I had been staying away from most of the press releases and coverage of Scream Queens because I wanted to go in mostly blind. I knew it had Jamie Lee Curtis (the biggest draw for me) and Emma Roberts (American Horror Story) and was a pseudo-slasher parody set in a Sorority house. After getting a chance to check it out today, I have decided I am in extreme like with this show. Could be love.
So essentially, Emma Roberts stars as Queen Bitch Chanel who embodies ever wretched stereotype of a sorority girl. She is followed by her minions, whose real names she does not know, Chanel #2 (Ariana Grande), Chanel #3 (Billie Lourd), and, of course, Chanel #5 (Abigail Breslin). There was a Chanel #4, but evidently she died of meningitis as we are told by Roberts’ narration. Kappa Kappa Tau is the house of scandal, starting from the prologue which is set in 1995, 20 years before the Chanel Invasion. One unfortunate sister has a baby during a big party and the other members accidently let her bleed out in the upstairs tub while they jam to TLC. The sisters have to cover not only the death up but also the baby. Flash forward 20 years and here we are!
Grace (Skyler Samuels) is determined to join KKT to honor her mother who was a sister back in the day. Upon arrival, she learns about the horrid stunts and discrimination that goes on in the house and gathers her new outcast friends to join. All of this would not be possible without the dean’s help, played by Jamie Lee Curtis, who is determined to destroy KKT. Her first executive order is to force KKT to accept anyone who pledges to be a sister. Soon Grace and her friends are wrapped up in a web of murder and salacious scandal.
Now that we have the plot basically out of the way, I want to address something. This show is entirely played for laughs. ENTIRELY. Yes, there is murder and disappearing corpses but it’s all done in a very tongue in cheek way. So, unlike Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story that is sometimes funny but mostly horror, Scream Queens is basically if Mean Girls and Heathers had a baby. If you are looking for another new horror-themed show don’t expect this one to attempt scares. Just enjoy the laughs, because they are unending.
Scream Queens really surprised me in how funny it actually was and also made me realize how out of touch I am despite being 25. When Grace’s dad is taking her to college he puts on a playlist he’s made of songs from her childhood. One of them being a song that I gathered was something from Twilight when he awkwardly yells “Team Edward” and says it was her first PG-13 movie. So, ouch. Now I feel old. Thanks, Ryan Murphy!
Murphy is slowly becoming this generation’s Joss Whedon, but it has yet to be seen if he can really stick it out with this show. The snappy dialogue is great and very reminiscent of shows say like, Buffy (Cordelia Chase could show Chanel a thing or two) and the pacing works really well, especially for a 2-hr premiere (I’m looking at you Fear the Walking Dead). But Murphy is notorious for biting off more than he can chew and sending most of his endings to crash and burn. I do really enjoy American Horror Story, but I’m not blinded to its shortcomings. I really hope that isn’t the case with Scream Queens. Of course, the last 2 seasons of Buffy were kinda shitty so maybe he IS this generation’s Joss Whedon.
I want to spend some time on Jamie Lee Curtis here. Initially, I was thinking she would make an appearance in the premiere and be hyped up as the main character only to meet an early demise, much like her mother in Psycho. But it would appear she is going to be hanging in there longer than I thought and that’s totally fine by me. Curtis is a badass in this show and isn’t just sleepwalking through it. She really has taken on her character with as much sincerity as anything else she has done. Thank you, Jamie Lee Curtis, for becoming and remaining a loyal horror icon.
Final thought, even though this show is more a comedy than anything else, it’s got a pretty decent body count for the premier and they don’t hold back too much on the gore. So that’s fun. And if your complaint is that “none of this is believable” you haven’t been paying attention.
Favorite lines:
“Waterfalls is my jam!”
“We’re having a white party, where everyone is encouraged to wear and/or be white.”
“I would love you more if other people loved you too.”
“Pissy Spacek”
“And I was so going to go to third base with you tonight! Dammit!”
Favorite deaths (spoilers…obviously):
“Shondell! Why you got a knife in your throat?!?!” RIP Shondell, we didn’t know you
The hilarious text exchange between killer and Ariana Grande… “Wait…whaaaaat?!!”
The poor deaf girl singing Taylor Swift before she gets lawn mowed.