The 10 Best Television Shows Of Summer 2015

8) Scream

Listen, I’m the first guy that was doubting MTV’s millennial take on Wes Craven’s masterful slasher series. New Ghostface mask and voice? New town? No mention of Dewey or Sydney or Gale? Scream was burying its own grave before it even premiered in late June. But then it did, and still a lot of people dumped on it.

I’m here to say those people are not incorrect. Ghostface 2.0 is far less of a menace on Lakewood than he ever was for Woodsboro; the young cast is largely forgettable and the mystery is simultaneously intriguing and infuriating (no one thinks Brandon James is back from the dead, MTV).

But, and stick with me here, it gets better. The show could use better pacing, but when showrunner Jill Blotevogel decides some poor soul’s time is up, the kill scenes are as squirm-inducing and deliciously gleeful as anything Wes Craven himself put to film.

In fact, sitting firmly in the final minute of episode seven is one of the most grisly moments in this television horror renaissance the show itself so adroitly parodies. The final two episodes – including the big killer reveal – will make-or-break the series, so here’s to hoping the writers keep it on the dramatic upswing it’s seen ever since it decided to actually start being Scream again.