Preface

• Scream being my favorite horror movie, I was pleased to hear that it was coming back in a way in which I get to see more of it each week.
• But I was also cautious that it was airing on MTV, and that they were bringing in a new Ghostface and…
• Well it’s essentially a reboot at this point.
• But nevertheless, I was cautiously optimistic going in and I thought was… Well it was okay.
• There are aspects of this show that work so far, there are aspects that don’t, which makes it hard to just review a premiere episode but I’ll touch on some stuff that I want them to do over the course of the season and say that there are some things that are deal-breakers, others that aren’t.

Premise

• So the rebooted TV Scream Series follows a new motley crew of super attractive early 20-somethings playing teenagers (hey, just like the real Scream!) and there’s a new Ghostface on the loose slashing people up.
• There’s also ties to an older murder case in the town, and a whole lot of other slimy and shady stuff going on with the characters.
• And the characters are supposed to be the driving point of this show.

Cast and Characters

• So the first character they introduce you to in this show is played by Bella Thorne, from Blended and The Duff, and immediately you’re like, she better die.
• And yeah, only spoiler alert of this post but she does.
• Thank God.
• No character got as annoying as she was, but there were hints of annoyances or just cartoonish moments in almost every character the show has introduced so far.
• Now the lead in this show is a girl named Emma and she’s pretty likable.
• She doesn’t seem to have too many dimensions to her (like Sidney did in the original Scream movie), but she was a serviceable lead character who I’m sure will develop over the course of the show.
• And her likability is more than I can say for her friends…
• Because there are many annoying friends of hers on this show…
• Like she has this friend Brooke who’s supposed to be like the party-girl and kinda wild in the vein of Tatum from the original Scream.
• Her character just feels like a caricature.
• Maybe they’ll develop her too, but it doesn’t feel like she has much going on…
• Then there’s Emma’s boyfriend (who’s name I’m not remembering) but this guy is the complete caricature of a jock.
• Sure the two of them work well together, but his character is another one of these guys that’s completely overdone and reminds it’s an MTV show.
• There are some characters who are pretty interesting though.
• Like Emma’s mom has this whole backstory that is absurdly interesting, and her dynamic with the sheriff is working really well so far.
• I know this is supposed to be a teen show, because the original Scream was made for teens about teens, but I want to see more of the mom and sheriff going forward.
• There’s this character Audrey too who I thought wasn’t the best actress in the world, but they set her up pretty well and I’m interested in seeing where her story goes from here.
• And my favorite is probably Noah.
• Even though he’s very cartoony also, he’s a really cool cartoon.
• He’s basically Randy from the original Scream (with the pop culture references) but he has this sarcastic attitude about him which I enjoy. Probably my favorite so far, he’s keeping the show entertaining.
• So not all of the characters are great, some are very caricatured, some are very cartoony, but as the body-count gets higher and higher I feel like that will be less of an issue, plus this is only the first episode so there will be plenty of development going forward.
  • I hope…

Writing

• Now the writing is two completely different things in my eyes.
• The place where it divides is between the dialogue and the plot progression.
• The dialogue in this show, or at least in this episode, felt very in-your-face.
• It just feels like the characters are trying to spell everything out for you in the way they talk.
• There’s this scene where they’re talking about the old murders that happened in the town and you obviously know they’re going to connect the two, but the characters say throughout the show several times, “man, do you think the two cases are related?”
• So by episode 5 or 6 when they reveal how they’re connected, we’ll probably already know.
• But then on the opposite side of that we have the plot progression and this is where the show excels.
• It’s really hard to make a horror movie into a TV show, which they touch on a bit in this episode.
• But it seems like so far they’re going to make this into a mystery show which I really like.
• The original Scream was a whodunit and had mystery the whole time, so this show can really fixate on that and succeed.
  • Granted, by the end of the first episode you know one of two people who the killer will end up being.
• But everything the show sets up in this episode, you’re interested in.
• Some of it is a little in-your-face but the show has a hook on you and you want to see what happens in the next episode for sure.
• I liked a lot of the plot elements they set up, I like the mysterious feel so far, and I’m really fascinated in seeing where the show is headed.

In Conclusion

• Alright so this might seem like a cop-out but I’m gonna give this episode a “for what it is” rating.
• In Conclusion Guys, Scream isn’t phenomenal by any means.
• It does have some cartoony characters, but luckily they even out with some really good characters.
• The dialogue is a little too on-the-nose but overall there’s a lot of potential in this show and it has a lot of cool plot points you can see going forward.
• Despite how cartoony the characters are, I want to tune in next week and see who dies next.
• So FOR WHAT IT IS, I will say the Scream Pilot is a pretty good time and totally worth checking out.
• Especially if you’re a horror fan.
• But it isn’t a masterpiece in any regard, don’t quote me there!

***

So guys, those are my thoughts on the Pilot Episode of MTV’s Scream! Have you guys seen this episode, and what are your thoughts on it so far? Let me know in the comments down below, and as always, thanks for reading guys.