Scream season 2, episode 1, “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” just finished airing. What did you think of tonight’s premiere?
An iconic first kill is a staple of the Scream franchise, and the television show is no exception. Whereas last year we started with Bella Thorne portraying bad girl Nina Patterson, this year Lele Pons is filling those bloody shoes. She doesn’t quite have the magnetic charisma of Thorne, but the opening sequence rushes past this to reveal that the so-called celebrity death was all smoke and mirrors.
Having the first murder of the season be fake sets the tone for the rest of the episode and, presumably, the rest of the season. The marketing campaign this year has been to “trust nothing,” and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Nothing is as it seems until the camera is pulled back and the truth is revealed.
Even the second “kill” of the episode is fake. Audrey is getting text messages from someone claiming they know about her involvement with Piper, so when a masked assailant shows up wielding a camera and a knife, her instincts kick in. One girl is brutally stabbed before Audrey takes matters into her own hands, only to find out it was all an elaborate prank. Seems not everyone is a fan of the Lakewood Six, and Audrey hasn’t gained much in the way of popularity over the summer.
I find it hilarious that one of the pranksters is up in arms about Audrey stabbing her partner in crime. Do they not understand the severity of the trauma these kids have gone through? Who in their right mind would play a prank like that? Luckily, the new sheriff in town is not an idiot, and he lets Audrey off the hook since she believed she was defending her life. Besides, the guy is gonna live, and it’ll be fine. Though I have a feeling this girl in going to be a pain in the ass for Audrey.
Emma rolls back into town, and in typical fashion tries to ignore everything that happened to her when she last saw her friends. She wants it all to go back to normal, but the notoriety of being one of the Lakewood Six, not to mention being the Final Girl, makes that kind of difficult.
But Audrey’s got bigger problems. She’s now the target of the mysterious text messages and phone calls, and while she does a good job of acting tough, it’s clear the caller knows something. “He” (for lack of a better pronoun) says he’s a friend of a friend, presumably Piper, and asks her how she thought she could get away with murder. I can’t stress enough that I want Audrey’s involvement to be something other than what it appears, but at the moment, it’s not looking good for her. Here’s to hoping she never actually tried to murder anyone.
Meanwhile, fans of Jake and Brooke went on a roller coaster ride tonight. It started out so well between them. They had secretly gotten together, but Jake didn’t want to keep hiding. He blames Brooke for preferring to keep her lovers in the dark, much like she did with Mr. Branson. Brooke gets pissed and leaves him to whisper, “I love you,” after her. It’s heartbreaking and everything I had wanted him to admit, so of course it all went downhill from there.
But first we have to dream about some pigs. Or, at least, that’s what Emma does. She sees a little girl playing with some entrails, and it’s all very horrible. Yet, this feels important, like it’s a major clue to the identity of the killer. We later learn it’s Brandon James’ brother’s farm, so the recurring pig theme seems a little on the nose. Trust nothing, remember? Perhaps this is just one giant red herring.
Enter Noah, whose lines are basically meant to foreshadow what’s to come on the show. Except he’s not the only one laying down some truths this episode. Noah says the dream motif is super common in the horror genre, which basically means we need to pay attention to Emma’s nightmares. But the new sheriff’s creepy son, Gustavo, is quick to correct him, saying he’s too focused on the ending. Maybe we need to worry less about the killer’s identity and more about what trauma Emma went through as a child. There’s always going to be another issue, he continues, and you have to wonder if this is the writers telling us they have plenty of material beyond season 2. I’m in if they’re in.
At this point in the episode, we get some solid clues as to who the new killer may be. First and foremost, Noah is still convinced Piper had an accomplice. His podcast, The Morgue, has attracted its own fan base, though some of them aren’t quite smitten with Audrey. We see where the conspiracy to prank her originated, but a third commentor has remained anonymous, meaning it’s possible that he’s the one behind it all.
Still, when Jake is attacked and chained up, he received a weapon to help him break out of the barn, and on it reads, “See what you can do with this, ‘Boy, Interrupted.'” At the welcome home party, Jake referred to Emma as Girl, Interrupted, so does this mean one of the Lakewood Six is the killer? Or does it mean the killer was listening in? With such a pointed reference, my initial instincts point to either Emma, who may have truly cracked, or Kieran, who feels the need to protect and defend his girlfriend. At this point I feel like anything is possible.
Then again, it does seem like Emma is working through her issues, while Kieran continues to be distant. She wants to pick right back up where they left off, while he feels as though everything has changed too much. Emma tries working through her problems by going on Noah’s podcast, and I have to wonder if this will just give the killer more fire power.
Either way, I hope you didn’t think we’d be getting out of the Scream season 2 premiere without an actual murder. Audrey learns that the person on the other end of the phone has all her correspondence with Piper, while Emma and Brooke head to Troy James’ farm, which Emma has been dreaming about since she was a kid. But it’s Jake who gets the sharp end of the scythe, as he’s strung up and gutted like a deer. Please tell me Mitzgerald wasn’t your OTP.
Inside the house, Emma sees pictures on the wall of her has a child and throughout her life before she realizes she’s not alone in the room. I definitely do not miss waiting a week between these giant cliffhangers.
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.
- Troy James: It’s his farm, his dead pigs, and his brother who’s been at the center of this show. We know he was protective of Brandon when he was alive, so is he protective of his legacy now that he’s dead?
- Kieran Wilcox: His parents are dead and his life has been turned upside down. Emma is all he has left, and he might be willing to do anything to protect her.
- Kevin Duvall: Did something happen with Emma when she was younger? Where did the killer get all these childhood photos? Her father has been sketch from the beginning, and season 1 did nothing to alleviate that thought.