The Final Girl Support Group

Lynnette stays in the same holding cell where the police put copies of the letters Billy said he found from Lynnette to Ricky Walker. She feels that she deserves to be here; once released to await trial, she expects a fan will kill her for fame, even though she’s a “not-quite” Final Girl.

Lynnette feels responsible for the murders of people she loved because after she became pen pals with foster care kid Ricky Walker in fifth grade for a school assignment, she shared with Ricky that her father yelled all the time and that she sometimes she wished her parents were dead. Later, she gave him her address so they could run away together—that’s why he came to her house and killed her family. Lynnette also feels guilty for not saving anyone except herself: “The other ones in group fought back and killed their monsters, but me? I just hung on those antlers like a piece of meat. I just lay there on the linoleum getting my skull pulped” (164).

Dr. Carol visits. She feels deeply betrayed by Lynnette’s book. Someone emailed a copy to everyone in group—all the women are furious. Dr. Carol claims to have printed out the entire book, but the stack of paper she is carrying is too thick for what Lynnette actually wrote. That plus the weird tone in Dr. Carol’s voice makes Lynnette suspect that Dr. Carol is actually the killer.

Lynnette looks at the letters that purport to say she had sex with Ricky Walker. The Holly Hobbie stationery isn’t the kind she used—the letters have been forged.

A young cop with a broken hand offers her a granola bar as consolation for not being able to let her use the phone. Then, suddenly, he tries to kill her by cutting off her air supply. Garrett saves her just before she blacks out. 

Garrett takes Lynnette out of the police station and tells her they’re taking a road trip back to Utah, where she’s from. In the car, he talks about the Slay Bells movies, while Lynnette considers Dr. Carol’s motive.

Garrett won’t let Lynnette eat even though she’s hungry. He reveals that he knows every one of her stalkers, including the superfan officer that tried to kill her—Garrett actually set that attack up so the LAPD would understand they weren’t equipped to protect her in jail. Lynnette assumes that Garrett is going to kill her, but instead he sets her free. He knows the Ricky Walker letters are fake—there is nothing to gain from bringing in new information about her case. He reports that when he checked the visitor sheets for Billy Walker, he saw that Chrissy Mercer—the former seventh member of the support group—had visited Billy many times.

Garrett tells her to give him a black eye to make it look like he was jumped; then she can go to a restaurant and call a cab. Instead, she knees him in the balls and takes his car.

Lynnette decides to kidnap Stephanie to keep her safe. At Stephanie’s house, she introduces herself as Dr. Laura Newbury and tells the Fugates that she works with Dr. Carol, whom they’ve been trying to reach. She tells them that Stephanie is a Final Girl, and that they need to keep her safe. Stephanie comes downstairs. She knows who Lynnette is, but doesn’t let on. Lynnette tells Stephanie that she needs to go with Lynnette to stay safe.

Just then Dr. Carol arrives, concerned Stephanie might be in danger because of one of her patients. Lynnette convinces Stephanie to run out the back of the house with her. She tells Stephanie that Dr. Carol is trying to kill them.

Stephanie’s mother calls. Lynnette tells Stephanie to answer and let her mother know she’s okay, and then Lynnette takes the phone. Dr. Carol comes on and tells her she needs to stop this. Lynnette warns that if they call the cops or media, she’ll kill Stephanie. Once off the phone, she reassures Stephanie that this was just an empty threat. Lynnette calls Marilyn on a burner phone to let her know about Dr. Carol, but Marilyn won’t listen—she is still angry because of the book. Then Lynnette calls Dani, but Dani won’t listen either.

Lynnette asks Stephanie why she came so easily with her. Stephanie explains that Lynnette reminds her of her best friend who was killed. Stephanie’s focus has entirely changed since surviving the massacre at Camp Red Lake. Lynnette has Stephanie send an anonymous message to Chrissy saying she has “murderabilia” to sell.