On Scream Queens, “Seven Minutes in Hell,” Chanel and Zayday became co-presidents of Kappa House. Their first order of business? A slumber party.

The Bechdel, Russo, and Race Test

“Seven Minutes in Hell” passed the Bechdel and Russo test but did not pass the race test.

Almost the entire cast of “Seven Minutes in Hell” was composed of named women so there were numerous instances where named women talked to each other. Of the many occasions that named women talked to each other in “Seven Minutes of Hell,” there were several instances where men weren’t mentioned so the episode passed the Bechdel test. “Seven Minutes in Hell” also passed the Russo test, and the episode passed this test due to two LGBTI characters.

One of the LGBTI characters that was in “Seven Minutes in Hell” was Chanel #3. In “Seven Minutes in Hell,” Chanel #3 explored her sexuality and realized that she was pansexual (she never actually used this label, but she did say something like, “I realized that I don’t like girls or boys. I love love”) and because she is LGBTI and she was in the episode; she was not solely defined by her sexual orientation (e.g., she was also defined as being a sorority sister); and her removal from the episode would have significantly affected the plot as she is a main cast member and she had her own storyline in “Seven Minutes in Hell,” she (and thus the episode) passed the Russo test. The other LGBTI character that was in “Seven Minutes in Hell” and that passed the Russo test was Sam.

Sam passed the Russo test because she is LGBTI and she was in “Seven Minutes in Hell”; because she was not solely defined by her sexual orientation (e.g., she was also defined as being a Kappa pledge); and because her removal from the episode would have significantly affected the plot as she is a main cast member and (SPOILER ALERT) she was killed off from the show in “Seven Minutes in Hell.”

As to the race test, there were three non-White people in “Seven Minutes in Hell” who talked (Zayday, Sam and Earl), but because none of these characters ever talked to each other, the episode did not pass the race test.

*The Bechdel test entails three requirements:
1. It has to have at least two (named) women in it
2. Who talk to each other
3. About something besides a man

**The Vito Russo test entails three requirements:
1. The show contains a character that is identifiably lesbian, gay, bisexual, intersex and/or transgender
2. The character must not be solely or predominately defined by her sexual orientation, gender identity and/or as being intersex
3.The character must be tied into the plot in such a way that her removal would have a significant effect

***The race or people of color (POC) test has three requirements:
1. It has two people of color in it
2. Who talk to each other
3. About something other than a White person

****Just because a show passes the Bechdel, Russo and race test does not mean that it is not sexist, heterosexist, racist and/or cissexist, etc. The Bechdel, Russo and race test is only a bare minimum qualifier for the representation of LGBTI individuals, women and people of color in television. The failure to pass these tests also does not identify whether the central character was a woman, a person of color or a LGBTQI individual and it does not dictate the quality of the show.