This is the episode of Scream I’ve been waiting for. It was the most Scream-y out of all of the episodes so far, the season’s central arc sped along at a much faster pace than I anticipated and the climax of the episode featured the death of a character I (and hopefully most of you) cared about. This is what I wanted the pilot to be. Better late than never!
If any of you watched Harper’s Island (and you really should), you’ll remember that that series started very similarly to Scream: extremely soapy with some bad acting and a cast of seemingly unlikable characters. This makes sense, since series creator Jill E. Blotevogel was a writer on Harper’s Island. It wasn’t until “Thwack” (episode 5 in a 13-episode season) that things picked up by killing off a major character and every realized that there was a killer on the island. As more people were killed off, we were able to spend time with the other characters and some of those unlikable characters actually became likable. “Wanna Play A Game?” was Scream’s “Thwack.”
“Wanna Play A Game” featured a ton of forward momentum. Emma confronted her mother about her past and she told all of her friends about the killer calling her. There were also literal character pairings, with Mr. Branson teaming everyone up to do a scene from some artistic medium (making way for plenty of pop culture references). Not much came out of it (other than a near-sex scene between Riley and Noah), so it was a little disappointing that better character moments didn’t sprout from those pairings.
That scene between Riley and Noah certainly helped to escalate the horror of watching Riley slowly bleed out from having her femoral artery severed. The entire last 15-minute segment was much better than the scene that opened the pilot. While it wasn’t perfect, it inspired a lot of confidence that the show is finding its footing. Maybe I’m just dense, but I want’s expecting the show to actually kill Riley. I was expecting another fake-out. Touché Scream, you got me. Noah’s closing monologue from the pilot actually came true.
What was so great about this scene is that it was actually suspenseful, and it hit home because Riley is one of the few legitimately likable characters on the show. This could pose a problem since we are left with a handful of characters who are still not that relatable, which means it might be a while before another death has as much of an impact as Riley’s, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
Don’t let all of my praise fool you. The episode still had its issues, but they were minimal. Brooke’s relationship with Mr. Branson is still icky, but I’m betting we’ll be losing him sooner rather than later. It was amusing to see her mess with him by hiding a sexy picture of herself in the classroom, but as amusing as it may be, I still can’t get behind the relationship.
The weakest part of the episode (and the area that Scream still has the most work to do) was everything involving Will and Jake. It was abruptly revealed that they had a secret business with Tyler and Nina. Will wants the business shut down but Jake wants to keep making money. I cannot emphasize enough how much of a snooze this particular sub-plot is. I can only assume that it will play a part in the main arc, which may or may not be a bad thing. Jake can’t get killed fast enough.
“Wanna Play A Game?” was Scream’s strongest episode yet, and featured a death that shows the series is not messing around. Hopefully it can keep the momentum going over the course of the next seven episodes!
Random Notes
- Spot The Pop Culture References: The McRib, The Fault In Our Stars, Fifty Shades of Grey, Wild Things, X-Files, The Exorcist, Game of Thrones, Viral Video of Bobcat Catching a Shark, The Last Of Us.
- If some of you still hate the show, be aware that I am grading the show on its own terms (meaning: as a soapy teen drama). So while this episode receives 4 skulls, it’s not like I’m saying it’s in the same league as, say, a 4-skull episode of Hannibal.
- Noah’s damn violin theme music is back, but is relegated to the opening scene, thank God.
- Piper is also in that opening scene, but just barely. Hopefully she gets more screen time in future episodes, because that entire bit felt pretty useless.
- Emma twirls her hair when something is bothering her. I’m guessing that will come back in the future?
- When Riley an Noah were about to have sex last week, Noah raced off “like the McRib was back.” I chuckled at that.
- I love how Emma’s phone ring is an actual 90s telephone ring.
- The killer’s voice has received some criticism in the comments, but I actually kind of like it.
- “Riley, I would do it. I would. But Tyler knows I would totally set him up.” -I just love Brooke’s honesty.
- I’m really going to miss Brianne Tju as Riley, but Scream’s IMDB page credits her for 6 episodes, se we might see more of her in flashbacks.