I know what you did last summer. You watched season one of “Scream,” MTV’s small screen take on the popular film franchise. And now, like nuGhostface, you’re back for the sequel. Winkily titled after its teen thriller contemporary (and I’m digging the show using scary movies for its episode names this year), “I Know What You Did Last Summer” is a solid season opener that sets the table for another round of mystery and masked murder.
Three months have passed since Piper Shaw’s killing spree and, as pop culture geek Noah (John Karna) notes at one point, “everybody has their way of dealing” with what they survived. Noah wants to talk about it, obsessing over every detail as part of his own true crime podcast. Kieran (Amadeus Serafini), still living in his dead dad’s house, wants to bury his pain deep inside. Brooke (Carlson Young) and Jake (Tom Maden) are taking comfort in each other. Audrey (Bex Taylor-Klaus) is now known around school as the girl who shot Piper, not the girl whose same-sex smooch was blasted all over the Internet. And Emma (Willa Fitzgerald), who’s returned to town after a therapy retreat, just wants things to get back to normal.
But we don’t watch “Scream” for normal and the teens barely get to take a breath before a new nightmare begins. Emma is beset by an eerie dream that suggests the past is still in play. Audrey starts receiving taunting messages from a “friend of a friend” who threatens to make her dark connection to Piper public. And one of the “Lakewood Six” unwittingly steps right into the new killer’s trap.
Here’s what’s worth shouting about. The cold open – set in a movie theater – is a nice nod to “Scream 2.” New life is given to one of my pet theories from last season. There’s interesting relationship fluxes within the core group of characters. And we have some fresh blood in the cast, with the sheriff’s creepy son who out-Noahs Noah (Santiago Segura, “Faking It”) the one I’d keep my eye on at the moment. I wasn’t thrilled about the pacing of one subplot, and I groaned at the introduction of basically the female Mr. Branson, but it’s a pretty fun start.
The second season premiere of “Scream” dons the Brandon James mask Monday May 30th on MTV. In the meantime, get started on your killer theories in the comments section.
