We’re approaching the end of Scream season 2 and everyone has felt loss courtesy of the killer. This week begins with Noah being hospitalized for his wounds, still traumatized by the loss of the girl he began to love. The others hope to comfort him but the podcaster has concluded he’s done with his involvement and asks them to remove everything from his room, including the murder-board. While going through the items, a newspaper clipping reveals Eli was present at Will’s funeral which is enough to add extra red herring suspicion to him. Audrey finds a photo of Zoe and Noah, taking it to him to share information (which he declines to hear) but he does decide on making one final podcast in Zoe’s memory. Kieran, Emma and Audrey discuss the likelihood of Eli being the killer and Kieran decides to be the one to snoop for another lead.
Eli’s mother tells him they need to leave Lakewood before people find out about them, including the mayor who had been blackmailing her for her troubled past. Eli says he isn’t leaving and will take care of the mayor problem himself. At the Maddox household, he calls his daughter who had left after the Jake reveal but hears music blasting from her room. When he enters, we see it was a distraction as Eli finds things that could put the mayor in trouble too. Ms. Lang finally regains consciousness and Sheriff Acosta begins to question her about how her and Piper have a connection through the orphanage. She says that she was doing an informal case study on them and that Piper has nothing to do with her interests. The untrustworthy teacher tells the sheriff that Stavo’s death fascination is because of trying to understand his father while Emma seems genuinely obsessed with Piper (come on, really?)
Brooke finally decides to return home and face her father, telling Stavo to do the same – but he makes a stop at the hospital to persuade Noah from quitting what he does. To prove how much Noah influences people, Stavo sends him a comic he’s created where Noah seeks out answers and fearlessly faces the killer. At Kieran’s house, he waits for Eli and his mother to leave before showing Emma and Audrey an assortment of letters to Piper that suggests he knows more than he’s let on. The letters also include the pictures of Emma as a child, which means there is a definitive connection the James’ pig farm. Brooke’s father sees she has come home and while things are cold between them, we can tell that they still care because they are the only family they have left.
Noah conducts his memorial podcast for Zoe, changing his mind to keep it running as she would have wanted. He goes to upload the sweet recording, but as he tries his computer is hacked and another video uploads to The Morgue. As he opens the video, he sees someone created their own film with videos of the understanding and Audrey’s letters/Emma dream journal to make them seem like the killers. Everyone is able to see the video including Brooke who watches Jake’s death and Audrey’s role – and the video is looped for the entire town (and more) to see. Maggie interrupts the sheriff to say she heard from Kieran that Emma and Audrey are heading to the pig farm so a police unit heads out to meet them there. Emma and Audrey find the property so Emma decides to head inside while Audrey watches to make sure nobody else arrives. During Emma’s search of the farmhouse, she finds the secret room the sheriff noticed last time and enters (calling Audrey to join her.) They realize someone had definitely been living in the home, even finding Emma’s journal used for the video to implicate them. At the same time, Brooke’s father gets to the property and heads to the barn from text messages about the info against him. He searches the dark barn, hearing someone’s phone as he texts it but can’t find anyone around – until he gets a picture of the killer holding a pitchfork. When he turns around, the killer stabs him with it through the chest and leaves him to die. Emma wants to know why the mayor could be there, so her and Audrey head into the barn where they see him pull the pitchfork from his chest. The two arm themselves knowing the killer is around and try to stop the bleeding, but at that same time the police enter and discover a scene that doesn’t look to great for the two girls.
Audrey and Emma are both arrested by the sheriff, despite the two telling him the killer is nearby. Kieran arrives just as they are being taken away, but it’s too late – and the girls realize people will be pinning all of the murders on them. Only one episode remains folks, prepare yourselves for an unmasking you won’t want to miss…
Overall Grade: 8/10
This episode acted as a premise to the finale in many ways, giving us a lot to look forward to. I enjoy that all of the main characters are still in play and it makes the stakes feel especially high. Scream has found extreme success in creating drama, tension and mystery elements crucial to keeping the franchise alive.
Aedan’s Final Thoughts:
-Kieran has been my front-runner in terms of who is the killer and Maggie would be my next major suspect after Zoe’s death and Noah’s stabbing.
-Brooke needs all the screen time possible, I keep hoping they will tap into her final girl potential even more.
-The mystery of Scream is a true nod to the films which deserves recognition.
