TV Review: AJ & The Queen

This is TV Show #1/20 that I've completed watching as part of my 2020 Challenge.

I need to start posting more. I've been putting off writing all my reviews. I've had this show completed since mid January, pretty soon after it was released to Netflix. If you don't know, this show is a Netflix Original about a runaway kid on the road with a drag queen (RuPaul). That's about all I'll say as a summary. The review down below doesn't have any spoilers, so enjoy this spoiler-free review!

I LOVE RuPaul's Drag Race and drag queens. I'm a huge Drag Race fan. So I've been excited for this show to be released, and I knew that even if it wasn't popular, wasn't good, I was still going to support it. The show while I was watching it was bearable, but I would always dread forcing myself to finish it. It got better towards the end, but I would always try to avoid watching it. The good thing about this show is that it's something light that you can put on in the background and have a good time. You can multitask with it, or just put it on in the background and not have to pay much attention. Sometimes you just need a show like that and there's nothing wrong with that.

I think I liked the plot line, but something about the execution felt kind of off. Something about it kind of felt like an old cheesy made for TV movie. I felt like the show had a demographic of middle-aged-old white moms and grandmas which doesn't feel like the correct audience that they should have been aiming for. It felt like they would try and force each theme and message and really spell it out for the viewers. I think that's why it felt so cheesy. It also felt like they were trying to force as many issues in as possible into each episode (cancer, addiction, gender identity struggles etc.) which also added to the Lifetime movie vibe. Some of those ultra cheesy moments really got me though and pulled at my heartstrings. At times it also felt like the show was trying way too hard to be funny, but in a wholesome kind of way. The jokes felt like they were intended for an all ages kind of audience--either for kids or grandmas--yet the show is rated TV-14. I think there's some demographic and self-perception issues here.

I want to support the drag queens because I love them all as people and as drag performers, but on the show there were definitely some that didn't do too well with their acting chops (but I'm not going to name any names, I don't want to be too mean here). It's not that they were bad, I think it's just that they felt kind of uncomfortable in front of the camera. It just seemed kind of unnatural for them. But some were great. A few that specifically come to mind include Bianca Del Rio, Katya, Latrice Royale, Monique Hart and Ginger Minj.

There was also something weird that I just wanted to point out as a drag race fan, and I'm sure all other drag race fans noticed this as well. The universe rules of the show were kind of wonky. Sometimes they would refer to the drag queens by their real names, and sometimes it would be character names. Sometimes they would be playing themselves (for example, RuPaul calls Porkchop Porkchop (her real drag name), and Alexis Mateo says Bam in character (which is something that Alexis Mateo herself is known for)). So some of these people were playing themselves, while other queens were playing characters by other names. It was just kind of weird to me and didn't really make sense.

My absolute favorite part of the show HANDS DOWN was Michael Leon-Wooley as Louis Bell/Cocoa Butter. He was literally the best. Every time he was on screen was a good time.

I have nothing against Izzy G., the young actress who played AJ, but her character was just so annoying. She did get better as the show progressed, but it was really hard to push through the first 3/4 of the season because her character was so annoying. I could not deal with the screaming that she would do all the time.

I've read some online reviews that criticized RuPaul in this show. I didn't have a problem with RuPaul at all. I thought it was exactly what we should expect from him. I didn't have a problem with him or his acting at all, it just wasn't my favorite part of the show. It was just meh. But when Ru is in drag, oh she was just so beautiful. I've seen her in drag so much on Drag Race I think I've started taking it for granted, but seeing the juxtaposition, or only getting to see her in drag for ten minutes of each episode made it even more special during those ten minutes. Maybe it was also seeing her in drag next to real people, rather than on a stage like in drag race. But she was just beautiful and commanding and captivating and I could not take my eyes off of her. I liked just hearing Ru speak. His voice and poise was just so elegant and satisfying to watch and listen to.

Overall, I'm glad I watched it. It was cute and simple, and sometimes not the most quality show, but it was cute and I really liked seeing all the queens cameos. I liked seeing how they would be brought into the story line. I don't regret that I spent time with this show. I'm really proud actually that I pushed through it and supported my drag queen idols. Would I recommend this show to other people? Probably not, unless you're a drag race fan then you definitely should watch it. I think I would give this show a rating of 5/10.

As I'm writing this I'm just finding out that this has been renewed for a second season. I'm definitely glad that enough people liked the show that the show has been renewed. I'm really happy for RuPaul, the queens and the cast and crew and I will probably continue watching the second season.

As always, definitely let me know down below how you felt about the show if you watched it.

And I will leave you with one of my favorite lines from the show:

"Cher's not white...Cher is EVERYTHING!"