Scream Queens has easily been the surprise of the fall television series for me this year. I first approached the program with optimistic caution, but very quickly loved what was being presented and the satirical comedic side the show brings to the table. As the first season progresses, Scream Queens definitely hasn’t been perfect, but each week I can go in knowing I’m going to laugh at least once while it’s on. Despite the show having a really off week two episodes ago with “Beware Of Young Girls,” it has climbed back into its normal comfort level, and this week’s “Ghost Stories” was another solid installment for Scream Queens.
As the show continues on its back half of the first season, we are now in the area where each week provides more extremely important information on who the killers all are and what their motivation is. To this point, we’ve discovered that Gigi seems like the mastermind behind everything while Boone is one of her two accomplices. I think it’s great that the show has decided to keep the final Red Devil Killer secret, because it’s really fun to get more scenes from Nick Jonas knowing his true allegiance. The joke that was started last week about him being back in public disguised as Joaquin Phoenix was one of my favorites from the show, and I gladly welcomed it back this week. On Scream Queens, they really mock a lot of typical modern stereotypes and make the characters either stupid or oblivious (or both), and Boone is one of them. He’s the typical meat head who would rather risk ruining the entire plan Gigi has set up instead of missing a gym session.
A major part of “Ghost Stories” was that Boone, after getting seen without his beard by Chanel #3, attempts to return to campus playing up the idea that he’s a ghost, ghosts are real and that people have no clue about the rules and possibilities that come with being a ghost. I thought, as ridiculous as this concept was, it really played into the show well and is the one place where they can get away with a joke like this. The relaxed nature that comes with Scream Queens allows it to have fun and not be serious, which is why this joke can work so well. As Boone’s episodic plot continued, I was surprised to discover that he was the one obsessed with Zayday. They have slightly hinted to it, but this week we discovered that Boone is, in fact, not homosexual, and in love with Zayday. Scream Queens put in a nice misdirection with Earl Grey seeming mysterious, but in the end he was a genuine nice guy interested in Zayday and not a part of the murders. When it was revealed that Boone was in love with Zayday, I had a feeling Earl Grey would end up being killed, but it’s nice that the characters the show disposes of are mainly those we never grow attached to.
I enjoyed the idea behind the title “Ghost Stories,” and how Denise thought it would be a good idea to tell ridiculous sounding ghost stories to take the paranoia off of what was happening. It’s definitely a weird and questionable idea, but again is something that works for the show. The shout outs to classic horror films were fantastic and they even slipped in the classic “red pill blue pill” joke from The Matrix. It was even better when the stories they told began to come true; Denise’s Japanese toilet story happens to her where she narrowly escapes a Red Devil and later on Chanel #2 experiences Hester’s hook hand horror story. For the girls, telling far fetched ghost stories is supposed to make things feel more comfortable by realizing how crazy it is that the killings are happening on campus, and that in the end the killers will probably be caught, but when fiction becomes reality it’s pretty eerie.
Scream Queens continues to be the show that I look forward to having the most fun with each week. I’m never expecting it to blow me away, but as I mentioned before, it’s always good for providing a solid laugh. I love the mystery aspect to it, especially after last night. It’s official that there were two bathtub babies, and one of them was Boone, but that still leaves us with one unidentified killer. Everyone is assuming it’s a girl and a boy, but that hasn’t technically been confirmed yet, so we’ll wait to see. It was sad to see Boone be killed off, but he has totally served his purpose and can definitely say he went out with a bang thanks to his demise revolving around the Joaquin Phoenix joke. “Ghost Stories” really began the process of tying things up as Scream Queens moves into its final four episodes, and I’m hoping that there is a huge build to a fun and satisfying finale.
Other thoughts:
- Chad’s Five reasons for not taking Hester to Thanksgiving were amazing. Chad is easily my favorite character each week and I love the lines they are giving Glen Powell and how he’s delivering them.
- Boone’s attempts to claims he’s a ghost are pretty funny. I love how many people buy into it.
- “…you asked if you could nurse from me!”
- Part of me wants to question whether or not Denise and Chanel #2 just lied, claiming the stories came to life for dramatic personal reasons. We never actually see anyone else with them, it’s always the character and the Red Devil. In Chanel #2’s case, there was the truck driver who is hacked to death, but unless next episode has someone else touch on finding his body or there is a news clip, I’ll stay skeptical.
[Photo credit: Steve Dietl/FOX]
Follow Us
