First introduced in Scream (1996), Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) became an iconic addition to the slasher genre. She is known as the tritagonist of the franchise, ranking lower in significance than Dwight "Dewey" Riley and Scream's leading lady, Sidney Prescott. Nevertheless, she continued to prove her importance throughout the remainder of the tetralogy, wherein she valiantly risked her own life to save others -- namely Sidney and Dewey -- and made it perfectly clear that she should never be deemed a "damsel in distress."
Gale is a reporter who wrote a best-selling novel on Maureen Prescott's death, explaining how she believes that Cotton Weary was innocent and wrongly imprisoned. At first, she behaves as most scoop-starved reporters do; she is rude, bossy and goes to great lengths to get the material she needs for a good news story.
In the final act of Scream, when Billy and Stu confront Sidney about their motive, an injured Gale arrives and holds them at gunpoint. However, due to the lack of gun-wielding experience, the safety is on, and Billy kicks her against a pillar on the front porch. It should be noted that Gale suffered some nasty injuries in a freak car crash and still came to Sidney's aid, so she clearly shows compassion for others that is often disregarded in "sleazy" reporters.
Gale's distraction allows Sidney to escape and fight back. Just as Billy prepares to stab Sidney, Gale shoots him, effectively saving Sidney's life. If not for Gale, Sidney would have been a redundant final girl after meeting her demise in the final act. Moreover, despite injury and near-death, Gale never misses the chance to report the turn of events to the morbidly curious public. She still has to do her job, after all.
In Scream 2 (1997), Gale has written her second book, The Woodsboro Murders, which reflects on the events of Scream. She is thrown into the fray and heavily pursued during a particular chase sequence, in which she ducks into a soundproof booth to hide. During that time, she witnesses Dewey's "death" and narrowly escapes unscathed. In the climax, Gale is escorted to the school theater by Mrs. Loomis, Billy Loomis' mother, who is undercover as Debbie Salt throughout the movie.
Gale proves to Scream 2's audience that Sidney isn't the only one capable of surviving a difficult plight. Sidney faces Mrs. Loomis and Mickey by herself until Gale arrives to provide backup. If not for Gale's timely intervention, Sidney would have likely met her end once more in Scream 2. Any self-respecting final girl is capable of handling herself, that much is common knowledge, but Gale seems to repetitively bale Sidney out of some tight spots, which says more about Sidney's self-preservation than it does about Gale's supposed inferiority as a character.
Mickey, one of the killers (along with Mrs. Loomis) to don the Ghostface costume in Scream 2, shoots Gale, who falls off the stage, presumably dead. However, it is revealed that the bullet bounced off Gale's ribs, allowing her to survive. Once the whole ordeal is over, Mickey suddenly springs to life for "one last scare" and is shot dead by Sidney and Gale. At this point, Gale Weathers is essentially invulnerable since she survived a near-death encounter -- not once but twice -- without the help of anyone else, which is more than can be said for Sidney.
Sidney and Gale working together are a force to be reckoned with. As the saying goes -- trauma bonds. Still, Gale's heroics far surpass Sidney's in Scream 2, especially since she brushes shoulders with death and lives to tell the tale, not to mention taking partial credit for stopping the Ghostface copycats.
In Scream 3 (2000), Gale is shown to be much more compassionate, but tensions arise from her acrimonious relationship with Dewey, which has been damaged by their past. She has written a third book based on the copycat killings from the last movie and has a less prominent role in Scream 3 but is still attacked by Ghostface for being associated with Sidney Prescott. Dewey saves her, which is a more vulnerable moment for Gale, who is more than capable of defending herself. She hates to be viewed as weak, as female characters in slasher horror are often stereotyped to be.
Later on, Gale is kidnapped, along with Dewey, by Roman Bridger, who was the mastermind behind Scream 3's Ghostface. He uses them to blackmail Sidney so that she'll come to the mansion alone. Gale and Dewey do aid Sidney in killing Roman, but unfortunately, Gale was the victim of a poor plot and her inclusion in Scream 3 was limited to the damsel in distress role that she despises so much. Sidney does come to Gale's rescue, which is an embarrassing moment for Gale, but she and Dewey serve as valuable allies to Sidney and come to her aid after her rumble with Roman. Scream 3 is the only exception because the scores are tied, but Gale is still Sidney's guardian angel at all times, even when she herself needs saving. She also punches Jennifer Jolie (who played Gale in the Stab movies) after Dewey is attacked.
Scream 4 (2011) sees Gale, now married to Dewey, trying to reinvent herself as an author. When Sidney returns to Woodsboro and the killing spree starts again, Gale is excited to be involved and have the opportunity to solve the killings. Going "rogue," as she eloquently puts it, Gale goes undercover at a Stab-a-thon party -- an event 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. Gale is only stabbed in the shoulder and manages to recover.
Once again, Gale proves how thick her skin is, both physically and metaphorically. Ghostface has never once truly unnerved her, even if she does play the part of a helpless damsel from time to time. Gale survives her wounds and uses logic to determine who the killer is. She winds up in hospital with a near-fatal injury, but when Sidney is admitted in critical condition and her evil cousin, Jill Roberts, comes to finish the job, Sidney is saved -- yet again -- by none other than Gale. If not for Gale's heroics in the final confrontation, wherein she distracts Jill long enough for Sidney to get the upper hand, Sidney would be a forgotten martyr and Jill would have gotten away with homicide.
Summarizing Gale's impressive track record throughout the Scream franchise so far: she has survived being shot and stabbed, outsmarted the Ghostface killer(s), and even saved "perfect" final girl Sidney Prescott on more than one occasion. In other words, Gale is truly an all-around survivalist, as well as a reliable companion. In her own immortal words, "Don't fuck with me."
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