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| “ | I know that you're about 50 pounds overweight, but when I say hurry, please interpret that as MOVE YOUR FAT, TUB OF LARD ASS NOW! | „ |
| ~ Gale yelling at Kenny. |
| “ | I've got an ending for you. The reporter left for dead in the news van comes to, stumbles on you two dips--ts, finds the gun, and saves the day. | „ |
| ~ Gale to Billy and Stu. |
Gale Weathers is the tritagonist of the Scream franchise.
In the first film, she claims and later proves Cotton Weary's innocence and wrongful death row conviction of rape and murder in Maureen Prescott's 1995 murder trial. Alongside Maureen's daughter Sidney, she has solved and survived the events of all five Ghostface killing sprees, inspired by the original massacre created by Maureen's true killer Billy Loomis.
The former opportunistic reporter is the ex-wife of the late, former Sheriff Dewey Riley, and close confidante to Sidney, whom she develops a trust and bond with eventually throughout the films. Introduced as a Top Story journalist from New York City, she survives the original Woodsboro Massacre in 1996, where she meets her future ex-husband, enduring an on-off 25-year-spanning romance, which ends in his murder. Gale avenges her ex's death by setting his killer on fire.
As an author, Gale has written at least seven books based on Sidney Prescott's life, five real-life events based, beginning with Wrongly Accused (1996). Her best-seller The Woodsboro Murders (1997 book) is adapted into a slasher movie called Stab in 1997, and is followed by true events-based crime novels, College Terror (1998 book), Hollywood Horror (2000 book), and the fictional books, Ghostface Returns (2007 novel) and Knife of the Hunter (2009 novel) (all seen in Scream 4). She also most likely published a yet-unknown titled book based on the Woodsboro Remake (events of Scream 4).
Gale finally opts to quit tabloid media and stories about Ghostface forever, so that the killers die in anonymity. She suggests writing a biography about a "brave man who used to be the sheriff" in the town once, referencing Dewey. However, this decision is short lived as she proceeds to write a book, Requel: Terror Returns To Woodsboro, based on the Third Woodsboro Murders, causing conflict between her and Samantha and Tara Carpenter.
Gale takes a more prominent role in Scream VI, having reverted to her old ways of backstabbing survivors and writing factually incorrect books. Gale discovers a shrine dedicated to Ghostface and reforms herself when she helps the 2022 survivors escape a new Ghostface killer. In the film, Gale gets her first ever Ghostface call which results in a chase between her and Ghostface which ends with Gale being sent to the hospital on the verge of death. Her fate is left unknown until Danny Brackett confirms that she survived the attack and is resting in the hospital.
She is portrayed by Courteney Cox, who also portrays Monica Geller in Friends, Melissa Robinson in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, and Dr. Marsha Holloway in Zoom, and voices Daisy in Barnyard.
Biography[]
Scream (1996)[]
Gale is a reporter who wrote a book on Maureen Prescott's death, explaining how she thinks Cotton Weary is innocent. She is rude, bossy, and goes to great lengths to get a good story (such as secretly videotaping unsuspecting teens at a house party). After Casey Becker and her boyfriend are killed, she comes to the town and talks with Sidney about her book.
At the night of the party, Gale and Dewey find Neil Prescott's car in the bushes not far from the house. When they go back to the house, they see almost everyone has left the house, so Dewey tells Gale to call for backup while he checks out the house. She runs to her van and notices her cameraman brutally murdered. Gale tries to drive away but crashes into a tree after swerving off the road while trying to avoid a terrified Sidney (who has escaped from the house).
Later, when Billy and Stu confront Sidney about their motive, an injured Gale arrives and pulls a gun on them. However, the safety is on, and Billy kicks her against a pillar on the front porch where Dewey's unconscious body is lying. This gives Sidney time to escape and fight back. Just as Billy prepares to stab Sidney, Gale shoots him. Sidney then shoots Billy again as he suddenly wakes up - as Randy predicted - for "one last scare."
