Scream “Pilot” 

Everyone has secrets. Everyone tells lies. And everyone is fair game until there’s no one left.

So, I probably should’ve re-watched the Scream franchise when MTV marathoned the films earlier this week. I mean, they probably aren’t required viewing but they definitely make watching this pilot that much more fun.

Our cameo – and the woman who gets brutally murdered at the beginning of this story to kick it all off – is Bella Thorne (Drew Barrymore’s Casey in the movie). She plays Nina, a mean girl who isn’t above sleeping with her friend’s boyfriend and/or tormenting people she doesn’t like. So, it’s a little bit satisfying to see her meet such a violent end. I’m assuming these attacks start on the anniversary of some event – maybe the disappearance of Brandon James?

The Kids

Emma (Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott) is the good girl with boyfriend issues. Her father, Kevin, left the family a while ago after the trauma of being attacked by Brandon James never got easier to deal with. I like the added wrinkle of her mother being Brandon’s object of obsession, although Emma has no idea. Maggie’s name never got out because she was a minor, but the incident (understandably) scared her for life.

Audrey is Emma’s ex-best friend and the victim of a vicious prank. Although the video of her kissing a girl goes viral, Audrey handles it pretty well. It looks like Audrey and Emma are about to rekindle their friendship (and maybe something more?), but things go off the rails when it seems like Emma’s only reaching out because of guilt. As n aspiring filmmaker, Audrey’s always got her camera close at hand. Will this be helpful when more people start getting killed?

Noah (Jamie Kennedy’s Randy Meeks) is a genius and the resident geek with an unhealthy serial killer obsession. He, of course, knows every convention and cliché of the genre and uses his knowledge to impress Riley. He also manages to irk Jake and some of his friends and they play a prank on him at Nina’s wake, but Noah might get the last laugh on them all.

Will (Skeet Ulrich’s Billy Loomis) is the popular golden boy jock. He seems like a model boyfriend until we find out he slept with Nina (We were on a break!) and has something to hide involving Jake. He also gets a little scary with Brooke after she lets some crucial information slip. So, maybe there’s something deep and dark going on there.

Jake (Matthew Lillard’s Stu Macher) is Will’s best friend and partner in crime. He seems like a bit of a dim bulb who is mostly interested in sexually harassing women. I’m hoping he’s got at least one redeeming quality or I won’t miss him at all when he is targeted by the killer.

Kieran’s the mysterious new guy in town. Right away he picks up on the fact that Emma doesn’t necessarily like her friends and they form an almost instant connection.

Brooke is Nina’s number 2. She’s formed a 2 person “study group” with Mr. Branson and has her eye on Kieran. The typical poor little rich girl, Brooke’s father’s absent and her mom is MIA. And her biting commentary is as brutal as it is accurate.

Riley is one of the popular girls who makes an unexpected connection with Noah. We don’t really know too much about her yet, other than she’s smarter than she pretends.

The Adults

Emma’s mom Maggie (nee Daisy) is the town’s medical examiner. She seemed to have left her past behind when Brandon was shot — and presumed dead — but when an animal’s heart appears on her doorstep, she clues Sheriff Hudson in on her past.

Kieran’s estranged father Clark, is the Sheriff. He’s got a great working relationship with Maggie that might be turning into more.

Mr. Branson seems like a good teacher, with an inappropriate interest in Brooke. We don’t know much yet, but hopefully he’s got more to bring to this party.

So far I’m enjoying both the similarities and the differences to the film franchise. Brandon James is an interesting antagonist and I like that Audrey might have a connection to him. Emma’s an interesting and flawed heroine. I’m already rooting for her, which probably doesn’t bode well but if she’s anything like Sidney Prescott she should survive until the end. Noah could be such an interesting wild card and I’m very curious to see just what Will and Jake are hiding. And, of course, there’s the killer. Who is he? What does he want? Why is he targeting Maggie and Emma? Are we referring to him as the Ghostface killer?

I’m in. Hopefully they won’t kill people off too quickly. We need to really care about these people for their deaths to matter, as Noah so helpfully points out. And the anticipation is half the fun.

Scream airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on MTV.