S02.E06: Jeepers Creepers

[Cranberry]

Emma starts to question her friendships when tensions rise between her and her friends. Meanwhile, Noah reveals his latest theory about the identity of Piper's accomplice. Noah takes his investigations further.

 

[Nickfarb]

85% chance that Zoe is the killer because she's kinda distant like piper

15% chance that Eli is the killer because he said "you can't trust nobody" which is what piper said

[Last Time Lord]

If anything, I now suspect Ms. Lang. She was pissed when Brooke lied to her and said she was with Branson the night Jake was killed, and the Killer didn't go for the kill with him, he went for the maim, and even cauterized the wound, afterwards.

Oh, course, it may be too obvious, but I can't think of any other reason he would be targeted.

[Cranberry]

ALL OF THESE PEOPLE ARE TOO STUPID TO LIVE.

Emma, for going to an abandoned carnival alone.

Kieran, for asking her not to go and believing her when she said she wouldn't and then driving away instead of going with her.

Audrey, for staging a kidnapping at an abandoned carnival. I suspected that's what she was doing, and it was a decent plan, but not while an actual killer is watching her every move, come on.

Noah, for going to an abandoned carnival alone.

Brooke... nah, Brooke's good. She can stay. It was kind of stupid to be alone with Branson, but she had the situation under control. Depending on whether or not Stavo is a red herring, though, hanging out with him could prove to be pretty stupid.

I wish the killer had offed Kieran at that carnival. I like the other three (yeah, even Emma), and I was worried we were going to lose one of them tonight, but then he showed up and I was happy because if anyone had to go, I'd want it to be him. Alas, it was not to be; that whole scene ended abruptly.

I still don't buy that Noah has feelings for Audrey, but at least she gave him the "I do love you, just not like that" speech. Please do not go back on that, show.

I wonder if Audrey's confession was entirely truthful. Was the other killer in town all along? There was one time that someone in a mask attacked Piper, which Audrey would not have done if Piper swore to her that she wasn't responsible for the murders.

Finally, what does the killer want with Branson's hand?

[Free]

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I still don't buy that Noah has feelings for Audrey, but at least she gave him the "I do love you, just not like that" speech. Please do not go back on that, show.

Agreed, it's just painfully awkward and it's wasting time.

[Last Time Lord]

39 minutes ago, Cranberry said:

Noah, for going to an abandoned carnival alone.

He was meeting with Emma, wasn't he? Though, yeah, carpooling would have been the safer option. 

Finally, what does the killer want with Branson's hand?[/QUOTE ]

It's clearly not the hand job Branson was expecting when his evening began,  that's for sure. (I am so sorry)

[Pangloss]

Killer is probably going to use Branson's fingerprints to frame him. I thought Lang was creepy in the very beginning, but now it looks like they're making her too obvious (then again, it seems like they're trying to make everyone too obvious so that all suspects are equally viable -- actually a pretty good tactic, I think). Also, they seem to have stepped away from the storyline of the farmhouse and Emma's past. So let's assume the killer has some connection to Brandon James still. I also want to assume that either Branson or Lang, then, has a connection to Brandon/Piper.  

ALSO: why was Audrey so afraid of getting outed as the girl who brought Piper to town? I thought that revelation was really lackluster. Like, so what? It's not like Audrey could have predicted she'd go on a killing spree. I really didn't think that was a good enough reason for Audrey to actually cover up all the murders that are happening now. Also: did Audrey know that Brandon was Piper's father before she invited her to make that documentary? In fact, did Piper even know? Or did she just discover it while she was there? There needs to be so much more to this story.

My theories:

A) It could be Emma, who has split off into a murderous personality (hence all the psychological themes in this season, and the Riley emails originating from her IP address -- or maybe it could be Emma's mom?). I feel like this would be kind of annoying though. The whole "my other personality did it" thing has been so done before.

B) Remember when Piper said she had "one more surprise" for Emma? Ok, totally my own wild theory here, but what if Riley isn't actually dead? Like what if Riley is alive and was helping Piper with the murders and faked her death, and that was the big surprise, and Riley is really sending those emails. Then we'll discover that Riley has some motivation that we'll learn later in the season.

C) I have this weird feeling that Brandon James's mother (Cassie?) isn't quite finished and that we'll be seeing her again -- that episode felt like it could develop into so much more. There could be like a Mrs.-Voorhees-By-Proxy thing going on.

Let's also assume that the killer knew Brooke would be tying up Branson in that hotel room, which casts suspicion on Stavo, Lang, and potentially even Brooke's father (since it would be easy enough for him to track her texts, calls, and GPS). Plot twist: Brooke's mother? She's been alluded to but never seen... yet...

