HBO’s ‘We’re Here’ Is the Best Drag Show of 2021

Trust and believe, there was no shortage of drag content in 2021. RuPaul’s Drag Race continued its Emmy-winning reign and, between the mother series and its many international children, released approximately 246 seasons. The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula came back for more, reaching new heights of popularity via its new home on Shudder. Paramount+ got up in the gig with the launch of the singing competition Queen of the Universe. We even got an honest-to-Ru drag queen holiday movie in VH1’s The Bitch Who Stole Christmas. But of all the drag content in 2021, none were as powerful, essential, cathartic, and life-changing as HBO’s We’re Here.

With Season 2, the Emmy-nominated docuseries returned bigger, bolder, and better than ever with an unbroken streak of applause-worthy episodes that stand up to any scripted prestige drama you can name. For those who’ve missed out, We’re Here drops Drag Race queens Shangela, Eureka!, and Bob the Drag Queen into the smallest, most conservative towns across America. Their mission: transform the internal lives of three (or more) queer locals and allies by giving their external selves a fierce drag makeover—and then they put on a show, mama.

If that description makes every episode of We’re Here sound like the makeover challenge in any Drag Race season, I apologize—because what We’re Here accomplishes in every single episode is nothing short of a miracle. Of all the drag shows I listed up top, none of them come close to touching We’re Here in depicting the undeniable necessity of drag. You can watch a whole year’s worth of Drag Race and come away thinking that drag is a powerful art form and medium of expression, but it’s for other people. You’ll get some inspirational stories, you’ll cry, but I don’t think any competition show—even when they are operating at peak excellence—gets into the universal therapeutic nature of drag the way We’re Here does.

By putting locals into drag, predominantly people who never thought about performing in any form or fashion, We’re Here shows what drag really accomplishes. Each week, you see people process a spectrum emotions. Noah in Spartanburg came out as nonbinary through drag. Andrei in Temecula found a family via drag. Mayor Bruno in Del Rio led by example via drag. Deborah in Selma memorialized her lost granddaughter via drag. Pastor Craig in Evansville extended a helping hand to a community in need via drag. Erik in Watertown found the courage to publicly express his true self via drag. Lanakila in Kona celebrated his Hawaiian heritage via drag. And Taylor, Angie, and Dustin performed for Grand Junction and proudly proclaimed “we’re here” on behalf of the deeply red town’s trans community via drag.

We’re Here is everything that drag is—and that’s more than sickening looks and dips and lip syncs. We’re Here has all of that, don’t get it twisted; while watching every episode, remember that these queens and their glam squads custom make all of those drag looks from head to toe mere days before the show. But all of the Emmy-worthy costuming, makeup, and hair is in service to telling each and every person’s individual story. Sometimes that story is a coming out, sometimes it’s a tribute, sometimes it’s a protest, sometimes it’s for the gag of it all—but no matter the vibe, you’re watching people claim their strength onstage and (fingers crossed) ignite change in their communities.

All that being said, We’re Here is also a blast of a show. So much has been said about the show’s rich emotional core, but that overlooks all the fish-out-of-water fun of seeing Bob, Eureka, and Shangela see the sights and kiki with their new drag kids.

It overlooks the fact that those performances that close out every episode are absolutely some of the best performances aired on TV this year. Need I remind everyone of Bob’s dance battle against her own wig? We’re Here is able to so easily find a place in the hearts and minds of viewers because so much of it is just delightful. We’re Here is just as much about finding and releasing queer joy into the world as anything.

That’s what makes We’re Here a vital watch and the kind of show that can actually bring legitimate change to life. I don’t know how anyone of any persuasion could watch some of these stories—Kaïs in Evansville, Joey in Del Rio, James in Temecula, AkeeLah in Selma—and not be moved towards compassion. We’re Here isn’t just the best drag show of 2021, it’s one of the best shows of 2021.

Stream We're Here on HBO Max