S08.E12: Grand Finale!

[davidcalgary29]

Production graciously gives viewers permission to fast-forward to the end of the episode by bloating it with fifty minutes of filler! The season concludes as the victor successfully battles the greatest villain of all: franchise fatigue! Everyone seems to be mildly pleased with the result.

Edited July 21, 2023 by davidcalgary29

[littlebennysmom]

What in the Tweety Bird?

[Ms.Lulu]

Well, that was unfulfilling. Like arriving a bit too late at the farmers market.

[davidcalgary29]

While the season was still better than AS4 and AS5, this was still something of a letdown after two back-to-back excellent All Stars outings.

Next time, just don't forget to bring back Dida Ritz and Joslyn Fox. Seriously.

[Glade]

This was an afterthought. Jimbo's story was inspiring, despite how uncomfortable it made Ru, who couldn't wait to get back to the script. My jaw dropped when Kahana came out in her finale look; she is so gorg and her looks are to die for.  Jimbo also looked incredible and Jessica Wild brought her elegant beauty, as always.   It makes sense that Lala Ri would win what has turned out to be just Miss Congeniality, a prize that doesn't reflect the drag looks she brought with her this season which tended to be very lackluster.  I guess the producers put in that wheel of fortune twist because they knew who they wanted to win and didn't bother filming a separate winning moment for every single queen.  Jessica still deserved to be in the top 2 if not win this prize, but I guess she already won by coming back and proving/boosting herself. 

I'm so glad, and so relieved that Jimbo won her place in the hall of fame! The third time definitely was the charm, and I loved that they showed us that clip of her snatch game performance, which was beyond hilarious.  I am officially sick of her gigantic breasts, though, and very glad I won't have to tune in to see them next week.  Now please put Pangina in the hall of fame too and let her reign launch Drag Race Thailand season 3 out of the development hell it's been stuck in for years.

[CraftyHazel]

9 hours ago, littlebennysmom said:

What in the Tweety Bird?

I will never  understand Ru’s obsession with Kandy (or Silky, for that matter).  There are better queens of color, better “big girl” queens, and better, more fun bitch queens.  I just don’t get it at all.

[Madding crowd]

Happy to see Jimbo win and glad she brought some glam to the runway. Kandy seemed low energy during her performances, I’m sure she knew Jimbo would win. I like La La but her win wasn’t based on her looks but popularity. Some of the other girls had some stunning looks. And a note to La La and Kandy: if you have a full, big face, tiny wigs with finger curls make your face bigger and take away the illusion. You need more volume to soften the face. 

[Marisagf]

1 hour ago, CraftyHazel said:

I will never  understand Ru’s obsession with Kandy (or Silky, for that matter).  There are better queens of color, better “big girl” queens, and better, more fun bitch queens.  I just don’t get it at all.

Word!  And that Big Bird photo shows the only expression she makes on the runway!

Edited July 22, 2023 by Marisagf

[davidcalgary29]

3 hours ago, CraftyHazel said:

I will never  understand Ru’s obsession with Kandy (or Silky, for that matter).  There are better queens of color, better “big girl” queens, and better, more fun bitch queens.  I just don’t get it at all.

Because they self-produce drama and throw themselves on the altars of the Reality TV gods as willing sacrifices. Why pay for writers to create narrative arcs when the queens do this themselves? 

[littlebennysmom]

3 hours ago, Madding crowd said:

And a note to La La and Kandy: if you have a full, big face, tiny wigs with finger curls make your face bigger and take away the illusion. You need more volume to soften the face. 

Monica's purple version also did not do her any favors, and she's a stick.  Somebody in another group said unless you're Jaida Essence Hall, ditch this wig style.

[Adeejay]

All's well that ends well.

[SemiCharmedLife]

7 hours ago, Madding crowd said:

Happy to see Jimbo win and glad she brought some glam to the runway. Kandy seemed low energy during her performances, I’m sure she knew Jimbo would win. I like La La but her win wasn’t based on her looks but popularity. Some of the other girls had some stunning looks. And a note to La La and Kandy: if you have a full, big face, tiny wigs with finger curls make your face bigger and take away the illusion. You need more volume to soften the face. 

I think LaLa's win was based on her 3x vote multiplier.  I would have loved to see the vote tally to see who really was the most popular queen (I believe it was Jessica).  I would have loved it even more if we had been able to choose the winner of the Fame Games by our vote, as indicated at the beginning of the season.   Instead, the twist invalidated our opportunity to choose a queen.  I think LaLa is up there in the popular votes, but won due to the twist.  

Also, I feel that the unseen looks and the social media content for the Fame Games weren't really a deciding factor, though I'm glad they were at least acknowledged this year.

[Ms.Lulu]

Spoiler

Naysha spilled tea that at the last minute production wanted to change the lip sync song to Kelis Milkshake, which Jimbo had shared represented her drag. Kandy flat out said she would quit the finale.

Lots of good tea spilled on the the Roscoe's Tavern Finale watch party with Naysha. Mo Heart and Denali were the guests and the watch party was much better than the finale.

Edited July 22, 2023 by Ms.Lulu

[7-Zark-7]

21 hours ago, Glade said:

It makes sense that Lala Ri would win what has turned out to be just Miss Congeniality, a prize that doesn't reflect the drag looks she brought with her this season which tended to be very lackluster.  I guess the producers put in that wheel of fortune twist because they knew who they wanted to win and didn't bother filming a separate winning moment for every single queen.

