Who Will Win 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Season 16? Episode 9 Power Rankings
We're halfway into RuPaul's Drag Race Season 16 and the field has been trimmed to just the top seven queens. We've seen what they're capable of, but just having talent doesn't seem to be enough to secure a ticket to the end of this season of shocking eliminations.
This week, in one of the show's most shocking eliminations in franchise history, Plasma was sent packing. As the first queen this season to earn two individual wins, she seemed like a lock for the end game and last week I ranked her 3rd most likely to win the season. Her early exit throws my ranking into disarray and calls into question the format we've grown to know so well. Traditionally, Ru keeps the frontrunners safe, but perhaps that is changing.
Related: 'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 8' Take New York. Next Stop: the World.
Which brings us to the question: Who will win Season 16 of RuPaul's Drag Race?
To that end, I've put together a ranking of the seven remaining queens competing on this season, ordered from least likely to most likely to be crowned America's Next Drag Superstar. It's a power ranking if you will, and while there are supposed spoilers on dark corners of the internet, I haven't read any of them. This ranking is also based on how likely the queen is to WIN the competition, not just go far.
If you want to take a look at last week's ranking, here you go.
Feel free to swing back to Parade from week to week because I will be updating as the season progresses.
RuPaul's Drag Race Season 16 Episode 9 power rankings:
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7. Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige
Last Week: Eighth
Track Record: Safe, Bottom, Bottom, Win, Bottom, Bottom, Top, Bottom
We've come to the point of the season where we must ask ourselves questions like, "Did RuPaul at some point hit Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige with her car?", "Does RuPaul owe Mhi'ya a large gambling debt?" and "Could Mhi'ya be RuPaul's illegitimate child?" The fact that the Queen of Flips has back handsprung her way into the top seven seems like it can only possibly be due to blackmail or bribery. Every week I think Mhi'ya MUST be leaving the following week and nevertheless, she persists. While she is certainly a formidable lip sync assassin, that seems to be her only real strength. I'd say she's running out of competitors to pick off, but the fact that she outlasted Plasma means that she could really send anyone packing.
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6. Morphine Love Dion
Last Week: Seventh
Track Record: Safe, Safe, Safe, Safe, Safe, Bottom, Bottom, Bottom
If Mhi'ya can manage to survive another week, it seems like it may be at the cost of Season 16's confessional queen. Morphine is the only queen remaining who has yet to place in the top, and unlike Mhi'ya, she's better known for her makeup than her tumbling passes. She's benefited from queens like Xunami Muse and Plasma bombing challenges, while appearing competent, but competence does not a winner make. A Morphine vs. Mhi'ya lip sync seems likely, but will Morphine be the one to finally clip Mhi'ya? We shall see.
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5. Dawn
Last Week: Sixth
Track Record: Safe, Safe, Safe, Safe, Top, Safe, Safe, Top
If we're looking for someone to eliminate Mhi'ya in a lip sync, Dawn does not seem like a particularly strong choice. Dawn best be praying she doesn't end up in the bottom with Mhi'ya or she's likely to follow Geneva Karr, Megami and Plasma to the exit. While Dawn's fashion has been consistently praised (and three design challenges have helped her remain in the competition), we presumably won't have another of those for a while (if at all) and that's not great news for Dawn, who has struggled a bit in both the dancing and comedy challenges. While Plasma's elimination (which she may have inadvertently caused with her "helpful" comments) took out one of her competitors, I doubt she'll be able to use mind games against the likes of Plane Jane or Sapphira Cristal.
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4. Nymphia Wind
Last Week: Fifth
Track Record: Safe, Win, Safe, Win, Safe, Safe, Bottom, Top
While Nymphia is EASILY the most fashionable queen on Season 16 (sorry, but not sorry Q), she seems increasingly ill at ease on Drag Race. While her goth runway look this week was exquisite, and she is very funny, I'm not sure that will translate well to the upcoming comedy challenges. While she doesn't seem in immediate danger and has proven that she perform, something about her time on the show feels a bit off and that gives me pause. That being said, another shocker would be needed to keep her out of the top four.
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3. Q
Last Week: Second
Track Record: Top, Top, Top, Bottom, Win, Top, Safe, Win
If Q won this week's challenge, then why did I bump her down a spot in the ranking? Well, first of all, with the exception of the makeover challenge, it seems highly unlikely that we'll get another design challenge this season, having already featured three. That means Q will have to maneuver the last few weeks of the show in comedy/performance challenges, which aren't her strong suit. Dawn clocked Q for basically recycling the same character for both RDR Live and the Snatch Game, and if we see that same schtick a third time, Q could end up in the bottom. Plasma's elimination also doesn't help Q as much as it does the more performative queens who can now scoop up spots in the top that Plasma would have presumably secured.
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2. Sapphira Cristal
Last Week: Fourth
Track Record: Win, Top, Safe, Safe, Immune, Top, Top, Safe
The person who benefits the most from Plasma's elimination is definitely Sapphira. The Philly queen nearly won both of the performance-based challenges that Plasma edged her out for, and now the only real competition in that sector is Plane Jane. Through either strategic savvy or dumb luck, Sapphira's helping Mhi'ya seems to have eliminated her biggest competition. Also helping Sapphira is the fact that the design competitions are most likely over for the season. While they're the strong suits of Q, Nymphia and Dawn, Sapphira excels in the performance-based rounds and is likely to pick up a few more wins.
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1. Plane Jane
Last Week: First
Track Record: Win, Safe, Top, Safe, Top, Safe, Win, Safe
Plasma's exit helps Plane Jane for all the same reasons it helps Sapphira, and unlike Sapphira, who has had a few wobbles in the competition, Plane Jane has been nothing but rock solid. It's hard to imagine her stumbling in a performance challenge (especially against the likes of Q and Dawn), and a third win as early as next week would solidify her as THE queen to beat. Plus, Plane Jane's still got that immunity potion. If she does well at next week's challenge, she could save someone like Mhi'ya or Morphine and potentially put two of her stronger competitors in the bottom together. Plane Jane's place in the competition has never looked stronger.
Next, Everything You Need to Know About RuPaul's Drag Race Season 16
