User blog:The Noah Killer/The Noah KIller's Stranger Reasons Why to Scream

Plot and Setting
Two months after the deaths of the Ghostface killers, the survivors are struggling to move on with their loses. However, they soon realize that the Author has no intention of ending his story early. As more and more victims are claimed, Nancy and Clay must fight for survival.

Episode 1: The Author's next chapter
After a two month break, the Author begins in his next chapter, resulting in a survivor's brutal death. Unaware of this, the others continue their lives, trying to move on from their losses.

Episode 2: The Calm Before the Storm
The Author picks his next two targets, sending Terry to kidnap them. Meanwhile, two survivors find new love interests.

Episode 3: Sacrifice
Two survivors are plunged into a game of survival, and when they have difficulty escaping, a sacrifice is made. This leads to another shocking death that will horrify Terry.

Episode 4: Loss of a Survivor
After grieving the losses of Charles and Jonathan, the teens deal with Sheri’s gang in an epic showdown. Horrified at a child’s murder, Terry begins to rebel against the Author and Liberator.

Episode 5: Liberation
The Liberator tortures two Rosewood survivors, leading to a brutal fight with one of them. Meanwhile, Clay and Alex visit Kenneth in prison for answers.

Episode 6: Lost Love
The Author kidnaps his next survivor, leading to their extremely heartbreaking death and final gift. Meanwhile, Sheri and her gang go to get revenge on a survivor, but Terry and the Liberator interrupt.

Episode 7: New Love
Following Kenneth’s death, couples get together, leading to multiple sex scenes. Later, someone discovers the Liberator’s identity, leading to their death.

Episode 8: Secrets
Matt makes himself known and goes after the new cast, leading to an interesting revelation. Meanwhile, Terry makes a final decision about Eleven and her part in the murder spree.

Episode 9: Manhunt
Steve’s hand is forced when a survivor confronts him about his secret. Meanwhile, Matt goes on a hunt for the escaping Eleven.

Episode 10: Agony
After narrowly rescuing Eleven, Marco tries to get her life back into shape. Meanwhile, the killers brutally torture a survivor.

Episode 11: False Hope
Sarah and Clay make another step toward love. Meanwhile, Matt and the Author begin preparations for their finale.

Episode 12: Life of the Killers
After kidnapping the majority of the group, Matt reveals stunning revelations to them, leading to several deaths that will change everything.

Episode 1: The Author’s Next Chapter
We open on Charles alone at home. Emily isn’t here because she’s having a “girl’s night out” with Sara and Spencer at Spencer’s home. Charles listening to music on his headphones and is waiting for a pizza delivery truck to come, as he’s ordered a large cheese pizza to eat (pizza is Charles’ favorite food). As he waits, we cut to outside, where a pizza delivery truck is pulling up. Inside the truck is a pizza delivery guy, holding a large pizza container. He exits the truck and goes up to Charles’ home to deliver the pizza to him.

He gets to the front door, but before he can ring the doorbell, a figure runs up to him. The pizza delivery guy spins around to find Ghostface, in the MTV costume that Andrew and Barb wore. Ghostface stabs the man in the throat. The pizza delivery guy is dead. Ghostface then removes the costume and mask, confirming that this is Terry Ives underneath. She looks shocked that she actually killed someone. Nevertheless, Terry sucks it up and smuggles the body back into the van before taking the pizza and ringing the doorbell. Charles hears it and opens the door, thinking Terry is the pizza delivery girl.

He lets her in. Charles asks her how much the pizza will cost him. Terry says that it’s going to cost him more than either of them would like. Charles asks what that means. Terry tells him that “I’m sorry” before slashing his chest. Charles is shocked at this, and asks what is going on. Terry expresses her remorse for attacking Charles, and says she won’t be the one who finishes him anyway. Just then, the Author walks up. Charles is totally confused now. The Author stabs Charles in the stomach. Charles screams and headbutts the Author.

He tries to run out the front door, but a black gloved hand grabs his throat and pins him against a wall; it’s the Liberator, whom Charles recognizes from when he murdered Elliot. The Liberator says that it’s time for his return. He slams Charles through a glass table, breaking it on impact. Charles groans. Terry says that he’s suffered enough and they should end it. The Liberator refuses to be a “pussy” like Terry, and stomps on Charles’ arm. Charles screams out in pain. He then asks the Author give him an axe, which he does. The Liberator tells Charles that he is going to die and Emily will join him, slowly.

He dismembers Charles’ left arm with the axe, before dismembering the right arm. Charles, who is armless, is in agony. The Liberator tells Charles to stop being a pussy and take it like a man. He then slams the axe through Charles’ left leg, cutting through it. The Liberator moves on to Charles’ left leg. Terry becomes more disturbed due to the amount of blood pouring out of Charles’ stumps. Charles, who is already half-dead at this point, is finally decapitated by the Liberator. Charles Drake, biological brother of Emily Fields, and Rosewood Survivor, is dead. Smash to black. We cut to the next morning at Nancy’s home. Emily and Sara have already left to go back home.

Nancy and Jonathan now have Spencer as their adoptive mother, and the trio are living together. Nevertheless, Nancy and Jonathan do not feel at peace just yet. Spencer notices this and asks if they are thinking about Joyce and Will again. They admit that they are. Nancy says that Spencer is a good mother, but so was Joyce. Jonathan adds that Will was an innocent child, who deserved to live. Spencer gets an idea for them to get closure, and asks if they will try it. The siblings agree and ask Spencer what she has in mind. Before we hear it, we cut to prison, where Kenneth is sitting in a jail cell.

Kenneth’s trial has recently concluded. He has been cleared off killing his father, as it was in self-defense, but is facing twenty years in jail for Hannah’s death. Kenneth has decided to embrace the consequences of his actions and let fate take its course with him. Just then, a guard, Bob, comes up. He tells Kenneth that he has a phone call. Kenneth isn’t surprised and knows who this is. Bob takes Kenneth to some phones, similar to the ones Kieran used when he got the call from the 3rd killer. Kenneth picks it up and hears Jessica on the other end. We intercut between both of them. Jessica is sitting on her bed and is on the phone.

She looks very emotional, and nervous. It’s obvious that Jessica has been very grief-stricken and unwilling to move on from Kenneth’s departure. Jessica asks Kenneth how long he will be staying in jail for, to which he admits that it’s twenty years. A stunned Jessica says that it’s “not that long” Kenneth sighs and tells Jessica that she needs to move on without him. Jessica says that she can wait twenty years. Kenneth tells her to not be unrealistic and that it’s over for them. He says that he has feelings for her, and he always will, but Kenneth will not waste two decades of Jessica’s life.

Jessica starts to cry, which Kenneth hears on the other end. Kenneth tries to calm her down, but she hangs up on him. Bob then escorts Kenneth back to his cell. He says that he never expected to see someone as young as him in here. Kenneth says that he knew he’d be in here right when he slit Hannah’s wrists, and he planned to turn himself in from the beginning. A sympathetic Bob locks Kenneth back in his cell, but gives him a cookie to eat. Kenneth is surprised and thanks him. Bob says he doesn’t like seeing teenagers in a jail cell, especially remorseful ones. He leaves.

We cut to Emily and Charles’ home, where Emily and Sara are returning. When Emily goes to the front door, she finds a note from “Charles (The Liberator)” The note says that Charles has temporarily left town with the glass table that was smashed. Charles is off to sell it and get some money for a Hawaiian vacation, which the Rosewood Four had been planning since Andrew and Barb’s deaths. Sara reads the last line which says that he’s going out on a road trip as well, so he’ll be gone for a couple of days, as he likes road trips. Charles also gives permission for Emily and Sara to text him if they feel worried.

After going inside, the couple find no signs of a scuffle, and all blood has been washed off. The house is spotless. Emily and Sara conclude that everything is alright, and tells Sara that may have been the best sleepover they’ve had yet. Emily and Sara talk about tag and hide and seek games that they played. They also did a fun fashion test, in which Emily got 1st place for most beautiful. Emily decides to call Charles and tell him what happened if he isn’t busy. We cut to the abandoned school, where the three killers are gathering and looking over Charles’ dismembered corpse, which they stuff into a box.

The Liberator says that this felt even more satisfying when he killed Elliot and almost Sara. The Author is very pleased with Charles’ death, and at Terry for committing her first murder (the pizza delivery guy). He decides to allow her five minutes to talk to her captive sister and daughter in a janitor’s closet. Terry thanks him, and after she leaves, the Liberator gets a call from Charles’ cell phone. The Liberator says that he’ll handle this and changes his voice modulator to Charles.

Pretending to be Charles, the Liberator talks to Emily, and tells her that he’s stopped at a gas station. Emily tells him about the festive sleepover last night. The Liberator says that if he was there, it would have been “one fucking blast” Emily laughs, and says she’s the party animal around here. The Liberator says that once he gets back, he’s taking over that role. Meanwhile, Terry goes into the janitor’s closet, where her sister Becky Ives, and her daughter, Jane “Eleven” Ives, are being chained to the walls.

Terry hugs them and asks how they are doing. Becky says that she’s been doing well mostly, and she has been able to keep Eleven calm. Eleven tells mommy that she doesn’t want to be with the scary people anymore. Terry kisses her forehead and tells Eleven that they’ll get out of this eventually, but they don’t have a choice right now. Eleven says she understands. Noticing that the other two killers aren’t around, Becky asks Terry what she thinks about an escape plan. Terry says that they shouldn’t risk it. Becky says that she’s seen how sadistic these bastards are, and they’ll more than likely kill them all anyway. They need an escape plan.

Before she can discuss it further, the Author comes and tells Terry her time is up. Terry leaves, and the Author locks Eleven and Becky inside the closet again. Eleven starts to cry because she is afraid of the dark. Betsy holds her niece, promising that they will get out of this. We cut to the Liberty graveyard, where Spencer, Nancy, Jonathan and Steve are coming up. With Nancy and Jonathan’s approval, Spencer has decided to take them, and Steve, to Joyce and Will’s graves (they’re buried next to each other).

Steve says that it’s understandable if they won’t want to do it. Jonathan and Nancy say that they can do it. They go up to Will’s tombstone. Nancy tells Will that he was always cute and adorable. Jonathan says that Will could have had a lovely life, and he would have supported him every step of the way. He hasn’t forgotten Will now, and he won’t ever, neither will Nancy. Nancy then addresses Joyce’s tombstone. She says that what happened to Barb wasn’t her fault, and none of this was hers. Jonathan says that she’ll always be the best mother he could have had, even more than Spencer, who does not mind what they is saying and embraces it. Jonathan and Nancy tell Joyce that they will always love her, in death or living.

Jonathan walks away and cries on Spencer’s shoulder, while Nancy cries on Steve’s. They help comfort them. We cut to Steve’s house, where it is empty. As we zoom in on the house, someone approaches, whom we can only see from their POV. The person is looking around to see if there is an open window, which there is. After checking around for witnesses, the person enters the house, goes into Steve’s bedroom and takes his phone. We cut back to normal view, revealing this is Terry, who texts to the Author that she has the cell phone. The Author says that’s good, and the phone to going to prove very useful, telling Terry to head back. Terry exits the house as we fade to black.

Episode 2: The Calm before the Storm
We open on Liberty High School the next day, where Alex, Jonathan, Nancy, Clay, Jessica and Steve are having lunch together. Nancy and Jonathan are telling everyone about their trip to the graves of Joyce and will. Clay says that it’s good that they are seeking closure. Alex and Steve agree. Jonathan asks Jessica if she’s found out how long Kenneth will be staying in prison for. Jessica tells everyone he is staying for 20 years, and that he wants her to move on. Everyone is saddened that their friend is spending this long in jail.

They are, however, relieved that he is not getting a life sentence. Jessica says that she might not be able to move without Kenneth, telling them of her call that she was going to wait twenty years. Alex tells her that whether she likes it or not, she simply cannot wait that long. Jessica admits that Alex is right and she can’t wait that long. Clay tells her to take some time to mourn, and when she’s ready, find someone. Jessica says that she’ll do what she can. As the group talks, we shift to another group of six people. This group is led by Sheri Holland and Rod Woodward. The other four are mostly just regular goons, 2 female and 2 male.

The second female is Sarah Hooper, the sheriff’s daughter. Sheri says that the survivors think they’re all that, but they are not. Confused, Rod asks what she means. She says that they need to dethrone them and take their rightful place as king and queen of Liberty High, meaning she wants to start a rivalry with them. The three goons are intimidated by Sheri and agree, but Rod and Sarah protest this. Rod points out that the survivors are not people you should mess with, proven when they survived a murder spree. He’s good with beating up anyone with no experience, but not those with the capability to fight back.

