[Scream Queens] #103 - Chainsaw

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Scream Queens continues the rampage of the Red Devil murders, and this time it is the first time we actually see them attend class, which is a nice touch after two episodes. Is this show truly a horror show, or has it slowly turned into just a college parody at this point three episodes in? With the Red Devil haunting people throughout the school campus, the question remains if this murder spree will still be worth our attention, or did it go a step too far?

Spoiler alert as always, be sure to see the episode before you read this article. If you don’t care about spoilers, than continue reading at your own risk.

Once again a body mysteriously disappears, this time Chanel #2’s body just up and vanishing. This time though it seems she might still be alive as pictures are being uploaded on Twitter, but if you look closely it is her dead body being put up on display. We actually even get to meet her parents, which is nice to see parents besides the father of Grace, who actually makes a cameo and tries to scare everyone off by showing them Texas Chainsaw Massacre. There are some funny moments here besides the obvious: “What are you doing here Dad?”, which surprisingly doesn’t last too long.

We actually get a closer look at the Dickie Dollar Scholars, the male sorority of rich idiots and it is kind of funny seeing how they seem to be purposely portrayed as if they are slightly homophobic and gay at the same time. Besides the fact that they literally are described as Dickie Dollar Scholars, but them trying to figure out how Junior (Nick Jonas) was murdered was a fun moment to see until it suddenly ended up becoming a story about them just getting drunk in his honor.

“Closet Vag” line is probably the best description of the dialogue that one can find in this show. To a certain degree, I find it hilarious while also cringing at some lines that just rub me the wrong way. A girl trying to explain the fact that she doesn’t care anymore, because she is being “eiffeltowered” between twins just seems almost a step too far. As awkward as the dialogue is, and that is probably the intention, I just wonder if the show is having issues by trying harder to be a parody of college life at its extremist. The horror comes and goes, which is quite effective in how bloody it is, but most of the time we are watching an over-the-top version of American college. It just seems that two worlds are colliding and are quite unsure what exactly it wants to be, or parody the most.

There are moments it perfectly combines these elements by not only having the Dickie group walking around looking like Backstreet Boys with the music in the background, and while there is no suspense at first, we suddenly have the killer popping out with a chainsaw. It feels less like a horror parody, but has a nice reveal that there are actually two killers in the Red Devil costume. The joke ends up being a parody of the Black Knight moment in the Holy Grail. A short moment, which was featuring the campus new mascot Conie, had a great build up and pay-off.

In general, while I find some dialogue decisions quite odd, especially when it tries pretty hard to make fun of how often or how strange their sex life is. There are some stories that I found quite hilarious, as the discussion between the security guard and Zayday (Keke Palmer), where she literally received a chainsaw as a present from her grandmother. The scene shows that the show really doesn’t require the talk about sex as often as it used in this episode particularly. Also the rivalry between dean Munsch and Gigi (Nasim Pedrad) is a nice little subplot that keeps the always wonderful Jamie Lee Curtis involved in the episodes.

In general, I enjoyed the episode but did wish they would dial it down a bit regarding the jokes about sex. I did love the fact that the killer starts to have various weapons in regard to what is happening on screen, like him using a chainsaw throughout the episode.. Also, the way the dialogue uses the fact that there are more than just one killer was well handled and showcases the fact that it can handle certain scenes well, I just think the joke regarding the rich kids at university being sluts will be played out after a while.

Did you see the episode? What did you think of it? Leave a comment below!