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SAVE $1,099.99: Verizon customers can get the new Samsung Galaxy S26+ for free when they change their mobile plan to either the Unlimited Ultimate or Unlimited Plus plan.

Opens in a new window Credit: Samsung Samsung Galaxy S26+ (Verizon, 256GB) $0 at Verizon
$1,099.99 Save $1,099.99 free with any new Unlimited Ultimate or Unlimited Plus mobile plan Pre-order Here

With most "free" phone deals from mobile carriers, you're required to ship your old phone back to them in a trade-in situation. But Verizon is offering a preorder deal that requires much less effort on your part. You'll get the Samsung Galaxy S26+ for free just by switching your mobile plan to the new Unlimited Ultimate or Unlimited Plus plan.

Just announced at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026, Samsung's new lineup of flagship phones is scheduled to launch on March 11. All three phones — the S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra — are officially up for preorder. You can choose your own adventure re: preordering, with deals at Amazon, Best Buy, and mobile carriers, but Verizon's preorder deal is the only way to get the S26+ for free.

SEE ALSO: The Samsung 85-Inch Class QLED Q8F 4K UHD TV is down to $1,399.99 at Amazon — save over $200

The offer is available to both new and existing Verizon customers who switch their mobile plan to the Unlimited Ultimate (starting at $40 per month) or Unlimited Plus (starting at $50 per month) plans. Verizon's three-year price lock guarantee also ensures you'll keep your plan pricing even if costs go up.

The S26+ is the mid-tier model in Samsung's new Galaxy phone lineup. It's a minor upgrade over the S25+, but an upgrade nonetheless. It packs the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, the same camera setup, a meaningful battery bump, and new AI features.

If you prefer the best Galaxy phone in the lineup, you can also score the Galaxy S26 Ultra (256GB) for free, but you'll need to coordinate a qualifying device trade-in and add a new line to any Unlimited Ultimate plan. We'll leave that up to you to decide. Either way, getting a brand new Galaxy device for free almost feels like a crime.

Apple recently announced that it's hosting a "special experience" on March 4, and now Apple CEO Tim Cook is hyping up the event with a mysterious X post. The post includes a short video and the message, "A big week ahead. It all starts Monday morning! #AppleLaunch"

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So, what does it all mean?

First, Apple prognosticators like Mark Gurman at Bloomberg have predicted that Apple will make several announcements in the days leading up to March 4, and Cook has now seemingly confirmed these rumors. All eyes will be on Apple come Monday, March 2.

SEE ALSO: 5 Apple products that could be unveiled on March 4

Instead of hosting a launch event at its Apple Park headquarters in Silicon Valley, the March 4 event will involve experiences in London, New York, and Shanghai.

As is typical, Apple hasn't officially confirmed what products will be released at the event, but rumors point to three very specific possibilities: an iPhone 17e, a new iPad Air, and new MacBooks. For the MacBooks, rumor has it Apple will be releasing a souped-up MacBook Pro with a new M5 Pro chip, a budget MacBook with a touchscreen display, or both, or neither. A more affordable MacBook could completely tip the balance of the budget laptop market in Apple's favor, and if I made Windows laptops, I'd be worried right now.

I could definitely be reading too much into a six-second social video, but Cook's X post looks to me like the back of a MacBook. The video also shows a person manipulating the Apple logo with their fingers, which, to me, screams "touchscreen."

For now, Apple isn't saying much, and it's possible I'm overthinking the crumbs they've given us.

To find out for sure, check back next week as Mashable reports on the Apple "special experience." In the meantime, you can join the rampant speculation that's going down on social media.

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"No one's normal. It just looks that way from across the street."

You'll hear that phrase a few times throughout DTF St. Louis, a darkly comedic miniseries from HBO and creator Steven Conrad (Patriot). The show examines the intertwined lives of three friends, diving beneath their seemingly normal exteriors to prod at the desires and fantasies they hope will drive away their middle-age malaise. Along the way, there's an affair, a murder, and a wildly named hookup app called DTF St. Louis.

