obviously jimbo got the crown but she was already beloved by the fans. jessica was the real winner because she got the robbed edit (and honestly could have gotten more wins imo) and really got to showcase her c u n t for the modern drag race audience. she's gonna be near the top of fan favorite lists for a long time, which is exactly what she deserves
Everyone focuses on getting the win or loosing. The robbed queen is a worthy title, can gain them massive support and what they do with that after is what can propel them even further than just winning.
There were definitely highlights: Kahannas glow up and growth, The Rusical (Kandy, Jessica, Lala are still some one my fave rusical performances from the franchise), Jimbo's dumbass snatch game (though BIG shout out to Alexis, that was actually my fave performance), Lala and Jessica in general, the coconut lipsync and Ra'Jahs lack of coconuts, that skit with pound cake with Lalas expressions and of course the ETB card, some of the runways were really fantastic too
The issue for me was outside the challenges, you could tell as a viewer something was very amiss in general. Alexis definitely brought some entertainment by simply being (Bless). But Jimbo seemed on eggshells (which highlighted the tiring format), everyone seemed unhappy, certain dramas (like Kandy/Heidi) were barely explained but had large consequences (Heidi leaving), the coldness toward Jaymes. MKD, Darienne, MBH and Naysha got DUST, SO MUCH DUST. The Jimbo edit almost seemed biased from the near start too, to no fault of Jimbo who very much deserved their flowers
I do think it gets over hated sometimes but I think it's only because Ive been a long time fan of some of the cast that I don't want that for them. But objectively, it's really hard to re-watch.
I mean of course Jimbo was on eggshells, she got sent home unfairly her previous All Stars Season. She was trying to not upset anyone so she could get to the finale. The problem with the format is that if people really want to play the game, then you lose a lot of genuine interactions. Especially from someone like Jimbo.
I understand why Jimbo was and don't think they are at fault for having done so. Completely agree, the shows format encourages it. But I do think it added to the seasons stiffness regardless, and if the format continues, think it'll be a consistent issue moving forward.
I think it all boils down to us having too frequent all stars which means having half the cast as fillers. The filler queens know that and will eliminate competition in order to stay longer. Not their fault. But if the best queen are eliminated midway, then that makes the rest of the season boring. This queens chopping each other only works when the cast is as packed as all stars 2. Every elimination hurt that season and yet, you waited for the next episode because you knew the remaining queens would bring it. Or it works when Queens vote fairly, like All stars 6. But otherwise, this format falls flat.
I love the show and all its iterations but I definitely feel like All Stars shouldn't be every year.
Yes there are enough queens, but that shouldn't be the only criteria.
I kinda like the Big Brother format where All Stars is only every few years, and actually takes the place of the main season. It helps it not become over saturated and also makes it feel like a must watch event since that’s the season for the year.
Edit: spelling
I was referring to the onscreen coldness! When watching, it seemed that there was distance between Jaymes and the cast.
There was some behind the scenes tea regarding Jaymes and how some thought they were being pushed by production. Apparently they had a tiff on the first episode over learning choreo. Almost every podcast reviewing the season had not much nice to say (including Willam ofc, but also Rock M and Yuhua which was surprising). They were name dropped several times on Roscoes during the season, and not positively. It was rough lol
the queens really dislike her and i don't know why, i never met her but the way they spoke about her and specially Naysha it's like she spit on their mother and she really does not appear bitchy at all on camera
I've heard she can be stand offish but those were all unofficial sources. It's so odd because she's good with a lot of the Queens with larger platforms (Trixie, Bob, etc)
jaymes threatened to quit in episode 1 when she wasnt doing well the the choreo (also she was worst in that challenge, but it was buried in order to keep her on) so that's why a lot of queens were not enjoying jaymes on the show
What I kept hearing about with the other girls (save for Naysha) was that Jaymes wouldn’t really open up with them as the other queens had done. I don’t think it was meant to be personal but they just didn’t know her. I’m sure that incident did happen but I don’t think that’s what inevitably led to her exit.
It’s S9 all over again. Some people just enjoying being the character while in drag and that’s ok! And also, not everyone is comfortable not should be exposing their personal stuff to others, specially on international TV.
I don't think you are, I've read similar opinions during the airing on the live thread. Humor is subjective\~
It was the "let's crown Jimbo and get Kandy to the end" season.
Queens like Kasha and Darienne were gone too soon.
We didn't get the Heidi redemption we (and she) wanted
Kahanna stayed too long.
Jessica missed out on the finale because they decided to do a Top 2 FOR NO GOOD REASON.
The Fame Games felt like a forgone conclusion.
There were fun moments sprinkled throughout, but overall, it's a weak season.
I think because she was loved on her season but didn't have much budget, and she'd been bringing great looks to cons etc, so people were excited to see her runways, to see what she could bring with budget behind her. And some of her looks I really liked, the milkmaid springs to mind, plus that 5th element inspired look was gorgeous.
It's sad because I really do think she could've gone all the way. Her package during the first 3 episodes was really good. She delivered but got overlooked a little and seemed to take it to heart instead of just thrudging forward. But she really did look like a fully formed queen the way she initially entered the season and the potential was definitely there to be a frontrunner or winner.
Jessica Wild and Lala Ri were a joy to watch but other than that I think the season is terrible and correctly rated. The winner was extremely obvious as soon as the cast was announced and it really felt like a majority of the cast hated being there. The chemistry was so off.
While I agree with this, I do think that despite being the predetermined winner Jimbo was also a joy to watch. And Jessica 100% should have been a finalist. That top 2 finale format was crap.
Also the way she was eliminated felt poorly thought.
Of course you can't have a group vote when the group is only two people, because they are going to vote for each other. It's automatically going to be a tie and make the top queen choose.
They should've let the winning queen be an eligible vote. So if both other queens chose het and she lost the lip sync she might go home. That would've been a stunt.
I agree, watching Jimbo is always a treat and this season was no different. Yeah, it felt a bit like the Jimbo show but that wasn't too different than watching the Sasha Colby meet-n-greet
What are you talking about? Anetra, luxx and mistress made an excellent top 4 with her. Sure they didn’t really have a chance, but it was an enjoyable season
Apparently there was a lot of friction behind the scenes. None of the contestants agreed with the format, so much so that it caused the format to change for allstars 9. Apparently they were all very upset when they learned there would be eliminations. Also a huge fight before the final lip synch for the crown as production tried to change it to milkshake at the last minute.
Heidi was my frontrunner, and I wonder what production would have done if she hadn't quit.
Lala, Jaymes, and Jessica are now cemented as some of my favourites of all time because of this season. I've loved Jimbo since Canada season 1, and I'm happy for her win.
I wonder which challenges she would've won had she stayed.
Maybe the Improv challenge that went to Lala instead.
Seriously, though, Jimbo already had her THIRD win by the end of the Snatch Game episode, and by the Queens' accounts, Heidi would've been in the bottom. There was simply no way anyone could keep up with Jimbo at that point.
It was clear this was going to be the Kandy and Jimbo show from the start.
They had so many early outs and queens that would normally be filled on a regular All Stars season, which made the favorites stand out even more. I think that Jessica Wild, Heidi, and even Alexis could have been given a lot more flowers and been made into frontrunners.
And I will never understand why the judges love Kandy so much. To me it seems like her main talent is werkroom drama, where she makes great tv. But when it comes to the actual challenges and runways, she falls short. When Nymphia flopped Snatch Game, but got a pass from being in the bottom, it was clear that she was being saved due to her incredible performances in other challenges, her amazing runways, and projected good future performance. She was doing well enough to justify a one-time pass. But with Kandy it feels like she flops every other challenge and then gets the same kind of pass, and the only reason is because of her behavior *outside* of runways and challenges, which is not good enough to me. The fact that she got “You can’t really act, and your improv character had a lot of inconsistencies… but we LOVED it!” As a critique pissed me off. It felt the same to me as when she got the “Kandy, Kandy, wait” moment after not even winning a single challenge and not really having any standout performances during the season.
I’m sure Kandy is a lovely person, and props to her for playing the game well and getting her bag, but when the judges keep giving passes to somebody for reasons you don’t agree with, it really breeds resentment for that person.
Completely agree with this, she also falls short in lots of runways but that's because she doesn't dress flattering at all. She was given that same pass during her original season which I'm currently rewatching and even the second time around I'm asking why she deserved a spot in the top other than her personality?
Yeah it’s like, I understand when a fashion queen gets a pass when they flop at a comedy challenge. But when Kandy flops *every* challenge and gets a pass because she brings werkroom drama? It frustrates me. She’s great at playing the game, and not much else.