Sarah says that they should just leave the survivors alone and they’ve been through enough, especially Clay, who, unknown to the others, she has a crush on. Sheri dismisses their warnings and threatens to kick them out of the group if he does not comply with her wish. Rod reluctantly agrees, but warns her not to take her agenda too far. Sheri responds with “I’ll go as far as I like” Sarah, frustrated that Sheri is ignoring her, leaves to get a drink at the water fountain. When she arrives, Clay is also there to refill his water bottle.

Since Sheri and her gang are not within the line of sight, Sarah walks up to Clay and introduces herself. Clay says that it’s nice to meet her, and compliments her hair. Sarah similes and compliments Clay as a gentleman. They talk for a bit. It’s clear that the two show an interest, maybe even romantic. Before it gets too long, Sarah tells Clay that her group doesn’t like the survivors. Clay asks why not. Sarah tells him about Sheri’s desire to become the queen of the school, and usurp the Liberty Eleven. Clay is surprised, but not so much because he’s had encounters with jerks (Justin and Bryce) before.

He asks Sarah why he is telling him this if she’s part of the group. Sarah says that she knows that the survivors have been through a lot, and they don’t deserve this. She says that a confrontation may come, and she’ll try to help Clay if it happens. The two shake hands and depart. Clay heads back to the table and tells the other survivors about Sheri’s group. Jessica says that Sheri is an “absolute bitch” Alex says that they are most likely going to have to deal with this later. Steve says that they won’t stand a chance with him on Nancy’s side. Nancy smiles at this. We cut to the Radley bar, which is connected to a hotel.

Spencer is hanging out there. During this, Spencer receives a drink that she did not order. When she tells this to the bartender, the bartender informs that “he” did it, pointing to his left. This man is Marco Furey, a handsome detective. He smiles at Spencer, who comes to sit next to him. Marco small talks Spencer, who becomes interested at Marco’s humor and handsomeness. They introduce each other, with Marco being surprised he is flirting with the Spencer Hastings, a Rosewood and Liberty survivor. Nevertheless, he continues.

Spencer makes a joke about “burning a body” Marco guesses that Spencer is referring to Jenna Marshall, who died by being burned to death. Spencer asks how he knows that. Marco explains that he is a detective and looked up crimes in preparation for his career, with the Rosewood murder sprees being one of them. Spencer says it’s nice to “have a fan” The two start talking about things like Marco’s “charm school” Spencer gives him an “A-grade” for effort and impact. Spencer decides to stay longer and pay for their next drink, though Marco wanted to.

Eventually, Spencer throws Marco into the elevator, which leads to the couple making out. They begin undressing, with Marco unbuttoning his shirt. There is also some romantic music playing. Eventually, as Spencer starts to strip down, she ends the sex and stops the elevator. Spencer tells him that it felt sudden for her to have sex like that, and explains she hasn’t dated anyone since Eric/Jenna’s death. Marco, aware that Spencer was in love with Eric/Jenna, agrees to let her out of the elevator. However, Spencer says that she won’t forget what happened and they exchange phone numbers to stay in touch.

We cut back to school parking lot, where Sarah is waiting for her dad to come pick her up. During this, Sheri and the gang approach her. Sarah asks what is wrong. Sheri explains that one of the goons saw Sarah talking to Clay earlier, and demands to know what that was about. Sarah explains that Clay is a nice guy and he does not deserve to be bullied and dethroned. Sarah refuses to change her mind, and Sheri slaps her. When Sarah slaps Sheri back, she has the goons tackle Sarah and pin her to the ground.

Sheri tells Rod that Sarah needs to be punished. Since Sarah is helpless and unable to defend herself, Rod agrees. However, when he tries to punch Sarah, and adult man’s hand grabs him and pushes him off. The entire gang are frightened by the big man’s presence. This is because it’s not just a regular man, this is Jim Hopper, the father of Sarah and sheriff of Liberty. Jim berates the kids for their behavior and orders to go home before he calls their parents, or he arrests them personally. The gang run off, and Jim helps his daughter up. Sarah thanks Jim for doing what he did.

Jim kisses his daughter on the forehead and says he would never let her get hurt. He tells Sarah that these aren’t good friends for her, and he’s told her that before. Sarah agrees and decides it’s time for her to make new friends the next day. The two drive off. We cut to nighttime, at Steve’s house. Jonathan is walking over there and knocks on the door. Steve opens it and lets him in. He asks him why he’s come this late as night, as he was just about to go to bed. Jonathan says that he received a text from Steve to come over.

Steve asks to see the text, which says “Come over, I have something important to tell you” Jonathan asks what Steve has to show him. Steve explains that his phone has been missing since last night and he didn’t send the text. Jonathan asks who did, and he hears the words “I did” from a voice that isn’t Steve’s. Terry, in her Ghostface costume, then appears and knocks Jonathan out with a baseball bat. Steve tries to escape, but Terry hurls the bat like a spear into the back of Steve’s head, knocking him unconscious as well. Terry then drags Jonathan and Steve off into the woods. Smash to black.

Episode 3: Sacrifice
We open on Clay’s house the next morning. He see him having breakfast with his parents, Matt and Lainie Jensen. They’ve been helping him recover emotionally since the last killing spree. After Clay leaves, Lainie asks Matt what he’s been doing. Matt asks what she’s talking about. Lainie says that Matt has been acting like he’s been keeping a secret. Matt asks Lainie if he thinks he’s connected to the Ghostfaces in any way. Lainie says that she didn’t mean that. Matt says that sometimes, it is better not to know the truth. He goes upstairs to his computer, and starts typing. We cut to the abandoned school.

Steve and Jonathan wake up. They are tied to chairs in the cafeteria. Jonathan starts shouting for help until the costumed Terry intervenes. She warns Jonathan and Steve to be quiet if they want to live. Recognizing the costume, Jonathan says this better not be what he thinks it is. Terry confirms that they has been kidnapped, and there’s a reason that they aren’t being killed outright. Steve asks why that is. Terry explains that the others consider it a game, but its life or death for her family. Jonathan asks if she is being blackmailed to protect them. Terry confirms this.

Jonathan says that if Terry reveals herself, maybe they could help. Terry says it’s not that simple, and she’s sorry for what’s coming. She reveals that only one of them is going to make it out alive, or possibly both will die, and walks away. Steve and Jonathan look on in terror. We cut to Emily and Sara’s house, where Spencer is coming over. She tells them about her romantic encounter with Marco at the Radley bar. Emily and Sara say that it sounds romantic. Spencer, however, admits that although Marco is a handsome and great guy, she doesn’t want to pursue him because of what happened with Eric/Jenna.

Emily tells her that if she does have feelings for Marco, then she should give it a chance. Sara reminds her that it’s been ten years since Eric/Jenna’s death. Spencer takes a moment to think about it. Sara asks Spencer if she remembers being at her and Emily’s wedding when it happened. Spencer admits that the wedding was very active, fun and joyous. Sara tells her that love is one of the most valuable things of life, and there’s no killer around to take it away this time. Emily and Sara convince her to pursue Marco.

We cut to lunchtime at the Liberty High School, where Nancy, Jessica, Alex, Kenneth and Clay are talking. They notice that Steve and Jonathan are absent, asking Nancy where they are. Nancy explains that she and Spencer found a note on Jonathan’s bed that said he was called over to Steve’s alone. This was made in case he didn’t get back for some reason. She got a text from Steve’s phone that they are staying together for the day because of the info they found. Jessica asks what it is. Nancy says that Jonathan didn’t say.

As they talk, Sarah comes up to them, and asks if she can sit next to Clay. Clay introduces her to everyone else and persuades them to allow her to sit with them. Sarah tells them about how she was almost beaten up yesterday by Rod, but saved by Jim. The survivors are surprised to know that her father is the sheriff. Sarah says that he’s the “toughest guy in town” whenever she’s being bullied or threatened. The group take a liking to Sarah, and Clay asks if she would like to join the group and leave Sheri. Sarah is delighted to be rid of Sheri and Rod, but tells Clay there will be consequences if she joins.

Clay accepts it, and Sarah gives in to the invitation. Sarah is now the newest member of the Liberty survivors group. We cut back to the abandoned school, where the Author is approaching Steve and Jonathan. Not recognizing the costume, they ask who he is. The Author explains that he is the mastermind of the murder spree, and the Ghostfaces were not his only accomplice. He tells them about how he’s blackmailing Terry with her family and has the Liberator on his side. The Author says that only one of them is going to make it out of here alive or maybe both will die, but either way, they’ll have some fun. He decides to cut them free and give them a 10 second head start.

However, the Author warns that he’s barricaded all the doors and blocked all of the windows except for one, which they will have to find in order to escape. Before he unties them, the Author puts an envelope, with the word “Important” on its cover, into Jonathan’s pocket and whispers something in Steve’s ear, something that surprises him. The Author tells them not to reveal the contents of the envelope, or what he just whispered to Steve; if they reveal either, he will pull out a handgun and kill them both instantly. They agree to comply. As Steve and Jonathan flee, the Author yells that he left a surprise in Steve’s car, which they must also take to the survivors.

They make it into the high school’s auditorium and climb on top of the bleachers. When the Author tries to climb up after them, Steve kicks him back down. The Author gets wiser and decides to wait for them to come down. Steve and Jonathan huddle and whisper what to do. Jonathan decides that he must act as a distraction and lure the Author away toward a nearby janitor’s closet, while Steve escapes with the envelope. With no other option, Steve agrees. Jonathan’s plan works, and he is able to lure the Author toward the janitor’s closet, which he locks himself in. As the Author tries breaking down the door, Jonathan discovers Betsy and Eleven, and guesses they are Terry’s family.

When the Author realizes who Jonathan is talking to, he begins rapidly trying to break down the door with a hatchet. He obviously does not want Becky and Eleven escaping this early. Betsy tells Jonathan there is an air vent above him, which nobody can reach. However, Becky helps lift Jonathan up so he can get into the vent, and escape the room just as the Author enters. The Author smacks Eleven for Becky’s interference and texts Terry to stop Steve, while he jumps into the vent to pursue Jonathan. Steve, who has been running around the building trying to find a window, finally locates one on the second floor.

Steve makes it to the window, which is two stories up. He prepares to slowly and safely lower himself outside, but Terry catches up and tries to grab Steve. During the brief scuffle, Steve loses his grip and falls two stories on the ground. He lands hard on his ankle, injuring it and reducing him to a limp. Meanwhile, pursued by the Author through the vents, who is swinging his knife at him, Jonathan crawls his way through and finds an exit. When the Author catches up, Jonathan kicks him off and gets outside.

He meets up with Steve again, who is slower due to his ankle injury, forcing Jonathan to help him, thus slowing them both down. Terry and the Author get outside and see them fleeing toward Steve’s car, which is barely visible in the distance. The killers advance toward them. It becomes clear that they aren’t going to outrun them, and the duo are seemingly out of options for survival. Meanwhile, Nancy and Spencer are talking at their home. Both of them have gotten worried that Steve and Jonathan haven’t given anymore updates on what they’ve been doing.

Nancy explains that Jonathan isn’t one to play pranks, though Steve used to. During their discussion, Spencer gets a call from Steve’s phone and think it’s him. When she answers, she instead hears the Liberator, which she recognizes from Elliot’s death. Spencer asks what he’s done with Steve and Jonathan. The Liberator tells her about the Author, and the new blackmailed Ghostface, whom have “having their fun” with Jonathan and Steve. He tells them not to attempt to intervene, or the Author will kill them on the spot with a handgun.

Spencer starts to threaten him, but the Liberator interrupts and instructs her to bring the other Rosewood Four, as well as the Liberty survivors, to her home. He explains that if someone survives, they will most likely be going there due to their relation with Nancy, and there is an envelope of “absolute importance” with the survivor. He hangs up, but promises to call if both of them die. Unwilling to risk Jonathan’s life by intervening, Spencer and Nancy start calling everyone over. We cut to after all the Liberty Eleven (except Kenneth) have arrived. They see a car arriving and rush to find out who the driver is.

They discover that Steve has returned with the envelope, and a box he is carrying out of the car (the surprise the Author mentioned is in it), but without Jonathan. When Nancy asks him where Jonathan is, Steve claims that Jonathan willingly sacrificed himself so that he could escape. Everyone is shocked that Jonathan is dead, but Nancy and Spencer are devastated, and they cry. Nancy is more hysterical because she knew Jonathan much longer. She hugs Spencer, but Steve looks too stunned to help. After Nancy becomes stable, Steve shows them the envelope and opens the box for everyone to see.

When he opens the box, it is revealed that Charles’ dismembered body parts, including his head, are in it. Everyone begins hysterically screaming, especially Emily, except for Steve. He stands by, being quiet. We then cut to a flashback, back outside the abandoned school. Steve has realized that they are not going to escape with the Author and Terry closing in on him like this. Jonathan suggests that they fight back and the duo pick up tree branches, hoping to stab the Author with them, but he pulls out his handgun.

