Welcome to RuPaul’s Drag Race Power Rankings! Every week, we’ve debriefed the newest episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 17 to determine which queens were riding high, and which needed she-mergency care. But this week is special, as we join back up with the eliminated queens to see who can triumph in a LaLaPaRuZa smackdown for $50,000.

ELIMINATED IN ROUND ONE

Hormona Lisa (eliminated by Lydia B Kollins)

Gotta give Hormona her props for nabbing “Say Liza (Liza With a Z)” before Suzie Toot could get it. That was a great move, not only for herself, but for everyone in the tournament. (It even wound up being great for Suzie, as we’ll discuss in her entry on this list.) Unfortunately, while she avoided the worst possible opponent draw in Suzie, she got the second-worst in Lydia. For my money, Lydia is the best and most versatile lip syncer of the season. Hormona did her best with her cascade of reveals, but when Lydia picked one up and threw it back on her side of the stage, it was over. At least she took it in good spirits!

Joella (eliminated by Suzie Toot)

Suzie could never forget the Ella, but she could certainly eliminate her in the first round. It was delightful to see Joella again, and she did well on “Training Season!” But Suzie was surprising and good, and that gave her a major advantage. I do hope World of Wonder finds some kind of future for Joella in the Drag Race infrastructure. She may never have the chance to win a season, but I can’t think of any project that wouldn’t be enhanced with her delusions of grandeur. She’s the kind of entertainer that Drag Race needs more of—might she be our Miss Congeniality winner next week?

Acacia Forgot (eliminated by Lucky Starzzz)

Acacia put on a show! Her reveal was terrific, and she demonstrated a whole new side of herself in her performance. Were it not for Lucky pulling out some very funny gags, I think this could’ve gone either way. And even then, I’m not sure I laughed at anything in the performance as hard as Acacia’s slow dip. She should be proud for delivering a super fun performance—her best work on Drag Race so far—and demonstrating she has range beyond what we saw during the season. That’s what I love about the reunion LaLaPaRuZas: even for the queens who don’t advance out of the first round, there’s still a real chance for redemption.

Arrietty (eliminated by Kori King)

Speaking of which: holy shit, Arrietty has really improved as a lip syncer! Granted, the bar was in hell after “Boogie Wonderland,” and “YA YA” wasn’t much better. But “Blow Me (One Last Kiss)” was dynamite. She had prepared stunts that worked well (the sleeves!), but more than that, she seemed perfectly in sync with the song. She was absolutely right to go with picking the song, because I’m not sure any of those left would’ve been able to out-do her in a major way on a P!nk song. Ru ultimately preferred Kori’s performance, but I stand with Onya Nurve on this one: Arrietty tore it up. She may not have won the whole thing, but she deserved the Round 2 placement at minimum.

Crystal Envy (eliminated by Lana Ja’Rae)

Our one and only exact rematch in this episode gave us the same ultimate result, as Lana beat Crystal to “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” by Sylvester. Unlike in their first matchup, both Crystal and Lana did quite well! For my money, Crystal had the best reveals of the whole cast, complete with a blonde-to-brunette moment I loved. While I ultimately agree that Lana should’ve won, Crystal put up a real fight on a song that’s not precisely in her wheelhouse. (Smart on Lana for pivoting away from “360” in this round.) Like all the other Round 1 eliminees, I think Crystal should be proud of herself: this was not a LaLaPaRuZa in which anyone really flopped. Coming off a season with largely underwhelming lip syncs, it was nice to see everyone on their game.

ELIMINATED IN ROUND TWO

Lucky Starzzz (eliminated by Suzie Toot)

Lucky has so many terrific attributes that could make her a threat on Drag Race. She’s incredibly creative, with a mind that works like no one else’s. She’s sweet and rootable, and makes for a great underdog. As she demonstrated in her battle with Acacia, she’s a great performer. But I think if there’s anything Lucky could do to make herself a real contender, it’s to take things beyond just the surface joke. Her basketball breasts bit in this episode was such a gem! Had she had a next level of that that she could pull out in the next lip sync, I think we could have seen Lucky in the LaLaPaRuZa finals. But in her battle with Suzie, she just pulled out the same gag again. There was no elevation or escalation. Lucky’s looks are out-of-the-box and incredibly cool. If she can find a way to make them go beyond just that initial impression, the sky’s the limit for her. And I’m very happy she got her moment of redemption with the impressive first-round victory—she deserves it!

