S02.E08: Village of the Damned

[Cranberry]

The killer forces Emma through deadly games during the Lakewood carnival and Brooke launches an attack on the town.

[Last Time Lord]

Damn, this was one tense episode. Brooke gave a nice speech. I don't think I would have been able to do the same, while drunk.

It's obvious Zoe was the one that sent the audio file to Emma, but I don't think she's the killer, or in league with the killer, though I am at a complete loss of who it could be, and considering this is the third episode in a row where the person I suspect is exonerated in violent fashion, I think I'm just going to stop guessing, altogether.

Is next week the finale? Season has gone by extremely fast. Been quite a ride, this year. Not at all what I was expecting, but I've really enjoyed it, all the same.

[niklj]

Good. Episode. Finally.

Fun House sequence was pretty well done. Good relationship developments.

Thought Kieran's big reveal was a little anticlimactic. I thought it was already intimated that Kieran thought he caused the crash by fighting with his stepdad when Eli mentioned it. So the only difference is that oh wow, he was IN the car???

The preview for next week gave too much away though.

Edited July 20, 2016 by niklj
Typo

[Cthulhudrew]

So Kieran fakes his own kidnapping to generate more sympathy with Emma and make her fall for him even harder, which will make his sudden but inevitable betrayal all the more harsh.

[Xazeal]

This show really likes making a huge deal of unremarkable secrets, huh? Both Audrey and Kieran, as well as characters around them, act as though they're guilty of murder. The writers want the whole "X has a dark secret!" dynamic but are terrified to let their characters come off as anything less than angelic and pure. It's ridiculous. 

I can't believe Kieran is the killer anymore, because if so, this fake kidnapping was stupid as fuck and impossible to plan. I guess his intention was always to stumble out in front of the cops like that to exonerate himself? Did he plan for the cop to enter the funhouse, plan for Emma to take his gun, and plan for Emma to miss any vital organs? Because that's idiotic. Suspension of disbelief only goes so far.

I'm digging Brooke/Stavo finally, but I'm expecting him to end up dead, because Brooke is that character that is never allowed to be happy.

[Free]

Quote

This show really likes making a huge deal of unremarkable secrets, huh? Both Audrey and Kieran, as well as characters around them, act as though they're guilty of murder. The writers want the whole "X has a dark secret!" dynamic but are terrified to let their characters come off as anything less than angelic and pure. It's ridiculous. 

This trope is really annoying.

[Cthulhudrew]

4 hours ago, Xazeal said:

.I can't believe Kieran is the killer anymore, because if so, this fake kidnapping was stupid as fuck and impossible to plan. I guess his intention was always to stumble out in front of the cops like that to exonerate himself? Did he plan for the cop to enter the funhouse, plan for Emma to take his gun, and plan for Emma to miss any vital organs? Because that's idiotic. Suspension of disbelief only goes so far.

I could see where that part of the plan was improvised, i.e., he sees Deputy Redshirt wandering around in the maze and that he's radioed back to the other cops, thus figuring that reinforcements are on the way. I would imagine that other than appearing in front of the cops like that, the intent was always to present himself in such a way that it looked- to Emma at least- as if the "real" killer had set him up.

Not saying the writers are clever enough to have thought it through that way, and it was still kind of a dumb idea (how did he know the cops wouldn't shoot first? Doesn't he watch the news?) but I can see how that part of it at least was just off the cuff.

Agreed with you about all the deep, dark secrets. Glad that Audrey's is finally out because if we had to sit through another week of her wringing her hands and debating telling Emma I was going to start rooting for Ghostface to just kill her already.

[slowie]

Hmm I'm still thinking that Kieran is one of the killers. Why didnt he throw the knife away when he saw Emma with the gun? 

[Chaos Theory]

Kieran is boring as all hell but he has always been boring as all hell.  

Brooke is a national treasure.  If she gets murdered I won't be happy.  I mean drunken speech and literal mike drop.  

Edited July 20, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[KaveDweller]

3 hours ago, slowie said:

Hmm I'm still thinking that Kieran is one of the killers. Why didnt he throw the knife away when he saw Emma with the gun? 

It looked like the knife was duct taped to his hand.

Which doesn't mean he isn't a killer too. It's like how Piper was attacked last season.

[tennisgurl]

Brooke has become really dang awesome. I could watch her drunk ranks in public all day. 

I wish that grocery store lady from last week would come back. 

