Imagine the most glamorous and over the top game of clue ever played. Now add a star-studded cast, witty satirical writing and some grey-yet-hilarious death scenes and you've got the perfect concoction for a Fall TV show. Executive producer Ryan Murphy has created just that and he's called it Scream Queens.
Scream Queens, a horror-comed anthology from the creators behind Glee and American Horror Story, follows the story of a college sorority that is rocked by a series of murders. Although the show was slightly over-hyped, it is definitely going to be one of the Fall's greatest TV guilty pleasures.
There has been a lot of coverage of Scream Queens over the past few months, and honestly the hype did not live up to the final product. The cast, the media, and the producers have ranted and raved about how “amazing” and “original” it is, and while I agree the show is original and comedic, I wouldn't call it "amazing."
However, what is great about SQ is that it is not meant to be taken seriously at all. Viewers will try to follow along with the story and really dive into the characters, but I don't think the writers don’t want you to. Queens is more about the overall picture.
Half way through the pilot I realized, “Wait a minute, they are totally mocking me!” To my surprise, SQ is actually a satire about my generation, millennials.
Each character and scene represents something flawed with not only our society, but with the youth of today. The scenarios are very exaggerated and many characters are caricatures of generational tropes. Ryan Murphy and his writing team do this all with intention. They want viewers to realize this is what we look and sound like.
SQ touches upon everything from racism and racial labeling (such as “white girl” drinks and “Ethnic spices”), to the on-going hazing issues found on college campuses (i.e. the “Sexy Gofer Whore-Head Challenge”), how uneducated the youth is about sexual health (characters saying STDs come from drinking water in Mexico), and even how we rely on the internet not only for every answer to our problems. Writers also depict a vice for a play-by-play of our every move, like the scene showing millennials are willing to rise from the dead in order to send a tweet.
What’s enjoyable about the show is that these themes are shown subtly with grace and hilariously. The deeper meaning behind everything doesn’t take away from the fun of the show.
SQ is first and foremost a comedy. Every character is unique, funny and has a quirk to them that adds extra hilarity. I enjoyed the fact that although most characters had minimal screen time, the short time spent was worth it. The characters delivered hilarious one-liners and great comedic timing, and then dropped the mic.
The horror utilized in SQ is used to supplement the comedy. Even while someone is getting brutally murdered (face burned off, getting stabbed, or getting your head mowed off, just to name a few), you will find yourself cringing yet simultaneously peeing your pants from laughter. I called my reaction to these deaths “laugh-screaming”, which should definitely be a part of our vocab once SQ airs.
Murphy has found a perfect balance between gruesome macabre horror and dry humor. He does a great job at creating a motive for every single character to be the murderous figure running around campus. A mystery? We all love that.
One thing I will say about this murderer, a.k.a Red Devil, is that he/she/it kind of pops out of nowhere. There isn’t much development with this character, who is one of the most pivotal! There's no known reason for him to start his murderous rampages. Although there are moments that make each character look suspicious of something, the story lacks an exact moment where something changes that fuels Red Devil's attacks. He just does. Hopefully they will tackle this mystery further as the show goes on.
Reasons to Watch
EMMA FREAKING ROBERTS:
This is the role Emma Roberts was born to play. I love Emma Roberts, but let's face it, she isn’t the best actress around.
Despite this, I was honestly blown away by her performance. She plays one of the lead characters Chanel Oberlin, the queen-bee of the sorority Kappa Kappa Tau.
Chanel might be the worst person on this planet. Imagine a modern day Regina George, but on enough steroids to bulk up a large horse. Chanel has no filter whatsoever. She flat out calls her maid a “white-slave." She has a group of minions called “The Chanels” (played by Ariana Grande, Billie Lorde, and Abigail Breslin). She doesn’t even call them by their birth names because she doesn't care enough to learn them; so, she renamed them Chanel numbers 2, 3, and 5 (and wait until you hear about what happened to number 4).
Emma’s comedic timing and sassy-yet-evil one liners were totally on point. I saw a live preview of the pilot, which was interesting because I got to see raw reactions of people seeing the pilot for the first time. Roberts's character (besides Lea Michele’s) got the most laughs out of the audience.
Some of the things that came out of that girl’s mouth made my mouth drop. This was only the pilot, so I can only imagine it getting worse from here.
Although Chanel is the worst human on planet earth, Roberts manages to still make her likeable. You want to know more about her, and somehow kind of want to be her (okay, maybe that’s just me).
