Scream: The TV Series “Pilot” (Review & Recap)

I've been a fan of the Scream franchise since I was a kid. I still remember my last year of Trick-or-treating in my Scream costume. I thought the 2011 movie, Scream 4, really recaptured the original horror story and excitement while bringing it to the future with modern technology and upping the ante. I was very excited when I heard about the new TV series, although I admit I was a little nervous that they wouldn't be able to capture the horror, the creativity, or the feel of the films. I was also a little nervous that MTV was at the helm, but I admit I do like several of their original series. As expected there are many people who don't exactly love the new show whether or not they decided this before or after watching the episode is undetermined at this point.  Regardless I imagine they will all be watching the rest of the season. Like all love affairs with franchises, restaurants included, sometimes things can go wrong. We don't all love McRibwich Sandwiches, but some do. All of the movies, and the TV show as well, have some missteps or some steps that we didn't anticipate or like as much as we wanted. However, we have to admit that fun, exciting feeling that we got when Drew Barrymore answered the phone and appreciate the chance to see the story in a new, slightly more TV-friendly way. Come on, “it's fair game until no one is left.”


(SPOILERS BELOW!!!!!)

I watched the first eight minutes teaser before watching the premiere. Twice actually and a third time when I watched the episode. It catches the viewer's attention right away. I was intrigued within the first three minutes and so excited to see that they continued the tradition of starting with a creepy phone-related sequence and ultimately the first look at the killer. It starts with a video of two unsuspecting girls kissing being uploaded. The video hits Chirpster, which means it's going viral and everyone is watching. We meet the high school queen, Nina, and Tyler her drooling boyfriend and recognize that they are responsible for the video. What a great lesson for kids today, be aware of social media and the harm that can come from it! Standing in as the lead actress who gets murdered right away, Bella Thorne does a great job at selling her role and genuinely does a good job at recreating the role played by many great actresses before. Yes, she's strolling through her tech-savvy home, changing into a tiny bikini, and catching someone recording her on her laptop camera. (Hey, there's another lesson here kids. People can do this!) She starts receiving videos of herself walking around her house, which leads to texts that she believes are coming from Tyler, who presumably isn't giving up so easily. This scene was great. The addition of motion sensing lights mixed with the humor and eerie feeling that she is being watched create a scene that easily fits into the Scream lore. I was a bit surprised that MTV pushed the boundary and killed her so brutally. However, it does show that they won't hold all the punches and that they plan to see it through. In true Scream fashion her cell phone shows Mom is calling as she is thrown into the pool. This is when we get the first glimpse of the mask. The costume is very similar, but the mask is slightly different. I like it. It's just similar enough while looking like it could have been the original plastic mask melted down into an eerie Ghostface.

Next we meet Emma, the good girl who likes the bad boy, and the bad boy himself, Will. She's likeable.  Will she be a good Sydney; I'm not sure yet. She's helping him with Calculus, although he didn't show up for their study session last night. Right away-we have our first suspect. We also meet Emma's mom who we find out is a coroner and is dating the sheriff. Then we head to school to meet the other suspects students. First we see Audrey who was one of the girls on the viral video. (I was very excited about her addition to the show as I've liked her in many other shows. I knew she would bring it.) She's carrying her video camera around filming the other students. This isn't exactly explained, but I wonder if it will be more important later. Noah, the horror aficionado and resident nerd, tells her that he tried to pull the video, but that it was already down. Oh-not only is he really into the back story as we learn later, but he is also good with technology. Later in class Emma's group, the popular kids, are discussing the new boy in class while the teacher works to keep them interested in the Gothic literature. They reference The Walking Dead and other current shows, but Noah says they can't do a slasher movie as a TV series. He says that slashers burn bright and fast and that TV stretches things out. As he goes into his speech Nina's parents are arriving at home. Her mother screams and Noah tells us that there's only so long after the first body is found until the blood bath commences. This was a great throwback moment as well. Yes, he is explaining things to us. Yes, this is an idea that was played around with in all the movies. I think it wouldn't be the same without it.

The students soon find out about Nina and the school has grief counseling for students before they go home. Jake, the token attractive jock, becomes an immediate suspect as searches the Internet for “gory details” of her murder while they wait. He is excited when he hears about the “neck slicing” almost as excited as someone who wants to hear others talk about their accomplishments. Maybe, maybe not. Then it gets a little hairy in the details. Rumors start about Brandon James, a teen who was disfigured (insert reference to the Elephant Man) but became obsessed with local girl Daisy twenty years ago, and how he was “bullied and beaten into” becoming a killer. He killed five students after they beat him up at the Halloween dance. Daisy lured him out near the lake and they shot him when he came. He fell into the lake, but not before he gave her a wooden heart necklace with her name on it. No one knows who that girl became, but the audience finds out when the camera zooms out to Emma's mom opening a memory box and pulling out the heart necklace. Of course others are assuming that Tyler might be the killer because he was seen at her house and has now disappeared. Emma's group is planning a party, I mean a prayer vigil, and wonder if one keg will be enough. Emma discovers that Will was with Jake the night before and lied about where he was. Later Will storms off to talk to Jake and asks if he deleted the files of Nina. Jake seems flippant about it, but says he did. Meanwhile Brooke, the flighty, man-hungry friend, meets with the teacher from earlier. He says they should discontinue their study sessions, but they soon find themselves kissing.

