| "Happy Birthday to Me" | |
|---|---|
| |
| Air date | June 20th, 2016 |
| Writers | Brian Sieve |
| Director | Daniel Stamm |
| Producers | Matthew Signer; Keith Levine; Eoghan O'Donnell; Kat Landsberg; Bob Weinstein; Harvey Weinstein; Tony DiSanto; Liz Gateley; Wes Craven; Michael Gans; Richard Register; Marianne Maddalena; Cathy Konrad; Aaron Fink |
| Starring | Willa Fitzgerald; Bex Taylor-Klaus; John Karna; Amadeus Serafini; Carlson Young; Kiana Ledé; Santiago Segura; Tracy Middendorf |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous "Vacancy" |
Next "Dawn of the Dead" |
"Happy Birthday to Me" is the fourth episode of season two of the psycho-thriller television program Scream: The Series, and the fourteenth episode of the series overall. It was directed by Daniel Stamm with a script written by Brian Sieve. It first aired on MTV on Monday, June 20th, 2016 at 11:00 pm/10:00 central.
Synopsis[]
Its Kieran Wilcox's eighteenth birthday, but he just wants to spend a quiet, intimate evening with his girlfriend, Emma Duval. His cousin Eli Hudson has other ideas however, and tells Emma that Kieran actually wants a big party. Emma gathers her friends and arranges to host the party at her house. Her mother is conveniently out of town helping out the M.E.'s office in Portland.
The killer continues to text-stalk Audrey Jensen. Audrey buries the corkscrew that the killer planted in her car, but when she awakens the following morning, she finds it in her bed. She then receives a text indicating that their cat-and-mouse game is far from over.
When Quinn Maddox learns from his daughter Brooke Maddox that Jake Fitzgerald is no longer in the picture, he is both relieved and concerned. He goes to Sheriff Acosta and has him prioritize a search for the boy.
Everyone gets together at Emma's house that night for the party. They find a bottle of $300 tequila on their doorstep with a card presumably written by Jake Fitzgerald. Everyone dances and takes shots of tequila. When Kieran walks into the house they yell "surprise", but Kieran is not impressed, and this spoils his hopes for a quiet evening with Emma. When she learns that Eli lied to her about Kieran's wishes, she goes off on him.
The group soon discovers that the tequila had been laced with a powerful hallucinogen. Stavo Acosta seems to know a lot about it, and asserts that its effects will pass quickly. Audrey sees an image of her dead ex-girlfriend, Rachael Murray. Brooke hallucinates seeing Jake and grows violently ill. Eli makes silly faces with ketchup, and Noah, Zoe and Audrey engage in a three-way kissing hug.
Emma runs out of the house and goes into the woods. She sees the killer standing in a grove of trees who immediately begins charging at her. Emma believes this is a hallucination until he stabs at her with his knife. She begins running away, but as the illusion fades she finds her father, Kevin Duval standing there, having found out from her friends that Emma walked into the woods and came to check up on her. Emma is convinced that what she saw was real and not an effect of the tainted alcohol. Sheriff Acosta arrives at the house and takes a statement. Afterward, he brings his son Stavo home. He finds various sketches of the Lakewood Six in his bedroom as well as the Brandon James mask in a case.
The following day at school, the Lady of the Lake contest is held. Brooke and Zoe are both named as contestants, but it is Brooke who wins the grand prize. As they unveil a banner, a spray of blood rains down upon her. The body of Jake Fitzgerald, which was smuggled inside, falls from the rafters before her and everyone starts to scream.
Cast[]
Principal Cast[]
Guest Stars[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Sosie Bacon | Rachael Murray |
| Bryan Batt | Quinn Maddox |
| Sean Grandillo | Eli Hudson |
| Tom Maden | Jake Fitzgerald |
| Anthony Ruivivar | Miguel Acosta |
| Tom Everett Scott | Kevin Duval |
Co-Stars[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Karsyn Darby | Young Emma |
| Carrie Lazar | Teacher |
| Alec Rayme | Killer |
| Janet Sepwa | Receptionist |
| Eyas Younis | Teacher |
| Mike Vaughn | The Voice |
Crew[]
Notes & Trivia[]
- Scream: The Series was developed for television by Jill Blotevogel, Dan Dworkin and Jay Beattie. It was created by Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson.
