Weird experiences rewatching older seasons

Howdy. I posted here a whole ago asking for recommendations on which post-9 seasons are worth watching after deciding I wanted to go back and rewatch some of the older seasons. It’s honestly been an interesting experience going back to older seasons I remember watching about a decade ago and knowing what has happened later and what happened back stage as the NDAs expired.

I had to stop watching s 4. Knowing that the ultimate winner was being flagrantly racist back stage to the other contestants made it difficult to watch. Knowing how another was harassed by the “fans” into quitting drag and then getting a second bad edit made it worse. I stuck around until Willam was DQ’d— knowing that he was trying to get DQ’d or cut actually enhances my appreciation for his delightfully bratty behavior.

I’ve moved on to All Stars 3, since I remembered liking that one a lot too. (That and my husband likes Trixie.) It’s been more enjoyable, but… Damn. Seeing Chi Chi, hearing her talk about she’s struggling, knowing that it’s likely because she’s starting to get really sick… Fuck. It’s heart breaking, especially since she’s being so sweet in general and downplaying what exactly she’s feeling.

Seeing Shangela is also an experience, knowing what’s going to be alleged by half a dozen people later. I can’t deny that she’s still incredibly entertaining. I can see how she kept getting work like she was. She was funny as hell for faking Trixie out after the Snatch Game like she was going to eliminate her.

I have been enjoying my All Stars 3 rewatch a lot more than my s 4 rewatch. So I think I’ll give s 5 another chance after finishing this season. Thank you to the handful of folks who highlighted the stronger later seasons— I might get to them yet. Frankly I might skip to them if I find my second attempt at watching a mainline season results in me getting annoyed with the judges again. >!(I already know what’s going to piss me off when the eliminate Aja from AS 3 because it pissed me off so much when I watched it originally that it stuck with me. So I’m at least ready for that.)!<

I’ll share any other weird experiences like that as I rewatch some of the older seasons.