Much like everyone, I was ready and raring to watch one of our top four queens sashay away, sporting a crown Queen Victoria herself would’ve envied, when the finale of All Stars 4 aired on February 15th. What I did not expect was to be left utterly gagged by the double win the show gave us.
For anyone who has yet to see the final episode, it ended with Trinity the Tuck and Monét X Change being crowned as double winners for the first time in Drag Race history and everyone’s wigs were utterly snatched. Clearly this was a pre-planned ending, as not only were speculations of a double win being made as early as November 2018 but also questions need to be asked as to how the producers found an extra $100,000 to whip out in the last episode, as well as how they conveniently filmed a split-screen crowning.
Everyone’s wigs were utterly snatched
Justifications for this choice vary, ranging from producers feeling a need to satisfy audiences with a drama crammed final after the flop that was All Stars 3, to them wanting to haul in extra press as they knew long-term, dedicated fans would be unlikely to abandon ship regardless of how much they disliked the finale. Personally though, I think they wanted to eliminate the element of the ‘robbed queen’ and the amount of tension this creates on social media – but what is the fun in that, eh? People tune in to route for their favourite queen and having a double win not only eliminates the thrill of the cut-throat results but also feeds into hostile debate concerning who was the true winner.
This was such a sloppy choice, not only as it encouraged fellow Drag Race cast mates to take sides but most importantly it entirely neglected Monét and Trinity’s well-being, as well as discrediting their efforts on the show. Yes, they both won money and some plastic jewels, but you need only look at Trinity’s live reaction to the finale to see how utterly heartbroken she was knowing she would be caught in the debate of the ‘true winner’ forever. Ending on a low note isn’t ideal, but I would encourage everyone to be supportive of both queens and just try to bop their worries away to their performance of ‘Super Queens’ because at the end of the day it wasn’t their fault, it was the producers.
