What Was ‘The Creep Tapes’ Killer Like as a Teen? The Finale Goes Way Back

The Season 3 finale of The Creep Tapes may have just given us the closest thing yet to an origin story for the Creep, taking us back to Josef/Aaron’s (Mark Duplass) formative years, when he was a lad named Archie, and what appears to be an early step on the path of destruction that will eventually define him. Warning: Spoilers ahead for The Creep Tapes Season 3 Episode 6 “Jody + Brie.”

Of course, Archie is hardly a reliable narrator, being that he’s a serial killer, a liar, and someone who has spent the franchise inventing identities and stories for himself, so it’s difficult to say definitively that this is where it all began. But based on what “Jody + Brie” gives us — a penchant for filming, the beginnings of the Peachfuzz mask, and what could be one of his first kills — this certainly appears to be one of the earliest tapes we’ve seen.

The episode opens with Archie getting a new video camera and watching two teens, Jody (Elliot Fullam) and Brie (Ora Duplass, Mark’s daughter), as they get ready to watch a scary movie. Jody is preparing to tell Brie how he feels when she scares the hell out of him. But then Jody spots someone outside the window.

“Honestly, it’s probably just a wolf,” Brie tells him.

That someone turns out to be Archie, who pops out of hiding and says hello. Brie is happy to see him, and Archie immediately shows off his new camera that he got from ripping off Columbia House (which puts this moment firmly in the ’90s).

The three head into the woods, where they discover what appears to be an animal den or nest. Jody reaches inside and screams, giving Archie more footage for the movie he is making. Archie also takes Brie’s mask and begins transforming it into something very familiar: An early version of Peachfuzz.

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Jody quickly becomes suspicious of Archie and tells Brie that he thinks he’s dangerous. Brie says he’s being paranoid, but Archie isn’t exactly helping his case. He barges in and scares Jody again before showering Brie with compliments about how talented she is. Jody gets a different review, with Archie calling his acting “loaded.”

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Both Jody and Brie sense Archie has ulterior motives when it comes to Brie. When Archie pushes Jody to do the scene again with more emotion, Jody finally hits him. Brie kicks Jody out.

Alone with Archie, Brie reveals she isn’t into guys. Archie says he already sensed that and admits he doesn’t really know what he is either. “Maybe Jody is right about me,” he says. “Maybe I’m different.”

Archie abruptly ends the scene and takes off on his skateboard.

He eventually runs into Jody again, secretly watching him for a bit before surprising him with a “great idea for the end of the movie.” Archie wants to return to the animal nest, have Jody stare at it as though mesmerized, and then creep up behind him and kill him. Afterward, they can take the tapes to the police, “like a found movie or something.”

Archie then puts on the mask he’s been making. “I think it’s creepy as f**k,” says Jody. “I also think it’s stupid.”

Then Brie shows up, and things get very real. Jody attacks Archie, beating and stomping on him, causing Archie to fight back. Viciously. Brie holds the camera as Jody lies dying and Archie, wearing the proto-Peachfuzz mask, tries to calm her down. “It’s OK. It’s OK.”

He tells Brie she is going to go to the police and explain exactly what happened. He’s going to leave town, and she will never see him again. But first, he gives her something to remember their time together: a heart-shaped locket that might ring a bell with fans of the Creep franchise. (The heart-shaped pendant has appeared throughout the franchise, including the one given to Aaron with the inscription “J+A.” In The Creep Tapes Season 1 episode “Brad,” Brad also discovers one on a corpse while helping Peachfuzz drag the body to a grave.)

“We’ll always be friends,” he tells her. “We just can’t hang out anymore.”

So, between the camera, the creation of what appears to be an early Peachfuzz mask, the locket, and Jody’s death, “Jody + Brie” certainly gives us the pieces of a Creep origin story — even if Archie may never be someone we can trust to tell us exactly where his story began.

“I don’t think we’re definitively saying that this is the very first time this has ever happened,” explained exec producer, cocreator, writer, and director Patrick Brice. “We like to keep things open, but it’s definitely one of the first times that this has ever happened, and I think it’s the first iteration of the mask that you’ll be seeing.”

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“We didn’t want to put that much pressure on ourselves to say that this is an explanation or the reason why these things exist. This is mainly a chance for us to explore what this character was like as a kid, playing with that aesthetic of early ’90s or mid-’90s filmmaking,” continued Brice. “We like the idea that this is basically The Blair Witch Project before The Blair Witch Project, sort of playing in that sandbox.”

And then there’s Brie. Just before the episode ends, she spots something off to the right. Her eyes grow big, and the final shot is of her screaming.

The Creep Tapes, Season 3, Now Streaming, Shudder and AMC+