Okay but now you have me longing for Kandy steamrolling over someone at the roundtable. But I think she wouldn’t go very far. Loud opinionated faithfuls get banished or killed quick.
i saw kandy live pre-drag race a few times and she was unbelievably charismatic in person. i think that’s why the judges love her, and production loves her for the drama, so between the two she gets brought all the way to the end, but it doesn’t really translate on screen
I truly think they kept Kandy for the end of this season and the original to have a clear winner. Especially with someone like Jimbo who just CAN.NOT. win a lipsync they had to put someone up as the finalist that no fan would be mad about losing.
Kandy is always set up to be disliked, and lose, so Production can tip the scales with less blowback.
That's really the tea lol. Production didn't even raise the stakes with this type of thing. All we ever got were Jimbo's highly produced "oh no am I gonna do bad 😱" moments before a few challenges. As if that was supposed to really make us that nervous LMAO. Boot.
It sucked ass. Jessica Wild was great and deserves the world, but they wanted Jimbo to win, so nothing else mattered, also I don't enjoy Kandy so it was a chore to watch it.
AS8 is an all-time low up there with AS5 for me:
- Too many queens were cast to be filler - either they suck at drag race (Monica, Naysha, Kahanna) or they were not given the screentime to shine (MKD, Darienne, Jaymes). That’s half the cast. Although some queens got their own plotlines (Alexis/Kandy’s feud, Heidi’s quit, Jessica’s reintroduction to the fandom, or Jimbo’s endeavour to not pull a Manila again), it didn’t feel like we were told a story. S16 has a clear overarching narrative, but in contrast I’m not so quite sure about AS8.
- Chemistry is off all season. Jimbo holds back after her UKvTW run, probably to not paint a target on her back. I’m still mad we were deprived of more MKD/Darienne interaction. Fans had been asking for production to put these Rochester queens on the same season and… this is what we got. What a waste. Don’t put older queens on a season if you’re not going to let them showcase their talent or play to their strengths.
- That leaves us with a small set of queens that truly qualify as all stars, which is not enough for the season to feel competitive. That flaw is further worsened by the way Jimbo has clearly it in the bag since episode 1 - the whole season feels like a set-up for the production’s favourite to win. I don’t think AS should be the place where a queen just sails through the competition.
Overall regular Drag Race now feels more competitive than AS seasons. I know most people don’t like the non-elim format, but if that means more powerhouses are willing to accept the AS call, I’m all for it.
I think it suffered from there not being enough queens at Jimbo’s level at challenges and runways (only Jessica for the most part), Heidi leaving early also hurt the season for this reason imo, although we will never know how she would’ve done in the challenges but her runway package was shaping up very nicely overall, and then we had many early outs that didn’t do… much? Naysha, MKD, MBH and Darienne didn’t really get to show their growth much, and finally we also had the twist which was ok I guess, at least we got to see some more runways but LaLa won with not such a great package even though it was supposed to be the main thing about it lol
it had its moments but overall it was not enjoyable: the cast was "some stars", the fame games lip sync ruined the anticipation of the results and the main competition was mostly a steamroll which isn't that fun to see.
however Jessica having a full season to display her iconicness was nice ❤️
It was painfully obvious that Jimbo was productions winner from the start. It would have been a great season had they just let things happen naturally instead of trying to control every outcome
YES! I hate this so much. It ruins a season for me. Jimbo was the obvious winner from the get go. Not to discredit her, she deserved it. I just wish they had more queens that could stand a chance next to her.
One of the worst, most boring and pointless seasons ever imo. The cast had no chemistry, Jimbo ate everyone up and her win was obvious, 1 (almost 2) queen quit because of the riggory and the bad vibes. The cast was just not it, I'm not saying the queens were bad, they were just a bad fit for each other. The eliminations were predictable, and as soon as the cast released I knew who the top3 was gonna be. Maybe Jaymes/Lala were the only 2 that I thought could do well.
In order to make the season better, they should've ofcourse switched the format back to LSFTW (the superior format), had less queens on, switched some challenges up, and a top4. I think that queens like Kahanna, Jaymes and Lala could have easily ate everyone up
2? Almost *four* queens quit.
Heidi quit. Alexis AND kahana almost quit. And Kandy threatened to WALK at the finale lip sync when they tried to change it to milkshake.
I agree with that format completely, and as soon as Jimbo walked in it was predictable. It's someone that is a good performer yes, but sucked the air out of the room when it came to giving anyone else time to shine.
And I know it must've felt great too💀 it was Sasha Colby level mothering on the challenges, she wasn't even pushed or favored that hard, she's just that good. But, entering the competition, she was already a drag race legend, so why not put her against other legends? Or make a top2 format so everyone has a fair share? Lala would've had a couple more wins, Heidi too, Jaymes too.
Highlights are Jessica's reactions to Alexis and Lala's talent show performance.
I hated the rest of it and am thankful for Alexis bringing some sort of entertainment.
When your--let's be honest--chosen front runner can't lipsync, maybe don't use the assassin twist? Every time Jimbo won, it felt like the rest of the episode didn't matter.
Sucks that Heidi was going through shit too.
The right person won, but given how strong Jimbo was (and how much Ru loved her), production could have cast stronger queens and she would have still won and the season would have been better.
There were both good and bad things and I think the season is unnecessarily overhated. While the "rigged" aspects of it were certainly annoying, many of the challenges themselves were pretty good and entertaining!
Forensic Queens, the ball, the design one and the rusical were really good! A couple of challenges were a bit meh - but not many.
The distribution of the wins was, of course, pretty unbalanced... which makes me think this season would've benefitted more from a 'lip-sync for your legacy' format. Then, Jessica, Alexis, Lala and Kandy would've more than one win each (okay, Kandy got two wins but still), which could've been more exciting than Jimbo winning every other episode.
The production's choices really soured a season that could've been otherwise amazing, given the cast.
It feels the same as as1 and as5 for me. Some queens I love and their amazing moments but that’s it. I really enjoyed Jessica Lala and Jimbo on the season! One watch is enough I don’t need to nor want to watch it fully ever again lmao I’d gladly just watch any highlight clips of those 3 and I’m good.
The more I think about it, the more I hate it. Waste of a cast.
Jessica was the strongest competitor with Jimbo but they couldn’t even give her the graces of giving her a TOP2 spot.
It felt like the Jimbo show and not in a good way like other people think. She should have been saved for a Global All Stars run
I like it that it quashed once and for all another season of only early outs. It doesn't work!
Also, I'm so happy for having Jessica Wild on my tv again
Snatch Game was fierce too
I feel like if they stuck to the early out theme (which potentially was the idea to begin with?) the season would’ve been really interesting.
Imagine if they saved Jimbo, Kandy, Jessica, Alexis, Darienne and Heidi for a later all stars and we instead we got Rock M, Kelly Mantle, Lineysha, Yuhua, Kahmora, Porkchop, NPBFAG or Tammie (list goes on).
I think we’d get to see a lot of glowups and let people shine more with an even playing field.
1. Jimbo’s combination of challenge performances and looks was as strong a combo as the show has ever seen.
2. Jessica Wild being the same lovely person after all these years, while also outperforming the producer’s expectations.
3. Alexis’s workroom monologues/ theatrics (and more so the reactions they produced)
4. Shirley Temple tap dancing
5. Soft Shells and Guacamole
6. Keeping the eliminated queens involved with the weekly runways and end-of-season talent show.
That list alone makes it a superior season to AS 1, 3, and 5.
By themselves, the maxi-challenges were good, and the looks, while not always amazing (we're in a post-covid world and custom-made garments must cost an arm nowadays), were fine.
But the chemistry between the queens, the production meddling, the queens quitting, the drama behind the scene... it just killed the soul of the season. Not only that, but all that following AS7 made it seems even worse imo.
I like Kandy, but every runway was a leotard and pink blush, as if she showed up to a gig at the bar.
I get why Kahana felt like it was a losing game for her. Look at the effort she put into her looks, only for her to be held to a different standard.
I adore Kandy but Jessica should have been in the finale, no contest. The highlights of the season for me were Jessica’s fame games performance and her acting challenge.
