Scream – I Know What You Did Last Summer

By starrymag | May 31, 2016

By: Allison Schonter

 

 

“Scream” returned with a bang right from its opening scene, which made you think a murder was taking place when it was actually just a movie. The hour-long premiere continued with the mind games, the mystery, and the utter feeling of dread that grows in the pit of your stomach when you something bad is about happen.

 

Welcome Home, Emma

 

It’s been three months since Emma (Willa Fitzgerald) had her breakdown and she is finally ready to return home. Her friends are welcoming her back with a welcome home party taking place at Kieran’s (Amadeus Serafini) house. After the mess that was the past (including gruesome murders and a psycho killer) she is ready for things to return to normal and this includes picking up the possible blossoming relationship that she has with Kieran. Unfortunately for her, things are far from normal and her sleep continues to be riddled with strange dreams taking place in a barn.

 

Meanwhile, things at home with her mother, Maggie (Tracy Middendorf), are anything but comfortable. In fact, they’re really tense. She lied to her mom when she told her that she was staying the night at Audrey’s (Bex Taylor-Klaus) house when in reality she slept over at Kieran’s place. Emma has always been honest and this sudden change worries Maggie, but Emma isn’t staying around to discuss the matter any further.

 

At school, Emma has another moment where reality and non-reality become skewed. As she is walking up the stairs, things begin to slow, voices muffle and suddenly everyone that she passes is looking directly at her, which prompts a panic induced breakdown. But don’t fret because it was all just in her head and when she snaps out of it, Audrey takes hold of her hand and makes sure that she’s alright (Aw!).

 

Things get strange in class, too. It’s a Psychology course (how fitting) and the teacher asks Emma how psychology could be helpful in her life (nothing like calling the poor girl out). Emma answers with dream analysis. And this is when the teacher thinks it’s a perfect idea to bring in the recent Lakewood murders because, as another student has pointed out, dreams are “like the garbage disposal of the psyche.” Dreams are how people process fear and anxiety. The entire time some strange new kid is staring at Emma and it is later revealed that he is drawing her (that’s not at all creepy).

 

Jake Tries to Reconcile

 

Jake (Tom Maden) and Brooke (Carlson Young) sneak into the school’s pool for some skinny-dipping, but things quickly turn from sweet to sour. Brooke comments that her father hates Jake because he was blackmailing him and that’s why they have to keep their relationship a secret. Jake retorts by saying that he thinks that she just likes sneaking around like she did with Mr. Branson. That comment turns out to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and Brooke calls off their relationship and walks away. Jake; however, says that he loves her (piece of advice, Jake, it’s a little too late when the girl is already gone).

 

This breakup sets Jake on a mission to prove to Brooke that he has changed, a mission that turns out to be much more dangerous than intended. In the middle of the night he drives to an abandoned area and takes the bag of things he used to blackmail Brooke’s father and gasoline. He’s planning on burning any remnants of blackmail. His plans get a little messed up when he steps into an animal trap and the masked figure appears and knocks him over the head with a bat.

 

Next thing we know, and next thing Jake knows, he’s waking up in a barn. The doors are locked, but he breaks them open only to be met by the mysterious person. Things go from bad to immensely worse when Jake is hung upside down by his feet. He manages to grab a weapon and wildly thrashes at the masked man (woman?), but his attempts are nothing compared to the scythe that the killer uses to slice down his middle and kill Jake.

 

Audrey Can’t Escape

 

Throughout the entire episode Audrey is struggling with her own problem, which is eerily similar to the problem that they had all thought they had escaped. It first happens at work. She works at a movie theater and after ushering everyone out and beginning to clean, she runs into a girl. She goes to let her out of the back exit because she can’t find her keys and, as always in the horror genre, the lights go out and a knife-wielding figure appears. She runs, encounters the girl again and before she can do anything more, the masked figure kills the girl and Audrey stabs the masked figure. It turns out that this was all just an elaborate and cruel prank that was live streamed.

 

Audrey isn’t out the clear, though, because when she gets in her car after Emma’s welcome home party, she gets a phone call from an unknown number. The voice is the same as the voice from the calls they had received during the murders, but Audrey thinks that it’s just another prank. She doesn’t get freaked out until she goes to hang up, but the person on the other end of the line tells her not to as the person is watching her.

 

Audrey continues to be menaced by this stranger and it eventually prompts her to show the texts to Noah (John Karna), who takes her phone without permission and leads them to the police station. He thinks that they should file a report, but the decision is ultimately up to Audrey. The police officer leaves her alone in the room to make her decision and that is when she gets a text warning her against filing a report, stating that they “know what you did last summer.” Audrey calls off filing the report and tells Noah that they need to be done with the murders.

 

Eventually, Audrey softens and returns to Noah. She asks him to walk her through the murder board because she isn’t done with the murders. He believes that her texter and the third prankster (a commenter on his podcast who never showed up for the prank on Audrey) is the same person and was Piper’s (Amelia Rose Blaire) accomplice. He thinks that they’re still out there.

 

Later in the episode, while at work, Audrey receives yet another text that is accompanied by a note on the door. She goes to a stall in the woman’s restroom and discovers copies of the letters that she had written to Piper asking her to come to town. Apparently, the mystery texter and caller really does know what Audrey did last summer.

 

Troy James’ Farm

           

After having finally caved and agreed to be a guest for Noah’s podcast “The Morgue,” Emma discovers that the barn from her dreams is on Noah’s murder board and this leads her and Brooke to Troy James’ pig farm. She’s had nightmares about this place since she was little and she needs to see if it is the same one from her dreams. She takes a quick peak inside, much to Brooke’s dismay, but it is a light in the house that catches her attention. The house is supposed to be abandoned, but apparently it isn’t. Being the girl that she is, Emma has to investigate while Brooke, who may be the more level-headed one at the moment, remains outside. Emma discovers a static TV, but it is the pictures of her stretching back to the time that she was a child and newspaper clippings that catch her attention. We hear creaky floorboards, a scream and then it cuts to black. What happened? Your guess is as good as mine.

 

Finale Thoughts

 

One of the things that I love most about “Scream” is that it brings in elements of other horror movies, not just the classic that it’s based off of, and the season two premiere was a perfect example of that. It drew in elements of A Nightmare on Elm Street not only with Emma’s strange dreams, but also when Noah began talking about the movie in their psychology class. It brought in the infamous I Know What You Did Last Summer in the texts that Audrey receives. And it obviously brought in Scream with the killer wearing the mask. I’m intrigued to see what other horror movies they incorporate throughout the season, and my in horror-junkie is secretly rooting for a Halloween mention.

 

I Know What You Did Last Summer left us with an abundance of questions. Who’s the person in the mask? Who’s texting and calling Audrey? What will her friends do if they find out that she had been the one to bring Piper into town? What did Emma see in the house? Why were there pictures of Emma in the house? So many questions and an entire season ahead of us to scream our throats raw in pure terror…