With no chance of winning a head on fight, Steve tells Jonathan “I’m sorry” As Jonathan looks on in confusion, Steve stabs his tree branch into Jonathan’s leg. Jonathan screams and falls to the ground. He demands to know “what the fuck are you doing!?” Steve ignores the question and grabs at his pocket, trying to seize the envelope from him. After a brief struggle, Steve stomps on Jonathan’s arm, seizes the envelope and limps off. During the scuffle, we hear what the Author whispered to him earlier “If you sacrifice Jonathan, I will let you go. If you don’t, I intend to kill both of you anyway. If you agree, get the envelope, its important”

Steve sacrifices Jonathan by leaving him as bait for the killers, while he escapes with the envelope and box in his car. As Jonathan shouts curses at him, the Author grabs him and drags him backward. As Jonathan screams at the Author to let him go, the Author arrives at a fallen tree stump and impales Jonathan upon the branches. Blood starts pouring out of Jonathan’s mouth and stomach. After a few moments of twitching, Jonathan goes limp. Jonathan Byers, brother of Nancy and Will Byers, and secondary male lead, is dead. Terry is shocked by the brutal killing, but is forced to go along with it.

Afterward, the Author tells Terry that “this” is how you kill someone. He suggests that she take her killings more brutally and seriously. Terry takes off her mask and says that murdering people is enough, but doing it brutally is asking too much of her. The Author explains that she chose Terry because she was “the experienced one” and he is smart. As they discuss, the Author notices a young kid on a bicycle watching the scene. This is MIKE WHEELER (11), a main character on Stranger Things.

Mike recognizes Terry and gives a friendly wave to her, but freezes in shock and fear when he sees Jonathan’s corpse and the menacing Author. The Author returns the wave before pulling out his handgun. Realizing what is about to happen, Terry screams “NO!” in protest twice. The Author ignores Terry and coldly shoots the young kid in the face right in front of her, causing his motorcycle to topple to the side. Mike Dustin is dead. Terry gets onto her knees and looks on in horror at the murder of a young child. Smash to black.

Episode 4: Loss of a survivor
We open on Steve the next morning. He’s looking himself in the mirror. It’s very similar to Shane Walsh after he sacrificed Otis, but without shaving his head. Steve mutters it “It was necessary” and another mutters “No it wasn’t” Steve turns to find Jonathan standing beside him. Jonathan asks Steve how it feels to have caused your friend’s murder. Steve tells Jonathan that he doesn’t even have to answer him and he’s not real. Jonathan tries to tell him that friends don’t leave each other behind, but Steve uses earplugs to block out Jonathan.

However, since hallucinations are part of Steve’s mind, he can still hear Jonathan talking, asking if he has any regret for what he did. Steve walks up to Jonathan and tells him, right to his face, that if he was put in the same situation again, he would make the same choice, asserting that “I did what I had to do” In response, Jonathan states that Nancy does not deserve him, and reminds him of what was in the envelope. Jonathan hands him an imaginary copy of the envelope and exposes its contents.

It is revealed there was nothing inside the envelope except a note that says “Useless!” The envelope was all a ruse for false hope, and there was no real information that would help them at all. Steve asserts that he would have died if he didn’t sacrifice Jonathan and this conversation is over. Jonathan frowns and vanishes. Steve continues on with his life as if this never happened. We cut to school the next day. When Nancy, Steve, Clay, Jessica, Alex arrive, they are swarmed by media reporters, who want to ask them questions.

Being in a very bad mood, Nancy tells them to get out of the way. Also in a bad mood, Steve pushes his way through the crowd, allowing the others to get through. After walking into the school, Clay meets up with Sarah, whom he hugs. Sarah says she heard about the news and tells Nancy she is so sorry about what happened. Nancy asks why Jonathan had to die. Steve says that it’s this town, and there’s something wrong with it. Alex says that they’re all better than that, and it’s the killers who are really doing this.

Jessica asks if Steve in the mood to tell them anything. Steve explains that there is a third blackmailed killer (Terry), who is trying to protect their family, and tells them about the “dark figure” he saw. Steve theorizes that it’s the new main killer, as he looked like he was in charge. Nancy tells him that Spencer got a call from the Liberator, so they’re dealing with three killers again. Alex says it’s possible they could reason with the third one. Nancy says that he might be right, but they will have to do whatever it takes to survive, even it means killing the new killer.

Steve quickly agrees and mutters “Whatever it takes” Just then, the bell rings, and everyone heads off for class. The teacher there asks for a moment of silence for Charles and Jonathan. Everyone remains silent. The teacher says they can resume class now. We cut to the police station, where Marco and Jim are talking. Marco hasn’t had the chance to look up the murders that happened two months ago and asks Jim to tell him about it. Jim explains that there were three now deceased Ghostface killers, and there was one killer left who was dressed as the Liberator costume used to torment the Rosewood Five.

Due to Steve’s testimony, there are now three killers again. Marco says that more psychos in a costume is just what they need. He asks who the new two victims are. Jim explains that victims were Charles Drake and Jonathan Byers. Marco is shocked when he mentions Jonathan, and learns that the Byers family was the main target of the first killing spree. Jim asks Marco if there is anything wrong. Marco tells him that he’s Joyce’s ex-husband, and Jonathan was his son. Jim is surprised by this, explaining that Jonathan and Nancy were adopted by Spencer after Joyce’s death.

He asks if this is the reason why he came back. Marco explains that he only came here to get a job as a detective and he’s put Joyce and his kids behind him. However, now that they are in Spencer’s care, and one of them is dead, Marco asks Jim permission to leave so he can talk to Spencer and Nancy. Jim allows him to do so. We cut to the abandoned high school, where the three killers are talking. Terry is heartbroken and angry that the Author murdered Mike in cold blood like that. The Author asks Terry why she cares.

Terry reveals that Eleven had a huge crush on Mike in school, and they became best friends. She shows him a journal that Mike’s corpse had. It is revealed that Mike drove off into the woods to look for Eleven, since investigations by the police went nowhere, leading to his death. The Author calls Mike “an idiot” for going out by himself. After continuing to belittle and insult Mike, Terry punches the Author out of anger. This prompts the Liberator to grab hold of Terry. The Author is obviously not pleased that she did that, and takes her to another closet, where Eleven and Becky have been relocated and rechained due to the destruction of the previous one’s door.

The Author tells Terry about how Becky helped Jonathan escape the room last episode, and wasn’t going to punish her until Terry punched him. Now, they must face the consequences of their actions. The Author holds out his gun and points it right at Eleven’s head. He starts counting down from 5 to 1 as Eleven cries. Becky and Terry scream and beg for their child’s life (Eleven is Betsy’s niece, but she’s still like a daughter to her). After reaching one, instead of killing Eleven, the Author turns the gun and shoots Becky in the head right in front of Eleven and Terry. Becky Ives, aunt of Jane “Eleven” Ives, and sister of Terry Ives, is dead.

Eleven screams “Auntie!” and sobs over her aunt’s corpse. Terry stands, completely frozen with horror and shock at her sister’s murder. She is so petrified that she doesn’t even resist as the Liberator places her in Becky’s chains. The Liberator says that they are also going to leave both of them in here for 24 hours with Becky’s corpse for the punch, and without food or water. The Author and Liberator then leave. We cut back to school, where Clay and his friends are going to the parking lot to leave. We also see Rod, Sheri, and the other three goons, who are watching them.

Sheri tells Rod that it’s time. Rod reluctantly goes with the others to walk in front of Clay’s group, knowing where this is going. Clay asks them what they are doing. Sheri asks them how it feels to be popular and jokes that Clay and his friends are probably killing again to stay popular. Remembering Jonathan again, Steve slightly nods (even though it obviously wasn’t for popularity), which nobody notices. Sarah steps up and tells Sheri she has no idea what they’ve gone through.

Sheri, who didn’t notice Sarah was there until now, tells her to get away from them and get back to their group. Sarah refuses and tells Sheri she needs to stop being an absolute bitch. Sheri tells Sarah to shut up, and when she doesn’t, Sheri slaps her again. Sarah punches Sheri in the face in response. The goons are surprised by this, but Rod just shakes his head. Sheri looks to the goons for support, which they give, and look at Rod. Rod knows where this is going and has to help Sheri. This is war.

Sheri slaps Sarah and pushes her. Sarah tackles Sheri and smacks her on the ground. Jessica and the female goon start pulling each other’s hair. Clay and Alex fight Rod, slamming him against his own car, and throws some punches. Alex says that he never thought he would be in a fight like this before, even when the killing spree began. Clay agrees. Meanwhile, we see that someone is hiding in the bushes and watching the fight. It’s Matt. Instead of intervening, Matt writes down notes on a clipboard, though we don’t see what exactly he is writing.

Nobody is aware that he is there. Nancy and Steve engage and fight the two male goons, punching them as hard as possible. Eventually, the goons back away, dazed. Nancy and Steve run up to the two goons and kick them in the face, knocking them both down. On the ground, Sheri and Sarah kick and smack each other. Sarah eventually gets the upper hand and smacks Sheri several times. Jessica overpowers the female goon and starts scratching and clawing her. Her face gets bloody. The final move comes with Alex elbowing Rod in the face. With the Liberty crew clearly getting the upper hand, Rod orders a retreat.

When Sheri protests this, Rod grabs her by the hair against her will and drags her away from the fight. The goons follow. The victorious Liberty crew sit together on a bench. Alex says that was one crazy fight, and the killers are in for a big surprise later. Clay agrees, and says that Alex had the best finishing move. Alex says Clay could have done it too. Steve says that they shouldn’t take all the credit and the girls were pretty badass too. The girls smile and blush. As they talk, Matt finishes writing down his unseen notes and sneaks away. Smash to black.

Episode 5: Liberation
Taking place right after the next episode, Matt sneaks back to his home. He types the notes that he took on a computer and stores it into a document, which is titled “The Liberty Eleven” Matt has ranked Nancy and Clay as the best fighters, and Steve and Jessica being the worst. He notes that all of them were impressive in their own way, and he should do further research. Matt finishes typing before Lainie brings Clay home from school. We cut to a Sheri, who is sitting alone at her house. She’s covered up her bruises with makeup so that nobody can see it.

Rod walks up and asks Sheri why he summoned her here. Sheri explains that she wants revenge on the survivors. Rod says that they already tried that, and got their asses kicked, and says that it’s time to let this go. Sheri refuses and insists that she is the queen bee of Liberty High. When someone messes with her, she gets payback, no exceptions. Rod shakes his head, and Sheri asks him why he is being so uncooperative all of a sudden. Rod reveals that he’s gotten delusional with the whole bully thing. After being beaten up by Alex, Rod did not like the experience and thought about almost doing the same thing to Sarah earlier, and feels bad about it.

Rod explains that he’s having a change of heart and wants to end the feud, asking if popularity is really worth it. Sheri says that popularity is worth being “the biggest jackass in the world” When Rod disagrees, Sheri interrupts him and says she her revenge scheme covered. Sheri takes out a box, opens it, and shows Rod what is inside. Upon seeing the box’s contents, Rod mutters “Are you fucking serious?” at Sheri We then cut to Spencer in her home. She is bringing Nancy home from school when she sees Marco coming up the front doorstep.

Spencer tells Nancy to stay in the car while he talks to Marco. She tries to tell him that now is not the best time, but Marco explains that isn’t reason why he here. He tells her about how he is Joyce’s ex-husband and that Nancy and Jonathan were his children. Spencer is shocked by this revelation. Marco explains that he wants to talk to Nancy if that’s possible, and he understands if she wants to be left alone. Spencer decides to go ask Nancy, and tells her about Marco. Nancy decides to do it and walks up to her father.

The trio sit down on a couch inside the home. Nancy asks Marco why he left. Marco reminds her and Spencer about Joyce’s affair with Andrew, and he left because she cheated on him, and felt she didn’t really love him. Nancy asks if he came back to reunite with her and Jonathan. Marco explains that he moved on from Joyce and only came here to become a detective, but now that Jonathan is dead, and he’s met Spencer, he wishes to come back with Nancy.

Spencer explains that she and Marco had a sexual encounter at the Radley bar earlier. Nancy is surprised by this. Marco asks Nancy if it is ok he comes back in her life, explaining that as a detective, he is going to be investigating the murders anyway. Nancy says that she doesn’t know, and she needs time alone to think about it. Nancy goes up to her room alone. Marco tells Spencer he’s sorry about Jonathan and Charles. Spencer says that Charles was a great guy, and the perfect brother for Emily.

She explains that Emily hasn’t been answering any of her text messages, but Sara has responded and Emily is completely devastated. Marco asks her about Jonathan. Spencer explains that Jonathan was a great son, and if she had gotten to know him better, she would have gotten to love him more as a son. Spencer starts to cry, but Marco hugs her. He says that whether or not Nancy wants him back, he will try to help them. Spencer thanks Marco and tightly embraces him. We cut to Emily and Sara’s home.

