When MTV developed a television series inspired by Scream, not all horror enthusiasts were excited. There is, after all, a lot of love lost on remakes. The series was a pleasant surprise for fans with a whole new story - and then it rebooted again for season 3.
What might not be a surprise for fans then is that not a single episode from the rebooted season 3 made it into IMDb's highest-ranked episodes. Instead, there's a clear favorite season as most of the episodes belong to season 2, where the twists in the mystery truly began to unravel and more puzzle pieces were introduced.
The Dance/I Know What You Did Last Summer (8.0)
It makes sense that these two episodes would have similar ratings as they serve similar purposes - to get the audience one step closer to the truth while still pulling the rug out from under them.
In season 1's "The Dance," Audrey finds something that she thinks reveals who the killer is, but in the end, it appears that's an impossibility. In the Season 2 episode (inspired by the I Know What You Did Last Summer movie) Emma and Brooke investigate a creepy barn that Emma's been seeing in her dreams, only for everything they find there later to mysteriously vanish. Both episodes leave the audience with a sense of unease and help to push the mystery forward without fully giving anything away.
The Orphanage (8.1)
At this point in season 2, a lot of the meta-commentary for the series, and the self-aware jokes inspired by Scream itself, are gone as the characters are fully caught up in the mystery. It's better for it as the audience is well aware of how much the characters know about horror and mysteries at that point.
Instead, the focus is on the mistrust between the friends as Emma no longer trusts Audrey after discovering she was in league with the Season 1 killer. Audrey doesn't trust their new friend, Zoe, believing she betrayed her confidence. It's a lot of finger-pointing as the adrenaline in the season ramps up.
Heavenly Creatures (8.2)
While most of the series doesn't allow the characters the chance to mourn those they lose since events happen so fast, this episode sees an attempt at allowing the characters to grieve. Noah in particular is mourning the loss of Zoe, and while he does so, he becomes convinced that he's too focused on catching the killer, and wants to hang up his podcast.
Of course, when Emma and Audrey decide to help him do that, they find themselves framed for murder - and all of the other murders committed by the killer. It's a surprise wrench thrown into the story for the audience. They know it's impossible for either of them to be the killer at this point, but the doubts are still there in the face of potentially unreliable narrators, making for an intriguing episode.
Jeepers Creepers (8.2)
There is a lot going on in this particular episode, which in some shows, would make a storyline feel disjointed. Scream manages to make sure that all of the moving pieces connect to the overall mystery.
Brooke tries to get Mr. Branson to confess to a murder he didn't commit, but Mr. Branson ends up in the crosshairs of the killer instead. Audrey creates a complicated kidnapping scenario to prove to Noah that she's not the killer, right on time for Emma to be targeted by the killer while on her way to them. Noah also finds out just how Audrey is connected to the Season 1 killer. It's a lot of information for the audience at once, but the episode remains fast-paced with its big reveals and its additional mysteries.
When A Stranger Calls (8.3)
This particular episode acts as a season finale - and nearly a series finale as well. Just as the title, "When A Stranger Calls," implies, Emma spends a lot of time at the root of the horror trope for this episode - on the phone with a killer. She's primarily receiving instructions, however, as the killer helps her and Audrey escape police custody, only to terrorize them further.
In the end, just as the original Scream revealed, one of Emma's love interests is the killer she's been looking for, though the ending cliffhanger teases that's not the end of the story as Kieran receives a phone call in jail from another killer who used the same mask. The setup could have led to another stellar season, but instead, the audience got a special two-hour episode that offered up more questions than answers before the series rebooted completely.
In The Trenches (8.4)
"In The Trenches" is a pretty fun Season 1 episode. Most of the action is confined to a bowling alley where the group of main characters has to save one of their friends and play a pretty intense scavenger hunt with the killer.
The moment that truly makes it, however, is when that same friend ends up dead in the final moments of the episode. Emma witnesses him die by trencher, a piece of farm equipment in what might be the grossest kill in the series. Fans of the Netflix Fear Street trilogy might find echoes of this episode in the first movie as Leigh Janiak directed both with the perfect amount of tension and jump scares to keep the audience on their toes.
Dawn Of The Dead (8.5)
Like a few of the best rated episodes of Scream, this one is primarily set in one location. Instead of an abandoned building, this one is the high school. The school is put on lockdown after another teenager turns up dead and people's lockers and bags are searched for clues.
Because the main characters all have their own secrets, of course, there is a lot of attempted sneaking around to hide said secrets, like Stavo's drawings, Kieran's gun, or Audrey's past connection to Piper. Emma is attacked in a locked room as well, ratcheting up the tension and leaving the audience suspecting everyone they knew from season 1.
Happy Birthday To Me (8.5)
Surprise birthday parties never seem to go well in horror movies, and the same is true of the Scream series. Eli convinces Emma that Kieran really wants a birthday party, so she sets out to make that happen. With Jake still missing, when a bottle of alcohol turns up supposedly from him, the group takes it as a gift in his absence, but it's laced with something that makes them hallucinate.
It's the first point in Season 2 where the narration truly becomes unreliable as the characters and the audience can't entirely tell if anything in the hallucinations is real. It sets up the next batch of episodes in which the audience isn't ever sure who they can believe.
Revelations (8.5)
The Season 1 finale ties up a lot of the show's initial mysteries - like why Emma is targeted by a killer to begin with. Emma's complicated family history is also revealed as she discovers the killer is her sister.
While a family connection might have been predictable for some of the audience, the tease for Season 2 wasn't. The final moments of the episode tease Audrey's connection to Piper, one that wouldn't be revealed until a few episodes into season 2. It really set in motion the emotional storyline of Season 2, not just the story of the slasher, while still giving the audience a satisfying conclusion.
The Vanishing (8.6)
Easily the most emotional episode of the series, most of the hour forces Emma and Audrey to work together while Emma is still unsure about trusting her. The two have no choice, however, as Noah and Zoe are taken by the killer.
Audrey and Emma follow a trail of clues left by the killer, and they are able to save Noah, all while he's hallucinating terrifying scenes of Zoe in his traumatized state. In the end, Noah's fears are well founded as they don't end up saving Zoe. It's the death that hits the three characters the hardest as the remainder of the season is pushed into overdrive.