S02.E10: The Vanishing

[Last Time Lord]

Holy shit! Best episode ever! I was on the edge of my seat almost the entire time.

I love that we're finally delving into the backstory a little bit. If I understand those flashbacks correctly, does this mean that Miguel and Maggie helped Brandon James escape after he was "killed" at the docks?

The end of the episode -- that was a twist as cruel as the ending of The Mist. I was totally fooled by it. Totally heartbreaking.

[Cranberry]

Thanks for making the thread! I somehow forgot this week.

I agree; this one was great. No Kieran to weigh it down (although he's probably the guy in the mask), a surprise stabbing (it was in the promo but I expected it to be a dream or something), a real race against time, Emma/Audrey backstory that was pretty much what I expected and that totally works (pretty much every gay/bi girl has a clueless straight girl* obsession in her past), some more Brandon James backstory, and a great (sad, cruel, fitting) ending. We only have two episodes left, and if they keep up this momentum, it's going to be great.

This episode was so entertaining that I didn't even notice Brooke's absence. I hope she's back for the final two, though.

* I would not complain if Emma rid herself of her loser, probably homicidal boyfriend and gave it a try with Audrey. Just saying.

[Xazeal]

No Kieran, but also no Brooke. I guess it evens out.

Really did not expect Zoe to actually die, but I'm glad they went there. Really made an already good episode a whole lot better. Also shed some light on why Audrey was freaking out so much about her secret - she knew a lot more about Piper than I expected. 

I feel like the list of suspects was narrowed down considerably this week. Assuming Brooke (likely immortal just in case there's a third season) and Emma's dad (too irrelevant to be satisfying) can be written off, we're really down to Kieran, Eli, and Stavo. The three guys that the show threw in our faces this entire time. Once again, Kieran is looking very obvious, and strangely enough I feel like his accomplice can only be Stavo.

See, the thing that bugs me: Audrey and Emma are convinced that the killer is after them, and that sure is what it looks like right now. But earlier in the season, the killer mostly seemed to enjoy fucking with Brooke. Kieran and Eli have barely interacted with her on the show - if they're the killers, the tormenting of Brooke seems completely out of left field. But ever since she got close to Stavo, the killer has ignored her. The problem, of course, is that Stavo is the reddest of red herrings, and while I know apparent red herrings sometimes turn out to be the real deal, I can't take him seriously as a suspect.

We'll see, I guess. I kind of expect the accomplice to revealed next week. Watch it be condom lady.

[colorbars]

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.

[niklj]

Grrrreat episode. Good character and plot development, great action and suspense, and wow an actual murder in a horror movie!!

I'm so-so on feeling bad that Zoe's gone because I never quite trusted her. Did they ever explain why she really was missing last year? (Not at space camp.)

Great acting on everyone's part and can I say that it's kind of refreshing that they aren't going for another romance between Emma's mom and the sheriff again?

Edited August 3, 2016 by niklj

[colorbars]

42 minutes ago, niklj said:

I'm so-so on feeling bad that Zoe's gone because I never quite trusted her. Did they ever explain why she really was missing last year? (Not at space camp.)

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.

[Lisaemilyfox]

I was sad that Zoe died. Another of Noah's girlfriends dead ? When are they going to stop going to meet their friends under suspicious circumstances in isolated areas? ???

[Chaos Theory]

2 hours ago, Lisaemilyfox said:

I was sad that Zoe died. Another of Noah's girlfriends dead ? When are they going to stop going to meet their friends under suspicious circumstances in isolated areas? ???

Well if they did that then no one would get murdered and the show would end.   

I loved this episode it worked for me on every level.  The Emma/Audrey stuff was so amazing.  These two had once been the best of friends.  Having Emma read Audry's letter to Paige and the hearing that Real reason why she had written to Paige in the first place "You broke my heart" my god!!!!

I was actually kinda scared that the show was going to kill off Noah for a moment there so when the show finally dropped.,...

Interesting backstory for Maggie/Brandon and the parallels between  Maggie/Brandon and Emma/Audry are there but I am not sure if they are intentional or not.

[truthaboutluv]

Interesting that Brooke was not in this episode at all, as well as Stavo. I can't remember if there were any episodes last season that did not feature her. I also thought it was interesting that the killer referred to Emma and Audrey as his last two standing girls, when again Brooke, far as I know, is still alive. Sort of lends some support to the previous poster's theory that maybe it's her and Stave doing this. That it started with him and he brought out something crazed in her. But I don't buy it. I just think this season's kind of disjointed. 