SEE ALSO: It was tough, but we found the best movies on HBO Max

With these elements, DTF St. Louis looks anything but normal from across the street. But in a disappointing reversal of the show's oft-repeated mantra, the closer you get, the more frustratingly conventional it becomes.

What's DTF St. Louis about? David Harbour in "DTF St. Louis." Credit: Tina Rowden / HBO

Like many hit HBO dramas, including Big Little Lies and The White Lotus, DTF St. Louis' first episode reveals that there's been a murder. The victim? ASL interpreter Floyd Smernitch (David Harbour).

In the months leading up to his death, we learn that Floyd became close friends with his coworker, local weatherman Clark Forrest (Jason Bateman). As the pair bond during jogging workouts and cornhole parties, they commiserate over their now-sexless marriages. Enter DTF St. Louis, an app for married people looking to "spice it" as Clark puts it. He pushes the app on Floyd, and mere weeks later, Floyd is dead.

SEE ALSO: 'The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins' review: Tracy Morgan and Daniel Radcliffe are a match made in comedy heaven

The above plays out in fragmented fashion during DTF St. Louis' first episode. Time jumps abound, leaving awkward gaps in Floyd and Clark's relationship. These gaps serve less as proof of the passage of time and more as the show hiding its juiciest developments for later.

Those developments truly come into play as Detective Donoghue Homer (Richard Jenkins) and Special Crimes Officer Jodie Plumb (Joy Sunday) begin their investigation. Their biggest discovery? That Clark was having an affair with Floyd's wife, Carol Love-Smernitch (Linda Cardellini).

DTF St. Louis' love triangle is intriguing, but underdeveloped. Jason Bateman in "DTF St. Louis." Credit: Tina Rowden / HBO

As Homer and Plumb learn, Clark and Carol would play out their sexual fantasies with each other, be that trying new positions or role-playing as a sexbot and his new owner. Each is a way for them to get what they're missing in their home life: Clark gets to give up control, while Carol gets to take it.

The sex scenes are lightly humorous, with Bateman and Cardellini fully committing to their characters' desires and their seeming belief that living out these dreams will fix their mid-life crises. (A particularly telling fantasy? Clark role-playing as a pool boy in his 20s.)

SEE ALSO: 'Paradise' Season 2 review: Great things lie beyond the bunker

As Clark and Carol's affair progresses, DTF St. Louis begins to lionize Floyd, highlighting his kindheartedness and his understanding relationship with his stepson Richard (Arlan Ruf). It's as if the show forgets that he, too, is actively trying to cheat, reducing him instead to a virtuous teddy bear in death. Clark and Carol risk being flattened as well, turned into nothing more than streaks of blithe idiocy and cold manipulation.

Bateman, Harbour, and Cardellini are formidable, though. Bateman's typical dry humor is perfect for Clark's understated scumminess, and Harbour is wonderfully warm. I wish Cardellini got more to do (which she might in the last three episodes). For now, Carol toggles between Clark's view of her as his fantasy woman and Floyd's view of her as a sexless nag. Somehow, Cardellini finds a middle ground that helps Carol feel more her own person, but in the scheme of the whole love triangle, Carol remains the most unknown of the points.

DTF St. Louis' structure is infuriating. Linda Cardellini in "DTF St. Louis." Credit: Tina Rowden / HBO

To be fair, much of that is by design. DTF St. Louis wants to keep viewers in the dark about its central investigation throughout its run. Unfortunately, that means dragging the mystery out, especially when it comes down to Homer and Plumb's investigation.

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While Jenkins and Sunday make for a fun old blood-new guard duo, their findings rarely reveal something that flashbacks haven't already made abundantly clear. The flashbacks themselves are primarily motivated through an interrogation of Clark, who does himself — and the audience! — no favors by staying awkwardly silent at inopportune moments. Are you trying your best to look guilty, Clark, or is DTF St. Louis just withholding information so it can justify its murder hook for another few episodes?

In addition to stringing viewers along, DTF St. Louis seems not to trust them either. The show reiterates evidence time and time again. Even worse, it repeats a key discussion almost word for word in two different episodes, to the point that I felt I was hallucinating.

