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Scream - Pilot - Review

Jul 2, 2015

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“Hello.” – Casey Becker, “Scream”

The first film in the “Scream” franchise opened with the rings of a corded home telephone. Nearly nineteen years later, MTV’s television series take begins with the bleeps and bloops of a video being uploaded to the Internet.

It’s of two teenage girls kissing, one of whom is Audrey (Bex Taylor-Klaus, “Arrow”), already an outsider at George Washington High School. And in a sequence that reminded me of this year’s “Unfriended” (which was actually a fun little horror flick), to Audrey’s shock, the clip of the same-sex makeout session quickly spreads across social media.

Guilty of its wide release is mean girl Nina (Bella Thorne, “Shake It Up”), who brags to her ex-boyfriend Tyler (Max Lloyd-Jones, “iZombie”) that it’s a time-honored tradition of the high school food chain to prey on the weak. A comeuppance for Nina comes quicker than for most as she’s shortly thereafter stalked over Snapchat and texts, terrorized with a severed head, and then has her throat slit. It’s a clear homage to the iconic opening scene of the show’s cinematic big brother, in ways both big and small (I liked that the boyfriend bit it first, a la poor Steven Orth). The modern updates worked – I wondered why Nina wouldn’t use her cell phone to call for help and thus chuckled when she was foiled by wet fingers and spotty Siri – and Thorne, though no Barrymore, was serviceable as the starting victim.

Worth noting – Tyler is later named the prime suspect in Nina’s death, which means nuGhostface (and for what’s it worth, the glimpse of the mask we get after Nina’s tossed in the pool is the best the mask’s looked thus far, in any clip or picture) purposely fished his head out of the hot tub. Also, was I the only one fearful that Nina’s prominently featured pooch might get filleted?


So, Audrey aside, who might have wanted Nina dead? Well, the boyfriend of the good girl protagonist is always a good place to start. Emma (Willa Fitzgerald, “Royal Pains”) catches her basketball player beau Will (Connor Weil, “Sharknado”) in a lie about where he was the night Nina was killed and later learns that he slept with the deceased while they were on a break. Will and his buddy Jake (Tom Maden, “Parenthood”) are also up to something shady involving pervy spy videos (we see Jake watching one of Nina on what appears to be a different day than her death). Bit of a Billy and Stu vibe there?

You also can’t rule out Noah (John Karna, “Premature”). Not only does he have a Randy Meeks-ian love of slasher movies, he also has a self-described fetish for true crime (“Some guys like sports, I like serial killers”) and he hated the way Nina treated his BFF Audrey. Plus, the episode ends on a weird shot of him sporting a strange smear of blood.

Or it could be Brandon James. Who? Why, the town of Lakewood’s very own boogeyman! Brandon’s backstory is a pastiche of horror villain origin stories – he suffered from facial deformities, was isolated and neglected by his ashamed parents, was bullied by his peers, and finally snapped after being rejected by the virginal blonde beauty he had become obsessed with. He killed a handful of teens and knifed several others (including Emma’s MIA dad) before being shot by the police, his body disappearing into the lake. I’m into the idea of this dark past haunting the present, as long as nothing actually supernatural is going on. Brandon James somehow surviving (mention was made of a doting older brother) would be okay, him simply inspiring the current bloodshed would be even better. But the “Scream” movies always put a real person with a motive behind the mask, not a reanimated monster.

I also thought the Brandon James mythology was a smart way to tie the adults closer to the carnage. Not only does being the coroner allow her to be an active part of the investigation, but Emma’s mom Maggie (Tracy Middendorf, “New Nightmare”) is also “Daisy,” the girl that Brandon James was obsessed with. And she’s horrified when a bloody gift on her doorstep hints that history might be repeating itself with Emma. The “sins” of her mother were constantly coming back on Sidney so I liked seeing that echoed here.

Some other scattered thoughts about the premiere: the two fake out jump scares during the teen party setpiece – blonde bitch Brooke (Carlson Young, “True Blood”) get spooked in a garage like her spiritual ancestor Tatum while Noah takes a dip in the lake as part of a prank – were fine, but I’m wary of the show overusing them if there’s not a death every week.


Seemingly the killer’s main targets (outside of Nina’s big moment, we see nuGhostface spying on Audrey and Emma gets a classic creepy call from a voice that’s reminiscent of but isn’t Roger L. Jackson’s), I’m interested to see Emma and Audrey fix and depend on their fractured friendship. Fitzgerald and Taylor-Klaus are solid, likeable leads.