Emily is very depressed over Charles’ death, crying on the couch. Sara sits next to Emily and puts her arm around her. Emily laments that Elliot was bad enough, but Charles is far worse. Sara says that Emily isn’t alone in her grief, and Charles was her friend too. Sara explains that they can’t afford to lose their resolve, just like before with Jenna. Emily admits that she’s tired of experiencing loss like this, losing everyone she loves, over and over again.

Sara tells Emily that she won’t lose her, and she loves Emily, that why they got married. Emily looks into Sara’s eyes and tells her that she loves her too. They kiss. Sara begins to take off her shirt for full sex, but the doorbell rings. Sara sighs, obviously annoyed that sex was interrupted, and goes to get the doorbell. Sara opens the door, only to find the Liberator on the other side. The Liberator quickly subdues Sara with knockout gas before she can react. Emily, meanwhile, is waiting for Sara to come back. She becomes distracted when she notices a family photo.

In the photo is Archer Dunhill, her biological father, Mary Drake, her biological mother, herself, and Charles. Emily starts to cry, asking why they couldn’t all just remain together. Just then, the Liberator sprays Emily with knockout gas and subdues her. The Liberator drags her and Sara away. We cut to Kenneth’s prison cell, where he is sitting. Bob comes up and tells Kenneth that he has a visitor. He takes him to the visitor center, where Clay and Alex are waiting.

Kenneth is surprised to see them and ask why they are here. Clay and Alex explains that Jonathan and Charles have been murdered. Kenneth is absolutely stunned at this, and says that he’s sorry. Alex then shows Kenneth an off-screen text from the Author, which told them to go to Kenneth for answers. Clay asks Kenneth what he knows. Kenneth sighs and admits he has been keeping secrets since he was arrested. He explains that he knew about the Author’s existence all along. Clay demands to know why he didn’t tell them.

Kenneth explains that he wanted the survivors to move on and have happiness in their lives. All hope of that for him was lost when he has to kill his own father (Andrew), and went to jail. Now, however, it’s time for him to reveal everything and accept the reality of the world. Kenneth tells Clay and Alex that the Author is the true mastermind killer, not Andrew, and he will still be the main killer today. The Liberator, he assumes, being the secondary. Clay asks if there is anything else he is keeping secret.

Kenneth then reveals that Barb is not Joyce and Andrew’s child, and she was lied to. Clay and Alex are shocked by this, and ask who it really is. Before he can answer, Bob comes up and tell Kenneth that his time is up. He takes Kenneth, who tells Alex and Clay to come back tomorrow for answers, back to his cell. Dismayed at how close they got only to fail, Alex and Clay leave. They wonder if the real second child could be the Author, ruling out the Liberator since he’s targeting the now Rosewood Three.

We cut to the abandoned school, where Sara and Emily are tied to chairs. Their binds are tighter than from when Montgomery did it in season 1. The Liberator walks up to them, and introduces himself to the couple. Emily asks the Liberator what he wants. He explains that, like Montgomery, he wants revenge on the Rosewood Five, and he’ll do anything to achieve that. First, however, he wants to have some fun. The Liberator decides that he wants to play a real-life horror trivia game with Emily.

The Liberator explains there will be a total of four questions, and for each one that she gets wrong, he will cut off one of Sara’s fingers with his claws. He shows the claws to Emily, which he comments are “as sharp as fuck” The Liberator decides to make the first one easy and asks Emily how many killers she has personally killed, with her correctly answering two (Maya and Montgomery). The Liberator asks Emily who the first victims of the Rosewood killing spree were. Emily correctly answers it was the Dilaurentis family (Jessica, Kenneth, Jason and Alison).

The third question is how many victims exactly were killed throughout all three of the Rosewood murder sprees. Emily says there is “no way she would know that” The Liberator declares that is a wrong answer and hacks off a finger on Sara’s left hand with the claws. Sara screams in pain. Moving on, the Liberator asks Emily how he killed Charles, which Emily points out isn’t fair because she didn’t see it. The Liberator announces that he “butchered him like a pig” and hacks off a finger on Sara’s right hand. Sara screams again, but tries to contain the pain. Emily shouts that this was totally completely unfair.

The Liberator tells Emily that she can’t do anything about it, just like she couldn’t do anything to save her “shitty brother” Emily screams at the Liberator to “shut the fuck up before I make you” Amused that Emily has the guts to threaten him, the Liberator unties her bind and removes the claws from his hands. He decides to let Emily try to make him shut up, and makes it fair by disarming himself of the claws. The Liberator tells Emily to “come and have a go” if she isn’t scared that is. Emily looks at Sara, who, angry at the Liberator for Elliot’s death, tells Emily to kick his ass. Emily says it will be “my pleasure”

She cracks her knuckles and charges at the Liberator, and they fight. Proving she hasn’t aged a bit, Emily demonstrates strong fighting skills, but so does the Liberator, who is also shielded from Emily’s blows with his reinforced mask from his fight with Sara. Emily’s punches prove unable to breach the mask’s defenses, so she goes for a kick to the head, but the Liberator ducks under her foot. He then kicks Emily in the chest and face. He grabs her, slams her against the wall and throws her to the floor. The Liberator says that she is every bit as pathetic as Charles was, and he didn’t even use his claws on him either.

Emily gets up and screams at him to stop mocking her brother. The Liberator says that she’s going to die no matter what she does, and while Emily thinks she is a survivor, she’s just a victim, always has been and always will be. An angry Emily asks the Liberator if a victim could do “this” She kicks him in the chest and does a leg sweep on him. Emily jumps on and stomps right on the Liberator’s face. He shouts and rolls himself off of Emily. Before the Liberator can pick himself up, Emily spins around and does a kick across his face, causing the mask to crack. It’s damaged, but not broken.

We can hear the Liberator coughing up blood inside the mask. Sara cheers Emily on, who goes kick him again. Realizing it’s time to stop playing around, the Liberator grabs Emily’s foot and flips her over. He then stomps on Emily’s groin. The Liberator tells Emily, who is in great agony, that they will have to do this again sometime, and runs off. After recovering, Emily unties Sara and asks how her hands are doing. Sara has suffered some blood loss, but she’ll be alright. Although bloody and bruised, Emily hugs her wife in happiness.

We cut to Kenneth’s prison cell again, where Bob is unlocking it. Kenneth asks Bob what he is doing. He tells Kenneth to follow him and not make any noise, otherwise he will have to make look it Kenneth is escaping on his own. Kenneth nods and follows him through the back of the police station. Eventually, they make it out of the building and into the woods, where Jessica is waiting. Jessica goes for a hug, but Kenneth resists and asks Jessica what he is doing. Jessica reveals that she wants to bust Kenneth out of prison and visited Bob in his home to get his help.

Bob, who didn’t want Kenneth to stay in jail either, agreed to help Jessica get him out, though Jessica had to pay him some money. Jessica tells Kenneth to go, but Kenneth resists and tells Jessica to listen to him. He explains that he can’t be a fugitive forever, and he needs to go back and face the consequences of his actions. Bob and Jessica are shocked by Kenneth’s unwillingness to escape. Jessica tells Kenneth if he really loved her, he would do this. Kenneth explains that he’s been trying to tell Jessica that she needs to accept reality and they can’t be together.

Kenneth admits that he does love Jessica, and he always has, but he’s not going spend his entire life as a coward who won’t face the consequences of his actions. Jessica is in tears, and mutters “I don’t want to let you go. I love you” Kenneth strokes her face and gives her a smile. Heartbroken, Jessica finally accepts reality and tells Bob that they need to put Kenneth back. Bob is confused on the reversal, but reluctantly decides to bring Kenneth back to jail. Kenneth and Jessica decide to make a final goodbye kiss before they depart.

As they lean toward each other, however, three nails are suddenly shot into Bob’s head. Bob the guard is dead. Jessica and Kenneth spin around to see Terry, who shoots a nail into their legs. They scream out. As Terry approaches, Kenneth asks her if she is the blackmailed killer. Terry remains silent. Jessica tells her not to do this. Terry looks like she is about to speak. However, Terry is too traumatized to speak from her sister’s death, and simply carries out her master’s requests without question now. She knocks out Kenneth and Jessica, dragging them off. Smash to black.

Episode 6: Lost Love
We cut to three days later at Jonathan’s funeral, where all of his friends and family are attending, including Marco, Spencer, Nancy and Steve, who only came with them because he didn’t want to look suspicious. Jessica is also there, and it is revealed that Terry let her go at the Author’s request, but took Kenneth with him. Sad music plays as everybody walks up behind the men carrying Jonathan's coffin to the freshly dug up earth where the coffin will be buried.

As the coffin is lowered into the ground, everybody cries except for Steve, who pretends to be sad, but doesn’t regret what really happened. Everybody picks up a piece of dirt and pours it into Jonathan’s grave. When it is Nancy’s turn to put dirt in, she cannot bring herself to do it, but Spencer helps her say goodbye. Nancy starts to cry, and she helps comfort her. Meanwhile, Steve is approached by Marco, who introduces himself. He asks to know how Jonathan died, knowing that Steve was there. Nancy and Spencer hear this and ask Steve what happened too.

After initial reluctance, Steve tells them a concocted story. He lies to them that once they were cornered, Jonathan willingly tackled the Author and shouted at Steve to go without him. Steve obeyed his friend’s wishes and left. As Steve speaks, flashbacks of Jonathan's final moments are shown, and it is clear that these final moments are vastly different from what Shane describes to the group. Steve concludes that Jonathan went out on his own terms, “just like a badass would” Nancy hugs her boyfriend, unaware of his treachery.

Jessica and Clay talk on their own. Jessica asks Clay if he’s heard from Kenneth and Jessica yet, revealing that they have been missing since three days ago. Clay explains that he hasn’t, and finds it unusual that the killers haven’t called him or said anything. As they debate the fate of Kenneth, we cut to the abandoned school, where Kenneth is. He’s been strapped to a wheelchair and the Author has been starving him for the past 24 hours like he did to Terry.

He is weak but remains clinging to life. As he does, the Author comes in. He says that break time is over, and wheels him out of the room, taking Kenneth to the stage in the auditorium. The Author tells Kenneth to wait there, not like they have a choice anyway. He goes to Terry, who silently looks up at her master without saying a word. The Author is obviously very pleased at how he has broken Terry. He tells her that her next assignment is to meet up with the Liberator, who has picked the next target.

The Author wants to make “a good impression” when they got out of their break, but allows her to speak with Eleven first. Terry goes into the janitor’s closet, where Eleven looks emotionally worse than before. Terry tells Eleven to look at her and tells her to remain strong “like her” It is revealed that Terry isn’t completely broken yet, but she’s very close to it. She tells her daughter that even with Becky dead, they will find some way out of this. She walks off.

We cut to outside of Alex’s house, where Terry meets with the Liberator. He explains to her that he intends to ambush Alex and kill him when he arrives home from the funeral. Terry is to pin him down while the Liberator stabs him to death. Just then, Alex comes up. Before the killers can attack him, Alex nears a noise. When he goes to investigate, Alex is jumped and knocked out by two hooded figures, who are revealed to be Sheri’s two male goons.

The rest of the gang come and carry Alex to the abandoned shed Justin used. Intrigued, the killers follow closely. They tie Alex up in a chair. Rod asks what everyone is doing, as Sheri said they were only going to knock them out, not kidnap him. Sheri explains that she intends to torture Alex to send Clay a message. Rod plays along and asks how this will work. Sheri says that they will take turns beating up Alex, then drop him off at Clay’s home. She tells Rod to wake him up, while she and the others go to get her whip. After everyone else leaves, Rod wakes Alex up.

He asks what is happening. Rod explains that Sheri and the gang intend to torture him, which is absolutely ridiculous. He begins untying Alex from the chair and tells him they don’t have a lot of time. Alex asks what he is doing. Rod explains that he’s grown delusional with the whole bullying thing, and Sheri has taken the rivalry way too far. Therefore, he is going to let Alex go. Alex is surprised by this, and asks if he really doing it even after Alex beat him up during the fight. After freeing Alex, Rod admits that he deserved that elbow to the face and helps carry Alex to the back door.

However, when they try to sneak out, Sheri and her goons are behind the door; they knew Rod was going to free Alex, and left him alone there to test his loyalty to them, and he failed, utterly. Sheri, who has the whip, says that Rod is “Beyond fucked” We then cut back to the abandoned school, where the Author is talking to Kenneth, who asks him what he wants with him. The Author explains that he finds Kenneth to be a complex survivor, and wants to ask him some questions.

