2.13 Halloween & 2.14 Halloween II Oh hey, everyone! We’re back, albeit briefly, for a Halloween whodunit, for once not in Lakewood but still very much involving the Lakewood Five, er…Four, now. In the wake of incarcerated Kieran’s untimely–or perfectly timed, some might say–demise, the Four are whisked off to an island getaway for a little rest and recovery. Of course, as we’re at the beginning of a two-hour Scream special episode, we know that neither of those things is gonna happen. What does happen is an adventure equal parts Agatha Christie, I Know What You Did Last Summer, any number of haunted mansion movies, Scooby Doo, and Lizzie Borden (and in my opinion, a part or two of The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, but maybe that’s a stretch?). It’s a great combination of fun and holiday spooks. This episode also, presumably, was conceived at a time when Scream’s third season was as yet undetermined, so flexibility to serve as either a series-ender or a bridge between seasons would have been a concern. This episode does several things right. One concern about heading forward into a new season has been Brandon James plot fatigue–how many times can his mask be handed off to a new teen-killer who turns out to be covertly connected to the previous one? With the Halloween special, though, we get–yes–a masked killer, but one rooted in a spooky local legend…and who is not Brandon James or remotely related to him. Brandon is still an enigma, and yeah, we should probably get some answers about him soon, but a break from the whole thing before we stop caring about answers at all is a wise choice. And how about that opening kill? Sudden, gory, unexplained–Kieran got what was coming to him, and how! The show could have easily kept him in a cell, maybe attempting some sort of ersatz Hannibal Lecter thing, but eliminating a plot that has been adequately concluded eliminates what could have turned into an albatross in season three. A satisfying kill unto itself, in the vein (pun not intended) of some of Scream’s best, it also serves as a reveal that there is still a killer on the loose–and not even Kieran knew who he/she is. See you back in Lakewood next year, and Happy Halloween! Read Holly’s review of the previous episode, When A Stranger Calls, here.