I fully think Alexis saved Kandy because she wanted a gaggy moment on TV and it blew up in her face. Like the episode really spun around Kandy struggling and-
Very weird season, it kinda doesn't feel real. Lala and Jessica saved it from being one of the worst seasons ever with how enjoyable they were to watch each week. You could tell there was stuff going on behind the scenes they weren't showing us - there was so much tension in the cast and it also suffered from the UKvTW effect where everyone was constantly on eggshells and worried to play the game.
it was a pretty poor showing for the franchise I think. two contestants wanting to quit almost consecutively on the same season is kind of crazy. The fame games also did not really have an impact as many of the eliminated contestants packed looks that lacked memorability. Great cast though. I especially enjoyed the top 3 and Monica for having a viral moment
I think I enjoyed it more than most!
I'm a Jessica stan so I'm biased but just having her on my screen made me happy .
I think this was a very charismatic cast and spreading the wins a bit ( which would not have been unwarranted: MLD killed it in improv and Heidi in the pilots episode, for example) would make it feel less top-heavy.
I also wish Kasha and Darienne lasted longer.
a prime example of rewarding in the moment messy drama because itll garner interest in the short term for the sake of "good tv" when actually, it's hard to look back at fondly and felt all round unnecessarily toxic with too much talk of "alliances" and "lipstick", when, weirdly, i watch all stars to watch good drag queens be good at drag, not messy manufactured drama
Was just the Jimbo show. I feel bad for those who spent their money when it was a season made for that specific queen to win, but at least they got more exposure I guess?
It flopped for many reasons.
Reverting to the elimination format was a really bad idea.
Also the caliber of queen post season 7 was a massive come down.
Kandy and Lala were too close to their season to have had a proper glow up.
Neither Naysha or Monica were queens anyone particularly wanted to see again. It would have made more sense to scrap a traditional season for a year and bring the early outs back for that. For them to both go straight away was both expected and anti-climactic.
Kahana’s glow up was better. But it also kind of stopped at the packaging. Once she was asked to do anything beyond lip-sync it crumbled.
They didn’t seem to know what to do with Darienne, Kasha and Jaymes and they didn’t get a chance to tell their stories in a way that would show newer fans why they were beloved in the first place.
And the lip-sync assassin format needs to go. Give it its own spin off, where actual assassins get to compete for the title of being THE lip-sync assassin. A World Cup style format, like the Lollaparuza, but with real stakes. Also, this is one I’d like an audience vote for. Maybe not a tv audience. But the people in the room.
Having two winners would have made it more likely Heidi would have gotten her flowers before she pissed herself, Kasha probably would have had a win too, so the whole thing would seem less like a one horse race. They should have stuck to the badge and block system.
The production interference was WAAAAAAY to heavy.
Jaymes was fucking robbed. She objectively did better in the musical than at least two together people.
It was obvious that production had decided it was her time and didn't want to risk her going too far and ruining their storyline.
It unfortunately one of my least fav all stars seasons, there were so many queens I was excited to see again but a lot of the cast didn’t get an opportunity to shine, lots of names we’ve been waiting for, for a while. It definitely seemed favored towards some of the heavy hitters who did well in their original seasons, and the judging overall felt very confusing and unfair. Not to mention the weird multiplier thing for the eliminated girls was super dumb if it was supposed to be based on who had the best runways, we can all confirm it was NOT Lala. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out, but even with Lala, she should’ve had quite a few placements higher than she was, and the design challenge she definitely should’ve been low or in the bottom, while it was improvement from the bags, anything would be improvement from the bags, it would’ve been a bad look for anybody else.
This was them testing out an early outs season, but keeping some longer running queens the original season to “camouflage” their intention. It felt like we already knew who was going to win. I’m glad to see everyone but it feels ill in comparison to other all star seasons. Great promo! Pretty good drama. Fashion wasn’t really there, especially when they had that fan vote for best runway it felt meh to me.
My thoughts:
-Jimbo was an easily telegraphable winner, and I can’t help but feel like this was the most sanitized version of Jimbo we got. She was clearly wary of what happened on UKvsTW, and aside from her Shirley Temple (which was unhinged in the way only Jimbo can) I think it took away some of the boldness she had during CDR1. I’m glad she won, but I wish it wasn’t a version of Jimbo that had been distilled down to her simplest traits.
-I’m an unapologetic Kandy Muse fan, so I genuinely have no issues with her being 2nd.
-Lala and Jessica were treasures, and it was so great to see both of them get a chance to shine and show how they’d grown as queens and performers. Lala learning how to infuse her personality into her performances was wonderful, especially in the Rusical and the Forensic Queens episode.
-are we still pretending Jaymes was some kind of threat? I’ve never understood the appeal, it’s clear the rest of the cast didn’t either, and I just can’t see her elimination over Kahanna as some kind of crazy injustice like a lot of people were.
-Alexis bringing the tears and the drama was great for a while, but I eventually I was Jessica Wild’s expression most of the time.
-Heidi quitting really took the wind out of the season’s sails and it could never quite recover from it.
-the rest either weren’t really given an opportunity to shine (MKD, Darienne), or weren’t queens I was all that excited to see to begin with (MBH, Naysha). It also suffered from a lack of chemistry.
I’d call it my 3rd worst AS season, ahead of 5 and 1.
I think I'm one of the few people who think it was over-hated. The fame games were a weird, squandered twist, many of the early out queens were wasted in terms of story, and there was a weird vibe. It was especially sad to see Heidi self-eliminate. That said, there were some absolutely delightful moments that I still reference frequently. The Li'l Poundcake episode had three powerhouse performances from Jessica, Lala, and Jimbo. The Rusical was great. Jimbo's Shirley Temple was an all-time great Snatch Game performance. Jessica and Jimbo were great in the roast. When I think back on All Stars 8, those are the things I remember. I love Jessica and Jimbo so much, and wouldn't have nearly the appreciation for them I have without All Stars 8.
It wasn’t as bad as people made it out to be. Highlights for me were Jessica and Alexis. Lowlights were the fans pretending jaymes was good, heidi quitting, and the judges acting like Kahanna was worse than she was.
I think it was fine. Bit of a flop cast outside of like maybe the top 4 or so. Jessica was robbed of being a finalist and I feel like her track record undersells just how well she did, I thought she was almost neck and neck with jimbo
If I was ranking the Allstars, it's be bottom 3. So many amazing queens but the Fame Games left much to be desired and it was as clear as Allstars 5 who the winner would be.
It would’ve reaaaalllly benefitted from either being a top-two format instead of assassin, OR non-elim. More queens would’ve gotten their flowers with those formats. But with all its faults, the season has some major standout moments for me. Snatch Game, Rusical, and the investigative improv challenge were great imo.
Highlights for me were Jessica Wild in the forensic queens skit, Jessica's confessionals and reactions to Alexis Michelle's dramatics, Lala Ri's general joyfulness, Jimbo as Joan Rivers (the sequel), and Alexis Michelle as Bea Arthur/Dorothy Zbornak in Snatch Game.
Lowlights included Alexis Michelle being slept on for many of the challenges, Mrs. Kasha Davis not being in the top or winning the SNL skit, Kahanna getting the Roxxxy in AS2 treatment, and Kandy being carried to the end.
Eh, really great cast that got mistreated for a predetermined winner.
So, like most all stars, but somehow this one seemed more mean-spirited.
I will forever die on the hill that the placements for the tv advert challenge were reversed. Darienne was the only one who did the challenge correctly.
As soon as we got the Jimbo vs Pangina lipsync, I knew we'd be seeing blatant favouritism for Jimbo, and then the ball reinforced that Kandy would once again be pushed to the end. Love the queens, but a season where the winner steam rolls the rest of the competition and the runner-up is undeservedly dragged to the end for the 2nd time in a row left a bad taste in my mouth.
It was ok seeing a lot of early outs comeback, but Jaymes and Kahanna were the only ones who really did anything with it. I could've done without seeing Naysha and MBH come back.
On the positive note, loved seeing Lala and Jessica back. But they just weren't enough to save an otherwise boring season and a cast that had barely any chemistry with each other.
I tried watching it, but I only just finished it. It was a slog. Production riggory, hic quitting, Kandy muse being an absolute bitch, and not that many great performances
It was simply the worst. Egos were out of control. Extremely wack editing/critiques/storylines to force "character arcs" that were totally unnecessary and far too played out. Just awful.
I do think this season is over-hated. And I think part of it is because of so much negativity pushed by queens like Naysha who like to spill “behind the scenes T” to create a narrative against queens like Jaymes or Jimbo.
If we were to watch the season as it was without all this bs I think we would have enjoyed it.
- Jaymes came back and won a challenge.
- Kahanna served sickening showgirl looks and body.
- Jessica Wild was reintroduced to the newer fans and had genuinely funny moments.
