The relationship between Scream protagonist Samantha Carpenter and her elusive, secretly obsessed Stab fanatic and faux-charming boyfriend, Richie Kirsch, occurs in the fifth film, titled Scream (2022). It is briefly readdressed in the sixth film.
| Samantha-Richie Relationship | |
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| General Information | |
| Level: | Together until Richie was revealed to be a murderer
Separated due to Richie's reveal and hurting her family and only dating Sam due to her father. |
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| Started Dating: | March-September 2022 (due to Scream VI retcon) |
| Dating Status: | Ended via Abuse and Murder Attempt (by Richie) (Scream (2022)) |
While not having met as teenagers in high school like Sidney Prescott or Billy Loomis in the original film, both Sam and Richie as adults, sought out each other, especially Sam during March 2022, due to Sam's troubled life she left back in Woodsboro, due to having found out the truth of her parentage and not wishing to hurt her younger half-sister, Tara, by disclosing it.
After her stepfather's (Tara's biological dad) divorce from Tara and Sam's mother over the latter's origins, Sam left as soon as possible, two years after her 2015 graduation from Woodsboro High and moved to Modesto, where she would battle with herself, due to drug codependence due to her own struggles with mental health on account of her biological father, which gave her a reputation, despite unknown of her parentage to others, of a troublemaker, such as by Judy Hicks.
Unbeknownst to her, her older boyfriend (by 3 years) Richie was an obsessed Stab fanatic, who idolized the traumatic original Woodsboro Murders and it's perpetrators, mainly her father. Discovering about Sam's parentage due to Sam's alcoholic mother spreading it in the small town of Woodsboro, Richie used this knowledge and combined with his distaste of the most recent and eighth Stab film, used it as an incentive for him and his then secret online groomed, teenage girlfriend and former Woodsboro High student (as well as a friend of Sam's half sister's group), Amber Freeman (who had informed Richie of the rumor), to then commit nearing the 26th anniversary, what would be the Third Woodsboro Murders, also known as the Legacy Murders.
While the nature of their relationship is tested in the fifth film, it is revealed that due to Richie's accomplice being Amber and their secret partnership and relationship, that their relationship was nothing but a ploy by Richie in order to make his plan of bringing Sam under distress, back to her hometown, alongside targeting Tara and her friends, as well as the Legacy Trio as part of his plan to make Samantha supposedly break, due to her father being Sidney's own ex, and ultimately for her to be framed as the sole perpetrator for the ones they did, taking place almost 25 years to the murders her father and his best friend/accomplice, Stu Macher, committed and alluding to Sam's darkness, due to Sam's struggles with mental health, including taking antipsychotic medication to control her own hallucinations of her murderous father, and bloodline.
History[]
Fifth film[]
Richie is Sam's "boner pills"
After the near-death brutal attack of high school student, Tara Carpenter, while home alone, the next day outside a bowling alley, Richie is shown in uniform approaching Sam sitting alone on the curb of the sidewalk also in uniform, suggesting both work together and who share a kiss. Both are interrupted when Sam receives a phone call by her former client who she babysat, now 17 year-old Wes Hicks, informing her of Tara's attack and survival, who's resting at the hospital, of the imminent return of Ghostface who committed it, much to Sam's shock and who goes to return to Woodsboro, with Richie supposedly being supportive and tagging along, despite Sam's hesitance, due to nature of the new Woodsboro Murders being tied around Sam's parentage, and someone knowing, leading to the attack of Sam's estranged teenage half-sister, whom she decides to stay with while she recovers at the hospital, alongside Richie. On a car ride to town before, Sam relays the information and exposition to a seemingly clueless Richie, giving a recap on the history of the Woodsboro Murders, including it's perpetrators, and how the last time it occurred was in 2011. Sam and Richie then arrive to the hospital, where Sam introduced Richie to her (half) sister, and her friends, including Wes and the Meeks-Martin twins, Chad and Mindy, of whom she used to all babysit.
When Samantha is attacked for the first time at the hospital's break room when she goes by herself, afterwards she shares the reveal of her parentage in a heartfelt and in a family strife, heartbreaking, teary moment with Tara, who doesn't react kindly to the news, due to Sam blaming and somewhat having caused the sisters the divorce of their parents, and how Sam's return came after her absence and only doing so due to feeling guilty and resentful of having not let Tara know until she was attacked. Tara asks for her sister to get out, which Sam does, sobbing, only for her to be met by Richie at the door, trying to play off, who was listening to the altercation outside the door, to which Sam asks him and he confesses to listening before reassuring Sam, despite her asking if he's not freaked out of her origins and in meta commentary about horror, tells him to leave her and get out, which he refuses, and who professes love, as he asks her what their next move is.