It's a shame, because DTF St. Louis is full of some genuinely funny moments, from a suspicious smoothie rendezvous to a whispered discussion at the Outback Steakhouse urinals about using DTF St. Louis. Peak loser behavior! I wish DTF St. Louis leaned further into that angle, but in the end, its underwhelming, nonchronological mystery approach wins out.

DTF St. Louis premieres March 1 at 9 p.m. ET.

The dating app Bumble is rolling out two new product features today, both AI-focused: AI-suggested Profile Guidance and AI Photo Feedback.

Profile Guidance, now rolling out globally, gives real-time, personalized feedback on users' bios, according to information Bumble sent to Mashable. The second, photo feedback, is U.S.-only for now, but it helps pick users' best shots for their profile.

SEE ALSO: All your Bumble questions, answered

These features are similar to other AI-driven dating app features; in the last few years, as AI has taken over the tech space, it's also taken over The Apps. Hinge's Prompt Feedback, for instance, uses AI to encourage members to beef up their profiles, while Tinder's Photo Selector uses it to optimize one's photos, similar to Bumble's new AI Photo Feedback.

Bumble has also introduced AI features previously, such as an AI tool to detect scams and fake profiles.

Additionally, in Canada, Bumble is testing Suggest a Date, a low-pressure way to signal that you're ready to take things off the app.

"We are focused on building products that address member pain points. Profile Guidance empowers our community to show up more authentically and completely, helping them start connections from a stronger foundation," Bumble's chief product and technology officer, Vivek Sagi, stated in the product announcements.

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"With Suggest a Date, we're creating a clear expression of intent and giving members a way to bypass the traditional back-and-forth to move toward meeting in real life," Sagi continued. "When we reduce friction at the moments that matter most, we help people connect with clarity and confidence, and increase the likelihood of meaningful relationships forming offline."

The announcements come shortly after a new class-action lawsuit was filed against Bumble over the January data breach. It's also after Bumble announced it's sunsetting the Opening Moves feature in Mexico and Australia. Opening Moves is a feature meant to move Bumble away from its "women making the first move" ethos by allowing men to message women first.

FREE SAMSUNG GALAXY S26 ULTRA: Sign up for any T-Mobile Experience Beyond plan for 24 months and get a free Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra (256GB), usually selling for $1,299.99.

Opens in a new window Credit: Samsung Free Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra with T-Mobile Experience Beyond plan   Shop Now

We waited extra long this year for the annual Samsung Unpacked event. Like always, we have fresh new Samsung Galaxy phones to drool over, or simply consider if your current Android phone is in need of an upgrade.

Samsung didn't increase the prices with the latest Galaxy S26 Ultra phone, compared to the Ultra S25, but that doesn't mean it comes cheap. At full price, the 256GB model of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra comes with a price tag of $1,299.99. If you'd rather get it for free, you have options. One of the best offerings is this free deal at T-Mobile.

Sign up for or add a line to any T-Mobile Experience Beyond plan and get the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra (256GB) for free with no trade-in required. You'll need to be cool with signing up to 24 months of service to cash in on the "free" aspect. T-Mobile will charge taxes and a $35 device connection fee. In total, you'll be saving $1,299.99 by getting the phone for free. If you want to go with the larger 512GB Galaxy S26 Ultra, you can still get a deal on the phone since T-Mobile will charge a monthly fee of $8.33.

SEE ALSO: Samsung Galaxy S26 phone cases: Where to get fun ones right now

The upgrades Samsung introduced with the Galaxy S26 Ultra aren't massive, but they're noticeable. That means if you've been carrying an old Android phone around, recharging every six hours, it might be time to jump on this upgrade. Samsung considers the new Galaxy S26 lineup to be the "most intuitive, proactive, and adaptive Galaxy AI" phones to date. It's also lighter and slimmer than its S25 Ultra predecessor.

One of the biggest additions to the Galaxy S26 lineup is Samsung's Privacy Display feature. This advancement dims the screen to anyone looking at the phone from an angle. It's highly customizable, so you can pick which apps you'd like this to work on.

