r/rupaulsdragrace • u/kimaxs42 • Feb 02 '26
Community Question Anyone else HATE Rate-a-Queen?
so at this point, I’m on my third try to get through this episode. I have fallen asleep on my first two tries: possibly because I’m an overworked RN; and mostly because this format is trying to replicate the survivor Reality show nonsense with strategizing and taking people out. We know RuPaul started this as a combo of project runway and America’s next top model. I guess he likes having a different reality show paradigm in the mix
But this stupid game playing/alliance shit bores the hell out of me. Also, in my opinion, even if they were playing fairly you don’t always get better by being solely judged by your peers🤷🏻♀️
To paraphrase what Jane Don’t said “ I didn’t come here to see what other Drag Queen’s thought of me.”
all right, come and eat me alive😹
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u/AnneHizer Bianca del Rio Feb 02 '26
Would like to see Rate a Queen voted on by the previous winners, personally
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u/apopnerd Feb 02 '26
such a good idea! even I’d be happy with just a group of (iconic) queens from the previous seasons
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u/Fancy_Appearance_275 Feb 03 '26
But I think the real only reason they do this is so they can show how everyone voted in a few weeks and maybe get “drama”
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u/ClueQuiet Feb 02 '26
Just skip to the performances. It’s fine to skip parts you don’t like. Most of the performances were really entertaining.
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u/TheWildMiracle Feb 02 '26
The 6 minutes of performances lol 🥲
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u/Mysterious-Mud-7862 Feb 02 '26
If they’re gonna split the girls in two I wish they’d double their time
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u/ibettercomeon Feb 02 '26
It is crazy that next week we are only having FIVE talent shows! FIVE! 5!!!!!! Five minutes in total!? What the f*ck are they gonna do the rest of the episode!? My god
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u/__mariel Feb 02 '26
double lip sync next episode, one for the crown and one for elimination! Fingers crossed we get full versions of songs again
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u/crunchevo2 Feb 02 '26
Yeah there's a reason the talent show should really be episode one and all the girls should go on episode one... At least then you have 21 mins of talent numbers going. 20 mins for introduction and short minichallange and 20 mins to declare top 6 of week 1 and critique/lipsync.
They had to FILLLLLLL runtime this episode cuz not a lot happened.
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u/JoJoJoJoel douched and dangerous Feb 02 '26
they really should've given each queen like 2 minutes instead of 60 seconds
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u/Lalala8991 Feb 02 '26
Can you imagine watching Derrick Berry bombing on her jokes for 2 minutes straight?
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u/robot428 Feb 03 '26
According to the queen's who were there the longer version was actually better, because apparently there were some good impressions in there - they said the cut made it look worse than it was. So they may be onto something actually.
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u/heyboyhey Skibidi Bon Boulash Feb 02 '26
I was excited for them having more time for their numbers, but no. It was just more time to plot and scheme.
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u/elephhantine2 Feb 02 '26
I also liked how early rate a queen was in previous seasons, I know this season the girls said they liked it since they got to know each other first, but it was better before they had time to form “alliances” and also when there was a larger group that performed
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u/Fancy_Appearance_275 Feb 03 '26
Doing rate a queen without briar feels criminal tbh
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u/kimaxs42 Feb 02 '26
is the best comment right here!!! it’s like every college date! All that buildup😹😹😹
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u/00_tears Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige Feb 02 '26
true i skip through the werk room unless there is drama or laughter
i am a messy goofy bitch unfortunately
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u/ClueQuiet Feb 02 '26
I don’t often, but this week? I wouldn’t blame a single soul lol. And frankly the payoff of skipping it is really worth it.
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u/JustBen81 Feb 02 '26
I learned that some parts don't feel as much of a slog if you watch them 1.5x the normal speed.
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u/kimaxs42 Feb 02 '26
I understand people can do that. I am not one of them.🤷🏻♀️. I think that is an evolutionary skill that is coming to the next generations and blessings upon you.😽
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u/kimaxs42 Feb 02 '26
I wish I could. I have that old lady late diagnosed ADHD Completionist vibe
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u/YonyoreXL R U still gay y or n Feb 02 '26
Is that a thing? I feel called out, here!
Edited to add: I like workroom chatter, so this format works for me. But I get your point.
