Christina Carpenter (née unknown) is an unseen resident of Woodsboro, California, and the mother of Samantha and Tara Carpenter in Scream (2022 film). During the events of the film, she is away for an extensive business trip in London. She left her seventeen-year-old daughter, Tara, home alone.
Following the events of the Third Woodsboro Murders, Christina cuts off Samantha because she revealed the truth about her connection to Billy Loomis to Tara. With Christina refusing to speak to Sam, Tara subsequently cut her off, leaving to a rift in the family and for Sam desperate to have a new family.
Biography
Early Life
Christina was born to her unnamed parents in 1979 in Woodsboro, California. During her time in high school, she met Mr. Carpenter, and they instantly became high school sweethearts. Unbeknownst to him, at some point in 1996 Christina crossed paths with Billy Loomis, and they had an affair which led to Christina getting pregnant with Their daughter in August 1996, before he committed the Woodsboro Murders with Stu Macher a month later.
Scared, she convinced her boyfriend that he was the biological father. She gave birth to Samantha Carpenter on May 19th, 1997. Around five years later, she became pregnant with her second daughter, and her husband's first biological child, unbeknownst to Mr. Carpenter, the biological father of Tara Carpenter. Christina gave birth to Tara on December 14th, 2002.
In December 2010, when Samantha was 13 and Tara was 8, Samantha tried to look around the attic of her parents' home for Christmas gifts, however, she came across her mother's old high school diaries. Thinking they were going to be romantic, she read the diaries and uncovered her mother's short-lived affair with Billy Loomis back in high school. Upset, she confronted her mother about it, all the while her legal father (and Christina's husband) was standing nearby and overheard the entire conversation.
As a result, Mr. Carpenter left the family, effectively cutting all communications with not only Christina, but also Sam and Tara. This caused a major rift between Christina and Sam as they began to butt heads a lot more, which in turn made Sam begun to act out by sneaking out, underage drinking, doing drugs and even skipping school. Once after Sam turned 18, she decided to move from Woodsboro to another Californian location: Modesto.
As time went on, Christina began to focus her attention on Tara, and also began talking bad about Sam, blaming her for their father leaving, which in turn resulted in Tara beginning to resent Samantha and started ignoring her calls and texts.
Once Tara got into high school herself, Christina soon began to become a workaholic in her unknown profession and career as she began taking more business trips, leaving Tara home alone frequently. She also started to become more absent in Tara's life as she began focusing her time on a new unknown man. It's also mentioned that Christina is dealing with serious alcoholism.
The Woodsboro Legacy Murders (2022)
Christina is away on business in London when her daughter is attacked by Ghostface at their home. Following the attack, she calls to check in on Tara for "all of 10 minutes".
She is called by her older daughter, Samantha. that they were going to stop at Modesto, but they had to go to Amber Freeman's house at 261 Turner Lane to get a spare inhaler first.
Aftermath
After the Third Woodsboro Murders, Christina quickly learned that Samantha revealed everything to Tara about the past and who Sam's real father was. Instead of comforting her daughter, she instead decided to turn it into a verbal argument with one of them that ended with Christina deciding to cut contact from Samantha for good. However, as a result of her doing that, Tara also decided to cut contact from Christina in support of her sister. Looking for a new start, Samantha and Tara decide to relocate to New York.
Relationships
Family
Allies
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Enemies
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Trivia
- Her original name was set to be Susan.[1]
- She likes horror movies; Stab in particular (according to the call from the killer).
- Billy was unfaithful to Sidney with her back in high school. This is hinted at with the girls Billy was conversing with at the video store (Though neither could be Christina, as she would be of Latin heritage).
- If Billy's age and a high school senior, she would have graduated about a month after giving birth during 1997 or was pregnant and graduated given that she gave birth to Sam on May 19th, 1997 and the graduation falls between May-June in the United States.
- Christina is the second female film character whose name derives from Christ-suffix (although in Spanish, translates to Christine), following Christine Hamilton in Scream 3.
