S02.E09: The Orphanage

[Cranberry]

Emma and Audrey learn why they are being targeted while Noah loses something that is dear to him and a long missing body of evidence is located.

Sneak peek:

[Xazeal]

Well, that's my number one suspect dead. I don't want it to be Kieran, it's just too easy. Sadly, when Haley was smirking at Emma about her anonymous "special friend", I definitely got the vibe that she was fucking Emma's boyfriend and was being very smug about it.

For a big part of this episode, I was actually thinking Brooke and Stavo were the killers. There was a weird vibe to their scenes together (especially noticable in their final scene, still don't know what that was about) and I thought it was a very real possibility that Brooke was the (very mentally unstable) brains behind the operation and Stavo was the brawn. I also thought it made sense to have one of the "obvious red herrings" actually be a killer but then have a real jaw-dropping reveal with Brooke. But then Stavo found out about Jake doing the mayor's dirty work and revealed it to Brooke, who proceeded to yell at her dad, and none of that really made sense if they were the killers. And I'm glad, because I want them to make it through the season.

So yeah, I'm down to Kieran being the only killer who makes sense. I guess Maggie is still in the running, but if Haley was going down on Emma's mom at the party, that's, uh, an unexpected turn for the show, though definitely not impossible.

[Cranberry]

I still wouldn't be shocked if Emma's the killer (or one of them) and the writers are going the split personality route. I thought so even before Ms. Lang was terrified of her in tonight's episode. They have been hinting at that a little more strongly lately with the dreams and hallucinations and the violent outbursts, though, so it's probably a red herring.

Kieran would make sense, and I'd be happy with it being him because it means he'd leave and stop boring me to death.

(But how great would it be if Kieran and Emma were the killers together and he acted completely differently with alternate-personality Emma than he does with "normal" Emma? I don't know if either of them have the acting chops to pull it off, but I'd like to see that instant switch from normal couple to scary couple.)

I suppose it could also be Eli, who was unaccounted for this episode and who is certainly shifty.

Also, looks like Brooke's dad did indeed hire Jake to burn down his housing development, although I don't think that has anything to do with the killer (aside from the killer knowing Jake would be alone in the dark and easy to grab).

[colorbars]

1 hour ago, Cranberry said:

(But how great would it be if Kieran and Emma were the killers together and he acted completely differently with alternate-personality Emma than he does with "normal" Emma? I don't know if either of them have the acting chops to pull it off, but I'd like to see that instant switch from normal couple to scary couple.)

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.

[Steph619]

Not going to say that I'm happy they killed off that girl Haley, but man, she was so annoying and quite the instigator. 

In the hospital scene with Ms. Lang, I thought she might've been scared of Kieran and not Emma, just that the show made it seem that way. Then again, I don't know why she sounded afraid of Emma and mentioned her violent tendencies on those tapes. If she was a friend of Piper's, it might've been a way to make Emma sound crazy or something like that. 

[Pangloss]

Like @Steph619 I also got the feeling that Ms. Lang was reacting to Kieran, not Emma. I have a feeling that both Kieran and Stavo are the killers, but I don't know why they would be working together. I love the Norman Bates vibe they had going when they found Piper's body. 

And like @Xazeal said, Hailey seemed very smug about her "special friend" which gave me the impression that it was Kieran, but could also be Stavo... but then Kieran seemed totally accounted for on the dance floor while Hailey was getting murdered. Or at least the timing of the show made it seem that way, so I'm leaning toward Stavo. Especially with that reveal about how he's basically a sociopath (watching his friend die and drawing calmly). I get really creeped out by him with Brooke. 

And Zoe is full of crap. She very clearly distracted Noah with sex to get his mind off of her guilt. She definitely has something to do with all this, but what?

My theory is that the killer (or at least one of them) is Stavo. The show is trying to make it soooo obvious that it's him, so the audience completely dismisses him and keeps looking -- so he's hiding in plain sight. If that's the case, it's masterful. There's like a big red arrow that says "HE'S THE KILLER" in every episode, and yet we all keep looking because it's just right in front of us and we can't even see it. They're relying on audiences thinking that way -- that's why Billy Loomis was such an effective character. Same deal. 

I wonder, though: what connection would Stavo/Kieran have with Piper? How is Lang involved, other than that she knew Piper growing up? And they still haven't explained that whole pig farm thing. Then in the preview for next week's episode, Maggie and Miguel were talking about how "Brandon James is back" -- for real? Didn't they kill his ass decades ago? I don't understand any of this.

