Samantha Carpenter-Loomis (preferably known as Sam) is the protagonist of Scream 5 (2022) and Scream 6 (2023). She was portrayed by Melissa Barrera.
She is the older sister of Tara Carpenter and ex-girlfriend of Richie Kirsch. She is also the biological daughter of teenage serial killer, Billy Loomis. Correspondingly, this makes her the paternal granddaughter of copycat serial killer, Nancy Loomis as well.
Samantha was a former resident of Woodsboro, California who found out a dark secret of her birth which caused her legal father to leave and sent her down a rabbit hole of drugs and crime, much to the dismay of Judy Hicks who Sam would babysit the son of. After realizing the town was no good for her, she picked up and left at age 18 (almost 19), without even saying goodbye to her mother or sister.
In 2022, Samantha was forced to return to Woodsboro 5 years later when she learned that Tara had been attacked by the Ghostface killer. Now 24, she returned to town with her boyfriend and joined forces with Dewey Riley, Gale Weathers and Sidney Prescott, to stop the new killer. In the end, the killer is revealed to be Richie and Amber Freeman whom she is able to kill, cementing herself as the new Woodsboro final girl.
Biography
Early life
Samantha was conceived 1996, shortly before or during the Woodsboro Murders. The result of an affair Christina Carpenter had behind her high school sweetheart and eventual husband's back.
Samantha is born to Christina Carpenter in 1997, after her father Billy Loomis' death. Her father proposed to her mother senior year, believing he was the father. About five years later, her mother became pregnant again and gave birth to her younger sister, Tara Carpenter, her legal father, Mr. Carpenter's first biological child, unbeknownst to him at the time.
Truth of Parentage
One day when she was 13, she searched the attic for Christmas gifts. This led to her finding her mother's old diaries which revealed that she was in fact the daughter of Billy Loomis, the original Woodsboro Ghostface killer.
Samantha was shocked by this revelation and demanded an explanation from her mother, unaware that her father was listening and as a result of the confrontation, he left the family in anger.
Troubled Teen Babysitter and Abandoning Woodsboro
She moved to Modesto, California and got a job in a bowling alley. Six months prior to the fifth film, she began a relationship with Richie Kirsch. Samantha would take antipsychotic medication to cope with the truth or her parentage. Despite the medication, she would still suffer hallucinations of her birth father.
After the discovery of who her father was, Samantha descended down a rabbit hole of drugs and crime, drawing the attention of Woodsboro Sheriff Deputy Judy Hicks (later Sheriff) who’s son Wes she used to babysit, along with Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin, the twin niece and nephew of Randy Meeks. When she turned 18 unbeknownst decided to leave Woodsboro, abandoning her mother and sister.
2022 Woodsboro Legacy Killings
25 years since the Woodsboro Murders ended with the deaths of its perpetrators, Billy Loomis and Stu Macher, a new killer has emerged.
Five years after leaving town, Samantha's sister Tara is attacked by Ghostface, Wes Hicks Samantha to inform her and Samantha makes the decision, with Richie, to return to Woodsboro. They immediately go to see Tara in the hospital, to the welcome and dismay from others, and Samantha apologizes to Tara for leaving her and agrees to stay in town.
Later on, Samantha is taking a break at the hospital and when she looks in the mirror she hallucinates a vision of Billy Loomis who taunts her for unknown reasons. Samantha's phone rings and when she answers it's the Killer who claims to know her secret. Ghostface jumps out from behind the door and tries to attack her, however she is able to escape and she then reveals to Tara the reason she left town, when she was 13 she founds their mother's diaries which reveal that her father wasn't her father, and rather she is the daughter of Billy Loomis, whom her mother slept with in high school. After finding this information, she demanded an answer from her mother, unaware that her father was listening, and as a result he left them all. Tara gets angry at Samantha for this and demands she leave.
Samantha decides they need an expert to help them and she and Richie visit Dewey Riley who gives them two minutes with him. He explains the rules of surviving these attacks and then kicks them out of his house. However he later has a change of heart and joins Samantha and Richie and the Meeks-Martin house, where the rest of Tara’s friends have gathered.
Dewey introduces the teens to Stab and the history of Billy and Stu and they attempt to figure out the connection between the Killer and Samantha. Mindy, who has the same traits as her uncle, deduces that the Killer is attempting to create a "Requel" - a reboot / sequel - to Stab 8, which at that point is just called Stab, which received poor reviews amongst fans and is a generally hated sequel. They realize the Killer is probably a Stab fan who is using Sam and Tara to make the movie. They are using Tara and her friends as the new generation and using Samantha's connection to Billy Loomis as a way to weave the legacy characters, Sidney, Dewey and Gale, into the story. Samantha gets angry when she is accused of being the Killer, and flees. As she drives, she has another hallucination of Billy and just narrowly avoids a fatal car accident.