Scream 2[]
In Scream 2, she has written a new book about the murders that happened in Woodsboro. Sidney, although grateful she saved her life, refuses to do an interview with Cotton. Gale and Dewey's relationship, although strained at first, eventually turns heated.
After Randy's death, Gale and Dewey search for answers while also dealing with the problems in their relationship (Gale's intention toward Sidney with Cotton and what Gale wrote in her book about himself). The killer turns on footage of all the victims and the last taping is of them. They look in the projector room to see the killer filming them. They flee. Gale is pursuit heavily but narrowly escapes into a small room. After Dewey is finally able to communicate with her through a sound-prevention window, she witnesses Dewey getting stabbed multiple times in the back and believes he is dead. The killer pursues Gale once more but mysteriously disappears after there wasn't a way into the room.
In the climax, Gale is brought in by Nancy Loomis, known as Debbie Salt throughout the movie, to the school theater. Mickey shoots Gale after Mrs. Loomis shoots him, and she falls off the stage. However, the bullet bounces off Gale's ribs, allowing her to survive. Once the whole ordeal is over, Mickey suddenly springs to life and is shot to death by Sidney and Gale. During the end of the film, Gale finds out that Dewey is not dead and goes with him to the hospital to recover.
Scream 3[]
In Scream 3, she is shown to be much more compassionate than in the first two films. She has written a third book based on the copycat killings from the last movie. She returns along with Dewey after Cotton is murdered and the actors filming a third Stab movie are killed off. Again, in Scream 3, Gale and Dewey have an acrimonious relationship based on their past together.
Gale is first seen talking to a group of students about journalism. When the class ends, she meets up with Mark Kincaid, a detective who informs her about the death of Cotton. Shortly after this, goes to the set of Stab 3: Return to Woodsboro and is reunited with Dewey after meeting the actress who portrays her, Jennifer Jolie. Later, she goes to Jennifer's house to see Dewey. After jumping down the hill to avoid the explosion that killed Tom, the actor portraying Dewey in the new Stab movie, Gale, Dewey, Jennifer and Angelina all are split up. Gale is attacked by Ghostface, but is saved by Dewey.
She survives the climax in the Hollywood home of John Milton. At the end, Dewey asks Gale to marry him, which she accepts.
Scream 4[]
Gale is trying to reinvent herself as an author but finds that she is having trouble due to writer's block. When Sidney returns to Woodsboro and the killings start again, Gale is excited to have the opportunity to yet again be a part of solving the killings, even though Dewey doesn't want her involved in the investigation. Going "rogue" (as she puts it), Gale goes undercover at a Stab-a-thon party at a barn to screen the seven Stab films to catch the killer. However, Gale is attacked and nearly killed by Charlie as Ghostface in the barn on camera. Thankfully, Dewey made it to the barn in time to save her and rush her to the hospital. Gale is only stabbed in the shoulder and manages to recover.
Gale survives her wounds and pieces together who the killer is by simply using logic. She is present at the final confrontation, where she distracts Jill Roberts long enough for Sidney to get the upper hand with a defibrillator. She yet again survives, tending to Dewey, who is injured on the floor.
Scream (2022)[]
Divorcing from Dewey[]
Sometime after the 2011 attacks, Gale and Dewey divorced and she moved to New York to host her own morning show, which Dewey was an avid viewer of. Gale since quit writing as she never had time to focus on it.
Returning to Woodsboro[]
When the murders in Woodsboro start again, Dewey texts Gale to let her know and she makes the decision to return to Woodsboro, just in time to learn that Judy has been killed. She expresses her anger with Dewey for only sending her a text and the two reconcile after years of being apart.
Mourning Dewey[]
When Dewey is murdered by Ghostface, Gale mourns the loss and she is reunited with Sidney, who made the decision to return to Woodsboro too. Sidney and Gale attempt to ask Samantha Carpenter for help to stop the Killer, but she declines and leaves with her boyfriend, Richie Kirsch, and sister, Tara Carpenter.