He threatens to go rape Jessica if Kenneth doesn’t comply. Horrified at the thought, Kenneth agrees to comply. The Author asks him how he felt when he killed his father, Andrew Baker. Kenneth explains he was filled with regret and remorse, and he didn’t have anything left after that. The Author asks him about Jessica. Kenneth explains that he and Jessica need each other, but he knows it would never happen. Kenneth wanted to face reality and turn himself back in until “that new killer (Terry)” stopped him.

The Author asks again if Kenneth and Jessica mean everything to each other. Kenneth confirms this, and mentions that Jessica would devastated if he died. The Author starts chuckling, and Kenneth realizes that the Author tricked him into revealing valuable information. The Author then takes out a camera and presses record. He says that they’re going to make a “tape 11”. Kenneth tilts his head in confusion. We cut back to the abandoned shed. Rod and Alex try to persuade them to let them go, but Sheri refuses to stand down. Rod shouts that this has been ridiculous from the start, and popularity doesn’t matter. Every person in the world is the same.

As Sheri and the goons laugh at Rod’s “shitty speech”, Rod and Alex notice the Liberator approaching. They shout at the others to look behind them, but Sheri thinks it’s a trick and ignores it. She tells the male goons to tie up Rod and Alex, deciding that she’s going to whip both of them now. As they approach to do so, the Liberator comes up behind Sheri and swings the claws through her back, causing her to drop the whip, which he kicks away. The goons look on in horror as their leader is stabbed. The Liberator then attacks the goons with his claws.

He slashes the female’s throat open and stabs the males through the head, killing them. Rod and Alex try to escape through the front door, but Rod is caught when the Liberator grabs him by his shirt and yanks him back. Alex turns back, but Rod shakes his head, knowing he can’t be saved; Alex runs off and escapes. The Liberator drags Rod past the bleeding and injured Sheri outside. Terry comes up, and the Liberator tells her to kill him. Rod pleads with her not to. She hesitates for moment, but Terry brutally hacks Rod to death with a machete.

Rod Woodward, boyfriend of Sheri Holland, is dead. The Liberator goes inside with Terry to deal with Sheri, who begins crawling toward the whip. As she tries to do so, The Liberator says that he hates queen bee bitches as much as the Rosewood Five, and he can’t stand their attitude. Sheri tries to beg for mercy, but the Liberator ignores her and picks up the whip. The Liberator says that he would have Terry do this, but he’s never killed with a whip before, and it should be fun. The Liberator whips Sheri in the back for over a minute.

Sheri’s back quickly begins bleeding and scars cover it now. At one point, he whips her in the groin. Sheri shrieks in extreme pain, but eventually stops. Sheri Holland, queen bee bitch and girlfriend of Rod Woodard, is dead. Satisfied, the Liberator then leaves with Terry, taking the whip with him. We cut back to the abandoned school, where Kenneth and the Author have finished recording their tape. They have agreed on a deal: the Author has called down Jessica and Clay to the scene. When they arrive, Kenneth is too immediately show them tape 11, which has the identity of his sibling on it.

The Author frees Kenneth from his binds and points to the door before running off. Kenneth is surprised that the Author is letting him go free like this, but nevertheless proceeds toward the door. After exiting the building, Kenneth waits for his friends to arrive. During this, the Author comes back and runs toward Kenneth. He shoves his knife into his stomach; the Author had never planned to spare Kenneth, and it was all a trick to give him false hope. The Author shoves the knife deeper into his stomach and slams Kenneth against the wall. He stabs him twice more in the stomach. Kenneth gasps for breath.

The Author does the last stab just as Jessica and Clay arrive. He runs off as Clay and Jessica rush toward a seriously injured Kenneth. Clay prepares to call 911, but Kenneth tells him not to. Knowing the severity of his injuries, Kenneth wishes to spend his final moments with his best friend and lover. Jessica is in tears. Kenneth says that he knew this might happen, and their separation was inevitable. Jessica sobs that she does not want to lose Kenneth, asking what she will do with him gone.

Kenneth tells her that he’s not her only friend and points out Clay. Jessica admits that Clay is her best friend, but she loves Kenneth, who tells her that he’s not the only one who was. Jessica asks if Kenneth is referring to Alex; Kenneth confirms this, explaining that although he has gone through more than Alex has, he still deserves a happy ending. He says that there is something else they should know. Clay asks what it is. Kenneth hands them tape 11, which has the identity of his half-brother. He decides to tell them now so they can know who to give the tape to. The child of Andrew Baker and Joyce Byers is…

Alex Standall. Clay and Jessica are stunned by this. Kenneth explains that before they recorded the tape, the Author admitted to having Andrew kill Alex’s parents so that they would not tell him who he really was. They found it easier to recruit Barb instead, and far more “interesting”. Kenneth is now rapidly fading and asks Jessica to look up to the night sky with him. Jessica lies next to Kenneth and looks up. They hold hands together. With his dying breath, Kenneth mutters “I can see our stars” With that, Kenneth goes limp and his eyes roll over.

Kenneth Baker, brother of Hannah baker and Alex Standall, and lover of Jessica Davis, is dead. Jessica cradles Kenneth’s corpse in her arms and cries her eyes out. Clay is also distraught at his best friend’s death. He helps comfort Jessica. As they mourn, the Author is shown to still be watching in the woods. He tells that audience if they think that was horrible, just wait until they see what comes next. Smash to black.

Episode 7: New Love
We open on the next morning, where the police are at the school. Kenneth’s body is being taken away in a body bag and loaded into a corner van, which drives off. Jessica is sitting in a corner, completely distraught. Not wanting to disturb her with questions, Jim has asked Clay about what happened. Feeling bad for Jessica, Jim hands Clay some anti-depression pills to give to Jessica. When asked he’s helping then, Jim admits that he’s had a dark past of his own, one that nearly ruined his life.

Clay asks what it is. Jim explains that he was nearly framed for a crime that he did not commit, and he had to go “desperate measures” to get out of it. As a result of this, Jim hates to see people’s lives ruined or murdered like his almost did, which inspired him to become a sheriff and help others. Clay asks what the crime was and what he had to do, but Jim doesn’t want to talk about it. He walks off. Clay goes up to Jessica.

He doesn’t ask her how she is feeling, knowing the answer to it. They stay silent, but Jessica eventually hugs Clay. She says that it’s going to be hard to move on from losing Kenneth, but she will try. Jessica says that she’s going to need some time alone at home, meaning she might not be able to help her friends catch the Author. Clay says he understands. We cut to Spencer’s home, where she, Nancy and Marco are talking. They’re making a final decision whether Nancy will accept Marco into her life again.

Nancy explains that she didn’t know at first if Marco’s intentions were good or not, but when he comforted her at Jonathan’s funeral, he realized he was a good dad. She decides to let Marco be her dad again and hugs him. Spencer joins in on the hug. After the hug, Marco asks if she can talk to Spencer upstairs alone. Nancy lets them do so. In Spencer’s room, Marco asks if she’s thought about their encounter in the bar earlier, not asking earlier because of Jonathan’s death.

Spencer tells Marco about her earlier conversation with Emily and Sara, admitting that she needs to move on from her losses and find some new love. She decides to embrace Marco as her new boyfriend. Meanwhile, Emily and Sara are talking at their home. Emily tells Sara that she’s sorry about getting those questions wrong and causing Sara to lose her fingers. Sara insists that it’s not her fault, and it’s nobody’s but the Liberator. She says that she’s going to have “a little fun” with the Liberator once they catch him. Emily smiles, but says “not if I get there first” Sara and Emily look at each other.

They go up to Emily’s room and decide to take a break from the cruel world. They take off their clothes, except for their bra and underwear. The couple look very sexy. The two climb onto the bed, with Sara on top and have sex. We see Marco and Spencer’s sex scene, and Sara and Emily’s sex scene happening at the same time. It is evident that the two couple are enjoying taking pressure off of them and having the time of their lives together. Spencer looks to be the most devoted due to not having sex for so long.

We cut to Jessica, who is going to Alex’s home. When she arrives, she knocks on the door and Alex answers. Having heard of Kenneth’s death, he hugs Jessica. Alex is also sad about Kenneth and lets Jessica in. They sit on a couch and talk about him. Alex says that Kenneth led them on the path of redemption and how taught them how to move on with their lives. He says that they can’t let Kenneth’s death and all he has done be in vain. Jessica agrees and explains that Kenneth has given her tape 11 to show him.

Curious, Alex asks what is in it. Jessica says that she’ll see and plays the tape. Kenneth comes up on the screen and explains that the Author is recording him. In his final moments, Kenneth tells Alex that the tape is for him, and before he asks, it’s not another sin. Alex looks confused. Kenneth explains that he’s glad that he helped Jessica and Alex move on from what they did to his sister, and there’s another person in his family he should know: Alex himself, who is Andrew and Joyce’s real son. Alex is stunned.

Kenneth explains that the Author had Andrew kill his parents to prevent him from finding out the truth until now. He says that Alex is like a best friend to him, like how he loves Jessica. Knowing he won’t make it out alive, he urges Alex to take care of Jessica and make sure she survives. Kenneth ends tape 11 with the words “I love you, Jessica”. Alex asks Jessica if everything on here is really true. Jessica explains Kenneth confirmed it in his dying moments. Alex doesn’t know what to say.

Jessica does it for him and explains that Kenneth was like a mentor to them, having helped them move on from guilt from their sins and becoming whole new people. Alex and Jessica agree they would have given their lives for him and resolve to survive the killing spree together. They share a hug, symbolizing their increasing bond. Of course, they don’t save sex because the person Jessica loved literally just died. We cut to Steve’s home, where he is alone. Just then, his phone rings.

Steve picks it up and hears the Author on the other end, who asks him how he feels after killing Jonathan. Steve tells him to get to the point or he’s hanging up. The Author explains that he is considering exposing the truth to Nancy. When Steve threatens to kill the Author if he does so, he responds that he shouldn’t be the one to worry about. The Author wants to test Steve’s resolve to stay alive and out of prison. Just then, Steve hears a knock on the door, which the Author confirms is his new killer (Terry), who is dropping something off at the doorstep. Steve goes outside and finds a handgun.

He picks it up and notices it only has one bullet. The Author explains that he is going to alert one person to what Steve did, and if he wants to avoid going to jail, Steve must kill that person. The Author points out he is being “generous” by giving Steve a weapon to do the job with. Steve tries to ask the Author who he intends to tell, but he hangs up. Afterwards, Steve examines the handgun and concludes that he most likely would kill someone to cover up his crime. Clay and Sarah are having dinner alone downstairs, as Clay invited Sarah over to bond with her.

In Matt’s room, Lainie wants to know what Matt has been hiding from them. Matt decides that it’s time to show her and logs into his computer, showing her the document that he made. Lainie takes a look and discovers it contains not only a rating of strongest to weakest in the now Liberty Eight, but also ideas for murder and how to torment people. One of the ideas is tricking one of the teens into killing their own mother. Lainie demands to know what the meaning for this is. Matt explains he is sending to those documents to his “boss”, whom he has secretly been working with.

When Lainie asks who the boss is, Matt responds by pulling out a can of knockout gas and spraying her with it. Matt then reveals to the unconscious Lainie that his “boss” is actually the Author. He then goes into his closet, where the worn-out Liberator costume is revealed to be stored in. There is also a second one, new and fresh. He smiles at it, and the truth quickly becomes clear: Matt Jensen is the Liberator. We cut back to downstairs, where Clay and Sarah have finished dinner together. Sarah has texted Jim if she can sleep with Clay, to which he lets her.

Clay calls upstairs and asks his parents if Sarah can sleep with her. Matt, who is in the process of putting the worn-out Liberator costume on Lainie, shouts that’s ok. Clay and Sarah then go into Clay’s bed. She says that she never had sex before, and in fact hasn’t had a boyfriend. Clay asks how that’s possible, stating that Sarah is the “beauty queen” of Liberty High School. Sarah laughs at Clay’s flirting. She decides that Clay is the “handsome king” of Liberty High School. Clay laughs at Sarah’s flirting.

Finding Clay romantic, Sarah begins to strip down to have sex with him, but only gets barefoot before Clay hears a knock on the door. He opens the door to unknowingly see Matt, who has put on the new Liberator costume. Matt stabs his son’s shoulder. Clay screams and headbutts Matt. Sarah is shocked to see a killer for the first time. Matt goes to stab Clay again, but Sarah runs up and kicks him in the chest. Matt then runs away. Surprised, Clay says that was a great kick. Sarah reveals that since her father was the sheriff, she decided to be tough like him.

She got some karate lessons, which was how she overpowered Sheri in episode 4. She was too afraid to use it against her gang until then. Clay wants to go follow the Liberator before he escapes. Although scared, Sarah, not wanting to lose Clay, agrees and follows him. They see the Liberator standing near a balcony. However, we can tell from the crack on the mask that this is actually Lainie, whom Matt has placed so that Clay and Sarah will attack her.