Following the hospital attack, Samantha consults with former Woodsboro Sheriff and one of the original Legacy Trio and Ghostface survivor, Dewey Riley, out in his trailer park home who gives her two minutes after she knocked on his door, and who initially refused and asked her to give him a good reason to talk, before she revealed to him she's Billy Loomis's daughter, to his disappointment. As she brings Richie along, Dewey asks about him and asks Sam on how long they've known each other, as well as interrogate Sam as he asks her if Richie knew who her father was when they met or had expressed interest about Woodsboro or about the four previous Ghostface massacres. Richie, deflecting, asks what he's talking about. Dewey then lays over the rules to Sam about surviving a Stab movie, which he knows all too well, telling her how the new killers (like the previous) are obsessed with the Stab movies, and immediately warns her by telling her how the first rule is to never trust the love interest, and how they may seem sweet, caring or even supportive, but welcome to the third act wherein they're trying to rip her head off, forewarning Sam and suspecting Richie (in a call out to the relationship of Sidney-Billy). Richie claims he was with Sam in Modesto when she got called about Tara, as Dewey presses him, asking him if he was over in the other room, conveniently unaccounted for when Sam had been attacked at the hospital, as Richie asks Sam if he has to take this from him. Dewey then explains to Sam the following rules, such as the killer's motives in being tied and connected to something in the past, with the final rule being the first victim always has a friend group that the killer is a part of, as Sam asks to enlist Dewey's help, much to his hesitance, and how if she's in danger, so is he, before telling her that her time's up as he leads and locks them out.
The couple then head to talk to Tara's friend group at the Meeks-Martin household, where as they arrive, are met by Dewey pulling up out of his car and arrived behind them, as Sam tells Richie how he came, with Dewey stating he's decided to temporarily assist Sam in her case, as Dewey motions for Sam to head inside. They're greeted and led in by Mindy, into the home theatre living room, which is dedicated to Randy Meeks, Chad and Mindy's uncle, and their mother, Martha Meeks's, older brother. Besides Wes, both Chad's girlfriend, Liv McKenzie, and Amber Freeman, are shown sitting in the living room, with Martha entering as she proclaims them suspects and how her brother would be so proud, carrying snacks to the coffee table. Dewey and Martha reunite in front of the group, as well as Sam and Richie, before departing as Sam announced how she told Mindy to call everyone in order to confess to her parentage and trace the killer based on the rules Dewey gave her. Wes suspects Dewey, due to his failed marriage and alcoholism, much to Dewey's sadness to his comment from Amber searching it up online, as Sam says, how after learning about Vince Schneider's mom being the sister of Stu Macher, how all the first three attacks have been on those related to people from the first original murders.
Mindy then lays out the rules to requels as she states how Sam is the star, much to her anger of her origins and toxic Fandom, due to Stab 8, as being tied to & caught in the middle of "fan fucking fiction", as Liv asks who's next, and claims it's someone related to original characters, with Dewey stating his regret coming, as she reassures Wes on his mother's survival, and states that her and Chad are "screwed", due to their uncle. Richie then says how Mindy's rules was just an elaborate monologue and accuses her of being the killer, with Mindy stating it's pretty clear who the suspect is, as Sam asks who, as she states her, and how in the sense of requels, it makes the most sense. Everyone agrees, much to Sam's dismay as she walks outside and leaves. Richie heads outside to talk, as Sam drives off and tells Richie she'll meet him back at the motel they're staying at, as Richie tells her another meta commentary of not splitting up, as Sam hallucinates her father alone (like she had done back at her hospital attack).
After the Hicks are murdered at their home during the day, Sam calls Richie, who's shown at the motel eating Pizza Hut and watching YouTube reviews of Stab 8, before she heads off to the hospital after asking Deputy Vince on who's watching her sister, as the police are shown to be at the crime, as Dewey tags a ride with her. Following having narrowly and again having survived Ghostface, Sam and Dewey manage to arrive to the empty hospital floor of where Tara was pushed off her wheelchair and rescue her, as Dewey shoots Ghostface away as well as help Richie, who was supposedly attacked by the killer when looking for Tara. Dewey stays to finish Ghostface off, much to Sam's horror and who would see him for the last time, before his unfortunate death by the killer, alone trying to protect them.
Out of Dodge: Sam takes Tara and Richie to leave advised against by franchise heroine Sidney Prescott .
