by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer
Welcome to Cross-Platform Partners! In honor of a new movie release, I have selected a TV show to watch to pair with the movie. Think of it as a way to get hyped for the new movie, a preview of things to come, a means to tide you over if the movie won’t be released where you live for a little while, or a change of pace if you’ve run out of related movies or sequels.
March 2023 is shaping up to be an amazing month for movies. Several highly anticipated sequels are coming out. Movies like John Wick: Chapter 4, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, Luther: The Fallen Sun, and Creed III have had numerous delays due to the pandemic. Among all the sequels that I’m looking forward to the most, though, Scream VI is at the top of my list. I enjoyed Scream (2022), as it brought fresh life to a stale franchise. What worked the most for me was the newer cast. There was something about seeing fresh faces around a Scream movie that I was excited to see. So I decided that if I enjoyed watching new characters in a Scream property, why not try Scream: The TV Series?
This show came out during the renaissance of anthology series. American Horror Story was still kicking strong, True Detective premiered to critical acclaim, American Crime Story kicked off the true crime anthology, and now The White Lotus is perfecting what an anthology series can do. Scream, though, is a curious anthology series. The first two seasons involve the same cast dealing with a serial killer with a link to their town. The third season goes in a completely different direction with a new cast and location. I was glad that the third season shifted from the original cast, as it would be ridiculous that the same group would again be subjected to ANOTHER serial killer. It’s the same struggle I have with a lot of horror series. How on earth can the same group be so unlucky to be subjected to multiple serial killers?
Scream: The TV Series tries to do something different by removing most of the Scream movie franchise mythology. It’s disconnected from the movies, which I appreciated 95% of the time. The one thing that didn’t work for me is the lack of the Ghostface mask in the first two seasons. It’s an attempt to do something different, but it just doesn’t inspire the same fear as the original. Ghostface makes a return in the third season, but beyond that, there’s a total disconnect.
A divorce from Sidney Prescott and Gale Weathers was good overall for the series as well. The new Woodsboro is a town called Lakewood. Of course, Lakewood has a dark past with a resident named Brandon James. He was mistreated by others and allegedly went on a murder spree, even though others around town vouched for him. Years later someone would come back to Lakewood, inspired by Brandon.
The first two seasons involve Emma Duval (Willa Fitzgerald), who has a lot of the hallmarks of a main character in horror media. She’s pretty, popular, a good student, and somehow the target for the Lakewood Slasher of the first two seasons. Her close-knit group of friends all helps her through the incidents, frequently risking their lives.
The series does a great job of developing the characters and makes us invest in characters we care about. Season One lasts 10 episodes, and Season Two is 13 episodes. Although a lot happens in these episodes, there’s still enough development to understand the deal with all the characters. Unlike a 90-plus minute movie, there’s plenty of time to get to know them. They all experience loss, and they deal with the trauma of surviving the murder spree in different ways. Mental health is addressed a lot more in the series than in the movies, which not only makes sense but is greatly appreciated.
In regards to the story, there are a lot of twists and turns that will keep viewers on the edge of their seats. It’s a slow burn for the first two seasons, establishing the town’s history with Brandon James, and getting to know the central group of characters. There’s a handful of other characters along the way we get to know, mainly parents, cops, and teachers at the high school they all attend. The overall mystery can feel a tad bit predictable, but it still keeps you on your toes. No one feels safe, and many of them do not make it out alive. Season Two’s story gets more elaborate, and the new Lakewood Slasher ups the ante by being able to outsmart the group in a lot of different ways.
The first two seasons are not perfect. The biggest knock I have is the kills. Scream: The TV Series is toeing a fine line between the original movies and the Saw series. The kills are much more elaborate and bloody. It’s a far cry from the original series that had brute force with that knife. There’s a character death in Season One I found particularly guilty of being too inspired by Saw, and it almost caused me to call it quits. Some of the deaths are too grotesque, even for a show on basic cable. For the most part, though, Scream: The TV Series isn’t too overly violent; the deaths are just brutal. The other issue is that technology negates a lot of the appeal of the original Scream franchise. Caller ID, the internet, social media, and smartphones largely solve a lot of the problems. Yes, I do understand that some of this gets addressed in the previous movies, but it’s still something to note.
Season Three comes with a completely new cast, a new town, and a return of Ghostface. The cast revolves around of group of kids that meet in detention, aptly named the Deadfast Club. This season gets a little too cute with the horror movie cliché tropes, and it becomes a distraction. The story is also a bit of a mess, although I did appreciate some of the twists and turns from the end of the season. The cast gets a diversity upgrade, but the story doesn’t capitalize on any themes that would make the diversity matter. Perhaps the greatest sin of Season Three, though, is that it’s not scary. I pegged out the killer from the first day, and the motive is a joke. I found it odd that there are only six episodes for this season — if they had given Season Three more time, it may have been better.
Scream: The TV Series is a bit of a wave for a television show. Seasons One and Three are okay, and sandwiched in between is a pretty great Season Two. I love a lot of these characters and found myself rooting for them in the end. I struggled a little with minor tweaks, but it’s still interesting to explore what the creative team had in mind for this project. The separation between Scream on television and Scream in the movies is pronounced. Because of what happens at the end of Season Two, it’s not unreasonable to assume that the characters in the television series COULD cross over to the movies. I think it would be a welcome addition to establish Scream: The TV Series as canon moving forward.
Scream VI will be a good litmus test to see how the health of the Scream franchise will be moving forward. Do we like this new cast? I do, but others might not. Will any of the original cast members be written out, or worse killed? Either way, I’m pumped for Scream VI! I’m intrigued by the New York City setting, and the new characters have me interested.
You can read more from Mike Hilty, and follow him on Twitter, Letterboxd, and Serializd