Lainie, who has also been gagged by Matt, tries to wave her hands at her son. Not understanding, Sarah runs up and punches Lainie in the face. Lainie gets closer to the balcony’s edge but does not fall off. Clay then runs up and does a kick on his mother’s face, which knocks her off the balcony. Lainie falls onto the concrete floor, killing her on impact. Lainie Jensen, mother of Clay Jensen, and wife of Matt Jensen, is dead. Clay and Sarah look down from the balcony. They conclude themselves as “one tough couple” and high five each other, believing they have vanquished a serial killer.

Meanwhile, Matt has put his costume back in the closet and set himself up on the bed. He wearing earmuffs to make it seem like he didn’t hear anything. Matt usually wears earmuffs to get peace and quiet when he is sleeping anyway. Matt momentarily takes one off to listen to what is happening and hears the thump from Lainie’s fall, signaling her death. Before putting his earmuff back on, he texts to the Author that “I have the most dumbass son ever” Matt then lets out a devious and evil smile. Smash to black.

Episode 8: Secrets
We open on a half hour later. The police are swarming the Jensen house. Marco is questioning Clay, Matt and Sarah about what happened. Clay and Sarah explain that the killer attacked them, and they killed him in self-defense. Suddenly, their conversation is interrupted by Jim, who reveals that he has some bad news. He explains that when they took the mask off the body, they found somebody gagged underneath, meaning this was not the Liberator who Clay and Sarah killed.

Clay explains he was attacked, showing his shoulder wound. Jim says that he believes there were two people, the Liberator, and his decoy. Sarah asks her father if they know the identity of the decoy. Jim falls silent. Clay and Jensen become worried at this silence. Jim reveals to them that the decoy was Lainie, much to Clay and Sarah’s horror. Matt pretends to be devastated at his wife’s death and “mourns” with Sarah. Jim takes Sarah away with him, who are both devastated that she helped kill an innocent person.

We open on the next morning. Jim and Sarah are having breakfast together, but Sarah finds herself unable to eat. Jim knows why and tells Sarah that what happened to Lainie wasn’t her fault. Sarah says that she behaved recklessly last night and she should have been more careful. Jim explains that she couldn’t have known that it was going to be a decoy, and that was why he and Marco didn’t press any charges against her. She’s a good girl, and it was all a mistake.

Sarah hugs her dad, who asks her why she wanted to stay at the Jensen house anyway. Sarah explains that she feels attracted to Clay and admits that she has a crush on him. This increased after the fight with Sheri and her gang in episode 4. Jim says that they would make a “tough couple” Sarah explains that she believes Clay might break up with her after what they did together. Before Jim can respond, he gets a knock on the door.

Jim and Sarah open it to find Matt in his Liberator costume, who hits them over the head with a hammer, knocking both of them unconscious. We then cut to Nancy and her family, Emily and Sara, and Steve meeting up at his house. They are talking about what the Liberator has done last night. Emily and Sara find it strange because the Liberator has only been targeting the Rosewood Five up until now, with Sara showing her finger stumps as proof. Nancy suggests he might also have a grudge against the Jensen family.

Steve asks if anyone knows something about psychology, they should bring it up. Emily steps up, explaining that an old friend of hers was a psychology teacher, Ezra Fitz. Emily had past conversations with him referring to the Rosewood murder sprees. Ezra mentioned that psychopaths have often no empathy for their victims and they love what they are doing. Marco comments that he read something like that when he studied the Rosewood cases. He suggests that this killer might be a secret killer that aided Jenna.

Spencer doubts that they would wait over 10 years to get their revenge, and besides, they most likely would have been at the final showdown with Bethany and Jenna. Marco says that this is true, and asks if anyone has a suspect, but nobody does. Just then, Steve gets a text on his phone, which says “Don’t even bother guessing, you’ll know soon enough. Also, be prepared tomorrow. I want you to shoot her in the head.” This reveals that the person Steve will confront Steve is a female. Steve realizes it’s most likely going to be Nancy and looks at her, which she doesn’t notice.

He thinks to himself in his head, wondering if he has the emotional strength to murder the girl that he loves. We cut to the Hopper house, where Sarah and Jim are tied up in chairs. They wake up and notice Clay is tied up too. He explains that he was hit from behind by someone. Just then, Matt, in his costume comes in. He asks everyone if last night was fun for them. Clay shouts at Matt that he made him kill his own mother. Matt says that the Jensen family is way more fucked up than he knows right now.

Sarah and Jim ask him what he is talking about. Matt then removes his costume and mask, revealing himself to the shocked trio. Matt asks if they are surprised, but quickly realizes their facial expression provide the answer for him. He sits on a table, smiling. Clay asks his father what the fuck he is doing. Matt explains that he is the Liberator and the Author’s right hand man, and takes responsibility for dressing Lainie up and making Sarah and Clay kill her. Sarah asks what kind of father Matt is. Matt says that he is a “very fucked up dad” at the least, explaining he has no regret for what he’s done.

Clay asks Matt if he loves him, which Matt confirms that he does not. Jim demands to know why Matt is doing this. Matt confirms that he has a grudge against the Rosewood Five, but does not state why it is. He also admits that he has a grudge against his family, and Clay demands to know why. Matt says he’ll reveal that part. Matt reveals that Lainie had cheated on him with a random guy and was a slut. The affair lasted a little while, which resulted in the birth of a child: Clay Jensen, meaning that Clay was never Matt’s son.

Clay is shocked to learn the truth. Covering up the affair, Lainie lied to Matt about how Clay originated and said it was his baby. Matt eventually found out the truth and wanted revenge on his wife, which was when he was recruited by the Author. Matt explains that he wants to eventually kill Clay because he isn’t his son and he feels like he wasted 17 years of his life raising him. Matt then decides to reveal something else. He tells Jim to confess what crime he was nearly framed for and threatens to kill Sarah if he doesn’t.

Jim explains to his daughter and Clay that the crime was shooting Spencer at her house during a robbery, the story she told to Joyce in season 1. Sarah and Clay are shocked by this. Jim explains that he was nearly found guilty, which forced him to confront one of the lawyers at his home, whom he suspected was being dirty. He had to tie him up in a chair and get dark, threatening to castrate him. Eventually, Jim learned that the judge was being bribed to declare Jim guilty, but Jim managed to bribe the judge at a bigger price, allowing him to be declared innocent.

Matt then reveals he is the real robber that shot Spencer. Back then, Matt did not have a real grudge against the Rosewood Five and Spencer being the owner of the house was random. He was disappointed that the gunshot didn’t kill her though, so he arranged with the judge to have Jim framed, anonymously, so the judge didn’t know who was really behind it, but was just corrupt. After finishing his story, Matt says that the Hopper family should stop “intruding” into his plans.

Jim refuses, and vows to bring Matt to justice for his crimes, which angers him. Annoyed at Jim’s persistence, Matt lights a match and throws it at Jim, lighting him on fire. A hysterical Sarah screams as her father burns to death in front of her. Jim Hopper, sheriff of Liberty and father of Sarah Hopper, is dead. Matt says he would light Sarah on fire, but he’ll let her and Clay get together, if only to tear them apart. Clay shouts at his adoptive dad that he is a sick fuck. Matt sarcastically responds that this is a huge news flash and someone should tell the press.

Matt holds the match near his Clay’s face, and tells him to alert everyone that he is the Liberator. He wants him to spread the message that the Rosewood three are going down, as well as everyone else that they love. Matt then leaves Sarah and Clay with Jim’s burning corpse. We cut to the abandoned school, where Terry is secretly meeting with Eleven in the janitor’s closet. She breaks the chains restraining her with a hammer. Terry explains that it’s time for Eleven to escape.

She reveals that she during the three day time jump between episodes 6-7, Terry overheard a conversation between Matt and the Author, in which she discovered they were planning to kill Eleven once the killing spree is over, just to be cruel to Terry. Terry then decided it was time for an escape plan. She tells Eleven to get into the ventilation systems and get outside, giving her a paper with a phone number. Terry tells Eleven to call this number, and the people on the other end will help. As she lifts up Eleven to get her into the air vent, the Author appears and confronts them both.

The Author states that he is very disappointed in Terry for what she has done, and now he must kill both of them. Terry manages to get Eleven into the air vent before the Author attacks her. She screams at her daughter to escape, meaning that Eleven must leave Terry behind. Eleven initially does not want to do it, but at Terry’s insistence, she is forced to crawl through the vents and leave her mother behind. Terry attempts to fight the Author, but he is much too strong. He throws her off. The Author says that when he gets his hands on Eleven, he’s going to skin her alive, and it’s all Terry’s fault.

Terry tells the Author to stay away from her daughter, and she’s more badass than he’ll ever realize. The Author laughs, believing Eleven is a harmless little child. He then stabs Terry in the heart. Terry Ives, new third killer, mother of Jane “Eleven” Ives, and sister of Becky Ives, is dead. The Author takes out his phone and calls Matt, who en route to the abandoned school. He tells him that Eleven is getting away, and orders him to catch her and bring her to him, so he can skin her alive. Matt obliges and sets off for his search. Smash to black.

Episode 9: Manhunt
We open on Eleven, who has exited the air vents and is running throughout the woods, seeking some kind of shelter. Eleven is running as fast is she can, but ends up tiring herself in the process. This causes her to become sweaty and her movement to slow down. Meanwhile, Matt is searching for her, looking around for footprints. Eventually, Eleven becomes too exhausted to continue and passes out close to a nearby restaurant called Benny’s Burgers. Inside the store, the owner, Benny Hammond, is making burgers.

The restaurant is not busy and there aren’t any customers. Benny is a bit depressed at this, but continues flipping burgers on his grill. During this, Benny looks out a window and notices Eleven lying unconscious on the ground. Concerned, Benny decides to stop what he is doing and help the poor girl, and leaves the restaurant. We cut to the next morning at the police station. Marco has become sheriff due to Jim’s death and is in charge of the investigation. Marco and the Rosewood Three are talking in his office.

Marco is telling Spencer about Matt’s revelation, and how the police found Sarah and Clay, who told them everything. Sara and Spencer go to comfort Sarah and Clay in the waiting room. Spencer expresses shock that Matt is the Liberator and asks what the motive was. Marco explains that Matt isn’t Clay’s real father and is the robber that shot Spencer, and nearly framed Jim for it. Spencer is surprised by this. She wonders if Matt could have been involved in the Rosewood murder spree.

Marco contradicts this by explaining that Matt didn’t have a grudge against the Rosewood Five at that time and only shot Spencer because he was robbing her. Something must have been triggered that made him go after the Rosewood Five now. Spencer and Marco wonder what this could be. At the waiting room, Sarah is crying because of Jim’s death, and Clay is doing the same over the truth about his birth. Emily goes to Clay and tells him she knows how this kind of betrayal feels.

Clay understands this, but asks Emily how she was able to get past it. Emily explains that she decided to stay and fight, instead of giving in to what the killers wanted and committing suicide. Clay asks if Emily is encouraging him to fight his dad. Emily says yes. Clay says that he’ll do it, for his friend and his mother. Meanwhile, Sara is talking to Sarah, who is even more depressed than Clay is due to seeing her father burn to death.

Sarah says that Jim did so much to preserve his life, referring to his backstory of avoiding getting charged with Spencer’s shooting. Sarah says that he deserved a happy ending, and it’s unfair that he didn’t get it. Sara says that her parents, and her uncle, Walter Harvey, deserved it too. Sara tries to cheer Sarah up by making a joke that they practically share the same name. They laugh at the joke briefly before Sarah goes back to crying.

We cut to Benny’s Burgers, where Eleven is waking up on a chair. Benny explains to her that he found her unconscious and carried her in here for her own safety. Benny asks Eleven who she is and why he found her unconscious. Eleven hesitates to respond, obviously very shy, but relents after Benny gives her a hamburger to eat. It’s similar to their meeting in Stranger Things. Eleven tells Benny her name and that she was running away from a serial killer.

Benny asks Eleven for her mother’s phone number so she can pick her up, which causes Eleven to cry. She admits to Benny that her mother and her aunt have been murdered by the Author, and that Terry was the third killer, being blackmailed to help them in exchange for Eleven’s life. Benny is stunned at Eleven’s story. When he asks about her father, Eleven cries again. Benny gives her a tissue to wipe off the tears, and asks if something’s happened to her father as well. Although in tears, Eleven explains that her father was an abusive man, toward her and Terry.

One day, he tried to rape Terry and knocked Eleven out when she tried to intervene. Terry defended herself by stabbing her husband in the throat with a butcher’s knife, killing him. Since Terry had experience killing people, the Author decided she was the perfect person to blackmail. With her dead, Eleven has lost her entire biological family. It’s obvious that Benny feels very bad for Eleven at this point. Since he hasn’t turned her over to the killers, Eleven concludes that Benny is a good guy and agrees to trust him.

