Scream gave us its weakest episode yet with “Exposed.” In a week that was full of boring subplots, not a single person was killed off. Look, I’m not saying that I need to see someone die on every episode of Scream, but let’s not kid ourselves here: it’s Scream. Scream is a slasher series, and we have now gone two episodes without any slashing. To top it all off, Ghostface hasn’t killed off a single annoying/useless character yet. Let’s just dive right in, shall we?
I mentioned back in my review of the season’s third episode that it was refreshing to see the show take a risk and kill off Riley, who was arguably the only likable and relatable character on the show, but here we are two episodes later and Scream hasn’t done us a solid and killed off Mr. Branson, Jake, Will or even Brooke’s Mayor Dad (I don’t even know his name and I refuse to look it up). I get that Scream is trying to give us more time with its characters to get to know them and feel for them, but when you have 3 or 4 characters that no one likes (and never will), you could kill one or two of them off as a show of good faith. Maybe I’m reaching for the stars, here, but I don’t think it’s too much to ask.
Scream also seems to really be trying to convince us that the killer is either Piper the Podcaster (who finally got a bit more screen time this week), Mayor Maddox or Mr. Branson the Pedophile. There is a chance Will & Jake could have a Billy & Stu thing going on, but I doubt it (and how unoriginal would that be?). It would be in Scream’s best interest to not make the killer any of those characters. Also, it would be in everyone’s best interest if this whole blackmailing subplot had a point. I’m sure it does, but it’s just not that compelling.
Speaking of not being compelling, let’s talk about Emma. Many of you in the comments have come to her defense in the past, and I just don’t understand it. This episode sealed the deal for me in that she just is not an interesting protagonist for this series. Even when Brooke confessed to her that Will only started dating her as part of a bet (she was a fucking bet!), it was difficult to feel anything for her because Emma, like some of the other less developed characters on the show, is just there. She had a sex tape leak, and while that was supremely creepy (that is child porn, people!), she didn’t really seem that upset by it. We can’t respond to Emma’s reactions if she doesn’t have any. What made Sydney Prescott such a great Final Girl is that she felt like a real person. Emma does not.
For some of the things that worked this episode (and there were quite a few things), I have to rewind a bit back to Piper. Up until now, she’s had absolutely nothing to do. She stirred up some mischief this week, telling Emma that Rachel’s parents thought that Audrey intimidated her, giving Emma booze and telling Emma that her dad was murdered and it was never solved. None of it really means anything yet (and it would have been nice to have Piper be this involved an episode or two ago), but at least Scream seems to be establishing her as a main character a bit more.
Noah and Audrey proved yet again that they are the most entertaining character pairing on the show. While the entire issue with Mr. Branson having videos of his students having sex is icky, at least our dynamic duo are making some progress (which is more than I can say for Emma).
Scream stumbled quite a bit with this latest episode. While it did move certain plots forward, none of it was all that interesting. This marks the midway point of the season, so hopefully it can improve in the back half (or at least match the quality set by the season’s third episode).
Random Notes
- I don’t think there was a single pop culture reference in this episode. Did I miss one?
- All of the male characters on this show barely have any presence, but Kieran is the greatest offender. Man, he’s dull. On a separate note, he and Emma have sex, so there’s that.
- “We really appreciate all the extra manpower.” -Sheriff Hudson is a sexist. Good to know.
- “We are still reeling from Riley’s death but we still have learning to do.” -Really, Mr. Branson? That’s how you want to motivate your students?
- “Tell that cop about me and you’ll get your mom’s heart in a box!” -I find it doubtful that Ghostface would actually follow through on this promise, since clearly Emma and her mother are part of his endgame plan.
- So there has to be 2 killers since they pretty much show everyone at the candlelight vigil, right? Unless her seeing Ghostface was a hallucination.
- “What part of skinny iced macchiato don’t you understand???” -Brooke, back to being a bitch.
- “I like torturing the ice” -Jake, speaking one of the dumbest lines ever when he orders hot coffee and ice, rather than just an iced coffee.
- “Before I say what I have to say….how hot is your coffee?” -This actually made me laugh. Yay Brooke!
- Was it supposed to be a big secret that Will and Jake were the blackmailers? It seemed pretty obvious to me.
- “Daddy, what happened to your nose?” “I’m having work done.”
- Mr. Branson using the word “threesome” to describe Noah’s scene project is creepy. There have to be better words than that Mr. Teacher!
- “Damn. No wonder this girl’s dead.” -Detective Brock sounds like a terrible cop. She’s no Detective Tanner, though.