Get the new 256GB Galaxy S26 Ultra for free when signing up for T-Mobile's Experience Beyond plans.

TL:DR: Walmart is dropping exclusive Pokémon TCG collectibles over four consecutive days before Pokémon Day 2026. New products drop at 10 a.m. ET on Feb. 23-26 for Walmart+ members.

Pokémon Day is an annual celebration of all things Pokémon. It is held every year on Feb. 27 to mark the release of the original game in Japan. You can expect a lot of exciting announcements and product launches to go live on the big day, but there's actually no need to wait.

Walmart is dropping exclusive Pokémon TCG collectibles over four consecutive days before Pokémon Day 2026. These new products will drop at 10 a.m. ET on each day:

• Feb. 23 — Ascended Heroes ETB

• Feb. 24 — Ascended Heroes Mini Tin Displays

• Feb. 25 — Journey Together Booster Bundle

• Feb. 26 — Destined Rivals Booster Bundle

The first drop on Feb. 23 featured Ascended Heroes ETBs. Walmart+ members could score these boxes for $59.99 — way below the $120 price point on TCGplayer. Next came Ascended Heroes Mini Tin Displays for under $130 and Journey Together Booster Bundles for under $35. Finally, Pokémon fans got discounted Destined Rivals Booster Bundles on the final day of this promotion.

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You do need to be a Walmart+ member to shop these exclusive drops — it's easy to sign up and this should hopefully limit the impact of bots and scalpers. These products will likely sell fast, so if you're interested in shopping, we recommend signing up well before the next drop. You don't want to be going through the sign-up process when stock is disappearing before your eyes.

Make sure your Walmart+ subscription is live, clear your schedule, and stock up ahead of Pokémon Day 2026.

TL;DR: Walmart dropped discounted Pokémon TCG Scarlet and Violet Destined Rivals Booster Bundles at 10 a.m. ET on Feb. 26. You need to be signed up to Walmart+ to shop this exclusive deal.

Opens in a new window Credit: The Pokémon Company Pokémon TCG Scarlet and Violet Destined Rivals Booster Bundle Shop Now

This week has been predictably tough on Pokémon TCG collectors. Walmart has been dropping exclusive Pokémon TCG collectibles all week in the lead up to Pokémon Day, but securing orders on these heavily discounted items has been tricky. It's what we expected, but it's still disappointing to see.

There's one day left to secure a significant saving on a best-selling Pokémon TCG collectible. We know it's been a tough week, but this could be your moment. We still believe.

At 10 a.m. ET on Feb. 26, Walmart dropped discounted Pokémon TCG Scarlet and Violet Destined Rivals Booster Bundles. This deal comes after Ascended Heroes ETBs, Mega Evolution Ascended Heroes Mini Tin Displays, and Pokémon TCG Scarlet and Violet Journey Together Booster Bundles have all been slashed this week on Walmart.

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The catch is that you need to be signed up to Walmart+ to shop these exclusive deals. Well, the real catch is that a Walmart+ membership doesn't actually guarantee that you'll be able to make a purchase. All you can do is make sure your membership is active before the next deal goes live, and keep refreshing the page if you don't see the product listing go live right away. Good luck out there, you might need it.

Score the best Pokémon Day deals at Walmart.

FREE $100 GIFT CARD: As of Feb. 26, you can get a free $100 gift card and double the storage (512GB) when you pre-order the new Samsung Galaxy S26 at Amazon. The offer ends on March 10.

Opens in a new window Credit: Samsung / Amazon Samsung Galaxy S26 (Unlocked, 512GB) $899.99 at Amazon
$1,199.99 Save $300 + free $100 Amazon gift card Pre-order Here

There's several new Samsung Galaxy phones in town, as announced at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026. The Galaxy S26 lineup — including the S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra — are now up for preorder, with an official launch date of March 11.

