Slasher S1E03 [Recap]

Now that The Executioner has an established motive for killing, (the sins of the townsfolk) this little story is certainly starting to take shape. Episode 3 is somewhat of a departure from the first two episodes though, as there is minimal exposure to our beloved slasher–The Executioner. This one is all about casting doubt and revealing the dirty past of this seemingly sleepy town. As a result, Ep. 3 feels a tad slower than its predecessors.

We were left last week with the image of a young woman pushing a cement block onto oncoming traffic, and that’s exactly where we pick up here. Turns out, that cement block left an unintended target comatose for life, and it was pushed by Sarah’s no-nonsense grandmother, Brenda. I dunno about you, but I’m fairly certain that’s a pretty big sin, and Brenda has been carrying this secret on her shoulders for years. Once this information is relayed to Sarah, we’re all but certain that ol’ grandma has been marked for death–and we were right. Brenda is picked off by The Executioner, who drowns her with a cement block of his own–how poetic. That said, this particular kill is by far the least inventive, even if it does meet the “eye for an eye” trademark that the killer appears to be operating upon.

Brenda’s actions have unintended consequences.

Officer Cam has eerily convenient timing.

The police are as defiant as ever–exclaiming in public that these multiple homicides are not the work of an Executioner copy cat. They even go so far as to book crazy Heather Peterson for the first two murders before she is released when Brenda’s body is found. In typical SLASHER flick fashion, the cops are clueless. Or are they? After Sarah has yet another close encounter with The Executioner, in a scene that is riddled with just about every horror cliche imaginable, officer Cam finds himself at the right place at the right time… again. Now we know how this works. We’re supposed to have doubt about Cam’s intentions here–it’s classic slasher misdirection, but it’s actually working. Cam might not be The Executioner, but he might be trying to swoop in and snatch Sarah from the loving arms of Dylan–who by the way, chose to stay in town to continue working on the town’s murder story when Sarah expresses that she wants to leave. There is trouble brewing. Sarah and Cam, Dylan and the owner of his newspaper–there’s a lot of tension here, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it all come to a head at some point.

Speaking of relationships, the now-husbandless Robin is finding out that his other half was up to his ears in debt before his untimely demise. Not only that, but he was bouncing checks and conducting shady legal practices all over town. One of which led to the suffocation of a young family. Robin is attempting to pick up the pieces, but is quite obviously a shell of his former self at this point. The interesting story arch here is a town member that is quite obviously up to no good. Justin owed the guy some money, he has an unusual fixation on killing things, and the end of this particular episode goes a long way in painting him as The Executioner, but this is SLASHER 101. Again, classic misdirection. This guy might not be innocent, but he’s no executioner.

This dude might have the crazy eyes, but I doubt he’s The Executioner.

All in all, a rather uneventful episode. But hey, this is the kind of stuff that is needed in order to have the big “AH HA!” moments down the road. They may not be the most exciting at this moment, but it’s coming, I’m sure of it.