An Ode to "RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars" Season 2, the Season That Could Have Been

Michael Roberts 19’ / Emertainment Monthly TV Staff Writer

Spoilers ahead.

RuPaul’s Drag Race is often delicious, touching, and entertaining television. Very rarely is it frustrating to watch. This season, which airs its finale Thursday night at 8:00 p.m. on the Logo Channel, was ultimately one of those exceptions.
Starting off with the positive, All Stars (season 2) cropped together an incredible group of queens that would rival any season line-up in recent memory. Not only were they impressive, but they were diverse: pageant queens, comedy queens, camp queens, goth queens, and so on. Looking at the lineup, it was impossible to choose a frontrunner as they were all so capable to take the crown.
What eventually became the crux of the season, however, was the inclusion of a new method of elimination. Instead of host RuPaul ultimately deciding which queen would be sent home, the winner of the lip-sync challenge would decide. Originally, this made for compelling television as the girls tried to abide by a certain guideline when making the elimination decision—they decided that the queen with the harshest critiques should be sent home. But as the season progressed, politics and alliances quickly overthrew the once-democratic system.
“Rolaskatox,” the alliance between Roxxxy Andrews, Detox, and Alaska, is the reason this season became a frustrating, toxic mess. Week after week, members of Rolaskatox would win the lip-sync and send home a more-deserving queen over a member of their clique.
At first the behavior was suspicious, then obvious, and ultimately infuriating. One could almost see in his expression the moment RuPaul decided this would be the first and last season using this maneuver. Pretty soon, it was down to the top four; there sat Roxxxy Andrews, who had been in the bottom a record five times. It was unjust, embarrassing and unwatchable television.
Ultimately, Alaska being crowned the winner was not the product of Rolaskatox or unfair eliminations. She brought a zany style of drag to the competition, and a sense of comedy that was wholly unique. Alaska would have absolutely had an edge to win the crown in any other season. However, looking back on the original ten queens of the season, it is difficult not to imagine what the competition would have been if each queen was given a fair shot at the crown.