- It has not been confirmed if she attended Woodsboro High School like the original teenagers in Scream (1996), but it is very likely as she lived in and raised her daughters in Woodsboro.
- Christina is the first mother of a protagonist in the Scream franchise to have cut off contact with her children, due to her child's origins (Samantha being her and Billy's firstborn daughter), similar to how Roman Bridger as the fifth Ghostface, was also shut down by his mother upon finding her and trying to reconcile, as revealed in Scream 3, due to him being an illegitimate child (which led Roman to mentor and convince her fling, Billy, to murder his and his half-sister Sidney's mother, in revenge; also due to Billy's mother/future Ghostface #4, Nancy Loomis, abandoning Billy, due to her husband & his father, Hank Loomis's affair with Maureen, as a result, making Billy go along with Roman's plans to murder her, with Stu Macher).
- Difference being Roman was shut down for attempting to reconcile with his birth mother from who he was separated from since birth, which she shut down due to her trauma and his illegitimate birth resulting from it (of which Roman was aware of)
- Whereas Christina didn't abandon Sam, despite her being illegitimate, but only shut her out and estranged her once Sam discovered the truth of her own origins on her own, that then led to Mr. Carpenter divorcing her (who was unaware of this, having believed Sam was his child, due to Christina lying to him in high school), who'd cut Sam off after the Legacy Murders due to revealing this information to her second daughter, Tara, as Sam's younger half sister, and her and her former husband's legitimate child, leading to Tara then being attacked, on the basis of this.
- Christina would be the third mother overall to cut off contact with her children, following Maureen and Nancy Loomis pre-Scream. The difference being Christina cut off her daughters, non-antagonistic, whereas Maureen and Nancy would cut off their own children who ended up being killers.
- Overall the fourth, if counting Maggie Duval from Season 1 of the TV series, due to giving up her illegitimate daughter and later attempted killer, Piper Shaw, (of which she had with her own fling and alleged killer of the 1994 murders, Brandon James) for adoption; not revealing the truth of this or her former name "Daisy" to her second daughter and protagonist, Emma Duval, which then led to her daughter being targeted during the Second Lakewood Murders (2015-2016) because of this, similarly to Christina's second daughter, Tara, during the Legacy Murders.
- Like Maggie with her husband and the father of her second daughter, Kevin Duval, being divorced, Christina and Mr. Carpenter also divorced, in each cases, due to the origins of the firstborn illegitimate child (Christina with Sam, Maggie with Piper). Unlike Mr. Carpenter not aware of it until revealed by Sam, Kevin would know the truth of Maggie's affair with her fling, and of the existence of her & his firstborn, illegitimate child (difference was Kevin became abusive upon discovering this, physically assaulting his ex-wife, which led to divorce, unlike the Carpenters).
- Unlike Christina with either Sam or Tara as survivors (due to her not being attacked), Maggie eventually ended up reconciling with Emma, due to surviving the 2015 murders with her ("Revelations").
- It's unknown if she and Sidney knew each other. If she went to Woodsboro High School, they are likely to be familiar with each other as well as knowing Casey Becker, Steven Orth, Tatum Riley, Stu Macher, Randy Meeks and Judy Hicks as well. She may have been acquainted with Martha Meeks from school and the town as well.
- Both of Christina's daughters being set out to be killers and suspects of, would be a reference to how protagonists Sidney Prescott in the third film, Emma Duval in the second season, and Marcus Elliot in the third season would also be made out as such, succeeded by Martha Meeks' own children, Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin, in the fifth and sixth films, during the Legacy Murders (2022; fifth) and New York Murders (2023; sixth).
