Scream: The Vanishing Review

This Scream review contains spoilers.

Scream Season 2 Episode 10

You could tell almost instantly that the episode was not going to end well for someone. The killer was up to his usual games and lead to a heartbreaking end. Most of the episode focused on two different pairings of people mending broken friendships. Emma and Audrey were still at odds after Audrey’s big reveal to her connection with Piper while Maggie and Sherriff Acosta surprised us with their unexpected history. We also dug deeper into Brandon James, leading to a huge reveal that may have just given this season’s killer a name.

It was both directors’ Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer’s first directed episode of Scream: The TV Series, and it was a big one at that. Tackling multiple scenes of being buried alive set a very hopeless tone for the episode, which proved to ring very true by the end. 

Audrey and Emma

When the two of them receive video from the killer that Noah has been buried alive, they follow his clues in order to find him. As they headed out to find Noah, they took way too many breaks to work on their own friendship. Emma was still unable to understand why Audrey did what she did and Audrey still grappling with feeling devastated that Emma hated her so much for it. 

When the killer leads them to an old horse stable they used to play at, Emma continues to badger Audrey about why she did all of this to her last year. Why did she hate her so much? As Emma pressured and pushed Audrey to tell the truth, it started to become more clear what reveal was to come next:

Audrey’s confessed that she was in love with Emma and she broke her heart. 

Before we could really even sink our teeth into that, the confession was quickly put to the side when they realized Noah was buried underneath a dead pig carcass. When they find Noah still alive, the next mission turns into finding Zoe who was also taken by the killer. 

Originally Noah was lured by the killer using Zoe’s phone to get him into the woods on his own. It was too late when Noah realized it was a trap and was stabbed and later buried alive. When Emma and Audrey find a recording of Zoe buried, they are certain she is at the lake where Noah first went that morning. 

We should have known it was a foreshadow when Noah was in the coffin, guessing that the killer was recording him only to play it later for his friends after he was dead to torment them.

Well he didn’t do that for him…but, he did that for Zoe.

Zoe’s underwater coffin was found near the shore and while the video of her screaming to be saved was still playing, it was too late. The killer had already drowned her leaving Noah in shock and Emma and Audrey defeated. 

There’s no doubt that Noah will start to see himself as cursed having now had two girlfriends who were killed. It’s hard to say what path Noah will take after this. Will he continue his search for the killer, becoming more fueled by vengeance? Or will he back off and lose all hope that they can do anything about him?

Sherriff Acosta and Maggie

Their relationship led to the most shocking information of the night. When Maggie examined Piper’s body that Emma and Audrey found last week, inside her body was a pig heart. It seemed to make sense to Acosta and Maggie. With a series of flashbacks throughout the episode, it helped us to understand their connection more. 

We still never got a clear shot of the character’s face, but it appears that Brandon James may have never really been killed by the police all those years ago.

A flashback shows that Acosta and Maggie helped Brandon after he was shot, leading Maggie to the conclusion that maybe he is still alive and is the one tormenting Emma. 

Is Brandon James this season’s masked murderer?

The last flashback of the night is a scene showing that Brandon used to leave notes for Maggie in a tree. So, Maggie in the present day decides to leave one for him in hopes that he will get it telling him to stay away from Emma. 

Like he will listen to that. 

I wasn’t sure at the start of the episode why Eli was included in what had happened “previously” on the show since he just wasn’t popping up throughout the episode at all. That was… until the very end. When Maggie slips her note into the tree, we see movement in the bushes and a figure coming out. I thought for sure it was going to be the masked killer/Brandon James. But, out came Eli watching Maggie walk away.

What is this kid’s deal?

There was no Noah in the preview, but that won’t stop Emma and Audrey for going after the killer. But, it looks like they do some more digging on Eli and realize he may have been in Lakewood before.

Until next time!