Well so much for my theory about Zoe. Of course she could have been helping the killer and like boob girl last week, he turned on her and killed her as well. Because I swear when Noah got stabbed, even with the killer robes on, I thought I saw boobs on whoever hit him. I feel bad for Noah but I never really liked Zoe so "eh, whatever". Interesting reveal that Audrey was in love with Emma. I guess I can see that. 

And next week looks like it's shifting suspicion back onto Eli but again, I don't buy it. It's way too easy and there's no motive or sense behind it, unless he has some Brandon James connection we don't know about. I'm still sticking to my Kieran theory and my suspicion is that Eli also suspects Kieran but doesn't know how to tell people that because everyone thinks he is shady and creepy and Kieran will probably set it up to make him look guilty and untrustworthy. 

[Free]

6 hours ago, niklj said:

Grrrreat episode. Good character and plot development, great action and suspense, and wow an actual murder in a horror movie!!

I'm so-so on feeling bad that Zoe's gone because I never quite trusted her. Did they ever explain why she really was missing last year? (Not at space camp.)

Great acting on everyone's part and can I say that it's kind of refreshing that they aren't going for another romance between Emma's mom and the sheriff again?

It's finally suspenseful again, the first few episodes were painfully slow and stalling.

[Lady Calypso]

Not a bad episode. Once they started to get the plot moving, characters could develop better. We got Audrey and Emma working together to save Noah, and we got more about Brandon James.

Emma and Audrey's beginning scene was great. It was nice to have a confirmation that Piper didn't kill Rachel for sure, and that the accomplice did. I guess I understand Emma's anger, but her character does get on my nerves.

Not that I blame Noah for falling for Zoe's texts, but....I just wish he would be more careful. I got a serious Randy-vibe when Noah was talking to the killer on his phone in the woods. I'm just glad he wasn't killed outright, but being buried alive sucks. I'd be surprised if we didn't see some lingering effects from it.

I think this episode worked because Audrey/Emma/Noah were the focus. As much as I don't like Emma, she is at her most likable when she's with Audrey.

Not totally surprised by Audrey's confession. It did work for me, though. They made the whole 'Audrey feels guilty over bringing Piper here' better because of it.

I had a feeling Zoe was long dead. Apparently, the writers want all of Noah's girlfriends to die horrifically. I never thought that Zoe would be killed like this, but I figured she'd either be the victim or she'd be the killer, but the last one didn't make sense since the killer has always been taller than Zoe. 

So, show, just for future reference, this type of episode works. Stop trying to make the romance aspect the focal point. Friendships and horror cliches are fun. Use those more.

[Steph619]

This episode has been by far my favorite this season. I really enjoyed watching it as it was full of suspense, revelations, and more action than the previous episodes.

The killer is just ruthless. He had everyone convinced that Zoe was still alive so their efforts at the end were in vain. At least Noah got saved who I was afraid would die like Randy in Scream 2. That would've soured the show for me because I really like that character. 

I'm going to stick with Kieran being the killer even though Eli is being made out to seem creepy and suspicious. Stavo is a close second , most likely the accomplice. 

[niklj]

8 hours ago, colorbars said:

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.

Oh haha maybe by that point I was still distrustful of how she kept trying to break him and Audrey up that I didn't believe that either :p

[Cthulhudrew]

Totally out there theory, but what if Kevin Duval was the real killer all those years ago, and at some point after he and Maggie split, the Brandon James (who we now know survived) killed him, got plastic surgery to make himself look like Kevin?

Kind of far out, but who knows?

[Pangloss]

1 hour ago, Cthulhudrew said:

Totally out there theory, but what if Kevin Duval was the real killer all those years ago, and at some point after he and Maggie split, the Brandon James (who we now know survived) killed him, got plastic surgery to make himself look like Kevin?

Kind of far out, but who knows?

I was actually thinking something similar -- my thought was: what if, all those years ago, Kevin Duval stole Brandon's mask and killed all those people to frame Brandon, and Maggie had no idea. Then Brandon and Piper teamed up to exact revenge, or something?

Other thoughts:

-I still don't believe Zoe's story about why she was away the previous year. It just doesn't add up. Unless the writers just wanted us to be suspicious of her for a little, just to throw us off the scent? I actually really hope there's more to Zoe's story than just "oh I went through some stuff and had to go away for a while." Come on, give us a little more than that... (on the plus side, I'm glad she's gone because she really annoyed me)

-Still unexplained: why did Rachel die? Equally important, why did Nina die? The first two murders of the series still don't make sense. Rachel had nothing to do with the Brandon James thing or even with Emma (except through Audrey).  And will they PLEASE, PLEASE explain wtf Brooke's dad was doing with Will and Jake already? This has been driving me crazy since the first episode of the first season, and I really hope it's the key to unlocking the killer's identity. Come on, PLEASE just tie up that plotline already, this loose end is driving me nuts.