After Judy and Wes are killed, Samantha arrives on the scene and learns about their deaths. A news van pulls up, and a woman approaches Samantha looking for information. It is revealed that it's Gale Weathers. Sam then spots Deputy Vinson at the crime scene, despite the fact that he should be watching Tara at the hospital and she races back to save her sisters, with Dewey joining her. They are able to distract the Killer long enough to catch him off guard, however Dewey sends the sisters away and prepares to kill Ghostface once and for all, resulting in his own death.
Samantha decides it's time to leave Woodsboro and ignores Sidney Prescott's request for help. Along the way, Tara realizes she forgot her inhaler and they stop at Amber's house to get another one, unaware that Amber's house is 261 Turner Lane, Stu Macher's old house. They arrive in time to interrupt Ghostface as he's trying to kill Chad Meeks-Martin and they call the party off.
After Mindy is attacked, an argument breaks out amongst the group resulting in Amber Freeman unmasking herself as one of the killers. Richie and Samantha flee to the basement to hide and Richie deduces that Tara may be the other killer, resulting in Sam abandoning him. She finds Tara tied up upstairs and hesitates to untie her. Sidney and Gale arrive at the house and it's finally revealed that the other killer is none other than Richie.
He and Amber reveal that they are trying to make a new Stab movie after the fail of Stab 8 and they are pinning Sam as the killer, as she is the daughter of Billy Loomis. Amber goes to grab Tara so they can finish her off together however it is revealed that Sam did untie her and Tara taunts them with a phone call. Amber looks for Tara who jumps out and attacks her. Samantha then fights Richie as Amber returns to the kitchen where Sidney and Gale gang up on her.
Sidney and Gale kill Amber by setting her on fire, and Samantha repeatedly stabs Richie and then slits his throat, killing him. Sidney warns her that the Killer always comes back, so Samantha shoots him three times. A burnt Amber comes running at them from the kitchen with a kitchen knife and Tara shoots her through the head, finally killing her.
Outside, Tara, Mindy and a still alive Chad are taken to hospital and Sam thanks Gale and Sidney for their help. Samantha asks Sidney if she will be alright. Sidney knowing she will endure similar things she went through replies to her with a slight smile saying, "Eventually." As Samantha prepares to leave in the ambulance with Tara, she hallucinates Billy standing behind her once more, indicating that he still is, and will continue to, haunt her.
The New York Ghostface Murders
On the same night that a new Ghostface killer murders Blackmore University, Jason Carvey, Sam attends a therapy session with her new therapist, Dr. Stone, where she tells him about her lack of Billy Loomis hallucinations but that she feels there is still a darkness inside of her as when she was stabbing Richie to death, "it felt right". This makes Dr. Stone uncomfortable and he ends their session and reveals that he has to share this information with the police. Sams storms out of the house, telling Dr. Stone that he's the same as the rest of them.
She returns to the apartment that she shares with Tara and Quinn and is surprised to see Tara isn't there. Quinn, who is hosting one of many men that she usually does, tells her that Tara went to a frat party with Chad, Mindy, Anika Kayoko, and Ethan. Sam, who has been hovering over Tara since arriving in New York goes to the party where she finds a student, Frankie, trying to take advantage of her and so she tases him in the testicles. On the way back to their apartment, Sam and Tara argue about Sam not being able to let go of what happened in Woodsboro and Sam is then ambushed by students who believe the conspiracy that she framed Richie.
They return to their apartment and Sam spends some time alone in the foyer. When Danny returns home, they kiss in secret before another resident returns. Sam goes back upstairs and a news report reports on the murder of Jason. Sam asks Quinn to call her dad, Detective Bailey, and he informs her that her drivers license was found at the scene of Jason's murder and that she needs to come down to the police station for questioning. Despite her reluctance, Sam allows Tara to come with her.
Along the way, Sam gets a call from Richie's old phone number and when she answers, it's Ghostface on the other line. He threatens the sister and then ambushes them from an alley. They evade him and run into a Bodega which Ghostface follows them in to. Ghostface kills multiple customers. The Bodega owner tells them to go out the back and tries to shoot Ghostface with a shotgun. Sam and Tara ask the owner for the keys to escape and whilst grabbing them, Ghostface jumps out and stabs him in the heart, he then takes the shotgun and kills the owner. He stalks the girls through the Bodega and they are able to escape, leaving Jill Roberts and Charlie Walker's old Ghostface mask behind.
