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There's always the chance the killer read her dream journal aloud for the video, since in S1, the killer imitated both Audrey and Will's voice over the phone somehow, so they apparently have the technology for it. It hasn't been used this season, though. I definitely could see him being the accomplice, but I hope for Brooke's sake that he's not, she's already lost enough to this season, I want her to have someone.

Covering it up and framing Spence is about the extent of their involvement in the end, but I feel like the cops might have/would have come to that conclusion regardless, so I don't know. Oh, and I guess because Hugh Metzger was bankrolling the Circle, they were getting in Rosie's way during her investigation. I don't mind the fact that the Circle continues on elsewhere, since odds are if it's as powerful as it seemed, it's not gonna be brought down by the maids and they probably have cops and lawyers involved, but it'd be nice to have some closure on that.

It was a scene after Haley's death. We saw Haley die and then Noah/Zoe turn the power off, and then we see Kieran walking through the club. So definitely not impossible for it to have been him, though I do think there's an accomplice, since if there's a Halloween special like speculated, then they'll need something to reveal there. I really doubt Zoe is not dead. At most, she could've maybe been the accomplice and then Kieran/the killer killed her for whatever reason, but I doubt it, since as above, I think any accomplice will be revealed in the post-finale episodes. But I definitely immediately thought of Scream 2 when I saw the car crashed in the promo. I don't see how Audrey can possibly be involved in the killings this season, with how often the killer taunted Audrey while she was alone earlier in the season, her reaction to seeing Jake, etc. At most, there could possibly be more to her association with Piper, but I can't see any logical way she could be the killer/accomplice this season.

Kieran just looks more and more guilty every episode, and considering he looks this guilty but hasn't been a suspect for any of the characters, pretty much seals the deal. And I'm okay with that. He's so useless and bland and this is the perfect way to both give his character purpose and get rid of him at the same time, win/win. I'll deal with some predictability in exchange for that. I'm assuming he has an accomplice, but I don't think there's anything that's happened that would absolutely have to have two people, like the Piper/Will attack last season. Not sure who it would be, if he does have one. Poor Brooke. First Jake, now her dad? Though, she doesn't look all that torn up in the promo, weirdly. I was gonna speculate that maybe her father didn't die after all, but they show him dead at the end, so obviously not. I guess nobody gets the chance to tell her while everything is going down.

From what I've read from people that get some of the spoilers throughout filming and stuff, is that the producers encourage them to try to act as closely to what their mentality/relationships are on the show currently. So Johnny/Sarah were back on friendly terms at that point in the aired show, so they wanted to them to seem like it on that episode of the Aftershow. I'm also sure that actually talking about it all worked Sarah up at the reunion. They were really setting up an AYTO vs Challengers thing earlier in the season, though it kind of fizzled out by midseason. But I wouldn't be surprised to see a Cutthroat style theme at some point, maybe AYTO vs RW vs Challenge Originals (Fresh Meat or Bloodlines).

She didn't tell Noah earlier because she was kind of dead set on steering Noah away from investigating the accomplice because she was worried he'd discover Piper's connection to her. And she probably did tell Noah afterwards, we just didn't see it. The show is just giving us more info bits at a time instead of dumping it all on us. First we found out Audrey had a connection to Piper, then we find out the gist with her convo to Noah after the show being misleading for a while, and then we get quite a lot of details and questions answered this episode with her scenes with Emma. We might get more, hopefully, but I can't imagine Noah didn't grill Audrey for more info after what we saw.

I think Rachel died simply to give Piper an alibi. Obviously Audrey would be suspicious of her just coming to town and her connection to Brandon when the murders start, so what better way than to give herself a solid alibi to Audrey for the murder closest to her? Killing Rachel also isolates Audrey more and possibly cause her to turn to Piper and open up more. And killing Rachel made Emma feel responsible, at least at first, because she thought Rachel killed herself, which was Piper's thing in S1, making Emma feel responsible for these deaths (making her choose between Riley and Brooke, making the trip wire she triggered kill Will). I also think Piper had a bit of a genuine soft spot for Audrey, which could be why she killed Nina and why she didn't kill Audrey at the party in the finale when she had the chance. Another reason to kill Nina would be her being friends with Emma, as well as being very hated and thus have a lot of people that might want to kill her.

