RuPaul’s Drag Race Season-Finale Recap: Winner Winner

Okay, let’s start with the fact that Drag Race finales have always been bad episodes of TV. That’s a fact. Even the best one, Sasha Velour’s winning episode, was only gripping for the last 20 minutes — three performances’ worth. This season, the finale is a rather contained affair: The show has left behind the arena finales of yore that anybody could buy tickets to. I get it: The last time they did that, there were reports that a dancer injured himself and the whole, gigantic theater had to wait while they restaged a number. That’s taxing and rough. But dear god do these finales feel small in comparison. They’re just much less epic, and I liked it when the show asked the queens to figure out how to perform for a giant stage. Watching them perform on the same stage they were on all season just doesn’t feel like a culmination.

It’s also hard to know, on any given season, exactly how perfunctory the finales are going to be. Last year, it felt like Nymphia won, at least partially, on the strength of her final lip sync. Other years, the winner was basically chosen going in. This year, it seems like that’s what happened. Onya Nurve, by far the most charismatic and polished performer of the season, lost the battle (the final lip sync) but won the war. Congratulations to Onya! I think it was the right choice, final moment be damned.

The episode starts in earnest with final runway looks. Clearly, Jewels and Onya were the ones who thought they had a shot: Jewels’s giant pink dress is stunningly gorgeous and commands the space, which was a smart move, while Onya looks the best she has all season in a detailed, brown dress that shimmers and, with its headpiece, shows that she’s already learned about proportion. Lexi comes out in a gorgeous floral “outfit” that’s entirely ready for a Victoria’s Secret fashion show. It’s a great look, but I don’t think it’s the kind of thing that RuPaul wants to crown. Sam’s outfit kind of looks like she gave up: a white cowboy dress that is objectively fine, but just isn’t exciting.

Jewels does her number first. Here’s the thing: Jewels came to win. She was on an upward trajectory by the end of the season, and by the time the finale rolled around, she was almost guaranteed top two. But, starting with this number, she almost clinched the title. She takes a physical comedy approach that seems entirely driven by her, a smart technique that nobody else tried. It’s smart, it’s legit funny, and she is a superstar. I was really, really impressed, and I got the feeling watching that number that Jewels is someone who will continue to elevate. She’s got remarkable skills. Even her interview portion with RuPaul is near perfect — remember that this is a 22-year-old, standing up in front of an audience and delivering close-to-word-perfect responses to RuPaul. It’s pretty amazing. More than anything, the Jewels segment gave me a sense of Jewels’s level of ambition, which I hadn’t necessarily felt all season, but was, in the finale, exactly what I wanted.

Lexi’s number is next. She returns to rollerskates, which definitely sets her apart. I think Lexi pretty solidly scores third place over Sam due to her finale performance. She’s great in the number — funny and fun and covered in glitter. If we’re splitting hairs, I’d say that Jewels beats her only because she felt so determined. Lexi has fun, so we’re having fun, but Jewels punches through the camera in a powerful way. In the interview, Lexi is as open and delightful as she always is.

Onya goes next and I’m mixed on this performance. First of all, she has far and away the best vocals of the night. It’s not close. Onya sounds legit great on her track. She also performs it well, without a beat of missed choreo (and her actual dancing is among the most difficult of the night). But it’s the most low-concept number of the night, and thus potentially the least memorable. I think if someone were to watch all four numbers without knowing the queens, they would get the least sense of who Onya is, which is tough. That’s bad branding. But she won me back in the interview portion, in which she is by far the best. The moment when she riffs a little and starts walking around the stage after RuPaul compliments her runway walk is, no joke, incredible. Far beyond what any of the other queens can muster, and a sign of just how charismatic a talker Onya is. Nobody else this season could go on a late night talk show and kill. Onya could (and, if RuPaul subs in for Jimmy Kimmel at some point this summer, probably will). That’s powerful.

Sam does a good job. Not gonna kick the girl while she’s down. The dancers throw around her tiny little body like she weighs 5 pounds, which is great fun to watch. She also has a million and one reveals, which is always exciting to watch. (Granted, none of the outfits that she reveals are worth clapping for but— sorry, sorry, I said I wouldn’t kick her while she’s down.) In the interview, Sam is as we know her: Polished, smiley, positive. Good for her!

Miss Congeniality goes to Crystal: Sure! The queens vote on it so I’m not one to critique. The reason this season ruled was that the girls weren’t congenial, so it’s not like I think there’s a better choice.

Nymphia walks out in an absolutely stunning dress (of course) and does well enough bantering with RuPaul. (Good for her!)

Finally, Ru announces that the final two are Onya and Jewels. By my estimation, this is the right decision; Lexi and Sam just weren’t quite there yet. The moment when Lexi responds by doing all her reveals in quick succession is absolutely the funniest of the night.

The top two lip sync to (what else?) “Abracadabra” by Lady Gaga. It’s fun to see Drag Race be so responsive and include a recent gay anthem like this in the finale. And yeah, Jewels wins it. Look, I see the argument that Onya wins it: Lip syncing is absolutely not just about reveals, and it shouldn’t be. Onya has a clear vision for the song, and smartly dresses up as the “Lady in Red” that Gaga sings about. And also… Jewels calibrates her performance to be finale level, delivering something exciting and, notably, her reveals have a strong point of view based in burlesque. These are not just reveals, they come together to create a number. When she’s on her knees in the center of the stage, it’s not hard to see it as a winning tableau. Onya, meanwhile, starts strong but seems tired by the end of the number, when Jewels is only gaining strength. She’s not bad. She does lose.

But Onya wins the season. Look, you can call it unfair if you want, but would it be fair, given the whole season, for Jewels to win? What even is “fair?” Both Jewels and Onya are top-level queens, but I do think it’s “fair” to say that Jewels peaked a little too late and had some real blindspots in the competition that Onya didn’t show. Jewels still couldn’t do what Onya did in, say, RDR Live! with her public speaking section. Actually, I don’t think many queens in the history of the show could. Onya is going to be a great winner, with a real ability to push forward and act. Jewels won the finale, but Onya won the season. The right girl has the crown.

And Also on Untucked…

• Apologies for the late recap — I didn’t receive a finale screener until late last night.

• It was so funny to see Jewels and Onya’s dads treating the finale as if their sons were on a sports team. The moment when they hugged was beautiful.

• Jewels in the finale really did combine the worlds of burlesque and high-energy dance. Consider my mouth shut.

• For what it’s worth, I think Sam lost the season at the Ugliest Dress runway. It came nearly exactly at the same point in the season as her mother Trinity’s big success in the Club Kid runway. Note to future pageant girls: If they ask you to get weird, GET WEIRD.

• Liza Minnelli receives the lifetime achievement award. She’s amazing and exactly what you want Liza to be. Read our Broadway package that includes her here.

• My winner interview should be out this week. Check back in on the site!

• Gay thoughts from gay people: The final word on this season of Drag Race goes to my restaurant critic colleague Matthew Schneier. “It’s an unfortunate fact of Drag Race that the better it gets, the worse it is. The queens of the Race are now so professional — all immediately ready to Werk the World or whatever — that the striving feels besides the point. Who roots for an overdog? (Just ask new Brooklynite Suzie Toot.) So while the top four are an unusually strong lot, even among recent RPDR standards, my biggest laughs this season came from the peanut gallery outside the show rather than the show itself: 1) La Roche-Posay and 2) Hormona unspookable at Kohl’s.” To that list I’d add Kori Toot. Goodbye!