SEASON 2 (4.5/5)
It's very interesting to come back on the past season of All Stars. For a show that is currently failing to offer an interesting season, it still gave one of the best seasons of the whole franchise with All Stars Season 2.
It's an amazing piece of Reality TV with hugely charismatic contestants and all able to entertain the crowd. The comedic challenges are funny, and all the lip syncs are amazing. This season shows the evolution a contestant of the original franchise can have, becoming a superstar.
The twist is amazing, even if it's cruel. If you win a challenge, you get $10,000, but you also have to send another contestant home. Since it was the first time they used this rule, the contestants were not prepared for it and what came with it, it's a pure nerve-wracking mess, up to a now memorable tantrum.
I would say that, coming back to it after viewing the more recent seasons, the fashion is underwhelming. Not that they look bad or out of fashion, just that we are far from the (too) expensive but breathtaking looks of the more recent seasons.
SEASON 6 (3.5/5)
After a series of "meh" seasons from the All Stars series, season 6 finally gives some good entertainment and seems mostly fair with the elimination order and the choice for the finale winner.
This is a season of memorable lip-synch battles. One in particular will be up with the very best of the franchise, and there is also an episode only focusing on a lip-synch competition where one of the contestants is just killing it in the most impressive way.
Some returning contestants that didn't give a good impression in their original season also had the opportunity to make it right this time, becoming fan favorites.
SEASON 7 - ALL WINNERS (4/5)
A powerful season, especially during the Drag Race fatigue. The shows honor the high stakes of an All Stars with only past winners by giving you very strong competitors doing stellar works in the different challenges. It may seem a little off that the judges here only give positive comments, I guess to respect those past winners' reputations, but since the queens are so strong, they give themselves the entertainment between them. Also, no elimination this time. It's weird at first, but it does let everyone shine through the whole season.
The only thing missing here would be some memorable lip-synchs, and some decisions from the judge were maybe too blatant in a way to make all the participants win at least one time, but still one of the best seasons of all the franchise.
This season is not without the usual flaws of the franchise, where the judging seems off, mostly to choose who will leave or stay without taking into account how they perform.
SEASON 8 (2/5)
After two good seasons, this one is very underwhelming. There always has been a complain among the fans that having an All-Stars season every year (instead of one time every few years) was a bad idea and what they feared happened here. At this point, just two or three contestants could be considered as all-stars, former contestants that made big impressions during their past season(s). This season feels like they are scratching the bottom of the barrel... The result is a lack of interesting dynamics between the contestants and underwhelming looks (at least for the All Stars expectations).
There are some highlights. The comedic challenges are pretty funny, which is rare in the series, and Jimbo is maybe one of the most memorable queens the show ever had (she basically saves this season from being too dull).
SEASON 9 (2/5)
There is definitely a step up with the contestant selection since the last season; all of them are what you would qualify as All-Stars but they are also talented and very diverse in style.
It was still a boring season, despite the exciting lip-synch episode. Most of the challenges are too common now in the franchise to be exciting, and the lack of elimination really put down any stakes.
It doesn't work as All-Stars Winners, where you could understand the no-elimination process because they needed to be respectful of the show's best of the best. Here, the cast is good, but they don't justify being treated as an All-Winners season. Also, the fact that the grand prize is for charity removes any few stakes left.