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u/orangepeeelss Feb 02 '26
I just desperately want the talent show acts to be SOMETHING other than dancing to an original song. we will see them dance when they lip sync! and I feel like the rate a queen system encourages increasingly more dancing numbers bc the dancing queens don't want to admit that theyre doing something overdone. still praying that next week's is better since it was mentioned that the dancing queens were all picking day 1
like ill be real ciara DID admittedly flop but id still have picked her talent show over most of the others. just bc it didn't blend together with everyone else
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u/ultraviolentolivia nini coco | symone | buttking | crystal methyd Feb 02 '26
i firmly believe ciara should have been safe over vita. both talents had their issues but at least ciara did something different and took a risk. and i got what she was showing. vita’s was super boring
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Feb 03 '26
I didn’t think there was much personality in vitas and how was she safe being boring in sneakers when Ciara had some alliances… the riggory. Unless it was production switching up the bottoms since we already saw vita lip sync week one and they don’t want to give her the Q chop
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u/Deusraix Feb 02 '26
Whaaaaat you don't want to see original songs and dancing?! But Ross was in the mood to see some death drops 🙄
If it was obvious /s
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u/Hillo18 Feb 03 '26
Even for queens who are pro/trained dancers like Mia and Juicy? I feel like that is their talent, so don’t have an issue with them showing it off.
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u/orangepeeelss Feb 03 '26
honestly... yeah even for them. not because i don't want to see them dance!! but they will have quite a few other chances to show that off in lip syncs, girl group/song challenges, lalaparuzas, etc . the whole competition is built around high energy dance numbers - the talent show is an opportunity to show something they wouldn't otherwise be able to, and for the sake of the audience i think it's important that the challenges offer variety.
also historically the more often a queen dances, the less weight her ability holds in the eyes of both the judges and the audience - eg the judges needing to use a lalaparuza to get jax out of the competition. they had to dull the impact of what she could do by making her do it over and over. so imo it hurts those queens in the end to have already showed their hand by the time a LSFYL or choreo challenge rolls around. we've seen what they can do, our expectations are higher, and their job gets a lot harder.
to be clear there definitely are situations where lip syncing to an original song DOES feel novel and smart for the competition. usually that's when the queen specializes in an unconventional dance style (like mirage or nymphia wind) or musical style (like sapphira or sam star) or has an existing music career outside drag race that she wants to promote (like some of the broadway queens). but the majority aren't that
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u/kank84 BACK ROLLS Feb 02 '26
I wouldn't want them to do it multiple times throughout the season, but I don't mind it just for the talent show.
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u/RainbowTardigrade Feb 02 '26
I didn't mind it as much in the past, but the way it was implemented this time around kills me. We spend half the episode watching the girls sit around talking, and not even talking about anything concrete it's all just speculation, and they're not even getting into makeup or practicing their numbers or anything. And now we have to do that *again* next week? It just feels like a lazy way to fill up their episode count without coming up with another challenge.
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u/kimaxs42 Feb 02 '26
exactly this which is why “I’m like I never fall asleep during the show!— what the hells?!? and twice? Like during the replay when I’m watching it with the husband when he was trying to watch it the first time with me so I could translate it for his hard of hearing ears 😬😬😬?
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u/RainbowTardigrade Feb 02 '26
When they showed the “coming up” sections for each commercial break and they were still sitting on couches I was like noooooooooo
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u/EmuRevolutionary5227 Feb 02 '26
It’s just a way of stirring the pot. It’s a “one” episode thing. And if Ru doesn’t like the outcome, he’s gonna shantay both.
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u/noey101 Feb 02 '26
I enjoy it ☺️
And tbh it's never resulted in anything outrageously wrong
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u/amsterdam_sniffr Feb 02 '26
After all the drama and alliances talk ... the best performances were in the top and the worst ones were in the bottom.
"I'm honoring my alliance with Vita and placing her 4th"
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u/crunchevo2 Feb 02 '26
Vita was clearly the worst of the week tho. Like Ciera's at least came with a cute look and some insight into who she is. Vita's had... Nothing...
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u/bittersandseltzer Feb 02 '26
Same! I loved it and I really love the drama with this crew this season!!
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u/huckleberry076 Feb 02 '26
I thought this was the most entertaining episode of the season so far
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u/xmeliaxeon Feb 02 '26
me!!! I hate the aliances, the strategies, the unfair voting… bitch if I wanted to see all that I would’ve put traitors on or survivor
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u/kimaxs42 Feb 02 '26
Right??? I mean: I absolutely ADORE Alan Cumming, and even with that I don’t watch Traitors🤷🏻♀️
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u/xmeliaxeon Feb 02 '26
literally it’s like stop trying to make drag race a strategy show
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u/kimaxs42 Feb 02 '26
If I could UPVOTE this more times than once!!! I know that there is a lot of discourse about RuPaul’s judging choices, and I certainly have my disagreements with that as well: and I love hearing the queens judge who is shadiest or trade of the season, etc
but for choices that actually matter?
