Season 18
Season 18 started strong, but suffered from a horrific boot order and some incomprehensible storytelling.
There were a lot of positive signs at the start that Season 18 would be a strong installment of the flagship series. The season premiere switched up its format for the first time in years, moving the talent show — and Rate-a-Queen along with it — to later in the season. The cast skewed much older than the previous year, with a maturity that was at first refreshing. But after a very strong first act of the season, things began to fall apart after the talent show. Exciting competitors like Mia Starr and Athena Dion were eliminated mid-season, while queens who consistently struggled were kept in. Sometimes, this was with hope that they’d lock in, like with Kenya Pleaser; sometimes, it was because they had a funny walk. (Discord Addams, you did deserve that Snatch Game high placement, and I’ll stand by that.) The final death knell was the nonsensical elimination of frontrunner Jane Don’t, leaving us with a final three of Darlene Mitchell, Nini Coco, and eventual winner Myki Meeks — three perfectly lovely queens, but not a legendary finalist lineup.