Following the events, Sam is shown to be taking Tara on her wheelchair to get out of town, alongside Richie, before she's met at the door by former and original Legacy Trio survivor and target of the past four murders, Sidney Prescott, alongside Dewey's former ex-wife, Gale Weather's. Sidney has a heart to heart with Sam and warns hers that running away won't help, as Sam offers her condolences about Dewey before she gets Tara in the car and with Richie leaving alongside, star-struck. Unbeknownst to her, Sidney placed a tracking device on Sam's car, and alongside Gale, both follow her. With Tara not being able to find her inhaler, she suggests going to Amber's house, as Sam makes Richie drive them to the house at 261 Turner Lane, which was Stu's old house.
Inside the house is a party memorial for Wes, and who just before arriving, Chad is attacked by Ghostface and left for dead just as Sam, Richie, and Tara arrive. As Amber hugs Tara, Richie proceeds to be the bigger person by canceling the party due to the murders, much to everyone's dismay, but who all leave. Amber takes Tara to look for her inhaler, as Richie heads and talks briefly with Mindy, who's watching the original Stab film in the living room. Sam waits in the foyer, before being called by Sidney, who alongside Gale, are heading towards the house (after Sidney planted a tracker in Sam's car) and warn her where she is and to leave, as she tells her how the killer had lured her to it to kill her and Tara. This then causes for a Ghostface attack and following chaos ensuing. After Mindy is attacked following Samantha being called, she proceeds to head into the living room to throw a vase at Ghostface, which leads for the killer to retreat, and who is surprised when she tends to Mindy to find Richie who dropped beers, as well as Amber and Tara approaching, as Amber screams at Samantha asking what she did, suspecting her. Then, Liv rushes in, crying, with blood on her hands and who is hysterical and stands back, as Samantha and the rest suspect her, causing her to shout with Amber, who agrees before she then reveals herself by pulling a gun and shooting Liv in the head. Richie tells Sam to run, as Tara then tries to take the gun from her, with Richie pulling Sam with him to the basement, as Sam then quickly arms herself with a kitchen knife.
Sam then tries to go back for Tara, as Richie warns her how there's always two killers, who then turns the knife towards him as she suspects him, correctly, before he turns on her to make her doubt her sister as the killer. Following the arrival of Gale and Sidney, as well as Amber shooting Gale after she feigned distress, revealing herself to them, Sidney tries to out the killer. Meanwhile, Sam goes looking for her sister, who she finds upstairs locked in a closet, who off-screen she would free. After Sidney is called by Ghostface as she shoots and goes upstairs trying to locate them and hanging up, she manages to shoot Richie who is seemingly hiding, who she tells to come out before she's almost ambushed by Ghostface popping from behind her, who she manages to push off alongside her, off the second floor to the entrance, with both on the floor crawling. Sam arrives, as does Richie following the commotion, who had reached the gun right before Richie, as Sidney tells her to shoot and Richie exclaims, as Richie thanks her for being alright before revealing himself as the second killer, who stabs Samantha with his hidden knife, and states he really wanted to be the one to kill her. Richie then grabs the gun off of Sam and points it back to Sidney getting up, as Richie stares at Sam as he brutally twists the knife inside her, before releasing. Amber as Ghostface then is shown taking off her mask, revealing themselves as accomplices and lovers, much to Sam's horror, as her, Sidney, and Gale are all brought onto the kitchen, as Richie reveals his adoration for Samantha's father, and his motive being how due to Stab 8 being bad, he took the pretense of dating Sam and her vulnerability, poking fun at her not listening to Dewey who had warned her. After twisting and in turn tricking Richie by freeing Tara, due to Amber not finding her, Sam proceeds to attack Richie as a fight and chase ensues between them, as well as Tara, Sidney and Gale fighting Amber with the latter duo managing to brutally incapacitate her and seemingly kill her.
After Richie is led to upstairs to find Sam, he is ambushed by her and who seemingly takes the upper hand after they both stumble down the stairs. However, Richie underestimated Sam as she tells him right before Richie is about to stab, to never "fuck with the daughter of a serial killer", before she proceeds to stab him 22 times, kill him effectively by slitting his throat, as well as taking Sidney and Gale's gun, who approach behind her, and shoots him three times, two on the chest, and once on the head.
Aftermath[]
In Scream VI, Samantha, like Sidney previous to her in her survival, is hesitant to embrace her new boyfriend, Danny Brackett, or introduce their secret relationship to her group, the Core Four: consisting of her half-sister, Tara, as well as the Meeks-Martin twins Chad and Mindy. This was due to the fear of her or her group getting harmed because of her relationship, in case he would turn out to be like Richie, due to her PTSD and mental health. She goes over this over with her former therapist, Dr. Christopher Stone, as well as her past relationship with Richie and how killing him felt right, tipping him off, despite stating how Richie had attacked first and almost tried to kill her and her sister and their friends, because of her secret blood relation to Billy Loomis, who'd been Sidney's own murderous ex-boyfriend, who her ex-boyfriend idolized secretly and had only dated her for. While at first suspicious of him, the group embrace Samantha for dating and encourage it, due to having been correctly suspicious of Sam's secret nature with him, due to Danny being a neighbor in their apartment in New York City. Sam worked two jobs to provide for herself and her sister, a college freshman at Blackmore University as they rented and roomed with Quinn Bailey, also a college alum.
