"Thanksgiving" is the tenth episode of the horror black comedy series '' Scream Queens''. It premiered on November 24, 2015 on

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

. The episode was directed by

Michael Lehmann Michael Stephen Lehmann (born March 30, 1957) is an American film and television director known for directing the dark comedy ''Heathers''. Early life and education In 1978, Lehmann graduated from Columbia University.

and written by

Brad Falchuk Bradley Douglas Falchuk (born March 1, 1971) is an American television writer, director, and producer, best known for co-creating with Ryan Murphy the comedy-drama television series ''Glee'', the drama series ''Pose'', the horror comedy '' Screa ...

. The episode features special guest star

Chad Michael Murray Chad Michael Murray (born August 24, 1981) is an American actor and writer. He is best known for playing Lucas Scott in The WB/ CW drama series ''One Tree Hill'' (2003–09, 2012), a recurring role as Tristin DuGray on The WB/ CW series ''Gilmo ...

as Brad Radwell, the older brother of Chad Radwell (

Glen Powell Glen Thomas Powell Jr. (born October 21, 1988) is an American actor. He began his career with guest roles on television and small roles in films such as ''The Dark Knight Rises'' (2012) and ''The Expendables 3'' (2014) before making his breakthr ...

). The rest of the Radwell family are played by guest stars

Alan Thicke Alan Thicke (born Alan Willis Jeffrey; March 1, 1947December 13, 2016) was a Canadian actor, songwriter, and game and talk show host. He is the father of singer Robin Thicke. In 2013, Thicke was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. Thicke was be ...

Julia Duffy Julia Margaret Duffy (née Hinds; June 27, 1951) is an American film, stage, and television actress. She began her career in television, appearing in minor guest roles before being cast in the role of Penny Davis in the series ''The Doctors (1963 ...

Patrick Schwarzenegger Patrick Arnold Shriver Schwarzenegger (born September 18, 1993) is an American model, actor, investor, and entrepreneur. He is the son of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver. Early life and family Schwarzenegger was born at Providence St J ...

, and

Rachele Brooke Smith Rachele Brooke Smith (born November 7, 1987) is an American actress and dancer. She has starred in several films such as '' Center Stage: Turn It Up'', '' Bring It On: Fight to the Finish'', ''Atomic Shark Atomic may refer to: * Of or relating ...

. As this is the

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...

special episode, the episode centers around the main characters' activities during Thanksgiving. The episode was watched by 1.98 million viewers and received positive reviews from critics.

Plot

Chad takes Chanel to spend Thanksgiving with his family. Hester arrives unexpectedly. Chad tells his family that Hester is his "sober coach," claiming that he has a drinking problem. A fight ensues. After enduring shabby treatment from the Radwell family, Chanel apologizes for trying to kill Hester and then proceeds to tell off each of the Radwells, ending with Chad, and telling him she never wants to talk to him again. Gigi spends Thanksgiving with Red Devil in their hotel room. Chanel #3 goes to spend Thanksgiving with her adopted family, but is so disgusted by how arrogant and insane they are that she goes back to campus, where she spends the holiday with Dean Cathy Munsch and fellow students. As Chanel goes to uncover the turkey, it is revealed that instead of holding the turkey, the platter is holding Gigi's head.

Production

On September 11, 2015, Ryan Murphy announced that

is joining the cast of ''Scream Queens''. He portrayed Thad Radwell, the younger brother of

's character Chad Radwell. On,

was cast as Brad Radwell, the older brother of Chad.

and

were cast as The Radwells' parents. They all made their guest appearance in this episode.

Gary Grubbs Gary Grubbs (born November 14, 1949) is an American character actor who has appeared in 178 credited shows and films since the 1970s and is still working steadily. He is best known as Captain Steven Wiecek in ''For Love and Honor'' (1983-1984), ...

and

Faith Prince Faith Prince (born August 6, 1957) is an American actress and singer, best known for her work on Broadway in musical theatre. She won the Tony Award as Best Actress in ''Guys and Dolls'' in 1992, and received three other Tony nominations. Life ...

also guest starred in this episode as Chanel #3 (

Billie Lourd Billie Catherine Lourd (born July 17, 1992) is an American actress. She is known for starring as Chanel #3 in the Fox horror comedy series '' Scream Queens'' (2015–2016) and for her roles in the FX horror anthology series ''American Horror S ...

)'s adoptive parents, Mr. and Mrs. Swenson.

appears as Muffy St. Pierre-Radwell, the wife of Chad Michael Murray's character Brad.

Reception

Ratings

"Thanksgiving" was watched live by 1.98 million U.S. viewers and received a 0.8/3 rating/share in the adult 18-49 demographic.

Reception

"Thanksgiving" received positive reviews from critics. LaToya Ferguson of ''The A.V. Club'' gave the episode an A−, citing "Again—and I can’t stress this enough—the episode is fun. Humor is apart icof that, but it’s really an enjoyable episode to watch from top to bottom." IGN's Terri Schwartz gave the episode 8.5 out of 10 and said, "Scream Queens was losing me for a while, but the twist that Wes is the father of the bathtub girl's twins genuinely surprised me, and added a fun new, personal layer to the Red Devil Killer(s) mystery. Add that to a fun game of who-dunn-it and the introduction of the absolutely hatable Radwells and this was a great return to form for the FOX series."

References

{{Portal bar, Comedy, Speculative fiction/Horror, Television 2015 American television episodes Scream Queens (2015 TV series) episodes Television episodes directed by Michael Lehmann Television episodes written by Brad Falchuk Thanksgiving television episodes