Scream - Ghosts

Ghosts had me thinking all about A Nightmare on Elm Street. It had this very Craven-esque feel to it, for sure. Emma witnesses a horrible death to a dear friend she had forgiven for past misdeeds and betrayal. His split face consistently haunts her, and visions of him returning to remind her of that terrible loss continue to plague her day to day activities. At school, work, and home, this victim surfaces, with a crushed heart later a heart-shaped locket presented to her by him. What does it all mean? These visions are quite unnerving, providing an edge to the show that hadn’t existed up to this point. Friends offer a shoulder to cry on, a hug to comfort her, and an ear willing to listen. In denial and having spent time trying to negotiate with the feelings that must needs come in order to recover, Emma walks about still yet unwilling to get out the big cry and unload the burden of the life lost right in front of her. And the unwillingness to share with others stemming from a need to protect those she loves further bogs Emma in this torment. The helplessness Emma endures due to continually losing her friends and the inability to stop the Scream killer is such an anviled weight she just wishes could be removed from her. Maggie facing buried truth finally confessed to her daughter starts a process of healing she has needed for quite some time could very well be the catalyst in what has been happening…could the baby given up for adoption be the killer tormenting Emma and murdering her friends?

Jake survived the stab (I didn’t mention this in In the Trenches but Brooke inexplicably pulls out the knife stuck in Jake, potentially causing internal bleeding, but luckily as told to us in Ghosts, it conveniently missed any vital organs…), laying in a hospital bed recuperating, not yet informed of a loss that will be tough to handle.

Brooke confronts her father, learns her mother is actually alive, and is finally be told of whose body pops was getting rid of, revealed in that recording, and addressed in a cell visit. Brooke then meets up with Seth Brandon, her teacher/lover for a bit of sexual hanky-panky, not expecting the Scream killer to be in the empty drama theater, pursuing her. Brooke and Seth start taking off their clothes when the Scream killer started making some noise, eventually fooling around with the lights. The police, fortunately for Brooke, were alerted after Audrey and Noah (having suspected Seth for several episodes) brought evidence to Hud’s attention, a knife in a bag found in an air conditioning duct. Malware on Seth’s computer which recorded certain acts now removed Noah and Audrey uncovered also admitted to Hud. So the police arrest Seth and Brooke narrowly escapes being sliced and diced (she is, however, sliced somewhat, on her arm) as the show concludes. Obviously, though, Seth is a “false alarm”, the classic slasher red herring. Taking on a false identity, a last name altered to change his status after leaving a different location where he had an affair with another 18 year old, the results not exactly beneficial to him.