Scream season 2, episode 4, “Happy Birthday to Me,” hammers home the fact that you should never consume anything left mysteriously on your front porch.

At the top of the episode, Audrey buries the corkscrew used to kill poor Eddie, but the next morning it ends up in bed with her. Seems as though the killer climbed through her window in the middle of the night to leave her that little present. NBD.

At school, Audrey gets a text from her “partner,” and looks up to see Stavo staring her down. This connection seems a little too easy, so I’m sure it was just a coincidence. Still, she heads out to the bathroom and pulls the fire alarm so she can slip back in and search his iPad for clues. The only thing weirder than Audrey finding those creepy Lakewood Six pictures on his tablet is the fact that he didn’t have it locked.

Emma’s storyline this episode sets up the big event this week, which is Kieran’s birthday party. She and Kieran were going to do something small and romantic, but Eli tricks her into thinking Kieran actually wants a big bash. I’m not entirely sure what Eli’s motivations are here. Does he want the party so he can drug everyone? Does he want it because Kieran doesn’t? Is it all about getting closer to Emma?

Emma’s motivations are a little clearer. She’s gullible, for one, but she’s also feeling a little rebellious since her mother will be out for the evening. Emma may not be as compelling as Audrey, but I like her character because she’s fairly even-tempered and logical. Her parents are fighting over her, but she brings it to their attention that the fight is not about her — it’s about them and their issues.

And it sounds like they have a lot of issues. Not only did Mr. Duval hit his wife when Emma was young, but later on in the episode Maggie makes a comment about him once again coming just in time to play the savior. This makes it sound like she believes he’s done something worse than physically abuse her. Murder, perhaps? We don’t find out in this episode even though Emma called her out earlier for keeping dangerous secrets.

Speaking of secrets, it looks like Mayor Maddox is harboring still more of his own. He reminds Sheriff Acosta that he was hired to come back to Lakewood and play the savior. Acosta is under Maddox’s thumb, but how far is he willing to go to stay on the mayor’s good side? Right now it’s just to track down Jake, but given the mayor’s history, it could end up being much worse later on.

Kieran told Eli he doesn’t want his cousin to screw up his life in Lakewood, which is pretty good, all things considered. Both Eli and Kieran make a comment about truly knowing each other, and it reminds me of Kieran’s introduction back in season 1 when he was a prime subject. He’s not cast in as much shadow this season, but that doesn’t mean his dark comments about his past can be forgotten.

When the party is in full swing, everyone does a shot from the bottle of expensive tequila that “Jake” sent for the party. It’s been laced with ayahuasca, a hallucinogen that wreaks havoc on everyone in attendance. We see pretty much everyone do a shot, but I’m not at all convinced this means anything. If you were the killer, you’d make sure you had a contingency plan or you’d be pretty damn sure you could control your actions while you’re high. (And if I were Audrey, I wouldn’t have taken a shot under any circumstances. She knew this wasn’t from Jake!)

Brooke sees water on fire before Stavo grabs her and his knife tattoo comes to life, his eyes enveloped in flames. He takes her upstairs, where she sees Jake, who warns her that Stavo is only trying to get into her pants. This hallucination paints Stavo as a pretty shady character, and I wonder if we’re meant to take these moments as clues or as sneak peeks into the minds of the Lakewood Six and how they feel about the people around them.

Audrey is next. She sees Rachel, who still looks dead (unlike Jake), and apologizes to her for what happened. She feels responsible, but I don’t think this was an admission of guilt. The two kiss in her dream state, but when she snaps back to reality, she’s kissing Noah. Zoe wanders over and the three of them take turns kissing each other.

Emma wanders out into the woods before being attacked by a person in a Brandon James mask. We can hear someone saying, “They scared her,” while we see flashes of the farm. Is this her father talking about the pigs? The mystery continues to build, but as Emma escapes the man in the mask, her father shows up, saying he hasn’t seen anyone else in the woods.

Acosta arrives on the scene, but there’s no evidence of an attacker. Audrey is probably more adamant about it than Emma, and tells the room that Stavo was drawing pictures of her friend covered in blood. Later, the sheriff doesn’t confront his son when Stavo says he had nothing to do with the party, but instead snoops through his room. We see drawings of flies, pigs (!), and knives before Acosta reveals a box hiding a Brandon James mask.

The next day, Audrey avoids talking to Noah about what happened at the party, though in her case it’s probably because she’s got more important and life threatening things on her mind. Noah sidles up to Zoe, and I still think these two are so cute together. This plot point does slow down the show a little bit, but it’s a welcome change of pace. Plus, like Noah said in season 1, you have to care about these characters because it’s moments like this when you start to love them. That way, when they’re brutally murdered, it hurts.

No one got murdered today, but Zoe did call Noah out on liking Audrey. It seemed she was up for a possible three-way date some time, but Noah must not have gotten the memo. Zoe tells him that they shouldn’t see each other again because it wouldn’t end well for anyone, and she doesn’t want them to get hurt. I feel the worst for Noah in this situation. Riley was killed, Zoe halted his advances, and Audrey is a potential murderer. I wonder how this will affect him if — when — he finds out about his best friend.

Lastly, Brooke goes up on stage as a finalist for the Lady of the Lake announcement, but just as the banner is pulled, blood is dumped onto her head and Jake’s body lands at her feet. The episode ends on her screaming, and it seems like next week we’ll be getting a bottle episode in the school. These are the kinds of episodes Scream was made for.

Killer potential

Half the fun of Scream is trying to figure out who the killer is. Let’s sees who’s most suspicious this week.

1. Kevin Duval: Making his way back to the list shouldn’t be surprising given Maggie’s comments this episode and his sudden appearance in the woods. He once again brought up the fact that he needs to get better, and it makes me think he’s not just talking about his issues with drinking.
2. Stavo Acosta: He’s been in the right place at the wrong time on more than one occasion, and it’s getting suspect. Plus there was that whole Brandon James mask thing.
3. Eli Hudson: He’s got a fake ID, which doesn’t mean much for a high school kid who knows his liquor, but it also means he’s got a separate identity under which he can cause trouble. Plus he killed a dog when he was a kid. That’s just not okay.

How do you think everyone will react to Jake’s reveal on ‘Scream’ 2×04, ‘Happy Birthday to Me’?