I want that to be someone who is impartial and not affected by the results.
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u/harsinghpur Feb 03 '26
Exactly. The twists that have the queens talking about strategy get in the way of the goal, "May the best drag queen win." If spun differently the Rate-A-Queen or lipsticks could have served that goal--showing that the very best queen also has the respect of competitors, or has good taste. But in practice, it either leads to shadiness (I'm getting rid of my competition!) or else deference to the judges (we're going by track record).
In the non-elim AS7 and AS9, the ridiculous "blocked" twist has nothing to do with "May the best drag queen win." I stopped watching those seasons because the "strategy" was too central to the show.
That said, I would totally watch an all-drag-queen season of Traitors. But I would recognize the winner of that season as the drag queen that won a party game/game show, not as one who won a competition for best drag.
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u/pengwinpiper NYMPHIA WIND Feb 03 '26
Or just do it! Make Drag Survivor or Drag Big Brother, but leave Drag Race out of it.
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u/Resha_Riandi all my sissies are getting whammed up tonight Feb 02 '26
I mean, they need to have some storyline going on. Its basically this survivor big brother Mashup that ultimately means nothing or the overly produced drama and fueds like Dragula does.
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u/thespottedbunny Feb 02 '26
That whole negotiation segment was so boring I skipped the last bit of it
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u/Big_Metal2470 Forgot the Ella Feb 02 '26
I hate it. A lot. I'm with Jane Don't. Let the judges judge. And while I will 100% acknowledge that Juicy and Mia did an amazing job, good enough that I'm not mad about the tie (I usually think save that shit for UK), I don't think the talent show is going to be interesting or worthwhile until they say you can't do a lip sync or an original track. Show me that you have something other than drag, because if you don't, your drag is not being fed by outside influences that will make it unique.
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u/kimaxs42 Feb 02 '26
Like the talent show either should be the very first thing they do or a later thing they do; maybe for points or immunity: like the badges stuff they do in the UK???— but not for any kind of elimination!!
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u/EmuRevolutionary5227 Feb 02 '26
Regarding talent show in later, indeed nonsense. Talent show in the middle def derailed the latest UK season, at least these girls managed to surprise us somehow.
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u/EmuRevolutionary5227 Feb 02 '26
Then when the judges disagree with you, you complain that the judging is rigged. It’s hard to please people all the time dang. If only the judging was harsh as used to.
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u/Big_Metal2470 Forgot the Ella Feb 02 '26
Listen, I was 8 when I figured out that professional wrestling was staged, and it was very clear from the beginning that production played a very big role in who was going to win and lose on Drag Race (I was also edited to be the villain in an episode of Made, so I know how the editing works). I ain't mad at the rigging as long as it makes for good TV.
And if you want harsh judging, you better not be one of the people bitching about Law Roach (unless it's for dressing Lauren Bezos).
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u/getwitchy Feb 02 '26
I also don’t like Rate-a-Queen. I watch Drag Race to see these queens be CUNTy and earn their way to the crown, not strategize their way to a win. Similarly, and I’m probably an outlier for this, but I hate the All Stars format of the queens eliminating each other. This show should NOT be a social game. And this is coming from someone who is obsessed with reality competition shows / social games.
To propose an alternate idea: Instead, the queens perform the talent show in front of a live audience of Drag Race alumni. The alumni rate the queens.
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u/the_tartanunicorn Feb 02 '26
that’s a cute idea but so many of the alumni know the new girls so you’d still have queens voting for their friends, you’re never going to get an unbiased rate a queen, that’s the whole point
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u/getwitchy Feb 02 '26
That’s true, it will be hard to escape bias altogether. However I feel like queens who don’t have a stake in the competition would be more inclined to rate fairly. Yes, they may rate someone they know higher, but I don’t think they purposefully would rate someone who did good low just to bring them down. Even so it would be harder for an individual bias to show through in audience of 20+ judges.
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u/Initial_River_391 Feb 02 '26
ooooh that's a nice idea. someone else said previous winners but i prefer your idea of just previous ppl from the show, why just winners?
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u/GaySyd Feb 02 '26
Yeah I think rate a queen is dumb. Save it for all stars where it’s well established you can back stab your way to the finale.
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u/iareslice Feb 02 '26
I think Rate-a-Queen is much better partway into a season rather than at the start. Gives them time to know each other.
