Drag Race Production Riggory Has Gone Too Far | Season 18 & Beyond
Season 18: The Most Rigged Season Yet?
The dust has settled. The confetti cannons are empty. Myki Meeks has been crowned America’s Next Drag Superstar. Season 18 has been one of the most unpredictable in “Drag Race” herstory, and fans seem divided on whether that’s a good thing. In years past, the show has earned its fair share of criticism. Viewers have disagreed with the judges, complained about production interference, called out favoritism, criticized unsatisfying edits, and mourned queens who left too soon. For many fans, this year was the moment all these problems reached critical mass. So what went wrong? And can it be fixed before “Drag Race” jumps the shark?
“Drag Race”: The Beginning
In 2009, way back in the Middle Ages, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” had a simple premise. It spoofed “America’s Next Top Model” and “Project Runway” and filtered it through RuPaul’s own career, adding a heaping dose of camp, irony, and fabulousness along the way. There was enough drama, personality, and insight to make up for the lack of budget. Its popularity exploded a few seasons in, attracting a bigger audience, bigger guest stars, and bigger budgets. Over time, the editing got slicker, the show was eventually bumped from Logo up to VH1 before landing at MTV. That’s to say nothing of the international franchises. “Drag Race” was no longer a reality competition spoof. It was the real thing.
How We Got Here
A bigger mainstream profile meant the show had to change. Fans watched in real time as the competition became more serious. RuPaul’s persona, while always positive and uplifting, became more like a cool spiritual guru than a kooky drag mentor. The humor pulled less from pop culture and more from the show’s own past glories. Editing styles became more obvious, with fans becoming aware of the ways queens always seem to fall into old and stale archetypes. While the main show started to become a slick and efficient machine, “Untucked” started looking more like “60 Minutes.” Even devoted fans can’t help but feel the fun is being wrung out of the show year after year.
What Makes a Bad Season?
Season 18 is not the first to pull some mixed reactions. There’s a long and storied history of seasons underperforming in the eyes of the fans. Season 7, despite an unusually strong cast, was let down by bizarre acting challenges. Season 11 was taken to task for some underhanded judging and rigged bottom placements. Season 13 took four episodes to send the first queen home. Season 14 introduced an underbaked mechanic to save queens after they lose the lip sync. One pattern emerges. The quality of a season rarely depends on the cast. The fault usually lies with production.
What the Fans Think
Week after week, season 18 seemed to generate conversation for all the wrong reasons. With the exception of a few highlights, such as the Snatch Game and the season’s roast maxi-challenge, there was a sense that the challenges were getting redundant. The judging, particularly during the perennial “drag family resemblance” challenge, drew major pushback for being confusing and constantly shifting the goal posts. Jane Don’t’s elimination seemed to come out of nowhere despite her obvious frontrunner status. Most of all, the narrative and editing didn’t do much to justify the final four queens making it to the end. By the time the season ended, there were more questions than answers.
Inconsistent Judging
There’s a lot to be said about how Ru and the judges shift the goal posts from season to season, and sometimes, even queen to queen. Season 18’s judging was wild. The erratic and confusing critiques just did not match what we were seeing. Things came to a head with the ever-frustrating makeover challenge. Apparently, as Jane Don’t and Nini Coco found out, “Drag Family Resemblance” means looking exactly like their makeover partner. It’s certainly a change from previous years, where similar looks were seen as a negative. Ru’s understandable but often baffling favor toward Discord Addams stands out as well. It’s a wonder Ru didn’t throw in a “Walk Like Discord” maxi-challenge just to give her a win.
Forced Storylines & Showdowns
Eliminations are not always about the quality of the work. It’s about pushing storylines forward. Convenient showdowns, such as drag relatives Athena Dion and Juicy Love Dion’s Lip Sync for Your Life, are part of the show’s DNA. To a degree, messing with some placements for story purposes is completely necessary for a coherent narrative. But the limit does exist, and maybe season 18 found it. The eliminations of Mia Starr and Jane Don’t felt more like plot twists than organic developments. Finalists Nini Coco, Darlene Mitchell, and Myki Meeks were surprising choices given how little screentime they got in the first half of the season.
Eliminating a Frontrunner
Imagine if Bianca Del Rio went home because she wore different versions of the same dress every week. What would have happened if Derrick Barry actually won that lip sync against Bob the Drag Queen? Jane Don’t had three wins and zero bottom placements going into the thirteenth episode. She was the frontrunner. So why was one improv challenge enough to send her home? The late-season shocker threw everyone for a massive loop. From confusion to outrage, the response was loud and instant. At least Jane seems to have a very zen attitude about it all, saying “No one is entitled to win ‘Drag Race.’”
What’s the Story?
The elimination of Jane Don’t may have made the end of the season unpredictable, but it also revealed the problem with the season. None of the narratives we were told throughout the season had any payoff. The premature ending to the Dion family rivalry, Briar Blush’s stunted villain arc, and the relative underdevelopment of Myki Meeks as a character made everything feel lopsided. In the best seasons, the queens seem to drive the drama, even if that’s not really the case. The interpersonal dynamics felt forced by the edit, with interpersonal conflicts and pivotal character arcs that were never resolved. It makes the finale weaker, and that’s not fair to the final three.
Where Do We Go From Here?
With another “All Stars” season in the can and season 19 allegedly filming, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” shows no signs of stopping. That’s great news for fans and lovers of the artform. But the production team might need to take a massive look inward and decide if they’re going to prioritize storytelling over twists and gimmicks. A cast of queens as good as this one deserves better. Only time will tell if this is a low point the series can come back from or the moment “Drag Race” jumps the shark. Who knows? Maybe 18 will become one of those seasons we miss when season 26 isn’t giving like we want it to.
What’s your verdict on season 18? Tell us in the comments.