The cheapest of the bunch if the Samsung Galaxy S26 base model, which bumps last year's S25 starting price by $100. But lucky for you, if you preorder it at Amazon, you'll not only get a free $100 Amazon gift card to make up for that price hike, but also a free storage upgrade. That means you'll get an unlocked Galaxy S26 with 512GB of storage and a $100 Amazon gift card all for $899.99. The offer ends on March 10, just one day before the official launch date. Just note your gift card may ship separately from the phone itself, so be on the lookout.

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You have plenty of options for reserving the new phones, but pre-ordering at Amazon means you don't have to worry about coordinating a trade-in or data plan at a specific carrier. Your new S26 will be unlocked, so you can figure out the details later.

Compared to the S25, the new S26 base model features a marginally bigger screen with the same smooth scrolling, a generational bump to the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, a similar camera setup (a 50MP main, 12MP ultra-wide, 10MP telephoto, and 12MP selfie camera), a meaningful battery improvement, and of course, new AI features. If you're rocking an old handset and want to upgrade without excessively splurging, preordering the Samsung Galaxy S26 at Amazon is the move. You'll even get a free $100 gift card to spend on whatever else you need (a new case perhaps).

The idea of an Android phone as the brains inside a desktop PC-like setup didn’t catch on over a decade ago, but there’s much more promise this time around. In fact, there’s a good chance the phone you already own has a “desktop mode” just waiting to be unlocked. Here’s how to use it.

FREE BOOKS: The latest Stuff Your Kindle Day takes place on Feb. 26. Sapphic Shelf Explosion, hosted by Year of Queer Lit, is offering free sapphic books for your e-reader.

Stop what you're doing. Another Stuff Your Kindle Day just went live.

This has been a glorious year for bookworms. The quantity and quality of Stuff Your Kindle Days has been unprecedented, and the schedule is showing no signs of slowing down. We've got two events on the calendar for this week, but for now, the focus is firmly on the Sapphic Shelf Explosion.

This 24-hour giveaway, hosted by Year of Queer Lit, offers participants the chance to download 100s of sapphic books for free or just $0.99 (check the price befoe you buy to avoid disappointment). And better yet, everything that you download is yours to keep forever.

SEE ALSO: I tested the best Kindles to help you find the perfect e-reader

Looking to make the most of the latest Stuff Your Kindle Day? We've lined up everything you need to know about this popular event.

When is Stuff Your Kindle Day?

The Sapphic Shelf Explosion takes place on Feb. 26.

Stuff Your Kindle Days tend to fall into one of two categories. Some events are live for a number of days, offering you the chance to take stock of your options and download at your leisure. Others are live for 24 hours, which adds a layer of intensity to the experience. The Sapphic Shelf Explosion falls into the latter category, but there's no need to panic. You've still got plenty of time to check everything out, make a plan of priorities, and stock up. It's not like you're going to be spending big anyway.

Which ebooks are free?

The Sapphic Shelf Explosion is offering free or heavily discounted sapphic books that fall into these sub-genres:

• Romance

• Fantasy

• Historical Fiction

• Mystery

• Erotica

• Contemporary

• Horror/Psychological/Thriller

• Sci-Fi/Paranormal

• Young Adult

Anyone can participate in Stuff Your Kindle Day. Kindle and Kobo readers can download these sapphic for free.

Is Stuff Your Kindle Day the same as Amazon Kindle Unlimited?

Everything you download on Stuff Your Kindle Day is yours to keep, and there's no limit on the number of books you can download. Stuff Your Kindle Day downloads don't count towards the 20 books that Amazon Kindle Unlimited subscribers can borrow at the same time.

The best Stuff Your Kindle Day deal Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Kindle (16GB) + Kindle Unlimited (3 Months) $109.99 at Amazon
  Get Deal Why we like it

These popular e-readers let you take your entire library on the go. With weeks of battery life and an anti-glare display, you can read anywhere and anytime with the Kindle. Plus, you can get three months of Kindle Unlimited for free with your purchase. Now that's a sweet bonus for bookworms.

Affordable luxury SUVs are supposed to balance comfort, technology, and price, but many end up excelling in only one of those areas. In 2026, however, one compact luxury SUV manages to bring all three together more convincingly than its rivals. The Volvo XC40 delivers premium design, advanced safety tech, and everyday usability at a price point that undercuts much of the luxury competition, making it one of the smartest buys in the segment.

