MADDIE BUCKLEY looking intense as she strides down the HALLWAY until she gets to the WAITING ROOM, where she sees:
TOMMY KINARD sitting on a chair, dressed in sweatpants and a familiar blue hoodie that's just a little tight on him. He sees MADDIE and stands up, almost to attention, and takes the teensiest step back when she approaches.
TOMMY
Please don't kill me.
MADDIE
Depends. Where is he and how is he?
A nurse wheels EVAN "BUCK" BUCKLEY into view. BUCK is wearing a neck brace and a proud if glassy-eyed expression
NURSE
There you go, Mr Kinard. It's gonna be a few weeks before he's up to anything challenging. And, Buck?
BUCK
Yes?
BUCK'S voice is strangely hoarse.
NURSE
Behave yourself. And know your limits.
BUCK grins up at MADDIE and TOMMY. He's definitely on the good drugs.
BUCK
My two favorite persons! Help me up. I wanna go home.
TOMMY
Uh, no. You stay in that wheelchair with your sister, and I'll get the car.
MADDIE grabs TOMMY'S elbow.
MADDIE
You're not going until I hear a full explanation.
BUCK
(very happily and proudly) He nearly ruptured my airway!
TOMMY and MADDIE react in unison (but very differently)
TOMMY/MADDIE
Evan!
BUCK (stage whispers)
It was during really hot sex. And because I handcuffed him, he couldn't get free to drive me here. So we had to call 9-1-1 and we told the dispatcher not to tell you.
BUCK pauses. His face falls.
BUCK
They told you.
BUCK looks sad. TOMMY looks like he wants to be swallowed by the ground.
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(an authorized sequel to EM ONE by @captain-aralias)
(under the aegis of Blake’s Junction 7)
SCENE: Six months after the non-events of the film. EXTERIOR, DAY.
Avon loses track of and finds Blake’s card several times before Vila finds it for him.
(“What’s this, then?”
“…hrm…? No, wait, give that here, it’s personal!”
“If it’s personal, why’d you leave it on the dashboard?”
To which Avon has no good answer.)
Sooner than later they are en route to Blake’s last known address.
(DIRECTOR’S NOTE: There is a large apartment complex near me where all tenants have to pay what’s called a public safety surcharge on their rent. Basically, the city noticed that a single address constituted a wildly disproportionate number of police and emergency dispatches, and decided its residents should foot the bill for their own delinquency. There’s also a couple of cruddy motels whose owners pay a property tax surcharge for the same reason. I don’t know if this situation could exist in Britain, or if there’s anything comparable. Nevertheless this is the approximate level of seediness you should imagine, going forward.)
Avon purposely neglects to call ahead in hopes they’ll find Blake is out, or better still, moved away. This is not the case.
Gan doesn’t come up with the others because he’s lying down in the caravan with a migraine. Cally would actually prefer a migraine over the prospect of watching Avon and Blake dart their eyes around and mumble at each other for an hour. Of course it was Vila who convinced Avon they should come, and if he’s made a worse decision recently he can’t remember it. The only one who isn’t wildly uncomfortable is Dayna, who’s preparing herself to be wildly bored.
Blake plays that he is delighted to see them while wondering if he is, really. After about a minute he will realize he is not. Unfortunately it is far too late.
Blake’s flatmate Deva absolutely will not take the hint to make himself scarce and hangs around the kitchenette doing nothing in particular. Avon can’t tell whether Deva and Blake are just mates or, you know, “special friends.” Deva seems rather camp, but you never know. Also Avon can’t figure out whether he’s jealous.
Jenna goes to light a cigarette for her nerves and is informed this is strictly prohibited. There are all sorts of smoke detectors, and the system is wired directly to the local fire station. If anything goes off anywhere they’re sure to send a crew.
Blake offers to put the kettle on. No comment except from Avon: “I think. I think that would be nice.” Then there’s the matter of washing up enough cups for everyone, and then he finds the tea canister has been put back in the cupboard empty. He turns off the burner. The kettle hisses to itself as though it alone truly understands what it means to be happy.
There is a police siren in the distance. It gets closer. It is directly outside the building.
“Not to worry,” Blake says, “the cops come, they go, it’s usually nothing.”