Sam and Tara are interviewed by Detective Wayne Bailey at the police station but the interview is interrupted by the arrival of FBI Agent, and Woodsboro Survivor, Kirby Reed, and it is revealed that Kirby and Sam were friends at Woodsboro High, despite their age difference. The sisters leave the police station and are ambushed by reporters, including Gale. Sam and Tara argue with Gale and both try to clock her in the face, with Tara succeeding. They leave in a taxi, with Gale telling them that Sidney won't be coming to New York. They meet with the rest of the group at the University campus where Mindy explains the rules of the new movie and her suspects list. Sam and Tara offer to host everyone in their apartment so they can be together and safe in numbers.
The survivors have a heart-to-heart with each other and Chad nicknames them the "core four". Sam then confesses that she is dating Danny and ignores his subsequent phone call when he's trying to warn her that Ghostface is in Quinn's bedroom. They hear grunting and screaming coming from Quinn's room and intially believe it's Quinn having sex but soon realise it's sinister and Quinn's 'dead' body is thrown through the door. Tara and Chad escape through the front door and Sam, Mindy and Anika are forced to climb over a ladder between their apartment and Danny's, resulting in Anika's death after Ghostface flips the ladder whilst she's climbing across.
The next morning, Gale reconciles with the group and takes them to an abandoned theatre that is registered under Jason's name. Inside is a shrine dedicated to Ghostface, containing his old costumes and masks and various pieces of clothing and Stab memorabilia. Sam and Gale have a heart-to-heart about Sam being cut off by Christina and her desire to have a family again and Gale tells her that she can still have a family even if it's only with one person. Wayne shares an idea he has on how to capture Ghostface and has Sam and Tara walk through a park, with him watching over them, whilst Kirby traces a phone call from Ghostface that he hopes will be triggered by Sam and Tara being out in public. It works and Sam receives a call and they track the call to Gale's penthouse on the Upper East Side.
Sam and Tara steal Wayne's police car and race to Gale's penthouse where they arrive just in time to interrupt Ghostface from finishing Gale off. However, as Gale passes out she asks them to tell Sidney that Ghostface never got her. Gale is then taken to the hospital with a weak pulse with her fate left unknown. The core four go to the hospital, with Ethan, to await news on Gale and Tara then comes up with a plan to trap Ghostface in the shrine so they can kill him. Wayne agrees to the plan and tells them to travel in public. The group go to the subway however are separated from Mindy and Ethan who are held back by commuters. On the subway, Sam notices multiple commuters wearing Ghostface costumes and becomes nervous when one commuter approaches them sinisterly, however they disembark without issue.
They arrive at the shrine, and Sam sends Danny away as he previously told Sam that she shouldn't trust anyone, not even him. They go into the shrine and Sam hallucinates Billy again who tells her to take his knife from the glass display case it is in so she can fight, and Sam obliges. She then notices that the door has been chained shut and gets a call from Wayne who tells her that Kirby was fired from the FBI because of her mental health and they turn on Kirby. Sam, Tara and Chad run from Ghostface and then fight him, and when Chad holds Ghostface back to let Sam and Tara run, a second Ghostface appears and the two stab Chad and leave him for dead. Sam and Tara return to the theatre and the two Ghostface's corner them and they prepare to fight. Kirby comes out and reveals that the two Ghostface's knocked her out and then Wayne shows up and shoots Kirby, revealing himself as the killer.
The two Ghostface's unmask themselves, revealing them as Ethan and Quinn, and they reveal that they are all family of Richie's, being his siblings and father, and that they want revenge against Sam for killing him. Sam and Tara evade the trio and flee to the upstairs where Tara slips off the railing. Sam holds onto her as Ethan stabs at her from below, and Tara tells Sam that she has to let her go, and so Sam gives Tara Billy's knife and lets her go and Tara falls to the ground and stabs Ethan. Quinn climbs up to the second floor and tries to ambush Sam but Sam shoots her in the head and kills her.
Wayne then attacks her and the two go flying off the edge of the rail and to the ground. Wayne is knocked out and when he wakes up he gets a call from Sam who uses the Ghostface voice to taunt him and she then emerges behind him wearing Billy's old mask and robe and uses Billy's knife to stab Wayne to death by stabbing him forty times and once through the eye. Danny shows up with police officers who he called for help and tells them that Mindy and Gale both survived their wounds. With the killings coming to an end once more, Sam watches as Kirby is wheeled into an ambulance and she tells Sam to call her if she ever needs anything. They witness as Chad is wheeled out of the theatre, still alive and they embrace as the core four.
As Chad is driven away by ambulance, Sam reveals that she still has Billy's mask in her jacket but then drops it to the ground as she walks off with Tara and Danny.
Trivia
- It was announced that Melissa Barrera will not return for Scream 7, meaning Sam will only have been in 2 movies in the franchise.
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