Unbeknownst to them, Sidney has left a tracker on Sam's car which they use to follow her all the way to 261 Turner Lane. As they arrive, they are met by a screaming Amber Freeman, however Gale senses the trap immediately and Amber shoots Gale, revealing herself as one of the killers. Gale tells Sidney to go inside and finish this, as they planned.
Ghostface Unmasked[]
When the second killer, Richie, is unmasked, Amber brings Gale inside to the kitchen where they are replicating the ending of the original Stab movie. Richie and Amber reveal their motive as attempting to create a "requel" to Stab 8, and Gale and Sidney then fight back, setting Amber on fire, killing her.
Samantha fights back against Richie and kills him by stabbing him repeatedly and then slitting his throat. As reporters dish on the murders, Samantha thanks Sidney and Gale for helping them, and then leaves in the ambulance with her sister. Gale reveals that she won't be writing about Richie and Amber, instead she will write about Dewey and the man he was, thus letting the Killers die in anonymity and their plan fail.
Aftermath of the 2022 Murders[]
Following the events of the 2022 Woodsboro Murders, Gale returns home to New York City. Without Dewey in her life, she reverts to the woman she once was before she met Dewey, a two-timing, ruthless, report and author. Gale goes back on her word and, figuring that someone would eventually write a book, she writes a book called Requel: Terror Returns to Woodsboro, detailing the events of the murders with her usual inaccuracies and accusations where she depicts Sam as a psychopath, further fuelling rumors that Sam was the true mastermind of the 2022 murders, having framed Richie.
This causes a rift between Gale and Sam and Tara, who have sinced moved to New York where Gale currently resides and works as a news anchor for Channel 4. At some point between the 2022 Murders and the New York murders, Gale meets a man named Brooks whom she forms a romantic relationship with.
Scream VI[]
The night that Jason Carvey is murdered, Gale calls Sam after hearing about his murder on the news however Sam declines the call due to the rift between them. The next morning, following Sam and Tara's attack in the Bodega, Gale is outside the police station with numerous reporters and she begins to question Sam and Tara about their attack, much to their annoyance. Gale reveals that she spoke to Sidney and that she won't be coming to New York and will take Mark and the kids into hiding. The trio argue about Gale's book and Sam attempts to clock Gale in the face, which she dodges due to past experience, and Tara then throws another punch and clocks her in the face before the two leave in a taxi.
Following the murders of Anika Kayoko and Quinn Bailey, Gale reveals to Sam, Tara, Kirby, Chad, Mindy, Wayne, and Ethan Landry that she found an old theatre registered in Jason's name. She takes them to it, revealing the theatre has been transformed into a shrine dedicated to Ghostface: containing old costumes, murder weapons, props, memorabilia, masks and clothes belonging to past victims and killers. Whilst exploring the shrine, Gale and Sam have a heart-to-heart about bad mothers, something they share with each other. When Wayne devises a plan to catch the Killer, Kirby excludes Gale from the plan as she's not a police officer.
Gale returns to her penthouse where she lives with Brooks, and is unaware that Ghostface is hiding inside and is luring Sam and Tara over by allowing Kirby to trace a phone call from them. Gale then receives her first ever phone call from Ghostface and whilst distracted, he murders Brooks and throws his body through a shelf. Ghostface chases Gale through the penthouse and Gale barricades herself in the bedroom and grabs her gun from a safe.
Ghostface calls Gale again and taunts her once more and mocks the demise of Dewey and Gale threatens to shoot him "in the f-cking head". She hangs up on Ghostface and then re-dials his number revealing his hiding space and she fires through the door and believes he is down. Ghostface then breaks through the door and lands multiple stabs on Gale before fleeing after being interrupted by Sam and Tara. As Gale passes out, she asks Sam and Tara to tell Sidney that she Ghostface never got her.