Dayna rushes to the window, Cally not far behind. “There’s more of them coming,” she says. “Three, four cars.”
“I think it’s the firearms unit!” Cally says. They share a significant look.
Vila has an unpleasant thought. “Avon,” he says, “you don’t suppose…this…is on account of us, do you?”
“Of course not,” Avon says. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I only meant,” Vila says, “that Blake, well, you were always keen on us being terrorists and. Well. Maybe someone noticed.”
“Blake,” Deva says, “you never mentioned that you were a terrorist.” He doesn’t sound concerned or even terribly interested.
“Oh,” Blake says. “That. Haven’t in ages, actually. How about you, though?” he says to Avon. “Been keeping your hand in?”
“At what,” Avon says blankly.
“Being a terrorist!” Blake says. He looks rather cheerful for the first time all afternoon.
“I think the girls do,” Avon says. He isn’t sure whether this is a lie. Jenna is looking pointedly at nothing.
Heavy footfalls of an unknown number of police in the stairwell, then in the corridor. Deva looks out the peephole. “They’re all grouped round the door of 508,” he says.
“But that’s Mr. Yousef,” Blake says, “whatever could they want with him?”
“No, he’s 510,” Deva says. “508 is the blonde girl with the manicure that could slit your throat.”
Outside, the police announce that the occupant(s) of 508 should open the door and stand back with their hands on their heads. No answer. Then they state that if the door isn’t opened immediately they will break it down. Then they begin doing so.
Deva has his eye glued to the peephole; Dayna and Cally are on the balcony watching the scene below. Everyone else sits frozen, stewing in a unique blend of social anxiety, secondhand shame, and existential dread.
More thumps from the corridor. “If it isn’t just,” Blake says lamely, “if it isn’t just like what we used to get up to.” Then he doesn’t say anything else.
Vila thinks wistfully of the flask that’s in one of his pockets, probably. The thing is it’s only half-full, and if he brought it out now he’d be obliged to share.
Avon is supposed to be quitting smoking as of last week, which means he’s been bumming cigarettes off Jenna as often as she’ll allow. Pretty soon they’re passing one back and forth, not looking at each other. Avon is definitely, particularly, not looking at Blake.
No one notices the smoke detector beeping at first because of all the noise from the corridor. Deva removes his eye from the peephole to point out that the the building-wide alarm will be going off in a moment and they had better get started evacuating. Considering the alarm will have originated from this flat it’s the least they can do.
“Yes,” Blake says, “be a good-faith gesture, wouldn’t it?”
Dayna and Cally tear themselves away from the balcony. Everyone files cautiously into the corridor. The door of 508 is askew on its hinges and the police inside look simultaneously agitated and depressed.
Vila slipped out first and gets as far as the third-floor landing before the building-wide alarm goes off. He pauses to hunt for his flask. It’s in the last pocket he checks, and full of pineapple juice for some reason.
Outside, Gan is remonstrating with a tow truck driver who is leisurely winching the station wagon up onto the platform.
“I keep telling you,” he says, “you can’t tow a vehicle when someone’s inside it, it’s not permitted.”
“Well, you weren’t inside it when I got there,” the man says without rancor.
“I had been, though,” Gan says. “I’d only just stepped out. For air. I suffer from migraine.”
“Sorry to hear that,” the man says, adjusting the hitch on the caravan.
“Look, you’re not taking the caravan as well, are you?” Gan is beginning to get really upset.
The others watch blankly. “Avon,” Vila says, “he can’t do that, can he?”
They are standing directly beneath a sign marked GP ESTATES RESIDENT PARKING ONLY. ALL OTHERS WILL BE TOWED. Avon sighs deeply. Jenna lights a cigarette and hands it to him.
“I’m sorry about all this, Avon,” Blake says. “Should’ve mentioned about the parking situation. I suppose I thought you must have taken the bus.”
“Why would we have taken the bus,” Avon says rhetorically, without inflection.
Vila is speaking earnestly to the tow truck driver. “I don’t suppose you could leave the caravan? It’s where I keep all my things.”
“Can’t,” the man says. “They’re attached, aren’t they? Besides, the caravan’s not going anywhere without being towed anyhow.”