-I still think that "Branson" is "Brandon's Son" (don't forget, Kevin Williamson writes for this show, and he also did the script for "I Know What You Did Last Summer," which uses the exact same patronymic device as a central plotline). I feel like there's still something we don't know about Branson that's going to come out, even though the writers had some mercy and finally let the poor bastard croak.

-So Audrey knew that Piper was Emma's half-sister? And she wanted to "take Emma down"? Dang, Audrey, I didn't think that plotline was going to get more dramatic but I'm really glad it did. What else don't we know about you and Piper?

-Let's look at the original Scream movies (spoilers ahead if you haven't seen all 4 original movies) to find a potential plot line: the first season of Scream basically had the same plotline as Scream 3 -- shunned half-sibling appears out of nowhere to avenge maternal abandonment. So let's consider the strong possibility that season 2 will have the same motivation as another of the Scream movies. This could implicate Kieran (disgruntled boyfriend whose shocking motivation will be revealed at the end), a new character (such as Lang) avenging Piper's death (but this would bore me to tears, so I really hope they thought out something more creative than this), or even a surrogate final girl like they did in Scream 4 (Brooke or Audrey, both of which seem extremely unlikely). Of these options, I think Kieran would be the most interesting and most satisfying killer. Also, when Emma was in the car with Audrey and she said she had been ignoring Kieran's calls and texts, my spidey sense started tingling -- I thought that if Kieran was the killer, that would be a good way to test her to see if she would say anything to her own boyfriend, and what kind of action he would have to take as her boyfriend in order to cover his tracks. 

[truthaboutluv]

Quote

And will they PLEASE, PLEASE explain wtf Brooke's dad was doing with Will and Jake already? This has been driving me crazy since the first episode of the first season, and I really hope it's the key to unlocking the killer's identity.

I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure this was explained. Brooke's dad is clearly a crooked politician and Will and Jake, along with Nina, were spying on people, including Brooke's father and using the stuff they found to blackmail the people for money. That's why when Nina was murdered, Will and Jake first thought it had something to do with their whole blackmail scheme, which is why they were acting shady and suspicious. I feel like everyone who has been killed, their story is done. So I don't think we're going to get any big reveal about Zoe or Branson anymore. YMMV of course. I guess boob girl's "boyfriend" is still significant as the identity of that person will clearly reveal the killer. 

[Lady Calypso]

2 hours ago, Pangloss said:

-Still unexplained: why did Rachel die? Equally important, why did Nina die? The first two murders of the series still don't make sense. Rachel had nothing to do with the Brandon James thing or even with Emma (except through Audrey).  And will they PLEASE, PLEASE explain wtf Brooke's dad was doing with Will and Jake already? This has been driving me crazy since the first episode of the first season, and I really hope it's the key to unlocking the killer's identity. Come on, PLEASE just tie up that plotline already, this loose end is driving me nuts.

 

I think that's why Audrey mentioned the fact that Piper couldn't have killed Rachel because she was with her. Rachel's death was brought on by another, probably Piper's accomplice, and I think that we'll dive into why Rachel was killed a bit later. I think that whoever has been torturing Audrey has some deep unresolved feelings for her. Whether that's some sort of weird sick love or the killer/accomplice just really hates Audrey for whatever reason, I think that connects to Rachel's death. That's the only explanation I have for Rachel dying in the first season and Piper not doing it, especially since it had nothing to do with Emma. I just have no clue who it could be or why. Audrey isn't shown to be close with that many people besides Emma and Noah. She's friendly with others, but anyone else being the accomplice would require some explanation and maybe some handwaving. 

I still am convinced that it has to be Kieran. He's the only one where the puzzle pieces would all fit pretty easily. Look at this episode. Emma ignoring three calls from him, but he doesn't show up. He's always conveniently missing during these major moments. 

[Pangloss]

52 minutes ago, truthaboutluv said:

I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure this was explained. Brooke's dad is clearly a crooked politician and Will and Jake, along with Nina, were spying on people, including Brooke's father and using the stuff they found to blackmail the people for money. That's why when Nina was murdered, Will and Jake first thought it had something to do with their whole blackmail scheme, which is why they were acting shady and suspicious. I feel like everyone who has been killed, their story is done. So I don't think we're going to get any big reveal about Zoe or Branson anymore. YMMV of course. I guess boob girl's "boyfriend" is still significant as the identity of that person will clearly reveal the killer. 