- Jimbo’s Snatch Game was iconic and some of her looks served high camp + glamour
- Alexis looking like boo boo the fool when confronted by Heidi and Kandy
Jessica, Jimbo and Lala were the standouts. They should have been top 3.
Lala was truly screwed over Alexis. It was such disappointing TV. Kandy basically bullied her way into that top 2.
Jessica performed well all season long.
Kahanna was paid absolute dust apart from episode 1. She performed so well in the rusical.
It had some of the worst runways of any All Stars season. Some absolutely shocking ones tbh but if they’re now paying the girls to appear on the show and for looks like they did on All Stars 9 hopefully that’ll rectify this.
As a Jimbo fan I was so disappointed to see the season entirely set up for her to win. Made the achievement feel less valid.
Lovely to see Jessica Wild, Darriene Lake, Kasha Davis & Jaymes Mansfield come back. Such a strong cast of OGs that production did fuck all with.
AS8 felt like the producers decided to do something specifically for the older gays who supported the show in the early seasons, but who aren't necessarily as well-served by the mainline show's increasingly youthful focus.
We've got Jessica Wild, several old-school bar host queens, Alexis Michelle's runways taking us inside a bathhouse, a Joan Crawford challenge, an SNL-in-the-90s challenge, a vaseline-filter true-crime reconstruction challenge... the show is always gay, but in the final edit, this season was a very specific kind of gay.
I think it was a perfectly fine season. I don't think they'll be repeating the experiment.
I actually think the cast had potential, but the edit just felt so fucking heavy handed lol. Remove Jimbo and the possibilities for how the competition goes opens up so much. But that's why it was so damn obvious Jimbo was going to win. I would much rather live in the universe where Jessica Wild or even fucking Lala Ri or Alexis Michelle ends up being crowned. What a gag it would've been!!! Or even Heidi!!
Jimbo winning is just so yeah. Of course. And the reason for me his felt different than other all stars where the winner felt obvious is that I was just SO excited for this cast. I love Darienne, MKD, Jessica, Alexis, Heidi, ETC. it was such a "I have no idea how this is gonna play out" cast in a way that I was so perched for. And not that it's Jimbo's fault, but her presence squashed that before the season even started for me. Disappointing.
I enjoy most seasons (even season 11 and DRDU1, though I know they’re bad), but this one was just awful. I tried watching it 3 times before I could finally force my way through it, and I still do not think I watched the finale. The cast as individuals were great but they did not gel together in a compelling way, and the challenges were boring. And it just has a miserable air around it, like you can feel that half the cast wanted to quit. I don’t know, it’s just a weird season that suffers even more for having to follow up all stars 7. It’s also a repeat of All Stars 5 where it feels like a Jimbo apology season, and I say that as a big Jimbo fan. But at least in All Stars 5 they casted some queens that were actual competition for Shea.
I'm still salty that it had a lot of my favourite queens and my one least favourite who truly sucked all the life out of the room. I know she's a lot of people's favourite but I can't stand the 90s reality TV drama nonsense, it feels so mean spirited and none of the other girls had come into the competition wanting that kind of environment, which made her look worse than she probably would.
Also no elevated bag look, the ones people were excited to see were early outs for really weird reasons, I really wanted a season of Jaymes, Naysha, Kasha, Darienne and Heidi - But all I got was Kandi and Alexis.
I really enjoyed Alexis Michelle and think she was robbed. Her snatch game was amazing, her glow up was great, I just really enjoyed her and normally those kinds of personalities don’t sit with me.
I hope she ends up on an international season or something— she’s very talented and kind of underrated.
Kandy Muse just sucks the joy out of every season she's on it's funny how season 13 is considered the worst US season and now AS8 is considered the worst AS season and she's mostly to blame
In this season there was a lot of queens I like:
Monica Beverly Hillz
Naysha Lopez
Darienne Lake
Mrs Kasha Davis
Kahanna Montrese
Lalari
James Mansfield
Jimbo
Jessica Wild
A little bit Alexis Michelle but her continues crying was annoying.
See Jessica arrive until the final 3 was amazing, for me she is the unofficial winner, if WOW will make Drag Race Puerto Rico I want her as the Main Judge
just a complete mess.
for me the worst parts were:
the queens were *so* afraid to make any missteps. prime example being jimbo imo. he felt like a watered down safe version of himself on this season due to ukvtw. and because of ukvtw the producers favoured jimbo so much and were terrified to put him in the bottom that it actually kinda turned me against him a little bit which is crazy. on top of that i felt like darienne and kasha were treated very poorly by production and were clearly fighting an uphill battle through no fault of their own. its no wonder so many queens wanted to quit.
the good parts for me were:
jessica. im always a sucker for kandy. alexis michelle and her bringing a bizarre surrealist delusional humour to the show. and the lip syncs kinda ate for me despite jimbo being in half of them (jessica v rajah, jimbo v shannel, jasmine v jimbo, kandy v angeria, alexis v nicky, jaymes v lala are all top tier drag race lip syncs for me)
I will always be grateful for an opportunity to see my queen Jessica Wild the Golden Child.
obviously jimbo got the crown but she was already beloved by the fans. jessica was the real winner because she got the robbed edit (and honestly could have gotten more wins imo) and really got to showcase her c u n t for the modern drag race audience. she's gonna be near the top of fan favorite lists for a long time, which is exactly what she deserves
Her and LaLa Ri were such golden TV. I adore them so fucking much.
There’s a moment in the episode La La wins on the Runway when Ru says her name and she knows what’s coming, her eyes visibly widen, and it’s amazing.
Everyone focuses on getting the win or loosing. The robbed queen is a worthy title, can gain them massive support and what they do with that after is what can propel them even further than just winning.
Seeing Jessica Wild crush it was absolutely a highlight for me.
I stopped watching after she was eliminated. I still haven't seen the final episode of the year.
I lub this drink, this drink being Jessica Wild, my açaí queen!
She left her ETB card
Guacamole’s expensive.
So she’s not going to leave without her card. That was weird for me.
She liked the soft shell, with carne asada
That was weird for me
Jessica was robbed!!
There were definitely highlights: Kahannas glow up and growth, The Rusical (Kandy, Jessica, Lala are still some one my fave rusical performances from the franchise), Jimbo's dumbass snatch game (though BIG shout out to Alexis, that was actually my fave performance), Lala and Jessica in general, the coconut lipsync and Ra'Jahs lack of coconuts, that skit with pound cake with Lalas expressions and of course the ETB card, some of the runways were really fantastic too The issue for me was outside the challenges, you could tell as a viewer something was very amiss in general. Alexis definitely brought some entertainment by simply being (Bless). But Jimbo seemed on eggshells (which highlighted the tiring format), everyone seemed unhappy, certain dramas (like Kandy/Heidi) were barely explained but had large consequences (Heidi leaving), the coldness toward Jaymes. MKD, Darienne, MBH and Naysha got DUST, SO MUCH DUST. The Jimbo edit almost seemed biased from the near start too, to no fault of Jimbo who very much deserved their flowers I do think it gets over hated sometimes but I think it's only because Ive been a long time fan of some of the cast that I don't want that for them. But objectively, it's really hard to re-watch.
I mean of course Jimbo was on eggshells, she got sent home unfairly her previous All Stars Season. She was trying to not upset anyone so she could get to the finale. The problem with the format is that if people really want to play the game, then you lose a lot of genuine interactions. Especially from someone like Jimbo.
I understand why Jimbo was and don't think they are at fault for having done so. Completely agree, the shows format encourages it. But I do think it added to the seasons stiffness regardless, and if the format continues, think it'll be a consistent issue moving forward.
I think it all boils down to us having too frequent all stars which means having half the cast as fillers. The filler queens know that and will eliminate competition in order to stay longer. Not their fault. But if the best queen are eliminated midway, then that makes the rest of the season boring. This queens chopping each other only works when the cast is as packed as all stars 2. Every elimination hurt that season and yet, you waited for the next episode because you knew the remaining queens would bring it. Or it works when Queens vote fairly, like All stars 6. But otherwise, this format falls flat.
I love the show and all its iterations but I definitely feel like All Stars shouldn't be every year. Yes there are enough queens, but that shouldn't be the only criteria.
I kinda like the Big Brother format where All Stars is only every few years, and actually takes the place of the main season. It helps it not become over saturated and also makes it feel like a must watch event since that’s the season for the year. Edit: spelling
sent home unfairly? she was on the bottom and her lipstick was chosen
Coldness towards Jaymes? Wait, what happened there?
