focus on Mistress in the semifinals is twofold. For one, Mistress ultimately was not chosen to return as the wildcard queen, despite Ross Mathews’ best efforts. (Kerri Colby returned instead, which I would generally call “a waste of everyone’s time” despite her solid lip sync.”) So much time and energy was spent on a character who could no longer win the season. For the other, the last two episodes were crucial for building up winners’ edits for the queens still in the competition. So much energy was spent on Mistress that even though Ginger and Bosco won challenges, their characters didn’t develop much. Yes, they were contenders to win, but that was because of how they were handled in their brackets. Nothing new came of the semifinals.

And so we arrive at the finale, which I would call a small miracle of a TV episode. I’m seeing a lot of disgruntled discussion online about it already, saying that the lip sync results didn’t matter and Ginger and Jorgeous were always going to be the top two. I’d quibble in at least Jorgeous’ case—I would argue she received no substantial winner’s edit this season, even compared to her competitors—but I also don’t think it matters. If Ginger was always going to win this season, as fans claimed all season long, then the point of this finale was not to surprise. The point was to entertain. And across seven lip sync battles, these queens entertained.

This has not been a great season for lip syncs, but we got several epic performances in this set. Ginger and Kerri were both great on Lady Gaga’s “Disease.” Lydia was fantastic on Kesha’s “JOYRIDE.” Aja and Jorgeous appropriately turned the party on Natalie Cole’s “Party Lights.” (That one’s my pick for best single battle of the episode.) Bosco devoured “Show Me How You Burlesque” from Burlesque. Jorgeous vs. Lydia on Shakira’s “Whenever, Wherever” was, as Jorgeous put it, a true battle of mommy’s favourites. And the final lip sync, to The Weather Girls’ “It’s Raining Men,” was the best final lip sync since … Nymphia Wind and Sapphira Cristál’s in Season 16? Honestly, I’d maybe go back further, to the All Stars 6 finalists’ “Stupid Love.” Both Ginger and Jorgeous gave it their all, and while I’d have given the edge to Jorgeous, I can understand why Ginger took the crown.

Of course, few were likely to be particularly satisfied with that decision. Honestly, I’m not that interested in talking about the Ginger of it all any further. To put a cap on it, though: She is a consummate professional and a terrific drag queen who probably deserves a Drag Race crown. (Now three of those four All Stars 6 finalists have a crown—is Eureka! next?) She dominated challenges like the Golden Bitchelor and Snatch Game, and I thought her and Daya’s design challenge victory was fair in the constraints of the task. Yes, she shouldn’t have won the girl groups challenge, but that wouldn’t have ultimately affected her trajectory. I don’t think there’s any fair or reasonable argument that Ginger didn’t deserve to win this season. Others deserved to as well, like Bosco and Jorgeous! But that being true does not diminish Ginger’s crown.

I think Drag Race production did Ginger a disservice this season. They did not tell her winning story effectively, as they were cramped by the bracket format and distracted by Mistress’ downfall. The girl groups challenge win and subsequent victory over Denali in the lip sync turned the discourse toxic, and it stayed that way throughout. Credit to Ginger for never taking her eye off the prize: She stuck to who she was and her drag, and was rewarded for it. I would say I hope we can all accept that and move on, but I’ve been writing about this show for too long to believe that will happen.

Rumours abound that this format will return for All Stars 11, although there’s apparently one significant tweak regarding who advances to the semifinals. I won’t spoil that here, although it’s pretty easily findable online. All I’ll say is that I’m glad producers did not consider All Stars 10 an easily repeatable slam dunk. Those first two brackets may have been wildly popular, but the back half of this season tested a lot of fans’ patience. We’ll see how they do with a refined version of the format.

How does this season of All Stars stack up? Early on, there were claims it could be the best ever, but I think the third bracket and semifinals pretty much put that to bed. I’d place it somewhere around All Stars 3 and 4 in the middle of the list. All three seasons have strong first halves, then suffer from some format issues (the jury, the non-elimination LaLaPaRuZa, the tie) that scuttle the ending. I think, thanks to the strong finale and the ambition of the format, I’d personally put 10 above both, below All Stars 7, with All Stars 2 and 6 safely hanging at the top of the pile. Luckily, the pleasures 10 did bring us keep it far above the worst All Stars seasons: 1, 5 and 8.

Thanks for joining us for these special essays this season! I enjoyed much of this season, even if the discourse around it got to be a bit too much at times. One last huge congratulations to Ginger, who finally got her crown after four attempts. There’s something truly drag in spirit about that: How many times do queens have to compete in pageants before they finally win? How many times did Ru have to reinvent himself to find his current mega-success? Ginger won through a combination of professionalism and sticktoitiveness. I can’t help but applaud. They got you, gal!

Untucking our final thoughts on this cast

✨Since we’re closing the book on All Stars 10, let’s take one last look at some of the queens who competed this season—their arcs, their performances and their futures with Drag Race.

✨Suffice it to say that Jorgeous has so much to be proud of in her performance. Across her three seasons (plus her Lip Sync Assassin stint on All Stars 8), Jorgeous has leveled up consistently, effectively learning how to play Drag Race as she went. Challenges that were previously death knells for her (acting, Snatch Game) became strong points. Her drag leveled up, and she introduced a whole new mug for this season. Through it all, she proved why RuPaul took such a shine to her back in Season 14, and this crown could’ve easily been hers. You could tell how much she wanted it while waiting for Ru to announce his decision, too. I think, if she ever does return, you should consider Jorgeous a tremendous threat to win it all.