Naysha Lopez said that they filmed a Fame Game Winner walk for all the eligible queens, and that by the third queen, they lost their fake enthusiasm for the "winner".

_________________________-

Of the looks on the runway, I was most impressed by Jaymes, Naysha, and Alexis, but most of the looks were gorgeous. What kept me from loving Kahanna's gown was that it was so busy and disjointed. There were daisies and bones and colorful mirrors, and then sheer nude on the back of the gown (which makes sense for sitting purposes I guess). My eye had nowhere to rest. The busyness of Jimbo's gown seemed to flow better for me. Her gown wasn't supposed to be "pretty" like Kahanna's was.

Edited July 23, 2023 by 7-Zark-7

[violet and green]

It was a tremendous relief when Jimbo won, but I find I have nothing to say on the episode.

Well, other than I was disappointed once the edit made it obvious early on that LaLa Ri was winning the Fame Games because of that stupid wheel, and then that unfortunate wig. 

[30 Helens]

8 hours ago, SemiCharmedLife said:

I think LaLa's win was based on her 3x vote multiplier.

Absolutely. And why even put on the farce of a second-chance contest if you’re going to publicly trash it at the last minute? At least Lala was my second choice. (Jessica, you wuz robbed. Escandolo!)

Well, damn. I’m glad for Jimbo, but on the other hand, I threatened to quit this show if Kandy won. So… I guess I’ll see you next time?  …Yay?

[gryphon]

I’m glad Jimbo won, but I didn’t think his Shirley Temple was as funny as Alexis’ Bea Arthur.  Also, put away the big tits for a while, eh?  The boobs were getting predictable—something I liked that Jimbo wasn’t. 
I voted for Mrs. Kasha Davis in the fame game. She’s always made me laugh.  

[Kaboom 2.0]

No mention of Ru's performance of her new song? I cringed and then muted it til it was over. 

Well that's over. I'm over the moon that Jimbo won the crown over the bottom tier void that is Kandy. Jessica was so robbed on the Fame Games but LaLa was my second choice to win it. 

I liked seeing the other queens again especially with the furry pink box shenanigans. 

We can only hope the next All Stars season is better than this one, right? 

Quote

 

Apologies for the blank quote above, I can't delete it.

[Wonderlad71]

Congrats to Jimbo!!! 

Overall an uneven season with a fun start and end and some depressing middle episodes (Heidi quitting, Kahanna's near quitting and for me Jaymes' elimination).

Still some stellar highlights including a good snatch game, roast and some memorable runways (Jimbo's Adam and Eve was my fave)- oh and the tears of Alexis Michelle :) 

[SemiCharmedLife]

On 7/22/2023 at 1:59 PM, 7-Zark-7 said:

Of the looks on the runway, I was most impressed by Jaymes, Naysha, and Alexis, but most of the looks were gorgeous. What kept me from loving Kahanna's gown was that it was so busy and disjointed. There were daisies and bones and colorful mirrors, and then sheer nude on the back of the gown (which makes sense for sitting purposes I guess). My eye had nowhere to rest. The busyness of Jimbo's gown seemed to flow better for me. Her gown wasn't supposed to be "pretty" like Kahanna's was.

I agree with the three gowns being absolutely stunning.  I would put Kahanna's in there, as well, because it was so elaborate and beautiful.  I looked up the reference, Oshun, and many of the depictions of this goddess have sunflowers, so that made sense.  I also liked Jimbo's gown, as well as MKD's black and white look.  

[luckyroll3]

Yay for Jimbo!!!! But what in the world were those songs that they had to perform to???? They were quite awful. 

And for the love of Beebus, can they please stop filming alternative versions of the winning queen being crowned. I want to see some real reactions dammit! 

[CB-LXX]

Kandy, Kandy, Kandy... please lose the come hither look, or at least mix it up a little! Is it a lack of imagination when you come walking out on stage with other expressions? Granted, I did see her momentarily flinch into a smile for a brief second or two, but that expression quickly returned. Tweety Bird dress had to go though. 

And Jimbo with the boobs... once again, over the top.

Overall, I think this was the most disappointing All-Stars season, since season 1. I know Jimbo seemed to be very popular, but I'm just not a fan of the clown queens, so eh. But, she had the most wins challenge-wise (though I don't think she deserved it for Snatch Game of Love) so for it to go any other way would have been surprising.

I ended up voting for Kasha Davis in the Fame Game, thoughI knew it would end up being La La.

I still have much resentment for Darienne Lake over season 6 and her bullying Ben. So meh, didn't miss her when she left.

 

[davidcalgary29]

I've said it before, but I'll say it again: every season of Drag Race is always (with a few notable exceptions) the worst just after it airs. While this season was a letdown after AS6 and AS7, it's really just middle of the pack for All Stars, which tends to have seasons that are boring and/or underwhelming. I left AS5 with a distinct feeling of dissatisfaction, even though Shea is a fine winner;  can't remember what happened on AS4; fumed when the wheels fell off AS3 at the end; AS1 is still a train-wreck that's a lot better in memory than on the screen. Really, the structure of All Stars is its biggest problem -- it works only fitfully.