I am still calling Kieran as the bad guy. We have never seen him harassed on his own, he seems to be about the right height and build, and it would explain his creepy emotionless. Or could could be suffering from a case of Bad Actor. 

Still a better episode than we have had lately. At least the killer actually seems to be doing something. 

[JoTreasure]

We are all thinking about who's the killer, but remember the first season, have you ever suspected Piper for being the murderer? The serie won't show any hints that van lead you to the killer. There's a Quote that says "The closer you look, the less you see" (Now You See Me). Think of this. Everbody is focussing of who it can be. It won't be someone who has any kind of suspection on him or her. The killer is someone we have never thought about as a killer. You won't see it comming, so look furthur than you straight expectations of the killer.

Anybody who thinks the same, or agrees? Let me know

[Cranberry]

Everyone here suspected Piper last season!

I don't have a strong suspect this year. I'm mostly just enjoying the show (aside from Kieran's horrible wooden acting) and hoping that Brooke doesn't die.

[Mabinogia]

I could care less who the killer is really. I doubt it will really make sense anyway. But I agree, I want Brooke to survive and find happiness. Her speech was everything. I wouldn't mind Emma dying. She is boring. I am really only interested in Brooke, Audrey, Noah and I like Zoey. The rest, I could care less.

[truthaboutluv]

I think this episode pretty much solidified Kieran as the killer. That move was way too similar to Piper's fake killer attack last season. What better way to shift suspicion off him than to make it seem like the killer attacked him. And pretty ballsy to be in the mask and still fool everyone. And if the writers punk out and make it someone else, I'll be pretty damn pissed. The only thing that makes Kieran's boring, cannot act self relevant is the show leading up to him being the killer. 

I don't like Stavo or that girl whose name I always keep forgetting. I also think she's pretty shady. I think she knew exactly what she was doing giving Brooke the alcohol. She may not be a killer but I don't trust her. Personally I'm sticking with my speculation that she's the copycat and Kieran's the real killer who was helping Piper last season. I think they're making Eli too obviously shady for him to be guilty and I have a feeling he knows how fucked up Kieran is but now no one will believe him about anything. 

I like Audrey but she too is pretty shady. First she shifted blame on Stavos, then Emma tells her Eli had some restraining order against him back in Atlanta for entering a girl's room and she jumps on pointing fingers at him. All of this while she's just trying to hide her own guilt about bringing Piper to Lakewood. 

Quote

Thought Kieran's big reveal was a little anticlimactic. I thought it was already intimated that Kieran thought he caused the crash by fighting with his stepdad when Eli mentioned it. So the only difference is that oh wow, he was IN the car???

Yeah when he was making his big confession, I was confused because they made it seem like Eli didn't tell the whole story. However, maybe I misunderstood because I thought that was what Eli told Emma. That Kieran carried all this guilt because he and his stepdad were fighting at the time the accident happened. I always took that as they were fighting in the car. Personally since I am convinced and will not be told otherwise, that Kieran is guilty, I think he's full of shit and there's something more about him that Eli knows. 

Quote

I can't believe Kieran is the killer anymore, because if so, this fake kidnapping was stupid as fuck and impossible to plan. I guess his intention was always to stumble out in front of the cops like that to exonerate himself? Did he plan for the cop to enter the funhouse, plan for Emma to take his gun, and plan for Emma to miss any vital organs? Because that's idiotic. Suspension of disbelief only goes so far.

Doesn't seem that insane to me. The call to Emma came from Kieran's phone and the video of him "tied" up came from his phone. He might have known she has a police officer tailing her because I imagine if he is the killer he probably stalks her (and even if he isn't the killer, he's creepy enough to still stalk her in my opinion) and so he might have planned for the police officer to come in after her. He attacks the officer, while Emma is running around searching for him and the officer calls in what's happening so the cops are on their way.

He can take off or he can walk out as the killer but still make it seem like he was kidnapped. That is not the craziest thing this show has asked viewers to buy in my opinion. Not to mention, I don't think the person Emma shot at was directly in front of her when she fired. She was seeing their reflection because of all the mirrors and it gave the illusion they were in front of her. I think there was some ricochet but judging by the end with them in the ambulance, it's clear to me Kieran was never shot, so he wasn't in danger when she grabbed the gun and he would know that. 

Quote

We are all thinking about who's the killer, but remember the first season, have you ever suspected Piper for being the murderer?

