WARNING: Spoilers Below

Season 14 of RuPaul’s Drag Race was more than I could ever dream of. 

I’ve been a fan of the reality competition show for a while now, and this season definitely exceeded my expectations. 

In RuPaul’s Drag Race, drag queens around the world are tested on their fashion, dancing, singing, and lip syncing abilities through different challenges. Every episode has a mini and main challenge. The queens must present their runway looks at the end, and RuPaul will decide the tops and bottoms of the week. 

The first time I watched a Drag Race episode, I was astonished, and this season made me fall in love with it all over again.  A season with many firsts, wild lip syncs, and glamorful clever looks—it all mesmerized me. This season was really special, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Chocolate Bar Twist:

For the first time in Drag Race Herstory, RuPaul incorporated a twist where every queen had to randomly choose a chocolate bar at the beginning of the season. 

One of the chocolate bars was golden while the rest of them were regular chocolate. 

At the end of every episode, the queen who did the worst had to reveal what kind of chocolate bar they had, and if it was chocolate, they’d go home. If the queen had the golden chocolate bar, they could stay in the competition and wouldn’t be eliminated.

Personally, I thought this twist was sweet. Every single week, my heart would be racing to see if a queen actually had the golden chocolate bar, and I’d be devastated to see one of my favorite queens leave. 

I was especially disappointed to see Maddy Morphosis and Jasmine Kennedie leave. 

Maddy Morphosis was extremely sassy and had the most campy and clever looks throughout the season. Morphosis was also the first cisgender and straight queen on the show, which was definitely important. Jasmine Kennedie kept the show entertaining and stirred a lot of drama with the other queens. 

Though she was a big character, her personality was charming and unforgettable. I was sad when they were both eliminated, but I’m excited to see their careers after Drag Race.

I do think this feature was a bit flawed though, because I did seem to often forget about it. I think the golden chocolate bar twist was a little unnecessary and not needed for the show, but it did create drama and suspense. 

Highlights and Lowlights:

The main reason I liked this season so much was because of the different challenges. Every comedic, acting, or musical challenge was hilarious. The queens all gave their own spin on their performances which made every episode exciting.

My favorite challenges this year were the Glamazon Prime, Moulin Ru: The Rusical, and The Ross Matthews Roast challenges.

Unfortunately, there was one major challenge that the queens were lacking in: The Snatch Game.

The Snatch Game is a main elimination challenge where queens have to impersonate different cultural icons and celebrities while using comedic improvisation to answer questions. The Snatch Game is always my favorite challenge, and I was beyond excited for it. 

However, the cast didn’t meet everyone’s expectations. They weren’t funny nor did they impersonate the celebrities well, and I was really disappointed. 

After the queens did poorly in this challenge, RuPaul decided to test the queens by making all of them lip sync against each other in the next episode. 

This happened to be one of the most elaborate and spectacular episodes of the season. The queens gave it their all and I couldn’t take my eyes off of the screen.

The fashion was also simply incredible and the queens were witty with their designs. 

My favorite looks this season were Willow Pill’s graceful mouse princess look, Maddy Morphosis’ stormy rain cloud look, and Bosco’s gorey ballerina look. The queens’ aesthetics were unique and highly impressive. 

Kornbread’s Elimination & Medical Issues in Drag Race:

This season, we lost a queen way too early: Kornbread, a funny, confident, and inspiring queen with a graceful personality. Kornbread was eliminated in episode 5 because she had damaged her ankle in a previous challenge.

I believe Kornbread’s elimination might’ve been one of the worst things that happened this season. I always get attached to the queens, and Kornbread was one of them. 

I knew about Kornbread before she was even on the show because I had seen her in drag videos on YouTube. I thought she’d make it pretty far in the competition and I was sure she’d do well in challenges. 

When she was eliminated, my heart broke and I immediately sympathized with her. Not only did Kornbread leave this episode, but we also lost another great queen, Orion Story. 

Story was one of my favorite queens from the beginning, and I enjoyed her vibrant, quirky style and weird jokes. Story was eliminated after doing poorly fashion wise and not being as socially confident as the other queens. 

Story resonated with me as someone who is more reserved and introverted. Her energy was standoffish, but I think she was just shy. 

I saw the best in her, and I think she should’ve stayed longer. 

Drag Race needs to do better when it comes to dealing with medical issues. In the past, queens have had injuries or issues that made their time on the show short; they push the queens too much sometimes and they get overwhelmed, especially in lip syncing and dancing challenges. 

I was very glad that Kornbread won Miss Congeniality and she deserved it. I could tell that she was a comfort to many queens in the workroom and she’s a kind soul.

The Finale: 

For the first time in two years, we had an in-person finale. I’ve loved the past finales dearly and they’re always extravagant and special. I was so excited for the finale, yet also nervous–the suspense and drama was definitely intense.

The final five competed and each wrote their own original song. In the past, typically with only four queens, they would lip sync for the crown until RuPaul decided which queen would be crowned. I liked this format and the final winner, Willow Pill.

Willow Pill deserved this win and she was my favorite since the beginning. Pill’s journey this season was wonderful because she found who she was. 

After shooting Drag Race, Pill came out as transgender, and uses she/they pronouns. Pill has cystinosis, which is a rare genetic disorder that affects most organs in the body. Despite Pill’s struggles, Pill persevered which was truly inspiring. Pill representing the transgender and disabled community was really important. Pill’s original song, “I Hate People,” was absolutely hilarious and very catchy. I am so proud of her, and I can’t wait for her to continue growing.

Finals Thoughts:

This season was probably one of my favorites ever. The casting was phenomenal and I fell in love with every single queen on the show. 

I love Drag Race dearly and it is so beautiful to see people embrace their gender identity and femininity. Watching the queens become more confident in themselves and grow throughout the show is inspiring. 

This season had many firsts, including that five different queens were transgender and we had a final five. The emotional and personal journeys we see the queens go through are beautiful. It never fails to make me cry, and I love how the show touches on tough realities. 

It’s a moving show that will always hold a special place in my heart.