Welcome to RuPaul’s Drag Race Power Rankings! Every week, we’re debriefing the week’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 17 to determine which queens are riding high, and which need she-mergency care. RDR Live gave us its most successful iteration yet, but which queens stood out from the rest of their company?
12. Arrietty (last week: 11)—SAVED
I’m mostly indifferent about Arrietty sticking around—she wasn’t the worst this week, and I’m glad the twist is over with. But I do think Arrietty has misjudged her trajectory in the competition, and I’m hopeful that she can use her brush with elimination to reset a bit. It’s clear she wants this very badly, as evidenced by her self-described “furious” reaction to being in the bottom two. And I’ll admit, I can understand her feeling confused by some of the judges’ comments (Michelle Visage’s makeup critique), though not all (going bigger doesn’t mean going manic). But if Arrietty can take a beat, reevaluate and come back with a new approach, I think she’s got a chance at some longevity in this competition.
11. Lydia B Kollins (last week: 9)
Well, look at Miss Lydia Butthole Kollins! That lip sync was a gag for me. She had surprises and stunts, but most impressively, she had remarkable control of her movements and synced well with the song. Arrietty pulled out all kinds of tricks, but they couldn’t help but look frantic next to Lydia. That’s good for Lydia, too, because she was the clear worst in the challenge this week. At least Arrietty took a swing; Lydia didn’t even get out of the dugout. Why would she insist on playing a character she had no idea how to play? I would put good money on Lydia being able to lip sync her way out of sticky situations, but considering how many comedy challenges are likely still to come, I could see her being in trouble more often than not.
10. Sam Star (last week: 4)
Flopping a TV show-based comedy challenge early in the season? Sam really does take after her mother! It’s worth remembering that, as much of a comedy queen as Trinity the Tuck would eventually become, she was stiff and unpleasant in the morning show challenge in Season 9. Sam fared a little bit better than her, but the choice to lean away from her own accent into a voice that was both uncomfortable for her to do and deeply unfunny to the audience was baffling. In the great Battle of the Twinks, I think I’d still put most of my chips on Sam, but Jewels Sparkles is right behind her. At least Sam continues to thrive on the runway, although I definitely got Farrah Moan vibes from this week’s showgirl look. She really is bringing Season 9 back, and as a gigantic fan of that season, I thank Sam for that.
9. Crystal Envy (last week: 2)
I generally didn’t think Crystal was very impressive either in the challenge or on the runway this week, but that’s not why she’s this far down the list. There has been a read of Crystal’s edit floating around online—honestly, it’s been so prevalent that I can’t track down the original source, even if there is one—that she’s the “professional” of the group. Around 2021, this became a shorthand for a queen who, despite her proficiency in the competition, never has a real shot at winning because of a lack of vulnerability. (Examples of “professional” queens around that time include Rosé and Ella Vaday.) I’ve really taken to this reading, because it explains a key concern I’ve had with Crystal’s portrayal so far: she’s been killing the competition, but we know next to nothing about her. Lexi Love is revealing full chapters of her story every week, meanwhile my understanding of Crystal is still limited to her being a pageant queen from New Jersey. Maybe her story is still to come, but the show hasn’t lacked opportunities to tell it. We’re going to hit a now-or-never point, and soon.
8. Acacia Forgot (last week: 7)
Yeah, I don’t know. Acacia’s actually doing better than I would have expected in the competition based on her premiere, and has now twice stood tall next to her partners in challenges (Sam last week, Lydia this week). And I’m not uninterested in her drag; I thought the punk Designing Women look this week was actually pretty good! But the show seems to consistently forget—no pun intended—that Acacia is even around. If the show seems uninvested in Crystal’s personality, then the show is uninvested in Acacia’s anything. I think it’ll take just one more trip to the bottom to see her sent home at the hands of one of the bigger characters in this season.
7. Kori King (last week: 12)
Kori has stabilized after what felt like a free-fall in the last two weeks, which is good. But Kori doesn’t need safe placements; she needs to win. She’s clearly got star power, confidence and charisma. You don’t need much more than that to be successful on Drag Race! But that recipe has yet to be a successful one for Kori. I appreciated her very signature take on her drag for the Tickled Pink runway, and I enjoyed her out-of-nowhere New York accent for her Neanderthal character. She’s making the right choices, and I can so clearly see a path forward for her to dominate in this competition. I just worry this season has too many queens performing at a high level for her to stand out from the crowd.