Yeah, as Cranberry said, everyone pretty much called Piper as the killer last season. It was either her or funny enough, Kieran. But the moment the writers had her talk about her dad who was killed and how misunderstood he was, most people figured it was probably her. And again, Kieran's convenient escape from the killer, all while seemingly exonerating him entirely as the killer, seems all too similar to Piper's move of coincidentally escaping the killer when they attacked her and Emma's ex. 

Edited July 21, 2016 by truthaboutluv

[jhlipton]

8 hours ago, truthaboutluv said:

I don't think the person Emma shot at was directly in front of her when she fired. She was seeing their reflection because of all the mirrors and it gave the illusion they were in front of her.

In the grand tradition of fun-house mirrors, I expected Audrey to stumble out clutching her stomach while GhostFace laughed in a different mirror.

[Misty79]

Yeah this episode firmed up Kieran as the killer for me also.

I do worry that it may be wishful thinking on all our parts though, because let's face it Kieran being the killer would be the only way to redeem what has otherwise been a waste of space character. I have actively been shipping Eli with Emma just because I can't stand Kieran! And if he is the killer can the actor - who seems so wooden - actually pull it off? 

Loved Brooke in this ep, as always. That actress will kick on beyond this show. 

[jay741982]

On 7/19/2016 at 11:59 PM, Last Time Lord said:

Damn, this was one tense episode. Brooke gave a nice speech. I don't think I would have been able to do the same, while drunk.

It's obvious Zoe was the one that sent the audio file to Emma, but I don't think she's the killer, or in league with the killer, though I am at a complete loss of who it could be, and considering this is the third episode in a row where the person I suspect is exonerated in violent fashion, I think I'm just going to stop guessing, altogether.

Is next week the finale? Season has gone by extremely fast. Been quite a ride, this year. Not at all what I was expecting, but I've really enjoyed it, all the same.

I read on IDMB that there is 13 episodes this season . Next week is the 9th episode 

[KnotsLanding]

I could've sworn there were only 10 episodes, but there are 12 with the finale titles 'When A Stranger Calls.' That makes me a little more hopeful because I wasn't understand how they'd tie things up in just two episodes. So far nothing makes any sense and the pacing is a bit off. I need more major characters to die for me to really feel the stakes are raised. In the films you're dealing with hugely popular actors and characters and they STILL killed them off. I can't understand how each film introduced us to a cast that felt more fleshed out than this tv series, killed off half the cast and successfully did the same thing with the next film.

 

My hope is that several more main characters die at the end of this season and next season takes place in a new location and the revamp the cast and setting like the film would do. How many serial killers can you do in Lakewood before it feels tired like Friday the 13th? I'd definitely say it's time to pull a Scream 2 and move them to college next year.

[Steph619]

I love Brooke, Audrey, and Noah so please show, don't kill them off!

Kudos to Emma for going into that fun house. I hate clowns so as soon as I would've seen them, I would've left. Sorry Kieran! Speaking of Kieran, that whole thing with him coming out dressed as the killer and having tape over his mouth was very suspicious to me. It seemed more of an attempt to cast suspicion off of him.

Zoe is pretty shady. She must've known that Brooke was going to get drunk from that flask she gave her. I think it's obvious she sent Emma the audio file where Audrey confesses her connection to Piper, but I don't think she did it because she's the killer. It seems more to me that she's jealous because she feels like Audrey is in the middle of her and Noah.

In terms of next week's episode, I thought Ms. Lang died. I wonder how she's connected to Piper.

[Free]

10 hours ago, KnotsLanding said:

I could've sworn there were only 10 episodes, but there are 12 with the finale titles 'When A Stranger Calls.' That makes me a little more hopeful because I wasn't understand how they'd tie things up in just two episodes. So far nothing makes any sense and the pacing is a bit off. I need more major characters to die for me to really feel the stakes are raised. In the films you're dealing with hugely popular actors and characters and they STILL killed them off. I can't understand how each film introduced us to a cast that felt more fleshed out than this tv series, killed off half the cast and successfully did the same thing with the next film.

 

My hope is that several more main characters die at the end of this season and next season takes place in a new location and the revamp the cast and setting like the film would do. How many serial killers can you do in Lakewood before it feels tired like Friday the 13th? I'd definitely say it's time to pull a Scream 2 and move them to college next year.