[truthaboutluv]

Couldn't have happened to a nicer person. Boob girl was annoying as fuck and basically got herself killed with her stupid and reckless actions. Okay dammit, I feel like it's so obvious now that Kieran's guilty that I'll be disappointed again. Don't toy with me writers. That said, a few obvious things was Ms. Lang's reaction when she saw him. They clearly tried for a misdirect where it seemed like she was screaming over Emma but I thought it was obvious that her reaction was to seeing Kieran. Then he is the one who steals her keys so he and Emma can go search her house where they coinky dinky find a picture showing that Ms. Lang grew up in an abandoned orphanage with Piper.

This is also coincidentally the same night that the killer convinces boob girl to throw a party to get a bunch of people there. And I can so see boob girl being into "brooding, mysterious" Kieran, probably enjoying that he was screwing her while supposedly with Emma since girl clearly had a hate on for Emma and company, even before Emma gave her the well-deserved slap. Speaking of, that's probably when he first hooked up with her because her hate for Emma must have been even greater then. But again, I almost feel like it's too obvious. 

Meanwhile, at first I thought the two killers weren't necessarily working together, but now I think they may be and my suspicion of Zoe is greater. I know Noah really, really wanted to get laid but wow, way to throw your friend aside for some random you've just met. Also, she totally sent the damn file to Emma. I don't like any of these new people and I really can't stand Stavo's whole schtick (and not really interested in him and Brooke) but it just seems too easy to make him guilty, since he is so creepy and weird. Finally, I can't tell if it's significant we didn't see Eli at all this episode or if the budget just didn't allow for him to be in this episode. 

I see the writers are also toying with the idea of Emma being the killer, but just with PTSD. Except I doubt she was hooking up with boob girl, since we saw them have a conversation about the party, and the person who killed boob girl was clearly who she was hooking up with, because she recognized them before they put the mask on and killed her. 

Edited July 27, 2016 by truthaboutluv

[Free]

21 hours ago, Xazeal said:

Well, that's my number one suspect dead. I don't want it to be Kieran, it's just too easy. Sadly, when Haley was smirking at Emma about her anonymous "special friend", I definitely got the vibe that she was fucking Emma's boyfriend and was being very smug about it.

For a big part of this episode, I was actually thinking Brooke and Stavo were the killers. There was a weird vibe to their scenes together (especially noticable in their final scene, still don't know what that was about) and I thought it was a very real possibility that Brooke was the (very mentally unstable) brains behind the operation and Stavo was the brawn. I also thought it made sense to have one of the "obvious red herrings" actually be a killer but then have a real jaw-dropping reveal with Brooke. But then Stavo found out about Jake doing the mayor's dirty work and revealed it to Brooke, who proceeded to yell at her dad, and none of that really made sense if they were the killers. And I'm glad, because I want them to make it through the season.

So yeah, I'm down to Kieran being the only killer who makes sense. I guess Maggie is still in the running, but if Haley was going down on Emma's mom at the party, that's, uh, an unexpected turn for the show, though definitely not impossible.

My problem is that Kieran really has nothing going on besides either being a victim or a killer, otherwise, he's a useless LI that takes up screentime.

[niklj]

Noah, you were so hard to like in this episode. Whatever happened to "I felt lonely here at Lakewood until I met you, Audrey"?? LOL that the killer's all "Now he's up for grabs!"

I thought the Blessed Child sanitarium set was well done, but could've gone further.

[Cthulhudrew]

Noah, Noah, Noah. You really should know better than to lose your virginity (or even just have sex) when there's a serial killer active. You just put yourself on the potential hit list. Alas...

Agree with other posters who think Miss Lang was reacting to Kieran and not Emma; the camera panned in a little too obviously on Emma to cut Kieran out of the scene behind her in order to make us think that was who Miss Lang was looking at. I'm fully convinced that it is Kieran and Eli this time, though I'm really not sure about the motive at all.

[Free]

9 hours ago, Cthulhudrew said:

Noah, Noah, Noah. You really should know better than to lose your virginity (or even just have sex) when there's a serial killer active. You just put yourself on the potential hit list. Alas...

Agree with other posters who think Miss Lang was reacting to Kieran and not Emma; the camera panned in a little too obviously on Emma to cut Kieran out of the scene behind her in order to make us think that was who Miss Lang was looking at. I'm fully convinced that it is Kieran and Eli this time, though I'm really not sure about the motive at all.

Probably the backstory with their parents, since it was mentioned a few times throughout the season.

[Mabinogia]

I watched this after reading here so I was paying extra attention to the Miss Lang scene and her eyes shift away from Emma before she screams. Totally Keiran.

This show is so boring I don't know why I still watch it. I don't even care who the kill is or what their motive is. I'm pretty sure I'm the killer and I'm killing them because they are boring me to death, so it was either them or me! But I keep watching, when nothing else is on and I see it on demand. I've watched worse. haha

[Saintz]

I think it is obvious that Kieran is the killer. He probably was Piper's lover or something (since it seems he wants to get revenge on Emma and Audrey).

