Review: Scream Queens

Show: Scream Queens
Network: Fox

If you like American Horror Story, Scream, and other shows of that nature, then you might like Scream Queens. It’s the story of a sorority house plagued by a masked killer with something to avenge. Now if that seems more like a 90-minute movie instead of a weekly drama, then you aren’t alone. But Fox seems to have some idea where they want to go, and it goes well beyond just the standard slasher fare.

Pros:
Well, if you were a huge fan of MTV’s Scream, then this is right up your alley. Also, if you like girls in their underwear being murdered, then you have also hit on a winner.

Jaime Lee Curtis! She’s a pot-smoking, student-boinking dean of students and she is a wicked bitch! I could watch hours of just her interacting with life on a college campus.

Cons:
This show fails in so many ways. First of all, the show can’t seem to figure out who the main character is. They bounce around so much that I just can’t tell. Also, I really hate the Chanel character (played by Emma Roberts, who made her bones playing a similar character on American Horror Story: Coven and Freak Show). But I don’t hate her because she’s vile and detestable and shallow and a waste of humanity. I hate her because she is so over-the-top with these characteristics; as in, going the extra mile to pull out every cliché and trope in the “bitch” bag of tricks.

Another stumbling block is that I don’t care about any of the characters—especially those who are being killed off. They are just in the show to die and they add nothing to the overall story.

This show also fails to really have their big names pay off. Besides Jaime Lee Curtis, the show starred Ariana Grande, who I am familiar enough with to know she is a bigger name than deserves to be killed off in the first reel. If there are going to be other guest stars in the future, I hope they take better advantage of their talents and names.

Finally, like the much-better counterpart, Scream, there are far too many red herrings. And for as early as we are in the show, there are just too damn many. Scream did a good job of at least giving all of the red herrings plausible motive to be the killer. Scream Queens, on the other hand, is just tossing clichés at the wall and seeing what sticks.

Is it worth your time?
Probably not. There is some humor, but be prepared to severely suspend your belief of how the real world works. Also, I wouldn’t get too wrapped up in any of the characters, because they will probably bite the big one more quickly than George R. R. Martin can decide to kill characters he’s spent decades building up.

Will I keep watching?
I’ll give this another episode to get interesting, otherwise I’m going to pass because there are far better horror shows on TV now-a-days that I don't need a fix that bad.