[Last Time Lord]

Ooh, I didn't even think of the possibility of the killer using Branson's fingerprints to frame him.

Also, would that knife be able to cut off someone's hand as easy as it was? I would have thought a bigger and sharper blade would be required. 

[Chaos Theory]

I think Audry's revelation was supposed to be lackluster.  She is a teenager and the show hasn't forgotten that and isn't trying to shock and awe at every corner.... For better and worse.  The idiot Sherrif is essentially correct if the kids had been less teenagery from the start there might have been a lower body count.  But we are dealing with teenagers and teenagers are idiots who will kidnap their best friends to hide a stupid secret that isn't even all that bad and end up putting him in worse danger because hey....they're teenagers it's what they do.

[Xazeal]

Everything not involving Brooke was sort of a snoozefest.

I kind of figured Audrey's revelation would be bullshit. It's a fine line between incriminating to the point where Audrey's a villain, and underwhelming to the point where both Audrey and the killer are overdramatic idiots. They failed miserably at walking this fine line, and landed firmly in the latter category. If there is actually more to the story, it's going to have to be something really big to justify them dragging it out even longer.

I thought this would've been where Kieran bit the dust, but I guess there was no real build-up for it. Way too suspicious that he appeared out of nowhere right as the killer disappeared and let them run away. Are they suddenly turning him into a red herring too? If everyone's a red herring, is anyone really a red herring? Should we be considering Stavo again?

Actually, new theory: Stavo is the killer, and he's grooming Brooke to be his accomplice and girlfriend. He convinced her to confront Branson and tie him up, so that he could later step in and do his thing. In the season finale, we'll get a post-coital killer reveal where he invites her into the killing game, and because Brooke is now clearly the star of the show, she gets to kill his ass.

I don't actually believe this will happen, but it is very Scream with a dash of PLL, which this show is clearly inspired by.

ETA: Regarding the whole "Kieran wants to talk to the police" thing, I think that might be setting up his death. Being open and honest with local authorities goes against one of the most ubiquitous slasher tropes, and Kieran will get offed for not following the rules of the genre.

Edited July 6, 2016 by Xazeal

[KaveDweller]

3 hours ago, Xazeal said:

ETA: Regarding the whole "Kieran wants to talk to the police" thing, I think that might be setting up his death. Being open and honest with local authorities goes against one of the most ubiquitous slasher tropes, and Kieran will get offed for not following the rules of the genre.

Good point, and if that happened it would get everyone else to stop talking to the police. We certainly can't have teenagers cooperate with law enforcement on a TV show.

[mt544]

I feel like there's a possibility Audrey's confession was a fake to try and make Noah no longer suspect her. It comes from a mixture of gut instinct, the fact she looks at herself being prime suspect on his board just before she says it, and how desperate she seems to have been to keep that revelation secret even when her friends are in danger of dying. Also let us not forget she got the Brandon james mask as revealed at the end if season 1, miraculously was a lucky escape from the killer in the final bloodbath of season one. And if I remember correctly at least one of her letters to piper said something along the lines of " let's make them pay".

As for who this season's killer is, the psych teacher seems a strong possibility. But potentially too obvious. I will have to keep watching and re-watching in the search for some abstract clues. But the psychology teacher seems to be playing the most piper-esque role in this series in my opinion.

[Pangloss]

6 hours ago, Last Time Lord said:

Ooh, I didn't even think of the possibility of the killer using Branson's fingerprints to frame him.

Also, would that knife be able to cut off someone's hand as easy as it was? I would have thought a bigger and sharper blade would be required. 

Yeah, for that reason I didn't see it coming -- the knife just didn't look like it could be used that way. Also, they legitimately caught me by surprise with that one, because they had been building up the whole "Saw" vibe for a while -- first with Jake's foot in that bear trap, and then again when Noah says "please don't make me cut off a body part!" so I thought we were out of the woods with that theme, but then the killer comes in and does it to Branson. The foreshadowing was pretty good, I thought, and not overdone.

I agree with @Xazeal about Stavo being the killer -- they're making him look sooo obvious, which (by this point in the genre's history) throws audiences off-track. It's very Billy Loomis. I mean, think about it: the kid draws murders, is creepy AF, probably knew where Branson would be tied up, and even has the Brandon James mask, but everyone is passing him over because he's "too obvious." Maybe he'll fake his death a la Billy Loomis too. Audiences these days are very well trained to ignore the obvious ones, and I think the writers are doing a really good job of messing with our heads in that way. Not unless Kieran is the killer, because he's so plain-white-toast that of course he could be.