- Both him and Piper got to Lakewood at the same time.

- He didn't interact AT ALL with the killer during S1 and his lame kidnapping was an attempt to make him look innocent.

- He was with Nina a night before she got killed. He explained it waaaay to easy. Also, Rachel knew about this and I think that's the reason she got killed (because her murder is the only one who doesn't make any sense).

- We haven't seen any alone time with Kieran (that I recall) except that part when he got Ms. Lang's keys. Also, he was the one who suggested to check the house and go to the Orphanage.

- Yes, Hayley seemed smug when she was talking about her special friend to Emma so I think she was Kieran's lover.

- I think Eli suspects something is up but he's not sure Kieran's the killer and is trying to warn Emma about it.

- They are making him too obvious but Piper was obvious as well.

I don't think Emma has a split personality problem because we saw the real killer streaming from the motel to Audrey in 2x02 and he was ready to kill Emma. Also, I think Stavo put Emma's tape in her locker since the note was written with lipstick and he stole one from Brooke earlier in the episode. He had access to it when he was going through the evidence at the Sheriff's office. That being said, I think he's just a red herring.

[truthaboutluv]

2 hours ago, Saintz said:

I think it is obvious that Kieran is the killer. He probably was Piper's lover or something (since it seems he wants to get revenge on Emma and Audrey).

- Both him and Piper got to Lakewood at the same time.

- He didn't interact AT ALL with the killer during S1 and his lame kidnapping was an attempt to make him look innocent.

- He was with Nina a night before she got killed. He explained it waaaay to easy. Also, Rachel knew about this and I think that's the reason she got killed (because her murder is the only one who doesn't make any sense).

- We haven't seen any alone time with Kieran (that I recall) except that part when he got Ms. Lang's keys. Also, he was the one who suggested to check the house and go to the Orphanage.

- Yes, Hayley seemed smug when she was talking about her special friend to Emma so I think she was Kieran's lover.

- I think Eli suspects something is up but he's not sure Kieran's the killer and is trying to warn Emma about it.

- They are making him too obvious but Piper was obvious as well.

I don't think Emma has a split personality problem because we saw the real killer streaming from the motel to Audrey in 2x02 and he was ready to kill Emma. Also, I think Stavo put Emma's tape in her locker since the note was written with lipstick and he stole one from Brooke earlier in the episode. He had access to it when he was going through the evidence at the Sheriff's office. That being said, I think he's just a red herring.

Great post and all reasons I've been convinced forever that Kieran's guilty. I also agree that Eli may suspect but not know for sure based on things about Kieran's past but they've made him so shady that Emma will likely not believe a word he says. As for Stavo, I can believe he's guilty of something because I still think there are two killers this season - a copycat and the real killer and I can absolutely see Stavo fitting the copycat mold. 

Edited July 29, 2016 by truthaboutluv

[Pangloss]

Stavo being a copycat killer does make a lot of sense, especially since he seems like the kind of weirdo creepster who would enjoy killing people just for funsies. I really hope that's not the case though. I think that horror stories are stupid when the killer doesn't have a motive. The "why" is the most interesting part to me. Like yeah ok, Michael Meyers just liked killing people. That bores me. There's nothing interesting about a guy just slashing people to bits because he feels like it. The thing that makes Scream a good show is that it's suspenseful and constantly keeps the audience on its toes trying to unravel a good mystery. If it does turn out to be Kieran and Stavo, whether they're working together or not, I hope that each of them has a good motive. Although in the original Scream movie, they deliberately chose to have one killer with a motive (Billy) and one without (Stu) so that they could have the "best of both worlds" sort of thing. The worst thing, I think, would be if the killers are just killing out of revenge for Piper. If that's the case, the show's plot will have just completely stalled and stagnated. I hope it surprises us with an epic plot twist. PS I still want to know wtf Nina was doing with Jake and Will that was so shady. And still no explanation for the pig farm. There are so many loose ends.

[Cthulhudrew]

On ‎7‎/‎28‎/‎2016 at 6:39 AM, Free said:

Probably the backstory with their parents, since it was mentioned a few times throughout the season.

Oh yeah- I'd forgotten. Actually, it makes me wonder...

Eli mentions to Emma that Kieran was in the car with his step-dad and mom when they died. What if he really was? And really died?

What if the Kieran we know is actually, say, Tyler James' kid? He staged the accident to kill off Kieran and his family, then replaced him, unknowing, under his "father's" roof. At that point, he embarks on his crusade against the Lakewood families- with his cousin Piper as his accomplice?

Possible supporting evidence: Eli's story about the accident, the picture of young Emma on the James family farm with someone with a scratched out face holding her hands, Cassie James (mis)identifying pictures of Kieran as Brandon James' son (it was actually his brother's kid).

