MTV’s ‘Scream’ Finale: Exec Producer Jill Blotevogel on Plotting the Killer’s Big Reveal

Spoiler alert: Do not read on if you haven’t watched the MTV’s Scream season finale.

Case closed—or so it seemed when MTV’s Scream unmasked it’s killer in Tuesday’s season finale. But in the episode’s final moments—which also saw Noah wrap up Piper’s Autopsy of a Crime podcast and high school English teacher Seth Branson go free—it was revealed that Audrey had been previously corresponding with the now-dead killer.

Read on as showrunner and executive producer Jill Blotevogel talks the killer’s final showdown and Scream‘s own versions of Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter.

Was the killer always Piper, or was there a possibility that it could be someone else?
From the very beginning we discussed a lot of possibilities, both single killer versus partners. We put everybody into that map and we considered the options. The big trick was finding why someone would take on Brandon James’ persona, and we just considered a lot of options: someone who bonded with Brandon James in sort of a superficial sense or someone who had been bullied himself or herself, but MTV and Dimension really liked the idea of there being a real solid connection to Brandon James, the blood tie, if you will. The Piper of it came from “What does the Gale Weathers of 2015 look like?” We went with Sarah Koenig and the idea of someone covering not just a crime from 15 years ago, but a crime that was happening right now, and playing that idea with the objective storyteller being manipulative. Piper became the perfect opportunity for us.

RELATED: Read our interview with the Scream Killer

Were you worried that the audience might figure it out too soon?
We tried to give everybody those moments and those arcs where they just look really obvious as the killer. With Piper, it’s one of those things where everybody who watches TV or who has ever watched Law & Order is like, “It’s usually the guy who they introduce in the second act.” We tried to sprinkle it throughout and show that anybody can be a suspect at any time. We almost used the audience’s preconceived notions against them a little bit. It’s a very tough balance. We were hoping that the even flow of suspicion will take you to Piper at one point, but you’ve got to stay to the end [to find out who the killer really is]. I’m sure there are people who will be surprised and people who won’t be surprised. The added element of Audrey’s involvement and the level of it is kind of our kicker to that. Whether or not you suspected Piper, there’s a deeper mystery to be uncovered. We’re trying to give a little bit of everything.

In the original Scream there were two killers, and after that final scene, I’m beginning to think Audrey showed up at the lake a little too conveniently.
You have to wonder, what was she stopping Piper from saying? Audrey going into Season 2 is a huge reason to tune in again and see what’s going on. To me, she’s always been this incredibly intriguing character because she has such a fire in her belly and such strength. Sometimes you wonder, does she act before she thinks? There is the possibility that she did darker things than we suspect her being capable of. Getting to the truth of what she actually did is just a huge pull for Season 2: figuring out the mystery of how deeply she was involved with Piper, looking back at the various people who were murdered, and figuring out why various murders happened and when Audrey was lying to us and manipulating people. We see how Piper was manipulating people and what her motives were pretty clearly by the end, but Audrey’s motives are still a mystery and what she did is still a mystery.

How are Emma and her mother going to be dealing with this? Will they be able to handle the fact that the killer was tied to them so closely?
The knowledge that Emma’s mom was Daisy and that this whole thing happened because of her is going to be something that I’m sure is affecting and changing their lives. There will be a certain amount of notoriety for both Emma and Maggie going into Season 2, just as there was with Sydney in the second Scream movie. It’s going to be interesting to see how they get back to normal before it gets shaken up again.

Is this the end of the Brandon James mask?
As we established in the hospital, there was more than one of them so we kind of put that in there so that we wouldn’t have to just track one mask forever. The mystery of Brandon James, there’s still elements of it that could be explored, and it’s such a strong story and such a strong backstory. Now that the world knows Maggie was involved, there’s a lot more to be uncovered. The mystery of Brandon James and the mystery of Brandon will continue to haunt the show.

It’s fitting that Noah was the one wrapping up the podcast. I was surprised he didn’t have a weekly podcast going already.
He’s a busy guy… when we put his voice into the podcast, it was just a perfect meeting of storyline to have him take over and be a podcaster. And it’s not to say that he won’t be doing “Autopsy of a Crime” in Season 2 if we find that that’s a way to work his voiceover into the show in a more organic way. Noah’s going to keep talking either way. It’s just what form it takes.

I’m a little worried for him now that we know that Audrey might have been working with Piper.
I know. There’s something about that relationship that makes me think of Will Graham and Hannibal. Going into Season 2 you start to wonder, is Noah going to figure things out? Is he going to call out his best friend? If you have to encapsulate one scene that makes me want to make Season 2 of Scream, it’s something like that. As Emma realizes that if she hadn’t gotten Audrey out of jail or off the hook in Episode 6, Will wouldn’t have been kidnapped in Episode 7 and killed in Episode 8. Knowing certain sign posts like that in Season 2, they’re great moments to write to and build your stories around.

What can you tell me about Season 2?
The final moments of the finale really convey our connective tissue from Season 1 to Season 2. Audrey’s going to be sort of a jumping-off point. It’s a lot of fun to give the audience some information about a character like that and then to enter her life in Season 2, sort of on the run. You watch the seasons with her and Noah or her and Emma and you have this whole new perspective where you don’t know just how dark she’s gone.

MTV’s Scream was renewed for a second season.