Despite the controversies of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 10, All Stars 11 continues with the bracket format. Again, 18 queens are divided into three brackets of six, competing against each other for those coveted MVQ (Most Valuable Queen) points until the two highest point holders move forward to the semi-finals.
All Stars 11 has a good mix of queens from various seasons, with Bracket 1 featuring multiple queens from Seasons 2 and 16, along with queens from Seasons 11 and 17. The full roster is as follows:
- A’keria C. Davenport (Season 11)
- Dawn (Season 16)
- Lucky Starzzz (Season 17)
- Morgan McMichaels (Season 2)
- Morphine Love Dion (Season 16)
- Mystique Summers (Season 2)
A’keria and Morgan are also both All Stars alum, making Bracket 1 a competitive one. With Bracket 1 coming to an end with All Stars 11, Episode 3, we rewind, revisit, and review the bracket. Are we happy with the semi-finalists? Read on to find out.
From Mystique vs Lucky to Morphine vs Everyone, can we recap some of the drama for science, please?
Jeanette: Hi! Me again with my same old boring opinion: I hate campaigning for points! Yes, I know this is how All Stars works, but I’m still sick of it because, while talent plays a role, it can often come down to a popularity contest. (Least not forget that Trixie Mattel won All Stars 3 when she probably shouldn’t have, and I say this as a HUGE Trixie fan.)
Anyway, Morphine trying to play games and make alliances every episode—I mean, yeah, you do you, girl. I ultimately didn’t amount to anything. Dawn swept the competition and left Morphine behind, but what’s Drag Race without a little drama?
As for Mystique and Lucky, boy, does that frustrate me. This could have been Mystique’s chance to show everyone how much she has grown since Season 2. Instead, she’s returned to play “mind games” with Lucky and deliver some pretty questionable runway looks. Was her improv decent in Episode 3? Sure, but I didn’t like her obvious annoyance with Lucky. Honestly, Mystique needed to worry about herself instead of worrying about how everybody else was playing the game.
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Lyra: On the show drama, I hated the fakeness of it all. And I’m talking about Morphine. Because she was very much “oh my god we’re Florida sisters” with Lucky and then went and bonded with Dawn, leaving Lucky behind. But then she expected Lucky to give her a point? Girl. No. And it wasn’t even juicy drama either. It was flat surface level drama that made it so that’s the only thing that I remember about Morphine’s return.
On a more personal level when it comes to drama, it’s me versus the show. Because why does it feel like once again they’ve brought back seasoned queens to check mark a box. Because Morgan did exceptionally well. I would dare say better than Dawn. But because this is a young queens game, I knew that Morgan was going to be left behind. Yes, drag has changed. But the heart of drag, the charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent, that’s still present in queens like Morgan. No shade to Dawn’s talent, but she doesn’t have all of that. Morgan does.
Do you have an all-time favorite runway look in Bracket 1?
Jeanette: All Stars is always a treat because the queens come back polished, which means bigger, campier, and more sparkly outfits. Honestly, out of all the runway outfits, of which there were a lot of good ones, I LOVED Morphine’s Paris catacombs look. Like, wow! The movable skull jaw, coupled with the smoke and skulls on the dress, was perfectly chic but campy. Thinking up something like that is pure creative brilliance and a unique spin on the Paris category.
Lyra: Considering how I said that Dawn didn’t have the charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent to make it past Bracket 1… she actually had my favorite look. For the Latoya runway look, she was a vision. I loved the drama of the reveal and the proportions worked for her. And I liked how even when honoring someone else, Dawn still remained herself. She’s honing on what makes her her. And that does make her stand out, even if I don’t think she’s fully cooked to make it past Bracket 1.
And then A’keria. Every look was a stunner. She understands her style, proportions, and how to toe that line of extravagant without making me feel like it’s too much.
What was your favorite challenge in Bracket 1?
Jeanette: As a horror fan, I’m giving it to the “Home Spooky Network” challenge in Episode 3. Admittedly, I enjoyed the concept (and the monster looks!) more than I actually enjoyed the content. I didn’t get any big laugh-out-loud moments other than Morgan’s “white” joke and her decision to call herself “Moan Collins.” The added call-in references were fun for me, too. A nod—no matter how small—to What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? gets kudos from me.
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Lyra: I’m going to be honest with you. None. None of the challenges were my favorite. The Home Spooky Network if I had to pick one. But I literally had to go back to the episodes to figure out what the challenges were because of how flat they were.
As for how they can do better, they need comedy writers for these queens. And don’t tell me this would ruin the magic of Drag Race. This is reality TV and all the queens have producers. Produce them. Give them comedy writers. But is it in the budget? Because sometimes I wonder if the budget has gone down… season after season…
Who was your frontrunner going into All Stars 11 Bracket 1 and did that change by Episode 3?
Jeanette: A’keria and Morgan were my two frontrunners for Bracket 1, and that didn’t change for me. A’keria made me a little nervous in Episode 1 when her rap was just sort of meh. However, she made a big comeback, thanks in large part to Morgan giving her points (and Mystique following suit for what seemed like clout). Morgan giving A’keria—Episode 2’s winner—points shocked me a little, but I respect her for it. She’s right. A’keria was the true MVQ of that episode for helping almost everybody sew and/or ideate design concepts.
Lyra: From the very jump, my frontrunners were the same as Jeanette’s. It was all about A’keria and Morgan. They had the experience, creativity, and poise to be queens you can’t help but cheer for. And everything that I learned about them made me love them more and more.
In talking about frontrunners, I do want to take a moment to talk about the queens… that could’ve done well. Because Lucky is a really creative and unique queen. But I feel like she was missing something from reaching her full potential. And then there was Mystique. She could’ve used this as a redemption. What it ended up being was her competing at an All Stars 1 level when we’re in All Stars 11.
Are you happy with the Bracket 1 queens moving forward to the semi-finals?
Jeanette: From a competition standpoint, I can’t really complain. A’keria was one of my frontrunners, so obviously, I’m thrilled she’s moving on. In the other corner is Dawn, who genuinely took me by surprise. She absolutely killed the competition, and she knows how to serve a look. For those reasons, she more than deserves to move forward, but I’m more than a little bummed about Morgan getting left behind.
Drag Race winners should have charisma, uniqueness, talent, and nerve. Morgan definitely has all three, and attitude-wise, she’s more likable than Dawn, who tends to be a little clicky/catty. I’m sure some of that comes down to age and experience. Dawn’s young, and Morgan is one of the “old” queens. For those reasons, I’m sad Morgan couldn’t go to the semi-finals, too.
Lyra: Ehhhh I think it should’ve been A’keria and Morgan. So I’m half happy. A’keria has everything it takes to be the next All Star. But so does Morgan. Dawn is like Lucky in a lot of respects. She’s not fully cooked.
But overall, my biggest problem with this bracket style rears its ugly head at the end of Bracket 1. Because these queens don’t get enough time to shine or show their artistry. And by the time that we get to Bracket 3, I’m not going to remember who was in Bracket 1. That’s a dang shame, especially because these queens come on All Stars ready for the whole competition, with a full docket of looks.