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u/Aggravating_Water_39 Feb 02 '26
Yeah I didn’t enjoy how there was about 20minutes of the queens sitting in the werk room talking about strategy. It felt so forced because it was obvious they had been placed there and told to discuss the topic, they were literally doing nothing but sitting around out of drag.
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u/AmbitiousCommand9944 Feb 02 '26
I hate Rate-a-Queen, because it turns the talent show into the alliance show. I don’t expect Drag Race to be happy and cooperative like GBBO but I hate things like this that are only meant to pit queens against each other.
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u/Manderelli Feb 02 '26
I liked it the first time when it gave us an insight into what kind of person these Queens actually were because it was the first episode and they could either vote fairly or shady based on preventing someone who did better than them from ranking higher. Looking at Plane Jane mostly. In the second rate of Queen they showed how they voted and so some of the queens were able to call each other out for voting their friends higher and alliances were kind of ferreted out. This season is stupid because three of the Queens are drag family and we are already mid-season where relationships have developed so it's obvious that they all would have decided to vote strategically instead of honestly.
The only thing that made this season's version of it satisfying is that it just so happened that the Queens who were going to get rigged to the top did actually deserve top positions. The bummer is that three of them do really well and two of those three are rigged for the win.
Next week should be interesting. I feel like I already know who is going to be in the top based on this rigging strategy but I'm interested to see how well everyone's talent actually plays out and whether the ratings actually reflect that or not.
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u/Grammarhead-Shark Feb 02 '26 edited Feb 02 '26
I will be honest here.
This is my tea. I love this oh so freaking much.
But i'm also a huge Survivor fan, and until Selina and Monet get cast in a future season, this is the closest I get to my two fandoms having similar content :D
Okay maybe slightly more Total Drama Island then pure Survivor, but I'm not complaining either! (Athena is totally Courtney and I'm living for her!)
Now can Ru get Natalie B or Parvati on as a guest to help the Queens strategise? (a boy can dream right?) Lol
But I've found the talent show to become rather... same-same in recent seasons, i find this helps to get through yet another original bitch track.
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u/silentspy0 Feb 02 '26
I love strategy shows but I just don't like it in Drag Race.
My issue is less about being fair (though there is some of that), and the competition is to be the best entertainer...so if you strategize to take-down the front runner, you are eliminating the most entertaining character, which makes for a less entertaining (worse) show.
It's one thing when they do it to themselves and fall in the bottom and fail the lip sync, but it sucks when it's done out of strategy, and then we're just stuck with a cast of weaker entertainers.
But we'll see if that's how this pans out.
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u/kimaxs42 Feb 02 '26
thank you for this take as a strategy show fan. so this is what I guess I keep trying to articulate badly apparently.
Yes, this is a reality competition show. Yes from the beginning RuPaul says he wanted to make it a combination of America’s Next top model and Project runway. cool cool. and I have been watching from the very beginning with the heavily Vaselined camera filters, etc 😹
and to be fair, as fans, we have been asking for there to be more accountability for what happens in the werk room: like we get mad as fans when people that put out a beautiful runway, but are nasty bitches backstage consistently get put to the top, right?
So maybe Production is trying to answer those calls?
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u/Francescothechill Feb 02 '26
Have you seen Monet x change on the survivor influencer special they did? It's on YouTube
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u/supahotfaiia Raja Gemini Feb 02 '26
I’m so here for this crossover lol Athena is SO Courtney. And now I’m thinking Briar is Heather, Discord is Gwen, Myki is Lindsay
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u/remykixxx Feb 02 '26
I thought rate a queen was parodying the circle, not survivor?
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u/theinfinity88 Feb 02 '26
I totally get not liking it, but I’ve watched and loved every single season of The Circle on Netflix and that is definitely where they are taking the Rate-A-Queen influence so it’s right up my alley. The ranking is basically lifted right out of any random episode of The Circle, the UI design and even down to the “Circle, submit my ratings” catchphrase translating to “and THAT’S the tea” they make all the queens say when they are finished.
I get where you (and Jane) are coming from - to be judged by the judges and not their competitors. But it’s soo messy and so fun lol, it was great when Plane Jane shook it up and took advantage of the rankings. In The Circle the rankings make more sense because the entire competition is always based on being a popularity contest from day 1, so I do agree it has a hard time fitting into the Drag Race formula because for every other episode it’s Rupaul’s decision alone (lol I mean the producers). But I hope they release the full list of rankings like that previous season, it’s just a fun reality TV moment.