[slowie]

I'm still thinking that Kieran is Piper's accomplice and this season's main killer. Someone had to drag Will from that garage and it didn't look like a girl could do it. Also I believe it was him who attacked Brooke, Will and Noah in the bowling alley while Emma was listening to the tape. It looked like a male's hand in the doorframe. 

Now with Piper gone he's the mail killer. This might be the surprise what Piper was talking about..

[niklj]

This was definitely an improvement over the past few weeks, but man, did they waste the carnival location. Really, Noah? A horror head like you going to an ABANDONED-ish CARNIVAL AT NIGHT?! Why didn't he just tell Eddie, "Hey I'll meet you at the coffee shop tomorrow?"

If I were Noah, I don't know that I'd forgive Audrey. First she chloroformed him, made him think he was going to die, LET HIM confess all his secrets, and then admitted that she was the one that brought the person who killed his first girlfriend to the town. And, basically, had been lying to him for the better part of a year. Yeeeeaaahhh, nah.

Go Brooke, go. I liked that they almost went with the cliche of her cutting her hair and then had her stab the bed instead.

Edited July 7, 2016 by niklj

[Cthulhudrew]

I tend to agree with the sentiment that this really looked like it should have been Kieran's turn to get killed, and the fact that he didn't almost makes me think slowie might be right, and he might be the accomplice. He was pretty shady last season, turning up and disappearing mysteriously all the time, and this season he could be playing a slow psychological game on Emma. Using the trust she had in him and turning it on her by going behind her back to the police, trying to make himself sound reasonable for doing so, and then convincing them that she's really the killer? It would certainly give the character some much needed purpose, though maybe it's a bit too like Billy Loomis.

I wonder if Piper's "one more surprise" will turn out to be another long-lost sibling of Emma's?

[Last Time Lord]

There's a few things in the past few episodes that could hint to Kieren being the killer, such as in Happy Birthday To Me when everyone else was tripping balls, he was said to have been knocked out and went to bed, leaving him absent for the majority of the episode, and not around when Emma was attacked in the woods, and in this episode, the Killer was taunting Emma, Audrey, and Noah at the carnival wand then Kieran shows up and Killer is no longer seen.

[Pangloss]

And there was that video from last season of Kieran taking Nina home right before she was killed. He explained it away, of course, but it certainly does lend credence to the idea of Kieran being the killer. Also, he's the only one who isn't being painted as overtly suspicious. Perhaps Piper's last "surprise" could be that Kieran was her accomplice, as @slowie posits. But what would be his motivation? ("Peer pressure"?)

I have to say, the writers are really crushing it this season with the suspense. Last season, I found it pretty easy to figure out that Piper was the killer -- the minute she said her father had been murdered, it unraveled the whole plot (but I grew up in the 90s, when the whole "revenge for a lost loved one" plot was done over and over again, so it was pretty easy for any horror fan my age). This season, though, I really have no idea. Well done, writers.

[slowie]

Isn't it also weird that Kieran is the only one who hasn't been attacked or chased by the killer yet? Also we still don't know about his past before he moved to Lakewood.

[truthaboutluv]

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ETA: Regarding the whole "Kieran wants to talk to the police" thing, I think that might be setting up his death. Being open and honest with local authorities goes against one of the most ubiquitous slasher tropes, and Kieran will get offed for not following the rules of the genre.

We can all hope. 

Quote

There's a few things in the past few episodes that could hint to Kieren being the killer, such as in Happy Birthday To Me when everyone else was tripping balls, he was said to have been knocked out and went to bed, leaving him absent for the majority of the episode, and not around when Emma was attacked in the woods, and in this episode, the Killer was taunting Emma, Audrey, and Noah at the carnival wand then Kieran shows up and Killer is no longer seen.

There was also the weird conversation between him and his cousin that hinted at his having this deep, dark, secret past. Of course watch it all be for nothing and he continues to live and bore us some more. 

Personally I thought Kieran looked PLENTY guilty last season, which is why I figured that it would not be him. While Piper seemed obvious, I thought he looked really guilty too. As noted, there were the mysterious absences, he and his father DID NOT seem very close at all in my opinion, which is why I don't buy the grieving son thing. I remember the one dinner with them and Emma and her mom that hinted at some serious tension and issues between them that they were trying to hide. As noted, there was the stuff with him and the first victim. 

Frankly, IMO Kieran being guilty would be the only thing that could save the character from being a complete and utter waste. I know I say it every week but dear god, there cannot possibly be a duller, chemistry less, sucktastic character on television. Dude makes Toby/Keegan Allen from Pretty Little Liars seem like some an amazing actor. 

