After Will’s brutal death, Emma is traumatized. After seeing her ex boyfriend get sawed in half, Emma can’t sleep and listens to the tape of her father she found in the abandoned bowling alley.

Noah visits Jake at the hospital. Seeing that he’s passed out, Noah gloats about tagging Jake’s car with “Doosh.” Low blow, nerd, even if it’s towards Jake. Once he comes to, Jake asks if everyone made it out. Noah doesn’t lie when he says yes, but Brooke quickly steps in to tell him the sad new about his friend.

After surviving the original attack with Will, and being interestingly absent from the bowling alley fiasco, Piper gives Sheriff Hudson Mayor Maddox’s take. The tape has the same date at Nina and Tyler’s murder- September 30. The sheriff takes all the new information Piper brings seriously, and eventually questions Maddox.

While Emma is trying to pretend she’s okay, Audrey and Noah continue trying to find a way to catch Mr. Branson, since they’re so convinced he’s the killer. While Audrey mentions that other than the malware, all the two have is that he changed his name. Noah quickly noted that Mr. Branson had conveniently been absent from Lakewood during the bowling alley incident. Coincidence? Maybe.

The sheriff begins questioning Mayor Maddox, but he insists that the tape is not what it looks like. Sheriff Hudson allows the mayor to explain himself. After insisting that his wife is in rehab, like he had been saying, Mayor Maddox asks the sheriff if he could have Brooke call her. You know, to prove she’s alive and all that jazz.

Seems as though Sheriff Hudson also has a long list of suspects. He approaches Maggie about Emma’s dad, Kevin. He tells her that he looked up his whereabouts. Apparently, he’d been away from his job at an oil rig for three weeks- right around the time that Maggie was sent a pig’s heart.

Emma sees  no end of people trying to cheer her up at school- from Noah and Audrey, to Kieran, to Piper. While Noah and Audrey insist that she can talk to them, she says, “I just keep replaying what happened.” She means that quite literally. Because of Emma’s shock and lack of sleep, she keeps having hallucinations of Will’s gory body split in two. While at school, she envisions him squeezing a heart to have the blood splatter everywhere. As she runs away, she runs in to Kieran (IRL). He wants to be there for here, but she tells him to go away because the killer is out there, which means he could be a victim at any minute.

While at working at the coffee shop, Emma has a crazy breakdown, and is sent to the hospital. She gets a surprise visit from her none other than her dad. Emma confronts him about his absence. He says he never responds to her letters because with the way things were left between him and Maggie, he felt a clean break would be best. Emma calls out his selfish reasoning. Kevin admits it has taken him a while to sort things out, but that he’s there now. Emma’s not having it though, and tells him he should leave.

Emma begins to regret her actions after Piper goes to see her. Piper earns Emma’s trust by telling her that she’s there as a friend, not for a story (DOUBT IT). Piper offers Emma some good advice about reconnecting with her father: “Second chances are rare, don’t waste them.” Maybe the killer wants Kevin to be around, well, to kill him. Why does Piper want him around so bad? Hm…

Meanwhile, Brooke finally talks to her mom, although her suspicions about her father aren’t completely gone. Just because it wasn’t her mom in the bag… Mayor Maddox reveals that after seeing one her mom’s friends OD, he panicked. Brooke still has a hard time trusting her dad, and leaves him, maybe for good.

If Emma’s dad visiting was good for anything, it was for the flashback it caused: Emma sees her parents the night her dad left, fighting about something she can’t quite figure out. In the fight, Kevin yells about wanting Emma to know the truth, about not wanting to keep a baby. Maggie insists that it was her choice.  Emma runs after her father at the hospital and insists that they weren’t talking about not wanting her, and that there were signs everywhere about it. Emma wakes up in pediatrics, her dad nowhere to be seen. (Which begs the question, was the first time she saw her dad real or not real?)