Yeah, they did. Basically in the exact same scene, if I recall correctly? She told Noah that she was so focused on school that one night she had this breakdown and realized it was her whole life and she had no friends or anything outside of school, and she tried to kill herself. I think she said she started seeing someone about it and her parents let her stay out of school for a month or two.

This was such a great episode, I'd say it was easily my favorite of the series so far, and I really hope the next couple can keep up this momentum. As much as I missed Brooke, it was good she, Stavo and Kieran missed the episode, because I can't imagine a storyline with her fitting into this episode and not killing a bit of the suspense. So we have confirmation that Brandon James survived that night, a pretty popular theory already, which makes me wonder if the other popular theory of Kevin Duval being the original killer will also pan out as well. I saw an interesting theory that I think really lines up. The show has been drawing the Maggie/Brandon and Emma/Audrey parallels since S1, particularly in episode 6 when Emma was struggling with what to do with the sketchy tape of Audrey from the night of Nina's murder. Now they took it a step further and added a romantic aspect to Emma/Audrey with confirmed Audrey was/is in love with Emma, just like Maggie/Brandon. So if it turns out that Kevin Duval actually did do the original murders, Kieran being the killer/original accomplice (and trying to frame Audrey), would complete the parallel pretty perfectly. I'm really pulling for this theory now. That said, I'm not sure I think either Kevin or Brandon are involved in these murders.

This was one of my theories, but with Brooke and Stavo. Their relationship seems so weird and rushed and like we're missing pieces of it. I know none of the romantic arcs on the show are that well developed, but theirs seems particularly weird to me, especially this episode. And I think something like this would make sense of that. Not to mention the stuff with Branson and Brooke talking about how she had a "dark side" she didn't know she had. Stavo could've killed Jake because he was jealous of his relationship with "normal" Brooke, and gotten the dirt on Jake/Brooke's dad to try to bring her closer, since she seems to go to him when she's upset. Emma doing it unknowingly is still an option, though, especially after the first scene this week. Kind of making it a bit too obvious there, though. But ultimately, I think a Kieran/Eli team is the most likely. At least Kieran. The show is kind of making it a bit too obvious, but Piper was pretty obvious at this point, too and nobody in show is suspecting himself. And unless it reaches Eli or Stavo levels of shady, I'm leaning more towards it being lazy writing than a red herring.

It's not shocking that Olivia would have an abortion, it's completely in character. It's the fact that abortions are so very rarely seen on television shows, even now, doing a fake out abortion would be incredibly cheap and weak, in my opinion. I just don't see Shonda doing that at all, she's all about doing the controversial thing and standing by it. Plus, the last thing this show needs is a baby. Teddy is easy enough to keep off screen, Liv having a kid would not.

In my opinion, no way did she not have it. Shonda totally did it for shock value and to go with the theme of the episode of Planned Parenthood and a woman's right to choose. Having it all be a fake out and having Olivia not go through with it would be pretty shitty. You know it'll come out just as Fitz and Olivia are working their way back to being together and you know Fitz is gonna be so awful about it. He'll rival Owen Hunt's grossness when Cristina had her abortion. I was gonna say, that was totally Wendy Davis inspired, complete with the whole internet watching on livestreams and hashtagging #IStandWithMellie

They really haven't been at each other's throats for the past couple years, though. That was definitely their dynamic in the beginning, but over the course of the show and as Alex got older and Haley was slightly more fleshed out, their relationship has pretty steadily developed? Their bonding/hugging scenes really aren't just recent, they've been happening for seasons now, really. Seeing their relationship development has probably been one of the highlights of the show for me, because I relate to it so much. I wouldn't say the "biggest cheerleader" thing was particularly accurate, but other than that, I really enjoy whenever they have storylines together.