That being said, I haven't dismissed Stavo. Especially with the Branson murder this episode. I am fairly convinced that this season definitely has two killers and I'm not sure if I'm convinced they're working together. I think one is a definite copycat/sociopath who is obsessed with the survivors (re: Stavo), while the other person is the main killer who probably was working with Piper back in Season 1. It is possible they met accidentally, with the copycat figuring out the killer but I would be really surprised if it is just one killer. 

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ALSO: why was Audrey so afraid of getting outed as the girl who brought Piper to town? I thought that revelation was really lackluster. Like, so what? It's not like Audrey could have predicted she'd go on a killing spree. I really didn't think that was a good enough reason for Audrey to actually cover up all the murders that are happening now. Also: did Audrey know that Brandon was Piper's father before she invited her to make that documentary? In fact, did Piper even know? Or did she just discover it while she was there? There needs to be so much more to this story.

While I wouldn't be surprised if she's still lying, I actually buy this. Piper basically terrorized and brutally murdered a bunch of people, including people she knew. There is a lot of attention on all of them for what happened. Crazy boob girl from the season premiere and last week seems to have a giant chip on her shoulder against all of them. I can definitely believe Audrey feeling like everyone would hate and blame her if they knew she contacted Piper and helped give her an in to the town.

The big red flag to her story though is the fact that I'm pretty sure she and Piper were around each other at some point or at the least Emma talked to one about the other and there was never any indication they knew each other. If Audrey just believed she invited this woman to do a documentary on Brandon James, why the secrecy when Piper formed a friendship with Emma?

Edited July 7, 2016 by truthaboutluv

[Pangloss]

Also: Audrey admitted to "kidnapping" Noah at the carnival (btw I love his reaction when he walks out -- "NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE" lol, that's the first time a character has ever actually heeded what the audience is saying to the screen) -- does that mean it was Audrey who chloroformed him in his car? Wearing the freaking killer costume and Brandon James mask? Why would Audrey have that?!?!?!?

[Last Time Lord]

1 hour ago, Pangloss said:

Also: Audrey admitted to "kidnapping" Noah at the carnival (btw I love his reaction when he walks out -- "NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE" lol, that's the first time a character has ever actually heeded what the audience is saying to the screen) -- does that mean it was Audrey who chloroformed him in his car? Wearing the freaking killer costume and Brandon James mask? Why would Audrey have that?!?!?!?

Actual answer?  To make the audience fear for Noah. 

In universe answer?  No clue. 

[truthaboutluv]

5 hours ago, Last Time Lord said:

Actual answer?  To make the audience fear for Noah. 

In universe answer?  No clue. 

Yup, basically.

[Steph619]

Ms. Lang is my main suspect after this episode. She suspiciously locked in Emma in that room at the school in the last episode and she definitely got upset after Brooke lied to her about hooking up with Mr. Branson. That would explain who possibly killed him. I just don't know what her motive would be killing everyone else.

Then again, I think the show is doing a really good job this season at making me not trust anyone. I do have to retract what I said though a few episodes back about Noah being the killer. I don't think he is it at all.

Kieran on the other hand has been suspicious to me since last season. He shows up at odd times and in terms of the show, it would be a huge blow to Emma if her boyfriend ended up being the killer.

[Cthulhudrew]

One other possible nod to Kieran being the killer; the writers seem to be hitting the Eli/Emma connection awfully hard, perhaps as if to set up a new romantic interest for her once her current one turns out to be a psycho?

[truthaboutluv]

2 hours ago, Cthulhudrew said:

One other possible nod to Kieran being the killer; the writers seem to be hitting the Eli/Emma connection awfully hard, perhaps as if to set up a new romantic interest for her once her current one turns out to be a psycho?

I thought this after their first scenes but then the writers seem determined to make him and his mom look like really shady and manipulative people. Pity, because he has way more chemistry with Emma in their few scenes, than she's ever had with Kieran. Of course a tree has more chemistry than Kieran.

[Texasmom1970]

Could the Scooby Do gang stop running around in places like a dark, closed, creepy carnival! I know they are teenagers but they do have more than one functioning brain between them, don't they?

Please let Kieran be the killer that boy is so boring he should be used as a sleep aid. Please try to give him a personality.

[MaggieG]

Ugh Kieran. I actually forgot his name this episode, that's how boring he is. Him being the killer would definitely make him more intriguing. 

I also agree with the consensus that pretty much everyone looks guilty so we're having a hard time figuring out who the killer is. I wish they would explore Emma's dreams a little more. Last season we had Brandon James mystery and the history he had with Emma's mom but I feel like there is no mystery this season. I want to know more about Brandon's family. 

