The two-hour season finale continued with the reveal of the Red Devil and an explanation into their psyche. While the first half of the finale was surprisingly entertaining, the last half was a complete disappointment. It doesn’t seem possible that a 2-hour finale could be one part great, the other half horrible, but "Scream Queens" did it first. 

Hester is the Red Devil killer (FOX)

The episode flash-forwards to January 2016 and rush activities have begun for Kappa. Grace (Skyler Samuels) and Zayday (Keke Palmer) are now the co-presidents of Kappa Kappa Tau, with Hester (Lea Michele) as the treasurer. Dean Munsch (Jamie Lee Curtis) makes an appearance at KKT and announces to the pledges that she is happy that Wallace is now safe and that the campus has been restored to order. Hester smiles, but then begins an episode-long monologue about how she was the one who stabbed herself in the eye with a shoe and got away with murder. 

Hester explains that she and Boone (Nick Jonas) grew up in a mental institution and were raised by Gigi (Nasim Pedrad), who spent the first three years of their existence sobbing about her sister’s death. She was finally able to compose herself and taught them how to be murderers. Hester claims to be much smarter than Boone, especially when it came to them creating their fake personalities. Boone decided to pretend to be gay, but Hester thought it would divert attention more if she pretended to be a special-needs person. She stole a neckbrace from a girl in the asylum and invented herself as a nerdy girl with scoliosis. 

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She then makes it clear that the first victim of the Red Devil killings was the actual school mascot. Gigi crazily stabbed him to death and they stole the costume, eventually making more of them. Hester also admits that she and Boone were the ones who put acid in Melanie Dorkus’ (Brianne Howey) spray tan oil. It also turns out that Boone was never an enrolled student at Wallace, he just hung around the campus and somehow made it into the Dickie Dollar Scholars. But Hester decided to apply, and even though Dean Munsch told her it was incredibly obvious that her SAT scores and high school transcripts were faked, she would let her in based on a “special needs diversity quota” at Wallace. During the first night of rush, Hester decided not to kill Grace and Zayday because they showed her genuine kindness. 

The show then flashbacks to the end of the previous episode. After Hester is wheeled off to the hospital, the remaining members of Kappa gather in the living room. Chanel (Emma Roberts) begins to screech at Chanel #5 (Abigail Breslin), calling her a psychopath. Denise (Niecy Nash) then shows up in police uniform, claiming to have found Boone’s body. Before anyone can express their non-shock, Hester comes back to Kappa. Grace and Zayday accuse her of faking her transcripts, but she claims she did that because she was ashamed of being homeschooled. When they bring up the fact that there are no records of her parents, the real manipulation begins.

At that moment, a couple that Hester hired arrives at Kappa, claiming to be her mother and stepfather. They completely back her story up. Chanel #5’s parents also show up, but Hester has paid them off to completely lie about their daughter and say she was the bathtub baby (they comply because they secretly don’t even like her). Denise arrests #5, but that isn’t even close to the end of it. Hester then accuses Chanel #3 (Billie Lourd) on being in on the plan, claiming that she killed Sam (Jeanna Han) and Tiffany (Whitney Meyer). She even produces a letter from a psychiatrist saying #3 has split personality disorder; Hester faked the letter, but of course no one realizes that. She then levels in on Chanel, saying that she has receipts of Chanel buying a mass amount of weapons at a home convenience store (it was really Hester in disguise as Chanel). Chanel is horrified and tries to defend herself, but it is to no avail. The Chanel’s try and escape, but Denise calls for backup. All three girls are handcuffed and carted off to federal prison.

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The episode then skips to May of 2016. Chad (Glen Powell) has broken up with Chanel and completely forgotten about her; he pursued a relationship with Denise but they broke up so she could work for the FBI. To get over his grief of her leaving and all his friends dying, he came up with a fake charity in the name of all the fallen Dickie Dollar Scholars. Munsch has published a book on feminism (she reveals it was ghostwritten) and is now in a relationship with Wes (Oliver Hudson), who has decided to give Grace his full trust and let her enjoy college without him (creepily) watching ovr her. Hester, Grace, and Zayday are seen polishing the memorial to the students who were murdered by the Red Devil. When Hester and Munsch get a moment alone, Munsch reveals she knew all along that Hester was the Red Devil, as she recognized her face from when her mother gave birth to her. Hester admits to it, but blames her murderous activities on her damaged childhood. Munsch says there is no justification to what Hester did and that she will have to turn her in. Hester blackmails her into silence, saying that if she does that, she will reveal Munsch’s role in her mother’s death, as well as the fact that she killed her ex-husband. After a moment, both shake on it and decide to bury the hatchet. 

Lastly, the Chanels go to trial. They did not actually hire a defense team and simply screamed at the jury and judge that they were innocent. The jury originally voted them as being not guilty, but after Chanel angrily insults the jury’s appearances, they change their verdict and announce them as being guilty on 47 counts. The judge sentences the Chanel’s to life in an asylum, where they actually enjoy it: Chanel #3 gets a girlfriend, Chanel #5 begins to take medication and is actually…normal, and Chanel gets voted House President. She also becomes best friends with #5. The episode ends with Chanel climbing into bed; she is briefly awoken by the sound of breaking in. She shrugs and decides that it is nothing, only to open her eyes and scream: the Red Devil is standing above her with a butcher knife.

This last episode of Scream Queens was honestly one of the worst finales I have ever seen. This was less satisfying than anything Ryan Murphy has ever written, and that says a lot, given his vast resume of disappointing endings. How does one create a slasher show and have no showdown, no main cast killed, no resolution, and no blood?! It was honestly a joke, incredibly anti-climatic, and boring. Even worse, it didn't even set up a possible storyline for season 2. At this point, if the cast says this finale was brilliant, it’s because they’re trying to keep their jobs. The first half was suspenseful, but the second half took that and threw it out the window. Disappointing? Yes, but now we have closure.

Reach Staff Reporter Adrianne Ramsey here.