Noah and Audrey decide to investigate Mr. Branson further, by searching his classroom. They find a knife in the air conditioner unit. They call the sheriff (SMART! FOR ONCE!) after finding out that Mr. Branson is actually Mr. Palmer, a guy who was involved with an 18 year old, that is until she turned up dead. Palmer was a suspect until he disappeared, and became Mr. Branson. The sheriff asks why they were looking into Branson in the first place. Noah freaks about asks, “You think we planted this?” (Chill, a little Noah, you might look suspicious yourself). Noah spills about the malware, how it disappeared, and how he happened to be out of town during all the murders. After finding a cell phone with texts from Riley right before she died, Sheriff Hudson calls for an APB on the creep.

Emma asks Audrey to send her the video from the abandoned hospital. While searching it, she sees an ultrasound with the name “Anderson” written on it. Emma immediately questions her mom about it, and she finally begins telling some REAL truth: When she was 16, Maggie found out that Kevin had cheated on her with her best friend. Maggie went to her friend Brandon for comfort, but ended up sleeping with him. She got pregnant, and moved away for a while to give the baby up with adoption. When she moved back to Lakewood, she reconnected with Kevin.

Emma questions, “What if the child that you gave up, is back?”

Brooke turns to Mr. Branson to release some steam, so to speak. The two are just about to hook up, (DO YOU WANT TO DIE BROOKE?), when Branson says he hears something. As soon as creepy teacher leaves, someone begins messing with Brooke. Obviously, it’s the killer. Brooke begins running for her life, and manages to only get a cut. Poor Mr. Branson shows up right as the cops do. They find him holding a half naked teenager with a pretty bad wound. Dun dun dun.

TOP SUSPECT: From the beginning I had a feeling it was someone related to Brandon. Obviously, suspect number one became Emma’s half sibling, the baby Maggie had with Brandon and gave up for adoption. You know who interestingly had a father who was killed with no explanation? Piper. Could it be? While Mr. Branson certainly seems suspect, I find it a little more suspicious that Noah is pushing so hard for him to be the killer…
NEXT TO DIE: Well, it was almost Brooke this week. Going to stick with that guess for now.

After several weeks of no deaths, the gruesome death in “In the Trenches,” proved that the peaceful weeks were way too good to be true.

The morning after Will was dragged away by the murderer, we an unknowing Emma having a nice talk with her mother. Maggie tells Emma she’s glad that they talked. Emma questions how her mother deals with her past, and Maggie answers simply, “you learn to live with it.” Once Emma starts asking why her dad still left, Maggie justifies his actions by saying, “Not everyone learns to live with it.”

Did Emma’s dad carry more guilt? What would the reason be for it? Hmm….

Although Emma tells her mother that her and Kieran are just friends, Emma rushes to school for a make out sesh and to figure out if it’s weird that they’re hooking up while their parents are also dating. Emma’s receives a text from Will and despite not knowing that he is possibly dead, still finds it strange when he says he tried to make things right, but failed.

Emma goes directly to Brooke and Jake, who are still weird about Mayor Maddox. Brooke admits to Jake that her dad went out the night before, was sulky when he returned, and that she had a bad feeling. When Emma tells them about the text Will sent, Jake puts it together that something could have happened with Brooke’s dad. So as Emma gets filled in on the blackmailing situation, who should show up but Piper!

Piper takes the group to the warehouse she and Will had gone to meet Mayor Maddox, and my first thought ia, “WHY DIDN’T YOU CALL THE COPS.” Because, obviously. Piper tells Emma about the previous nights events, and that the murderer tried to kill her, but Will saved her life, as she leads Emma to a lovely note the killer left. In what looks like blood, the wall reads, “NO COPS EMMA.” (Oh).

The group leaves Emma behind after Piper complains about her concussion. Just then, Emma gets one of her favorite phone calls from, the killer. Emma begs the killer not to hurt Will, but the mysterious masked person tells her, “New game, hide and seek. Just like Daisy and Brandon used to play.” Emma thinks she has the upper hand since her mother supposedly told her all about her past. But the killer scoffs, “Your mom’s a lying whore. In time you’ll know the truth, but first you better find Will.”

Meanwhile, Brooke goes to her dad to confront him about seeing Will the night before. She lays it all out, demanding to know where her mother is and that she knows all about the video and blackmailing. Mayor Maddox sticks to his story that his wife is in rehab and that “what [she] saw isn’t what it looks like and [they’re] not discussing this anymore.”