Desktop Linux is doing better than it ever has before, partly because of missteps by Microsoft in the development of Windows and partly because of the work in the Linux community over the years to turn it into a serious competitor for everyday computer users.

Not every discontinued app was a failure. Some of them worked exactly the way they were supposed to. They were fast, focused, and dependable. People built habits around them. They slipped into daily routines naturally and just did their job. Then one day they were gone.

Are you trying to figure out if it's worth it to buy a premium NAS? What if I told you the hardware was mostly the same across most units, and there was only one main difference between most brands? Here's why you shouldn't focus on NAS hardware, and instead should focus on the OS.

Everybody knows that one of the simplest ways to keep an Android phone feeling fresh is to factory reset it. What puts people off is the fear that it'll take ages and you might lose your data in the process. So when I was left with no choice but to reset my Pixel recently, I was surprised to find that it wasn't nearly as bad as I remembered.

The Scream franchise just got fun again, thanks to Scream 7. 

When it comes to churning out sequels, the horror series has a higher bar to clear than its sisters in slasher. It's not enough to make a movie that's scary and funny, with a big reveal-the-killers moment at the end. They also have to be smart, speaking to fans who not only made 1996's Scream a genre-shifting success but also fans who've grown up on these movies and demand they keep up with the genre critique across 30 years of evolution.

SEE ALSO: The best horror movies of 2025, and where to watch them

Where Scream introduced "the rules" of the slasher as a means to break them, its sequels built a box that became increasingly constrained by lore and meta commentary. This pushed the film series farther away from Woodsboro — to college (Scream 2), to Los Angeles (Scream 3), to New York (Scream VI), getting to a point where Final Girl Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) was no longer the hero, but either a supporting character (Scream 4 and 5 — which was confusingly titled Scream) or absent altogether (Scream VI).

Scream 7 brings Campbell back to the center of the story, restoring some of the original concept's simplicity. But you can never go home again, and Scream 7 recognizes that with a fiery opening, as teased in the trailers.

Kevin Williamson is back, and back in Woodsboro.  Neve Campbell in "Scream 7." Credit: Paramount Pictures

Williamson earned his first screenplay credit in 1996 for Scream, swiftly defining a brand of horror where teens weren't stupid victims, but snarky, smart, and still susceptible to homicide. He'd go on to pen Scream 2 and 4. For Scream 7, he teamed up on the screenplay with James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick, who penned 5 and VI. And Williamson also takes the helm of this one. Out the gate, you can feel Williamson's influence in the cracking dialogue between a quarreling couple at a taboo Airbnb.

Scott (Jimmy Tatro) is a devoted "Stab head," meaning a fan of the films-within-the films that turned the "true" story of the Woodsboro murders into a profitable slasher franchise. His girlfriend Madison (Michelle Randolph) knows her horror movies, but is less charmed by Scott's idea for a fun getaway: staying at Stu Macher's house. Now an "experience destination," the iconic home of one of the Woodsboro murderers has been decked out with memorabilia from the Stab movies and crime scene details, including outlines of where the killers fell dead and plaques about who got killed where.

From this moment, Scream 7 doesn't just wink at the long-time Scream fans, who are greedily eying every frame for Easter eggs. It waves at us with a fervent reminder that knowing about these movies doesn't mean you'd survive them. (RIP Randy, the first to teach us this lesson.) 

Featured Video For You 'Scream VI' writers and Jasmin Savoy Brown reveal the most crucial horror movie survival rules

However, the Macher house murders at the start of 7 aren't simply fan-service. They are also a declaration: Don't get stuck in the past.

Scott's fatal mistake was chasing nostalgia. But beyond that, Williamson's first kills here are more vicious than those in Scream. They're more on par with the graphic violence seen in the torture porn trend that would follow the release of Scream 3 — a trend that is part of the reason this franchise went fallow for 11 years.

