Scream Recap: Episode 4

Welcome back to our weekly Scream recap. The opening of this episode switches things up from the previous three, but that’s forgivable. Last week’s was so intense that we needed to pick up immediately afterward. It was important to show to ramifications of that, especially the emotional toll it took on the cast of characters. While some of the reactions fumble a bit, Noah berating the first cop he sees is extremely believable and pretty heartbreaking to watch. Brooke proves to be the most interesting in her grief, though. This is the most vulnerable we’ve ever seen her. We’re treated to an entirely different side of Brooke than we’ve been shown in the past and definitely gives us a deeper understanding of her character.

The sheriff, meanwhile, proves to be a much bigger ass than we’ve seen in the previous three episodes. It’s annoying, but in a good way. Hopefully we’re not supposed to be on his side now. Sure, there’s some apparent sympathy for him, but he keeps making stupid decisions about how to handle these situations. For someone who constantly needs to be comforted and told he’s not doing anything wrong, he’s actually doing a whole lot wrong.

The newly formed investigation team of Emma, Audrey and Noah is a strong small ensemble and one that I hope keeps up as the series progresses. These three characters bounce off of each other surprisingly well. I have a feeling we’ll still see Noah and Audrey off in their own side conversations after this, but I’d like to be wrong about that. They do good work uncovering the killer’s lair and finally discovering Tyler’s head.

If this episode belongs to anyone, though, it’s Brooke. Scream is nothing if not meta and her arc in this episode is the best commentary that the show has displayed so far. This is someone who started out four weeks ago as the stereotypical, clichéd hot blond that everyone wants to die. Now she’s someone who has lost her best friend and is feeling genuinely responsible for the death. She discovers an online poll where people are actually voting for her to die next. How much more meta can you get? It raises a ton of interesting questions. What if the character you want to die could actually hear what you’re saying about them? While other aspects of the narrative can falter at times, that itself is damn good writing. That’s the sort of thing that makes this show continue to be interesting to watch. Brooke is not a stock character.

After viewing the pilot, I would even go so far as to say she would be my least likely pick for one of my favorite characters, but look where we’ve wound up. Her progressing arc only proves that this is a series that is constantly getting better.

The progressing subplot between Will and Jake is only getting shadier. Will is looking better, even if he’s a still-too-obvious suspect, but Jake is just looking worse and worse. Even if Jake isn’t a killer, he’s a pretty terrible guy and about the furthest thing from likeable at this point.

The sheriff is also making for an interesting option for the killer as well, but his son is still a more likely candidate in my eyes. However, we’ll see what happens as it develops from here.

The neatest thing about this week? It proves that the show can stand on its own and be entertaining without the killer ever appearing once. They’re not in this episode at all. Other than the yearbook, they don’t even harass Emma. That’s the point where we can finally say they’ve made us care about these characters.

Which means that the next time someone dies, it might hurt even more.

Here’s hoping.