The mayor insists he has no idea where Will is, but the creepy smirk painted on his face makes us think otherwise. He only seems to lose his composure after Brooke says that the truth will inevitably some out, and that won’t protect him.

Emma goes to Noah to help track Will’s phone. Once the two locate the phone to a bowling alley, Jake and Brooke sign up to help find their friend. Emma asks Kieran to cover for her, to tell their parents, whom they were apparently having a weird double date with, that she was going to Audrey’s to help her study.

The foursome split up to search the perimeter of the building. Noah and Emma discuss the killers motives. Noah, being the genius he is, tells Emma, “He’s playing chess instead of checkers… He’s making you responsible for who live and dies.” Until Emma figures out who the killer is, he’s going to keep upping the game.

Jake admits his suspicions about Noah being the killer to Brooke. Jake says it’s always an unexpected person, the funny, nice, smart guy. Brooke teases, “Well that takes you off the table.” Jake responds with, “Or does it?” Didn’t think I could hate Jake more, but there is nothing slightly redeeming about him.

During the search, Kieran has dinner with Maggie and Sheriff Hudson. Apparently, detective Brock is off the case, probably for questioning a minor without a parent or lawyer present. Maggie asks Kieran if he likes Lakewood, and he snarkily replies, “Yeah, you know, aside from all the murders, its nice.” After Maggie insists on calling Emma to make her get to the dinner, Kieran jumps up and offers to go pick her up from Audrey’s.

The “Will Search Party” enters the bowling alley, and Jake almost immediately insists on splitting up. “Said no one who survived a horror movie, ever,” Noah quickly responds. And really, he has a major point. Have you heard of strength in numbers? Apparently not, because Jake and Brooke split off again.

Noah then brings up how off Jake’s story about Will was. If Jake suspected Will was going to meet Mayor Maddox, why wouldn’t he try to stop it?

After failed attempts to get with Brooke, Jake inches too close to her and corners her against a door while revealing he knows about her and Mr. Branson. He stabs the door next to her head with one of the many weapons he brought for protection, but quickly ducks out to pee, and leaves Brooke alone. Because killers have a sixth sense about when girls are alone, the killer in Brandon James’ mask begins to chase her.

Emma and Noah finally find Will, but he’s unconscious. While Emma tries to get Will to wake up, Audrey calls. Noah tries to tell Audrey what’s going on, but the connection is bad. Will suddenly wakes up.

After complaining about back pain, Emma lifts his shirt to find he’s branded with “B4.” She quickly realizes that it must lead to something. She finds a drawer labeled with the same “B4″ and finds Brandon James’ time card and a tape of Emma’s dad called “PTSD project.” PTSD, like post traumatic stress? Does Emma’s dad suffer from it, or Brandon James?

“Daisy” song starts playing and Emma runs out to find somewhere to play the tape. She finds a tape player and hears her dad saying, “How could she sleep with that monster?”

Brooke finds Jake with a knife in him, and her first thought is to pull it out. Emma hears Jake scream in agony, and goes after him, but is met with killer. Despite having a huge stab wound, Will tackles the killer to the ground. Just then the cops show up, thanks to Audrey’s clever thought to go straight to Emma’s house after hearing Noah’s frantic voice.

Kieran shows up too, after supposedly hearing what was going on on the police scanner. As much as I don’t want the hot guy to be involved, why is Kieran so suspicious? (To be fair, 98% of the cast is currently acting suspicious).

The cops have a hard time finding the killer and one states the obvious, “People don’t just disappear into thin air.” They don’t, so was the killer among the group the whole time? Was someone missing when the cops showed? Yeah, Noah was.

Everyone gets out of the warehouse, with just Jake and Will wounded. Emma gets reprimanded by her mom and Sheriff Hudson for not going to the cops.

Kieran also confronts Emma, but about more than just her safety. He realizes that Emma obviously still has feelings for Will. Emma admits that feelings don’t just go away. As he leaves, Emma asks him if he’s mad. “No, I just know what I want,” he responds with the saddest face ever which makes me forget that he was ever on my suspect list.

