This week’s episode of Scream gave us a good amount of possible scenarios for the potential killer(s) and certain suspects became more prominently known – who could that be? Let’s start from the beginning and explain the events leading up to one characters perplexing decision that may or may not have consequences.

photo courtesy of: ibitimes.com

After last week’s Will and Emma breakup, we pick up with Emma and Kieran during a post outdoor hook-up, and Emma pushes Kieran to take her to the home of Brandon James to face her fears. The two drive to the former family home of the murderer, and after wandering the premises – Kieran disappears. The killer calls Emma and convinces her of Kieran’s involvement, so a panicked Emma tries to unsuccessfully escape before being stabbed by a killer, who as it turns out, is her. Yes, this is definitely a dream sequence and clearly Emma doesn’t feel to trusting of people, including herself. When she wakes up, she finds her mother and sheriff saying their goodbyes, and Emma shares her approval leading to the two having a moment of normalcy after the tension between the mother and daughter. Piper meets Will for the first time while Will waits for even the slightest chance to speak with his ex. Piper, knowing Will is in a vulnerable state, offers him a chance to come on her podcast too share his knowledge of Nina’s mischief and owning up to his actions.

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Noah and Audrey begin to go over the current roster of suspects, and Noah shares that he can’t find any information on their mysterious teacher Mr. Branson, prior to his presence in Lakewood. He seems to be at the top of the totem pole of possible killers for them, but they continue to address the others. They determined Nina could have given many people motives to be the killer including: Brooke, Will, and jokingly include themselves as the masked murderer out for revenge. When the two get paired with Will for a dramatic scene, Noah mediates the miniscule relationship between Audrey and Will, somewhat mending one of many bridges Will has burned. Kieran and Emma on the other hand, are smitten by each other’s company and continue to show interest as one of Emma’s only current outlet for happiness. The police barge in to the classroom and take in Audrey for questioning, with everyone looking uneasy at the situation. Noah and Emma take a moment to quickly discuss what happened to Audrey, and Noah reminds her how likely it could be that Mr. Branson has set her up for snooping in the previous episode. He opens the door, interrupting the two, and pulls Noah away to give him his own monologue assignment. Ok, something just isn’t right with Mr. Branson, regardless of if he’s the killer or not.

Rayne begins to question Audrey, and hints at how suspicious it is that the only person who could vouch for her whereabouts when Nina was killed, also happens to be dead. Good point, but more on that later… Brooke is tracked down by Will and she admits she knows what he has done to her family (blackmail) and shoots down his information on Jake’s involvement by saying Jake wouldn’t need money (Brooke and those verbal punches!) and reminds him he’s messing with the wrong family. Back at the station, Audrey is told by the smug detective that her DNA was discovered on the inside of the mask from the killer’s lair. That’s probably going to be difficult to explain to the police. Audrey swears she never went to the hospital previously, nor has she worn that mask, and the detective begins to share all of her theories (some of which could be plausible) on why Audrey could be the person behind the Brandon James mock-killer, but it just doesn’t feel like she’s necessarily the one behind these killings. They agree they can’t detain Audrey and will have to release her, but they request her film footage from the night Nina was murdered. Audrey’s father asks to speak with the detective for a moment, and Audrey finds a phone to call Emma and Noah – who now left his supposedly normal meeting with Mr. Branson. When she gets Emma on the phone, she begs her to destroy the SD card from that night, and the two leave for Audrey’s home. Jake continues to spend time with Brooke, and they head to a freezer on her property, half hoping/half fearing what they could discover. Jake decides to do it himself, and they find nothing except for a torn sheet from their guest room. The uncertainty is enough to cause Brooke more built up anxiety, and Jake offers his comfort along with a slightly unsettling smirk. With that being said, I still ship the two of them and I’m not ashamed to admit it.

Emma and Noah break into Audrey’s house, and Emma uses an elvish memorabilia blade to pry open a shelf with Audrey’s recordings. They find the tape when Noah spots police arrive to the house with a warrant to search. The officers enter and begin to start from Audrey’s room, but the room lays empty with an open window and a suspicious detective clearly frustrated by the situation. The twosome returns to Noah’s workplace and both waiver on watching the footage, or destroying it first like she requested but can’t come to a decision. She does admit that she hasn’t heard from the killer since Audrey was under police surveillance, but teeters on her trust with Audrey. The detective calls her in to talk, and Emma tells her that she had no involvement in a break-in at Audrey’s, and dismisses any notions of her assistance. The detective sternly says to Emma, “But if I’m right. If Audrey goes free and someone else dies, you are just as guilty as she is.” Maggie looks upset by her word choice, but she drives a very important point, this decision could potentially haunt her.

