Welcome to RuPaul’s Drag Race Power Rankings! Every Tuesday, we’re debriefing the week’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 15 to determine which queens are riding high, and which need she-mergency care. The final four is set—but will we really see a final three this season?
5. Loosey LaDuca (last week: 5)—ELIMINATED
It was always the Alexis Michelle edit. Constantly feeling overlooked despite successes—including a win on Snatch Game. A focus on particular prickly details while presenting underwhelming looks on the runway. Being up against a herstoric top four, and actually performing well in terms of the competition, but being overshadowed in the story. The one thing Loosey gave us that Alexis didn’t was that sublime, camp, final breakdown upon being eliminated; she truly and finally “Let Loose.”
Truth be told, I think Season 15 wouldn’t be as great as it was without Loosey. Her sense of self-confidence made for fantastic confessionals, and she was an easy target for characters like Luxx Noir London and Mistress Isabelle Brooks. The conflict gave us some tremendous moments, like Luxx’s monologue on the runway last week. I could see Loosey easily coming back for All Stars one day. Anyone who doesn’t appreciate what Loosey brought to this season doesn’t really understand Drag Race at its best: it’s a reality show that trades in the same tropes and characters as any other. And in terms of characters, Loosey is a great one.
4. Luxx Noir London (last week: 3)
Luxx’s edit in this episode makes me think she is all but out of the running for the crown. She was depicted at multiple turns as being dismissive of her partner, who was a truly delightful woman. What we were shown of Luxx in this episode was someone who psyched herself out of doing well. Instead of embracing the challenge head-on, she fixated on what a challenge it would be for her to work with a partner unlike her. It’s no surprise that she failed to serve at her usual level of excellence. And that’s a shame, because in the moments when she and her partner did connect, we got some lovely scenes with them.
Opinions have already varied wildly when it comes to her lip sync this week: for every person who thought she destroyed Loosey, there’s someone who thinks her performance style is too frenetic, messy and disconnected from the lyrics. I’ll admit, I don’t think Luxx turned out an all-time great performance, but I think she wisely keyed into Loosey’s slower, more methodical approach to lip syncing, and eclipsed that with a style you could not ignore. That kind of savvy could take her to the final two if Luxx plays her cards right—but again, I think the show isn’t invested in her as a winner at this point. Still, she’s been a top-tier character all season long, and I think the show would be missing out without her in the finale.
3. Mistress Isabelle Brooks (last week: 4)
I also don’t think the show is invested in Mistress, but for different reasons. If you were to judge based on the storyline alone, I’d say Mistress is in with a real shot at the crown. She’s the main narrator of the season, she has episodes built around her even when she doesn’t win (including this week) and she’s been driving most of the conflicts this season. Season 15 has, in many ways, been The Mistress Show. However, Ru has had multiple opportunities to hand her maxi-challenge wins—the ball, the Rusical, this week—and has chosen to go other directions. While queens have won with just one maxi-challenge win before (hello, Yvie Oddly and Willow Pill), those have also come with either major fan support or Ru adoration. Mistress has fans and respect from Ru, but others eclipse her in both of those categories.
I don’t want to count Mistress entirely out, and I do think if there’s actually a top three (which I fundamentally don’t believe is happening), she’s probably making it in over Luxx. But there are, in my book, two clear frontrunners for the crown. Mistress seems, like Luxx, much more of a contender for a prime All Stars placement.
2. Sasha Colby (last week: 2)
In my book, Sasha was fully robbed this week. Ferocity Colby was ready to step onto that runway as an actual competitor, not just a makeover partner. She tore up the main stage in both their presentation and the lip sync (that hair flip!), and more to the point, Sasha actually managed to make herself over to match Ferocity. The way she padded them both felt like a true transformation for someone from whom we’ve already seen a lot of greatness on the runway. I thought these two would sail to the win, and it actually tells me a lot that Sasha didn’t take the victory. Given the opportunity to make Sasha the clear frontrunner going into the finale, Ru instead tied the race up by giving the victory to another.
I’m starting to grapple with what it would actually mean for Sasha to lose this season. It would mean that Drag Race is prioritizing narrative, and that it’s not enough to just come in as a legend and stomp the competition. It would mean that thrilling and appealing directly to Ru is taking increased importance as the show goes on. It would mean that the audience “discovering” a queen is more potent than them loving you from the start. Ultimately, I still think my gut is telling me Sasha wins this. But if she doesn’t, it’s going to signal a real shift for the show moving forward.
1. Anetra (last week: 1)
Reader, if you’ve been keeping up with these recaps this season, you know I am a Stanetra. You know that, against my better judgment and knowledge that Sasha Colby deserves the win, I am in my heart of hearts hoping this Vegas queen can pull out a victory at the end. You know that I should be celebrating any kind of Anetra win (even a mini-challenge, Loosey). But this win was truly so out of nowhere, so poorly established by the edit and so inconsistent with what we actually saw that I can’t help but be astonished. Well, that, and be ever more assured that Anetra has a real shot of taking this crown home.
True, Anetra did a great job on her partner’s mug this week. It literally looked like she took a stamp of her own face and reproduced it on another. But the overall presentation was so mellow compared to Sasha’s—and even Mistress’s—that the win befuddles me. (I wasn’t alone: at a bar watch party, literally not one of my friends correctly guessed Anetra would win, and the whole room gasped when Sasha was declared safe.) And while Mistress, Luxx and Loosey all got a great share of the narrative this week, Anetra was practically absent from the major story beats.
You could interpret this two ways: first, that Ru is clearly so interested in Anetra that he’s going to give her a real shot in the finale. Another is that, by making the win seem bizarre, the editors are trying to tamp down Anetra’s momentum heading into the finale. Which of these it is, I’m not sure yet. I think next week will give us a real understanding of what Anetra’s story will be going into the endgame. But I do think that, considering Anetra’s performance in the last couple of weeks, there were ways to make this win feel like a triumph. The fact that it didn’t makes me wonder if something else might be at play—and if so, what that is.
Why you can trust Xtra