The paramedics take Gale to the hospital saying that she has a weak pulse. Ghostface is revealed to be Wayne who, along with his kids Quinn and Ethan, are seeking revenge against Sam for killing Richie, who is revealed to be their brother/son. Wayne states that once Sam and Tara are dead, they'll go to the hospital to finish Sam off. After Tara, Sam and Kirby successfully kill the trio, Danny Brackett reveals that Gale survived and is resting in the hospital.
Personality[]
Gale Weathers is a complex character in the Scream franchise. At first glance, she may seem like a self-centered, manipulative journalist who will do whatever it takes to get a good story. However, as we get to know her throughout the series, we see that there is much more to her than meets the eye.
Gale has always been ambitious and determined to succeed in her career as a journalist. She sees herself as the top dog, and will stop at nothing to get what she wants. This drive for success is evident in her initial actions in Woodsboro, where she exploits the tragic murders for the sake of her book and her own fame. She is not afraid to manipulate people, including the victims' families, to get the information she needs. This made her come across as heartless and lacking in compassion.
Despite her flaws, Gale is not completely void of empathy. Her genuine care and kindness for Dewey Riley, the deputy sheriff of Woodsboro, is a testament to that. She shows genuine concern for his well-being and even stands up for him when others ridicule him for his job or his physical disability.
It is not until the death of Sidney's friend, Randy, that Gale begins to question her actions. She starts to see the error of her ways and realizes the consequences of her actions. This event acts as a turning point for her character, and she starts to become more selfless, caring, and brave. She is now willing to put aside her quest for fame and do the right thing, even if it means putting herself in danger.
As the series progresses, we see a shift in Gale's character. She, along with Sidney and Dewey, becomes one of Sidney's closest friends, and she is no longer motivated solely by her career aspirations. The murders in Woodsboro have brought them together, and they form an unbreakable bond. After her divorce from Dewey, they still maintain a strong friendship and are willing to work together to solve the mystery of the Ghostface killer. In the fifth movie, it is clear just how much Dewey meant to Gale when she is visibly upset at his death.
Despite coming to terms with her past mistakes and changing for the better, Gale still has her vices. She is still ambitious and craving for the spotlight, even if it means going back to her glory-seeking ways. However, she always puts doing the right thing before her personal gains, showing that her character growth is not just a facade.
In conclusion, Gale Weathers is a multi-faceted character who has gone through significant character development throughout the Scream franchise. Although initially presented as a selfish and opportunistic person, she eventually becomes a selfless, brave, and caring friend to Sidney and Dewey. Her journey teaches us that people can change for the better, and it is never too late to make amends and do the right thing.
Skills and Abilities[]
- Intelligence: To be added
- Expert Reporter/Investigation skills: To be added
- Expert Gunmanship: In the Scream franchise, she shows well proficient skills in using a firearm against dangerous threats. As when Sidney was apprehended by Billy Gale quickly manages to shoot him in right side of the shoulder before he was just about to stab the latter, then after confronting the two Ghostfaces in the second film she gets handed a pistol to witness Mickey revived and she alongside Sidney rapidly fires at him to death. During Scream 5, after dazing Amber Freeman Gale gets Dewey’s old revolver to shoot three rounds at her which blew her back to the stove that lit her on fire due to the hand sanitizer all over her.
- Physical Strength: Gale possesses great strength that allows her to lift opponents close to her size or deliver impact force that could daze them. Demonstrated in Scream 3, where after Jennifer attacks Dewey she throws a punch at her which caused her lip to bleed and during Scream VI where Quinn Bailey as Ghostface attacks her in the apartment, Gale caught her strike with the knife to then flip the latter over her and on the table which shatters.
Ghostface Kill Count[]
Trivia[]
- Janeane Garofalo was considered for the role of Gale before Courteney Cox was cast.
Gallery[]
External Links[]
- Gale Weathers on the Scream Wiki
- Gale Weathers on the Horror Wiki
- Gale Weathers on the Inconsistently Admirable Wiki
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