BWW Recap: Entering the 'Haunted House' Brings New Questions on SCREAM QUEENS

SCREAM QUEENS has always been a horror-comedy, but the first few episodes definitely eschewed the comedy in favor of campy horror. This week, however, the show embraces the comedy and brings forth some of the most biting satire on TV. In its fourth episode, SCREAM QUEENS begins its three week Halloween arc, while expanding the mystery, giving us more information, and staying consistent.

We left off last week with Dean Munsch being accused of being the Red Devil by Gigi and Wes. We immediately cross the Dean off the suspects list (for now) with her thorough analysis that there's no way she could've changed out of her nightgown, into the costume, and back again in the ninety seconds allowed. Gigi and Wes aren't convinced, and Wes is forced into being Dean Munsch's date to a fundraiser. Last week we also got Denise accusing Zayday of being Red Devil. This episode, Zayday provides her alibi (she went to Burger Shack.... mmm Burger Shack) while also providing a reason Denise would dislike her.

Zayday has an interesting role in the Kappa house. She is the only minority girl, and she's been pushing for a better reputation for Kappa. In this episode, she announces that she is running for President against Chanel, and comes up with a fundraiser haunted house to gain support. While scoping out haunted house locations, Denise accuses her again of being Red Devil, to which Zayday reveals that Denise rushed Kappa back in 1988. We get a flashback where Denise isn't allowed into Kappa because of her race (she subsequently drops out of college and enters community college instead).

This provides an interesting three dimensional backstory for Denise, who up until now has been a comedic bright spot (she's MVP this episode). This interaction also hints at the changing times, and how the current generation is better off socially than the previous one. Denise wasn't even allowed in Kappa, and now Zayday is running for president. It shows the strides made in the last thirty years, while also further separating the adults and the children on this show. Zayday's line about Denise being jealous of Zayday for Zayday being allowed something Denise couldn't get sums up the nature of the relationship between adults and students.

The scene with Denise's flashback, and the social implications thereof, are also tied into the cafeteria scene with Chanel, Chanel #3, Chanel #5, and Hester. Since Hester has joined the Chanel's she has represented the part of society that perpetuates problematic behavior. She mimics Chanel's rudeness and artificiality. This scene, though, expands on the characters of the Chanels and Hester by allowing them growth.

Chanel gets sick of eating cottonballs (another biting bit of satire in the episode) and asserts that women don't have to look good for men, because men don't try to look good for women. The Chanels are then harassed by a frat boy who catcalls them, and then explains that catcalling is natural. The Chanels fight back, asserting their newfound pride and self-respect in being women. This contrasts directly with all the scenes we've seen of 1995 and 1988 Kappas who do not share this self-respect. It's another example of the growth across generations.

There are many connections to the Kappas of 1995 in this episode. Beyond these connections between the students and the older generation, we get Grace and Pete going to see Mandy, a former Kappa girl from 1995 who was there when the baby was born. Mandy reveals that Dean Munsch lead the cover-up of the death, and that the baby was a girl.

The news of Dean Munsch's coverup does not help her case. It shows her character as ruthless, and it gives her experience on covering things up. Dean Munsch claims it was to protect her career, and to protect the lives of the girls who survived (but, as Mandy states, their lives were mostly ruined by this coverup). The amount Dean Munsch is involved in this whole case is an interesting development that hopefully future episodes will expand on. The news that the baby is a girl leads Grace to interrogate Wes about whether she is the baby. Wes denies it (also, the math doesn't add up. If Grace is a college freshman, 18 years old in 2015, she would've been born in 1997, not 1995).

The last connection to the past in this episode is the haunted house itself. Zayday enlists Grace and Pete to help her set up the Haunted House on Shady Lane as a haunted house for the fundraiser for her run for president. Denise and Pete show up, and give the backstory on the house. As it turns out, the house was haunted by a hag, and wailing was heard as far back as November, 1995. At the end of the episode, we see Gigi dressed in black, sitting in the hag's doll room. There are implications that whoever the hag is (probably Gigi) had connections and cared for the baby throughout 1995. The hag was seen stealing diapers and milk. There's definitely more to Gigi's backstory, including why she still dresses like its the 90s, and I have a feeling it's connected to however this hag storyline finishes.

Most importantly, though, we find out that the haunted house is the location where Red Devil has kept all these bodies. All the connections to the past in this episode link Red Devil with the past, implying that Red Devil is an older person. They're somebody who knew about the haunted house and knew about Mandy. And now they've taken Zayday..

Battle lines were drawn this week. Zayday and Chanel are fighting over power of Kappa house. These connections, and subsequent distancings, of the present from the past are separating the adults from the student even further. In the last scene tonight alone we get everybody at Kappa house, adults, genuine kids, and fake kids, playing this dance of blame. Everybody is moving forward with their own ideas of different motives. Wes continues his "we need to shut down the school!" spiel, adding to his "overprotective dad" characterization. Chanel continues her "woe is me!" characterization, though she is secretly happy that Zayday's missing. And then there are Grace and Pete, who are trying to figure out where Zayday's disappearance fits into the mystery narrative. In this way, with all these disparate people fighting and growing further from each other, Kappa House is the haunted house. Everybody is everybody else's worst nightmare. Each group affects the other and makes it harder for everyone to get what they want. The mystery on SCREAM QUEENS continues to deepen, and the more complex it gets the more people are implicated.

Who's Red Devil?

I'm sticking with Wes still, and Boone (who's absent for the second week in a row) as his accomplice. Wes's comments (again!) about a horrifying past coming back to haunt you, as well as being called out on his overprotective behavior.

Scream Quotes

"Chanel-O-Ween is approaching, so I took my comatose grandmother's credit card and went shopping"

"I ain't a detective. Hell, I ain't even a cop. What I am is someone who watched all the Cosby mysteries."

"Are y'all here to talk to me about the Kappa murders?" "Yes, how'd you know?" "I've been waiting twenty years for someone to ask me about that."

"It's for a fundraiser. We're trying to raise money." "More like raise the body count. For murder."

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What did you think of the SCREAM QUEENS this week? Loved it? Hated it? Can't wait for more? Let me know in the comments below, or on Twitter @gunnar_larson. Also, don't forget to follow @BWWTVWorld on Twitter and Like us on Facebook for all of the latest TV news, reviews, and recaps.

Photo Credit: Michael Goi | FOX

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