It’s Lakewood’s 100th birthday on episode eight of Scream! So how does the town with a murderous reputation celebrate you might ask? An poorly timed carnival to make the likelihood of trouble even higher of course.

Before any of the carnival goodness can begin, Audrey wakes up to blood dripping on her face with a message on the ceiling – “12 dead” along with an implication she won’t be forgiven. As it is pointed out, there are 11 known dead unless the last is reference to Brandon James or an incident from the past, the most likely scenario (creepy photo, Troy, etc.) Still included in the “Lady of the Lake” pageant, Brooke asks for the accompaniment of her friends with everything that’s gone on. At the Sheriffs station, Sheriff Acosta goes through some of Ms. Lang’s belongings which includes some unusual recordings of the Lakewood residents including his own family. Shortly after, the sheriff is sent to the scene of the fire from the previous episode and finds the burnt up bodies of Eddie the motel clerk and Seth Branson.

Not wanting to have any secrets, Emma cops to the truth about breaking in, but is sure that the two of them weren’t the start of the fire. The sheriff clues her in to Eli’s creeper past about breaking into a girls room as well as other places, saying Kieran only had her best interests at heart. When Eli sees her he wants to make amends, but Emma doesn’t seem to think it’s a good idea after everything. The final preparations for the Lady of the Lake pageant continues, and Brooke comes to the conclusion that though she doesn’t want the title – she will help her new friend Zoe achieve success in her endeavor. At the Acosta house, the sheriff has lost trust in his son and ransacks his room seeking the mask with an upset Stavo protesting the situation (I do like you Stavo – but you are creepy!)

Emma and Kieran are given a chance to reconcile, so Emma shares that she found out some of his past which sends Kieran off the deep end (someone’s keeping secrets!) around that time, Audrey gets a threatening phone call from the murderer telling her that everything ends for her if she includes the police or tells the truth to Emma. Audrey decides to disregard the warning and asks Emma to the carnival with her to share her “truth.” When they arrive, we discover that this used to be tradition for them as children with an idea that their friendship is the best it’s been in years (until things are bound to take an awkward turn.) Brooke glams out Zoe in pink, while donning her own dark vampy look with a black dress and dark lipstick – Brooke is always such a queen in attitude and appearance of course. Zoe shares some of her alcohol with Brooke to take the edge off when Noah also arrives (because of Brooke’s doing) to be with his date.

Stavo sneaks back to the area Brooke is waiting, asking her to leave with him because of the ill-timed carnival but she refuses by saying she has her reasons. He decides to leave feeling frustrated with her, so Brooke takes another large swig of the flask getting a little more than tipsy. Eli pursues Emma at the carnival grabbing her arm when she tries to leave, queuing Kieran to do some face-punching on his troubled cousin. “I’m not the one you should be afraid of” Eli tells Emma with a bloody mouth, but still isn’t really entirely trustworthy. Zoe and Noah find some time to kill, walking the carnival together before entering a photo booth. It appears as if they are looking to go further, but the pageant is about to begin and the contestants must take their place. Audrey hears the story about Eli breaking in to others’ property which prompts her to suggest he may have been the one who entered her house repeatedly.

As Brooke prepares to give her speech, it’s evident that she’s hit the drunk state – stumbling onto the stage with a giggle and a message she wants to make loud and clear. “I was supposed to be here with my boyfriend Jake Fitzgerald, but I guess you all know what happened with that right?” She says with a forced laugh before the tears start rolling. She says that this carnival is a reminder of how oblivious the town chooses to be, saying that Jake isn’t here with her – he’s left in the abyss of nothing, something that they’ll all know soon if people don’t wise up. “And we’ll all deserve it, but he didn’t.” She says a a closing statement that is enough to cue some major feels. This is yet another spectacular Brooke scene, and her best emotional performance/dialogue of the series – that’s more success from Carlson Young and Scream!

When her friends surround her, they tell Brooke her speech was necessary and incredible, with even her father not finding it plausible to stay upset. “Jake would have liked it” she reminds them to ultimately stab us in the heart once more. Emma then gets a call from Kieran and when she answers, sees him tied up in the funhouse – so Emma bolts to save her boyfriend from a bloody death. By the time she enters its a cat and mouse game, dodging laughing clown mechanisms and other fun (spooky) carnival inclusions. The deputy sent to tail Emma follows her in, but he’s found by the killer and thrown through a thick layer of glass where Emma finds his body. She thinks she spots the killer and uses the officers gun to shoot, but it penetrates glass instead and he makes an escape. Someone barges out of the entrance in the killer’s costume, with Emma behind by a few feet and holding a gun. They are surrounded by police, and by the time they intake a knife from his hand and remove the mask, we see Kieran is under it with his mouth taped shut. (I actually still believe this could be Kieran, without a doubt.)

Kieran is next shown in the back of an ambulance talking to Emma – telling her that he was so afraid Emma wouldn’t know the truth, saying he was in the car and the reason for the accident that killed his parents. His rivalry with Eli has to do with the fact that he says Eli tries to take everything he loves, but he refuses to lose Emma to him. Zoe is shown to have won the pageant, feeling it doesn’t matter too much for the moment, but Noah admires her fighting for what she wants and the mood seems to strike. Back at his house right as things pick up, Audrey calls and Zoe decides to wait (yet again) but not out of anger or irritation. At Brooke’s house, someone enters her room (revealed to be Stavo) and she thanks him for coming, and the two just lie in bed together with Brooke not wanting to be alone. In the final moments of the episode, Audrey heads to Emma’s to share the truth about Piper – but someone (Zoe) beat her to it and sent the audio confession to Emma, who finished listening right as her “best friend” enters the room.

Overall Grade: 8/10

Scream is absolutely thriving in its second season, brining us the emotional toil and high stakes horror viewers deserve. They’ve really fleshed out the characters’ friendships which only makes it more crucial to the importance of survival. Brooke’s speech was the most iconic moment from this installment, making it difficult not to feel a deep sympathetic feeling for the broken-hearted teen. I also have come to appreciate the different ways Scream has embraced different ideas (carnival, murder hotel, farms) into the horror dynamic to change the setting from time to time.

Aedan’s Final Thoughts:

-Kieran still resides at the top of my suspect list with Noah, and maybe even Zoe taking the top spots.

-Drunk emotional speeches are apparently my new favorite thing – courtesy of Ms. Maddox

-There has to be a large twist at play that includes Troy James and some of the Lakewood 5 that could throw another sibling into the fold.