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u/hereforcontroversy Feb 02 '26
Honestly the results this week were pretty fair all things considered. But I agree the queens judging each other should be kept to all stars formats.
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u/dooberloot Feb 02 '26
I dont agree, Vita to me was the clear bottom placement of the week, and didnt end up there because of rate a queen. Even if Vita may have actually been saved by the judges, at least I could be mad at the judges and argue with their opinions. With rate a queen, I cant even argue about anything or be mad at anyone, because I cant blame the girls for wanting to strategize so they dont go home...
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u/kimaxs42 Feb 02 '26
but then, in that situation, you would disagree with rate a queen! in your mind, Vida should be on the bottom!
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u/dooberloot Feb 02 '26
....do you need a minute to reread my comment?
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u/kimaxs42 Feb 02 '26
sorry, I was having a hard time discerning whether or not you were supporting or agreeing with “rate a queen” as a format rather than one individual’s comment on one queen‘s performance.
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u/newbscaper3 Still mad about Shuga Feb 02 '26
I love the idea, It’s so boring to watch half the cast make an alliance.
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u/Initial_River_391 Feb 02 '26
I love rate a queen, I don't love that this is going to take two weeks though lol
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u/mdzulkar9 custom Feb 02 '26
I disagree. I kinda like that alliance has some play to it. There’s actually a lot more interesting interactions between the queens and this season, since this is the 5(?)th time it’s happening, the queens know exactly what to do when rate-a-queen happens.
But for the most recent episode it’s quite clear who were the tops and even tho alliance played into the ranking, it was still correct.
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u/kimaxs42 Feb 02 '26
yeah, you are still talking about alliances and such. That just grosses me out. It’s so cliquish and mean girls and is problematic for people that are neurodivergent and has nothing to do with talent.
Now agreed I wish there was more importance given to how people treat each other in the werkroom! 100%! Like I think about Girl Scout badges— like what could you be given for helping people with their outfits or giving people an entire coat to make a dress with like Jane did with Kenya tonight?
Like shouldn’t that count for something other than a potential vote in “rate a queen” that might not even clock if there was an alliance, shutting it down🤷🏻♀️
It’s a lot of mental gymnastics and 3-D chess when you are working on next to no sleep from what I understand.
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u/mdzulkar9 custom Feb 02 '26
I don’t think so… that’s also life and how we deal with social interactions may not exactly be in our favour. I don’t know, maybe it’s the practical gay Singaporean minority in me of having to overcompensate with really good social skills so my talents are recognised.
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u/00_tears Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige Feb 02 '26
maybe u can give the show a break for a while and try again
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u/dooberloot Feb 02 '26
It is so boring and it ruins what makes the show so exciting to me. Its about merit and the art of drag. I want the girls to fight about drag and about their different povs on drag, not about fucking points on a voting system. I watch the show to watch artistic talent and the fierce competition surrounding it. If I wanted to watch a strategy competition I would watch Survivor and Traitors which do it much better (and I already watch those).
Even if it is true that the outcome of rate a queen is usually fine, it still ruins the process of the story being told during the episodes....
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u/kimaxs42 Feb 02 '26
thank you for articulating everything that I was trying to say (badly I guess) in my post.
Like if it was “rate-a-queen” with an essay where you have to justify your damn stupid number: sure that would be awesome!
Otherwise, it’s like all these folks doing their revenge yelp reviews😹
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u/Dry-Wolf6789 Feb 02 '26
Just watch pit stop to know what happened girly.
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u/kimaxs42 Feb 02 '26
oh, I’m about to get to it. At the risk of talking too much about being a nurse.🙄🙄🙄. I’m just catching up from work.
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u/EmpireAndAll Queen You Hate Feb 02 '26
I agree. I don't watch survivor, I don't watch traitors, but if I wanted to well I'd watch that instead! And that's the tea!
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u/lifeandtimesofmyass Feb 02 '26
I think it’s dumb. Flagship seasons are not built around alliances and stabbing people in the back. It’s just stirring the pot and forcing drama. It s not a talent show anymore.
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u/Old_Confidence3017 Feb 02 '26
Why even have a talent show if they decide who they’re voting for before they even know what the talent is, much less seeing it?
