In fairness, at 23 - how many of us would've had the same eyeroll and unawareness to recognize how much age really does impact one's physicality?

Being deeply neutral in this argument, the only thing I can point to being the question of whether you're judging her actions or intentions.

Was that when we talked about LGBT and trans issues in Russia?

Farrah for AS3 all the way!

You're certainly correct that there's unnecessary redundancy there.

Farrah's easily this season's winner of the Gia Gunn Memorial Insufferable During the Season Rudemption Award.

I think the part you miss isn't the directionality of criticism - it's in tone and scale. That @bradythomas:disqus's examples are more about the ways those queens are criticized. Particularly along dimensions and criteria for criticism and meanness that other queens aren't subject to.

You frame it more precisely. But I find that the criticisms we've been hearing of Shea - even in this commentariat, which I find at least a bit more balanced and even-handed than most - don't necessarily equate to stanship for other queens. At least some measure of criticism of Shea doesn't necessitate preferring…

…and then to hear the other queens line up to call out that they all had to do it on the same amount of sleep. While all technically true, aging is not a kind equalizer to all.

The rule of thumb I've always had to fall back on watching any reality-format television being that the camera can never capture things you don't say. But the editors can only remove or eliminate content.

The real sticker there being that she didn't have to be the villain of AS2 - not that she's either without blame, or wholly to blame. That's the magic of editing. She's just a queen who could read the goddamn phonebook in a sound booth for twelve hours, and she'd still come off villainous and shady.

You'll have to unpack it; I'm afraid I honestly just don't get your point…?

I don't even remember what episode and challenge that was specifically attached to. Anyone with a better memory recall what Afterschool Special PSA we got in its stead?

It's starting to make me wonder if this was an active response to the aftermath of the Pulse incident. With it being relatively fresh in the news and public consciousness during taping, I wouldn't put it past the producers to ease up on their sometimes previously hamfisted attempts to engineer and instigate drama…

I might adjust that to suggest that she's more like third act Cady Herron.

There's certainly a newness and freshness to how Valentina's aesthetic kind of intersects a specific kind of third-wave Latinx, Angeleno hipster vibe that we've not quite yet seen. Growing up in LA, and visiting regularly, there's definitely been this emergence of a Millennial Latinx consciousness that seems to find…

I mean, it's essentially tautologic. A popular person (or show), has a lot of admirers (or viewers). It's not a case where either of us is wrong.

Of the top four, I've gotten the impression Shea's picked up the disproportionate share of social media criticism, if not outright shade and meanness - in spite of having the best performance tally.

It seems clear I'm not in a position to convince you, but I will offer that it seems a sizable fraction of the viewership seems to have responded to a certain magnetic charisma (Pageant Nice aside), that seemed to elevate her above the closest comparisons one can make. She may not be especially deep, but there were…

I'm still not 100% sold on that - she'd still be a pretty flawless contender in the Team Look category. And her talent bona fides may not be entirely there, but she managed to eke out more than her quota of laughs back in 9021-Ho.