Drag Race is now a global franchise, airing multiple episodes every week.* There are dozens of queens werking it out for not just their country's respective crown, but for our attention. Every queen is captivating — but only one of them is a true gem. Pop Heist's Greatest Drag Race Queen of All Time of the Week singles out one special queen from that week's competitors and crowns her for a one-week reign.
The Week: August 18 to August 24
The Episodes: Drag Race France 4x07 "Roast, The Wedding Of Daphné And Loïc"; Drag Race Mexico: Latina Royale 1x04 "From the Table to the Catwalk"; Drag Race Down Under vs. the World 1x05 "Rappin' Roast"
The Queen: Alexis Mateo (Mexico: Latina Royale Season 1)
The legends are legends for a reason. The corners of the Drag Race audience that groan at seeing queens come back again and again don't get it: every time a queen returns to the screen, there's a good TV guarantee. Alexis Mateo, back for her record-breaking fifth season of Drag Race, more than proved this in the most recent episode of Latina Royale.
While Alexis's legend status has been mentioned in previous episodes, this one really let her stand out, effortlessly making TV moments as effortless as her exquisite design challenge gown. I, for one, love when the queens show self-awareness, get meta, and talk about their history with the franchise. Having Alexis speak on what it means to her finally being able to compete completely in Spanish, and how she was even a little intimidated by the cast, was a nice bit of — new! — story building.
Then we got to see Alexis mother the competition, both figuratively and literally. The gown she made caused the judges' to gasp; it was essentially the same idea that Makayla Couture had a few weeks ago on Canada's All Stars, but ... well ... finished. The wraparound fan, the high slit, she devoured. And during judging, Alexis mothered in a way that only an industry veteran like herself can. She reached out to Mariana Stars, sobbing, spending her fourth consecutive week in the bottom, and said, "Remember how you felt when you looked in the mirror, okay?" Damn, if that's not real.
And then, because Alexis Mateo knows where her Drag Race bread is really buttered, she made sure to correct safe queen Horacio Potasio when she flippantly said that she could be in the top over Alexis. It wasn't a gathering, per se; Alexis has learned a lot since Season 3 of the mother series. But she made Horacio pause, diagram her sentence, and clock how it could be construed as offensive and insensitive.
This is the kind of confidence and range you can only get from someone who's not only been doing drag for this long, but someone who's been making killer TV for this long. To paraphrase the greatest drag queen of all time this week, "And that's why we do like you."
Follow Alexis Mateo on Instagram at @miss_alexis_mateo
