Scream has been trying to find its groove all season. It reached it’s peak with episode three, the most Scream-like episode of the series, and reached it’s low last week, with its most wheel-spinning episode to date. “In The Trenches” isn’t the best episode Scream has done, but its certainly one of the better ones, with the bulk of the episode devoted to a sort of Scooby-Doo plotline as Emma, Brooke, Noah and Jake search an abandoned bowling alley for Will and other clues (I swear I’m not making this up).
***SPOILERS TO FOLLOW***
First, RIP Will. I know I’ve complained about the character being uninteresting in the past, but he did have a pretty cool death (even if we only got to see the aftermath). Also, his kidnapping last week did something wonderful: it gave us a (mostly) bottle episode that put the central focus on the four main characters we are supposed to care about, but don’t (yet). It’s ironic that the entire episode was spent trying to save Will, and the group succeeded, only for him to fall victim to the killer’s Saw-like trap the next day.
I was kind of in love with everything involving this story line, no matter how dumb it got. I can’t believe there was a moment where Noah opened the door only for the killer to be on the other side. That was classic Scooby-Doo. I half expected for one of the kids to put on a costume to trick the killer into leaving them alone. After Piper, who is still useless, led the Scooby Gang to the spot where Will was kidnapped, the episode really kicked into gear.
The killer even got plenty of screen time in this episode, which is always welcome. The game of “hide-and-seek” was plenty of fun to watch play out, and he got in some good digs on Emma’s mom (“Your mom’s a lying whore!” will never stop being funny to me). One thing I don’t understand is how he stabbed Jake in what seemed to be the heart, yet Jake survived. Surely this means Jake must be one of the killers, right? He apparently missed every single major vein and artery, so it could just be another red herring. It’s just a little too convenient. My money is on Jake as one of the killers right now.
The bowling alley sequence is what Scream should be striving to do every episode. We got a chase with Brooke, phone calls with Emma, the core group of characters working together and a major character death. I’m not saying I need someone to die every week, but there should be some semblance of suspense. The reason last week’s episode fell flat for me is because I didn’t buy for one second that Audrey was in any serious trouble (she may be the killer, but let’s be honest, she wasn’t going to get caught last week if she was). Now that Will is dead, it may give Emma the kick in the ass she needs to become a more interesting character.
In other news, Maggie and Sheriff Hudson have a dinner date. Their relationship still isn’t particularly interesting, but we do at least learn that Detective Brock is off the case (“Aw, I’m going to miss her,” quips Maggie). It’s also the only reason Audrey is even in the episode, since she goes there looking for Emma and Noah. I’m a little bummed Audrey wasn’t included in the bowling alley scavenger hunt (The Scooby Gang does have five members, after all), but I’ll let it slide.
On the more annoying side, Brooke finally confronts her dad about the body he hid in the freezer. The reason this subplot is so irksome is that Mayor Maddox pulls the whole “It’s not what it looks like” bit, which means its probably just a red herring. Scream would be much better off if it just trusted it audience and had Brooke and her father have an honest conversation, but then it might lose an episode’s worth of material to milk later in the season (yawn). Brooke did find out that Jake was lying about Will being the only blackmailer, so at least that wasn’t dragged out for the rest of the season.
“In The Trenches” is definitely a step in the right direction for Scream. It’s still walking a fine line, but at least it’s finally starting to show that it’s having fun. With only three episodes left in the season, it doesn’t have much time left to make a good impression!
Random Notes
- Maggie is making her sausage and kale thing, which is only something she makes on big dates. I must have this recipe now.
- Piper is still sort of just there, with her only purpose to tell the corse group about Will’s abduction. Please give her something to do!
- “This is wrong. Your dad. My Mom” -Emma, seeming not to care about the Cruel Intentions-y fact she is saying as her and Kieran make out.
- Noah wearing a “Free Audrey” shirt made me chuckle.
- Someone needs to make a Tumblr of Jake’s reaction shots. They are awful.
- Piper saying “That masked freak showed up” just reminds me of this scene from the second Freaky Friday remake.
- Someone in the comments mentioned last week that Mr. Branson might be Bran’s son (get it?), a la I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. I can’t believe this didn’t occur to me before, as it would be equally terrible, lazy and hilarious at the same time if this is the direction the show was going.
- “God I hate bowling.” -Brooke, doing her best to complain about everything.
- Noah calls a spear a “knife-stick.” He’s so nerdy, you guys.
- “This is going to sound ridiculous but I’ll be right back.” -Making fun of this line from Scream lost its luster when Cabin In The Woods did it four years ago.
- Check out my interview with Connor Weil (Will) right here. We discuss his death and also when the killer will be revealed!