TV Recap: SCREAM QUEENS Episode 105

Alyse Wax breathlessly recaps last night’s SCREAM QUEENS episode.

Chanel has decided that she and the Chanels will be dressed as grieving First Ladies for Halloween. She, of course, will be Jackie Kennedy. #5 is assigned Mary Todd Lincoln, because she is batshit crazy, which pisses off #5.

The dean has gathered the Kappas and the Dickie Dollars at the house because they are the most likely to be killed. Zayday is still missing, and only Grace seems concerned about it. The dean has canceled Halloween by instituting a curfew, which pisses off everyone. Chad gives a rousing – if highly inaccurate – speech, but it doesn’t help. Curfew is still on. Chanel sends out an email to students saying that, to get around “canceled” Halloween, her pumpkin patch will open at 12:01am November 1st. “I am above the law,” she finishes. Of course, the next day in class, the police come in and arrest Chanel for Ms. Bean’s murder. As she is being taken out, she sees her sorority sisters watching and suspects they turned her in.

While Chanel is in prison, Hester convinces #5 that she is a double agent and tells her about her plan to get Zayday elected president and stepping in as veep. The two of them go get Jennifer on their side by bribing her with Chanel’s discarded Diptyque candles. 

Grace is panicked about Zayday. The Chanels are too busy eating imaginary lunch to help her, so she and Pete go to Wes for help. They walk in on Wes and Gigi having sex, which supposedly freaks Grace out because her dad didn’t talk to her about it, not because she saw her dad having sex. She promises she is cool with it and the four of them go talk to the dean. The dean is having a drink with Denise, both comparing notes on sex with Chad. Zayday has been missing for less than a day, so the police won’t do anything, but the dean hired Denise to investigate. Denise still, for some reason, believes Zayday is the killer and she faked her kidnapping. Even still, the five of them head out to find Zayday.

Chanel’s time in prison is brief and seems pretty easy. Her father refused to bail her out because it is a bad time for him to be the family member of a murder suspect. She has made friends with a trio of rejects from Orange is the New Black, and one of them is a die-hard Chanel fan, so she will do anything for her. Chanel blows them off when she is bailed out – #3 and Sam come pick her up. She recognizes them as her true friends.

Back at the house, Chanel discovers #5 dressed as Jackie Kennedy and she goes ballistic. She seems ready to kill #5 but instead sends her to prepare the pumpkin patch. #5 grumbles, but she goes, gathering Roger and Dodger to assist her. While #5 lights the hundred of so jack-o-lanterns, the brothers sneak away to try their luck at the Shining hedge maze. #5 turns around and discovers the Red Devil behind her. She runs into the maze, for whatever reason, where she meets the brothers. The three run, until the brothers decide that they want #5 to pick one of them. They can’t be dissuaded, so she picks Roger, probably because he was the closest to her and she wants to keep moving. Dodger goes another way, and Roger yells to his brother to be careful of his footprints. This yelling leads the Red Devil right to them, and he kills Dodger. Roger and #5 make it out alive.

Grace “hacks” into Zayday’s iCloud account and uses the “find my phone” feature to locate Zayday’s phone – and, hopefully, Zayday. The house belongs to an old woman who rents her cellar out to very responsible tenants. She has no compunction about letting them into the cellar, which is enormous and winding with many rooms. The group splits up: Gigi and Denise go one way; Wes, Grace, and Pete go another. Because that’s what you want to do in a horror movie: split up.

Grace’s group find the Red Devil’s work room, which includes a table set for dinner, a vanity for his masks and things, and a trap door. Earlier in the episode, we saw Zayday in the chamber beneath that trap door; now it is empty. On the other side of the cellar, Gigi and Denise have found the Devil’s “operating” room. Dozens of power tools hang from the ceiling; traditional tools line the walls; and at the center of the room is an autopsy table.

The Red Devil turns out the power in the cellar and stalks Denise. He stops short of grabbing her, but turns on a weapon. Denise screams and tries to tase him, but it is pitch black, and she ends up tasing Gigi. Despite being injured, Gigi manages to tase the Red Devil. The lights go back on, and Grace’s screams draw Denise to them. When she returns with the rest of the group, Gigi is recovering from her injury, and the Red Devil is gone.

Chanel calls for a vote for president, and is not subtle about doing it without Zayday or Grace there. She is essentially rigging the election her way. Before voting can begin, Zayday shows up, unharmed and in surprisingly good spirits. She said the Devil was nice to her, just sent her little gifts like beauty products down in a basket (a clear Silence of the Lambs reference here). It was rather pleasant. When the Devil dropped a ladder down, she climbed up, and was greeted with roses and a meal of Oakland nachos (whatever that is). Zayday thinks the Devil has a crush on her and uses this to her advantage. She stabs a knife through his hand and runs from the cellar. She went straight to the Kappa house. Chanel doesn’t believe her, but wants to get the vote underway before Grace arrives. Too late. Grace shows up and backs up Zayday’s story. Chanel goes through with the voting. Clearly we have to wait until next week to see who won. (Zayday, natch.)

Gigi is out walking, all alone. The Red Devil is following her. She surprises him: “You’re late. That got out of hand.” She wants the Devil to “take care of it” while she goes on a salad date.

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