What I have absolutely no interest in is Brooke’s affair with Seth Branson (Bobby Campo, “The Final Destination”), the school’s English teacher, who looks about a year older than his students. I get the writers not being able to resist having this type of character as a red herring/suspect, but it’s a trope that's been done to death on teen dramas. And I also hope Riley (Brianne Tju, “Make It or Break It”) develops a personality outside of putting quarters in Noah’s meta monologue machine.

So what did you think of “Scream”’s pilot episode? Did it scare you off or will you brave another week? And who’s at the top of your suspects list? Sound off in the comments section.

35 comments:

  1. Hey DarkUFO, vixen has just been cast. Her name is megalyn echikunwoke.

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  2. Thanks, please use the submit a scoop form to send us info rather than posting in random articles. Thanks.

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  3. Tracy Middendorf?! I didn't even recognize her! Julie from Wes Craven's New NIghtmare!

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  4. Predictions for the killer:
    The main girl's boyfriend (or ex now...)
    The new guy
    The other girl in the video

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  5. "Calling: Pottery Barn" I laughed so hard! lmao

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  6. Yup. I thought casting someone with horror/Craven cred was cool. And apparently Ms. Middendorf was on "Lost"?

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  7. I definitely think there's more to Kieran's moving to Lakewood and his anger at his dad than he's saying.
    Thanks for reading!

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  8. I loved the pilot. Had the typical teenagers and what seems will be an interesting story. Noah easily made my favorite on the show, His knowledge of everything horror was awesome! He even points out a few things about movies being converted to TV shows which was cool. I was a bit scared when he was in that lake. Gladly they didn't kill off my favorite character.

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  9. I didn't have high expectations for this since I love the films and there's no way this can be better then the films. But I watched it and there were some really good parts and somw not so good parts. I get the feeling they are sticking to the same outline for the story, but adding a few twists to make it its own thing. There's a few characters I like on the show already, I like Emma and Maggie Emmas mom. I like Kieran, and Noah. Not a fan of Will or Brooke, kinda hoping she's the next to go lol that probably sounds terrible. And I'm not a huge fan of Audrey either.. I like the idea of the character just wish they would of picked someone with more emotion to play the part. I thought she dragged the whole pilot down. The opening scene was pretty good though, I dislike Bella Thorn very much and don't think shes very good but she played the "Casey Becker" part right on. I'm going to keep watching for now, but like Noah said you can't do a slasher film as a tv series. So we will see how they do it

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  10. I tried to like it and failed, it was trying WAY too hard to copy the meta aspect of the movies and lacked any good shock moments.
    The cast is bland at best. I was shocked to find Tracy Middendorf in the middle of all this though.


    The characters are through the roof absolutely unlikable, I would totally root for Ghostface to slaughter them all if I didn't hate the new mask so much. Plus: I hate the new design overall, not just the mask but the overcoat looked like it was made of plastic.

    The killer in general reminds me less of a slender ghost-ly figure and more of a bulky badly dressed town moron.


    I admit, I was negative towards the whole thing to begin with but what I saw really didn't make me change my mind. I'll keep watching though as I hope for a brilliant twist that shows the killer(s) being Gale, Dewey and Sidney who want their franchise back

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  11. I thought the overcoat was more of a slicker, like what the Fisherman wore in the "I Know What You Did Last Summer" movies.
    Glad you gave it a chance, even if it wasn't for you.

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  12. Oh I wasn't too worried about the show killing its Randy in episode one lol. I'd say, outside of Emma, he's probably the safest.
    Thanks for your thoughts!

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  13. I agree I see him making it to the end for sure. Him, Emma, Audrey, Kieran and Maggie are pretty safe in my opinion.

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  14. I think it's Noah who is committing all the murders.

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  15. Although MTV isn't my favorite channel for scripted shows, there have been a few I love (Teen Wolf, Eye Candy (R.I.P), Awkward). So when I heard about this new series, I figured I'd give it a shot just to watch as a fun summer show... And I was pleasantly surprised after watching the pilot!

    This show definitely exceeded my expectations! I liked the way they set up the story and enjoy the chemistry between the main characters. My favorite part of the episode was probably Noah's monologues. I like the way they made fun of their selves for recreating a slasher film into a TV series without it becoming too cheesy. I thought the explanation of slasher films not being cut out for tv shows and the comparison to Friday Nights Lights was clever. I also love the idea of getting involved with the characters and having the audience become attached before killing them off. It leaves plenty of suspense for the rest of the season! Although there is only one killer, it seems like everyone has their own secrets they're hiding... which will be interesting to find out what each of those are!

    P.S. I noticed you didn't mention the mysterious new guy in town, Kiernan, in your review. Any thoughts on him? Do you think he could be the killer?

