‘Scream’: Nothing To Go ‘Psycho’ About In Slasher Series

After a stellar second season opener, MTV’s Scream gives us a soft outing that’s more focused on setting up the season than it is fleshing it out.

The following review of Psycho contains minor spoilers. There’s no need to call the spoiler squad. You should, however, keep that phone handy.

While still a decent episode of television, here’s a huge step down from the Scream Season 2 opener, I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Foster’s Gotta Foster-Audrey Jensen

Titled Psycho, an obvious reference to the Alfred Hitchcock classic, the latest episode in the ongoing MTV Scream saga, one inspired by the film franchise of the same name, is somewhat uninspired to say the least. And for many reasons.

For starters, Psycho isn’t letting the killer set the pace. Without this, which was done amazingly well in last week’s Summer, Scream begins losing a lot of its suspense, and more importantly, story momentum. The whole time all I was thinking was where is the new killer and who is it. In Psycho, we don’t even get a call from the new Lakewood stalker.

John Karna as Noah Foster in ‘Scream: The TV Series’-Courtesy of MTV

Also, the show introduces another new guy who could be the killer. Which would be fine, if he were a somewhat nice guy and maybe his over kindness led to suspicion. But no, it’s Kieran’s creepy cousin.

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The problem is, he’s a weirdo from the beginning. And, not to mention, it’s the exact same thing the show is doing with the new sheriff’s son: Brooding creep from the get go. It’s a stupid move on the part of MTV’s Scream and, ultimately, insults the intelligence of its audience.

Then there’s all the filler stuff in Psycho. Emma and her post dramatic stress syndrome were already touched upon in the opener. There’s no need to keep explaining the extent of her troubles from the first season. Or the Kieran moving stuff, which is only there to set up a stupidly suspicious, and possible, killer. There’re a few other story points that feel like this as well.

Simply put, Psycho isn’t the sum of its parts. Written by Meredith Glynn , the points mention above are either feeding into stuff we already know, or more harmfully, going out of its way set up characters who could be the new killer; characters who come off brooding fresh out the gate and subsequently cause the audience not trust them almost immediately.

Furthermore, the acting in Psycho is serviceable, with Willa Fitzgerald standing out. She gets a lot of the Scream screen time and rightfully so. Emma is, after all, the protagonist of the Scream series.

Also, Psycho’s direction is decent, but nothing to write home about. Directed by Scott Speer, there weren’t many, if any, shots that stood out. The rotation shots involving Noah and Audrey do help intensify their conversation at that moment, so props. But, then again, there wasn’t a moment in Psycho were I felt the show was amateurishly shot. So there’s that too.

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So, will the killer get closer to revealing Audrey’s past? Will the Lakewood Six all find out there’s a new killer on the loose? Will we get closer to finding out who the new killer is? You’ll have to dial up MTV’s Scream: The TV Series to find out Fright Fans.

THE VERDICT:

Scott Speer’s Psycho is a sub-par episode of MTV’s Scream. While the direction isn’t amazing by any stretch, the real problem lies in the script and the series’ insistence in setting up the rest of the season by inappropriate and blatantly false means.. It’s a lazily written hour of TV that not only does nothing to excite viewers to stay with the series, but slightly insults their intelligence in the process. Here’s praying the next episode really turns this around.

THE GRADE: C+

Check out a preview of next week’s episode,

, courtesy of MTV:

Love Scream? Think the series does the film franchise justice? Did or didn’t like what Psycho had to offer? Let’s all dial that number and join the conversation in the comment section below.