A return to form for the series.
Scream Queens delivered a great episode this week as it offered a deeper look into the Red Devil Killers’ plot and lost a few characters along the way (maybe, if anyone actually ever dies on this show).
Full spoilers for “Ghost Stories” continues below.
I’m glad the entire episode didn’t follow the ghost story format used in the opening of the episode, and instead used it to play on some of the horror tropes that this series loves to mine. More importantly, having the stories told by Denise Hemphill and Chanel #6 come to life further proved that one of the Kappa sisters present is the other Red Devil Killer.
We want to hear it.
“Ghost Stories” definitely wants us to think that Chanel #1 is the other killer, but any time it pushes a character that far into the spotlight it makes me think it’s someone else. My guess is on it being Chanel #3, both because the mystery killer is taller than Chanel #5 is and also because #3 has talked a lot about Charles Manson being her father but not about who her mother is. Could it be that the dead KKT sister was a Manson fanatic who imparted their father’s mindset on to her twins? Considering there are many weeks until the finale of this season, chances are we won’t find out any time soon.
Still, it was fun that so much did happen this week even if it didn’t directly lead to the killer’s reveal. I’d complained in previous weeks that it felt like Scream Queens was just filling space until the season finale, but this actually was a fun use of an episode. Boone’s return reinvigorated the show as it showed dissension in the Red Devil Killers’ ranks and also explained the fixation on Zayday. Hey, at least now we know who kidnapped her.
We want to hear it.
I’m loathe to say that any character is dead for good on this show because they do seem to keep popping back up, so let’s just say it looks like Chanel #6/Hester and Boone are dunzo. This is Chanel #1’s second kill after Ms. Bean, and the first time she’s actively (again, seemingly, because she might be the mystery killer) murdered someone. It would be an interesting twist to watch her descent into being a serial killer outside of the larger who-dunnit mystery of the show.
Also, we all can universally admit that Glen Powell’s Chad Radwell is the best part of this show, right? His packing obsession, his immediate acceptance that Boone is a ghost, his deadpan statement that he needs to marry Chanel #6 because he thinks she’s pregnant — it’s the one performance that is consistently flawless and hilarious, and he makes every episode better that he’s in.
We want to hear it.
It seems like the next few Scream Queens episodes are going to focus around holidays — Thanksgiving and Black Friday, respectively — and I’m beginning to prefer these conceit-focused installments better. The whole ghost through-line of this episode, complete with the investigators turning to DOPE because they think ghosts might have a part to play in the murders, was much funnier than the past few weeks’ episodes. Hopefully Scream Queens is on an up-swing as it gets into the back half of this season.
Though Scream Queens still feels like it can’t move the plot forward quickly without giving away the killer, “Ghost Stories” provided some fun new details without being completely focused on the murder mystery. We might have had some real losses, and we seem to have learned the killer is one of the Chanels. Better yet, this week’s episode was loaded with Chad.