Emma is at home and getting ready to leave for the party, but she hears a knock on the door. No one is there. She finds a package on the porch with a name tag marked Daisy. Her mom tells her it must have been meant for someone else, but she opens it once her daughter leaves. The note says “Emma looks just like you at that age.” She opens it all the way and finds...a real heart. Who has gone farther and is now giving her an actual heart? She tells the sheriff that she is Daisy and that she thinks this is a warning that someone knows something about her. The sheriff adds another suspect to the list when asking if her ex-husband could have sent it to her. She doesn't seem to think that he would do it. We find ourselves at the party when Audrey and Noah come after Emma invited her. She feels bad about the video and that they didn't remain friends after eighth grade. They talk and seem to reconnect. Noah makes friends with a girl who seems to share some of the same interests. I agree with other reviewers who see the lake scenes as similar to Friday the 13th. I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing, though. They are all sitting around discussing the murder and whether or not they should be afraid. The new guy, Kieran, says they should. They are a bunch of drunk teens at a party at a lake where the hometown slasher died. Doesn't that sound like the lead up to a lot of scary teen movies? Will says that maybe it's better that Nina is gone because everyone will be more sane now, but Brooke outs him when she says at least your life will be less complicated. After Emma stormed off he told her that he did sleep with Nina when they were on a break.

Brooke told everyone that the garage was off limits, but suddenly we see a light on in the garage. I smiled because it felt like a major throwback to the original party with the next few scenes. Brooke goes to inspect the garage while Noah is drinking and explaining the rules of survival on the couch surrounded by others. Come on, you know this is fun if not anything else. Brooke closes a door that was left ajar on one of the cars and we hear a blade slashing sound in the background. The tension is building. Alas Will shows up and threatens that he will break her if she ever gets between him and Emma again. Noah tells the others that “survival is possible at a party like this, just don't wander off alone.” Emma is wandering off alone until she finds Kieran outside. They share a moment when they discuss her trust issues and how his mom and step dad died in a car accident. He moved to live with his dad. They kiss, which surprised me somewhat because I thought she wouldn't have moved that quickly. Perhaps I was thinking of Sydney and her PG-13 relationship goals and not of Emma. Noah finds that he has been pranked when he wakes up on the old dock only in his boxers. He starts to swim to shore, but feels like something is pulling him down. I was hoping he wouldn't die here because I like his character so far. Kieran helps pull him to shore. Emma is upset, but Audrey is more upset and storms off with Noah. Kieran takes Emma home and we discover that the sheriff is his dad when they run into each other.

We get another glimpse of the killer when (s)he is watching Audrey and the other girl from the video talking on her porch. Why is the killer watching Audrey? Remember this doesn't mean that she couldn't be in on it. We're back at school and the sheriff asks Noah to stop by the station for questioning. He found out how interested Noah is in the Brandon James case. Audrey asks why and Noah says the sheriff isn't convinced Tyler did it and maybe found out that he hated the way Nina treated Audrey. He explains that “who done it may not be as important.” He says to forget it's a horror story and that someone might die at every turn, you have to care about the student and the teacher, if the team wins the game, and if the smart girl forgives the dumb jock. You care and love them so when they are murdered it hurts. This is the setup for the season. Perhaps we will find that this is even more true in the TV series than in the movies since we will get more time with some of the characters who will inevitably become victims.

Emma admits that she was in the parking lot when Nina filmed the video. Audrey is very upset with her. Emma cries on her walk home. Then her phone rings. “Hello, Emma” says the voice on the line. (Yes! Although not the exact same, I like the voice.) The voice says “I hate to see you sad.” She realizes she's being watched. The voice asks, isn't that what you want, Instagram and Facebook, you want to show the perfect life. “I'm the one who's gonna lift the mask.” Noah continues in the background. “You want to know how it ends, let me tell you...everyone has secrets...it's fair game until no one is left.” We see Audrey remove a photo, which reveals she has a photo of Brandon James on her wall. We see Jake watching those files he said he deleted. We understand that they are all hiding secrets and one or more of them is hiding the ultimate secret. This show is tackling a lot of modern day issues. We have the issues of social media, viral videos, and how those can be used for bullying. We see how technology can be used against us. We see how bullying in general can lead to brutality. The teens deal with divorce, death, sex, peer pressure, not fitting in, and general teenage angst. However, like the movie Heathers this story of teenage angst will have a body count. They are all hiding something. We don't know who the killer(s) is yet. It may be who we least suspect. We may have not even met the killer yet. But you know it's fun to guess. Here's a list of some of my initial suspects. Feel free to share your theories below.

Suspects:

Will: duh, we have to suspect him as it's only natural. I'm not as convinced it's him at this point.

Jake: not so sure about him either. It might be too obvious a choice.

Tyler: is he really good at technology or did someone help him with the video? Like Noah? Could the 'jock' and 'nerd' team up to wear the Scream mask? We haven't found a body yet...so that could have been a fake head? Maybe.

Noah: speaking of Noah, it seems plausible that he could be a suspect since he is so interested in all of this. However, he does serve as our resident Meta adviser and it might be too obvious.

Audrey: she probably has reason to be upset and might have a plan.

Emma: could Audrey's plan go back as far as eighth grade with the help of Emma? Did she infiltrate the popular kids, find out about her mom's past, and plan to make it look a certain way?

Kieran: well he is the new guy in town. Of course we can wonder if he or someone else is the nephew (or niece if someone else) of Brandon James. Is there something suspicious about his parents?


Review by: LBurden