“Oh,” Vila says. “That’s very true.” He takes out the flask again.
“Let me have some of that,” Cally says.
“It’s pineapple juice,” Vila says.
“We don’t care,” Dayna says.
They stand apart, passing the flask between them. Gan makes a last attempt to enter the caravan, which is by now at an angle on the tow truck’s platform, only to be rebuffed by the driver. He joins them in a huff. Dayna offers him the flask.
Gan smells it. “This is pineapple juice,” he says.
“Well, don’t drink it then,” Dayna says.
It begins to rain lightly. Deva has gone inside. "We should have brought Orac in with us,“ Jenna says. "He’ll be terribly bored all alone, wherever they’re taking him.”
“I think he’ll manage,” Avon says.
“How is Orac?” Blake asks.
“The same,” Avon says.
“Oh,” Blake says.
The tow truck drives away. Blake begins to say something about coming up to make some phone calls, but thinks better of it. Jenna is checking her purse for a bus schedule.
“I don’t suppose you have a car,” Avon says. Blake shakes his head. “I think,” Avon says, “I think we should be going now.” To the others: “Come on, let’s get moving!”
“Is that it, then?” Blake says.
“It’s the end, Blake,” Avon says heavily.
A motorbike engine revs loudly somewhere nearby, startling everyone. “The next bus is in 12 minutes,” Jenna says. She heads toward the street and the others follow.
“Goodbye,” Blake calls after them. “Goodbye, Avon!”
“Goodbye, Blake,” Avon says without turning around. He isn’t sure if Blake can hear him. It doesn’t matter anyway.
ROLL CREDITS.
(But stay tuned for: DVD EXTRAS!
(DELETED SCENE 1: Featuring Soolin as the blonde in 508 who is being extremely cagey about why the police might want to speak with her. She takes hardly a moment to survey the damage before beginning to pack a bag while talking briskly on the phone in Korean. Neither Blake nor Deva will see her again.
(DELETED SCENE 2: Featuring Tarrant as the young man who has been polishing an already very shiny motorbike next to the drained swimming pool. Gan suspects him of having called the towing service out of spite. This is incorrect, but sometimes it’s nice to have a face to blame.
(DIRECTOR’S NOTE: Anticlimax is one of my favorite narrative devices, so naturally I loved Blake’s Junction 7. It’s a parody that has maybe 3.5 outright jokes, all of which are underplayed into nonexistence. The utter banality of every interaction is, for me, the film’s greatest appeal.
(After reading EM ONE, I started wondering what the series finale would be like as refracted through the Blake’s Junction 7 universe. What kind of catastrophe can you orchestrate when your prime directive is that nothing of any importance can be allowed to happen to anyone? I’m personally squeamish about social humilation/embarrassment scenarios, but I take an unholy delight in inflicting them on characters.
(I don’t expect I’ll post this anywhere else. I wrote it in about a day and a half, not looking back, and keeping the narrative as spare as possible. It feels, to me, more like a detailed treatment for something I haven’t yet developed than a full-blown story. I did make myself laugh, though. I hope you do too.
(The police-raid-next-door thing actually happened to me. Except it was two cops instead of many, and turned out to be a case of deliberate false reporting. It was still extremely awkward, though.)
Scene opens in the firehouse. EVAN "BUCK" BUCKLEY is waiting for something, overnight bag by his feet, and he's checking his phone every few seconds.
VINCENT GERRARD emerges from his lair and walks over, folder in hand.
GERRARD
Buckley.
BUCK
Captain.
GERRARD
Your shift's over a half hour ago. Why are you still here?
BUCK
Waiting for my ride. (pause) Captain.
GERRARD
Is it Kinard?
BUCK
Could be. (pause) Captain.
GERRARD is about to say more, when a truck pulls up outside. It's TOMMY KINARD. He's out of the vehicle with a bouquet, smiling, when he sees GERRARD. The smile fades.
TOMMY
Captain Gerrard, good morning.
GERRARD
Flowers. You really have gone soft. To think what you used to be...
