Lesson 1

[Susan Arnout Smith]

What I learned: Hal’s right, and I’m glad I’m taking the time to do a deep dive on this assignment. Watching it a second time was especially helpful. And painful. I found I HAD gotten so absorbed (repeatedly) that I got the storyline garbled and had to carefully go back and rewire (and rewrite) it so it matched the actual show.
Even though my scenes probably vastly longer than most, it gives me something to study as I move forward in this class.

SUSAN ARNOUT SMITH’S BINGEWORTHY SHOW.

THE AMERICANS

This show moves seamlessly from the present, 1981, (Reagan years) and the past, (1960’s, Russian and the US.) One thing that demonstrates how well this is written is that it’s virtually flawless in going from act to act.

ACT 1
• Yep, within 30 seconds or so, things get cooking with a barn-burner, otherwise called a blowjob.
Lots of dark on the screen and in the script, as the blowee, real name, Timoshev, is kidnapped, by the blower, (now wigless, AKA Elizabeth), and two guys. Lots of knife fights, action moves, a license change, these guys are pros.
• One of the kidnappers, Rob, is badly hurt, which creates a conflict between Elizabeth and the kidnapper who’s driving, Philip. She’s cold-hearted, wants to kill Rob outright.
• Instead, Philip dumps Rob unceremoniously off at a hospital, (Note: Rob The Wounded Guy only has a first name, so all you Galaxy-Questers know for a fact he’s going to die. He was so Under Five.)
• Meanwhile, the two kidnappers race to return Kidnapped Guy Timoshev to a ship which promises to return him to Russia to face torture and slow death. Seems like Timoshev’s been working for the US and made the mistake of coming out from undercover for a guest speaking gig to brag about it. Now he’s busy campaigning to stay alive—offering millions if he’s returned safely to the US. Elizabeth and Philip realize the ship bound for Russia is, well, bound. It’s pulled out of the harbor. To kill, or become rich. Hmmm.
• A big player is briefly introduced, Stan, who’s a heavyweight with the FBI, now assigned to ferret out KGB activities in the US. Seems the Big Speaker, Timoshev, is a no-show. Where’d he go? (Which, small aside, is another piece of writer-brilliance, as it gets us in the Top Secret Room as agents, realizing Timoshev is AWOL, swarm like ants being avalanched with whipped cream.)
• Oops. Looks like Philip and Elizabeth have an uninvited trussed-up garage guest.
• He on the sly pleads with Philip to let him go—for millions of dollars just turn him safely back to US side.
• Which is somewhat problematic, as they (Elizabeth and Philip) are mascarading as two boring parents of a young teen, Paige, and preteen, Henry. Clear and stack the American Breakfast plates. The parents chitchat about their travel agency jobs and under their breath discuss the money Philip was hurriedly offered if Mr. T’s returned safely to the US government.
• That’s about the moment even the slow viewers (the screen was dark, already), get that Philip and Elizabeth are the ones undercover in the US, working for Russia.
• We already know that Philip is the weak one, so weak. And Elizabeth is the hard as nails one. (See scary-efficient blowjob, noted above.)
• Philip tries a drop that’s not successful.
• The money plants a teensy seed in Philip’s head we expect to see grow. And grow.
• But Elizabeth is another story. When the kids and Philip leave, she goes out to the garage.
• Flashback to a very young Russian Elizabeth violently raped by a Russian captain who may—or may not—be Timoshev. Question answered as she yanks up the hood, calls him Captain and we see on his sweating, taped up face and squirming trussed-up body as he remembers exactly who she is. This is revenge for her, a whole darker color.
ACT 2
• Elizabeth mocks Paige’s teacher who has a hairlip and Paige is softer. Already Americanized. Henry talks sports with his dad. Already Americanized. It is, after all, all they’ve ever known. Elizabeth. Is. Troubled.
• Philip lets Elizabeth know the drop wasn’t successful—he needs to find out how much the US government knows about Timoshev’s absence.
• Normal family stuff involving ice cream cones and attacking each other. Subtext from Philip that he’s teaching kids countermoves without them knowing it. Elizabeth won’t play.
• Undercover, Philip interviews a gullible woman, (the only woman, it seems close to the players in the high level counter-intelligence room—and—she’s stupid. So so stupid. She spills everything the Feds have so far—the car—oh no! Philip and Elizabeth’s car!
• Philip puts his tape recording, wig, glasses, in the safe…and listens to the entire tape of Elizabeth and T in the hotel room (top of the show) as we watch his face crumble.
• News show to set us in time and place—Iranian hostages released—
• Philip fills Elizabeth in…the FBI have ID’d the getaway car and it matches theirs, but they don't have the current license plate. They square off. She wants to kill Mr. T immediately, he brings up idea of them becoming millionaires by defecting. She’s revolted, the Motherland through and through, and rebuffs him.
• New neighbors move in across the street.
