The Laughs Keep Coming
With the quirkiness of Glee and the frights of American Horror Story, Ryan Murphy’s Scream Queens is the perfect blend of both his prior and current TV projects. Last fall, the horror-comedy established itself as one of the surprise hits and most underestimated shows of the season. Now it’s back again and ready to make you shriek.
Scream Queens' first season began at the fictional Wallace University, where members of sorority Kappa Kappa Tau are being terrorized by a serial killer dressed as the school’s mascot: a red devil. The show became an instant hit, with a star-studded cast, a diverse set of characters, and a equal amount of screams and laughs.
All the loose ends were tied up at the close of the first season, leaving us wondering what they could possibly do for the next installment. The red devil was revealed, the heroes were vindicated, and the heads of the sorority, the “Chanels”—Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd, and Abigail Breslin—were cleared of all charges and sent to an insane asylum for being the awful people they are. What else could be done?
Apparently a lot more! The second season of Scream Queens begins with the return of Cathy Munsch, played by the wonderful Jamie Lee Curtis, who has changed careers from dean to doctor and has bought an abandoned hospital that serves as the season’s main setting. Needing to staff her hospital, Dr. Munsch recruits the “Chanels” as nurses, along with Zayday Williams, a med student played by Keke Palmer. The handsome duo, Dr. Brock Holt and Dr. Cassidy Cascade, have also been added to the cast, played by John Stamos and Taylor Lautner respectively.
With an exciting new locale and a fresh killer to terrorize Dr. Munsch and the hospital employees, Scream Queens sticks to its winning formula and promises to deliver on the laughs and horror that worked so effectively in its first season. Something I truly missed from the first season was male fraternity, the Dicky Dollar Scholars. They had an outrageous yet entertaining quality that made them irresistible to watch and hard not to love. Even if you couldn’t agree with some of their practices, their loyalty to their brothers and their insane plan to take down the red devil made them one of the highlights of the show. They went out at night armed with bats calling for the devil under the impression they could catch him; How could you not love them?
Despite their absence, the show has brought back a few fan favourites since the second season premiered on September 20th. Hester Ulrich, played by Lea Michele and the mastermind behind all the killings in the previous season, returns as a patient in the hospital’s psych ward. With Dr. Munsch and the Chanels turning to Hester for guidance on new killings, the show writers keep the audience guessing whether or not the former villain changed her ways.
Officer Denise Hemphill, played by Niecy Nash, is back from the first season and is better than ever. After intense FBI training in Quantico, Denise has transitioned from regular cop to high-ranking FBI agent.
One of the most exciting return is Chanel Oberlin’s on-and-off boyfriend and former head of the Dicky Dollar Scholars, Chad Radwell, who is played by Glen Powell. Chad and Chanel were broken up when we last saw them, and Chad was trying to figure out what to do with his life since school was over and all his friends were dead. Now Chad has checked into the hospital with no other goal than to win back Chanel, promising plenty more of the laughs that made their relationship so entertaining to watch.
Currently, Scream Queens' second season is on the same path that led to success as their premiere season. With an exciting new murderer and a perfect mix of new and old characters, fans of the campy horror show can expect to not be disappointed.
Amanda Pereira
Amanda is a student and aspiring writer with a keen interest in fiction. When she’s not writing, you can find her traveling the world and going on adventures, taking in what she sees through the lens of a camera. She has a deep appreciation for reading, coffee, cold winter weather, and all things Disney.