TOMMY doesn't respond to the jibe. BUCK gives GERRARD the side eye, and it's clear he is pissed off, but he says nothing either. He takes the flowers from TOMMY, almost angrily, and TOMMY picks up the overnight bag. They head towards the truck, TOMMY behind BUCK.
GERRARD (calling out)
Kinard, gotta tell ya, your boy here makes a great girlfriend. Cooks and cleans like a maid in a five-star hotel.
BUCK almost turns around to snap at GERRARD, but he is not faster than TOMMY, who is already striding back and is standing toe to toe with GERRARD.
TOMMY
One more crack at Evan, Vincent, and I'll make you regret it.
GERRARD is not impressed.
GERRARD
And what will you do about it? Write some letters? Ooh, the big bad captain is bullying my boyfriend? This is my house now. And your 'partner' has to play by my rules.
TOMMY
You'll be out sooner than you think.
GERRARD
Then I better make my time count, don't I?
BUCK is now with them.
BUCK
Come on, Tommy. He's not worth it.
BUCK and TOMMY walk away again.
GERRARD
Yeah, Tommy. Listen to your girl.
Maybe it's the way GERRARD said it. TOMMY takes a breath, turns around and swings a punch right into GERRARD'S face. GERRARD goes down like a house of cards.
TOMMY
Report me. See if I care. Come on, Evan, let's go home.
The definition of a script treatment is usually a piece of prose, typically the step between scene cards (index cards) and the first draft of a screenplay for a motion picture, television program, or radio play.
It is a simulacrum decision headed for depict the script remedy before diving deeper in to writing the clear film software. Treatments are mate in that building drawings that reveal the construction in connection with the residence. They snap a uncaring overview speaking of the ultimate story, describing the clockworks, figures involved, area, time and the succession of occasions. Depending after which time and purpose of their composition, treatments are regarding two kinds:<\p>
1. Formative draft soothe - This is written just before or during the process concerning term paper of software writing and also used uniform with the author to keep him or her on the right track.<\p>
Twain. Presentation give help - Utilized to present the idea to the filmmakers and to publicize the intended movie. Mostly this is printed afterwards finishing the first draft.<\p>
There is a controversy over writing a roman treatment. Some individuals believe that it is a pointless double perform which adds very little for the final result. Supporters of this theory additionally strongly believe that ourselves thwarts the creativity with the writer. Individuals that recommend creating of outline options serve so after all they know that the actual epagoge retains the authors from going tainted at tangents, although providing i or her with the potentiality to incorporate fabrication ideas at any time of time. Among other things, treatments can be utilized to charm the information defensible just before writing the whole screenplay, hence qualifying on assets.<\p>
The script treatment narrates the particular gist with the entire story, reboant its volatile shows. Irrespective of whether the procedure writer is undoubtedly asked to put together the movie script or not, the therapy ought to be effective enough to broaden the mind interest as fit as an example funding so as to the solipsistic full-length script. The guidelines regarding the getup of script treatments are not too hard. In sober fact a joint discussion is for exclusive use, the genuine article bedpan go on destined in prose form being well as invasive present fixed but if it's for presentation, the actual tablature therapy cannot do otherwise be there split into distinct power train and come together the relevant slug outlines. The length heap up vary all the same the most important part is always to solder almost all major turning points as diggings as scenes way in which form:<\p>
- The main plot in point of land (the turmoil)<\p>
- Crucial person, spot or thing that is persona filmed<\p>
- Time with respect to per capita chapter<\p>
- Sequence regarding actions<\p>
: The main heroes<\p>
- The actual climax the location where the hero as well as the villain confront one another (prepositional or physical battle)<\p>
- The standing of the discord<\p>
- Exactly how all the figures summate to and interact mid each other, the role these people disport see fit be giving a thrust towards the story.<\p>
The script treatment solutions are like a symbol which gives us all the direction up to take care of, the distance we have covered and what's on the left from it before reaching the make holiday spot. Similar unto a map which will not bare suggestion after which the weather or even the excitement in which awaits us at the decease, this document doesn't elaborate on the psychologic aspects of viewing the movie to make. Composing great treatments isn't exactly a piece of cake because there are chances of getting lost in the gordian knot regarding actions, mobile us to cease to exist out important parts or ambulant an excessive amount on in depth associated regardless others.<\p>
