With many quotable moments but lots of shortchanges when it came to runway looks, Season 9 of RuPaul’s Drag Race was both loved and reviled when it aired. It was the first season to premiere after the departure of the series from Logo, which had been its home for eight years, to VH1. In that way, it was the first time some viewers had ever even seen it or knew of its existence, while other viewers bemoaned the change as an upset of an already solid platform.
Thanks to some less than flattering editing, some queens came across as wildly different than their real-life personas, while other queens that were expected to deliver in big ways fell flat due to their own overconfidence and under-preparedness. Whether viewers liked Eureka’s wildly campy flamboyance, Sasha Velour’s dry wit, or Nina Bo’Nina Brown’s unparalleled drag style, here are the 5 Best and 5 Worst queens from Season 9 of RuPaul's Drag Race.
Worst: Alexis Michelle
A queen that balanced both congeniality and authenticity, viewers were initially enamored with Alexis Michelle from the start. Her personality translated well to the competitive nature of the series, and she turned out some amazing performances, both in her lip syncs and as an amazing Liza Minnelli in the Snatch Game Challenge.
But for all her hard work and likability, one minute she’d be at the top of the heap, and the next she’d be in the bottom, lip-synching for her life. This led to some feeling that she was secretly mediocre and just coasting, but a queen rarely gets as far as she did by resting on their laurels.
Best: Sasha Velour
With her striking features, bald head, and witty sense of humor, Sasha Velour came sashaying into the workroom a force to be reckoned with. Known for being cerebral and inside her head a lot of the time, her personality was dry to some viewers, and she didn’t immediately click with the rest of the queens on her season.
Finishing in the finale without having won the most challenges, she nevertheless took home the crown and took her place among all the other iconic queens that came before her. Her fashion sense and her ideology spoke to the future of drag, which is appropriate for any winner on RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Worst: Farrah Moan
Farrah Moan, undeniably beautiful, uncommonly feminine looking, completely boring. For such a ravishing queen, Farrah proved that a young queen can serve all style and no substance. She had a cute personality, but she wasn’t particularly memorable with either her barbs or her talent as far as the challenges were concerned.
After seeing Farrah in the Season 9 reunion come for Valentina in a big way and demonstrate a huge influx of personality, viewers were excited to see her reappear briefly on Season 10. Sadly Farrah hadn’t learned anything in her time away and didn’t bring anything new to the season, resulting in her getting the boot.
Best: Valentina
Compared to supermodel Linda Evangelista frequently throughout her season, Valentina was one of the most strikingly beautiful queens to ever sashay into the workroom. With a flawless figure, beautiful face, and a beat painted for the gods, she seemed a high heel shoo-in to be crowned the winner.
But beauty isn’t the only thing that impresses RuPaul and keeps a queen around with each passing episode. Valentina was also prone to being a conniving back-stabber. That might have been a good strategy, if only Valentina had bothered to remember the words to her lip sync when she finally landed in the bottom. Still, “Villaintina” lives on through a huge following on social media.
Worst: Peppermint
Peppermint’s lip-syncing abilities are almost unmatched, which almost guaranteed she was never going home even though she served sloppy and busted looks week after week. Knowing there’s no danger in being eliminated, she was never forced to push herself further until the very end of the season.
Though Peppermint didn’t always come to slay in her season, she was one of the most pleasant queens on the show, and never came for another competitor with any shade or sabotaging trickery when the queens were in the workroom. Unfortunately, being a super likable queen will only get you a nomination for Miss Congeniality, not the crown and 100,000 dollars.
Best: Eureka
A loud and vivacious comedy queen, Eureka was completely herself from the moment she stepped into the workroom. She was also a queen fans either loved or hated immediately because of that. Her personality rubbed people the wrong way, but beneath it all, Eureka was a consummate professional and true to herself.
Sadly, an injury during one of the challenges caused her to have to leave the show prematurely, and right when the drama was getting good between her and Trinity Taylor. She and her sickening hair plumes returned for Season 10, however, so it wasn’t the last we saw of this fabulous queen with the infectious zest for life.
Worst: Trinity Taylor
There was a lot expected of Trinity Taylor going into Season 9. She seemed polished, put together, and gorgeous. A pageant queen with a little edge, she didn’t exactly explore new territory, but she had her own distinct style. Problems arose when she was revealed to be a flat character, save for her obnoxious attitude, which wasn’t even committed to enough to define her.
Despite all the other queens that have come before or since, she was the only queen from RuPaul’s Drag Race herstory to be mentioned on an SNL skit, featuring none other than Chris Pine, who discussed how her amazing tuck assisted in her female illusion. That could be considered winning to some!
Best: Aja
Aja was somewhat of a dark horse through Season 9, managing to instantly win over fans with her iconic and striking looks, but struggling while trying to find her identity in the competition. It might have had something to do with the fact that the library was perpetually open for her, and she read the other queens for filth on a regular basis back in the workroom.
She remains one of the very top queens followed on Instagram, serving up flawless face and dishing the shade that became her signature. There have been remixes made entirely of her backstage complaining, cementing the strategy of some queens to be more memorable for catching flies with vinegar than with honey.
Worst: Jaymes Mansfield
Known for being a comedy queen with an outrageous, retro sense of fashion, Jaymes Mansfield was a polarizing figure on Season 9. Some say her horrible personality in the season was due to bad edits, while others think she genuinely was only ever comfortable on camera in her own Youtube videos, and not ready for prime time.
At the end of the slay, Jaymes Mansfield just wasn’t prepared enough to be on RuPaul’s Drag Race. She was never able to translate her witty repartee to the small screen and develop an identity among the other, more polished queens. But peep her Youtube channel for great videos of drag history.
Best: Nina Bo'nina Brown
One of the fan favorite queens of Season 9, Nina Bo’Nina Brown had a winning mixture of spunk, edge, and vitality that won over judges and viewers alike. A crafty queen, her makeup skills and ability to make wild costumes gave her dynamic looks impossible to duplicate. Her drag was almost indescribably uncategorizable, which worked in her favor throughout the challenges.
With her daring drag came an even more wild personality prone to being attacked by mood swings. Her melancholy attitude and periods of apathy combined with her chaotic looks was exhausting to watch at times, but never dull. Sadly, she was too much up in her own head to really shine!