Scream is keeping us guessing this season with everyone being a possible suspect in the latest Lakewood slayings. In “Village of the Damned,” as the town celebrated its centennial, Eli and Kieran clashed, the killer continued to torture Audrey and Brooke had her 19th nervous breakdown. Sheriff Acosta was busy investigating not only the fire at Wren Lake Estates but the identities of the charred remains in the bathtub. The spotlight was thrust on the new kids on the block — Zoe, Eli and Stavo — as evidence surfaced that pushed them all to the top of “Lakewood’s Most Wanted” list.
How this particular threesome factor into the James’ pig farm and the scandalous secret that Maggie, Sheriff Acosta and Mayor Maddox are keeping is unclear, but all 3 teens are drawn to what remains of the Lakewood Six, and they’ve all got some serious skeletons in their closets. Here’s the latest evidence from “Village of the Damned” that makes it hard not to suspect that Stavo, Eli or Zoe could be behind the mayhem in Lakewood.
Audrey’s Confession Goes Public Thanks to Zoe
Initially, it seemed Zoe’s purpose was to be Noah’s love interest, and most likely, an easy target for this season’s killer. But her behavior has become increasingly suspicious. Her dislike of Audrey grows exponentially as her and Noah’s relationship heats up.
Following Kieran’s surprise party, Zoe distanced herself from Noah, fearing Noah’s affection for his gal pal was a hindrance to them having a shot at romance.
In “Let the Right One In,” she had a change of heart and finally made a move on the conspiracy theorist/virgin. Her affection for Noah seems genuine, but the minute she saw a file with Audrey’s name on his computer, she couldn’t get him out of the room fast enough. After discovering Audrey’s confession, Zoe emailed the recording to someone, and now, that recording has been sent to Emma. The question is, did Zoe do the deed herself, or is she a co-conspirator? There’s no way Zoe didn’t play some role in revealing the secret Audrey has been desperately trying to hide.
Unlike Stavo and Eli, Zoe was around during Piper’s killing spree. She confessed to Noah that some personal drama had her sidelined during all the action, but the fact that she could have come into contact with Piper is a very real possibility. Zoe admitted to Noah she suffered from depression and some mystery event put her in the care of a mental health professional for a month.
Feeling like an outcast is what drew Audrey to Piper, so the same could be said of Zoe. It would be a great twist if Noah, horror film expert and amateur sleuth, was involved with the killer (or killer adjacent). He had no clue Audrey was chummy with Piper, and he has horrible luck with girls. That combination makes Zoe cast as this season’s bad girl too tempting to ignore.
Zoe is a self-professed superfan of Noah’s podcast, “The Morgue,” and she could be the “third prankster,” the most dangerous of the podcast’s trolls, many of whom are not Audrey fans.
While the killer(s) has an undeniable obsession with Emma, they are also consumed with making Audrey atone for her sins, and Zoe has a mean-girl mentality towards Audrey.
Zoe was present and accounted for during the funhouse showdown (she was being crowned Lady of the Lake), so if she is in on the elaborate plan to exact revenge on Audrey, she’s not doing it alone.
Scream Recap: What is Kieran Hiding?>>>
Stavo’s Art Imitates Life and Death
Being in possession of a Brandon James mask doesn’t automatically make Stavo a murderer. They appear to be pretty easy to come by. But his encyclopedic knowledge of horror films, obsession with the Lakewood Six, violent drawings and belief that murder is akin to art have put him at the forefront as a possible suspect since the beginning.
Now we know Stavo isn’t just an aspiring graphic novelist. He’s got a violent past. The details have yet to be revealed, but Stavo apparently “accidentally” shot a friend and then engaged in some disturbing behavior following the incident. Stavo addressed his dad’s suspicions that he could be the killer, but he didn’t deny them.
The most disturbing discovery about Stavo was the picture he drew of Brandon tied up to the hotel bed. There was a video camera in the room, but we don’t know if it was recording during Brooke’s interrogation of her former teacher/boyfriend or put there after the killer removed Branson’s body. Only Brooke and Branson and the killer could recreate that scene with such accuracy.
Stavo’s dad is the sheriff, and he hangs around the police station. This would explain how the killer knew Audrey was considering filing a report and when to send a perfectly-timed text to Brooke, preventing her from reporting Jake missing.
Stavo doesn’t like Audrey and is also able to sneak around undetected, gathering information about Branson for Brooke and following her to Jake’s place. Most recently, he found his way into Brooke’s bedroom, even though it was by her invitation.
Sheriff Acosta has enough doubt regarding his son’s innocence to hide evidence, and whatever malfeasance the Sheriff, Maggie and the Mayor engaged in during their misspent youth, Acosta is convinced it could be coming back to bite him in the ass via his son.
Eli’s Big on B & E
The evidence has been slowly mounting against Kieran’s cousin (dog killer, home invader, all-around stalker.) The fact that he’s been hanging out in a model home in Wren Lake Estates — the same place Jake was snatched — was bad enough, but Eddie and Branson’s bodies in the bathtub either make Eli very unlucky, very stupid or very dangerous. It’s possible, even probable he didn’t know Branson and Eddie were there since someone did torch the place with Eli and Emma in it, but there is the matter of that restraining order.
In an effort to keep murderer-magnet Emma safe (a Herculean task), Sheriff Acosta told her about the girl in Atlanta who got a restraining order against Eli and warned her to keep her distance. We knew he was a serious creeper with eyes for his cousin’s girlfriend, but he’s also an expert when it comes to breaking and entering. The killer has had an all-access pass to both Audrey and Emma’s bedrooms.
Eli, who Kieran described to Emma as “not right,” also manhandled Emma a bit when she tried to give him the brush off, and how many times have we heard stalkers swear they’d never hurt the object of their affection?
Eli is a manipulator, and he managed to bait Kieran into attacking him, reinforcing Eli’s assertion that Kieran is the troubled one in the family. After their fight, Kieran was kidnapped and nearly killed, and Eli was nowhere to be found. Eli could wind up being nothing but a lovesick peeping Tom who likes to record people without their knowledge who also happens to hang out where serial killers prefer to dump their victims. Stranger things have been known to happen in Lakewood.
Have your own theories regarding Zoe, Stavo and Eli’s guilt or innocence? Share it with us in the Comments section below.
Scream airs Tuesdays at 10pm on MTV.
(Image courtesy of MTV)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Jennifer has worked as a freelance writer in the entertainment field since 2012. In addition to currently writing feature articles for Screen Rant, Jennifer has contributed content ranging from recaps to listicles to reviews for BuddyTV, PopMatters, TVRage, TVOvermind, and Tell-Tale TV. Links to some of Jennifer’s reviews can be found on Rotten Tomatoes.