Eleven shows Benny a phone number that Terry gave him and asks to use the phone. Benny lets her do so, and she dials the number, finding Marco on the other end. Eleven tells them everything about how she ran away from the killers and how Terry is dead. Benny also talks on the phone and explains how he found Eleven unconscious. Marco agrees to come pick her up and see what they should do with her. Meanwhile, we cut to Steve, who is alone at his home. He is examining the handgun again.

Just then, his doorbell rings. After hiding the handgun, Steve opens the door to find Nancy on the other side. She looks very pissed off. Nancy asks Steve how he could have lied to her all this time. Steve sucks it up and asks Nancy if she knows the truth. Nancy reveals that the Author called her earlier and told her the truth about Jonathan’s sacrifice. She went to confront Steve while Spencer and Marco were away at the police station. Nancy demands to know why he sacrificed Jonathan.

Steve explains that he was desperate, and the Author was going to kill them both if he didn’t sacrifice Jonathan. Nancy explains that the bigger thing she is mad about is that Steve completely lied to them about how it happened. Steve tries to explain that he wanted to avoid jail to continue his relationship with Nancy, but Nancy declares that they are over and Steve is going to jail. Steve is heartbroken at Nancy’s rejection of him. When she tries to call the police, Steve points his handgun at her. Nancy looks at Steve and says that he will be even worse than the Author if he pulls that trigger.

Steve tells Nancy that he doesn’t want to go to jail, and the Author gave him this gun in preparation for the confrontation. Nancy asks him if he is going to murder his girlfriend, and comes closer to the gun, which is right in front of her forehead now. Steve tries to pull the trigger, but cannot find the emotional strength to do so. However, he still doesn’t put it down. Seeing Steve’s hesitation, Nancy knees him in the stomach, causing him to drop the gun. Nancy kicks it away. Steve tries to get it, but Nancy blocks his path and they start fighting.

They throw punches, but Steve holds back because he does not to hurt his girlfriend. This allows Nancy, who isn’t holding back, to get the upper hand. Nancy punches Steve a few times in the face, which breaks his nose. She kicks him in the groin, before slamming his head against a mirror. She then grabs the handgun and aims it at Steve, who tells her to put it down. Nancy tells Steve to call the police and confess to his crime, then she’ll do it. Unwilling to spend his life in jail, Steve reaches for a mirror shard to provoke Nancy into shooting him in the head, which she does.

Steve Harrington, survivor and boyfriend of Nancy Byers, is dead. Nancy, who was not planning on killing Steve, looks down at her boyfriend's corpse in shock. We then cut back to Benny’s Burgers, where Benny is waiting for Marco to arrive. Eleven is in the bathroom, and Benny hears a knock on the door. Benny opens the door to find Matt, who has tracked down Eleven to the restaurant. Even if she was there, Eleven would not recognize Matt because she’s never seen the Liberator unmasked. Matt, having heard the phone conversation, pretends that he is Marco.

Benny believes him because he’s never met Marco in person before and therefore doesn’t know what he would look like. Eleven returns from the bathroom and sees Benny and Matt talking about her. During this, Benny notes that Matt’s voice sounds different than what he heard on the phone. Matt’s response to this is to pull out a handgun and shoot Benny in the head. Benny Hammond is head. Eleven is horrified when she sees this. Matt notices her and pulls out the Liberator mask from his pocket as an explanation.

Terrified, Eleven tries to escape, but is cornered by Matt in the kitchen. As he approaches, Eleven starts throwing several pots and pans at Matt, which only lightly hurts him. Matt grabs hold of Eleven, but she bites his hand, causing him to let go of her. Eleven then runs through the front door and outside, where she notices Marco’s car coming. She flags it down, and Marco recognizes from her voice and desperate pleas that she is the kid on the phone. When he sees Matt coming at them, Marco pulls out his gun. Matt pulls his out too and starts shooting at them.

Eleven screams at the loud gunshots. Not wanting to engage in a gunfight with Eleven at risk, Marco quickly disengages and flees in his car with Eleven. Matt looks on as they escape him, obviously dissatisfied that they got away. Matt calls the Author to tell him what happened. The Author calls Matt the worst killer in the world for failing to catch a kid. Matt says that it’s not his fault and tells him that Marco drove away. The Author says that they’ll discuss his failure later and hangs up. Smash to black.

Episode 10: Agony
We open on the next morning at the police station, where Eleven is in the interrogation room with Marco. Marco can see Eleven’s trauma, so he questions her slowly and carefully. Eleven explains that she is the daughter of Terry Ives, who was the third killer and died saving her. She also tells him about how she ended up at the dinner and Benny’s death. Eleven adds that Benny was really nice to her, and he deserved better. Marco says that he’s so sorry about what happened, and gives her some water. Eleven thanks him before asking what will happen to her now.

Marco says that with her father, Terry and Becky dead, she can’t go back to her family. He says that the police department doesn’t handle adoption issues, and decides to call social security services to pick Eleven up to figure out the situation. Eleven asks if she can remain here in the police station for her own safety, to which Marco agrees. Afterward, Marco meets with Spencer and Nancy in his office. They are talking about Nancy killing Steve. Nancy tells them about the whole thing and that it was in self-defense.

Nancy has mixed feelings about the events: she is somewhat glad that Steve is gone, but is sad that she’s lost her boyfriend and that she ended up actually killing him. Spencer asks Nancy why she went to confront Steve without telling her or Marco. Nancy admits that she was angry after learning the truth about Jonathan’s death and she didn’t think before she confronted Steve. Spencer admits that if she was Nancy’s age, she might have done the same thing, but Nancy must think before she acts.

Nancy admits that Spencer is right and agrees to be more careful next time. We cut to a classroom in the English hallway at the abandoned school, where the Author is looking at a survivor, whom he has kidnapped off-screen and tied to a pole instead of a chair. The survivor has a bag over their head, so we can’t see who it is until the Author rips it off, revealing the survivor to be Jessica, who screams to be let go. The Author gets annoyed at her high pitched voice and smacks her to shut her up.

He says that he’ll let Jessica go eventually, but it’s time for some torture. The Author explains that he’s been looking on the Scream wiki for answers. The Noah Killer and DCN are long dead (Killed in PLS season 2), but Chainsaw-xo gave him some huge ideas. The Author grabs a remote and points at a screen, which plays a video of two people being killed by the Author. The female, Martha, is gutted and the male, Walter, is dismembered with a hatchet. Jessica is hysterical when she recognizes those people are her parents. The Author smacks her again for being a crybaby.

However, he changes his mind and decides that he wants to see Jessica scream as loud as possible. The Author throws Jessica’s mother’s intestines, as well as her father’s body parts, at her, causing her to scream until it hurts her. After Jessica eventually calms down, the Author says that Jessica has the weakest resolve ever and calls for Matt, who comes in. He tells Matt that it’s his turn to have fun with Jessica, but orders her to leave her alive.

The Author leaves in case the survivors get suspicious of his absence. Matt walks to Jessica and tells her that this is his way of redeeming himself for his failure to catch Eleven, and also for personal pleasure. He pulls off Jessica’s sandals and her jeans. Jessica begs Matt not to do it, but he ignores her. Soon, Jessica is entirely naked. Matt explains that raping someone is always sounded interesting to him, especially when he learned Montgomery tried, but failed to do it. He now wants to try it out on Jessica.

Matt begins raping Jessica, who starts screaming and crying. Matt mockingly states that Jessica is a complete crybaby. We cut to Emily and Sara, who have heard about Matt’s revelation and thinking about what kind of grudge he has against them. Spencer isn’t able to come for the meeting since she is watching over Nancy to make sure she doesn’t go rogue again. Sara wonders if Matt could have been lying earlier and actually participated in the Rosewood murders, pointing out his age would make him suitable.

Emily agrees with Spencer and Marco’s opinion that Matt would have been present at Jenna’s reveal if this was the case, and he wouldn’t wait over 10 years to get his revenge. Just then, they get a knock on the door. They open it to find Alex, who explains that Jessica has gone missing and he couldn’t find her at her home when he came to visit. This worries Emily and Sara, who asks if Alex wants their help in finding them. Alex says that he considered going to the abandoned school alone, but wanted to ask them for help first.

Emily and Sara agree to help Alex, knowing it’s very unlikely that Matt could take on all three of them at once. The trio then head off to the school. We cut to Clay’s home, where he is sitting alone until he gets a visit from Sarah, who is still depressed about Jim’s death. Clay admits that he is also still depressed at his mother’s death and Matt’s betrayal. They sit down together. Sarah admits that despite her karate lessons, she feels like a helpless victim, wondering if she’ll burn like Jim did.

Clay says that nothing that has happened is her fault, and that’s how he move on from what has happened to his friends and family. Clay just remembers it’s the killers who organized everything, not him or Sarah. He tells Sarah not be hard on herself, and she’s a hero, she just doesn’t know it yet. Sarah smiles, finding comfort in Clay, who smiles. They look at each other and end up kissing. They pull away. Sarah says that she’ll see Clay later and walks out. Clay smiles.

We cut to the abandoned school, where Matt has finished up his rape of Jessica, who looks broken at this point. She’s just silently crying, too weak to fight back anymore or scream. Matt then gets a text from the Author, who warns him that Emily, Sara and Alex are coming his way and tells him to finish up the torture. Seeing the urgency, Matt takes out a hammer. He says that this is going to hurt. He starts bashing Jessica with the hammer, but not to death.

Jessica screams and cries from the pain. After a few moments of bashing Jessica, Matt unties the rope restraining her to the pole. Matt says that this may have been the most entertaining day of his life. He runs away, just before Emily, Sara and Alex enter the room. They see Jessica and realize she was tortured when they see the bruises. The trio run up to Jessica, who is too broken to speak, and just silently cries. When they see that Jessica is naked, they realize she was raped, making Alex heartbroken.

After putting Jessica’s clothes back on her, Alex carries her outside of the abandoned school and hugs her, but fails to receive a reply. Alex cries because of Jessica’s misery. Before Emily and Sara can comfort him, Sara gets a call on her phone from Matt, who tells her that she’s become a slowpoke. Sara asks Matt how he could do something this cruel to Jessica. Matt says that if she and Emily had just stayed out of this, Sara would have kept her fingers and never had to witness this horror again. Matt suggests that he’ll “have some fun” with her too.

Sara screams that she’ll die before Matt will ever rape her. She hangs up and turns to Emily, who asks Sara if she’s alright. Sara asks Emily to promise that no matter what happens, Matt will never get his hands on either of them. Emily promises this and hugs Jessica before calling the police to pick them up. Meanwhile, Matt, who is on the other side of the abandoned school, looks satisfied at what he has done. He wonders if the torture on Jessica will be the cruelest thing he will ever do, compared to what he is planning to do in the finale. Matt smiles at the thought. Smash to black.

Episode 11: False Hope
We open on the hospital, where a doctor is telling Alex, Emily and Sara about Jessica’s condition. The doctor explains that Jessica is in bad physical condition, but far worse in mental. It’s obvious that her rape and torture has traumatized her. The doctor says that Jessica might become more stable if Alex agrees to come see her. Alex agrees to do so and they go into Jessica’s room. When he tries to comfort her, Jessica hallucinates Alex as Matt and screams at him to get away from her. The doctor has to sedate Jessica to calm her down, and Alex is distraught at her condition. The doctor says that Jessica should be more stable by tomorrow, and they’ll try again then. Alex agrees to wait until then and meets up with his friends, telling them how bad Jessica is doing. Emily tells Alex about the time she was nearly raped by Montgomery, and nobody should ever have to go through with that. Sara and Alex agree to this and decide that they need to stop Matt before he can do anymore damage.

We cut to the Spencer’s home, where Marco is sitting in his office with her and Nancy. He first tells her that social security services has taken Eleven away, intending to help her recover from her trauma and find her an adoptive family (Note: This will be the last time we hear from Eleven this season, but she will return in Season 3). Spencer says that’s good for her and asks why Marco brought her here, knowing that isn’t it. Marco explains that Jessica was raped and tortured by the Author and Matt yesterday.

Spencer and Nancy are shocked by this and ask where Jessica is now. Marco explains he learned from Emily that she’s in critical mental condition at the hospital, and the killers are getting more sadistic. Nancy says that it was bad enough that Jessica’s parents are dead, but being raped is just horrible. Marco says that he’s studied rape cases before, but hoped that he would never have to go into one.

Nancy starts to cry, not only because of her friend’s misery, but at the thought of actually being raped herself. When she tells her parents about her worries, Spencer and Marco vow that Nancy will never get raped on their watch. Nancy smiles at her protective parents, her bond increasing. The family proceed to hug, but are unaware that Matt is watching them from a window. Matt says that he hasn’t paid Spencer a visit yet because he’s been so busy with tormenting Emily, but that will soon change. He chuckles at the thought.

