TV Review: Scream Queens (Season 1, Episode 8)

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

EPISODE: MOMMIE DEAREST

THE APPETIZER: After Dean Munsch survives a harrowing Red Devil assault, new light on Grace's mysterious mother is shed in a way that threatens her relationship with her dad. Oh, and a badly bearded Boone makes a much-awaited return!

WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW. IF YOU'VE NOT SEEN THIS EPISODE, STOP READING HERE!

THE ENTREE: Now that's what I'm talking about! Succeeding what was probably the weakest episode of Scream Queens yet, we now move on from the tame exhortation of "Beware of Young Girls" to the far more severe and worrisome punishment of "Mommie Dearest." Let's get to it! The pace hits quick after attending the meeting between Grace and Munsch that was promised last week. Munsch swore she'd divulge dirt on the bathtub baby of 20 years ago, but is now, much to Grace's dismay, pretty tight lipped at first. She's also quite martial artistically equipped. When alone at home at night, preparing for a shower, we get a nice re-appropriated nod to the infamous PSYCHO shower scene, in which Jamie Lee Curtis cheekily reenacts the role her mother made famous 55 years ago. Better yet, when the two Red Devils and their heinous Antonin Scalia masked homunculus friend show up to shake the girl down, Munsch pulls out the judo-moves and brakes fools off! The Red Devils retreat and we flash to the title card.

Upon return, we find Chanel intent on proving Grace and Zayday as the killers. She implores her ditzy lackeys to find some evidence, but they can't positively finger so much as their own nubile cooch. Denise Hemphill, fresh off moving into the Kappa house, makes a deal with Chanel #3 to prove Zayday is the killer for a cool $3 million. But time's a ticking. In the middle of all the negotiating, our frumpily loveable candle-obsessed pledge Jennifer (Breezy Eslin), is paid a visit to by one of our deranged Red Devils. They spike the poor gal plum in the skill from above with a sizable hunting blade, though, while coolly framed from behind and through a mirror, lacked actual bloody penetration. I did like however the redemptive payoff when, moments later at the smell of melting candle wax, our harem of Chanels run into the room to find Jennifer splayed out like a wax-dipped human effigy, a proud trophy. The gals coo a collective yelp. Further measures are taken later on when Chanel hires a pair of Scotland Yard investigators to manufacture some evidence proving Grace and Zayday to be the Devils in disguise. All they suss is that Chanel #5 is intent on killing her leader and that Grace's mother has a lengthy criminal record.

And that's the real storyline of the week, which cuts a wide swath of implication, taking us back to a conversation with Grace and Munsch over that damn baby. Now willing to talk, Munsch gives Grace a name to go on, Sophia Doyle, but Grace doesn't really buy it, instead still clings to the idea that she herself is the bathtub baby after-all. Pete does some digging, and soon a trip back to the mental hospital Munsch was at last week tips he and Grace that Gigi – yes Gigi – is the Hag of Shady Lane who was last seen nurturing the missing baby 20 years ago. Well, Grace quickly tosses the gauntlet in Gigi's grill, fully confronting her about being involved in the Kappa House murders.

Gigi not only denies such, but twists a conniving a yarn about Grace having mommy issues and overprotective daddy proclivities. Hell, she pulls a butcher knife from the kitchen and flirts with slicing Grace up right then and there. But she resists, flashes an engagement ring (which makes Grace irate) and soon deviously pits Grace against her dad and vise versa. She even insists on having Grace committed on grounds of having poor grades and stressfully acting out in the wake of, well, all the goddamn wakes. The show caps with a return from a disguise-bearded Boone (Nick Jonas), who we learn is clearly in coldblooded cahoots with not only Gigi, but a third party as well. To wit, it seems Gigi is likely just the ring-leader, the boss-lady, with Boone and at least one accomplice exacting the murderous orders she dolls out. Question then becomes, who is that person?

As alluded to above, I think Mommie Dearest was a clear rebound episode after last week's utter air-ball. Not only did we get a rapid of Red Devil delight to open the frame, we actually lost a marginally recurring character we've come to at least know and identify. One of my major gripes about the show as a whole is the dispatching of totally random, inconsequential people we meet during the very episode they die in. The stakes get raised here with death of Jen, no matter how negligible she may seem among the many bitchy Kappa House personalities. I also dug the opening Red Devil attack sequence, even if it merely crossed Munsch off the implicative hook for murder. She seems safe for now, in more ways than one (physically, legally). As for the actual killers, I do think it's a bit unfair to, with only 4 weeks left, suddenly unfurl a new suspect into the fold. We've known for some time now that Gigi and Boone were involved somehow, but adding another name to the mix now seems a bit cumbersome for us horror whodunit lovers playing along all season. Then again, I most certainly welcome the challenge. Do you?

KILL OF THE WEEK: The only kill of the week allows us to say a fond farewell to the awkward candle-fetishist Jennifer, who for the sake of Kappa House, sadly took a sharp blade right through the cranium. As explained above, a true trophy kill!

BLOOD & GORE: Not a whole lot of gore to speak of this week, unfortunately. There were some brushes with death early on, and a legit fatality to boot, but not a lot of flesh and blood on display under the glaring watch of "Mommie Dearest."

MOST PLAUSIBLE SUSPECTS: A lot of moving parts this week. Chanel thinks it's Grace and Zayday. Grace thinks it's Gigi. Munsch is now off the hook. Boone clearly has a partner to work with. If I had to take a stab at this juncture, with four episodes to go, I'd say Pete is the co-killer. Nothing definitive yet, so don't quote me on that just yet, but I've certainly got Pete under close watch moving forward.