Rutrospective: The best of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, Season 2

Tatianna vs Alyssa Edwards

Because all of the queens on All Stars are battle-tested competitors, we didn’t have to suffer through any truly poor performances this year. That extends to pretty much everything they did. Yes, Roxxxy Andrews bungled her Alaska impersonation during the Snatch Game, but other people have bombed way harder. And yes, a couple of the outfits were less than inspiring (Phi Phi’s rubber ducky ensemble from the second episode, for instance), but there were no complete fails, and frequent triumphs.

And as for the lip syncs, they were strong across the board. Did it help that, unlike in a normal season, the two people squaring off were the best performers of the week rather than the worst? Maybe. If nothing else, it meant that Alaska got to spend more time on stage—we’ve already detailed the comic touches she brought to her performances. But the best lip sync of the year was also the most straight-forward: the face-off between Tatianna and Alyssa at the end of the comedy episode, to Rihanna’s “Shut Up and Drive.”

It’s like they prepared for this one together. They came dressed in what looked like coordinated superhero outfits, complete with thigh-high boots and tumbledown blonde wigs. The performances were similar, too. There was a minimum of camp, and a lot of high-energy kicking, gyrating, and attitude. Adjectives like “fierce,” “slay,” and “werk” would all be appropriate.

But because there were so many high-quality lip syncs this year, enjoy the runner-up: Phi Phi and Alaska performing Cheryl Lynn’s “Got to Be Real.” Phi Phi goes traditional, Alaska goes campy, and the results are weird and wild.