6. Lana Ja’Rae (last week: 10)
This was Lana’s best week yet, full stop. Unlike Lydia, she was exactly right to fight for the role she got in her sketch. She brought strong characterization, and while she was hardly the funniest in RDR Live, I could feel her stretching herself and her capabilities. On the runway, she showed my favourite look of hers yet with her take on Little Bo Peep. I do really appreciate body drag—Kylie Sonique Love is one of my all-time favourite queens, for god’s sake—but Lana’s nearly naked looks can get a little same-y. It was fun to see her in something very different for her, and I hope we continue to see it! She needs something to push herself out of the safe zone: she’s close to inheriting Xunami Muse’s crown as the queen of safe placements.
5. Lexi Love (last week: 8)
And now we come to our resident Colin Jost and Michael Che stan, Lexi Love! Lexi continues to get whole worlds of lore added to her narrative each week, this week even showing us her LinkedIn page. I’d like to connect with Lexi! While Lexi’s ideas were mostly shot down by Suzie Toot for their segment, in a move that seemed to significantly benefit Suzie, I do still think she did quite well with her character. She’s demonstrating range, and while that’s not landing her on the podium every week—it’s kinda crazy she still hasn’t gotten critiqued by the judges, no?—it is building her resume for the future. I may have a couple of top picks above Lexi now, but you’d be mad to not bet on her being in the finale with the edit she’s getting.
4. Jewels Sparkles (last week: 5)
I’ve been holding a mild grudge against Jewels ever since she called Lexi, a 33-year-old woman, “auntie-grandma.” But even I have to admit that she has quietly been killing it in this competition. Once again, despite not being called in the top for her performance, she had nothing to be ashamed of: she was hilarious in the podcast sketch. Her Australian accent was super funny, and it showed an understanding of the kind of thing that Ru is always going to give a laugh. On the runway, Jewels served us a My Fair Lady look with a major twist, revealing that her apparent skirt was actually bell-bottoms. Groovy! Honestly, I’d have given Jewels the top spot over Hormona Lisa this week. But don’t tell her that, we’re still feuding.
3. Hormona Lisa (last week: 6)
Honestly, if Hormona had gotten the role she initially wanted, I think she could’ve won this week. That’s how funny she was in a role that wasn’t really a good fit for her: she made it her own, but was still restricted by the not-great material. (Though I agree with the judges that she missed an opportunity for a visual gag with the beaver.) With something a bit closer to her own sense of humour, Hormona could’ve really smashed this. On the runway, I’m getting a little tired of that pink wig, but I understand that the runway prompt did call for it. I’d love for her to serve us something really out of the box soon: think Trinity’s Club Kid runway, or Latrice Royale’s latex look. It’s all a bit too safe for me, which has me keeping her quite a bit away from the top of my personal favourites list this season.
2. Onya Nurve (last week: 1)
In Oscars prognostication, there’s often talk about a “halo” nomination—recognition that comes via getting an Oscar nomination for a role that’s maybe not the best, but taps into the same reasons why someone won previously. (There was a lot of talk about Jamie Lee Curtis getting such a “halo” nomination this year for The Last Showgirl, though that didn’t come to pass.) Consider this high placement Onya’s “halo” of sorts after last week. She is incredibly watchable, with great comic timing that made her the standout of the Neanderthal sketch, and she handled the hosting gig much more effectively than Mirage did last season. Honestly, she even did it better than Kandy Muse did it on All Stars 8. Do I think she was a real threat for the win, especially with her pretty terrible runway look? I do not. But it’s clear Ru and the judges are invested in her, and will be for many weeks to come.
1. Suzie Toot (last week: 3)
It’s funny: because of Rate-a-Queen and the top two lip syncs, there was a relatively muted sense of celebration around Suzie and Lexi’s victories in the premiere episodes. Yes, they got the same top prize as any maxi-challenge winner, but they didn’t get to bask in the praise from Ru and the judges. Suzie got her turn to do so this week, as she got universal kudos for what was a real scene-stealing performance. She may have talked a big game about her knowledge of sketch comedy, but Suzie backed it up by being genuinely funny. She created a whole character in just a couple of minutes of screentime! She also delivered my favourite runway of the week, a pink take on a clown look that boasted a kind of softening of her usual makeup that still felt distinctly clown-like. A really great week all-around for Suzie. Pencil her in for the finale at this point, I’d say.