✨If there’s one common story of RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2025, it’s the Education of Lydia Butthole Kollins. In the first few episodes of Season 17, she was quiet to the point of a nearly invisible edit. The one substantial thing we knew about her was her interest in Kori King. But then she tore up “Boogie Wonderland,” had an emotional final lip sync with Kori and scored a surprise roast challenge win. Then, she came back for All Stars 10, got the second-most points in her bracket and was adopted by Mistress Isabelle Brooks—only to send her home post-merge. Now, she’s ended her journey as a top four finisher, a Lip Sync Assassin and a fan favourite. She has one of the most complete arcs we’ve ever seen on Drag Race. I don’t think she’ll be back any time soon, but I cannot wait to watch her off the show. Like Jorgeous, when she does eventually come back, I think every other queen should worry about her.

✨Bosco stormed her way through her bracket, came back as stunning and spectacular as ever and proved just how much she’s grown since her season. The queen who once came down the runway in various bra-and-panty sets had high-concept looks all season long, and she demonstrated in many ways her evolution as a performer. Her “Show Me How You Burlesque” performance gets my vote for best individual lip sync in this episode. Again, I think it’s only a matter of time before Bosco gets a crown. She’s a superstar, and more importantly for this discussion, she’s the kind of superstar Drag Race wants to highlight.

✨I’m really happy for Daya Betty that she found the queer family she’s been searching for this season. Her and Bosco’s bond has been a highlight of recent Drag Race seasons, and her newfound bond with Cynthia Lee Fontaine was a spot of joy in the otherwise mostly forgettable third bracket. Her story is one of coming back a softer, more loving character, and while I’m sure it would’ve been electric to see her square off against an old adversary (most notably Jasmine Kennedie), I’m glad she got this story. She’s someone I could see going on a vs. The World season, although I could also see her being content to tour and perform for years before making any kind of return to Drag Race.

✨Irene the Alien’s loudest fans might’ve set expectations of her too high after her bracket. Make no mistake: Her winning three challenges in a row as a first-boot was remarkably impressive, and she made the finale—hardly a small feat! However, during the merge phase, Irene faded into the background, and delivered what was pretty clearly the worst single lip sync of this whole episode. Ultimately, I came out of this season liking Irene a lot more, but the tweets claiming she would’ve beaten Sasha Colby had she not gone home first on Season 15 were deeply silly. Still, I do think Irene has room to grow on another season, even if I think a win would be hard for her to ultimately claim. But even if she never comes back, she has more than a few reasons to be proud of her Rudemption.

✨Speaking of Rudemption: Kerri Colby claimed to have found it in her exit this finale, but I’ll admit, I don’t really see it. In fact, by and large, I would say the wildcard twist was the biggest deflated balloon of the season. Bringing someone back at this late juncture and expecting them to deliver in a significant way would require them to be an incredible lip-syncer. Kerri, who delivered her best lip sync performance ever against Ginger, was never going to be that person. Ginger still beat her with a just-okay lip sync, while Kerri was performing at her pure power. My hot take: bringing Kerri back only would’ve worked if Mistress was still in the competition. Without her, they should’ve just brought Denali or Tina Burner back instead. But hey, Kerri looked gorgeous in her new confessional look.

✨My heart goes out to Aja. She was clearly not in a good headspace when she came back for the semifinals, and while she did perform very well in her one finale lip sync, she was going up against Jorgeous at the peak of her powers. Where I think Aja most won this season was online: She has finally become the true fan favourite that it seemed like she would be eight years ago, during the Season 9 promo cycle. She carries with her a brand new fanbase that will lift her up, even in tough times, and will help her continue to fall in love with drag. I do think Aja’s Drag Race journey is over, but it’s tough to argue that this was anything but a winning experience for Aja. Her All Stars 3 journey never felt like a true conclusion—this, on the other hand, was perfect.

✨A quick shout-out for some of the queens who didn’t make the merge: Nicole Paige Brooks has to be delighted about how this season has gone online for her. She is the star she was always meant to be, and I can’t imagine a world where Drag Race doesn’t invite her back early and often. She transcended being a meme and became a mother. Denali, as I wrote about when recapping the purple bracket, has every reason to feel robbed by this format, particularly after not being invited back as a wildcard. I’ll admit, I’ve never quite gotten the online fervor for her, and the idea that she was “robbed” in Season 13 has never sat right with me. But I do think she might do better on another Drag Race: The Queen of the North is calling, Denali! Finally, Olivia Lux has gotta be pretty bummed about how this all went down. I would argue no one got less out of this experience than Olivia did. But hers is a good lesson for other queens: shifting your Drag Race persona so dramatically before returning to All Stars is a very risky move, as is too-blatant alliance play. I would love to see Olivia return one day as a full and true version of herself—but like with Aja, I think it’ll take some time before she can really blossom in that way.

✨Who else could I close out talking about All Stars 10 with than with Mistress Isabelle Brooks? For better or worse, Mistress was the main character this season. She played the game to the hilt, if a bit sloppily, in her bracket and made amazing TV in the process. She came back physically transformed, but missing the mark competitively in a new way. I would argue Mistress took her eye off the ball at the worst time, and the show was ready to punish her for her on- and off-camera shenanigans both in her bracket and, reportedly, in the Season 15 finale. I ultimately come down as a fan of Mistress who is happy to have had her in this season, but I can’t blame anyone who ultimately got tired of her antics. The TV is great, until it suddenly isn’t—and then you’re left wanting more. Kind of a good metaphor for this season, huh?