Who Watched Scream Queens (the Series)?

Scream Queens which ended early December was a dark, campy mystery brought to you by the king/queen of such things, Ryan Murphy. Staring heavy hitters like Keke Palmer, Emma Roberts, and Jamie Lee Curtis, Scream Queens held my attention all the way to the bitter end.

Much like much of Murphy's productions, Scream Queens was inspired by many horror movie tropes and cliches of the 80s. It was a classic whodunit with plenty of black comedy. By the two part season finale, it certainly delivered on its promise of solving the mystery, but in my opinion, there was a theme here that wasn't fully realized.

All along we are led to believe a serial killer, the Red Devil, is stalking and hacking off the frat brothers and sorority sisters of Wallace University's campus. Everyone is a suspect. People die and then come back. Dead bodies go missing, and everyone's pointing fingers at everyone else. All the while, the sisters of the sorority plot to kill each other, then vow to keep each other alive, and then go back to every girl for themselves.

I initially thought that there was a feminist agenda here. Something along the lines of: Greek life being woefully out of touch with reality and perpetuating the very cycles of sexism that has stalled the feminist movement.  It appeared to be a metaphor for our current media and society at large. There were countless times where Chanel Oberlin (Roberts) developed some insight into her own bullying behavior and attempted to make amends with her sorority and protect it. However, in the very next episode, she reverts back into a Queen B* and pariah to those around her.

The season finale was great. It was as funny and cooky as the premiere, never taking itself too serious. I wouldn't have a problem with it if it weren't for the redemption arc of its main character that was prematurely started and stopped several times.

Overall the series was good, and you should watch it for yourself. Few episodes ever rose to the caliber that the premiere did. Maybe it was the many twists and turns that kept pulling focus away from the main objective.

The series has been renewed for a second season. Relive the first season currently streaming on FOX.