TV Review: AJ and the Queen

After launching himself into worldwide fame with the hit reality-TV series RuPaul’s Drag Race, RuPaul Charles has embarked on a new venture that is full of fabulous men dressed to the nines in head-to-toe drag. Charles, who stars as co-lead “Ruby Red”, a less successful version of RuPaul alongside Izzy G. who plays angsty 10-year old “AJ” Amber Jasmine. Michael-Leon Wooley plays Ruby’s longtime friend Louis who is blind due to a diabetic stroke he had years ago. The show has guest stars including Jane Krakowski, Bianca Del Rio, Valentina, Manila Luzon, Kennedy Davenport, Latrice Royale, Trinity “The Tuck” Taylor, and more. It’s safe to say that if you’re a fan of drag, AJ and the Queen might be the show for you. To be frank, the only people who this show really might be for are drag-friendly individuals who appreciate camp and queer humor. The show, which consists of ten episodes, varies in quality and has a relatively solid premise which is carried out effectively right out until the end, in my opinion.

Ruby Red is seeking to open her own drag club after working at a sleazy drag club for several years with her then-longtime boyfriend Hector. AJ, a young girl who scrounges for money and food when she can find it, steals some of Ruby’s tips from the night’s performance, signaling a rocky start to their relationship. On the day of the lease signing, Ruby’s boyfriend fails to show and it is revealed that he grifted her, stealing all $100,000 that Ruby had saved up for her club. Ruby, who has one national tour left to complete, faces an uncertain future with her only foreseeable income for the next few weeks stemming from whatever she makes in tips or was paid to perform. AJ, who hears Ruby discuss her tour stows away in Ruby’s RV in order to hitch a ride to Dallas, Texas, where AJ believes her grandfather to be. AJ, having been squatting in an apartment alone while her mother worked the streets and did drugs, is desperate to escape New York City, and her mother. Meanwhile, ‘Hector’, whose real name is Damien Sanchez, chases after Ruby after being busted by the police. He and his partner in crime Lady Danger seek retribution for being ratted out to the cops.

The first half of AJ and the Queen is hard to get through. As someone who appreciates both high and low quality entertainment, this show struck me similarly to Ryan Murphy’s The Politician, in that, the show is dead-set on being serious and tackling serious topics without giving those moments the necessary weight and gravity in order to make them impactful. Instead, much of the conflict between AJ and Ruby feels like it should have been easily avoided, and most of it forced. AJ frequently has behavioral outbursts and for the first few episodes is hellbent on making Ruby’s tour as hellish as possible. With no regard for Ruby’s situation, AJ attempts to repeatedly push Ruby to drive straight to Texas in spite of her current financial situation. This is something that is frustrating to me as a viewer because I don’t believe that it would be in AJ’s best interests to repeatedly try and get Ruby in trouble with the law, especially when that would keep AJ from getting to Texas. As the show goes on, the threat that Lady Danger and Damien pose overtakes AJ’s outbursts and rebellion, for the betterment of the show.

When it comes to AJ and the Queen, much of the problems stem from the writing. Both RuPaul Charles and Izzy G. deliver surprisingly compelling performances in addition to the many side characters and guest stars. The script is not only momentarily clumsy, it’s messy as a whole. Every episode has an overt moral that is shoved down the viewer’s throat, and often through Ruby trying to teach AJ how to be a decent human being. Lessons like “it’s okay to be gay”, “femininity is power”, “stealing is wrong”, “don’t lie”, etc. permeate the show. It makes me question whether the writers understand who their targeted demographic is. A prime example of this would be that the show is almost entirely about the acceptance of Queer Culture (and Drag Culture within that) in rural America, while simultaneously overloading the script with slang, jokes, visuals, and concepts that only make sense if you are informed about gay culture, drag culture, ballroom culture, or anything queer, really. This contradictory presentation is ever present from episode one until the final episode. Similarly to another Netflix property, Dumplin’, this show is full of “isms”. In Dumplin’, protagonist Willowdean Dickson regularly quotes “Dolly-isms” (named for Dolly Parton). In AJ and the Queen, “RuPaul-isms” are literally everywhere. This isn’t a surprise given that a good portion of the show as co-written by RuPaul, but this lends itself to another problem.

AJ and the Queen is a show that is a massive self-indulgent vanity project for RuPaul Charles. Not only does RuPaul get to be a fabulous, wig-snatching, talented drag queen, he also gets to be the spokesman for and proud defender of trans individuals, making very obvious and overt attempts to placate recent complaints that RuPaul is largely transphobic and not a good ally to the transgender community. With no actual action on RuPaul’s behalf to indicate that he is regretful of his past actions and comments, AJ and the Queen feels similar to white people who say “but I have a black friend”, where, in this case, RuPaul is saying “but I said these great things on this show”. Look, I appreciate some of the moments within this show and I appreciate the positive and virtuous presentation of LGBTQ+ culture in this show, however, I think this show struggled to find its identity and ultimately feels like your run of the mill Netflix show. What could have been a really powerful and insightful commentary on Drag Culture, the LGBTQ+ community, and atypical families, turned out to be a rather half-assed commentary on all of these with RuPaul at the center of it as the great Preacher. I finished watching the show for two reasons: first, I wanted to write a review about the show in full. Second, I wanted to see if there would be a payoff. And, in the end, there was a bit of a payoff. Not enough to justify a second season or a re-watch.

Rating: 4/10