Ariana Grande, Chanel #2:
Although Grande’s role is small, she was a scene stealer. She does slightly channel her character from Victorious, by doing that high-pitched, screechy voice we all hate. But, we are going to forgive her.
We forgive her because she has one of the funniest scenes in the entire pilot. I wish I could tell you what it is, but I would spoil the entire episode for you. Just know this, you WILL know which scene it is, and you will die laughing.
Hester:
Hester a.k.a Neckbrace, is Lea Michele’s character in SQ, and is by far my favorite besides Roberts’ character. I thought I was being a little biased due to my obsession with her, but Hester got the most laughs at the pilot presentation I attended. Michele had a total of six lines, but stole the show with her fantastic-yet-spastic facial expressions. It was nice to see Michele in a different character after playing the same one for almost six years. Let me tell you, Hester is no Rachel Berry. She’s better.
Highlights:
-Her face. The entire time.
Deaf Taylor Swift:
One of the KKT pledges, Deaf Taylor Swift is an accurate portrayal of “The Taylor Swift Fan”. She is deaf, but also she knows every word to every Taylor Swift song. I wouldn’t say she knows the melodies, however. I don’t think I have ever laughed so hard in my entire life watching her talk, sing, and obsessed over this pop-culture phenom.
Jamie Lee Curtis:
Jamie Lee plays the Dean of Students, Dean Munch (yes, there are a few “munching box” jokes in there), who goes head-to-head with Chanel in an attempt to shut down KKT. Her and Roberts' chemistry is perfect for the show. They play off each other so well and work great together onscreen. I might be convinced they actually hate each other. Her character is everything I want to be when I grow up. In other words, she's a bonafide badass. It’s great to see an older, strong female lead on television who doesn’t have a love interest surrounding her story line.
What needs improvement:
Abigail Breslin:
Remember her from Little Miss Sunshine? I know I love that movie too! Unfortunately, Breslin doesn’t serve up the same amount of cuteness in SQ.
Breslin plays Chanel #5, who clearly has an underlying hatred for Chanel Oberlin. She is also my prime suspect for the person behind the “Red Devil” mask.
Breslin should not be playing a mean girl. She overacts, and doesn’t make her meanness believable. She acts like the mean girl in middle school who blatantly is over compensating for her lack of self esteem, rather than the 21-year old mean girl you know from your college biology class.
Maybe it’s the fact that Chanel #1 blew me away that makes Breslin’s portrayal of #5 seemed lack luster, but I’m still not impressed. Maybe she should have played the lead character, Grace.
Grace
:
Raise your hand if you watch Orange is the New Black. You all know Piper? Yeah I hate her guts too. Grace is the Piper of SQ. Grace sucks; I can’t quite put my finger on why, but I just know she sucks.
Grace acts as the voice of reason for the show. We enter the world of KKT through her eyes. She wants to join KKT because her mother was a former sister, but she died before Grace turned 3. Typical story-line for a sorority based movie/T.V. show.
Her goodie-two-shoes antics and her ploy to ruin Chanel actually pissed me off, and her outfits were horrible (don’t worry, Chanel let’s her know this right away). Once you watch, you will understand how much she sucks.
Highlights- none. She sucks.
Everything Happening All at Once:
One big thing wrong with the pilot is the writers throw everything in your face all at once. I felt like once the pilot was over I had so much information to process and didn’t have enough time to do so while I watched. There are so many characters and so much background thrown at you that it’s a little overwhelming. I found myself thinking, "wait what" and needing to rewind at the end.
Although, I do think this is the point. Millennials are fed so many images, stories, and other forms of media into their faces all at once at very fast pace. Maybe this style choice was for the point of satire and social commentary. Or they just had to squeeze everything into the 45 minute time slot they were allotted, and I am just in school mode so I over-analyze everything.
I would give the first episode of Scream Queens a solid B+. I thoroughly enjoyed the show, but they can definitely improve on some style errors. The writing, excellent. The casting was excellent with a few exceptions. Some story-telling, arcs and some minor details could also use some improvement.
I definitely encourage everyone to watch, regardless of some of the show's minor flaws. Gather your friends and enjoy the horror-comedy spectacle! This show will definitely be your Fall guilty pleasure.
If you’re a millennial, this show is the bi-product of your (our) generation, and that, might be the scariest thing about thing about it.
