"Seven Minutes in Hell"
Original Airdate: October 20, 2015
This week’s iteration of Scream Queens was billed as the bloodiest yet. Though, by my count, the first episode still had one additional by the end. Surprisingly, I didn’t hate this episode, and there are a few reasons for that. First of all, Westin, Gigi, and the dean were either barely in it or not present at all. Don’t get me wrong: Jamie Lee Curtis is a shining moment in most of these episodes, but unfortunately she’s usually flanked with the other “adults” and the stupid revenge love-triangle going on there is boring and annoying. The other thing I liked about this was the actual meaningful use of genre motifs. Though some were obviously harped on (“I knew it was you,” Sam says as the killer reveals himself to her), others happened by chance in the episode’s writing.
The group hosts a slumber party, which is so far the closest
this show has gotten to achieving the levels of meta it thinks it’s
consistently pulling off. The slumber party quickly becomes a forced lock-in
with the Dickie Dollar Scholars, and the killer begins picking them off as they
separate. It’s rife with the commonalities of slasher horror: teenagers/young
adults in a confined area, sexual promiscuity, love triangles and drama, loud
music, and — of course — alcohol. All these different elements hold together
fairly well this week, though there are a few annoying heavy-handed moments,
plus some plot holes and exceptionally dumb logic. One thing I found
interesting, though I’ll address this more in future reviews, is missed
opportunities. There’s tension in that, and watching those opportunities slip
by oblivious characters can create a strong connection with the viewer. What doesn’t work, however, is a never-ending
round of musical chairs with accusing people of being the killer — something
most episodes have suffered from and something that will likely continue to cut
the tension as the show continues.
I keep harkening back to Scream
(and who wouldn’t?) but it’s the best example for comparison in terms of what’s
happening on Scream Queens. In Scream, there were only two characters
explicitly and seriously considered to be suspects, Billy and Sidney’s dad.
Though, of course, genre-savvy Randy does point out that several other
characters fit the bill, as slasher movie rules state that essentially anyone
can be a suspect. Still, we only ever had two contenders.
Scream Queens, however, has explicitly named just about everyone as a suspect at this point, and layered potential motives on so heavily, that not only do I not care who the killer is, but the shock has been completely taken out of the eventual reveal. Taking the guessing game too far ruins the fun and bores the audience. At this point in the show, all I can say is that someone’s the killer, and whoever it ends up being probably won’t prove to be too big of a deal. That’s less of a missed opportunity and more of a misstep. But more on some other missed opportunities down the road as they pop up.
Scream Queens, however, has explicitly named just about everyone as a suspect at this point, and layered potential motives on so heavily, that not only do I not care who the killer is, but the shock has been completely taken out of the eventual reveal. Taking the guessing game too far ruins the fun and bores the audience. At this point in the show, all I can say is that someone’s the killer, and whoever it ends up being probably won’t prove to be too big of a deal. That’s less of a missed opportunity and more of a misstep. But more on some other missed opportunities down the road as they pop up.
For now, here’s what happened this week.
The episode opens with the vote for president ending in a
tie, so Zayday and Chanel end up as co-presidents. After making a scene, Chanel
reveals to #3 and #5 that she ensured it was a tie to make herself less of a
target for the killer. She then extends Zayday a seemingly harmless peace
offering by naming her acting president of the sorority. The next day, Zayday
and Grace decide to throw a slumber party in order to use truth or dare to
force answers out of people (because they’re magically bound to absolutely tell
the truth during truth or dare, obviously). The rest of the house reluctantly
agrees.
At the Dickie Dollar house, they have an intervention for
Chad’s sexual promiscuity and he decides he will devote himself only to Chanel.
His newfound monogamy is kicked off with a panty raid, after the brothers learn
the Kappas are having a slumber party. At the party, Chanel #3 adamantly
insists they play spin the bottle so she can explore her confusing feelings for
Sam. The game works in #3’s favor, as she gets to kiss Sam, but ultimately she
decides it’s too dangerous to risk a relationship. Meanwhile, Chanel is off making
s’mores when other sisters arrive to inform them the entire house has been
sealed up, and everyone has been locked inside (because Chanel had the whole
house converted into a panic room after watching the movie of the same name). Chanel
calls Chad for help and he manages to break a second story window, which are
apparently the only ones on the house not bomb-proof, when the Red Devil appears
and picks off the newly armless brother (okay now he’s dead) while the others run inside.
Grace asks Zayday if they can flee the school, but Zayday refuses
to be kicked out of her own turf, and they return to the living room to play
truth or dare, where at least the Candle Vlogger has the sense to point out
that absolutely nothing about truth or dare makes sense as a viable
interrogation technique. We quickly learn some interesting information during
the game, but #3 becomes angry when Sam reveals Charles Manson is her father.
In return, she dares Sam to go down to the basement alone and take a nap in the
tub. And while down there, Sam is, unsurprisingly, attacked and killed. But not
before she insists on knowing the killer’s identity and delivers a very cliché
“I knew it was you” as her final words.
Upstairs, Hester talks with Chad in the kitchen and insists
she is not going to give up trying to win him from Chanel, who then appears and
immediately insists they play Seven Minutes in Heaven, pulling Chad off to go
first. She asks Chad for a real relationship and he “pinkie pledges” to remain
monogamous with her... on the grounds that her dad is rich and that she’s hot. #5
and Dodger take a turn playing while the rest of the group rushes downstairs
after Hester finds Sam’s body. They immediately start pointing fingers while
Dodger gets a few nails to the head from the Red Devil. The group continues
throwing around blame. Zayday and Chanel decide to team up to explore the
tunnels beneath the house, realizing that’s how the killer got in (never mind
the fact that the frat guys left their ladder outside the broken window?).
While investigating, the pair is attacked. Chanel rescues Zayday from the
killer and they escape.
The next day, the dean and the police search the house and
decide to post an armed guard outside at all times. The dean also relishes in
an opportunity to publicly hurt the reputation of the sorority by claiming
their status as targets is a threat to other students’ safety. #3 and #5
commiserate over their mutual losses and make a deal that — no matter what — the
pair of them will outlive Chanel. The episode ends with Chanel gifting the
sisters pink nunchucks to protect themselves with, should the killer strike
again.
Body count: 3
WTF moments:
- Everything #3 says, but in a good way.
- Truth or dare? Really? This is the surefire way to figure out what’s really going on?
- I knew it was you.” Yeah, because I’ve never heard that line before.
In this week's killer suspects...
- Zayday: I still remain suspicious since she's the only one who had direct contact with the killer.
- Hester: Still a psycho and now a woman scorned.
- Chanel #5: The reasons for her to hate Chanel are just piling up.
There is no episode next week (since they exhausted all their Halloween themes, I guess). But tune back in November 3rd at 9 PM on Fox for more episodes and
check back here for recaps!
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