Agreed, it's lacking tension, it feels more like PLL 2.0 than Scream at this point.  The Scream series for the most part worked because it built up the tension and suspecting who the killer(s) might be, here it's mostly just waiting around and doing the whole 'keeping the secrets' trope which is usually more annoying.

[Grace284]

"Creepy Cousin has a restraining order against him."
"That must be a mistake! He's been so unslimy and not at all lurky!"

While it was satisfying to see Kieran punch him, it was a bit like throwing two beige paint samples at a beige wall.

It was nice to see Audrey finally hanging out with Emma after weeks of her refusing to report a serial killer because she's worried it'll ruin their "great" friendship if she tells Emma that she once didn't realise a woman was a murderer.

My favourite part of the episode was the overacting deputy. I hope he lives and conquers his fear of clowns.

Edited July 22, 2016 by Grace284

[Bossley]

Did anyone catch that Brooke said the fire happened at one of her father’s real estate properties? It almost seemed like a hint. Is it possible the killer somehow connects back to Brooke or her storyline? She does not really have a role in the plot, so it would be interesting if she were a key piece behind the murderer’s identity.

[Cranberry]

Was that where Jake was going when he got killed? Did Brooke's dad hire him to burn down a house for insurance money or something? I haven't really been paying attention to the Brooke's dad/Jake thing, but something fishy was going on there.

[truthaboutluv]

I can see that. And yeah while there was clearly something shifty going on with the Mayor and Jake, the show's sort of kept it as an afterthought so can't really tell for sure what was going on there. For example last season clearly exposed the stuff with Jake and the other guy blackmailing him but other than some shifty looks, a scene here and there, it's been pretty ignored. The only thing with Jake going to burn the house for the Mayor is that he looked to be in some abandoned field, near some old property. Because that's how the killer got him into the barn. I guess the Mayor could have had his reasons for wanting that property burned. 

Edited July 24, 2016 by truthaboutluv

[lavenderpenguin]

On July 20, 2016 at 6:02 AM, Xazeal said:

This show really likes making a huge deal of unremarkable secrets, huh? Both Audrey and Kieran, as well as characters around them, act as though they're guilty of murder. The writers want the whole "X has a dark secret!" dynamic but are terrified to let their characters come off as anything less than angelic and pure. It's ridiculous. 

I think that Kieran is not telling the entire truth about whatever happened with his mom and stepfather's accident, because Eli made it seem far juicier than the version Kieran told Emma. Also, based on Eli and Kieran's earlier interactions, I think Kieran is just as sketchy as Eli, but that he's been trying to "remake" himself as a good guy in Lakewood.

With Audrey, I also think she's been downplaying her involvement and knowledge about what went down last season--it would be one thing for her to have brought Piper to Lakewood, quite another if she had been hiding the fact that she knew who the killer was for an entire season. There was some speculation that during the party last season, Audrey had recognized the killer, and if that's the case, I can imagine a fair number of people holding her accountable for the murders, even if she kept quiet out of fear for her life.

[jhlipton]

15 hours ago, Cranberry said:

Was that where Jake was going when he got killed? Did Brooke's dad hire him to burn down a house for insurance money or something? I haven't really been paying attention to the Brooke's dad/Jake thing, but something fishy was going on there.

Jake said he was going to do something that would put him right with the Mayor -- that doesn't sound like he was following orders; more like he found out that the Mayor wanted something burned and decided to do it for him.  Since I'm not sure we have any real sense of the geography of Murderville, he could have been going to the abandoned house, and the barn was right near by.

[Lady Calypso]

I feel like Audrey needs to put up multiple cameras in her room, with the way the killer is breaking into her room, now at least twice! I am glad her and Emma got a little fun at the carnival. They both needed that.

Brooke's a lot better without a guy in her life. Her and Zoe's dress scene was good. And then....Noah and Stavo showed up. I do now think Zoe could be the killer or an accomplice of some sort...or maybe a copycat. 

See? Kieran could still easily be the killer, depending on how things go next episode. Plus, they're doing a good job in actually setting him up in being the killer. So, thanks Eli! I mean, to throw himself off of any trails, getting him kidnapped is the way to gain sympathy votes, right? It's why I also think he must have his own accomplice if he's the killer. I mean, the plan makes no sense theoretically, but we still haven't seen the killer and Kieran in the same room at the same time. 

I guess I'm just really set on Kieran as the killer that I know I'll be disappointed if he isn't.