‘Scream’: Quality Almost Seems Vacant In ‘Vacancy’

After a stellar opener, MTV’s ‘Scream’ give us another poor outing from the once great series in ‘Vacancy’. Somebody needs to call someone. Stat.

The following review of Vacancy contains minor spoilers. You’ll be fine to check it out before calling MTV for Scream’s latest.

Jesus Christ Scream, what have you done.

When you were originally announced, I suspected Scream: The Tv Series, a television series “inspired” by the Wes Craven slasher cinema series, would have been a piece of garbage. Like the trash can before pickup day, I figured it would smell the same.

To my surprise, Scream’s first season was great. Not only was it entertaining, but it was tight in its plotting. I simply loved it.

With Season 2, we are getting a little bit of a mixed bag. I Know What You Did Last Summer was amazing, but then Psycho left a big gaping hole in the show by not following Emma, who’s the slasher show’s protagonist, and by introducing cliché characters into the mix whom we are supposed to question as the new killer.

I’ll start by saying, a lot of Vacancy doesn’t work. In fact, the only part of the episode that does work, other than when Noah and Audrey venture to the storage unit, is the last ten minutes when Emma is finally thrown back onto the radar of the killer, and at the same time, the plot. Like I said last week, the killer should always dictate the plot of Scream.

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

Written by Steve Yockey , Vacancy features so much unnecessary character stuff. Both characters we don’t need to focus on (nobody cares about Brooke) and Emma’s scenes, while she is the main character, are character-driven and don’t involve plot (until that last ten minutes). It’s OK to have a little character stuff with Emma, but when the show trades its protagonist from Emma to Audrey, then we have problems. And that’s what Scream’s second season is doing.

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Surprisingly, the last ten minuets, like I’ve stated a few times, is when Vacancy gets really good. Emma is almost in the clutches of the new killer, and wouldn’t you know, the show’s quality goes up dramatically. In fact, the last moments of Vacancy greatly incorporates both plot and character for a fantastically enjoyable concoction.

The acting is decent, with Tom Everett Scott getting some scream time, and the direction is great but little too often.

Directed by Jamie Travis , Vacancy contains decent camera movement with a pull back which lands on Brooke, some great composition involving Emma towards the end of the episode. Also, the whole sequence when the nerdy hotel clerk dies features the best direction of the entire episode. It’s pretty great.

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So, will Emma get closer to finding out the truth about Audrey? Will Audrey get closer to finding out whom the new killer truly is? will the killer take out anymore of the Lakewood Six? You’ll have to head over to MTV to find out.

THE VERDICT:

Jamie Travis’s Vacancy is mostly crap, but does save itself with a a stellar last ten minutes. The script is lacking and the acting is passable. While Vacancy isn’t very good, it’s still a lot better than Psycho and doesn’t do too much damage to the series. I have a feeling next week’s outing will right the course for the once great slasher series. Buck knives crossed.

THE GRADE: C+

Check out a preview of next week’s episode, Happy Birthday to Me, courtesy of MTV:

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