Ryan Murphy is a name you instantly recognise and will either love or hate. With hit TV shows like Nip/Tuck, Glee & American Horror Story under his belt, it is with no surprise that Fox handed him a lucrative time slow for his latest masterpiece Scream Queens. It is a surprising blend of horror and comedy that provides some hilarious social commentary and shocks and surprises with a fresh new cast to make an old story new again.
The show opens in 1995 , set in sorority house Kappa Kappa Tau. One of the sisters is lying in a bathtub holding a newborn, while her friends quiz why she isn’t downstairs dancing to Waterfalls by TLC. Unwilling to help, the girls head back downstairs, have a dance and come back up to discover that the mother has bled out in the bathtub and the baby has survived.
Skip forward to 2015 and we meet Chanel (Emma Roberts) current president of KKT and biggest bitch on campus, she commands her sorority sisters who have been dubbed Chanel’s 2, 3 and so forth. The house is threatened by Dean Munsch (Jamie Lee Curtis) who forces a code upon the girls to accept anyone who pledges. This in turn invites the misfits fronted by Hester Ulrich (Lea Michele) & Grace Gardner (Skylar Samuels). When a red devil leather costume killer starts going on a rampage against Kappa Kappa Tau, the girls must band together to find out who the killer is and stop them before they end up being next.
Not only is the story in this show a star in itself, but the cast are a key contributor to this being a winner. After a couple of seasons as a sideline in American Horror Story, Emma Roberts commands the screen front and centre, proving she is one of the best young talents out there. Her rivalry with acting legend Jamie Lee Curtis is entertaining and the pair have real chemistry that transcends their characters quippy one liners. Nick Jonas is well shirtless and smirky which fulfils his quota as eye candy (thank you, thank you, oh thank you Ryan Murphy for that!) Lea Michele doesn’t really get a chance to do much here, as it is a pilot, I am sure her character will get the chance to develop more as the 13 episodes roll out.
Abigail Breslin as Chanel #5 doesn’t live up to much, her hilarious name is as about as exciting as she gets, although she could be another Michele, waiting for further development. Ariana Grande is Chanel #2 and her performance is robotic and forgettable just like one of her “hit” singles (sorry the show made me extra bitchy today!) By far my favourite Chanel would be #3, played by Billie Lourd who Murphy had wearing ear muffs in a hilarious shout out to her real life mother Carrie Fisher.
It is really hard to pinpoint a favourite moment in this, as there are many! A hilarious death turns social commentary with Ariana Grande that is too good to spoil, every line by Chanel (#1 that is!) Jamie Lee Curtis commenting on the state of women’s rights and exploitations, it is all so perfect, and still being a pilot left me begging for the next episode.
If you loved Glee and American Horror Story, then this is the series for you, it is Gossip Girl meets I Know What You Did Last Summer and playing a parody of itself gives it a distinct edge that most shows are unable to get to. I will definitely be tuning back in every week, so keep with me here on Novastream for ALL your Scream Queens news and recaps!
Scream Queens screens in Australia on Eleven, Wednesday 9:30pm.