Count me in as someone who was hoping Brooke wouldn't die and was glad she didn't. She grew on me and I really liked her scene with Audrey. Still think they should've at least killed Branson off. Brooke seems to be more into Jake, and I don't see the school hiring him back again, so what's the point of keeping him alive? Unless he was in on it after all. There's a lot of questions I would have if Audrey was legitimately a partner in all of this, and knew and helped Piper the whole time. Even if Piper was about to reveal Audrey's part in all of this to Emma when Audrey shot her, what difference would it have made? Piper's plan was to kill Emma and Maggie, so the only people that would know would be dead, so Audrey still saved Emma because she seemingly didn't want her to die. I suppose that could be because she wanted to play with her more, but she's shown to be protective of Emma, so I don't know. But yeah, for all we know Audrey had been talking to her before she came and possibly brought her to Lakewood, maybe to investigate the Brandon James stuff for whatever reason, and didn't even realize she was killing people. Or maybe Audrey did kill Nina/Tyler (or at least helped) but that was all she wanted to do, but Piper was blackmailing her to help more (and maybe killed Rachel as a warning for if she told anyone?), there's a few ways. The creator saying they went with Audrey because she's a fan favorite and are counting on fans caring, plus the lack of risks they took everywhere else in this finale, I'm sure they'll find a way to fix it.

Ah, they left the Audrey thing open enough so that they can easily find some kind of logic to explain it away or at least make it so that Audrey never actually killed anyone. Maybe Piper was blackmailing her with something for her help, maybe Audrey was for it at the beginning but then backed out (possibly why Rachel was killed?), not sure. But I'm guessing she has some tie to Brandon James and that stuff with play a big role in S2, since I can't imagine, if she's a legit accomplice, that Audrey's gonna start murdering everyone right away. Though I suppose there's always the chance for a time jump. But even then, there's not much mystery in it if we know who the killer is from the get go. I still think it's possible that Brandon James is alive and he was Piper's real accomplice (or Emma's father), and Audrey has some kind of other connection that's not quite as bad. Either way, I'm sure that will be drawn out all next season. Pretty weak finale, nobody but the sheriff, nameless red shirt and Piper died, how boring. Couldn't have at least killed Branson? The show down was pretty anti-climatic as well. Glad to see I totally predicted how the Audrey/killer and then Audrey/Noah scenes from the previews would go though, so predictable.

I think the assumption was that it was a message that there was a serial killer on the loose that wasn't going to stop? I would think anyone that's watched an episode of Law and Order would know that a coroner would easily be able to tell the difference between someone being hanged the way Rachel was outside and if she had actually killed herself on her ceiling fan. But there could also be some hidden meaning connected to Brandon James and the truth of that night, that only Maggie would get. But since we haven't seen much follow up to that at all, I doubt it. Anyway, with how much this show has been similar to Harper's Island, I'm wondering which angle they'll pursue with the killer: the long lost sibling our protagonist didn't know she had (Piper) or her childhood best friend who's in love with her (Audrey)? For some reason I just can't bring myself to think they're working together. After what PLL did with their only trans character, I'm really hoping they don't have their one and only spot of diversity in this cast be the killer. And if they do, I sincerely hope unrequited feelings are not involved.

Well, if the calls were coming from there, it could be where the killer is hiding out, so they would've already been there. If that's the case, that's another point in Piper's direction, since she's visiting town and I don't think we know where she's staying. I think he just told Maggie he was going down to that area to knock on doors, I don't recall him mentioning a specific house? I can't remember how or why he ended up stopping at the house he did. Mmm, very well could be. There seems to be so much about the original killing that they still having focused on resolved. How haven't they directly mentioned that Brandon's body wasn't found? There hasn't been a single mention of his brother since the first few episodes, other than that one episode, they haven't really focused on the possibility that Brandon didn't kill all those people, etc. So I could see it. Another thing I was wondering, Brooke's father was also currently in jail, was he not? Brooke mentioned that Jake or Emma this episode, if I recall correctly. So the killing at the jail could have something to do with that, while making it seem like it's just about Seth. If the blackmail stuff is the main focus after all and the Brandon James backstory is a red herring/set up for next season.

Actually, I think she has the gif the killer sent open on her phone. Which isn't to say it couldn't have still been recording. And they could've been talking the way they were because they were in public.