Yeah, the show did cover how they were blackmailing people, but I guess I just want to know more about it. That storyline felt so incomplete. Like I really want there to be some specific secret they're trying to cover up, or a specific conspiracy that unravels the whole thing. I wanted there to be so much more to this plotline :( 

As @Lady Calypso says, Kieran is always missing during these incidents, and he's the only one who has not been attacked by the killer. Let's see if he pulls a Billy Loomis and gets "killed" by ghostface this season. That, for me, will be game over. Bonus points if it's right in front of Emma.

[Cranberry]

9 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

Interesting backstory for Maggie/Brandon and the parallels between  Maggie/Brandon and Emma/Audry are there but I am not sure if they are intentional or not.

Oh, they totally are. Remember episode six of season one? Emma (and Noah) ran into Audrey's house and grabbed that incriminating videotape before the cops could get it. After watching it and seeing how angry Audrey was, Emma worried that she'd just covered for the killer. She talked to her mom about it, and Maggie told her about her own past with Brandon:

"They shot him. I've always felt that if I had stood up for him, if I had told the police that the person that I knew couldn't have done those things, he'd still be alive."

"Why are you finally telling me this?"

"Because I don't want you to make the same mistake. People saw Brandon as a monster, and I didn't defend him. If you believe in your heart Audrey couldn't do this, you listen to that. Or you'll always regret it."

There have been other Audrey/Brandon parallels, but that episode laid it on the thickest.

[Cthulhudrew]

Speaking of Branson, I remember thinking it would be funny if he survived every season, only to keep coming back and getting more and more beaten up and maimed. Obviously not going to happen now. :D

Maybe we're all way off-base and the killer will turn out to be Jamie Kennedy.

[colorbars]

2 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I think that's why Audrey mentioned the fact that Piper couldn't have killed Rachel because she was with her. Rachel's death was brought on by another, probably Piper's accomplice, and I think that we'll dive into why Rachel was killed a bit later. I think that whoever has been torturing Audrey has some deep unresolved feelings for her. Whether that's some sort of weird sick love or the killer/accomplice just really hates Audrey for whatever reason, I think that connects to Rachel's death. That's the only explanation I have for Rachel dying in the first season and Piper not doing it, especially since it had nothing to do with Emma. I just have no clue who it could be or why. Audrey isn't shown to be close with that many people besides Emma and Noah. She's friendly with others, but anyone else being the accomplice would require some explanation and maybe some handwaving. 

I still am convinced that it has to be Kieran. He's the only one where the puzzle pieces would all fit pretty easily. Look at this episode. Emma ignoring three calls from him, but he doesn't show up. He's always conveniently missing during these major moments. 

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.

[KaveDweller]

2 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I think that's why Audrey mentioned the fact that Piper couldn't have killed Rachel because she was with her. Rachel's death was brought on by another, probably Piper's accomplice, and I think that we'll dive into why Rachel was killed a bit later. I think that whoever has been torturing Audrey has some deep unresolved feelings for her. Whether that's some sort of weird sick love or the killer/accomplice just really hates Audrey for whatever reason, I think that connects to Rachel's death. That's the only explanation I have for Rachel dying in the first season and Piper not doing it, especially since it had nothing to do with Emma. I just have no clue who it could be or why. Audrey isn't shown to be close with that many people besides Emma and Noah. She's friendly with others, but anyone else being the accomplice would require some explanation and maybe some handwaving. 

I also hope Audrey mentioning Rachel means we are going to find out why she was killed. It certainly makes sense to suggest Piper arranged it to get closer to Audrey, but there must be more to it. I do kind of wonder why Audrey wouldn't have said something about Piper's alibi sooner. It's not like she had to reveal her own connection to do it, she could have just told Noah (or anyone) that she was with Piper that night. It would prove Piper had an accomplice that wasn't her. 

[colorbars]

1 hour ago, KaveDweller said:

I also hope Audrey mentioning Rachel means we are going to find out why she was killed. It certainly makes sense to suggest Piper arranged it to get closer to Audrey, but there must be more to it. I do kind of wonder why Audrey wouldn't have said something about Piper's alibi sooner. It's not like she had to reveal her own connection to do it, she could have just told Noah (or anyone) that she was with Piper that night. It would prove Piper had an accomplice that wasn't her. 

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.

Edited August 4, 2016 by colorbars

[Texasmom1970]

Feel guilty that I do not care Zoe died, it was good for the episode but I never warmed to her character. I am glad they saved Noah, I do like him. 

Getting a serious case of Marsha Brady with Emma, we get it you are getting put through hell. But other people are dealing with loss and shit also.