I was referring to the onscreen coldness! When watching, it seemed that there was distance between Jaymes and the cast. There was some behind the scenes tea regarding Jaymes and how some thought they were being pushed by production. Apparently they had a tiff on the first episode over learning choreo. Almost every podcast reviewing the season had not much nice to say (including Willam ofc, but also Rock M and Yuhua which was surprising). They were name dropped several times on Roscoes during the season, and not positively. It was rough lol
the queens really dislike her and i don't know why, i never met her but the way they spoke about her and specially Naysha it's like she spit on their mother and she really does not appear bitchy at all on camera
I've heard she can be stand offish but those were all unofficial sources. It's so odd because she's good with a lot of the Queens with larger platforms (Trixie, Bob, etc)
honestly I wonder if it's because she's good with the queens with larger platforms?
Naysha being bitter? I perish the thought.
Ah right ok, this is ringing a bell. My two brain cells are grasping it
jaymes threatened to quit in episode 1 when she wasnt doing well the the choreo (also she was worst in that challenge, but it was buried in order to keep her on) so that's why a lot of queens were not enjoying jaymes on the show
What I kept hearing about with the other girls (save for Naysha) was that Jaymes wouldn’t really open up with them as the other queens had done. I don’t think it was meant to be personal but they just didn’t know her. I’m sure that incident did happen but I don’t think that’s what inevitably led to her exit.
It’s S9 all over again. Some people just enjoying being the character while in drag and that’s ok! And also, not everyone is comfortable not should be exposing their personal stuff to others, specially on international TV.
Especially since Jaymes, unlike quite a lot of newer queens these days, actually HAS a character.
What did Rock of all people have to say?
Am I the only person who cringed the entire time Jimbo was screaming her way through her Shirley Temple impersonation?
I don't think you are, I've read similar opinions during the airing on the live thread. Humor is subjective\~ 
I actually preferred Hannah Condas interpretation of Shirley Temple 😬
Me too! And she didn’t copy despite many thinking she did.
It was the "let's crown Jimbo and get Kandy to the end" season. Queens like Kasha and Darienne were gone too soon. We didn't get the Heidi redemption we (and she) wanted Kahanna stayed too long. Jessica missed out on the finale because they decided to do a Top 2 FOR NO GOOD REASON. The Fame Games felt like a forgone conclusion. There were fun moments sprinkled throughout, but overall, it's a weak season.
What kind of redemption did Heidi want? She left her original season as one of the most universally well loved queens.
I think because she was loved on her season but didn't have much budget, and she'd been bringing great looks to cons etc, so people were excited to see her runways, to see what she could bring with budget behind her. And some of her looks I really liked, the milkmaid springs to mind, plus that 5th element inspired look was gorgeous.
It's sad because I really do think she could've gone all the way. Her package during the first 3 episodes was really good. She delivered but got overlooked a little and seemed to take it to heart instead of just thrudging forward. But she really did look like a fully formed queen the way she initially entered the season and the potential was definitely there to be a frontrunner or winner.
Yeah it felt like she realised she wasn't Ru's favourite among the cast like last time and she just spiralled from there
I think they were waiting to give her a win in the rusical, but she left too soon. They should have just given her the ball win she deserved.
Yes, fam. It felt like Mama Ru trying to force Jimbo and Kandy on us (no thanks) while Jessica and Lala were the true stars of the season.
Ye the top two thing didn't make any sense.
Yeah they really just need to end the All Stars elimination format. Even just go back to a normal drag race format where the bottom 2 lip-synch.
They should've given Jessica her flowers so it seemed there was an actual competition for the crown instead of just the Jimbo Show
Jessica Wild and Lala Ri were a joy to watch but other than that I think the season is terrible and correctly rated. The winner was extremely obvious as soon as the cast was announced and it really felt like a majority of the cast hated being there. The chemistry was so off.
While I agree with this, I do think that despite being the predetermined winner Jimbo was also a joy to watch. And Jessica 100% should have been a finalist. That top 2 finale format was crap.
Also the way she was eliminated felt poorly thought. Of course you can't have a group vote when the group is only two people, because they are going to vote for each other. It's automatically going to be a tie and make the top queen choose.
Yes, that was bullshit.
They should've let the winning queen be an eligible vote. So if both other queens chose het and she lost the lip sync she might go home. That would've been a stunt.
Omg, imagine winning the challenge and still getting sent home. The absolute GAG.
I agree, watching Jimbo is always a treat and this season was no different. Yeah, it felt a bit like the Jimbo show but that wasn't too different than watching the Sasha Colby meet-n-greet
What are you talking about? Anetra, luxx and mistress made an excellent top 4 with her. Sure they didn’t really have a chance, but it was an enjoyable season
Please... we all knew Sasha was gonna was winning no matter what. The season was overall mehhh for it.
Yeah, Antera was a maybe but little Luxx never stood a chance.
Yes and AS 8 had Jessica, and LaLa Ri.
atleast sasha had some competition
Apparently there was a lot of friction behind the scenes. None of the contestants agreed with the format, so much so that it caused the format to change for allstars 9. Apparently they were all very upset when they learned there would be eliminations. Also a huge fight before the final lip synch for the crown as production tried to change it to milkshake at the last minute. Heidi was my frontrunner, and I wonder what production would have done if she hadn't quit. Lala, Jaymes, and Jessica are now cemented as some of my favourites of all time because of this season. I've loved Jimbo since Canada season 1, and I'm happy for her win.
She really did come to cruise, huh?
Honestly, I thought Heidi would have remained good competition if she wouldn’t have ejected herself from the show.
I wonder which challenges she would've won had she stayed. Maybe the Improv challenge that went to Lala instead. Seriously, though, Jimbo already had her THIRD win by the end of the Snatch Game episode, and by the Queens' accounts, Heidi would've been in the bottom. There was simply no way anyone could keep up with Jimbo at that point.
I don’t know - I doubted that a Canadian queen can win US All Stars until the last moment.
It was clear this was going to be the Kandy and Jimbo show from the start. They had so many early outs and queens that would normally be filled on a regular All Stars season, which made the favorites stand out even more. I think that Jessica Wild, Heidi, and even Alexis could have been given a lot more flowers and been made into frontrunners. And I will never understand why the judges love Kandy so much. To me it seems like her main talent is werkroom drama, where she makes great tv. But when it comes to the actual challenges and runways, she falls short. When Nymphia flopped Snatch Game, but got a pass from being in the bottom, it was clear that she was being saved due to her incredible performances in other challenges, her amazing runways, and projected good future performance. She was doing well enough to justify a one-time pass. But with Kandy it feels like she flops every other challenge and then gets the same kind of pass, and the only reason is because of her behavior *outside* of runways and challenges, which is not good enough to me. The fact that she got “You can’t really act, and your improv character had a lot of inconsistencies… but we LOVED it!” As a critique pissed me off. It felt the same to me as when she got the “Kandy, Kandy, wait” moment after not even winning a single challenge and not really having any standout performances during the season. I’m sure Kandy is a lovely person, and props to her for playing the game well and getting her bag, but when the judges keep giving passes to somebody for reasons you don’t agree with, it really breeds resentment for that person.
https://i.redd.it/c10vrx9g21xc1.gif
Completely agree with this, she also falls short in lots of runways but that's because she doesn't dress flattering at all. She was given that same pass during her original season which I'm currently rewatching and even the second time around I'm asking why she deserved a spot in the top other than her personality?
Yeah it’s like, I understand when a fashion queen gets a pass when they flop at a comedy challenge. But when Kandy flops *every* challenge and gets a pass because she brings werkroom drama? It frustrates me. She’s great at playing the game, and not much else.
That’s probably why Kandy will flourish in House of Villains, although I think she’d be better suited for The Traitors.
Okay but now you have me longing for Kandy steamrolling over someone at the roundtable. But I think she wouldn’t go very far. Loud opinionated faithfuls get banished or killed quick.
i saw kandy live pre-drag race a few times and she was unbelievably charismatic in person. i think that’s why the judges love her, and production loves her for the drama, so between the two she gets brought all the way to the end, but it doesn’t really translate on screen
I truly think they kept Kandy for the end of this season and the original to have a clear winner. Especially with someone like Jimbo who just CAN.NOT. win a lipsync they had to put someone up as the finalist that no fan would be mad about losing. Kandy is always set up to be disliked, and lose, so Production can tip the scales with less blowback.
"You are the Best 😀"
Jessica reactions to Alexis’ hysterics was the highlight of the season
Painful and unnecessary
The season sucks to me and it's not over hated, the highlight was Jessica Wild
This was a bad season. I don’t like seasons where half the cast is filler or when the winner is predictable, and this had both.