Noah tells Audrey that he thinks Jake and Will were behind the entire scene at the bowling alley to convince everyone to trust them, which sounds like a reasonable theory until the last minute of the episode.

Will calls Emma and invites her over to watch a movie– which is clearly going to be a set up by the murderer. But Emma apparently decides to forgive Will after his heroic move and rushes to his house. Upon her arrival, she is greeted with a phone call from the murder. He tells her, “I wanted you to have a little pride, instead you forgave his lies just like Daisy did all those years ago. I don’t forgive so easily.” He doesn’t forgive Emma so easily? Does that mean the murderer is someone that’s in love with Emma, the way Brandon was in love with Daisy? Emma starts running to find Will. She trips over a string, which is triggered to drop a chainsaw/tractor thing (sorry, I don’t know power tools). Sitting tied up in front of said tool is Will.

And he’s dead.

TOP SUSPECT: I’m still convinced the murderer isn’t part of the main crew. Piper is still fishy.
NEXT TO DIE: Brooke. Just a weird hunch.

Another week without a murder. This definitely won’t last much longer.

Continuing her night with Kieran, Emma decides she wants to go to Brandon’s house. As soon as she arrives she receives a call from you know who –well, we don’t actually know who, but you get what I mean. The caller laughs at Emma’s naivety as she freaks out upon realizing Kieran disappeared from her side and tells her, “He even made you think it was your idea to come here.” As Emma frantically searches for an exit, someone in the Brandon masks grabs her. As the mask falls off, Emma’s face is revealed on the other side. She tells herself, “It ends with you.” End dream. If dreams are made up of subconscious thoughts two things are for sure: Emma doesn’t really trust Kieran and she’s definitely putting a lot of the blame on herself for the murders in her hometown.

If that horrible dream wasn’t enough to snap Emma awake from her slumber, the scene in her living room surely did the trick –a makeout session between her mom and Sheriff Hudson, sexy right? Emma tries not to make things awkward by saying she was happy for her mom, happy that she took her advice to go for it. Personally, I’d be mortified if my mom was dating my currents hook ups dad, but hey, to each their own… Or maybe Emma was just glad someone was there to distract her mom from realizing how late she came home after her night with Kieran…

Aside from figuring out who the murderer is, one of the show’s biggest mysteries is Nina. What did she have on all these people? How did she have all the information? Why? Turns out we’re not the only ones wondering. Piper confronts Will and asks him to go on her podcast to air all of Nina’s secrets- and his. A chance at redemption, if you will. Although Will doesn’t exactly agree to Piper’s request, he later gives her a different story to share…

Meanwhile, Maggie is being questioned by Detective Brock over Sheriff Hudson’s royal screw ups in the murder investigation, like, you know, completely not realizing a possible suspect was right under his nose! DNA had been found on the inside of Brandon’s mask that was found in the old hospital. DNA that matched Audrey’s.

After Audrey gets pulled out of class for questioning, Noah goes to Emma to tell her his theories about Mr. Branson. Could he have seen Noah and Audrey looking at the malware on his computer and plotted against Audrey? As expected, Mr. Branson pulls Noah away from Emma –but to talk about classwork, of course. Later, Noah changes his tune about Mr. B, saying that he couldn’t possibly be responsible. Maybe Tyler put the malware on the computer while working as a teacher’s aid? While maybe being a pedophile, I have to agree with Noah- I think his crime spree ends there.

During Audrey’s questioning she’s asked about her whereabouts on September 30, the night Nina was murdered. Audrey says she was filming videos with Rachel, who obviously, is the only person who can confirm her alibi. Unfortunately, she was killed –so there’s that. Detective Brock asks to see the footage the girls shot. When Audrey hesitates, Detective Brock says she has a search warrant anyway, so oh well! While Audrey’s dad, who showed up after realizing his minor daughter was being questioned without a parent present, and Detective Brock step out of the questioning room to have a chit chat, Audrey quickly calls Emma and asks her to destroy the SD card labeled September 30.