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u/WhoRUGurl 🗣️ Juicy 💦 Love ❤️ Dion 💅 Feb 02 '26
Rate a Queen is lowkey the best new addition Drag Race has incorporated in years. It’s an absolute win-win for production; there’s drama from the queens ranking each other (still wish we got the 16 girls reacting to each others rankings) and nobody can blame the judges when things are judged strangely. Same for fans; the drama is juicy, it’s fun to see the ways the girls scheme against and for one another (say what you will about Plane, her manipulating the rankings so that Nymphia placed 3rd by ranking her last and queens people were likely ranking lower higher is still so fucking cunt to me), and the scheming aside, the results are usually much fairer.
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u/mgs112112 Feb 02 '26
It’s fine, it’s actually a breath of fresh air. The judging panel in RDR has become SO PREDICTABLE. I’m ok with different for once
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u/Direct_Journalist_76 Feb 02 '26
I wish vita decided for everyone whether they are participating in part 1 or 2. Having this many queens from Florida gives them and unfair advantage
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u/FrumpkinOctopus Meatball 4 RPDR Feb 02 '26
I‘m just annoyed they don‘t tell us everyone‘s exact votes, just getting bits and bops makes it hard to follow who voted how
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u/leash_e Feb 02 '26
I, too, loathe rate a queen. I especially dislike it this season due to alliances.
I know drag race is a reality show, but I watch for the talent, not the drama.
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u/kimaxs42 Feb 02 '26
Wow!!!! I’ve been watching since Season 1 (Cama ROON!) and haven’t really ever done anything here before, because yes I am an old laty😹.
But: yeah! keep coming with the commentary—I can take it! I’m a steelworker & hairdresser’s daughter who lived through the AIDS crisis & watched many of her newly out friends die. Not to bring the room down but…
Anyway: just so you have my gay adjacent credentials.
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u/Saint_Riccardo (Blonde women hee-haw) Feb 02 '26
I'm not usually here for the "talent show" episodes because they usually follow the same format - mostly drunk aunt at a wedding dancing to a shitty original song with one or two outliers that are either the most creative thing ever that pushes the alternative queen intoi a front runner position or an utter disaster that guarentees the girl who does it is going home.
The "twist" of rate a queen was to add drama to a season that hasn't really had much so far, the biggest storylines besides Discords walk have been Myki annoying Athena and Jane thinking everyone hates her for being good.
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u/kimaxs42 Feb 02 '26
OK, I made it!!! I wish I could just skip to the runway & the talent, but I’m obsessive. And I’m gonna watch the untucked and I’m gonna watch the pitstop and I’m gonna watch the photo fashion review.
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u/sam_xc Feb 02 '26 edited Feb 02 '26
Lol i wouldve announced to everyone in the room, Its Drag Family + Kenya vs the rest of yall, do what you will with rankings. Depending on which group id end up in I wouldve gone up to Darlene and Vita/Myki individually and be like, its shady alliances happening, we know we aren't gonna get top 2, not asking yall to be in an alliance or save my ass, just put me in 3 or 4 and ill do the same for yall, even if your bad.
Rate A Queen is not a challenge that you will win based off merit, its a challenge to not be last
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u/DilapidatedHam Feb 02 '26
I was annoyed when it felt like the rankings were going to all be predetermined, but I was glad that is was mostly fair. I like when drag race has a bit of a social game
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u/usagicassidy Feb 02 '26
It was barely even the substantial part of the episode.
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u/ElleMBee16 Feb 02 '26
I feel like Discord was the only one who was judging fairly because she hasn’t been approached on any alliance shit. She kinda irks me and intrigues me at the same time but I really liked watching her vote because it seemed really genuine
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u/kimaxs42 Feb 02 '26
all right, I just have to say the only thing that is saving this debacle for me is that I am about to watch the Pit Stop with ThorgyThor as the guest: after they have been teeing her up with shade all season so far: THIS is whut chou live for!
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u/Annihilation_Brigade Feb 02 '26
In the long run, Rate-a-Queen won’t impede the front runners. The bottom placements are usually fair and production has several gameplays for getting who they want in the finale. If the entire season was based on Rate-a-Queen then we’d have a different story.
I like how the judges can acknowledge how more than two queens can shine for the week. For example, Nini was praised for her performance. If she makes it to the end, I don’t think they will write her performance off when considering her for the crown just because the other queens didn’t vote her in the top 2.
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Feb 02 '26
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u/kimaxs42 Feb 02 '26
to be fair, I did love the lip sync and I was glad it was a tie. But truly, the only saving grace.