We cut to Sarah and Clay, who are sitting on Clay’s couch. They’re talking about Steve’s death and his involvement in Jonathan’s death, which they didn’t hear about until today. Sarah says that it’s horrible that their relationship ended like that. Clay says that Steve was an asshole for betraying his friend like that, but Sarah counters that Steve was afraid and hopeless when it happened, asking Clay if he would have done the same thing with her. Clay admits that if it came down to that, he would sacrifice himself.

He acknowledges that this is a personal question, but asks Sarah what she would do if she was in Steve’s position. Sarah admits that if she didn’t get to know Clay, she might have sacrificed him so that she could escape. However, now that she’s gotten to see how good of a person Clay is, Sarah wouldn’t do it and would sacrifice herself. Sarah then admits that she has feelings for Clay. They look at each other, and Clay admits that he has feelings for her as well.

Sarah smiles, glad to hear this. Clay smiles back, and they end up kissing. The couple begin making out, with Sarah wrapping her legs around Clay. Clay picks her up and carries her to the bedroom, where they strip off their clothes. The two fall onto Clay’s bed, with Sarah on top, and they begin to have sex together. It’s very romantic and passionate. However, the sex is interrupted when someone walks into the room. Clay and Sarah are so focused that neither of them notice as Matt walks toward them.

He grabs Sarah and pulls off of Clay. Matt hits her in the head with a brick and knocks her unconscious. He goes to hit her again, intending to bludgeon Sarah to death, but Clay launches himself at his adoptive father and punches him in the face, causing him to drop the brick. Clay begins strangling Matt, who strangles him back. Matt gets on top of Clay and repeatedly bashes his head against the floor. Clay eventually loses consciousness.

Matt looks down at Clay and admonishes him, stating that it’s more “decent” to fight with his clothes on (Clay was naked from having sex with Sarah). Matt resolves to put all of Clay’s clothes back on, before preparing to bash in Sarah’s head with the brick. However, seeing how sexy Sarah looks without her clothes on, Matt decides to keep her alive to have some “fun” with her. After putting her clothes back on, Matt drags Clay and Sarah out of the room and puts them in a car trunk.

Just then, the Author texts him. He asks Matt if he’s got Clay and Sarah. Matt says that he does and asks if he has all the chairs set up. The Author texts Matt that they do not have enough chairs for all of the survivors, so not all of them are going to be kidnapped. The Author sends Matt an unseen text giving him a list of people who to kidnap. Matt looks satisfied by who else is on the list and agrees to leave the rest alone until “next time” He then drives off with Sarah and Clay to get the next people on the list. Smash to black.

Episode 12: Life of the Killers
We open on the Byers house, where Marco and Spencer are in her bedroom. Spencer has decided to allow Marco to sleep with her for the first time. Nancy has also felt more comfortable with Marco being closer to her. Marco says that he never thought he would be sleeping with the great Spencer Hastings. Spencer says that she never thought she would be sleeping with the most handsome cop she’s ever met. They laugh and lay on the bed together. Meanwhile, Nancy finds herself thirsty, so she leaves her bedroom to get a glass of water. When she takes a glass of war, she notices that the front door is wide open. After closing the door, Nancy hears a noise and realizes something she wrong. She calls out for Spencer and Marco, who hear her, but Matt runs in and grabs the glass of water. He slams it against Nancy’s head and knocks her out. Hearing the noise, Marco gets out his gun and he and Spencer go to investigate.

They find Nancy on the floor. As they attend to their daughter, Matt pops out of nowhere, grabs Spencer and throws her down the stairs into the basement. Marco tries to shoot Matt, who thinks fast and tackles Marco, causing him to drop his gun. Matt points his own gun at Marco, who doesn’t look afraid of him. Seeing this, Matt drops his weapon. Marco realizes what this means…and he accepts the challenge. It’s freaking on.

Marco and Matt start fighting and throw punches. They dodge and block each other’s assaults. A few times, they do hit each other, but take it like a man. It’s clear that Matt is a strong killer, but Marco is also a good cop. Matt knees Marco in the groin and kicks him against a wall. Marco leg sweeps Matt, who does the same to Marco, and both are on the ground throwing punches. Matt grabs Marco by the throat and throws him at a window, missing. Matt charges, but Marco elbows him in the chest.

Marco goes to punch Matt, but he grabs his fist and throat. He slams Marco against a window, and his head goes through the glass, shattering the window. Marco is unconscious. Matt tells Marco that he was originally going to kidnap him, but since he gave him so much trouble, Matt will now take and kill both Spencer and Nancy. After throwing Marco inside the basement and locking him inside, Matt drags Spencer and Nancy into the woods. We cut to the woods, now late at night. Clay, Nancy, Sarah, Spencer and Emily are tied up in chairs. Emily reveals that the Author ambushed her in her home and drugged her.

Just then, Matt comes up. He is holding a sack, which has something round in it. Matt says that they only had four chairs, so not everyone could come for the “grand unveiling” Emily asks Matt what he has against the Rosewood Five. Matt explains that around the time that he married Lainie, he was a bit of a “slut” himself and had an affair with a woman behind Lainie’s back. This woman is revealed to be Jessie Anderson, the opening season 2 assailant in the PLS stories. The affair resulted in Jessie getting pregnant with Montgomery De La Cruz, a Ghostface killer last season, but Matt refused to acknowledge their affair and had her leave town.

When Matt learned the truth of Clay’s birth, he decided that Montgomery was his only true son left, only to learn he was killed by Emily in season 1. This is when Matt snapped and was recruited by the Author, becoming the Liberator. Matt says that this lead to him wanting revenge on the Rosewood Five, though the Author has a special grudge against Sara. Spencer asks why that is. Matt explains that the Author wanted him to his motivations as well and explains his actions.

Matt asks the survivors if any of them have heard of the Duval killing spree, which happened about 20 years ago. They say that they haven’t. Matt explains the serial killers were named Maggie and Kevin Duval, and serial killing was in their family blood. At the end of the killing spree, Maggie and Kevin were killed by the police, but their two children were sent to an orphanage. One of them was Michael Smith, the Michael Myers obsessed kid that murdered Sara’s parents in a flashback shown in PLS season 3.

Matt reveals that the Author is the second kid, wanting to continue his family’s legacy and wants revenge on Sara for what she did to Michael. He refuses to name the gender of the child, how old the kid was or is now, or the Author’s identity. Matt also says that Author can lie about their age. Emily asks why Sara isn’t here for the revelation if she’s a major part in this. Matt explains that the Author took care of her already and shows everyone what is inside the sack: the severed head of Sara Harvey. Sara Harvey, wife of Emily Fields and Rosewood Five member, is dead.

Emily screams at the sight of her dead wife. Spencer, Nancy, Clay and Sarah are also horrified, but Emily is clearly the most grief-stricken. Emily screams that she is going to murder Matt and the Author. Matt tells Emily to come and get him then, before sarcastically reminding himself that she can’t because she’s tied up in a chair. Emily starts shaking, trying to break free, but to no avail. Matt then announces his plans to kill them all now, one by one, but maybe he'll be generous and spare one.

He says that the Author approved because he’ll get to have some fun with the other survivors, especially the already traumatized Jessica. Matt then decides to choose between a baseball bat and a machete to kill his victims, picking the bat. Matt says that he doesn’t need barbed wire to murder his victims, unlike “some other guy I know”. Matt says that he’s not going to slow this down and immediately picks his first victim as Clay, who is surprised by this choice. Sarah screams that Matt cannot do this, and Clay is the final boy of the horror story, who is supposed to survive.

Matt says that Author is the mastermind of the story, and if he says the final boy dies, then the final boy dies. As Matt raises the bat up, Clay looks to Sarah and gives her a final smile. Matt hits his adoptive son on the head. Nancy, Sarah, Emily and Spencer scream. Clay manages to survive the first blow and spits blood on Matt. He begins to say “Suck…my…“, but Matt does not even let him finish his final words. He proceeds to brutally bash Clay’s head in with the bat, and it is an utter bloody mess. Clay Jensen, final boy of the trilogy and boyfriend of Sarah Hooper, is dead.

Sarah is hysterical at seeing her boyfriend die. Joyous at Clay’s death, a laughing Matt shouts that Clay was the worst final boy ever. He resolves to continue hitting his corpse with the bat, even though Clay is already dead. Sarah, full of anger and rage, manages to break the binds on her chair. She lunges and kicks Matt in the face with all her power. Matt mutters that Sarah really did have karate lessons after all. He goes to hit her with the bat, which she kicks out of his hands. Matt says that it’s time for Sarah to see what he does to “naughty girls” and a brutal fight ensues.

Matt punches, kicks and strangles Sarah, who does the same back. Although Matt is an adult, Sarah’s strength and anger helps even the odds. Matt eventually gets the upper hand and asks Sarah what she’s going to do now. Sarah’s response is to grab onto Matt’s groin and squeeze it hard. An agonized Matt retaliates by squeezing Sarah’s groin as well. Both are in extreme pain. Eventually, they stop, exhausted. Sarah is the first to recover, but instead of engaging Matt, she goes over to Emily to untie her.

Before Matt can stop her, Sarah frees Emily. Both girls engage Matt, who soon finds himself overwhelmed. Once Matt is too exhausted to continue, Emily and Sarah pick up the bat and machete, respectively. Knowing this is the end for him, Matt yells at the Author will make them regret this. Ignoring this, Sarah begins hacking Matt’s back, while Emily hits him in the head and knocks him to the ground. Emily and Sarah then proceed to slam, bash and hack at Matt until there is nothing left of him. Matt Jensen, father of Montgomery De La Cruz and the Liberator killer, is dead.

As Emily and Sarah finish, we cut to a flashback, taking place just before the final battle with Matt. The Author is giving him final instructions on what to do for the finale and giving him the sack containing Sara’s severed head. Matt asks why he can’t reveal the Author’s identity if he plans to kill all he tells of it. The Author explains he’s not taking any chances in case Matt fails or decides to spare one. Matt tells the Author to avenge him if he fails. The Author agrees to become “the cruelest killer in the world” next season, and he and Matt laugh evilly as the season ends.

Confirmed Facts

 * A survivor will die in the very opening.
 * This survivor is Charles Drake
 * However, this death was not known to the others until Episode 3.
 * Two survivors will be kidnapped in Episode 2, and only one will escape in Episode 3.
 * Jonathan and Steve are kidnapped, but Steve manages to escape.
 * A survivor will have a complete change of character in a huge twist early on.
 * Steve sacrifices Jonathan to the killers to escape them, and becomes darker and paranoid.
 * Kenneth will eventually reveal his knowledge of the Author and his half-brother to the survivors.
 * The Killers will eventually try to break Kenneth out of prison.
 * There will be a LOT of survivor deaths, especially in the early half.
 * The subplot with Terry being forced to kill is taken from the movie Fate of the Furious, where Dom is blackmailed by Cipher to protect his ex-girlfriend and his son.
 * Becky's death also taken from Elena's in Fate of the Furious.
 * What happened to Eleven's father will eventually be revealed.
 * Eleven will have NO telekinetic powers like in the show, although I considered it briefly.
 * There will be 13 episodes.
 * Episodes 1 and 2 were released at the same time.
 * The Liberator will be revealed in Episode 7.
 * The motives will be revealed in the finale.
 * Lainie and Matt will have their first scene in Episode 3 since I couldn’t fit them in the first two episodes.
 * There will eventually be an escape attempt by Eleven.
 * The identity of the robber who shot Spencer will be revealed.
 * The robber is revealed to be Matt, who had no grudge against the Rosewood Five at that time.

What Would Have Happened

 * Sarah was originally going to be a baby like in the show, but I figured she should be a teen.
 * Charles was originally going to escape the opening and become Spencer's new love interest, but I thought it would add shock if I killed him off and added Marco to the story.
 * Steve was originally going to sacrifice Nancy instead of Jonathan, but switched it around because I love Nancy more than Jonathan.
 * Andrew and Joyce's child was originally going to be Clay.
 * I considered having Lainie as the Liberator, but I thought it should be a less useless character.
 * Jim originally was going to be revealed as Spencer's robber, having framed Marco for it.
 * Originally, Lainie's affair would never have happened, but I figured it would make Matt a more interesting killer.
 * Alex was originally going to be tortured, but changed my mind and did Jessica instead.
 * I considered having Benny survive and become Eleven's adoptive father in the sequel, but decided against it.
 * Sara's death was going to be on-screen, but I figured it would be a nice surprise this way.
 * I considered sparing Clay, but since Clay will never die in JMO's story (I know you JMO), I changed my mind.