Lana Ja’Rae (eliminated by Kori King)

It’s funny: Lana is the Lip Sync Assassin of the season by definition, with four total wins. But a couple of those wins early on were either dubious (her first victory over Crystal, in which she lost her wig) or a case of her surviving thanks to someone else’s mistakes more than her efforts (like making it through over Lydia’s scissors incident in “Unholy”). But the back half of her lip syncs, including her two losses, are far better performances. She absolutely schooled Sam Star in her elimination lip sync, she won a hard-fought rematch against Crystal in Round 1 and she delivered well during “360.” The key to that three-way lip sync was keeping Ru’s attention while two other queens were also performing, and each of them took a different tack. I think personally, I would’ve advanced Lana. But it was a close call, and regardless of her ultimate placement, Lana should be very proud. Her last three lip syncs, no matter the outcomes, demonstrated that she is truly a Lip Sync Assassin.

Lydia B Kollins (eliminated by Kori King)

Without getting into specifics, Lydia has been quite busy this spring! I’m impressed she was able to do this well considering; she’s clearly just a naturally talented lip syncer. (I loved her emotional confessional about how positive the fan response to her lip syncs has been.) There’s been a running joke in the fandom that Lydia can’t perform at her best when Kori is around—considering she won the roast challenge right after Kori went home—and her being eliminated by Kori here tracks! In the end, like I said in Lana’s entry, I think Lydia’s style in “360” just didn’t stand out amid everything that was happening on the stage. She should still be very proud of her three winning lip syncs this season. She demonstrated range, a real command of rhythm, and a ferocity we couldn’t have expected. Great work, Butthole!

FINALISTS

Kori King (eliminated by Suzie Toot)

I think it’s fair to say that Kori’s Cameo success outside the show made Ru and the judges more interested in what she was doing this go-around. That can be crucial in a challenge like this, especially in the three-way lip sync: if Ru’s looking out for Kori, that makes it all the easier for her to impress amid the chaos. In truth, I wouldn’t have advanced Kori out of Round 1—I thought Arrietty pretty clearly beat her—but I’m happy that she got this opportunity at redemption. She’s a queen with obvious star power whose talents may lie outside the realm of what Drag Race typically rewards. Nevertheless, I would expect her back for an All Stars run sooner versus later, with her various Cameo characters almost certainly in tow.

Suzie Toot (winner)

Condragulations to our new Queen of She Done Already Done Had Herses! Watching this episode, I was really impressed with Suzie. Not just for winning, although I’m thrilled for her to get a big win at season’s end. In this case, though, I’m impressed by how she adapted to the LaLaPaRuZa versus making it adapt to her. I’m sure she could’ve come in and tapped her way through every lip sync; as we saw with “Woman’s World,” a song doesn’t need to be in that style for her to find her own way into it. But for all three songs she performed this week, Suzie instead met them where they were at. She served sex for “Training Season,” did the stanky leg for “We Found Love” and absolutely ate up the choreo on “APT.” Had she stuck to her Tootisms in the performances, she might’ve still won, but the knock against her would be that she hadn’t learned anything from her elimination. Now, she’s proven indisputably she is much more than just one thing, and earned a cool $50,000 for her efforts.

Honestly, this instantly ups my bets for Suzie’s chances in an All Stars season. She’s got the skills, and now she’s had the time to respond to the feedback. Whenever she gets cast, she’ll be a tough queen to beat. But that’s tomorrow’s concern: for now, she can relish in a hard-earned victory. Congrats again, Suzie!