Just before the Bodega Attacks, as Sam and Tara were each heading to the police following being called following the breaking news of Tara's former classmates' murders, Jason Carvey and Greg Bruckner (unaware they were copycat killers and fans of Richie trying to target them), Sam is called by Ghostface on Richie's old number, as her phone appears ringing with his picture, much to Tara's shock, with Sam stating she never deleted her ex's contact, before answering and warning the killer to reconsider if they want to proceed, stating how the last two people who targeted and attacked her, Tara and the twins ended up dead. Danny agrees with Samantha on her protecting her sister and friends during the New York Murders, following him having helped her survive the Apartment attacks, in which he had been the first to see Ghostface inside Quinn's bedroom, standing behind her as she laid in bed talking on her phone, across from the building which he resided in, snapping a photo of her "murder" and sending it to the Core Four to alert them; as well as extending them a ladder to lead the group from his apartment window to theirs (of which the front door was locked, trapping them all inside) from Quinn's bedroom, to safety to his apartment, despite failing as Ghostface killed Mindy's girlfriend, Anika Kayoko, while she tried to. Danny tells her afterwards to not trust anyone, including him, in order to give her reassurance and space, due to Sam being traumatized by the events.
The killers are then revealed in the shrine to be Wayne, his son Ethan, and daughter Quinn, who are Richie's own family, much to Sam's horror upon her learning this as well as Tara, of who they blame for his death, as Samantha then backtalks as she tells them off about Richie's weakness and his obsessions' making him an easy kill for her. Following the reveal and fighting off the killer trio, Sam survives and is then reunited in the end with Danny.
Trivia[]
- Richie was unfaithful to her with Amber Freeman, who would wound up to be Sam's own sister Tara's close friend and who she knew from overseeing her half-sister's friend group.
- This is a nod to Sidney's own ex Billy, being unfaithful to her and who his affair with Christina Carpenter led to the birth of Sam herself, with Richie having been obsessed and idolizing both her father and Sidney as a Stab fanatic.
- It's revealed the only reason Richie was dating Sam was in order to infiltrate's and execute his/his groomed girlfriend's plans to commit the Legacy Murders, as well as how it was easy to find her in Modesto and have sex with her, alluding to her availability in regards to her status as a vulnerable runaway with mental health troubles and stating how "being a sexually available woman is supposed to be empowering these days", as Sam replies "Fuck you", as Richie states how now she's just quoting the "original", as Sidney Prescott and Gale Weathers are both present to witness this.
- This is a callback more specifically to the Rules, and what Sidney told Billy after his reveal in Scream (1996).
- The notes on each female protagonist's sexualities and both being in control, is a reverse seeing as Sidney wasn't letting Billy get into bed with her, whereas Richie states Sam made it easy for him to go to bed with her
- Despite the differences being what age they were (Sidney and Billy were a teen couple in 1996, whereas Sam and Richie were both adults in 2022, despite Sam being 3 years younger)
- Richie also tries to make Sam seemingly affirm she is the villain in the 2022 murders in his plan, due to being Billy's daughter and holding Sidney against her as the fact that she had killed him (as well as Gale by shooting him). Thus, Richie's love for her was never real.
- Richie trying to make Sam the villain in his murders, as a couple, is a reference to Jill Roberts betraying her own boyfriend and framing him (and Trevor Sheldon) as the killers in Scream 4
- The only difference being Sam was not in on it with him, nor was she a Ghostface to begin with, despite being Billy's daughter.
- Richie as a Ghostface trying to frame the murders on Samantha, is a nod to Roman Bridger from Scream 3 trying to frame Sidney for the Hollywood Murders.
- However, like Jill to Charlie, Sam does manage to take down and kill Richie, despite this attack and confrontation with Sam and Richie being a nod to Sidney-Billy, and their relationship as a whole.
- Richie was 28 and Sam was 25 when they dated in March-September 2022.
- Due to Sam's own troubles, she failed to notice when Amber looked longingly at Richie when she first came to meet Tara at the hospital, as well as after Sam's attack when they were conversing.
Gallery[]
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Samantha-Richie Relationship has a Photo Gallery. |