And it's not just the level of gore in this opening sequence, which echoes the malicious and prolonged assault on Jenna Ortega at the start of Scream 5. It's that Madison, with her pink hoodie and long blonde hair, may not look like a stereotypical horror fan, but she knows her stuff — and she's a fighter. Watching her subvert the expectations of a "dumb blonde" and still wind up very dead sets the standard for Scream 7. Williamson keeps the tension and creepy quality high to the very final frame.

Scream 7 recaptures the thrills of the first film without being precious about them.  McKenna Grace, Celeste O'Connor, and Isabel May in "Scream 7." Credit: Paramount Pictures

Filling in the blanks of Sidney's personal life, Scream 7 picks up in Pine Grove, a cozy small town where Sidney is married to police chief Mark Evans (Joel McHale) and raising three children including her 17-year-old daughter Tatum (Isabel May), named for her childhood best friend. Nowadays, Mrs. Evans — as she prefers to be called — runs a cute coffee shop and argues with her eldest about why it's not smart to let your horny boyfriend crawl through your window at night. ("Hypocrite!" a seething Tatum hurls in response.) However, these very common mother-daughter conflicts are deprioritized when Sidney gets a call from a familiar voice that threatens her kid. 

Will history repeat itself? Not only is Sidney once more facing off against a serial killer in a Ghostface mask, but also it's a slasher that wants to kill her Tatum all over again. However, from the first act, Scream 7 does something none of the previous entries have done before: it shows who's on the other end of the menacing call. 

If you've followed casting news or paid attention in the trailers, you know Matthew Lillard, who played Stu Macher in Scream, is back for Scream 7. It's what some fans (this one included) have been waiting for — especially after Skeet Ulrich started popping up as a delusion/ghost dad Billy Loomis in 5-VI.

In a video call, Lillard's manic energy explodes in threats and taunts, all the more menacing because of the gnarly scars on his face. Naturally, Sidney is shocked. By all accounts, Stu died by a TV to the head in 1996. Everyone tells Sidney it can't be him. It must be AI or a deepfake, suggests the hard-to-kill franchise mainstay Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox). However, her self-described "hot interns," resilient twins Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad Meeks-Martin (Mason Gooding), point out that crazier things have happened in this franchise.

SEE ALSO: It's time to add AI protections to your will

Cleverly, Williamson and his co-writers have weaponized the Stu lives fan theory to be a mystery within the mystery. It's not enough to unmask the killer. This Stu business needs to be settled. And along the way to a climax that is surprising and astounding in its violence, fans of Lillard will have plenty of opportunity to thrill over his return. His rambunctious energy and explosive charisma hasn't faded in thirty years, and it's wild fun to see him pissing Sidney off all over again.

Scream 7 offers Easter Eggs and a wise revision of form.  Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown in "Scream 7." Credit: Paramount Pictures

Scream lovers will notice the reprisal of songs like Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' "Red Right Hand" and a slow, sexy cover of Blue Öyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper," the latter playing over the teen heroine kissing her boyfriend (like mother like daughter). There's also a cheeky nod to Scream 2, thanks to a framed photo of Tori Spelling, who canonically played Sidney in the first Stab movie. And content creators who love horror will relish doing shot-by-shot comparisons, as Williamson wisely apes director Wes Craven's iconic cinematography from the first Scream. Then, this sequel makes terrific departures from the franchise's weakest points. 

For one thing, there's the Tatum of it all. This franchise demands Sidney subtly mourn her losses, because to wallow in them would ruin the cat-and-mouse fun, right? In Scream, Sidney was given space to express the pain of losing her mother in a scene with Billy, recreated in Scream 2 and then mocked in Scary Movie.

By Scream 3, she wears her pain in the form of a necklace that her slain Scream 2 boyfriend (Jerry O'Connell) gave her. But as the movies go on, Sidney needs to be tough, not sad, lest the fun be lost amid the grief. Here, at last, the Scream franchise gives her the space to talk about her trauma outside of platitudes. Through striving to rescue Tatum, Sidney is processing the loss of her friend, and coming to understand how she can share this horrific part of her life with her daughter in a healing way. 