[Free]

On 8/4/2016 at 8:40 PM, Texasmom1970 said:

Feel guilty that I do not care Zoe died, it was good for the episode but I never warmed to her character. I am glad they saved Noah, I do like him. 

Getting a serious case of Marsha Brady with Emma, we get it you are getting put through hell. But other people are dealing with loss and shit also.

It's because Zoe is a disposable character who was obviously going to add to the body count, there's no real investment to her character.

Agreed with Emma, she's not interesting at all, it's why the whole psychological stuff doesn't work as it should've.

[Misty79]

I like Emma. I try not to fall into the usual "hating the female lead" thing that is so common these days. I really don't have any reason to dislike her. She's feisty, she's strong, the trauma stuff makes sense. Is she is as interesting a character as Audrey or Brooke? Perhaps not, but that is the curse of being the main protagonist, writers are rarely willing to be at all out there with the lead. 

[Pangloss]

3 hours ago, Misty79 said:

I like Emma. I try not to fall into the usual "hating the female lead" thing that is so common these days. I really don't have any reason to dislike her. She's feisty, she's strong, the trauma stuff makes sense. Is she is as interesting a character as Audrey or Brooke? Perhaps not, but that is the curse of being the main protagonist, writers are rarely willing to be at all out there with the lead. 

I actually agree. I think that Emma is a good, stable lead character. She grounds the show in a very pragmatic place -- as a lead, she seems to keep the show on some kind of axis, which she wouldn't if she were as interesting as Brooke or Audrey. Nevertheless, she still has things that make her interesting. Her mental health arc this season is something, at least, and she did accidentally kill her boyfriend in (my opinion) the most gruesome death of the series so far. She's similar to Sidney in the original movies, in the sense that she's stable and level-headed. She's just also not as bad-ass and confident as Sidney was. But maybe she'll get there.

[bettername2come]

Poor Noah. That boy's never gonna want to date again. The Zoe trick was cold and well-done, even if it was pulled from that Ryan Reynolds movie. I think Kieran's probably the accomplice last time and has Stavos working with him this time. I agree about Emma. I prefer Audrey and Noah, but I've never had a problem with her, and think Brooke is overrated.

[Lady Calypso]

About Emma, I don't hate her, but it all depends on who she's with that determines if I like her or find her annoying. When it's with Audrey, Noah, and even Brooke, she's absolutely fine. When she's with her mom, her material is very hit and miss, depending on if they want Emma to be moody or not. When it's with guys that are love interests or otherwise, I usually can't stand her scenes. 

But I honestly have problems with all the characters, except for maybe Audrey. All of them have their hit or miss moments. As much as I like Brooke now, I'm still rooting for an awesome death scene with her because I wouldn't particularly miss her all that much if she dies. I don't like any of the new characters, and if Kieran isn't the killer, then I've wasted all this time analyzing his purpose on the show (which is nothing if he's not the killer or accomplice). 

[Mabinogia]

11 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

About Emma, I don't hate her, but it all depends on who she's with that determines if I like her or find her annoying. When it's with Audrey, Noah, and even Brooke, she's absolutely fine. When she's with her mom, her material is very hit and miss, depending on if they want Emma to be moody or not. When it's with guys that are love interests or otherwise, I usually can't stand her scenes.

This, entirely. She's great with her friends. Okay with her mom, I think those scene's tend to suffer from being so overwrought. She's aweful with Keiran. IDK if it's lack of chemistry, bad writing, whatever, but those two are terrible together.

[slowie]

Maybe a little bit off topic but two questions: 

1. Did Kieran ever told the story why he was arrested?
2. How important/relevant is that Riley mentioned Zoey in the S01E01? 

[Bananna]

Does no one have parents in this show? I mean, doesn't the school phone home if students haven't been in lessons all day? I've been suspending my disbelief for a while but it seems to be getting to Scooby Doo levels of ridiculous.

[wayne67]

On 8/12/2016 at 4:36 AM, Bananna said:

Does no one have parents in this show? I mean, doesn't the school phone home if students haven't been in lessons all day? I've been suspending my disbelief for a while but it seems to be getting to Scooby Doo levels of ridiculous.

It does seem ridiculous that the parents of the Emma, Audrey and Noah would be so hands off about their teenagers welfare after all their near misses and the amount of corpses they've found. In real life they'd have to report in every hour to their parents or their parents would arrange for them to be escorted from school straight to home instead of being allowed to go wherever they wanted whenever they wanted with a killer on the loose. 

Coroner Mom seems way too blase about her daughter wandering off every episode to chase a killer that may or may not be her ex... 

It was good that Noah survived though, admittedly I could have done without the hallucinations.