Warning: SPOILERS ahead for AJ and the Queen season 1.
AJ and the Queen season 1 ends with a surprise cliffhanger that sets the tone for season 2 (assuming Netflix orders a second season for their original series). The drama-comedy series was created by RuPaul Charles of RuPaul’s Drag Race, and it follows the misadventures of Robert, aka Ruby Red, a drag queen on a cross-country tour, and AJ, a young street-wise child who stowed away in Robert’s RV.
AJ and the Queen’s season 1 finale, “Dallas,” is the culmination of the two main character’s season 1 arcs. Both characters are travelling for a specific purpose: Ruby Red intends to win the Miss Drag USA pageant in Dallas, and AJ wants a ride to Texas so she can find her “Pop Pop.” At the beginning of their journey together, the character’s barely got along; however, by the final moments of episode 10, the two had formed a deep familial bond.
Audiences likely predicted that AJ and the Queen would spend the first season developing the relationship between heartbroken queen Robert/Ruby Red and her unlikely ward AJ, who lacked a stable home environment. Robert is in the most vulnerable position imaginable following his discovery that his boyfriend was a grifter who stole Robert’s lifesavings. 10-year old AJ too is in a vulnerable position, as her only family is a drug-addicted mother, Brianna, who regularly goes missing for days at a time; not wanting to be in foster care, but not having a home to return to (Brianna has been evicted), AJ is essentially living on the streets.
The Cliffhanger Ending Explained
After realizing that the cops and social services may catch up with them at the pageant, Robert and AJ flee the area in the RV and head to AJ’s Pop Pop’s farm (Louis competes in Robert’s place as his queen persona, Coco Butter). AJ is afraid that her Pop Pop, who she’s never met but receives birthday cards from every year, will be intolerant to Robert (who’s still in drag from the pageant) and requests that Robert stay behind. After saying goodbye, Robert realizes the birthday cards are fake and heads to the farm. In the episode’s final scene, Robert finds a heartbroken AJ wandering the fields looking for her Pop Pop. As Robert tries to comfort AJ, the police arrive with Brianna, finally reuniting the mother and daughter.
The final scene in AJ and the Queen’s finale is a subversion of the typical sentimental conclusion to dramas in this vein. In the made-for-TV movies on Lifetime and Hallmark Channel, the expected conclusion would see a happy reunion between mother and daughter. The AJ and the Queen episode borrows many elements from this formula — the pastoral setting, the swells of sentimental music, and even the image of state troopers in the background as the mother runs happily to her daughter, arms outstretched — but it subverts the typical Hallmark Channel movie tropes. AJ doesn’t embrace her mother, but pummels her angrily, furious and heartbroken that in lying to her about the birthday cards, her mother, the perpetual disappointment, managed to let her down one more time.
Meanwhile, Robert, in drag as Ruby Red, sits in the background watching AJ and her mother reunite. Ruby’s crimson gown and glorious afro wig offer a stark, as well as absurd, contrast to the farmland around her. AJ and the Queen’s main character is out of place geographically, while symbolically, she is out of place in AJ’s life. Minutes earlier, as Ruby was trying to comfort AJ, she says what viewers had been suspecting for episodes: that she wants AJ in her life permanently. Episode 9 saw Robert/Ruby struggling to come to terms with the end of her time with AJ. The finale shows the logical conclusion to this: Ruby’s realization that she wants to adopt her.
What to Expect from AJ and the Queen Season 2
AJ and the Queen season 1 finale “Dallas” concludes the season by wrapping up the main storylines; however, in true melodrama fashion, no storyline is ever really finished. AJ has been reunited with her mother, but the reunion is by no means a perfect one. While she is no longer high, at least, Brianna has not indicated that she can be a responsible caregiver. It’s unknown if she has found a place to live or employment, or if she has simply stopped doing drugs (for the time being).
Robert/Ruby, on the other hand, has realized that she wants to become AJ’s guardian; however, given that she illegally took a minor across state lines without parental consent, Robert may be facing prosecution for his actions. Furthermore, even if no charges are laid, it seems unlikely that Brianna, given her attitude toward Louis in episodes 9 and 10, will be open to AJ spending time with Robert. It is quite possible that AJ is destined to once again be placed in foster case.
Netflix has yet to renew AJ and the Queen for season 2. If the series does get renewed for a second season, there are ample storylines for writers to build-upon. Most likely, the second season will be a reboot of the show’s format: rather than following AJ and Robert as an odd couple forced together by circumstance, season 2 will likely center on the journeys each character makes independently in order for them to reunite. Season 1 kicked off with Robert being grifted by his boyfriend; the finale largely resolved this plot-line by having con-man Hector apologize for his actions and return the stollen money. Season 2 will see Robert no longer a destitute victim of fraud, but rather a matured individual motivated by paternal instincts.
There are other plotlines left hanging at the end of AJ and the Queen season 1 that may be further explored in a season 2. Hector has not fully come to terms with his homosexuality, but he does seem motivated to reconcile with Robert. Perhaps the next season will give Hector a redemption arc. Louis was awarded the first alternate position at the Miss Drag USA pageant, and the winner’s crown was stolen; does this set up Louis to take on the responsibilities of Miss Drag USA? What would this mean for the blind, diabetic drag queen? Perhaps the pageant’s winner Danielle Dupri will take on the main antagonist role in season 2, seeking revenge — or at least, her crown.
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