Jake realizes he’s missing his phone and money, leading him to confront Will who is bench pressing without a spotter. Jake threatens Will by saying if he does anything with the video to result in trouble for him, he will be found in pieces – and Jake seems to mean it while almost causes the bar to crush his chest. Will finds Piper and temporarily declines her offer, but offers to help by giving her a major story if she’ll assist him with something. Of course, the crime journalist is optimistically intrigued by the prospects. Emma now feels inclined to watch the tape of Audrey’s with Noah, and it has Rachel behind the camera recording Audrey’s reaction to the video being posted. An enraged Audrey claims she wants to seek payback on Nina, and throws out some majorly threatening thoughts out, and Rachel continues to try and calm her. When Audrey hits her boiling point in the video, she snaps at Rachel by saying, “I said turn that off!” hitting the camera from her hands and ending the recording. Noah becomes quickly convinced that she could be responsible for them murders, and goes through the motions of digesting the fact that his best friend could in fact be a serial killer, but Emma continues to plead with him that Audrey isn’t capable of committing murder. When her mother finds her in need of counsel, she takes Emma to her old family house and reveals that she’s known Brandon James since they were children. She points out his neighboring house and shares her memories of pictures he would draw for her and other gifts. She tells her daughter that they actually were good friends, and during high school he had a discussion with Daisy telling her she deserved better than her boyfriend (Emma’s father.) Someone overheard the conversation and shared it with her boyfriend, which prompted the fights soon after. The night he met her on the docks, the cops had followed him and killed him without her actually believing he was the killer. “People saw Brandon as a monster, and I didn’t defend him.” Maggie says through tears. “If you believe in your heart that Audrey couldn’t do this, then you listen to that – or you’ll always regret it.”

Emma goes back to the station to give her story to the detective and she decides she actually trusts Audrey. Emma claims to have been with her that night, and talked her down from doing anything risky. When she asks why Audrey never claimed to see Emma that night she covers by saying that Audrey promised to not tell anyone about her involvement in the initial tape due to her extreme regret. With Emma covering for Audrey, she is released and Audrey tells her that after the recording ended, Rachel threw her keys into the field, which stopped her from seeking revenge. Audrey also notes that the video was one of the last recordings of Rachel, and it was a reminder for her to never get that angry again. Was it true, or fabricated? Just a few more episodes to find out!

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Will meets with Brooke’s father to return the money Jake took from the mayor, as well as the recording of him dragging a body. Will tells him he was always on the peripheral of the events and says his life by saying, “I’ve done a lot of things I’m sorry for in the past year…I really don’t want to die for doing the right thing.” The mayor releases his gun and exits the building, reminding him that there is a killer on the loose. Piper appears from the shadows, revealing that she worked with Will to gather a story and evidence against him. Before the two can make their own exit, the killer follows them and makes his attack, knocking Piper to the ground and slicing Will’s abdomen with his knife. An injured Will can’t manage the strength to fight back, as the masked murderer drags him into the shadows and ending the episode. I have a strong feeling the next episode is going to be one of the most intense episodes to air yet, and my addiction for Scream only continue to thrive.

Aedan’s Final Thoughts:

-My favorite part of the episode was the writers placing viewers in a complex predicament of choosing to trust the word of a friend despite unsettling signs, as well as potentially facing repercussions. This is a recurring element to Scream that I continue to enjoy.

-Will has made horrible decisions, but its becoming more apparent that he is struggling to make improvements in his life and that mixed with the ending adds up to a dire future for Emma’s former boyfriend.

-Jake is constantly underestimated by the characters in Scream, and he proves to be more intellectual and methodical than previously recognized. Can he outlast the killer? I’d like to hope so, but outlook isn’t great.

-My top 5 current suspects (in no particular order) are:

-Noah

-Brooke

-Sheriff Hudson

-Kieran

-Piper