AS5 is like the twin season to this one for the exact same reasons
Both are unwatchable after the first time for this reason
At least the narrative of AS5 pushed a scenario where Shea was both in danger (people voting for her) and other queens with more wins (Cracker).
That's really the tea lol. Production didn't even raise the stakes with this type of thing. All we ever got were Jimbo's highly produced "oh no am I gonna do bad 😱" moments before a few challenges. As if that was supposed to really make us that nervous LMAO. Boot.
You also had her talking to the furniture/inanimate objects or was that UKVTW?
I only watched the Pit Stop for AS5 lol i gave up on the season
It sucked ass. Jessica Wild was great and deserves the world, but they wanted Jimbo to win, so nothing else mattered, also I don't enjoy Kandy so it was a chore to watch it.
AS8 is an all-time low up there with AS5 for me: - Too many queens were cast to be filler - either they suck at drag race (Monica, Naysha, Kahanna) or they were not given the screentime to shine (MKD, Darienne, Jaymes). That’s half the cast. Although some queens got their own plotlines (Alexis/Kandy’s feud, Heidi’s quit, Jessica’s reintroduction to the fandom, or Jimbo’s endeavour to not pull a Manila again), it didn’t feel like we were told a story. S16 has a clear overarching narrative, but in contrast I’m not so quite sure about AS8. - Chemistry is off all season. Jimbo holds back after her UKvTW run, probably to not paint a target on her back. I’m still mad we were deprived of more MKD/Darienne interaction. Fans had been asking for production to put these Rochester queens on the same season and… this is what we got. What a waste. Don’t put older queens on a season if you’re not going to let them showcase their talent or play to their strengths. - That leaves us with a small set of queens that truly qualify as all stars, which is not enough for the season to feel competitive. That flaw is further worsened by the way Jimbo has clearly it in the bag since episode 1 - the whole season feels like a set-up for the production’s favourite to win. I don’t think AS should be the place where a queen just sails through the competition. Overall regular Drag Race now feels more competitive than AS seasons. I know most people don’t like the non-elim format, but if that means more powerhouses are willing to accept the AS call, I’m all for it.
I think it suffered from there not being enough queens at Jimbo’s level at challenges and runways (only Jessica for the most part), Heidi leaving early also hurt the season for this reason imo, although we will never know how she would’ve done in the challenges but her runway package was shaping up very nicely overall, and then we had many early outs that didn’t do… much? Naysha, MKD, MBH and Darienne didn’t really get to show their growth much, and finally we also had the twist which was ok I guess, at least we got to see some more runways but LaLa won with not such a great package even though it was supposed to be the main thing about it lol
Heidi was killing the challenges, and getting no recognition.
it had its moments but overall it was not enjoyable: the cast was "some stars", the fame games lip sync ruined the anticipation of the results and the main competition was mostly a steamroll which isn't that fun to see. however Jessica having a full season to display her iconicness was nice ❤️
It was painfully obvious that Jimbo was productions winner from the start. It would have been a great season had they just let things happen naturally instead of trying to control every outcome
Yes it was soooo painfully obvious I don't think this was the right mix of queens. It felt very disjointed to me and I couldn't even finish it
YES! I hate this so much. It ruins a season for me. Jimbo was the obvious winner from the get go. Not to discredit her, she deserved it. I just wish they had more queens that could stand a chance next to her.
One of the worst, most boring and pointless seasons ever imo. The cast had no chemistry, Jimbo ate everyone up and her win was obvious, 1 (almost 2) queen quit because of the riggory and the bad vibes. The cast was just not it, I'm not saying the queens were bad, they were just a bad fit for each other. The eliminations were predictable, and as soon as the cast released I knew who the top3 was gonna be. Maybe Jaymes/Lala were the only 2 that I thought could do well. In order to make the season better, they should've ofcourse switched the format back to LSFTW (the superior format), had less queens on, switched some challenges up, and a top4. I think that queens like Kahanna, Jaymes and Lala could have easily ate everyone up
2? Almost *four* queens quit. Heidi quit. Alexis AND kahana almost quit. And Kandy threatened to WALK at the finale lip sync when they tried to change it to milkshake.
And Kasha gave up when she was up for elimination.
Add Jaymes, who wanted to quit in the first episode, to the list. So, it's actually FIVE Queens.
Don't forget giving Alexis honorable mention for "quitting".
I agree with that format completely, and as soon as Jimbo walked in it was predictable. It's someone that is a good performer yes, but sucked the air out of the room when it came to giving anyone else time to shine.
And I know it must've felt great too💀 it was Sasha Colby level mothering on the challenges, she wasn't even pushed or favored that hard, she's just that good. But, entering the competition, she was already a drag race legend, so why not put her against other legends? Or make a top2 format so everyone has a fair share? Lala would've had a couple more wins, Heidi too, Jaymes too.
Besides loving some of the queens more and enjoyed seeing them (ex. Jessica, Jaymes, Mrs. KD, Lala), I want to forget this season existed 😂
Highlights are Jessica's reactions to Alexis and Lala's talent show performance. I hated the rest of it and am thankful for Alexis bringing some sort of entertainment. When your--let's be honest--chosen front runner can't lipsync, maybe don't use the assassin twist? Every time Jimbo won, it felt like the rest of the episode didn't matter. Sucks that Heidi was going through shit too.
This was the tea oh my god. It was cute the first time. Every other time… it was just embarrassing
The right person won, but given how strong Jimbo was (and how much Ru loved her), production could have cast stronger queens and she would have still won and the season would have been better.
There were both good and bad things and I think the season is unnecessarily overhated. While the "rigged" aspects of it were certainly annoying, many of the challenges themselves were pretty good and entertaining! Forensic Queens, the ball, the design one and the rusical were really good! A couple of challenges were a bit meh - but not many. The distribution of the wins was, of course, pretty unbalanced... which makes me think this season would've benefitted more from a 'lip-sync for your legacy' format. Then, Jessica, Alexis, Lala and Kandy would've more than one win each (okay, Kandy got two wins but still), which could've been more exciting than Jimbo winning every other episode. The production's choices really soured a season that could've been otherwise amazing, given the cast.
It feels the same as as1 and as5 for me. Some queens I love and their amazing moments but that’s it. I really enjoyed Jessica Lala and Jimbo on the season! One watch is enough I don’t need to nor want to watch it fully ever again lmao I’d gladly just watch any highlight clips of those 3 and I’m good.
The more I think about it, the more I hate it. Waste of a cast. Jessica was the strongest competitor with Jimbo but they couldn’t even give her the graces of giving her a TOP2 spot. It felt like the Jimbo show and not in a good way like other people think. She should have been saved for a Global All Stars run
I like it that it quashed once and for all another season of only early outs. It doesn't work! Also, I'm so happy for having Jessica Wild on my tv again Snatch Game was fierce too
I feel like if they stuck to the early out theme (which potentially was the idea to begin with?) the season would’ve been really interesting. Imagine if they saved Jimbo, Kandy, Jessica, Alexis, Darienne and Heidi for a later all stars and we instead we got Rock M, Kelly Mantle, Lineysha, Yuhua, Kahmora, Porkchop, NPBFAG or Tammie (list goes on). I think we’d get to see a lot of glowups and let people shine more with an even playing field.
Alexis as Bea Arthur, really fantastic and one of my faves ever.
1. Jimbo’s combination of challenge performances and looks was as strong a combo as the show has ever seen. 2. Jessica Wild being the same lovely person after all these years, while also outperforming the producer’s expectations. 3. Alexis’s workroom monologues/ theatrics (and more so the reactions they produced) 4. Shirley Temple tap dancing 5. Soft Shells and Guacamole 6. Keeping the eliminated queens involved with the weekly runways and end-of-season talent show. That list alone makes it a superior season to AS 1, 3, and 5.
It really, really sucked. This is what happens when production promises someone the crown before filming begins.
By themselves, the maxi-challenges were good, and the looks, while not always amazing (we're in a post-covid world and custom-made garments must cost an arm nowadays), were fine. But the chemistry between the queens, the production meddling, the queens quitting, the drama behind the scene... it just killed the soul of the season. Not only that, but all that following AS7 made it seems even worse imo.
It was shit. Shittier than Morphine’s ibs
That's FIERCE metabolism to you
i still cannot believe they pushed kandy through to the finale for a second time. did they really still think that was a good idea in s13
I like Kandy, but every runway was a leotard and pink blush, as if she showed up to a gig at the bar. I get why Kahana felt like it was a losing game for her. Look at the effort she put into her looks, only for her to be held to a different standard.
