RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 17: Finale Power Rankings & Queen Analysis

Welcome to RuPaul’s Drag Race Power Rankings! Each week, we have actually debriefed the newest episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 17 to identify which queens were riding high, and which required she-mergency care. Now, with our champion crowned, it’s time to take one last appearance back at our final 4 queens’ trips to the endgame.

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Lexi’s Strategic Moves

Extremely wise step pulling out all those discloses in advance of the lip sync, as well. In some cases, queens will conserve things like that to tease doing them in the future at some online performance or various other location. Yet Lexi essentially quickly elevated the risks for the top 2 by doing so, and when they failed to measure up to what Lexi had actually assured she would’ve done, the immediate feeling ended up being: what a drag that Lexi really did not reach make leading 2. I’m uncertain how much Lexi was thinking about that– it truthfully resembled she was just annoyed she really did not reach do the reveals– but it was in fact among the smartest, most eye-catching decisions made all period long. If she can return for one more season because mode, and prevent the trappings of her inner saboteur, I believe an All Stars run can be an extremely, great thing for Lexi.

Jewels’ Future Potential

Of this cast, other than perhaps Suzie, Jewels is who I would certainly place the most cash on winning a future period. She’s so young right now, with so much raw potential, and she’ll only proceed to grow.

Sam’s Trajectory

Sam’s trajectory this period is mosting likely to be remarkable to review after time away from the season. Between part, it really did feel like she got on track to take on Onya Nurve for the crown. She never ever integrated much follower assistance, and the story that she and the courts developed for herself– pageant queen learns to loosen up– faltered around the Personal appeal, Individuality, Nerve and Ability monologue difficulty. Her distinctly not-ugly outfit for that episode’s Ugliest Outfit path category offered the perception that she was failing to remember lessons she ‘d learned, and her RuPaul’s Drag Race Live tryout plus her really pageant-y solutions in this finale’s meeting portion fed into that perception.

Onya’s Dominance

Call it PTSD from Sapphira Cristál shedding with basically the exact same track document, or suspicions that Ru told Onya to open up in the last in-season episode for a factor. After the efficiency Onya put on this season, there might be no one else.

Regardless of what it appeared like at one factor this season, I assume there was absolutely nothing she might do in this ending that would put her in opinion for the title. As Ru told her and Lexi, this was simply not her time.

Lexi’s Finale Performance

After coming in as a fan favourite, Lexi’s underwhelming efficiency this period and fixation on Suzie Toot led to much of the audience either feeling apathetic about her or completely turning on her. Her performance in this ending demonstrated the confident, in-command Lexi we didn’t see for much of the period, as if being back on roller skates was all she needed to return to her complete power.

Lip Sync Evaluation

Regarding the “Abracadabra” lip sync: previously this season, Dawn tweeted concerning a debate she had actually seen on TikTok concerning what a lip sync actually indicates. I believe the same point applies here: had Gems turned in an obvious, Sasha Velour-level performance, she may have been able to change the trend. While Onya was quite negative in the performance, Jewels was not that a lot far better.

Jewels’ Strong Finish

Certain, she didn’t inevitably win, however she got so much closer than I would certainly’ve anticipated just a few weeks earlier. In the ending, she made an excellent situation for herself, and had me assuming she actually had a shot to win it all. Getting also to the runner-up positioning is a testament to exactly how solid a surface Jewels had this season.

Onya’s Next Steps

Hey Quinta Brunson, when are we getting Onya on Abbott Elementary? When are we getting Onya’s launching album?

Lexi Revisited

Her performance in this ending demonstrated the confident, in-command Lexi we really did not see for much of the season, as if being back on roller skates was all she required to return to her full power. I’m not certain exactly how much Lexi was believing concerning that– it honestly looked like she was just frustrated she really did not get to do the discloses– but it was actually one of the smartest, most attention-grabbing decisions made all period long. If she can come back for an additional season in that mode, and avoid the trappings of her internal saboteur, I believe an All Stars run could be an extremely, extremely good thing for Lexi.

Sam’s trajectory this season is going to be fascinating to mirror on after some time away from the period. Despite what it seemed like at one point this period, I believe there was nothing she could do in this ending that would place her in contention for the title.