Last week on Scream, Audrey told Noah her darkest secret, and now we can only wait to see if Noah believes she had no part in the Lakewood murders.
From the beginning of MTV’s Scream Noah and Audrey’s friendship has been a blinding light in a sea of dark red blood. Amidst all the gossip, controversy, mystery, and murder, these two have stuck together and kept their friendship alive even when everyone around them was dying.
When the end of season 1 revealed Audrey as Piper’s potential accomplice, fans of the show started to get nervous. It was basically Noah’s goal in life to figure out who Piper’s partner was, so what would happen when he inevitably figured out it was his best friend?
But Audrey’s version plays out differently. She brought Piper to Lakewood because she wanted to uncover the truth about Brandon James. She wanted to prove to people that just because he was different, it didn’t mean he was a murderer. Audrey connected to Brandon James’ story in a way not many other people did, including Noah, who always approached the Lakewood legend with a sort of clinical fascination. Audrey felt for the guy, and she wanted justice.
That brought Piper to their hometown, where she began to murder people left and right. According to Audrey, she confronted Piper, who denied having anything to do with the murders. Audrey naively believed her.
Since then Audrey has been feeling a lot of guilt about being the catalyst of last year’s events. She also knew her letters would be damning and that if the police got their hands on them, it would be too much to ignore. Audrey would look guilty, she would be questioned, and she might even be arrested and sentenced.
So she went out of her way to save herself, even if it meant picking pieces of her letters off of Jake’s dead body. Which, of course, makes her look even less innocent.
As the Virgin to her Bi-Curious, Noah is inclined to believe Audrey’s tale. They’ve been friends for a long time, they’ve been through hell and made it out alive, and he’s even admitted to having feelings for her. The default setting should be to trust in his bestie.
So why did he leave his recording on while she made her confession, and why do we see Zoe listening to said recording in the preview for tonight’s episode?
Audrey has been through a lot, there’s no denying that. Between the video of her and her girlfriend going viral and Rachel’s actual death, not to mention seeing people die and getting attacked herself, Audrey has some baggage. She shot Piper, she was the subject of a dangerous prank at the movie theatre where she works, and she’s being blackmailed by the new killer.
But let’s not forget Noah has some issues, too. He’s also watched people he’s cared about die, including Riley, who he was just starting to have a connection with. Audrey even kidnapped him, terrifying him to his core, in order to convince him she was innocent. He took over Piper’s podcast and made it his own because it was the only way he could cope with what he had experienced.
But what now? He knows Audrey kept a huge secret from him. He knows she has issues with her anger. He also knows he helped destroy evidence of that anger when he and Emma smashed the SD card carrying the video of her yelling at Rachel. He’s put a lot of faith in her excuses, but now he knows he’s been lied to.
If all the evidence points to your best friend, how long do you wait until you take the blinders off and try to look at the situation from an objective point of view?
I’m inclined to believe Audrey. She’s a fan-favorite character and she’s obviously being portrayed as the victim this year, and in equal capacity as Emma. We’re meant to feel for her, but is that because the show wants us to be blindsided by her true nature or is it because they truly want us to sympathize with a person who has made some mistakes but is by no means evil?
The bigger question here, I suppose, is what will Noah do next? He’s cautious about believing Audrey’s story, but it doesn’t mean he’s not willing to listen to her. If he can prove her innocence, if he can find the new killer, will he ever be able to forgive her for the part she played and the lies she told? Will they ever be able to go back to how things were?