Being the super smart teenagers they are, Noah and Emma proceed with Audrey’s request. The duo break into her house right before the cops show up and take the card. Obviously, the cops notice the broken glass and the very specific missing SD card. Although the chain of events is obvious, Emma keeps her mouth shut to the detective. Before even watching what was recorded, Emma tells her mom, “I know this looks bad, but I can’t help but feel that someone wants it to look that way.

When Tweedledee and Tweedledum (aka Emma and Noah) finally cave in to their curiosity, they see a video of an angry Audrey yelling about Nina to Rachel, who is recording. At one point Rachel says, ‘If we do this we are even worse than Nina,” although whatever ‘this’ is, isn’t clear. Audrey goes on about karma and how it doesn’t just happen to girls like Nina, “sometimes you have to take it in your own hands.” Audrey says to the camera before it’s cut off, “I’m coming for that sorry bitch.” Is Audrey really capable of murder? Her friends certainly don’t think so, but could she?

Later, Maggie takes Emma to her old house, the one she lived in before the murders years before. Maggie finally begins to reveal information about her past: Her and Brandon were neighbors, and became friends after passing notes to each other. The night of the dance when the killing spree happened, Brandon knew that Maggie and her current boyfriend (Emma’s dad) were having problems. So, Brandon went to convince Maggie she deserved better. Someone overheard them talking and told Emma’s dad. That’s when the fighting started, the “bloodshed.” Emma tells her mom there’s no way she could have known he would snap. Maggie responds with a very ominous, “I’m not convinced he did.” Could this mean that it was someone else that killed everyone, say someone who was jealous, like a boyfriend?

The night of the dance ended with Maggie asking Brandon to meet her at the dock. Her boyfriend saw and called the cops. Then, they shot him. Maggie urges Emma to stand up for her friend if she believes she’s innocent, because “people saw Brandon as a monster and [she] didn’t defend him.”

This convinces Emma to do the “right” thing. After realizing that her friend couldn’t have possibly murdered anyone, despite the scary video, Emma goes back to Detective Brock. She tells her that she saw Audrey the night of Nina’s murder and that Audrey kept it a secret to cover for her. There’s no doubt in my mind that this lie will come back to bite Emma in the butt.

The episode ends with Piper Shaw’s unexpected story from Will. Will meets with Brooke’s dad to return his blackmail money and the incriminating video. Mayor Maddox asks if he watched the tape, Will assures that he had not. Will tells the mayor, “I really don’t want to die for doing the right thing.”

Mayor Maddox responds, “Not a word to anyone… Remember, there’s a killer on the loose,” with a creepy grin. Piper was hiding to capture the entire moment, though its entire meaning is still lost. What did Will mean he didn’t want to die? Did he think Mayor Maddox was capable of murder? Piper tells Will, “It’s not the story I came for, but it’s a hell of bonus chapter. You know he just threatened to make you victim number five?”

Anyway, seconds later Will and Piper hear a strange noise, only to have the Brandon-masked killer appear and stab Will. He gets dragged away, still alive, while Piper remains untouched. Fishy.

TOP SUSPECT: Emma’s Dad. Piper. Mayor Maddox. Could they all be a team?
NEXT TO DIE: Will.

Don’t worry guys, my “Scream” recaps aren’t gone- I was just on a two week vacation in Nicaragua. I somehow managed to stay away from any spoilers, and with that being said, it’s time to catch up quickly before next week.

This episode was probably the most lackluster so far, and it has nothing to do with the fact that another week has passed with no lives taken.

After Noah and Audrey accidentally leaked a tape of Emma and Will having sex, typical high school behavior ensued: humiliation, gossip, Will angrily lashing out against anyone who mocked the situation, etc. Not so typical high school behavior: Emma receives a call from the presumed murder asking how it feels to be the “star of the show.” To give a little more of a punch, he (or she?) printed a still from the video and left it in Emma’s locker with “Just like your mother” written on it. Ouch.

To add just a bit more salt to the wound, “The Scarlett Letter” is the topic of discussion in Mr. Branson’s class. Not to miss out on the irony, someone sends out a mass text with a little reminder of the video. After class, Kieran (HE’S BACK), comforts Emma by telling her, “Just remember, you don’t have to be afraid.” Oh, he also explains his absence by saying he was out of town to deal with some insurance stuff from his mom’s accident. Probably should seem a bit fishy, but people that good looking just aren’t the killers, so he’s good. (RIGHT???)

