Scream 7 needs to answer a crucial question and end the mystery around Sam Carpenter’s identity. Neve Campbell returned as the ultimate final girl Sidney Prescott in Scream 5 with legacy characters Gale Weathers and Dewey Riley. However, similar to Scream 4, the perspective shifted to a new generation of high schoolers being terrorized by Ghostface. Campbell’s Scream 6 exit and Dewey’s death in the previous film meant only Gale was left, and Sam was the new final girl. Sam is connected to the original Woodboro murders because her father is Scream 1 Ghostface, Billy Loomis.
This added depth to the franchise, making Scream 5 and Scream 6 more than whodunit slasher films, but also explorations of good versus evil and how Sam falls somewhere in between. Throughout both films, Sam is unsure if she is a hero or a villain like Billy, who is capable of committing the same horrible crimes. She sees Billy in the mirror, and like a typical devil on the shoulder, he encourages her to be just like him. However, her own conscience tells her differently. At the end of Scream 6, Sam drops Ghostface’s mask and walks away – but Scream 7 needs to give a definite answer about Sam.
Sam Has To Choose Good Or Evil
What’s kept Scream going successfully for so many years is its ability to reinvent itself over and over again. Even when some Ghostfaces have had similar motives, or when the “re-quel” films took inspiration from the originals, Scream has always found a way to add a fresh twist to things that have already been done. Scream 5 and Scream 6 both explored Sam’s struggles with choosing good or evil, and by the end of Scream 6, she suggests she’s ready to stop doubting herself and choose good. If Scream 7 doesn’t stick with this decision or make a new storyline where she’s evil, the plot will wear itself out.
Reusing the same storyline over and over again while never giving fans a direct answer won’t work in Scream‘s favor. Shows like Pretty Little Liars angered fans by dragging out A’s identity for years, making the big reveal underwhelming. Scream is at risk of the same thing if they don’t establish the truth behind Sam. For Scream 7, it would be best to stick with the Scream 6 ending and let Sam walk away from her father’s past and be her own hero.
How Scream 7 Can Maintain The Possibility Sam Is Evil
If Sam decides to be good, it doesn’t mean fans should rip up their theories that she’ll ever be involved in a Ghostface massacre. Scream 7 can still leave open the possibility of Sam being evil. Stu has been long gone since his Scream 1 death, but fans haven’t stopped theorizing that he’s still alive and has been the ringmaster Ghostface for the five sequels. Anything is possible in the Scream universe, so Sam deciding she’s a good person doesn’t mean she can never be Ghostface. It just means viewers don’t have to witness her constantly questioning it. Sam must decide in Scream 7, but that decision can change anytime.
