When the Scream franchise returned in 2022, it tried something totally different by putting Sam Carpenter at the forefront. To that point, Neve Campbell’s Sidney had been the protagonist and the final girl. Yet in 2022’s Scream, she’s a supporting character and Melissa Barrera’s Sam took over.

Sam was also the focal point of Scream VI and it looked like the franchise would center around her going forward. Unfortunately, her pro-Palestinian comments led to her controversial firing from the franchise. That’s a shame for several reasons and one of them is that Sam was such an intriguing character.

Sam’s Connection To Billy Made You Wonder If She’d Become A Killer

While there have been plenty of tremendous final girls in horror history, from Laurie Strode to Nancy Thompson, Sam Carpenter was the most intriguing. They’re all survivors, yet Sam had the added twist where we constantly wondered if she’d become a killer herself.

It’s revealed early on in 2022’s Scream that Sam is the illegitimate daughter of Billy Loomis, who was one of the killers in the original film. She sees visions of him throughout, where he tries to get her to become a killer. It’s something that pops up in both films featuring Sam.

In Scream VI, one of the story points is that the killers want to frame Sam for the murders because she’s an ideal candidate. Sam even suits up in Billy’s costume, makes a call as Ghostface, and murders Wayne, one of the killers. Sam ultimately leaves the mask behind, yet the intriguing idea of her doing more kills is possible.

The Carpenter Sisters Were A Great Choice To Lead Scream

Sam wasn’t alone as a key piece of the new Scream films. While there was a “core four,” Sam and her sister Tara were the focal points. Their relationship was an interesting one, as their bond drives the story of Scream and Sam’s overprotective nature causes a rift in Scream VI.

This allowed the two movies to feel different from the original four, giving things a unique spin as now we had siblings we wanted to root for. There was also the possibility that, if Sam did become a killer, Tara could take over as the final good girl of the story.

It helped that Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega had tremendous on-screen chemistry and delivered strong performances. Unfortunately, the firing of Barrera helped lead to Ortega also walking away from the franchise.

Scream 7 Misses Sam Carpenter

Controversy continues to surround Scream 7, but even if you take that away, the movie was clearly in trouble. Scream (2022) and Scream VI crafted a story about Sam, so taking her away (and Tara as well) means that this feels disjointed from the rest.

Having Sidney return was meant to help ease that, yet early reviews for Scream 7 show that might not have worked out. So far, Scream 7 has the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score of the entire franchise. Considering how well the previous two entries were received, the series seems to miss Sam Carpenter.