Welcome to RuPaul’s Drag Race Power Rankings! Every week, we’ve debriefed the week’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18 to determine which queens were riding high, and which needed she-mergency care. But this week, we check in with the eliminated queens for the LaLaPaRuZa—or in this case, the All-RuPaul-a-PaRuZa.

ELIMINATED IN ROUND ONE

Athena Dion (lost to Ciara Myst)

Honestly not sure if I’d say Athena actually lost to Ciara—neither of them really turned the party, but Athena seemed more in control during the lip sync. But Ciara had her The Substance reveal, which I guess was enough to stand out in an otherwise tepid battle. It was notable, however, that the queen of strategy this season got outplayed: Ciara wanted her to pick “Born Naked,” and she immediately did so. I can’t blame Athena for being a fan of that song (I am too!), but she could’ve zagged when Ciara thought she would zig. At least she’ll likely get a nice slice of the winner’s prize!

Mandy Mango (lost to Mia Starr)

There was some darkly funny irony to the fact that Mia spent all season saying Mandy won her lip sync against Briar Blush and should’ve stayed, only for Mia to be the reason that Mandy didn’t get to show more of her lip syncing ability in the LaLaPaRuZa. I think Mia wanted to beat the best, but even she seemed to regret her choice once she and Mandy were set to face off to the wordy “Just What They Want.” I actually think, of all her opponents except her last, Mia came the closest to losing to Mandy. They both really delivered here. But as Nini Coco noted in the back, Mandy’s dips were a bit crunchy, and that seems to have been the deciding factor. Sorry to Mandy, who really does seem like a delight.

DD Fuego (lost to Vita VonTesse Starr)

I actually thought DD had this one in the bag, considering how much Vita struggled all season to remember her words. But Vita getting to choose the song—“Main Event,” one of Ru’s slower tracks—clearly worked to her advantage. Not only did she know all the words, but she was able to go with an emotional interpretation of the song. DD went high-energy, and was okay—but her approach felt discordant with the track. I do really like DD, and I’ve seen her on some All Stars wishlists, but I’m concerned she’s just not really what modern Drag Race is looking for. Still, she seems wonderful, and I’m hopeful for whatever comes next for her.

ELIMINATED IN ROUND TWO

Vita VonTesse Starr (lost to Mia Starr)

Horrendous luck being picked right after finishing her first-round performance, but she immediately made the worst possible decision by going up against Mia. As Briar said, Discord Addams was right there! Mia made it even worse for Vita by going with “Call Me Mother,” an incredibly wordy song that Mia herself has a lot of experience with. Vita held her own better than I expected, but once Mia pointed to her mouth and nailed the rap, it was all over. It was a good battle, and Vita should be proud of her performances in this episode, but this was almost destined to be the end of the line for her.

Ciara Myst (lost to Kenya Pleaser)

While most of this episode’s lead characters were who you would expect—strong lip syncers like Mia and Juicy Love Dion, and big personalities like Kenya and Jane Don’t—Ciara was a somewhat surprising major player. She came in quite dramatically with the Carrie tribute look in the werk room, and then tussled with Jane over the suitcase she left her for the previous design challenge. Then, she pulled out a surprise first-round victory, giving her some momentum going into her battle with Kenya. Kenya wanted a rematch from the “Who Wore It Besties?” challenge, and while I get that … Kenya, girl, Discord was right there. Anyway, Ciara and Kenya battled to “Pretty Gang,” and while Ciara seemed quite focused on knowing the words, Kenya was turning it up and out. She was performing at her best, and Ciara couldn’t keep up. We’ll always have The Substance, Ciara.

Discord Addams (lost to Jane Don’t)

They made Discord a bit of a joke competitor in this episode, what with Jane choosing to battle her to “Sissy That Walk” and both Briar and Jane making her out to be an easy queen to beat. (Granted, that’s true, but still.) But Discord, as ever, took it all in stride, happily indulging in the Discord Walk during her lip sync to the judges’ and fellow contestants’ delight. Jane managed to turn that trick against her, which Discord seemed bemused by in her final confessional, but I think Discord can, by and large, walk out proud of her impact this season. For years to come, any kind of wild walk on the runway will immediately invite comparisons to Discord—and while that might not be the most flattering, as a queen trying to stand out in a saturated market, every bit of press is good press. I think that All Stars call may be coming for her sooner versus later.

ELIMINATED IN ROUND THREE

Jane Don’t (lost to Juicy Love Dion)

It really speaks to how much Jane did not want to lip sync to “Peanut Butter” that she accepted a near-certain assassination by going up against Juicy instead. When Juicy said in confessional, “Jane, you are a silly little goose!”, you could immediately see what was coming. I mean, Juicy could’ve stood there for the rest of the song after doing her handstand dress reveal and still won. By the time she did the handstand into the split, Jane herself could only shrug in defeat. Good for Jane for getting to the semifinals, but with the songs and competitors remaining, she was drawing dead.

Kenya Pleaser (lost to Mia Starr)

Considering lip syncing and knowing her words were a struggle for Kenya this season, I’m pleasantly surprised by her performance in the LaLaPaRuZa. She definitely benefitted from getting a bye through round one, but she won her battle against Ciara fair and square, and she really put up a fight against Mia. Their battle was a lot of fun, and while you could see a couple moments of Kenya not knowing her words, she covered it much better than she did in-season. Still, I don’t think this was as close as Mandy versus Mia; Mia was just on a hot streak at this point, and she had a better handle on both the words and music than Kenya did. Still, a strong showing for Miss Pleaser, and a hopeful sign of what an All Stars run could look like for her.

FINALISTS

Mia Starr (eliminated by Juicy Love Dion)

While we all knew Mia was an accomplished lip syncer because of her girl group and talent show performances—not to mention her epic battle with Juicy on “Pretty Ugly”—she didn’t really get the chance to become a Lip Sync Assassin this season. She lost her one and only Lip Sync for Your Life, against Kenya to “Head Over Heels,” because the song was outside of her wheelhouse. So it was great to get to see her in four separate lip syncs in this episode, doing great in each and every one. She basically was the Megami or Kori King of this episode: the star throughout, but not ultimately the winner. Based on the final lip sync, I do think the right queen won, but I hope Mia gets generously tipped for her performances throughout this tournament. She really gave us the Mia Starr Experience, and I cannot wait for her to return to our TV screens.

Juicy Love Dion (Queen of She Done Already Done Had Herses)

One might be tempted to throw an asterisk on Juicy’s LaLaPaRuZa win, since unlike previous champions Morphine Love Dion and Suzie Toot, she only needed to win two lip syncs instead of three. To that I say: handstand dress reveal. Flawless “Cover Girl” lip sync against the toughest opponent of the night. Countless terrific, varied lip sync performances all season long. Juicy has more than made the argument that she is the Lip Sync Assassin of Season 18, and she cemented her legacy in this episode. I genuinely think she is a top three dancer in Drag Race herstory; the way she moves is electric. But unlike other dancers we’ve seen, she can also emote beautifully! I still think her “Total Eclipse of the Heart” lip sync is my favourite individual performance of the season. No, there’s no need for an asterisk here—Juicy more than deserved this prize, and while I’m sad for her that she didn’t make the finale, this has to be one hell of a consolation prize.