- Executive producer Jill E. Blotevogel is credited as Jill Blotevogel in this episode.
- Wes Craven is still credited as an executive producer on the series even though he passed away on August 30th, 2015 while season one was coming to a close.
- This episode had a viewership of 271,000 people, which is down by 77,000 from the previous episode. It scored 0.13% in the 18-49 viewing demographic.
- Actress Jannette Sepwa is credited as Janet Sepwa in this episode.
- This is the first episode of Scream: The Series directed by Daniel Stamm.
- This is the first episode of Scream: The Series written by Brian Sieve.
- Zoe Vaughn's last name is revealed for the first time during the Lady of the Lake contest.
- As Kieran Wilcox is now 18-years-old and no longer a minor, he can inhabit his family home without worrying about a guardian.
Allusions[]
- Thus far, all of the episode titles from this season are taken from horror movie titles. Happy Birthday to Me is a 1981 slasher film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Melissa Sue Anderson. The premise revolves around a mysterious killer stalking students at a private school called Crawford Academy.
- The scene at the end when Brooke Maddox is showered with blood as Jake Fitzgerald's body comes plummeting down is a nod to Carrie, which is a 1976 sci-fi/horror film based on a novel by Stephen King. The climax of the film takes place on Prom Night in which Carrie White, while accepting her position as Prom Queen, is doused with a bucket of pig's blood as part of a prank.
- The bloody corkscrew that Audrey Jensen finds in her bed and then later buries is the weapon that the killer used to murder Eddie Krueger, the manager of the Crescent Palms Motel. This took place in "Vacancy".
- The woman with the noose around her neck that Audrey Jensen hallucinates about is Rachael Murray. Rachel was Audrey's lover from the pilot episode. She was murdered by Piper Shaw who made it look like she had committed suicide by hanging herself in "Hello, Emma" from season one.
Body Count[]
- No characters are killed through the course of this episode. However, reference is made to both victims who have been murdered in season two thus far:
- Jake Fitzgerald - Body is finally discovered at the end of the episode.
- Eddie Krueger - The corkscrew that Audrey finds in her bed and later buries was used to kill Eddie Krueger in the previous episode.
Suspects[]
- Stavo Acosta: The showrunners really wanna peg Stavo as the number one suspect. In addition to naturally being a Creepy McCreeperson, Audrey finds sketches of the Lakewood Six, with a drawing of Emma Duval looking particularly gruesome. Stavo is also the only one seemingly unaffected by the tainted tequila during the party. Then there's the matter of the mask. Miguel Acosta finds the Ghostface mask in Stavo's room, as well as more sketches of Emma. There's also the matter of the "Carrie" send-off. Both Stavo and Noah are avid horror movie fans, and the reveal of Jake's corpse accompanied by a blood shower on Brooke Maddox is clearly inspired by the film Carrie. There is so much overwhelming evidence at this point, that it actually makes him seem unlikely as the killer.
- Eli Hudson: The mysterious motivations of this character is what makes him a possible suspect. He clearly has a design in mind when it comes to both Kieran and Emma, but he may also just be a cock-up as well. Like Stavo, he too appeared to be unaffected by the spiked tequila at the party. He was seen playing with some ketchup, but he could have just been playing it up. He is not shown to be suffering from illness or hallucinations.
- Zoe Vaughn: She makes a likely suspect only by virtue of the fact that she seems so unlikely a suspect. Virtually nothing is known about this girl, though she has now established connections to Emma and to Noah. Interestingly, Zoe has also had no contact with Audrey Jensen up until this point, which may be by design. She is also conveniently absent for any scene that involves either a killer, or a mystery text. The only time that Zoe could not have been the killer/stalker is when she was at the Zenith Theater with Noah when the killer murdered Eddie Krueger at the Crescent Palms Motel.