Oh man, you guys. I’m really starting to get worried. I thought last week’s episode of Scream was bad. “Betrayed” nearly put me to sleep. You all know that I’m the first to jump to the series’ defense, since I believe in having an open mind; but I can’t really excuse what it is we all just watched. It’s such a shame that Scream aired it’s weakest episode just one week after it got renewed for a second season, but c’est la vie. 

First, we catch up with Emma and Kieran after their roll in the hay at the end of the last episode. After she decides to go to Brandon James’ house to finally face her fears, Kieran goes missing and she is stabbed by the killer. But it’s not the killer! It’s her! Wait, it’s all a dream. I can’t say I didn’t see this coming. Scream has been spinning it’s wheels since Riley’s death so I didn’t think it was going to be moving along that quickly (though I wouldn’t have minded it). That dream twist is an insulting waste of time, though.

Also insulting is everything going on with Will and Jake (again). It was bad enough when the storyling just involved them, but now they’ve got to drag Brooke and Piper into it to make them even less interesting than they were before (and Brooke is my favorite character!). Piper is a particular issue I have, because she has no personality whatsoever. It’s clear she’s supposed to be the Gale Weathers of the show, but it seems afraid to go there with her. The result is a bland character with no discerning traits. I would perhaps understand the writers’ hesitance to copy the movie if Noah wasn’t such a blatant rip-off of Randy Meeks. What is her purpose on this show (other than to sit around the coffee shop and wait for students to walk up to her)? More importantly, why should we care?

It’s not worth criticizing the entire blackmailing subplot between Jake, Will and Mayor Maddox again, as I’ve done it enough for the past few reviews. I’ll just take this moment to point out that Tom Maden (Jake), who may be a lovely person in real life, cannot act. At all. Just look at his menacing face as he consoles Brooke:

Everything involving Audrey is even more frustrating this week, if only because she’s typically one of the more interesting characters of the bunch. Bex-Taylor Klaus does a good job in the episode, but everything involving her character reeks of wheel-spinning. There has been some speculation in the comments that Audrey and possibly Noah are the killers, but while that still may be the case, it was never going to come to light in this episode. There was no sense of urgency with this particular plot line. There were no stakes because Audrey was never going to go to prison. It was all about Emma having faith in her friend (aw).

While the contents of the memory card Audrey wanted Emma to destroy was incriminating, Emma decided to go ahead and trust her after Maggie took her to Brandon James’ house. This was the forward momentum that the rest of the episode was lacking. Maggie opens up to Emma and tells her what really happened the night Brandon “died” (I still don’t buy that he’s dead). It was a good moment for Maggie that gave us some crucial information on her and Bran’s history.

I really want to like Scream, and for the most part I have, but the last two episodes have been such a dip in quality that it’s growing more and more difficult to have patience with it. Especially when we are over halfway through the season. If there is one bright thing to come out of the second season renewal, it’s that  the writers might take some of these criticisms to heart and revamp the show next season. Hopefully it improves with the next four episodes, but my hopes are not high.

Random Notes

• Detective Brock is awful. She broke the law at least twice in this episode. She interrogates Audrey without a parent present, badgers her in questioning, leads Emma in questioning, guilts Emma for sticking up for Audrey (“If Audrey goes free and someone else dies, you are just as guilty as she is”) and she’s rude. I was wrong last week, she might be a worse cop than Detective Tanner from Pretty Little Liars.
• Does anyone care whether Will lives or dies? I sure don’t.
• That was a pretty cool tracking shot with Noah talking about all the suspects and having Will, Jake and Brooke all walk by him as he described their character tropes. More things like that, please.
• Seriously, does Piper just wait in that coffee shop for the kids to come around? Let her go snoop around or something! Be proactive, Piper!
• “Nina was a bitch. Nobody expected anything better from her.” -How many times do you think Nina’s been called a bitch this season? It’s got to be pretty high for someone who has been dead for a few weeks.
• Noah and Audrey giving each other resting creep face was cute.
• Mr. Branson is still under suspicion, in case you cared. And Noah gets his fingerprint with an app. Alright.
• Emma: “What if my friend is capable of murder?” Maggie: “Grab your jacket. We’re going out.” -Wow, Maggie. Way to parent.