Also becoming increasingly sketchy: Piper Shaw. After revealing to Emma that Rachel’s parents felt that Audrey was manipulating Rachel, and could make her do anything, she says, “It’s hard to know the truth if you don’t know the whole story.” Should Audrey be a suspect, not of the murders surely, but perhaps of something else? But, also, what’s Piper’s whole story? Why is she there? Why is her storyline so insignificant so far, and yet so important? Hmm… Later, she reveals to Emma that her father was murdered when she was young. The case was never solved, which is why she spends her time doing the podcasts.

During a vigil held for Riley, Emma discovers that there is a new detective in town- Detective Lorraine Brock. The detective’s presence means Sheriff Hudson is to step away from the case, which given how little has been solved (read: nothing), it’s probably for the best. Sheriff Hudson’s displeasure over the detective makes it obvious that it’s not just that he was replaced, but they the two share a history together.

While Emma gives a speech at the vigil, she receives a video message of herself. Realizing that this means the person who has been taunting her is currently watching her, she begins to stumble over her words. She then gets a heartwarming text warning her that if she speaks to the detective about him (again, or her), it’ll be her mom’s heart in a box.

But Detective Lorraine Brock appears to have a much better grasp on the case than the sheriff. Right away she pieces together that it’s Emma and her mom at the center of the murders. It’s no coincidence, but Emma’s silence doesn’t lead the detective much further.

Audrey and Noah discover that Mr. Branson was somehow involved with phones and computers getting hacked- and perhaps was in on it with Riley, Tyler, and Nina. While something is definitely fishy with Mr. Branson, I don’t see him as a killer. Perhaps a creepy pedophile? Yes. But, murderer? Nahhhh.

Since Brooke is on quest to become a better person, she decides to tell Emma something that’s been eating away at her, something Will so desperately wanted to keep a secret. Pulling out the “She’s All That” card, Emma learns that the only reason Will ever talked to her was for a bet. Nina and Will had made a bet on whether or not Will could get Emma to sleep with him in under a month. Judging by the video, he probably won. This leads to her finally telling Will off with the cliche phrase, “We’re done.”

Proving once again how awful they are, Jake and Will go through with their blackmail plan. Brooke’s dad, Mayor Maddox, shows up with only part of the requested money, which leads Jake to break the Mayor’s nose. Will, who was only on board if nobody got hurt, was upset with the change of course. He tells Jake he wants nothing to do with the money.

Later, Jake goes to Brooke’s house with pizza, and a twisted version of the blackmail story. Jake reveals that Nina and Tyler had a video of Mayor Maddox doing something bad, and were blackmailing him for money before they died. But, apparently, Will has taken over. Mayor Maddox overhears the conversation making him angrily write Will’s name with lots of underlines on a piece of paper. While Brooke still doesn’t understand why Jake has the video (Um, because he’s the evil(er) one!!!), she watches the video: Mayer Maddox is seen dragging what looks like a body out of the trunk of his car. The date is marked as the day before her mom left to rehab (which her father had just admitted). Brooke clearly thinks the body could be her mothers. (I’m going to go ahead and say it’s a dead deer or something way less provocative).

Meanwhile, Kieran takes Emma somewhere far in the middle of nowhere, so “no one will hear.” At first this seems creepy and scary, especially after you know, he pulls out a gun. But he just wants Emma to get over her fears by shooting some cans he had set up. He tells her, “All I know is that right now, I’m holding you and he’s not.” Is he talking about Will? The murderer? The two start making out hardcore, and as much as I love Kieran, something’s weird. Maybe it’s their lack of chemistry. Maybe bad acting. But the scene was just, weird. Also, doesn’t sex=death in slasher world? (PLEASE DON’T DIE KIERAN!)

Oh, and Kieran’s dad, Sheriff Clark, is making out with Emma’s mom Maggie during all this.

TOP SUSPECT: Too obvious for it to be Mr. Branson.
NEXT TO DIE: Still Jake.