THE STORY – Season 2 of “The Creep Tapes” follows the original killer as he becomes the target of a copycat calling himself “Joseph.” Each episode presents a new piece of found footage that captures Peachfuzz’s encounters with different victims and reveals new layers of his disturbed mindset. The season moves through a variety of unsettling situations, including a particularly twisted Christmas episode, as the line between predator and prey begins to blur.
THE CAST – Mark Duplass, David Dastmalchian & Katie Aselton
THE TEAM – Mark Duplass (Creator, Showrunner & Writer) & Patrick Brice (Director/Writer)
We’re back. He’s back. It’s back — and by it, I of course mean Peachfuzz. And with Peachfuzz comes Aaron. Or Josef. Or whoever he is. He’s the serial killer behind “Creep,” and the second season of his television series “The Creep Tapes” is primed to haunt us once again. Honestly? It does a pretty solid job of it, giving audiences just as much reason as last season to stick with the ever-evolving landscape of psychological torture and brutal killing. The show still lives and dies by Mark Duplass’ spirited and insane (complimentary) performance, which continues to give him a platform to go buck wild in a twisted position of power. And, as you’d expect, that’s still extremely fun to watch and frankly, it continues to be an absolutely essential horror TV series as a result.
That all said, this season isn’t quite as jam-packed with episodes that keep the tensions high. Season one was, frankly, all strong episodes that throw a serious punch. This season, though, there’s a bit of a snag in the momentum. However, the first three episodes of the season are an absolute delight to watch, bringing the fun and crazy mayhem we’ve come to love from this character and the overall story. I previously said that “The Creep Tapes” as a whole — and Duplass’ character himself, of course — are what horror legends are made of, and that ultimately hasn’t changed one bit this season, even if this set of six episodes isn’t always on equal footing with the first.
Make no mistake, though: this season is a blast, one that is bound to keep its core audience on its toes. The opening copycat killer episode is a treat, from the reveal of the copycat’s identity (both the actor himself and the manner in which the reveal unfolds) to the episode’s trajectory, which opens up wide for an exciting and somewhat subversive ending. It’s a pitch-perfect start to the six-episode run. The second episode is easily the most ambitious of the season, and not as easily the most fun 20-ish consecutive minutes of the season. The narrative here highlights a question fans have been asking for a long time: what happens when Duplass’ character interacts with law enforcement? He can’t run forever, after all. The answer is even more beautifully chaotic than you’d ever expect. It pays off in dividends both in execution (the choreography in the climax is superb) and narrative satisfaction.
And we can’t move on without highlighting the third episode in the season. Based so obviously on the “Saw” franchise, episode 3 is such a love letter to the horror genre that it’s nearly impossible not to love it. It’s funny, inventive, and unique, despite its popular source material, and it’s an engaging and charismatic use of Duplass’ character’s general set-up, in which he (and by extension, the audience) knows something his victims do not.
But episodes 4 and 5 pump the brakes just a bit in terms of the delicious tension we’ve come to love from this franchise, and because of their somewhat lightness in tone — and the slight lack of strength in the writing — they end up falling a bit flat. But it’s OK, because, like the first season, this one closes out with a real bang. Not only do we learn some vital information in the last episode that allows the audience to start piecing together longstanding puzzle pieces about who Josef/Aaron really is, but we also get a real cat-and-mouse game where Duplass’s cunning character appears to be questioning his mental fortitude against a worthy adversary. To be fair, that makes it sound like he’s going up against another killer, but a drunk woman you know and love can be just as scary if she’s incensed enough.
On that note, it’s crucial to highlight some of the supporting performances this season, because they really do complement Duplass’ wild spirit so well. That final episode is such a doozy that it makes so much sense to have Duplass’ real-life wife, Katie Aselton, be a part of it — and she is perhaps the MVP of the season because of it. She brings a fun sense of comedy to the series that we don’t often get to see, simply because her connection to Duplass’ character puts her on equal footing with him. Between her physical acting and her powerful persona (even when her character is wasted), she is a thrilling addition to the “Creep” franchise, whom it’s hard not to want more from, and hopefully we’ll get exactly that down the line.
Dasmalchian also holds his own against Duplass in the copycat episode, and it’s instantly clear why he’s the perfect person for the part as soon as he shows his face on screen. He’s a truly enjoyable performer to watch in nearly any role. Still, there’s something about him embodying Duplass’s insanity that scratches just as satisfying an itch as the episode’s premise itself. No question, he nails this role, and the way he’s able to go toe to toe with Duplass honestly makes this episode work as well as it does. In the third episode, Robert Longstreet gives one hell of a performance as a guy imprisoned in a makeshift “Saw” basement, and his comedic edge is another major asset to the season. Not only does Longstreet provide the episode with the perfect overlay of comic relief, but he also fully immerses himself in the episode, serving as Duplass’ character’s toy. In fact, he might just be the best of all the supporting performances this season when it comes to the latter.
But performances aside, this show remains a beautiful marvel from a found footage perspective. The subgenre has been done to death, and these days it’s hard to find unique takes on what’s already been done. However, “The Creep Tapes” did it last season and returned with even more distinctive ideas to mold and play with both form and narrative. Brice’s direction, as well as his and Duplass’ overall creativity in building the world of this franchise, is so strong — and it is intrinsic to shaping this stark vision for bringing something fresh to the world of found footage. The fact that even when the episodes of season two get a tad less interesting or engaging they still give us something new and different from the average found footage fare (and tropes, for that matter) is a real testament to how well this duo is working within this subgenre and effectively breathing new life into it with a rip-roaring roller coaster like “The Creep Tapes” so clearly is.
THE GOOD – Brice and Duplass continue to find ways to surprise and delight found footage fans by bringing fresh fun and an outlandish sense of play to the subgenre through this show, highlighting a robust set of hilarious, tragic, and memorable supporting characters who continue to shape Duplass’ character’s narrative arc in a way that makes it still feel full of surprises. Oh, and Duplass’ performance has only gotten stronger, smarter, and more haunting. That is, when we’re not splitting sides over him as usual.
THE BAD – Two out of six of this season’s episodes are a little on the duller and less engaging side, but they’re a far cry from actually bad, so they don’t amount to being worth writing off.
THE EMMY PROSPECTS – None
THE FINAL SCORE – 8/10