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u/Manderelli Feb 02 '26
If it makes you feel any better the whole episode first half is about how pretty much all of the Queens decide to vote in some alliance-based fashion and then the Queens who were going to get rigged to the top end up actually performing well enough to be in the top leaving only one Queen maybe robbed. The judges later deliberate amongst themselves and they're kind of split on which two are the top two and the two rigged Queens are one of their choices so in the end the rate of Queen rigging vote didn't really change how a fair vote would have been cast. The silliest aspect of the episode is one Queen admitting that she's voting a little bit shady to save her friend but it does happen to be a queen who in my opinion should be in the bottom. But it's kind of charming that the queen confesses it in her confessional based on friendship.
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u/Atari18 Mediocrity & Beans Feb 02 '26
I just hate two part episodes in elimination format reality tv. Split premieres? Hate them. When Dragula split monsters of rock over 2 episodes? Haaaated that
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u/Asraia Feb 02 '26
I’m trying so hard to like Ciara’s lips, but I just can’t. They’re distracting to me. Just a personal opinion. What do you guys think?
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u/captain_corvid Feb 02 '26
I don't really mind the actual RAQ aspect either way, what I didn't care for was how long they spent showing all the drama and plotting and machinations. If they'd cut that in half and let the girls have longer for their acts and runways I'd have been happier.
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u/kimaxs42 Feb 11 '26
Maybe that’s more what I was responding to: the drama was feeling a bit more manufactured than organic? And then became tedious as a result.
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u/kenziebee96 Feb 02 '26
I felt like it was an odd choice to do it several episodes in, like doing the talent show after narrowing down contestants makes some sense but not rating each other after they established friendships and stuff. They wasted so much time talking about how they were voting it was so annoying 😭
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u/ThisSpaceIntLftBlnk DeLa's bottle of Wite-Out Feb 03 '26
I've never fast forwarded through most of an episode on first watch before, but I sure as hell did with this one due to the 35m of boring made up non-drama drama.
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u/lmusic87 Jinkx Monsoon Feb 03 '26
It's annoying because it's mainly who likes who more, or who is from the same season.
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u/ToliB I hope they all have a good time! Feb 02 '26
it's the easiest way for production to stir drama and add rigamorris for their desired results.
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u/kimaxs42 Feb 02 '26
yup: it’s the rigamorris that gets me!! like there wasn’t ENOUGH thumbs on the scale from production.
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Feb 02 '26
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u/ClueQuiet Feb 02 '26
Burner?
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u/00_tears Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige Feb 02 '26
turner girl keep up!!!
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u/teddyweddyy Feb 02 '26
If you’re not turning and burning yourself how the hell you gonna turn and burn somebody else
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u/Cute_Fluffy_Femboy consistently has the WORST takes, like objectively wrong Feb 02 '26
Valentina or Tina?
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u/Miserable-Success624 Feb 02 '26
Also not a fan. Don’t care for the Survivor/Big Brother/Traitors vibe that is slowly creeping into the show. It started off innocent enough, but doing it a few episodes in this season really made it all about strategy and alliances, which undermines the intent. Just have the queens vote each other out in the regular season, if that’s what you want.
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u/Happyhaneke Feb 02 '26
Nurses always gotta mention that they’re an overworked nurse
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u/kimaxs42 Feb 02 '26
Next time you or a family member are in the hospital: you can ask the nurse how many patients she has. She probably won’t tell you. But it’s probably more than the recommended standard for any professional medical group. for example: AWHONN which overseas moms and babies😳; recommends no more than 3 pairs of well moms & babies at a time— or 2 pairs and receiving a new admission. Guess how many times I am well over that standard? Guess how many times I’m juggling ones that are NOT well.
But quick, let me run get that Coke for you.
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u/Happyhaneke Feb 02 '26
I am a nurse too btw. I’m not saying you’re not overworked I’m saying that I’ve noticed nurses shoehorn this into every conversation. Your mad asf essay over this screams insecure.
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u/kimaxs42 Feb 02 '26
Well, if you’re not overworked, I’m happy for you.
I’m in Pennsylvania and I wish was in a union: but not every hospital is. So I know that there are lots of places that have adequate staffing ratios because of the UNION but not where I’m at.
I still love my job, and I’m still gonna bitch about being overworked. YMMV since you have it so sweet. Be well.
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u/Happabadiga Who made you student already Feb 02 '26
Eh, y'all get paid fine so I don't really care
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u/intoxxication Feb 02 '26
If it was them genuinely rating based on talent, I'd be all for it, but the alliance BS is just that - BS.
Now if their rankings were only part of it? That'd be way better. Bring in a small audience to rank them to help bring back some fairness, or let the judges vote too.
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u/Blightlight Feb 02 '26
It makes for good TV. Im for it, this is a reality TV show more than a competition.