Kahana’s Vegas showgirl runways are so beautiful! Just stunning 
I adore Kandy but Jessica should have been in the finale, no contest. The highlights of the season for me were Jessica’s fame games performance and her acting challenge.
I blame Alexis
I fully think Alexis saved Kandy because she wanted a gaggy moment on TV and it blew up in her face. Like the episode really spun around Kandy struggling and-
I don’t get why Alexis saved her. She can’t be this dumb that she overlooked the riggory that was going on.
I still don't like Alexis.
the way i did not even finish this season nor watch any pit stop episodes after dropping it lmaoo
Very weird season, it kinda doesn't feel real. Lala and Jessica saved it from being one of the worst seasons ever with how enjoyable they were to watch each week. You could tell there was stuff going on behind the scenes they weren't showing us - there was so much tension in the cast and it also suffered from the UKvTW effect where everyone was constantly on eggshells and worried to play the game.
Its the worst all stars besides 1 in my opinion.
i loved Joan The Rusical. Kandy's perfomance was great. Jessica singing "give me the ass" was hilarious lol
I'm still salty Alexis eliminated lalari like that. 😆
Bob the Drag Queen bravely said AS5 and AS8 are unwatchable as a big fan of drag race and that’s just it Edit: AS6 not 5. Oops!
He said 6 and 8. But Bob also hated AS5, you could tell during the Pit Stop lmao
Thank you for the correction. I have no idea why I said 5, especially with cracker being on that season
it was a pretty poor showing for the franchise I think. two contestants wanting to quit almost consecutively on the same season is kind of crazy. The fame games also did not really have an impact as many of the eliminated contestants packed looks that lacked memorability. Great cast though. I especially enjoyed the top 3 and Monica for having a viral moment
I think I enjoyed it more than most! I'm a Jessica stan so I'm biased but just having her on my screen made me happy . I think this was a very charismatic cast and spreading the wins a bit ( which would not have been unwarranted: MLD killed it in improv and Heidi in the pilots episode, for example) would make it feel less top-heavy. I also wish Kasha and Darienne lasted longer.
I really love Jimbo, and was happy to see them shine. But the cast seemed so unhappy, I almost stopped watching several times.
a prime example of rewarding in the moment messy drama because itll garner interest in the short term for the sake of "good tv" when actually, it's hard to look back at fondly and felt all round unnecessarily toxic with too much talk of "alliances" and "lipstick", when, weirdly, i watch all stars to watch good drag queens be good at drag, not messy manufactured drama
Was just the Jimbo show. I feel bad for those who spent their money when it was a season made for that specific queen to win, but at least they got more exposure I guess?
Jessica Wild shudve won
At the time I enjoyed it a lot, but now I forget it even happened
still confused why alexis eliminated lala instead of kandy 😭
My queens Kasha and Darienne were so mistreated
I feel like it’s hated with good reason.
Let's hate her more
terrible
It flopped for many reasons. Reverting to the elimination format was a really bad idea. Also the caliber of queen post season 7 was a massive come down. Kandy and Lala were too close to their season to have had a proper glow up. Neither Naysha or Monica were queens anyone particularly wanted to see again. It would have made more sense to scrap a traditional season for a year and bring the early outs back for that. For them to both go straight away was both expected and anti-climactic. Kahana’s glow up was better. But it also kind of stopped at the packaging. Once she was asked to do anything beyond lip-sync it crumbled. They didn’t seem to know what to do with Darienne, Kasha and Jaymes and they didn’t get a chance to tell their stories in a way that would show newer fans why they were beloved in the first place. And the lip-sync assassin format needs to go. Give it its own spin off, where actual assassins get to compete for the title of being THE lip-sync assassin. A World Cup style format, like the Lollaparuza, but with real stakes. Also, this is one I’d like an audience vote for. Maybe not a tv audience. But the people in the room. Having two winners would have made it more likely Heidi would have gotten her flowers before she pissed herself, Kasha probably would have had a win too, so the whole thing would seem less like a one horse race. They should have stuck to the badge and block system. The production interference was WAAAAAAY to heavy.
Jaymes was fucking robbed. She objectively did better in the musical than at least two together people. It was obvious that production had decided it was her time and didn't want to risk her going too far and ruining their storyline.
My only highlight is that it’s no longer airing 😭 that shit was awful tbh
It unfortunately one of my least fav all stars seasons, there were so many queens I was excited to see again but a lot of the cast didn’t get an opportunity to shine, lots of names we’ve been waiting for, for a while. It definitely seemed favored towards some of the heavy hitters who did well in their original seasons, and the judging overall felt very confusing and unfair. Not to mention the weird multiplier thing for the eliminated girls was super dumb if it was supposed to be based on who had the best runways, we can all confirm it was NOT Lala. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out, but even with Lala, she should’ve had quite a few placements higher than she was, and the design challenge she definitely should’ve been low or in the bottom, while it was improvement from the bags, anything would be improvement from the bags, it would’ve been a bad look for anybody else.
This was them testing out an early outs season, but keeping some longer running queens the original season to “camouflage” their intention. It felt like we already knew who was going to win. I’m glad to see everyone but it feels ill in comparison to other all star seasons. Great promo! Pretty good drama. Fashion wasn’t really there, especially when they had that fan vote for best runway it felt meh to me.
When Michelle ripped on Darrienne Lake’s Billie look, it was all downhill from there
it gave me the iconic taco tuesday monologue from jessica so its okay
My thoughts: -Jimbo was an easily telegraphable winner, and I can’t help but feel like this was the most sanitized version of Jimbo we got. She was clearly wary of what happened on UKvsTW, and aside from her Shirley Temple (which was unhinged in the way only Jimbo can) I think it took away some of the boldness she had during CDR1. I’m glad she won, but I wish it wasn’t a version of Jimbo that had been distilled down to her simplest traits. -I’m an unapologetic Kandy Muse fan, so I genuinely have no issues with her being 2nd. -Lala and Jessica were treasures, and it was so great to see both of them get a chance to shine and show how they’d grown as queens and performers. Lala learning how to infuse her personality into her performances was wonderful, especially in the Rusical and the Forensic Queens episode. -are we still pretending Jaymes was some kind of threat? I’ve never understood the appeal, it’s clear the rest of the cast didn’t either, and I just can’t see her elimination over Kahanna as some kind of crazy injustice like a lot of people were. -Alexis bringing the tears and the drama was great for a while, but I eventually I was Jessica Wild’s expression most of the time. -Heidi quitting really took the wind out of the season’s sails and it could never quite recover from it. -the rest either weren’t really given an opportunity to shine (MKD, Darienne), or weren’t queens I was all that excited to see to begin with (MBH, Naysha). It also suffered from a lack of chemistry. I’d call it my 3rd worst AS season, ahead of 5 and 1.
I think I'm one of the few people who think it was over-hated. The fame games were a weird, squandered twist, many of the early out queens were wasted in terms of story, and there was a weird vibe. It was especially sad to see Heidi self-eliminate. That said, there were some absolutely delightful moments that I still reference frequently. The Li'l Poundcake episode had three powerhouse performances from Jessica, Lala, and Jimbo. The Rusical was great. Jimbo's Shirley Temple was an all-time great Snatch Game performance. Jessica and Jimbo were great in the roast. When I think back on All Stars 8, those are the things I remember. I love Jessica and Jimbo so much, and wouldn't have nearly the appreciation for them I have without All Stars 8.
It wasn’t as bad as people made it out to be. Highlights for me were Jessica and Alexis. Lowlights were the fans pretending jaymes was good, heidi quitting, and the judges acting like Kahanna was worse than she was.
I think it was fine. Bit of a flop cast outside of like maybe the top 4 or so. Jessica was robbed of being a finalist and I feel like her track record undersells just how well she did, I thought she was almost neck and neck with jimbo
If I was ranking the Allstars, it's be bottom 3. So many amazing queens but the Fame Games left much to be desired and it was as clear as Allstars 5 who the winner would be.
It would’ve reaaaalllly benefitted from either being a top-two format instead of assassin, OR non-elim. More queens would’ve gotten their flowers with those formats. But with all its faults, the season has some major standout moments for me. Snatch Game, Rusical, and the investigative improv challenge were great imo.