Of course, it relies on the notion that Sheriff Hudson, Kieran's aunt and Eli being so out of touch with their biological relative that they didn't know what he looked like as a teenager, but who knows.  

[Texasmom1970]

On 7/27/2016 at 11:18 PM, Cthulhudrew said:

Noah, Noah, Noah. You really should know better than to lose your virginity (or even just have sex) when there's a serial killer active. You just put yourself on the potential hit list. Alas...

I know he isn't following the rules, very simple rules. Something like that is what Randy shouts in "Scream." In the episode description it says Noah loses something dear to him. What was it his virginity?

[Desperately Random]

30 minutes ago, Texasmom1970 said:

I know he isn't following the rules, very simple rules. Something like that is what Randy shouts in "Scream." In the episode description it says Noah loses something dear to him. What was it his virginity?

I figured it was the protection being a virgin gave him against being a victim of the serial killer.  Based on the rules, he was counting on being spared and now he has lost that. So losing the one thing that was going to keep you safe would be difficult especially now that the killer is still on the loose and no one knows who they can trust.

[Pangloss]

To be fair though, Sidney survived despite losing her virginity... to the freaking killer himself! I think @Cthulhudrew is really onto something with the whole "who's the real Kieran?" thing. But then if that theory pans out, who are Eli and his mom? 

[truthaboutluv]

50 minutes ago, Pangloss said:

To be fair though, Sidney survived despite losing her virginity... to the freaking killer himself! I think @Cthulhudrew is really onto something with the whole "who's the real Kieran?" thing. But then if that theory pans out, who are Eli and his mom? 

I don't know if Kieran killed the real Kieran and assumed his life. It's possible he was simply adopted by the people who raised him, who were in fact related to Eli and his mom. And it's possible Eli doesn't know the full story or even his mom. Because the sheriff who was supposed to be his father clearly had history in the town, knew Emma's mom from way back when the Brandon James thing first happened.

And they always made it clear that many of the people involved back then weren't all forthcoming with what exactly happened, who did what, etc. Even this season, we've gotten hints that the new chief of police knows some secret with Emma's mom. So who knows what really happened with Emma, Brandon James, the baby, etc. 

We're assuming there was one baby - Piper. But maybe Brandon somehow had more than one kid and Piper and Kieran were siblings and the old lady Emma went to meet with last season with Piper, wasn't confused or a plant by Piper. And she was telling the truth when she said Brandon James' son came to her for answers and then she ID'ed Kieran. I can see the show thinking it's clever to make the motive pretty much the same for this season's murders as last season's. 

Edited July 31, 2016 by truthaboutluv

[Desperately Random]

1 hour ago, Pangloss said:

To be fair though, Sidney survived despite losing her virginity... to the freaking killer himself!

Yes, but Sidney was the Survivor Girl. She was going to make it to the end no matter what because the rules say the Survivor Girl is always left standing at the end of the movie (or series). Poor Noah can get killed off anytime now. I hope he doesn't though. I really want him to be one of those who lives to the end.

[Texasmom1970]

10 hours ago, Pangloss said:

To be fair though, Sidney survived despite losing her virginity... to the freaking killer himself! I think @Cthulhudrew is really onto something with the whole "who's the real Kieran?" thing. But then if that theory pans out, who are Eli and his mom? 

True, but she is Neve Campbell and she is amazing!

[Lady Calypso]

So, Emma feels betrayed by Audrey, even though she didn't actually, y'know, persuade Piper to do the killings or anything. Mmmkay, I guess we ARE supposed to take this as a big deal. I just find it ridiculous because Audrey's been getting the brute force of the killer's torture. Emma's been let off relatively easy, at least compared to last season. 

Creepy Stavo taking Brooke's lipstick.

Ms. Lang started screaming when Emma came right into frame for her, but Kieran was right in the background. I wonder if she found out at some time before she was almost killed. 

Well, there goes Bitchface Audrey. 

Noah's love for Zoe could easily be his downfall. Also, Noah? You have a bed a mere few feet away. Why don't you use it instead of knocking everything off your desk? I know it's bad, but if Zoe turns up dead in the finale, I wouldn't be upset. I just never connected with her character. 

I'm really happy that Kieran could really be the killer. So many clues that are just falling into place, and it would be for two full seasons! I think they're trying hard to make Stavo guilty, but he's a copycat, at best. 

I guess we'll find out all the answers in the finale! 

[Cthulhudrew]

Just had a wicked thought vis a vis the whole "Noah's lost virginity" thing:

If you were a part of a group of people who were being targeted by a serial killer who evidently was murdering according to "the rules of horror films," and the size of that group was dwindling, and there was one person who was "safe" because of their virginity...

... then de-virginizing them (doing it yourself or manipulating a situation to make it happen for them) is actually a self-preservation measure! You just raised the odds of your own survival by one person! lol