WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for Scream 6!The strengthened sister relationship between Jenna Ortega’s Tara and Melissa Barrera’s Sam in Scream franchise. Since the very first movie, Scream has been notable for having complex and twisted family dynamics, whether that be Ghostface killers attacking their own relatives, long-standing familial grudges, or Ghostfaces targeting family of past killers and victims. After Sidney and the Prescott family stood at the center of the first four Scream movies, Scream (2022) progressed the franchise’s blood ties by making Sam Carpenter the daughter of Ghostface killer Billy Loomis, Tara Carpenter the half-sister of Sam, and twins Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin the nephew and niece of Randy Meeks.
Familial relationships have never been more important in the franchise than in Scream 6, as the primary dynamics are between siblings Sam and Tara, Mindy and Chad, and the Bailey family Ghostface killers. While the concept of difficult family relationships has always been at the core of Scream’s Ghostface attacks, they rarely featured siblings, cousins, or parents and children working together in the past until Scream (2022). However, as the reboots continue to emphasize the notion of subverting expectations of the franchise, Scream 6 uses Tara and Sam Carpenter to finally change the longest problem related to Scream’s family theme.
Sidney's Past Suggested Sam & Tara Would Eventually Turn On Each Other
Given Scream’s typically tragic depictions of family, Tara and Sam’s relationship in Scream 6 was expected to end in betrayal, especially due to Sam’s biological ties to past Ghostface killers Billy and Nancy Loomis. Trusting family never proved to work for Sidney Prescott in Scream movies, as two of the franchise’s Ghostface killers were her own relatives. Scream 3’s Ghostface killer was Roman Bridger, the secret half-brother of Sidney through her mother Maureen Prescott, who sought revenge on Sidney and their deceased mother. Scream 4’s primary Ghostface killer was then Sidney’s younger cousin Jill Roberts, who wanted both revenge and to replace Sidney as Woodsboro’s celebrity survivor.
Scream (2022) was the first time that the franchise had such close relatives like the Carpenters and Meeks-Martins all actively working together within the main character group, with the Core Four’s survival also taking the movies into uncharted waters. Sidney’s experiences with her family would have indicated that Sam would turn on Tara or Chad would turn on Mindy – or vice versa – in Scream 6 due to resentments or unexpectedly selfish motives. There were also hints that Tara may not have been able to trust Sam due to the latter’s visions of Billy Loomis and suppressed urge to kill. As such, many theories incorrectly Scream 6 while turning against Tara.
Sam & Tara Finally Prove Family Can Be Trusted In Scream 6
Breaking a franchise-long problem, Sam and Tara’s ability to remain united despite significant tests on their relationship proves relatives can still be trusted within the Scream movies. Scream 6 set up a potential rift between sisters Sam and Tara after Sam took pleasure in killing Richie, Sam became too over-protective of Tara in New York City, and Tara voiced her resentment of Sam refusing to move on from what happened to them in Woodsboro. Despite all of Scream’s trademark signs pointing to Sam and Tara eventually turning on one another, they never did. Rather, the sisters’ bond was stronger than ever by Scream 6’s ending, with Sam also electing to leave her connection to Billy in the past.
While Scream 6 did introduce another poor relationship in their family by revealing that both Sam and Tara were at odds with their mother, Christina Carpenter isn’t apt to appear in Scream 7 as a threat to the sisters or as a vengeful Ghostface. Unlike the extended Prescott family, Scream 6 positions the Carpenters as an exception to the divide that Scream frequently introduces between the franchise’s prominent family . With Jenna Ortega and Melissa Barrera’s characters as primary examples, Scream 6 is proving that relatives aren’t always destined for tragic betrayals in the franchise.
Scream 6's Family Themes Break Past Scream Logic
Sam and Tara aren’t the only Scream 6 relatives breaking unofficial franchise rules, as each family is a unified front. Most Scream family trees are split between characters who are Ghostface killers, victims, or survivors, such as Nancy and Billy Loomis being on opposite sides as Hank Loomis or Sidney Prescott and Kate Roberts being targeted by Jill Roberts. However, each family unit in Scream 6 is on the same side. Sam and Tara Carpenter take on the Ghostface killers together, Mindy and Chad Meeks-Martin are allied again, and Wayne, Ethan, and Quinn Bailey work together as a villainous Ghostface team. Shockingly, each character can trust their respective family in Scream 6.