SEE ALSO: The could-have-been 'Scream 5' ending that keeps me up at night

Death is not taken lightly in Scream 7, even as the kills get outrageous. By the time the franchise got to Scream 3, it began giving into an ugly slasher cliche: making most of the victims unlikable before they die. Presumably, this is so the audience can enjoy the violent spectacle, rather than being saddened as the body count grows. In Scream 3, this series turned abruptly misogynistic, featuring a blonde actress (Jenny McCarthy) who is depicted as "nagging" before being slaughtered, then a sweet ingénue (Emily Mortimer) who, before being killed, is slutshamed for sleeping with a producer to get the role of Sidney in Stab 3. (See also Alison Brie's wickedly opportunistic PR agent in Scream 4.)

Courteney Cox and Neve Campbell in "Scream 7." Credit: Paramount Pictures

In Scream 7, Williamson and his co-writers offer a collection of kids who are spirited, funny, quirky, and creepy. They are distinctive and not casually disposed of, but are brutally killed. This reflects the first film, which didn't take itself that seriously. As the franchise switched hands to directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett with Scream 5 and 6, the new heroine's (Melissa Barrera) brooding over being the offspring of Billy Loomis dragged the franchise into a suffocatingly grim terrain.

In this way, Scream 7 is a return to form. Between the comic relief of the Meeks-Martin twins, Lillard's irrepressible energy, and the kinetic crew of new teens (including McKenna Grace, Asa Germann, Celeste O'Connor, and Sam Rechner), there's a levity that makes this movie wildly and unapologetically fun. This frivolity contrasts all the more sharply with the intense kill scenes, making their stabs hit home all the harder. Then, the close-ups on spilled entrails and destroyed faces doesn't let us escape the impact. Each loss is sensationally scary, building tension and anticipation for vigilante justice, Final Girl style. (Go get 'em, Sid!) 

Simply put, I was elated with Scream 7. Williamson smartly surveyed the whole of the franchise, working in lore — and even fan theories — where appropriate. But his film doesn't feel weighed down by them. He has delivered wild kills, a meta monologue about horror conventions, and enough comic relief to make this sequel a devilish roller coaster ride — the kind that sparks the audience to gasp, scream, cackle, and even yell to the characters onscreen as if we can help them.

As someone who has long counted Scream as the best of the batch, I yearned for a sequel that recaptured that feeling of discovery but also shared in my affection for the first film. Scream 7 does that, paying homage without being beholden to audience expectation or constrictive lore. Incredibly, Williams gives us a hearty dose of nostalgia and Easter eggs while providing new ideas, weird reveals, and fresh chills.

In the end, Scream 7 may not be the best of the bunch, but it's damn close. 

Scream 7 opens only in theaters on Feb. 27.

SAVE $300: As of Feb. 26, the Samsung 85-inch Class Q8F QLED 4K TV is on sale for $1,399.99 at Amazon. This deal saves you over $200 on list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Samsung Samsung 85-inch Class Q8F QLED 4K TV $1,399.99 at Amazon
$1,697.99 Save $298   Get Deal

We see you, Amazon. You couldn't let Best Buy have its moment to shine? You couldn't sit back and watch another retailer get all the glory? You had to go and match the price cut on the Samsung 85-inch Class Q8F QLED 4K TV, didn't you?

In a move that has surprised absolutely nobody, Amazon has price-matched Best Buy's impressive deal of the day from earlier this week. So as of Feb. 26, the Samsung 85-inch Class Q8F QLED 4K TV is on sale for $1,399.99 at Amazon. This deal saves you almost $300 on list price.

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The Samsung 85-inch Class Q8F QLED 4K TV boasts excellent quality across the board thanks to the 4K QLED display and AI-optimized color-boosted picture and audio, delivering incredible colors, contrast, and sharp clarity. This popular TV also supports VRR games at up to 4K at 144Hz, so gamers should be more than satisfied.

The slim design is also a nice touch. Sure, this TV looks slick, but you still don't want it drawing all the attention.

Save over $200 on the Samsung 85-inch Class Q8F QLED 4K TV at Amazon. For more Samsung news, check out our extensive coverage of Samsung Unpacked.

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