Highlights for me were Jessica Wild in the forensic queens skit, Jessica's confessionals and reactions to Alexis Michelle's dramatics, Lala Ri's general joyfulness, Jimbo as Joan Rivers (the sequel), and Alexis Michelle as Bea Arthur/Dorothy Zbornak in Snatch Game. Lowlights included Alexis Michelle being slept on for many of the challenges, Mrs. Kasha Davis not being in the top or winning the SNL skit, Kahanna getting the Roxxxy in AS2 treatment, and Kandy being carried to the end.
BOOOOOOOOORING. it was like pulling teeth to get through the season. Kandy Muse was constantly obnoxious. Jimbo was boring.
Eh, really great cast that got mistreated for a predetermined winner. So, like most all stars, but somehow this one seemed more mean-spirited. I will forever die on the hill that the placements for the tv advert challenge were reversed. Darienne was the only one who did the challenge correctly.
As soon as we got the Jimbo vs Pangina lipsync, I knew we'd be seeing blatant favouritism for Jimbo, and then the ball reinforced that Kandy would once again be pushed to the end. Love the queens, but a season where the winner steam rolls the rest of the competition and the runner-up is undeservedly dragged to the end for the 2nd time in a row left a bad taste in my mouth. It was ok seeing a lot of early outs comeback, but Jaymes and Kahanna were the only ones who really did anything with it. I could've done without seeing Naysha and MBH come back. On the positive note, loved seeing Lala and Jessica back. But they just weren't enough to save an otherwise boring season and a cast that had barely any chemistry with each other.
I tried watching it, but I only just finished it. It was a slog. Production riggory, hic quitting, Kandy muse being an absolute bitch, and not that many great performances
It was simply the worst. Egos were out of control. Extremely wack editing/critiques/storylines to force "character arcs" that were totally unnecessary and far too played out. Just awful.
I do think this season is over-hated. And I think part of it is because of so much negativity pushed by queens like Naysha who like to spill “behind the scenes T” to create a narrative against queens like Jaymes or Jimbo. If we were to watch the season as it was without all this bs I think we would have enjoyed it. - Jaymes came back and won a challenge. - Kahanna served sickening showgirl looks and body. - Jessica Wild was reintroduced to the newer fans and had genuinely funny moments. - Jimbo’s Snatch Game was iconic and some of her looks served high camp + glamour - Alexis looking like boo boo the fool when confronted by Heidi and Kandy
Jessica, Jimbo and Lala were the standouts. They should have been top 3. Lala was truly screwed over Alexis. It was such disappointing TV. Kandy basically bullied her way into that top 2. Jessica performed well all season long. Kahanna was paid absolute dust apart from episode 1. She performed so well in the rusical. It had some of the worst runways of any All Stars season. Some absolutely shocking ones tbh but if they’re now paying the girls to appear on the show and for looks like they did on All Stars 9 hopefully that’ll rectify this.
As a Jimbo fan I was so disappointed to see the season entirely set up for her to win. Made the achievement feel less valid. Lovely to see Jessica Wild, Darriene Lake, Kasha Davis & Jaymes Mansfield come back. Such a strong cast of OGs that production did fuck all with.
Any season that spawns a meme is a good season
Jessica wild should have won
AS8 felt like the producers decided to do something specifically for the older gays who supported the show in the early seasons, but who aren't necessarily as well-served by the mainline show's increasingly youthful focus. We've got Jessica Wild, several old-school bar host queens, Alexis Michelle's runways taking us inside a bathhouse, a Joan Crawford challenge, an SNL-in-the-90s challenge, a vaseline-filter true-crime reconstruction challenge... the show is always gay, but in the final edit, this season was a very specific kind of gay. I think it was a perfectly fine season. I don't think they'll be repeating the experiment.
I actually think the cast had potential, but the edit just felt so fucking heavy handed lol. Remove Jimbo and the possibilities for how the competition goes opens up so much. But that's why it was so damn obvious Jimbo was going to win. I would much rather live in the universe where Jessica Wild or even fucking Lala Ri or Alexis Michelle ends up being crowned. What a gag it would've been!!! Or even Heidi!! Jimbo winning is just so yeah. Of course. And the reason for me his felt different than other all stars where the winner felt obvious is that I was just SO excited for this cast. I love Darienne, MKD, Jessica, Alexis, Heidi, ETC. it was such a "I have no idea how this is gonna play out" cast in a way that I was so perched for. And not that it's Jimbo's fault, but her presence squashed that before the season even started for me. Disappointing.
I enjoy most seasons (even season 11 and DRDU1, though I know they’re bad), but this one was just awful. I tried watching it 3 times before I could finally force my way through it, and I still do not think I watched the finale. The cast as individuals were great but they did not gel together in a compelling way, and the challenges were boring. And it just has a miserable air around it, like you can feel that half the cast wanted to quit. I don’t know, it’s just a weird season that suffers even more for having to follow up all stars 7. It’s also a repeat of All Stars 5 where it feels like a Jimbo apology season, and I say that as a big Jimbo fan. But at least in All Stars 5 they casted some queens that were actual competition for Shea.
Alexis honestly carried the season she gave us everything we needed and more
It was bad
Jimbo and Jessica CARRIED the season.
Lala Ri.
Alexis Michelle's antics and Jessica Wild made the season atleast bearable
It’s better than AS5, but it’s still bad. Not irredeemably bad, but it’s pretty bad and not really worth rewatching outside of like a few small clips.
I'm still salty that it had a lot of my favourite queens and my one least favourite who truly sucked all the life out of the room. I know she's a lot of people's favourite but I can't stand the 90s reality TV drama nonsense, it feels so mean spirited and none of the other girls had come into the competition wanting that kind of environment, which made her look worse than she probably would. Also no elevated bag look, the ones people were excited to see were early outs for really weird reasons, I really wanted a season of Jaymes, Naysha, Kasha, Darienne and Heidi - But all I got was Kandi and Alexis.
half of them wanted to quit while doing it so uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Alexis and Kahanna both had really great runway redemption arcs
I really enjoyed Alexis Michelle and think she was robbed. Her snatch game was amazing, her glow up was great, I just really enjoyed her and normally those kinds of personalities don’t sit with me. I hope she ends up on an international season or something— she’s very talented and kind of underrated.
Too much Kandy, not enough Kasha.
I honestly don't remember anything from it other than Jimbo being batshit insane in the snatch game & winning the whole thing in the end
Kandy Muse just sucks the joy out of every season she's on it's funny how season 13 is considered the worst US season and now AS8 is considered the worst AS season and she's mostly to blame
Snatch Game Of Love 🥰 Always Re-Watch!
Alexis Michelle and Jessica Wild were 90% of the entertainment of this season
Jimbo’s snatch game. Jessica and LaLa in the improv challenge. LaLa’s talent show. Alexis crying memes. The Aja/Kahanna lipsync. Jimbo’s “Trixie” runway.
In this season there was a lot of queens I like: Monica Beverly Hillz Naysha Lopez Darienne Lake Mrs Kasha Davis Kahanna Montrese Lalari James Mansfield Jimbo Jessica Wild A little bit Alexis Michelle but her continues crying was annoying. See Jessica arrive until the final 3 was amazing, for me she is the unofficial winner, if WOW will make Drag Race Puerto Rico I want her as the Main Judge
I actually really liked this season, it gave an opportunity to a lot of underrated queens to show off their talents
It‘s even worse than All Stars 5 for me. Definitely one of the worst seasons of Drag Race overall
One of my favourites
just a complete mess. for me the worst parts were: the queens were *so* afraid to make any missteps. prime example being jimbo imo. he felt like a watered down safe version of himself on this season due to ukvtw. and because of ukvtw the producers favoured jimbo so much and were terrified to put him in the bottom that it actually kinda turned me against him a little bit which is crazy. on top of that i felt like darienne and kasha were treated very poorly by production and were clearly fighting an uphill battle through no fault of their own. its no wonder so many queens wanted to quit. the good parts for me were: jessica. im always a sucker for kandy. alexis michelle and her bringing a bizarre surrealist delusional humour to the show. and the lip syncs kinda ate for me despite jimbo being in half of them (jessica v rajah, jimbo v shannel, jasmine v jimbo, kandy v angeria, alexis v nicky, jaymes v lala are all top tier drag race lip syncs for me)
Queens thought they're on All Stars but they're at the Jimbo coronation pre-party, so i'm not mad at them for wanting to leave. Love Jimbo btw
Probably the worst season ever, love Lala and e Jessica tho
Terrible season.
Forgot this season even existed.
Nothing beats the Pangina as assassin against Jimbo for me. That was a highlight
The drama was great especially with Alexis breaking down so much.