Scream S1E1: Pilot

Breaking down shows episode by episode is something I had considered doing for a while, and even dabbled in a few years ago. I chose to start with the TV show Scream because the movies are the reason I am a horror fan in the first place. 

Bella Thorne as Nina screaming for help

Full Plot Breakdown: 

The pilot begins with a character named Nina (played by Bella Thorne) home alone after uploading a humiliating video of two of her classmates kissing, when an unseen assailant begins stalking her. Initially, there are some pretty solid creepy moments when Nina seems to be getting texts from her boyfriend, Tyler. "Sage is a trained attack Pomeranian, and she will gut you on command." This might be one of my favorite lines in this opening because it a threat that nobody in their right minds would even consider taking seriously. Even though Nina is clearly shaken, she kind of just brushes these apparent threats off. She clearly is wrong to do so because Tyler is kind of, sort of, dead. I also really like the moment where his decapitated head is flung into the pool. It shows that this series actually carries a sort of dark sense of humor from the movies. Following that, there's a funny bit where Nina tells her phone to call 911 and the phone tries calling Pottery Barn instead. Anyways, only a few seconds later, Nina is killed. The mask is something I have mixed feelings on. I don't think it's bad, but I still very much prefer the mask in the films. The next scene introduces us to the protagonist, Emma, as she is trying to tutor her boyfriend Will. Emma is a character I have a lot of problems with. She's not so bad here. As the show goes on, I will get into those. After Will leaves, we meet Emma's mom, and the two have a pretty good conversation involving her mother's dating life. Now, we move on to the next scene, and meet some of my favorite characters in the show, Audrey and Noah. I like that this scene establishes that these two are clearly friends. Meanwhile, Emma talks her group of friends about Audrey's situation. Emma makes the point, correctly, that the decision to come out was Audrey's to make. Will dismisses the whole thing. One of the new characters we are introduced to, Jake, makes a dick remark. One of the other friends, Brooke, admits that it was most likely Nina. Brooke and Jake are characters I enjoy. Jake almost immediately gave me Matthew Lillard in Scream 1 vibes. Brooke took me about an episode or two to really warm up to. But, know that I don't really have animosity towards her. The classroom introduces to two more characters who are going to be important. The first one is Kieran, who is honestly kind of boring, especially during season 1. The other is Mr. Branson. Branson is a good suspect. He is somebody in a scandalous relationship with Brooke. This scene offers a lot of meta commentary on how feasible it is to make a television series out of a slasher movie. This is something that is perfectly in line with Scream, and I honestly love it. While all of this is going on, Nina's parents come home to find her dead body floating in the pool. The next scene shows our main characters in "mandatory" grief counseling. It's now that we get our dark backstory. 20 years prior, a student named Brandon James fell in love with a girl named Daisy. When a group of drunk jocks beat the living hell out of him, he apparently snapped and killed five students before being shot down. As Noah concludes his tale, we learn that Emma's mother is Daisy. Emma and her friends talk about Nina's death. One of my favorite moments is Jake talking about how he, and several athletes at the school "respected" her. Emma heads off to try and talk to Audrey. The talk between the two is awkward, to say the least. Will and Jake have a heated conversation that I'm sure won't to lead to any major consequences going forward. Later that night, Emma and her mom start getting harassed by the killer. Emma picks up a box addressed to Daisy left on the porch before heading out to a party that Brooke had been planning. Emma's mom opens the box to find a heart in it. Meanwhile, at the party, Emma is talking about random things with Brooke and Will. Audrey soon arrives with Noah in tow. Brooke actually does try to make Audrey feel welcome, even if it doesn't entirely work. Noah tries to defuse things...and fails miserably. I should say I do like the friendlier moments between Emma and Audrey. It's a solid way to show they have a happier past, and makes you kind of wonder when and how things went sour. In the meantime, Noah hits it off with Emma's friend Riley. Emma's mom informs the sheriff of the heart, and reveals to him that she's Daisy. When we cut back to the party, a bunch of the teens are talking about the events of the episode so far. I can't help but watch it,  knowing what Kieran's story arc is going to look like, and there is a little more to him on a second viewing. Let's move on to another conversation. One of the things I like about these couple conversations so far is that it kind of breaks who talks to who a little bit. Brooke makes a comment that allows Emma to finally realize that Will slept with Nina. If I'm being honest, I'm a little surprised Emma even had enough brain power to actually put the pieces together, but I digress. Brooke wanders off alone, and eventually has a run-in with Will, who threatens her. Emma is off by herself, still mad at Will. She eventually runs in to Kieran, and the two spend some time getting to know one another. Noah had fallen asleep drunk a couple scenes ago. As a result, some of the partygoers placed him in the middle of the lake on a floating piece of dock as a prank. He attempts to swim to shore, but nearly drowns, and is rescued and brought to shore by Kieran. After the party, Kieran brings Emma home, and we learn that the sheriff is his father. Audrey goes to her girlfriend Rachel's house. The two have a sweet little moment, until we are shown that the killer is watching. The next morning, the sheriff asks Noah to come down to the station after school. Noah has another great moment with Riley. Emma finally confesses the truth to Audrey, which Audrey is understandably pissed about. While Emma is leaving Audrey's she receives her first phone call from the killer. His voice isn't bad, but I don't necessarily think it's anything compared to the voice from the movies. The episode ends with a phone conversation between Noah and Riley where Noah tells her that everyone has secrets, and everyone is fair game, until there's no one left, as he runs an unknown red substance through his hair. 

The new look for Ghostface

Summary: 

Watching this pilot again, it didn't run as smoothly as I remembered it running. I can honestly attribute a lot of this to the fact that this is a pilot. It's a lot of set-up for things yet to come. Some of the characters kind of clicked for me instantly. Others are interesting because I know they will click with me later on. This is a serviceable enough first episode for a show. Not bad, but not necessarily anything special either. 

B-