Format Shift: RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 7

RuPaul’s Drag Race is a show unafraid to reinvent itself. Season 14 introduced the controversial Golden Chocolate Bar, the magnificent Lipsync Smackdown as a way of handling a bottom seven, and the engaging solo performance challenge to top two lipsync in the finale.

The newest season of All Stars has three new twists that make it one of the best American seasons of the globe-spanning franchise so far.

First, All Stars 7 is the all-winners season. Eight previous winners are competing for $200000 and the title Queen of Queens. The contestants are Season 3 winner Raja, Season 5 winner Jinkx Monsoon, Season 11 winner Yvie Oddly, Season 12 winner Jaida Essence Hall, All Stars Season 4 co-winners Trinity the Tuck and Monet X Change, All Stars Season 5 winner Shea Coulee, and UK Season 1 winner The Vivienne.

This is a fantastic cast bringing a wide variety of strengths and skills to the competition each week. Jinx and The Vivienne are wonderful actors, improv artists, and impersonators. Raja, Shea, and Trinity are high fashion queens with excellent construction skills. Monet, Yvie, and Jaida are three of the best lipsync performers to ever appear on the show. That does not mean their skills don’t cross over to other categories, but it does mean that we’re guaranteed some outstanding performances each week regardless of the challenges.

Second, no one is going to be eliminated until the very end of the competition. This is a reality TV fever dream that passionate fan communities have asked for as early as Project Runway for talent-based shows. Various point systems have been proposed and Drag Race got it right.

Each week, the top two contestants receive Legendary Legends Stars. The contestants with the most stars at the end of the season will advance to the finale. Land in the top two and you’re one step closer to winning the contest. Because the queens are so versatile in their skillsets, the competition is a dead heat five episodes in.

That’s also because of the third twist. Because no one is being eliminated, the producers knew they needed a source of drama in the competition. Enter the Platinum Plunger.

The winner of the top two lipsync each week earns a $10000 tip and gets to block another contestant from winning a star the following week with the Platinum Plunger. Meaning, you can stop whoever you view as competition from earning points in the next challenge. Some contestants are quite vocal about wanting to block their biggest threat, while others are trying to block the previous winner so they can stop them from pulling ahead.

This is TV gold. Some contestants are playing the game like Survivor, forming alliances and promising to not block each other. Other contestants are being cutthroat and declaring who they want to block so they stand out in the contest. Still others are choosing to be super helpful, like loaning supplies, helping in challenge prep, or even handing off a prop in a lipsync to discourage the winner from blocking them. It’s quite entertaining.

The result is a season of Drag Race all about celebrating the champions of the franchise. The contestants are free to take big risks since they cannot just be sent home. Snatch Game really showcased this, with contestants leaning into whatever made RuPaul laugh (regardless of accuracy) or even creating fictional characters that played into their own acting skills. The show is also giving everyone a positive edit, with the critiques limited to positive responses unless the contestant admits their own fault. One performer forgot the lyrics to their own original verse in the first episode and everyone had a good laugh about it.

This season is a joy to watch. It makes the Paramount Plus subscription worth it, at least through the finale.

New episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 7 premiere every Friday morning on Paramount Plus.