Ah, okay, thanks for that clarification. I meant to comment that unless it wasn't at the school, but I didn't remember that. I've also been watching the promo and trying to decide whether the scenes at outside the dance or at Brooke's house. There's lights hanging from trees and it looks like a party lot in some of the shots, which would make me think the dance, but it seems so deserted to be the dance, and Noah and Audrey are both in regular clothes. But everytime I see the shot of the killer coming up behind Audrey, I can't help but think that shot is gonna be right before a commerical break and we won't see the rest of it, and the next time we see Audrey, it'll be when she jumps out and scares Noah, and has a cut on her arm, and she'll claim she just got away from the killer or something. Which will either be a red herring or set up for her to be the killer. The thing with Audrey being the killer is that the only motive I can see is the video thing, but considering the killer stole the mask a year earlier, it would suggest this has been planned for a while. But Noah is another option I've been thinking about, though he and Piper did have a scene alone together towards the beginning of the season. The fact that he wasn't really ever a serious suspect other than being brought in at the beginning and then casual accusations from Jake in the bowling alley episode, his comment about leading the police to their best evidence, obviously being good with technology, he seemed to be manning the DJ booth at the dance so he coould've easily put the video feed up... But he's a popular character (so is Audrey) and nothing about the show has shown me that they're willing to take that much of a risk yet.

The timeline of the sheriff getting nabbed is weird because the scene with Brooke/Jake in Jake's house is night time, while the rest is the day. And I assume it all happens on the same day given that Noah/Audrey start watching Rachel's footage when it's light out and then by the time they're done it's dark out (and the sheriff gets nabbed during the day between those scenes, but Jake/Brooke have their scene at night during then too). Watching those scenes again, the sheriff says that the lake house he went to/where the calls originated from, was "far from the school", explaining why it would be hard to buy that Branson made the calls, so I don't think it would be too easy to go back and forth between there and the dance.

Great post! Assuming the killer now is the one that broke into the record building a year prior, I have a really hard time believing it was any of the kids. They're only, what? 16 at this point? I just find it really really hard to believe a 15 year old would've been able to not only break into there, but know where to look and what to look for and all of that. So that, ontop of the yearbook thing from earlier in the season, and the knowledge of a relative of Brandon's likely being involved (whether it's his kid or his brother or hell, even him himself), I think at least one of the killers has to be out of high school. I'm really curious about how Rachel's murder ties in. The fact that the show is focusing on it tells me it's gotta be of some significance to the mystery. Framing Audrey? There's that, Piper's talk with Emma, the DNA in the mask, the Brandon James parallels, my own personal hopes...

Even Tyler got inclusion. Wonder if it was deliberate.

I would be shocked if Piper isn't the main killer (the Billy, the Mrs Loomis, the Jill), I'm just not sure who the other one is. I do think it'll be either Branson, Kieran or maybe Jake, and we'll spend a bit of the finale questioning which one it is. But ultimately, they probably won't be that interesting. Which makes me think it'll be Branson, because Piper is clearly Maggie's kid and therefore is the betrayal aspect of the reveal, since she's related to Emma and befriended her and Emma's trusted her this whole time, so the second killer probably isn't that close with Emma. If it were Kieran, then he'd be the bigger betrayal than Piper. And same with Audrey. So Bransan or Jake. As nervous as I am that Audrey will be involved since she's the one character I don't want it to be - having the one LGBT character the killer would look so bad, imo, especially if there is any kind of romantic motivation (ie, she had a thing for Emma and got rejected) - deep down I don't think it'll be her. Like rainsmom said, I don't think they want to lose her or Noah, they seem to have made them the core three of the show, and they're basically the Sidney, Gale and Dewey, if I had to guess. Edit: Actually, there seems like there's some promo out there (I haven't seen the whole thing) that includes what seems to be the killer about to take off the mask, and I gotta say, . But it under tags just in case.

I'm pretty sure she doesn't actually want Spence back, she just wants to stick it to the two of them and get some kind of revenge for them humilating her and cheating behind her back.

Plus, there's always the chance they hadn't decided who the killer was yet. Or didn't want the actors to know yet so they didn't make it too obvious in their portrayals.