Miss Fame gets a big response, in a short purple dress with a strange bra line that makes her look like she’s standing behind a barricade. Trixie is as doll-like as ever; her make-up looks incredible. Katya gets a bigger response, with a red cat-suit/cape combo, lined in zebra stripes. Kennedy gets the biggest cheer of all. Her hair is swooped up into an amazing Dr. Suess swirl.

Finally, it’s the Top Three! Ginger is cute, but not amazing. She’s wearing a blue cocktail dress with a tulle drape. Pearl looks remote and goddess-like in a tight white gown with Marilyn Monroe hair. Violet stomps the runway in a cocktail dress besequined with an image of a sewing mannequin. Made of bones. I feel like I ought to decode that, like a rebus, but I can’t.

There’s no song, like last year. RuPaul just comes out and that’s when I notice how minimal the set is. Is this budget cuts, or a back-to-basics aesthetic? The judges don’t even get seats this year. They have to stand up in a balcony. RuPaul does look amazing. Maybe the budget went into her gown, which is not only silver, but looks like it was made out of actual silver plates.

RuPaul gives her traditional shout-out to Porkchop, the first-ever eliminated queen. In the audience, we see glimpses of Miley Cyrus, and Manila Luzon (wearing mammoth tusks tits). RuPaul announces that she still hasn’t decided on the winner, but each of the contenders will do a final lip-sync.

As we go to commercial, the dancing guys appear! Hooray!

The first queen to lip-sync (to what sounds like a gospel song) is Ginger Minj. She’s wearing yellow satin, and takes her song to chichi. There’s even a choir of dancers behind her. She claps, falls to her knees, and gives into the Holy Roller spirit. “You flooded my basement,” RuPaul beams. The judges, from their balcony, call her “very Patti LaBelle,” and assure her she deserves to be Top Three. “I still love the Minj, ” Carson declares.

We get an interview with her. RuPaul asks she regrets throwing shade at the younger queens. Ginger explains, that, as a plus-sized queen, she can’t help throwing shade in some direction. But, she adds that drag gave her a voice, and everything comes from a place of love.

Darienne Lake appears to ask: Is it time for a big girl to win? Ginger replies that she doesn’t want to win because she’s big, but because she’s talented and came in “with all guns a-blazin’.” A supportive video message from her friends, family, and John Waters (!) is played. Ginger starts crying when her estranged dad appears. Her dad starts crying when he talks about how hard Ginger has worked to get where she is in her career.

Ginger tells RuPaul that she hopes this leads to a relationship she never had with her father. And that he feels guilty enough to buy her some new custom eyelashes, because she just ruined hers.

“We all the Minj!” RuPaul declares.

Next up is Pearl, doing a song which must be called “Sleepwalker.” (Not the Adam Lambert song, alas.) She’s dressed like a Hollywood starlet, and starts out looking at herself in a big mirror. Her back-up dancers are dressed like violet dinosaurs. I have no idea why.

The judges talk about her journey, coming out her shell. Carson pretends like he’s just getting the whole Pearl/shell joke. Which is kind of adorable.

RuPaul talks about The Curse of the Pearl, which is an internet meme I heard about, but never really understood. Apparently, people noticed that any queen who dissed Pearl was swiftly eliminated from the show. There’s a fun video illustrating this.

Alaska then asks a fan question: “Pearl, is it just me, or does everybody want to f*ck you?” Pearl laughs, but says she wants people to like her for her talent and not her boy looks.

Pearl’s video message shows support from friends and family. RuPaul talks to her mother, who created a fan page for Pearl.

RuPaul’s final question for Pearl is: “Do I have something on my face?”

The final lip-sync is Violet, doing a striptease! Yay! I love a good striptease! Her back-up dancers are just boys in leather, who pick her up, carry her around, and bring her a feather boa when she takes off her tasseled bra. She has tasseled tits underneath! I love it!

MIchelle assures Violet that, no matter how much Violet hates her, she loves Violet. Carson says, “You wear the clothes, they don’t wear you.” Ross says she electrifies with her looks, but also her performance tonight.

Violet tells RuPaul that she started sewing in the eighth grade — starting with her Catholic school uniforms. Her confidence comes getting tired, at a certain, of other people’s opinions. Now, she just doesn’t care what anyone thinks.

Gia Gunn’s fan question is what she’d tell a teenager who wants to do drag, but fears what others will say. Violet advises doing it at midnight, in her room, with the door locked. Until she’s confident about performing in public.