[truthaboutluv]

Maybe they think doing that will make the killer too obvious. Last season, one reason many people figured out almost immediately Piper was the guilty person was because of the story of the baby and then her saying her father was killed. 

[Free]

9 hours ago, Texasmom1970 said:

Could the Scooby Do gang stop running around in places like a dark, closed, creepy carnival! I know they are teenagers but they do have more than one functioning brain between them, don't they?

Please let Kieran be the killer that boy is so boring he should be used as a sleep aid. Please try to give him a personality.

Seriously, this feels like low rent Pretty Little Liars.

And yes for Kieran as it would tie in with the movies better.

[Cthulhudrew]

At least Noah had the good sense (eventually) to leave the carnival mirror house. Too bad he didn't- for some bizarre reason- exercise that caution when first invited to meet the informer there.

[LakeGal]

I kept thinking that Noah was going to wake up in the bathtub with his buddy's body.  I did not believe that Noah would be killed off this early in the season.  So I thought he would be scared and find out about the body that way.  Then we had Audrey telling him he was dead instead.

I really need more people to start being killed off.  I would love them to kill off Emma and shock everyone.  She is so the Final Female character.  I want them to shift from the normal horror style. 

[Thomas Crown]

On July 6, 2016 at 1:23 PM, Pangloss said:

My theories:

A) It could be Emma, who has split off into a murderous personality (hence all the psychological themes in this season, and the Riley emails originating from her IP address -- or maybe it could be Emma's mom?). I feel like this would be kind of annoying though. The whole "my other personality did it" thing has been so done before.

The dialogue between the "Killer" and Emma at the beginning of the episode hinted that this might be the direction the writers are going with.  Two specific lines that the killer said to Emma were "You can't trust anyone, not even yourself" and "I'm in your head Emma, and you know it".  This would suggest the split personality theory.  Plus I don't think anyone has seen the killer each time Emma "sees" the killer herself.   

[jhlipton]

On 7/6/2016 at 10:23 AM, Pangloss said:

Remember when Piper said she had "one more surprise" for Emma? Ok, totally my own wild theory here, but what if Riley isn't actually dead? Like what if Riley is alive and was helping Piper with the murders and faked her death, and that was the big surprise, and Riley is really sending those emails. Then we'll discover that Riley has some motivation that we'll learn later in the season.

We saw Riley stabbed to death, and Emma (among others) saw her corpse.  I think we can rule out Riley, but did anyone else "die" in such a way as they might be back?

On 7/6/2016 at 11:38 AM, Xazeal said:

Actually, new theory: Stavo is the killer, and he's grooming Brooke to be his accomplice and girlfriend. He convinced her to confront Branson and tie him up, so that he could later step in and do his thing. In the season finale, we'll get a post-coital killer reveal where he invites her into the killing game, and because Brooke is now clearly the star of the show, she gets to kill his ass.

Or... he makes it sound fun enough that they become the slice-em-and-dice-em couple of the century.

On 7/7/2016 at 10:47 PM, Steph619 said:

Kieran on the other hand has been suspicious to me since last season.

Would that be Branson's hand?

[Lady Calypso]

I'm still fairly certain that it's Kieran (he conveniently popped in as the killer disappears?), but I also will buy that Stavo could be part of this too. Maybe they ARE pulling a Billy Loomis here. It would certainly be more interesting than Ms. Lang, or Zoe, or hell, even Emma's dad. Kieran was technically not let off the hook for being a temporary suspect last season. The only reason he was was because his dad was killed. And him being 'close' with the police? That could be useful for him to get information if he needs it. Just like what Stavo did this episode to get information for Brooke.

They did write themselves into a corner with Audrey. I was hoping that she was part of it, but in the sense that she was aware that Piper was totally crazy but didn't realize that she was going to go as far as killing people.

 Noah, come on. Don't enter the creepy abandoned carnival alone! You know better! I love that he basically called himself out, just as he was chloroformed by Audrey.  I will say that this is the first episode I liked Noah this season, maybe because he's finally understanding that his obsession is getting him in trouble. I don't like that they headed there with Noah liking Audrey. Cliche and predictable.  But I knew that Noah left his recording on for his podcast as Audrey was confessing.

I think that Brooke's voice is irritating at times, but it worked in her scare scene with Branson. Her and Stavo are far from interesting, though. I don't care that either are 'exploring their inner darkness' or whatever, but I'm not really into them as a couple.

I did love the foreshadowing with Noah asking to not cut off a body part. Then Branson got his hand cut off.

Again, I do think it's Kieran and I'd be surprised if it wasn't. I guess there's a good chance that it's not, but at least it would be interesting AND it would make 100% sense.