BWW Recap: SCREAM QUEENS Reminds Us to 'Beware of Young Girls'

After SCREAM QUEENS narrowed its focus two weeks ago to one plot, the show maintains a tight focus this week. There are two plots here instead of then, though. Grace and Pete go and search out Heather, a former Kappa sister, and the Chanels use a Ouija board to contact Chanel #2. These two threads both follow the main theme of the episode, and the show itself: surrounding danger drives normally innocent people to do bad things.

As opposed to last episode's death-heavy episode, this week we get huge strides in deepening understanding, mystery, and mythology. Before I get into the dual plots this week, I think the standalone opening scene must be noted. We found out weeks ago that Gigi is connected to Red Devil (and is the Hag on Shady Lane, don't forget). So to finally expand on that, we get another conversation between Gigi and Red Devil. It's revealed that the murders are in fact revenge based, and that Red Devil has previously had a romantic relationship with Gigi. Wes walks in on her, and Gigi slyly hides the conversation from him. Now, my theory in the past was that Wes was the killer, but this scene single-handedly destroyed that belief.

Now, after reestablishing that Gigi is the one "in charge" of Red Devil, she goes to Grace and Pete and encourages them to use their investigative reporting skills to search out Heather, a former Kappa sister, to find out information about Dean Munsch and hopefully get her locked behind bars. Heather is an interesting character-who looks just like Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby-with her romantic relationship with Munsch's husband mimicking Dean Munsch's own sexual promiscuity.

Mr. Munsch leaves Dean Munsch for Heather, and then is found dead. Dean Munsch is sent to a psychiatric ward (that looks exactly like the one in AHS: Asylum). She calls Grace and Pete to the asylum, and pleads her case, giving her side of her history with Heather. Grace and Pete use their investigative skills and figure out that Heather was the killer of Mr. Munsch. Their skills and hard work trying to find the killer finally pays off, and the police are convinced she's part of the Red Devil killings.

Only, Grace and Pete reached a false conclusion. Dean Munsch orchestrated the whole killing of her ex-husband with methodical precision. She set up Heather from the start and framed her. In an incredible final sequence set to Dory Previn's "Beware of Young Girls," we get the truth: that Dean Munsch chose to kill her ex-husband for cheating on her now because the Red Devil killings would mask this separate killing.

And that brings us to the main theme of the episode: that surrounding danger drives normally innocent people to do bad things. With the threat of Red Devil and the constant murder around, everybody is on edge. Nobody is thinking clearly, and such stressful situations lend themselves to erratic, even violent behavior. Because people are so paranoid that they're best friend is the killer, they're willing to kill them. Logic is mostly thrown out the window for personal safety-anybody will do anything to stay alive.

The Chanels represent this completely in this episode. Chanel wants to contact Chanel #2 from beyond the grave. The spirit of Chanel #2 tells her that Chad is cheating on her-and Chanel finds out that she was wrong (it was only a goat, because he's lactose intolerant). On the second go-round, Chanel #2 tells the group that Chanel is the killer. This sends Chanel #3, Chanel #5, and Chanel #6 into a panic.

Chanel #6 convinces Chanel #3 and Chanel #5 that Chanel needs to be killed. In the instance when they agree to kill her, Chanel #3 and Chanel #5 are filmed in a dutch angle. This indicates that the decision to kill Chanel is out of character and shocking for them-it throws their inner world off tilt. When Chanel #6 is filmed throughout this sequence, she's filmed level, straight on-the thought of death and murder is normal for her, it's not shocking. The fact that Chanel #3 and Chanel #5 agree so quickly to the death relates to the theme: the surrounding mass murder is making them lose their ability to think clearly; they'll believe anything that means they can be safe.

Chanel finds out in a drug-induced fever dream from Chanel #2 that the other Chanels are trying to kill her. Chanel goes into a(n unconvincing) rant to the Chanels where she convinces them that Grace and Zayday are the killers. Again, Chanel's unfounded belief that they are the killers stems from their threatening her power, and her fear of anybody around her being the killer.

Ultimately, everybody is at odds with each other. To these characters anybody could be the killer. SCREAM QUEENS continues to maintain a consistent tone and pace, releasing information at just the right moment. Things are getting really juicy with everybody being super at odds. Dean Munsch is a free killer. The Chanels plan to kill Grace and Zayday. Gigi is controlling Red Devil and planned for Grace to catch, then release, Dean Munsch. I can't say for certain where things are going, but it is a wild ride.

Who's Red Devil?

It's obvious Gigi is pulling the strings. Based on Dean Munsch's calculated killing and psychotic behavior, as well as her sexual promiscuity and status as an adult, I think she is one of the killers, and definitely the one on the phone with Gigi in the beginning. The other killer, who is also the baby from 1995, is Chanel #6. The lack of a dutch tilt during her monologue about killing Chanel set me off.

Scream Quotes

Heather: "Hey, did you spill ketchup in the shape of an arrow on the floor?"

Dean Munsch: "You can't trust a girl with a lot of pubic hair... She has something to hide."

Chanel: "Have fun in Hell going to dinner with Osama bin Laden"

Chanel #2: "I got there and I was like where are the dinosaurs? Apparently Jesus took them."

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What did you think of SCREAM QUEENS tonight? 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. Tune in next week for the next episode.

Photo Credit: SCREAM QUEENS official Twitter