- Christina is the fourth parent in the Scream franchise who had a secret, first child with another partner, as well as the only parent of who's firstborn did not turn out to be a killer and who didn't abandon them and raised them alongside their second-child, and has had two children, preceded by:
- Maureen Prescott (pre-Scream; firstborn being the fifth Ghostface and film director, Roman Bridger, responsible for the Hollywood Murders (2000), which he committed while filming the cancelled Sunrise Studios fictional sequel Stab 3: Return to Woodsboro, to lure his half-sister and Maureen's second child, daughter Sidney Prescott, out of hiding, of who had survived the previous two Ghostface massacres which led to them being adapted into the Stab film series; by the same studio company Maureen had worked at in the late 1960s-early 1970s under the alias "Rina Reynolds", who illegitimately conceive and had Roman, following being raped at a shady event party held by producer John Milton)
- Maggie Duval (pre Season 1-Season 2; her firstborn being the second Lakewood Slasher and podcaster, Piper Shaw, after the 94 Killer, who'd be responsible for the Second Lakewood Murders committed nearly 21 years after the first of which she had survived by-proxy and would go on to survive the second alongside the main target and Maggie's second daughter, Emma Duval, following them being attacked during the first volume in September-October 2015, before her and her daughter would survive the second volume in January-February 2016 carried out by both of her daughters lover and Piper's accomplice, Kieran Wilcox, the only son of the former Lakewood Sheriff, Clark, who Maggie dated).
- Earl Elliot (Season 3; firstborn being Jamal Elliot, the party promoter dealer turned Ghostface responsible for the Atlanta Murders (2018), due to targeting by proxy him and Jamal's other half brother, Marcus, due to his twin Deion's death and taking on his identity).
- She was in rehab groups (unspecified if NA, as well) for her alcoholism issue (AA):
- Christina could perhaps be a functioning addict which is preceded and shown with characters, such as formerly frequent smokers Jennifer Jolie and Tom Prinze in Scream 3, and Robbie Mercer's drinking in Scream 4.
- Christina as a parent and secretly an alcoholic (although public knowledge in Woodsboro due to it being a small town, according to Amber) is perhaps a nod to the original intended role for Kate Roberts to be a secret drug (pill-popping) addict and the mother of the seventh Ghostface killer, Jill Roberts, in Scream 4.
- This is perhaps due to the fact that not only was she committing infidelity (and vice versa with Billy and Sidney), but she cheated with who was soon revealed to be the mastermind and infamous first Ghostface killer who killed his former girlfriend's mother (Maureen) a year prior and then targeted his girlfriend and her (and his, supposed) friends on the eve of his first victim, whose infamous 1996 murders would be immortalized within the Stab franchise (mainly the first film).
- Alongside seemingly never having told anyone or her husband or family, mainly her younger daughter, Tara, who would then be targeted 26 years later in the third Woodsboro Murders killing spree because of it. This also alludes to her first oldest (and secret/illegitimate child with Billy), Samantha, who would learn as a teenager of her illegitimacy and blood connection, leading for her husband to learn as well when her upset daughter confronted her about it and this information led to her husband's divorce from her and distancing from Sam, as well as fueling her addiction further. (Had transpired before and throughout her oldest daughter Sam's freshman year of high school during which the Second Woodsboro Murders, which were inspired by her secret fling's first, were committed).
- Her backstory has heavy reference to Maureen Prescott.
- Christina's daughter(s) find out their mother was being unfaithful and having a secret life. Sidney found out the same about her mother.
- Both Christina and Maureen are catalysts in their respective murder sprees.
- Both had secret and dark connections to Billy Loomis, which is how their daughters led such dangerous lives.
- While it is unknown what she does for work, but the fact she is away for work often references Neil Prescott.
- Whilst not appearing in the film, the original draft did feature her appearing in two scenes.
- First appearing at the same bar the teenagers are hanging out in where she's drunk and falling off her chair.
- She next appears back at her home where Sam has stopped to look at the crime scene. She blames Sam for what happened to Tara and tells her she's just like her father.
- While Christina and her daughter's surname are a reference to John Carpenter. It's possible Christina herself can be an homage to actress Charisma Carpenter, best known for playing Cordelia Chase in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise (which starred Sarah Michelle Gellar as the titular character) who had been previously considered for Christine Hamilton in Scream 3.
- It's unknown if she was either 17 or 18 when she gave birth to Sam since May 19, 1997.