The final episode of RuPaul's Drag Race season 12 is a lip sync battle extravaganza from home. It has been a wild ride of a season full of talented queens, unbelievable looks, and a disqualification scandal. It is obviously not ideal to see one of the best seasons in history wrap up on a Zoom call, but the queens are making the most of it.
RuPaul announces that the girls will do a three-way lip sync and then each queen will get their own time to shine in a solo lip sync. Then the top two will go against each other. Michelle Visage announces all of the dolls from this season. Usually, they get to strut on the runway, but today we see them in their apartments. It's sad. Drag needs a certain type of lighting. This was... dim. Jan was possibly the only exception. Her try-hard nature worked in her favor for this presentation. Sometimes it pays to be part queen, part theatre nerd, part stage manager, and part that b**ch!
RuPaul interviews each queen individually and has them talk to photos of their younger selves. This segment is traditionally done in the second to last episode, but it was very smart producing to move it to the finale. Crystal's family is adorable. It is nice to see a side of her culture that wasn't featured much on the rest of the season. Gigi Goode also shows her vulnerable side with RuPaul and discusses her level of confidence. Some call it cocky, but no one can say she doesn't back it up. Her message to her younger self about her father not understanding her is very heartwarming. Jaida Essence Hall gets emotional talking about her clearly kind and loving family. Hearing that her straight brother and father cried when she won a challenge is the kind of message the queer community needs right now. Having such a kind and mature queen who represents black excellence win Drag Race would mean a great deal. She is polished, poised, and wonderful to watch.
The top three girls lip sync to RuPaul's new song "Bring Back My Girls." Unfortunately, the girls don't need to be brought back. Based on this performance the girls need to... stay at home. This was a cute try in this uncertain time for television, but it did not work. All three girls were very close to the camera and not much was happening. This very much felt like an opportunity to fill air time. Then they go to the individual lip syncs. Now comes the gag. Crystal Methyd constructs a bird look and nest. She lip syncs to Nelly Furtado's "I'm Like a Bird" and it is completely insane. Her creativity is unflappable. There is often a lot of talk around "weird queens" and this doll just proved she is actually the true meaning of the word weird. She feeds her baby bird self as her momma bird self by throwing up. If quarantine has brought us anything special it is this very odd moment.
Gigi Goode has a very cool and very conceptual idea. She pays tribute to a classic pop-rock song. She clearly worked hard on making this come to life. But... is this drag? Its sort of just the same thing as the original music video. It isn't a parody. It isn't stylized or campy. She is kind of just... standing there. This was very cool performance art, but ultimately not that interesting to watch. It does make this episode very special, however, that the girls got to pick the song they lip sync to. It's a cool way to see three different styles of drag rather than making two queens lip-sync to the same song.
Jaida Essence Hall has truly shown that she is the right choice to be America's Next Drag Superstar. She leads with kindness, compassion, and joy. She is confident without being cocky. She is responsible and mature. Her social media presence is very positive and she truly embodies pageant drag, which is not often rewarded on RuPaul's Drag Race. This lip sync, however, is not it. She is dancing incredibly well, but compared to the other girls there just isn't enough happening. It's surprising that all three drag queens didn't bring more gags. Everyone plays it pretty straight forward, which has been proven to not be enough in this final lip sync showdown. Jaida looks flawless and she performs well, but it certainly isn't a performance that seems to secure a place in the top two.
When RuPaul announces that he has made his decision about who will move on in the competition, it is a nail-biter. Crystal had the most creative lip-sync. Gigi has the best track record. And Jaida danced well and has a winner's grace, but she did not deliver the best lipsync. RuPaul announces that all three of the queens will get to move on to the final lip sync, which feels fair and exciting.
While the tension builds, Nina West returns to hand her crown to the next Miss Congeniality. The title goes to the lovable Heidi N Closet. Dolly Parton makes an appearance! Yvie Oddly returns to hand her crown off to this year's winner. RuPaul announces the lip-sync song the top 3 must perform for the crown. It's "Survivor" by Destiny's Child. An excellent choice.
The girls take their positions and you can see the drive in their eyes. Well, you can see the drive in Gigi Goode and Jaida Essence Hall's eyes. Crystal seems... happy to be there! That attitude continues on through the lip-sync. Crystal seems to phone it in and the other two girls fight for it. Gigi Goode really serves a spectacular lip-sync. What once seemed like a boring black and white music video number is now becoming clear. She is a conceptual queen who made her lip sync black and white and during the song she turns to color. She is dressed as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and she does a very exciting reveal that shows off her brightly colored dress. Then she rips off her boots to reveal ruby red slippers. She even takes her hair down in one very smooth move. It's exciting. Jaida Essence Hall unzips a very cool outfit and reveals a sexy dominatrix looking number. She has the essence of this song. This woman is a survivor. She flips her look up over her head for the final button revealing a crown. It's extremely cool and Mother RuPaul rewards her with the ultimate prize.
The seasons that are a true race to the finish are always the best. This season seemed like a Gigi Goode win and then Miss Essence Hall came from behind and grabbed that crown. It was an exciting episode and the crown went to a very deserving winner. This win is a wonderful statement to black queer children everywhere. Your lives do matter and as Jaida Essence Hall said in the reunion "you can be anything you want to be."
Source: VH1, Jaida Essence Hall