‘Scream Queens’ recap: It ain’t over till the Red Devil sings

Well, pledges, we have reached the end. After a season’s worth of murder, betrayal and accusations all hell finally broke loose in the climatic two-hour “Scream Queens” finale. Due to the sheer volume of events and revelations flooding this episode, I thought I would break it down for you pledges. Here goes nothing:

Sympathy for the Red Devil - Pete’s Confession: OK, pledges, things got a little confusing tonight with the reveal that there were in fact three Red Devil killers, Pete (Diego Boneta) being one of them. Pete finally confesses to Grace (Skyler Samuels) that he witnessed Boone (Nick Jonas) killing Shondell and stayed quiet about the murder to enact his revenge on the Greek system. However, when he had to prove his loyalty to the two twins by murdering Rodger, he finally realized he was in too deep, he killed Boone in the hotel room instead of Gigi (Nasim Pedrad). He also admits to attempting to murder Chanel (Emma Roberts) and the cop in the mall with a crossbow.

Naturally disgusted, Grace is eager to leave his room and his life forever, but she turns back around when Pete announces that Boone’s twin, the other baby in the bathtub, is in fact one of her Kappa sisters. Unfortunately, just as he is about to name the second killer, the Red Devil emerges from Pete’s closet and stabs him to death, then knocks Grace unconscious before she can rip off the killer’s mask.

The mighty have fallen - Chanel’s Shaming: Still pretty ticked off at her sisters for abandoning her brilliant plan to drown Dean Munsch (Jamie Lee Curtis) in the campus pool, Chanel drafts a scathing missive to them -- I mean, her plan was simple, but dang girl, that was harsh. What Chanel doesn’t expect is for her hateful email to be forwarded to all of Wallace University by her Red Devil sister and then picked up and mercilessly covered by mainstream media, causing a outcry of hate towards her.

Devastated by her fall from power, she decides to end it all by killing herself the way Cleopatra did: with an asp -- seriously, she orders an asp online. Fortunately, she orders the wrong (as in nonvenomous) snake and Zayday (Keke Palmer) comes into her room at just the right time to talk Chanel down. The two decide to let bygones be bygones and to work together to bring down the killer, who just so happens to show up at that exact moment. However, it is not the real Red Devil, but the pizza delivery guy who was ordered by the Red Devil to go in and kill all the Kappas or she would detonate the dynamite strapped to him. A not-so-long story short… boom goes the dynamite.

If the shoe fits… - The Real Hester is revealed: Grace uses her father, Wes (Oliver Hudson), and Munsch’s obvious attraction to him for the greater good when she talks her dad into distracting Munsch so she and Zayday can snoop through the Chanels’ personal files -- kinda weird to pimp out your dad there, Grace. Grace and Zayday’s sleuthing does pay off when they realize that one of the Chanels’ parents are nonexistent and all her high school transcripts are faked -- that’s right, Chanel No. 6, aka Hester (Lea Michele), is the second baby in the bathtub, Grace’s half-sister and the Red Devil killer.

After finding out this information, Grace and Zayday run off to find the Chanels, luckily finding Chanel and Chanel No. 3 (Billie Lourd) before Chanel stabs their disfigured former Kappa president Melanie Dorkus (Brianne Howey) for being the Red Devil killer. The four of them rush back to the Kappa house to find Chanel No. 5 (Abigail Breslin) distraught that her Tinder swipe was a fake and Hester with a stiletto heel through her left eye.

Revenge is best served cold - Hester’s plot: Gigi is not the only one who had been planning her revenge for years, and it turns out that Hester was the brains behind the entire operation. Bitter and hell-bent on revenge after growing up in an asylum, Hester, Boone and Gigi hatch a plan for revenge on the Greek system for killing their mother/sister. Hester takes on an entire new persona of being quirky and socially awkward -- and yes the neck brace was just a disguise -- to infiltrate the Kappas and the Chanels’ inner circle.

At this point, even after all the death, her plan is only half complete; she still has to take down the Chanels and get away with murder -- seriously, where is Annalise Keating when you need her? Hester decides to kill two birds with one stone and pin the Red Devil killings on the Chanels. Chanel No. 5 already looks suspicious when she is caught at the house with an impaled Hester, but things begin to look even worse for her when Hester convinces Chanel No. 5’s parents to lie about her being the baby in the bathtub and adopting her from Gigi. After this false confession, Denise Hemphill (Niecy Nash) immediately arrests No. 5.

However, Hester is not done accusing just yet. She says Chanel No. 3 has been working with No. 5 all along but doesn’t remember it because she has a second personality named Dirty Helen, and Hester even has a psychologist’s note to prove the diagnosis -- girl is an evil genius. After No. 3 is also arrested, Hester moves on to accuse Chanel Oberlin of being involved in the murders as well and even purchasing all the murder weapons at the home improvement store -- the security footage of this is just Hester in a Chanel wig, but it looks convincing enough. After announcing that Chanel committed all this murder just to off all the undesirables from Kappa Kappa Tau, Hemphill has no choice but to put all three Chanels under arrest.

Happily Ever After? - A new kind of Hell Week: After the Red Devil ordeal is over, order has been restored to Wallace University; the new and improved Kappa Kappa Tau house is under the capable hands of President Zayday, Vice President Grace and Treasurer Hester. Dean Munsch wrote a best-selling novel, Hemphill is off to the FBI and even the Chanels are happily enjoying their sentence in the insane asylum. Chanel Oberlin is voted house president at the asylum, because, of course she is. Munsch’s revelation that she knows Hester was the Red Devil all along threatens to upset the balance, but the two decide to call a truce when Hester threatens to reveal Munsch’s sinister past. All is right in their girl world… well, that is, until a Red Devil is hovering above your bed with a butcher’s knife, right Chanel?

So, pledges, what did you think? Were you surprised that Hester was the Red Devil all along? Was the finale satisfying for you? If there is a next season, what would you like to see? Sound off in the comments!

Scream count: 9

Episode death count: 3

Best quote:

“You’re quoting Nietzsche? Seriously? You’re already a murderer, Pete, you don’t have to be a douche as well.” - Grace (Skyler Samuels)

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