    Great review! (Sorry for the long response)

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  16. My response was long too lol I don't think its Kieran that would be to obvious I think. I'm not sure who it is yet, I have a couple ideas though. That girl Audrey is seeing, the teacher, and Wills friend can't think of his name. Or maybe Emmas MIA dad. I have to see a few more episodes before I make a final guess.

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  17. I definitely think we're going to see Emma's dad at some point this season. He could stir things up on several story fronts.

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  18. I liked Kieran. I'm interested to see his relationship with his sheriff dad, learn more of what brought him to town because I think there's more to the story than what he told Emma. And I thought he had much more chemistry with Emma than Will.

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  19. There's definitely a little bit of a "Pretty Little Liars" vibe. Which is funny because I compared "Pretty Little Liars" to "I Know What You Did Last Summer" when it first premiered.

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  20. I just read your full post and definitely agree with certain parts of it! I also think Kiernan is too obvious of a choice. I do like his character so far though and the mystery aspect. I think the fact that his parents died before he came to town will come into play at some point. It just seems too sketchy. I really love Noah's character too but the end of the pilot he had blood on his face and I'm still wondering what that was about! Lol I'm interested to see what will happen this season!

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  21. I didn't even think about her dad! He could also bring some new mystery to the show. At this point I'm not counting anyone out as the killer. I'm definitely interested to see the storyline that'll come from Emma's dad though... Especially because he has history with Brandon James!

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  22. You haven't put the story up yet

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  23. You need to submit to us. We have a long work queue that the team uses to process submitted articles. We don't look in the comments for news as there are so many. Just use the form like everyone else and it will be added to the work queue.

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  24. I actually have a theory that his step dad is the main girl's biological dad, and he's coming back for revenge or some weird sh*t. I mean, how can any of the other teens know about the mother's past with the killer? the kid who knows about horror movies said nobody knew who the killer fell in love with, but maybe HE knows? I think I'm going to deep into this lmao.

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  25. Interesting theory!
    I wonder if any of the other teens' parents (like Brooke's dad, the mayor) were involved in the Brandon James mess.

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  26. Also, I think it could be 'the other girl in the make out video' because: 1-The main character got the call from ghostface after fighting with the short-haired girl, and they're kind of a thing, so maybe she got mad. 2-She probably got mad about the video too, so she had a motive to kill Bella Thorne. And finally (but most importantly, I think): 3- She, like the killer who died on the river, is ashamed of how she looks, so when the girl she likes also likes her back she wants to protect her + it would connect the past ghostface's motive with the present's one. And about that Ghostface in the backyard looking at them, maybe that's a manikin where she puts the costume or something LOL.

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  27. Speaking of, do you know who that is playing Audrey's makeout buddy? Sosie Bacon, who is Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick's daughter.

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  28. I like him as well! Noah and Kiernan were probably my favorite characters from the pilot. I definitely find something strange about his mom and stepdad dying though and I also think he didn't tell Emma the whole story. I can't wait to learn more about him and the rest of the characters!

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  29. the faith for the other girl in the video gets spoiled in the preview :)

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  30. First of all big shout out to MTV for putting this episode on YouTube! Really wanted to check it out and I could yay :) I really liked the episode. I thought that the tone was not quiet like Scream and it was edited kinda odd but otherwise it was really well done :) I am still not happy about the mask. even tho I am a bit happier that it is kinda dirty and blurry kinda. Plus the voice is done well :)

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  31. Let me preface this by saying that MTV has released the premiere for free on mtv.com, itunes, Amazon video, Vudu, Google Play and probably other places. Go watch or download it (have it on my ipad).

    Loved the premiere. Found it to be the perfect amount between campy and serious. I feel as if those complaining about the actors/characters being generic and cliche ridden are failing to get "that's the point".

    Scream has always been a combination of parody and seriousness much like the original Friday the 13th movie trilogy.

    While the show is unlikely to win any emmy's, the pilot was a whole lot of fun and I'll definitely be sticking with it.

    I would give the premiere a 4/5 stars but more importantly is that it's a whole lot of campy fun. I know MTV is "uncool" but give the show a chance. It's worth it!

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  32. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Kevin!

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  33. The season promo was great.. it deffiantly has me interested. The only thing I hadn't seen in the pilot that I thought I would was a Gale type character. I wonder if they will introduce one. I hope its not Noah he's by far my favorite, he has the Randy vibe going, and he reminds me a lot of Randy. For now my moneys on Wills friend, the big mouth one. But its still early to tell, and in true Scream fashion everyones a suspect. Lol

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  34. It's funny and I guess it shows my age but I immediately said "Hey that's crazy Laura from 90210!"

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  35. Well that was my reaction to Sheriff Hudson. "Hey, that's Kelly's cokehead boyfriend Colin!", heh.

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