TV Review: Scream (2×09) “The Orphanage”

The Lakewood Five Divided

When Dream Emma is overwhelmed by Audrey, Noah, and Kieran’s concern, she gets a little stabby. Thankfully, it wasn’t real! Unfortunately, the knife is. Emma finds herself being woken up by Maggie as she wields that knife in the kitchen. She’s understandably freaked as she tells Kieran what went down the next morning. She wants to avoid Audrey, but ignores Kieran’s suggestion of ditching school in favor of finding out the truth.

At school, Emma, Brooke, and Kieran grill Noah about how long he knew about Audrey’s connection to Piper. They’re pissed that he recorded it and didn’t say anything, but he stands by the fact that he thought Audrey needed to be the one to tell them. He’s going to trace the email to find out who Emma’s “special friend” is. Audrey tries to talk to Emma, who rips her a new one and shoves her into a locker. Kieran ushers her away and they discover a tape dangling by human hair in her locker with “Play me” written on her mirror in lipstick.

They listen to the tape over at Casa Duvall, which reveals that Lang has been taping her conversations with Emma. Lang cites Emma’s aggression and violent tendencies. She says, “I need her,” but not for what. Emma worries that everyone thinks that she’s violent and unstable, but Kieran says her reactions are warranted for her circumstances.

In an attempt to solve this latest mystery, they go visit Lang in the hospital. When she sees Emma after coming out of sedation, she tries to scream, skyrocketing her blood pressure. Kieran and Emma run back out to the reception desk, where they see a delivery of daisies with a note that says, “Krissy, feel better, love Piper.” Considering Maggie’s nickname, Emma thinks that these are from the Killer and that Kristen was actually attacked. Kieran steals Lang’s keys so they can search her house. They find an upside down photo from the Blessid Sisters Children’s Home–featuring both Lang and Piper. Kieran is worried that Lang’s connection to Piper means that she’s seeking vengeance on Emma.

An Odd Triangle

When Audrey panic spirals, she alludes to both her and Emma thinking that Noah is responsible for the ridiculous email. I don’t think this is really fair to Noah–if he sent it, he would definitely just use his own name. Audrey pivots, alluding to Zoe as a possible suspect. Noah denies it and says to meet up later at his house to prove it. He invites Zoe to the party. That’s not going to get awkward! Audrey flat out accuses Zoe of being the “special friend” who emailed Emma, exploring the motive of driving a wedge between Audrey and Noah. “I’m not stupid, Audrey. You’re impossible to get out of the picture. No wonder Noah is still a virgin,” Zoe bites out. Way harsh, Zo. Audrey directs Noah to check his sent items, where he finds the email Zoe sent to herself. She swears that it was only to finish listening to it on her own, which Noah believes. Noah gets to work on tracking down the actual sender.

The sender is revealed to be Zoe Vaughn. Noah still believes her innocence, but Audrey doesn’t. “Audrey, finding out who sent that file to Emma is not going to change what you did or how Emma feels about it,” he yells. Audrey storms out and Zoe thanks Noah for supporting her. The two tear each other’s clothes off and start going at it. Yo, lock the door! What is wrong with everyone? Thus, the Virgin is no longer.

Noah and Zoe muse on the Killer’s motivations while naked under a blanket fort. At some point Noah asks, “How did the Killer know I was into you?” When Zoe responds, “Everyone can see it,” Noah flips out, realizing that the camera he took from the storage unit is actually an audio bug. They call Emma and Kieran, who explain their plan to investigate the Blessid Sisters Children’s Home. Zoe and Noah decide to meet them there.

Conflict of Interest City

Stavo is just waking up in Brooke’s bed when Acosta realizes his son never came home the night before. “Do you think I’m creepy?” Stavo asks Brooke. “Yes, but you say nice things to me and you smell kind of good,” Brooke responds. She reveals that she remembers her drunken meltdown at the Ms. Lakewood pageant with a bit of regret. Stavo kisses her, but she pushes him away–she can’t get involved with him until she finds out what happened to Jake, even though they had sex the night before. She takes her leave, giving Stavo the chance to ignore his father’s texts and steal Brooke’s lipstick.

