I still kind of miss Lowell. I think the show forgot about him a little too quickly, too.

This makes me so, so happy. I really mean that.

I don't mind the live audience, I just wish it was actually, you know, live. I'd be okay with a delay of more than a couple weeks and the glitches that naturally come with live TV if it meant the winner's reaction was sincere. But I guess the limitation is how expensive live TV is?

All 3 were done live.

Yeah, I'm really wondering what behind-the-scenes stuff was going on there. It's like they went out of their way to make Max seem boring, affected and even a little crazy (with the edit of the critiques in her final episode). It just doesn't make sense after her having given some really solid performances in the…

No, not cruel to the audience… but from the looks of it, the Top 3 weren't in on the joke? Either that, or they're all better actors than I give any of them credit for. LOL. But it was the biggest surprise of the season, so definitely a good reality TV moment.

Thanks! I think I'd misunderstood the tread—I always lose track of what is said in reply to what. Yeah, I had thought this was poking fun at the complaints rather than acknowledging that Katya deserved to be in the Top 3 at least, though I do wish it was the latter.

I'm going to have to go back and look at clips of previous seasons' final episodes, but my impression was that more screen time was given to Katya's Miss Congeniality win this year than any year in the past. I also think the audience cheers for her were the loudest of anyone's, but that could just be my love for her…

I thought the same thing. It would be great for a top 5 or top 4. 5 lip syncs could fill the 8-10 minute segment before the final commercial break.

I'm hunting for this on twitter, but can't find it. (I'm bad at Twitter.) Any chance you can quote or link?

Sorry, didn't see this until now. Thanks for sharing and answering my question!

What was the controversy? Anything beyond just her somewhat risque persona? I wasn't a viewer back then.

More than pulled through on the dancing challenge. Despite her protestations to the contrary, Katya definitely knows how to dance, and actually seems like she's had at least a few years of training.

How will we know what Ru pissed on this week?

I was gonna ask this same question….

Both of those things can be true and contribute to your reduced love.

She's going to be at Drag Con, I think, so she still seems to be in the business at least to some limited extent.

On the plus side, Katya must really realize now how many fans she made in just a few short months.

It was also a bit of a love fest for her. Every other queen was talking about how sweet, funny and genuine she is. So that was nice to see at least. Kennedy Davenport even wrote her a goodbye note that honestly had me tearing up a bit.

Yeah, it seems that way (re: the standoff), though I was wondering if I was imagining it, since I can't compare to fan reactions to previous seasons.