My Review of Scream's 1x03: "Wanna Play A Game?"

Written by Jordan Rosenberg And Meredith Glynn
Directed by Tim Hunter

Riley (to Noah): "I can see our stars."

And that's how to do an effective death. Like with Rachael in the previous episode, I actually quite liked Riley and I found the budding relationship between her and Noah at least interesting but given that Audrey lost her lover in the previous episode, I guess we all should've seen Riley's death coming.

Unlike some of the other deaths, the tension here was actually effective too. Riley genuinely believed in Tyler's innocence and wanted to help (though the show didn't really highlight why she believed it so well) but instead found herself becoming a pawn and eventual kill in Ghostface's ongoing saga with Emma.

I'm not gonna actually blame Emma here because Ghostface was going to kill someone whether Emma had actually paid them any attention and if it hadn't been Riley, then it would've been Brooke (who I still will be a later death). Either way, someone wasn't getting out of this episode. It was just a pity that for a second episode in a row it happened to be someone likeable though.

I mean the killer (assuming it's neither of them) couldn't have paid attention to either Will or Jake, who spent most of this episode fighting over blackmail money (something also involving Tyler and Nina). Three episodes in and I still don't greatly care for either character. Will is a bit too bland for my liking and Jake's just a sleazy annoyance, even if he showed some savvy during one particular scene with Brooke in this episode.

I did like that on top of having Riley's bloody exit, we also had both Emma and Audrey realise that Rachael (during her wake) didn't actually kill herself and the Emma/Kieran scenes were a good way of getting the former more familiarised with her mother's connection to Brandon James as well. That story is continuing to bubble along well enough in the main show even if Ghostface's fixation on Emma is feeling a bit too cliched in parts.

- Piper got more information on Brandon James's first kills (the opening scene with Dara Aldean and Brett Kenner) courtesy of Noah.
- Either Brooke really is that dizzy or she's planning to blackmail Seth at some point because why else would she suggest cybersex with him?
- The way Kieren seems to drop bits of information on Emma is also potentially suspicious as well.
- At some point, someone has to actually find Tyler's body, right?

Easily the strongest episode so far. "Wanna Play A Game?" had a decent amount of tension, an effective and bloody send off for Riley, amidst a sweet romance between her and Noah and a slightly interesting-ish subplot with Will/Jake. A slight improvement.

Rating: 7 out of 10