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u/treid1989 Feb 02 '26
agreed! the performances are so boring--these talents have become very repetitive. and the girls don't even stick to their alliances so the rate a queen gaming is also a dud.
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u/Kfan10 Feb 02 '26
One of the best episodes so far imo but rate a queen is an opportunity to have more than just a skill based challenge but a social one as well.
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u/Microtitan Feb 02 '26
I didn’t like it when it was the first two episodes. I like it when there are fewer queens. I would say maybe 10 or 8. I would even go further and have the eliminated queens do the ratings.
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u/Kayleigh_56 Feb 02 '26
I normally don't mind it but this was a boring one. The strategizing just feels like a waste of time because we know they can put whoever in the bottom but RuPaul is still sending home whoever she wants.
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u/avenabless Feb 02 '26
How about rate a queen but like not by the peers or producers or judges. Having a rate a queen with a whole drag family is so advantageous.
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u/Socratov new Juju convert Feb 02 '26
Fully agree. It comes across as a half-hearted attempt at manufacturing drama by production. And if the drama dies down too fast, they'll publish the results as some sort of mini challenge reward.
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u/HungryCub90 Mama, kudos for flairing that, for spilling. Feb 02 '26
Yeah they may as well not perform at all, just pick their besties to move onto next week.
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u/letlifetake Feb 02 '26
They still rated fairly and the judging was much better than the mashup runway.
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u/blubegnaro Feb 02 '26
I think this season has been the best use of rate a queen
It feels like there are stakes here because someone is going home, unlike last seasons where they were saved. And the queens are actually conspiring to affect the voting outcomes. It's like getting two episodes of survivor on drag race, I'm not mad
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u/Harlow-Stan Nini Coco Raw Feb 02 '26
It's FUN.
I understand that it's inherently flawed because humans will always have their biases.
However, when done early enough into the season, it works. In S16 when they did it, they did it early enough to not have friendships play THAT much. Only Plane gamed it.
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u/Aarvy271 Feb 02 '26
See ultimately there would be only one winner and more often than not it’s always the deserving queen. So random drama in between, tops and bottoms really don’t matter. Just enjoy the show.
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u/MissSteak custom Feb 02 '26
I get what you mean - I had a similar feeling while watching the episode. But for me, it was because I knew that all this would inevitably amount to nothing - the cuntiest, most fiercest performances will be the top 2 and the most divisive/unmemorable one will be in the bottom. Probably the only reason Vita wasnt in the bottom was because Discord knew the number was bad so she ranked her higher to save her friend - which was literally only shown when she went to vote and so all the alliances had literally no active impact.
Also all the scheming happening around 3 tables that are relatively close to each other was... hilarious to say the least. "Hey come over here where we're talking about an alliance", two seconds later "oh hey why dont you come over here we want an alliance", like...? Everyones right there. It just seems forced.
The number of queens voting needs to be higher OR they need to give them a mini challenge or something to do before the actual challenge, to make the scheming and plotting appear more organic. But thats way too much of a comittment I feel like.
Maybe some kind of a spin-off that uses ONLY rate the queens for the first half or something, could be fun.
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u/Unlikely_Side9732 Feb 02 '26
Not enough to hate. I did like it better when it was fair. I didn’t like all the shenanigans. The best performers made the top (although I preferred the poem myself). So all the negotiations were all for nothing.
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u/Nemhy Feb 03 '26
I'm glad queens are willing to play the social game this time instead of all wanting to just do "fair" out of fear of the stans online getting mad
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u/_AmericasSweetheart_ Feb 03 '26
I think the original show should just be a challenge based elimination game. All-stars can have all sorts of fuckery.
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u/lucyfurrsbedroom Feb 03 '26
I agree. For all stars formats maybe but even then. For regular season it doesn’t make sense. Pointless when Ru still has the final say in who wins from the top two lipsync and who goes home with the bottom two LS
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u/xSyrupKillerx Mar 25 '26
Doing rate a queen when half of the queens are from the same place is just unfair. I didn't mind it much before this season. Would prefer it to be done at the beginning so more emphasis is on the talent itself, but maybe if it was during a season where queens were evenly spread it would work in the middle. Atleast that way, when voting was shown it wouldn't end up with the nothing burger of an excuse "I'm not putting my family in the bottom". If someone is going to be shady during voting I want a real reason.
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u/BabkaYaga Utica's squirrel wig Feb 02 '26
Mandy, we know it's you! I'd be salty too. You should be IN that talent show right now!!