Scream Queens - Blood Drive - Review: "Bad Blood"

There was a lingering smell of blood on Scream Queens this Wednesday with the hospital conducting a (killer) blood drive. With more shocking reveals, unusually comedic deaths, and sassy one-liners, the episode was pretty fun. That being said, it was far from the strongest episode of the season. This episode was probably the least enjoyable this season, for me. It was predictable at times, yet to its credit it still had the usual elements of fun every so often, so it wasn't terrible either. Let's break 'Blood Drive' down...

This has nothing on the Denise - Chad - Chanel love triangle. 

With the C.U.R.E Institute having a shortage of blood, Chanel (Emma Roberts) suggested a blood drive, giving it the campaign the unofficial slogan of, "we've lost a lot of blood, so donate yours'". Ingrid Hoffel (Kirstie Alley) made the blood drive a competition, in an elaborate scheme to send the Chanels to a deadly island. The episode focused on this concept and essentially we spent forty minutes watching Chanel compete with Cathy Munsch over who would collect the most blood, and subsequently be able to take Dr. Brock Holt (John Stamos) on a vacation. A pretty funny concept, and the dramatic slow-mo fight-y scene was truly comedic, though I felt it was underused despite being the focus of the entire episode more-or-less. It was predictable however that, whoever should win, they would not be going to Blood Island, simply because both Chanel and Cathy Munsch are our two leading ladies - Ryan Murphy wouldn't kill them off just yet / if ever at all.

Back to Hoffel, who finally revealed her motive to viewers for wanting to take down the Chanels: Agatha Bean (Jan Hoag), the sorority housemaid from the first season, was her sister. I did not see that coming, wow! Having died after an incident with Chanel and a deep fryer, Hoffel is out to get revenge on the trio responsible. In actual fact it was purely Chanel, though poor #3 (Billie Lourd) and #5 (Abigail Breslin) are always punished along with her.

Lea Michele brings the humour as usual. 

On the topic of those punished, Lea Michele upped her screen-time once again, with Hester now taking on a nurse role within the C.U.R.E Institute. No longer punished for her murderous ways during the first season, Hester is no longer in the shadows of the hospital. I can't state enough how happy I was to see Michele given plenty of air-time: she's one of the stars of this show and she adds significantly to the humour. Going by the name of Donna Summer and dressed like Helga from Hey Arnold!, the character had her fair share of funny moments as always, though for the first time I felt I was watching Rachel Berry at times, sadly. I am by no means saying Michele is a bad actress, because for the most part she's played a very separate character to that of her Glee role, though for whatever reason, this week just didn't feel distinct enough. Perhaps it's because we haven't properly seen Hester this season, and so now she's properly back my brain is associating Michele with Rachel Berry, as this is something I recall experiencing during the Scream Queens Pilot. Let's hope this week was an exception, because I love Hester! 

Enough about the previous killer though. As revealed last week to viewers, Dr. Cassidy Cascade (Taylor Lautner)'s identity as the Green Meanie was enforced this week, when he conversed with Ingrid Hoffel about teaming up. Agreeing to work together, he's promised to let her deal with the Chanels, and in return she will assist him with his killer targets. He seemed very messy, stating that he tried to kill important characters but couldn't: what's the point if you're only going to kill off random patients then? It just seemed a little ridiculous, and besides, none of those in the hospital now have anything to do with his father's murder in 1985. That being said, Cascade revealed that there's another Green Meanie picking off this wonderful cast of characters. But who could it be? Surely Hester isn't up to her old tricks again? Maybe.

It could even be Dr. Brock Holt? This week Holt continued to demonstrate he is an incompetent and somewhat dumb doctor, with a naive belief that the more condoms used the safer the sex and an assertion that "tests don't lie". Yes, he's a walking-talking satirical piece is old Dr. Holt, though it may all be an act. I wouldn't rule him out of the suspects just because he seems he's hot. Equally, I'd be surprised if the two Green Meanies were the two new male stars of the show: it's likely it'll be someone from the previous season, though not necessarily someone currently in Season 2.

Quote(s) of the Week:

"I call it the 'Blurred Lines cure': you know like when you heard that song for the first time and you were like 'I could listen to this song over and over again and never get sick of it' and then months later you're like 'I'd rather marry Robin Thicke than ever have to listen to this awful song ever again'" - Hester Ulrich. 

Performer of the Week:

This week is as tough as ever. Whilst the episode wasn't a standout, the cast still delivered the lines and brought the humour pretty well. Keke Palmer definitely stood out a lot more this week, and I can't help but root for Zayday, though I'd probably say John Stamos was the Performer of the Week. He stood out the most this week and has this ability to make me both love yet dislike Brock - am I attracted to the character or repulsed? I'm just not sure.  

 Who do you suspect is the other Green Meanie? Let me know in the comments below.