Mimi ImFurst reminds Violet that she was voted “Shadiest Queen.” The question is, who did Violet vote for? “I voted for myself!” Violet laughs.

She gets video messages from friends and mom, who all say they are proud of her. Her dad appears last, with a wish for success that, frankly, sounds a bit rehearsed.

RuPaul asks Violet’s mom (in the audience) for advice to parents of flamboyant children. She says just to support them in their fabulousness.

The dancers appear again, this time in the Hello Kitty heads. I have to say, I like these extended Top Three segments. It really gives them a chance to show what they actually do performance-wise. I hope this is an innovation that becomes permanent.

Now we get short group interviews with the eliminated queens. Kandy Ho apologizes to Tempest for calling her old on the first day of competition. Sasha admits that she wasn’t prepared for this season, even though she’s a super fan. RuPaul gives a shout-out to Sasha Belle’s Drag Race (a local event that Sasha runs).

Jasmine gets a special video message from Patti LaBelle! Then RuPaul mentions the bullying Jasmine received on twitter (which nearly caused Jasmine to stop doing drag). RuPaul talks about the “dark tone” that is currently pervading social media, and advises everyone to ignore the haters.

Kasha talks about how “entitled” the young queens on the show seemed, but says she learned good things from them. Mr. Kasha Davis is in the audience. RuPaul remarks on how cute Kasha’s husband is.

Kandy Ho is leaving Puerto Rico. Her only regret on the show is painting a beard on her face. She explains that she doesn’t normally do her own make-up. Max talks about getting Jaidynn and Pearl to calm down after their meltdowns. As a theater kid, she’s used to nerves. She also explains that she’s not really a prude, she was just tired of the sex talk at that particular moment. Jaidynn, who hadn’t come out as gay to her family, gets a video message from her mom. Jaidynn is happy that her family will finally get to know her.

Fame has a fun interview, starting out by asking RuPaul, “How’s your head?” They talk about Fame and Katya’s struggle with addiction. Fame is amazed at her fans’ willingness to discuss their own struggles. RuPaul asks Fame to do her chicken cluck, and Fame brings out one of her show chickens. Very cute and sweet.

Trixie Mattel says the “Justice for Trixie” furor made her feeling like less of a loser, after her first elimination. She does her RuPaul imitation that she wasn’t able to do in the Snatch Game. Katya babbles on about her doubts in her trademark stream of consciousness style.

RuPaul asks Kennedy about how she does flying splits without hurting her “between me down there.” They also talk about Kennedy reconnecting with her mother, who is in the audience.

Latrice’s fan question for Trixie is whether Max always had that “fake-ass English accent.” Max explains that it’s not an accent, but merely “diction and elocution,” which Latrice does not buy. Delta Work asks Kennedy which queen she would “condone” for All-Stars 2. (The answer is Katya.)

The Miss Congeniality award is announced, and I have this Pavlovian response to the thought of seeing Ben DelaCreme again. She comes out, conjoined at the breast with Michelle Visage, to award the prize to Katya! This year, it’s a cool $5,000, courtesy of Logo TV. That’s twice as good as the $2,500 gift card from Overstock.com that Ben received last year.

Finally, it’s time to award the crown! Bianca Del Rio appears, head-to-toe in silver. Over the head, actually, because she’s got these huge metallic flower petals surrounding her head. Also, she’s covered in silver metallic body paint. She’s spent the last year traveling the world, and she advises the next winner to respect the experience.

“The time has come to announce the winner!” RuPaul declares. The Top Three queens stand nervously to hear the decision. “America’s Next Drag Superstar is… Katya!”

Katya sidles over from the sidelines as the audience gasps. “May I please have a sip of water?” RuPaul asks her. Big laugh. Katya hands her a glass and goes back to her place.

The real winner is…. Violet Chachki!

“Come through!” Violet screams. The audience goes wild, as Violet takes her victory runway walk, waving the scepter that Bianca handed to her. She wins $100,000 and a crown from Fierce Queen Jewels.

I couldn’t have declared a winner, but in the moment, I know I would have been disappointed if it hadn’t been Violet. She definitely deserved the title. Long live Queen Violet!

What was your favorite part of the show? Did you miss anything from past finales? Were you happy or disappointed at the outcome? This is our last chance to chat until next year!

FULL Episode

As a bonus, here’s a fan-made “Untucked” session with Katya and Ginger at Drag Con (which took place last week). It looks really fun.