‘Scream Queens’ Is ‘Mean Girls’ on Steroids for Fashion Lovers & Millennials

The cast of Scream Queens. Photo: Everett Digital

On Monday night, the hugely anticipated teen slasher romp Scream Queens had its two-hour premiere on Fox, and like every other pop culture genre-mashup from Ryan Murphy’s weird, wonderful brain, the Internet is buzzing. The show features a star-studded cast led by a never-better Emma Roberts, who plays the loathsome leader of a sorority house under siege by a killer in a devil mask. It’s violent, offensive, and just the kind of ambitious undertaking needed to breathe life into what’s looking like a pallid fall TV season. Here’s what we loved (and what we didn’t) from the premiere.

WHAT WE LOVED:

The over-the-top outfits
The only thing splashier than the show’s eye-popping murders are its ultra-kitschy costumes, especially the ones worn by the five Chanels. Think: Mean Girls on steroids. “Ryan, in the very beginning, said he wanted the girls to look like candy, so I started researching candy and I came up with this gorgeous picture of macarons, and it was all these gorgeous pastel colors, so that was my inspiration for the palette,” costume designer Lou Eyrich told Vogue about the furs, rhinestones, and vintage designer duds worn by Kappa Kappa Tau’s nasty ruling class. We just hope they have blood stain remover.

The Chanels on Scream Queens. Photo: Everett Digital

The outrageous murders
Speaking of blood, when Ryan Murphy first announced his plan to skewer vintage sorority slasher flicks, we wondered: When it came to the killings, just how far would he go? The Answer: very, very far. In the show’s first two hours, we saw a poor housemaid get her face melted off by searing hot oil, a deaf Taylor Swift superfan get her head chopped off by a lawnmower, and perhaps worst of all: Ariana Grande got stabbed — are you ready? — mid-tweet! Which brings us to our next point…

Technology takes center stage
Scream Queens is a show rooted very much in the now, with pop culture references lurking around every corner (Kanye West, Taylor Swift, and even Serial all get shout outs.) But the one thing that makes this show feel uniquely millennial is the way it uses texting and social media as plot devices. If Scream was a movie for the cordless phone set, then Scream Queens is a show for the emoji generation. Take for example, the best scene from last night’s premiere: Ariana Grande has a hilarious text exchange with her killer, before [SPOILER ALERT] he finishes her off as she tries to send out one final tweet. It was inspired, diabolical, and exactly the kind of pinpoint satire that can elevate this show from frivolous novelty to bona fide cultural touchstone.

Lea Michele Goes from Glee to Geek
For those of you sad to see Ariana bite the bullet in the show’s premiere, fear not. Ryan Murphy has always been a maestro when it comes to casting, and Scream Queens is no different. Still around after last night’s blood bath are: Nick Jonas’ sexually ambiguous preppy blockhead Boone; Jamie Lee Curtis’ iron-fisted, sorority-hating dean of students; Abigail Breslin all grown up as a hollowed out Chanel No. 5; and last but certainly not least, an almost unrecognizable Lea Michele, whose retainer-wearing, borderline psychotic, mega-nerd Hester, is worth the TiVo space alone.

Lea Michele as Hester in Scream Queens. Photo: Everett Digital

WHAT WE DIDN’T

That Awful Devil Costume
In the annals of serial slashers — Halloween’s Mike Myers, Friday The 13th’s Jason Voorhies, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s Leatherface, and even Scream’s Ghostface — some dude dressed like he’s going to your Uncle’s swinger party just do it for us. Bring back Twisty.

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