Who Should Win 'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 4?'

We are just a couple dozen hours away from the finale of the latest entry into the smash hit serious that is 'All Stars.' This one has been quite the whirlwind with a mix of old ideas and new twists that have sometimes struggled to mix well together.

Nevertheless, the end is near and with the final four locked in place, there seems to be a clear front runner in Trinity Taylor who has the best report card by far. However, as we saw last season, who knows what twists we may have in store for the final episode, which means it really is anyone's competition to win at this point.

All four queens remaining would be understandable additions to the Hall of Fame, but I think we need a breakdown of what each queen has offered so far and give why they should, or shouldn’t, win.

Let's start with Naomi Smalls, perhaps the least likely based on the report card, but perhaps the most likely based on social media presence. Her performance this season has had its highs and lows, but for the most part, has consistently fallen in the middle of the pack. After placing high the first three weeks, she didn't get much praise afterward until she finally won the makeover challenge.

I would like to make a strong case for Naomi though and her performance in the competition, because I think if just a few small things had fallen in her favor, she may have ended up with a drastically different scoring sheet. I think her placement in the first week was accurate, perhaps even overrated as her performance probably would've placed her low had it not been for the quirky twist she added. The next three challenges, however, were all team challenges where one queen from each team was picked as the winner. The second week, Naomi was passed over and Monet (who wore a bathing suit for the competition) was given the win. In the Snatch Game, Naomi was in the same group as Trinity Taylor, and even though Naomi could've easily gotten the win in this challenge, Ru decided to pick one winner from each team which is a departure from regular Snatch Games. In the Jersey Justice challenge, Naomi was in a group with Manila, and even though Naomi's performance was completely out of her comfort zone, she still delivered. Ru decided to give the wins to people in different groups this challenge though, which means Naomi was left out to dry yet again. Her runways were also, of course, incredibly strong all the way throughout this run, as expected. I'm not saying Naomi deserved these wins more than the queens they were awarded to, but I think that had she wound up in a different group or had things been judged differently, she could easily have added at least one or two wins to her report card.

Naomi's scorecard is the clear weakest of all the queens remaining, but she also has one of the largest outside social media presence. She had her show on Youtube with Kim Chi a while back, she has the most Instagram followers, her lip sync performances have been highly buzzed about (as well as the infamous Club 96), and her music video just hit one million views. She may not be the fan favorite per se, because I think Trinity has that one in the bag, but she isn't far behind.

Naomi could end up being a winner like Sasha Velour or Trixie Mattel, where the final episode twist allows her to close the distance between her and her competitors. A Naomi win might be heavily criticized by some, especially on the heels of the Trixie Mattel win, but I'm not counting her out as a heavy hitter, because her shining moments may have been few and far between, but they are the most iconic moments of the show, far more than any other queen.

Now, as for Monique Heart, she's had fewer so-so performances but has had much more very high ones and very low ones, as she's found herself winning challenges, and then immediately being in the bottom the week after, twice now. However, she has shown the most improvement amongst all of the queens, showing that she can channel many of her outlandish ideas and actually execute them, as well as stepping up her runways. It's helped that she's also very clearly branded herself since her season and knows how to sell herself.

I would say the only thing holding Monique back, besides one win less than Trinity, is that her edit and reaction to the judges' critiques haven't been favorable over the past few weeks. The judges just don't seem to be very excited about Monique and her performances as they do the other girls, and when they don't give her all the praise in the world, it's evident on her face that she isn't happy about it. She becomes very defensive easily, which Ru has called her out on before with no resulting change.

A Monique win would probably be the least likable by fans, as her social media presence is the lowest of all the queens, which I have a feeling comes from her being a KC queen and having quirky looks that go beyond the glamour that is usually upheld by fans. Monique's most shining quality though is that she has improved so drastically from her season that it may be enough for RuPaul to give her the crown, which would create a story of hard work paying off, one that I'm sure many people would love to latch onto.

Monet is another queen who has shown improvement from her season in that her runways are drastically better. She's truly been slaying on the runway this season, which has allowed her to win challenges that she was previously denied in her season. Her scorecard is impressive, being tied with Monique with three wins and two appearances in the bottom, but she also has the privilege of being safe on a week when Monique was almost sent home by the returning Latrice Royale.

Monet's personality has gotten her through a lot in this season, but she's similar to Alyssa Edwards, a queen with plenty of charisma but struggles to play anyone other than herself. Not only have both of her bottom appearances have been in acting challenges where Monique has shown her up, but she hasn't beaten any of the queens in lip syncs, which definitely has not allowed her to be shown in a position of complete power like the other queens. This could help her though if we are given another jury this season.

A Monet win would be pretty popular among fans, as she has the personality and charisma that is completely magnetic, similar to her very good friend Bob the Drag Queen. Bob and Monet are very similar in fact, in the sense that they are funny and likable enough that it's very easy to ignore the flaws in areas they aren't very strong. There’s a reason she won Miss Congeniality.

Finally, we have to talk about the clear front runner, Trinity the Tuck. Her performance in the competition has been the most consistent and also highly praised by the judges and fans, firing efficiently on all cylinders. Her only low points were in the roast, where she probably would have been safe had it not been a non-elimination bottom four, and in the Jersey Justice challenge where she forgot her name for just a single second. It's hard to say she shouldn't win when these are her only two missteps the entire competition.

She is also the most popular to win among fans right now, which bodes very well for her. There are only a few reasons I can think why Trinity shouldn't win, but none of them have anything to do with her or her performance.

The first reason is that Shangela was the clear front runner her season when a major twist knocked her from winning. Something similar could happen to Trinity here. The second reason is that she is the only white queen of the top four in a time when there have been so many white queens win in a row that the fans are starting to get frustrated. The shows’ attempt to dispel a racist narrative could interfere with Trinity's near-perfect performance. The final reason is that Trinity simply hasn't been entertaining to watch lately, not because she hasn't been giving it her all, but because she has faded in the background in the edit the past few episodes despite performing well. Unfortunately, it’s very rarely entertaining when someone is performing so clearly better than their competitors, as the balance of the show becomes stagnant. This is the same reason many list season eight of Drag Race as their least favorite, as Bob was clearly outperforming almost every single one the other queens. RuPaul will surely find a way to mix it up so that everyone is given a fair chance in the final episode.

Trinity is still the most likely to win because she has simply performed the best, but being the front runner can be dangerous sometimes, look at Shangela and Shea Coulee, because the other queens have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Personally, I think Trinity will most likely win, but everyone knows it’s always fun to cheer for the underdog. Whoever wins, it’s safe to say that this has been a fairly strong season with plenty of twists to keep it interesting.

Trinity, Monet, Monique, and Monét have all performed well this season and I think they deserve all the praise in the world for performing so well throughout the season. Whoever wins, it’s safe to say that they truly do deserve it.