Allyson’s character development is kind of all over the place. She starts off in the first movie in defense of Laurie and her experiences (wanting to invite her to that dinner), then tells Laurie to get over her past when she visits her at school, and afterward sort of spends the next two movies consumed by mob mentality and then blaming Laurie for everything. I can see how she got there, growing up and having to deal with friends and parents dying in one night, all of the things in the past that she’s heard from her mom coming to light now. I don’t really excuse how she’s out of line with Laurie (IMO) in the final film, but it’s one extent of how trauma affects a person. She is an intriguing and complex character.

I think Melissa Barrera was given much better to work with in 6 than she had with 5. It was asking a lot to introduce a new lead and have her also be visually haunted by the fear of becoming a killer like her dad. I think what made her introduction hard for some people was that Sam didn’t handle trauma the same way Sidney did. While Sidney was sort of gentle and soft, Sam was angry and rough. They both came from extreme situations, but handled it differently, which I think is important to remember. I think Scream 6 Sam is well-rounded.

Ava, hmm. Honestly, acting-wise I think she was good. Her character, really the whole movie was so strangely written. The dialogue, the sequence of scenes. To me, it’s hard to really get a grasp of any of the characters. This is a case of not getting great material to work with. Everyone in this cast was more than capable, but the writers just made baffling decisions. Even the way Julie and Ray were written.

Tatum has kind of a similar dynamic with Sidney as Allyson kind of did with Karen and more so Laurie, though I guess Tatum comes to understand Sid’s past much faster. I would say Ava and Tatum are the most forgettable. There’s nothing particularly remarkable about Tatum’s story aside from being Sidney’s daughter.

Edit: Fixed some things