#emmaduval

In Season 1 Episode 1, we first meet Nina Patterson and Tyler O’Neil. They’re the first characters we’re truly introduced to (as Audrey and Rachel are in the video clip they’re watching, but we don’t know who the two of them are at this point) and a couple minutes go by and within minutes of the start of the show we get our first two murders. 

Yet, the characters only know of the one and think the other went on the run because he (as in Tyler, as the killer was framing him) committed the murder. A new boy comes into school that same day and worms his way into the group that Nina and Tyler had been a part of. 

As the season goes on, we learn more and more about the events Lakewood has been plagued with over the years. 20-something years prior did Brandon James allegedly go on a murder spree, leaving only Kevin Duval alive (albeit, injured, but alive). Now, the new killer in town seems to be targeting Emma Duval, daughter of Kevin (who’s been an absentee father for the most part of Emma’s life it seems but more on that later) and Maggie Duval. 

The killer leads Emma on a chase for the truth, where it’s revealed that Brandon James and Maggie Duval (who he called Daisy) had a sort of relationship that resulted in Maggie having a child, who then turns out to be the crime podcaster that came to town, Piper Shaw, who also turns out to be the killer.

At least, the first one.

It’s a dramatic reveal and honestly, not one many could’ve seen coming because in an earlier scene in the first season, someone else wearing the mask the killer was using, knocked both Piper and Will (someone from Emma’s group) out. 

And when Piper reveals herself as the killer, she even tries telling Emma that she has one last surprise for her, but Piper never gets to tell Emma because Audrey ends up shooting Piper.

Wild.

Come the second season, we get to find out that Audrey was so quick to shoot Piper because Audrey thought Piper was going to tell Emma that Audrey sent Piper letters that ultimately brought the podcaster to town.

But also come the second season, someone’s going around killing people again. Noah, resident crime geek and host of a podcast revolving around the events of Lakewood, thinks Piper had an accomplice and Audrey keeps panicking because she thinks it’s her.

As the second season continues, a couple more people end up dead as the new killer in town taunts the survivors from the first season. There are new faces, and even Kevin Duval shows up this time, and a lot of suspicions about who it could be. Audrey gets cleared as a suspect and by the end of the season, it turns out to be Kieran Wilcox, the new boy from the first season (and son of the sheriff of that season before he was murdered), as he had actually been dating Piper Shaw prior to coming to Lakewood.

Even wilder.

Right?

Kieran was the second killer.

So, I’m not here to say that Piper and Kieran were lying at all. No, I genuinely believe that they were the killers for the first two seasons. There’s no doubt about it.

Right at the end of the second season, Kieran is locked up, but gets a phone call that the guard tells him is his lawyer. Yet, we get to hear the call and comes through is the voice associated with the killer, which was revealed to just be done through an app that anyone could purchase on their phone in the first season. 

This is a cliffhanger that season two ends on.

So, we know at this point that there’s a third killer. We don’t know who or why, but they even break into the area Kieran’s being held months later and kills not just Kieran, but the guard at his cell first. This happens in the Halloween specials (it’s a two part-er) that has its own killer and plot line, but the killer of the special reveals that Kieran’s death wasn’t done by him.

And that leaves to the question, who killed Kieran?

This is where I get into explaining why I think it’s Kevin Duval that is the third killer.

Now, in season one, we don’t get to know much about Kevin Duval. We learn he was the only survivor of Brandon James’ massacre and that he’s Emma’s dad. He’s obviously not in the picture after issues between him and Maggie that led to divorce and him leaving Lakewood years prior.

No contact on either end. No way of knowing what he got up to during those years he spent outside of Lakewood.

Kevin shows up in Season 2 under the guise of wanting to help Emma after getting emails from Riley Marra (who died in Season 1). He’s shown to be leaving town just before the new killer reveals themselves to allegedly get help for his own issues. But at the end of the Halloween specials, he’s seen looking at Kieran’s grave. Suspicious, right?

Here’s a little background plus a bit of theory: Kevin and Maggie were dating in high school and having a bit of issues. Maggie spends more time with Brandon and goes as far as getting intimate and Kevin finds out. 

Now, here’s the theory part: He puts on one of Brandon’s masks and tries getting revenge on Brandon for taking Maggie from him. Basically, framing Brandon for the whole massacre. And it works. 

Brandon James suffered from some defects that caused him to have to wear surgical masks which were then the inspiration behind the killer’s masks. Hence, why it would be easy to frame him. You wouldn’t know for sure if it was Brandon in the mask unless you remove the mask.

He then stabbed himself, but help got to him in time and he, as the sole survivor, could easily paint the picture for the authorities. 

It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen someone on the screen turn themselves into a victim to throw suspicion off of them (I’m looking at Criminal Minds for this one, if you know then you know). Add all the anger he would’ve felt from finding out about Maggie and Brandon plus his timings, things kind of click into place.