Maggie arrives at the police department. She’s identified the second victim as Eddie, the clerk from the Crescent Palms Motel. Acosta spills about Stavo’s disappearing act and his past. Back in Phoenix, Stavo and his friends were dicking around with Acosta’s gun. It went off, shooting his friend Kyle in the face. Stavo called 911, but when the police and paramedics arrived Kyle was dead and Stavo was calmly sitting there drawing. There was a question as to how long Stavo waited before reporting the accident to police. Acosta tops his story off by showing Maggie his disturbing drawings of the Lakewood Six.

Once Acosta leaves, Stavo strolls in and starts searching through Jake’s murder file. He takes a picture of the text conversation between Mayor Maddox and Jake, ostensibly to share with Brooke. He sees all of the evidence piled against him as well–photos of the mask, his disturbing drawings, etc. Stavo brings the conversation between Mayor Maddox and Jake to Brooke’s attention, who confronts her father about his lies. Brooke stays in a hotel and invites Stavo. She explains that it was her mother’s special place. “For special friends?” Stavo asks.

The Face the Mask Party

Killer call! “I’m sorry Ms. Lakewood ruined your Virgin,” the Killer says. “Unfortunately, that means he has to die. If you want to pick up the pieces, here is the address.” The Killer sends her a gif invite to the Blessid Sisters Children’s Home. Meanwhile, Kieran, Emma, Noah, and Zoe arrive at the Home to find a Face the Mask party, where many attendees are wearing the Brandon James mask. Hey, that’s not insensitive or stupid at all! Emma discovers that the party invitations are supposedly from her and Audrey.

When Emma realizes it’s a setup, Noah is severely unimpressed with the crowd. “It’s like they’ve never seen April Fool’s Day! Or The House on Haunted Hill. Accepting a mysterious invite to a party ensures a grisly death,” he says. Zoe suggests that they end the party by cutting off the music–and the lights. Um, how about no? That seems like an awful idea when a known serial killer is on the loose in your immediate presence. Noah and Zoe move to carry out her stupid plan while Emma confronts the still obnoxious Hayley, who tells her she’s partially responsible because she’s helping out “a friend…a special friend.” Ugh, I get why we’re dropping the “special friend” hints all over the place, but could they have found a phrase that teenagers actually say instead?

Emma explains the present dangers to Audrey, who has just arrived to save Noah. I truly appreciate that they’re recognizing the gravity of the situation and not being dicks to one another. Audrey fills her in on the latest Killer call and target. Hayley goes off in search of her special friend by herself, which means she’s certainly not long for this world. She starts rubbing up on the Killer, bringing herself lower to…escalate this hookup (man, they can insinuate a lot on teen television these days) and the Killer pulls a knife. Hayley becomes victim #4, her screams covered by the music.

Noah and Zoe successfully cut the power to the building. Audrey and Emma bicker until they’re interrupted by a Killer group text: “Better get upstairs before your better half rots.” They run through the abandoned rooms by flashlight, stumbling upon dozens of Piper portraits arranged artfully all over the walls. They stumble upon someone in a chair, who apparently reeks. Bad news, it’s Piper’s decaying body. Yikes. The girls both deduce that the Killer wanted them to find Piper’s body together since they both killed her.

After the girls confirm with Acosta that they didn’t throw the party, a deputy runs over with something for him to see. They walk into the party area, where Hayley’s bleeding, dead body is hanging under the Face the Mask sign. Daaaamn.

That is what we call a great episode of Scream. The hour was jam-packed with action, furthering each of the storylines with minimal filler. The Killer is clearly ramping up their pursuit of the Lakewood Six, using classic horror settings like abandoned orphanages and crowded raves to their advantage. The characters have been acting in line with their personalities, but not sacrificing caution for emotion. The balance is impressive.

Best Line: “Yes, but you say nice things to me and you smell kind of good.” Brooke for the almost compliment.

Killer Calls: 1

Body Count Per Episode: 1

Body Count Per Season: 4

Episode Rating: 9/10

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