• A subplot pops up, Dad (Philip) and kiddos are shopping. Paige seems grown-up, (at thirteen—AND very very young.) She shops for shoes where she gets a come-on from a predator. Daddy’s. Not. Amused. But keeps his super-hero skills quiet so he won’t tip off his little girl. We do see that he gets a good look at the credit card of said predator, so we kinda know what’s coming.
• Elizabeth takes a big knife to the garage and pauses over the closed trunk. Timoshev is still knocking from inside trying to attract attention.
• She’s interrupted as the family comes home.
• Philip in kitchen checks the knife—it’s clean. Mr. T. must still be alive. She pushes that he has to die tonight. Philip makes a play for his wife. She pulls a knife on him. Elizabeth taunts him—are they even actually married? (subtext—all show to establish they’re cover?)
• They bring over homemade brownies to new neighbors. And the husband, is… ta dah! Stan! the FBI superstar now assigned to counter-intelligence. And…they have a son , Matthew, slightly older than Paige. Foreshadowing!!!
ACT 3
• Elizabeth and Philip square off again, more intensely. He believes they’ve been spotted and that the FBI family man NEXT DOOR is proof of this. At home, Elizabeth wants to kill T while Philip wants to defect, take T to the FBI, collect a whole lot of dough, defect TRULY and FOR REAL to the US, start a new life in the Witness Protection program.
Elizabeth is livid—reminds him he promised never to tell the kids (who are red, white and blue, by the way). And she’s faithful to the Motherland. She believes she can mold the kids to be socialist trade activists…he argues with her—that doesn’t happen in America. He pushes back with the fact that they’ve been here a long time, and yes, they ARE married.
• He runs…A flashback to how they met, training in Russia. They’re not allowed to tell each other when they meet anything about who they are—only bits of their new identities. Awkward. Sad. A nice bit where they drink tea and ready themselves to talk about their fake past with each other to cement it. A Russian drink, (while we’ve seen the coffee they drink as Americans). Back to running in the now…he drops coins in a phone, calls the hospital, and finds out with relief that Rob with the Knife Wound is now Rob Now Dead.
• Stan, the Dangerous Neighbor, needs to borrow—oh no! Jumper Cables!! Aren’t they kept usually in car trunks?
• Oh, yeah, that’s right. Trussed-up Timoshev is still occupying space. And! Stan recognizes the car as the one that kidnapped T in the first place.
• The two men, Philip, our sorta-hero, and Stan, the counterintelligence man in tights, have a dance that’s right on the edge of straining credulity, as yes, we see clearly that Mr. T’s still in the trunk, and any sound will tip off Stan. T’s quiet.
• Back at HQ’s, Stan as a bad-ass expert on bad guys is asked if he thinks T is still alive. Yes, because, (me editorializing), like cats, the Russians like to play with their food before they eat it. And where would he be hidden? Safely away at the kidnappers home, as the kidnappers go about their normal lives. Chances of finding him? Zip.
ACT 4
• Philip and son, Henry, go to very patriotic performance at his school for American astronauts. The kid is pumped. Philip is feeling it. And on the fence.
• Philip in garage is cutting T loose to turn him in to next door neighbor, and is interrupted by Elizabeth. He tells her he’s defecting and she’s coming along with him and the kids, whether she wants to or not. The couple fights, then SHE interrupts fight between T and her husband and kicks the juice out of T – Note: she uses the same horrific kick to the gut T used on her to disable her before he raped her. He semi apologizes and Philip is confused. Realizes the jerk he was about to save has severely hurt is wife earlier.
She’s so upset she tells Philip to go ahead—turn him over to the Americans and ruin their cover if that’s what he wants.
Instead, he chokes and snaps T’s neck in front of her.
• They get rid of the body and have make-up sex.
• They tenderly cover as much of the fight damage as possible, and a breakfast of pancakes leads to cute moment between son and dad explaining planetary systems and astronauts and Elizabeth strongly weighing in that GETTING to the moon isn’t the Big Deal…it’s GETTING INTO SPACE.
• Stan already up as Philip and Henry pull out onto street for hockey practice. Stan drills down on the damage to Philip’s face; Philip blames it on a dull razor…Stan’s not buying it.
• Elizabeth scrubs out garage as kids go to the mall…
• Stan’s wife jokes him out of his belief that Philip may be a spy; he’s now–finally– in a boring neighborhood with boring neighbors.
• Just to make sure we get it, Philip, disguised as a bad-ass, beats up the predator (stabbing him with a steak fork through his hand, among other moves), and tells him if he ever goes after little girls again he’ll come back and kill him.
• In the KGB safe house, Elizabeth is informed by her handler that things are heating up. She takes the heat for the screw up (losing the injured Under Five that is now dead.) the presumed death of T. He questions her about Philip’s loyalty…as through the years, SHE’s questioned it and informed on Philip to her handler. She tells the handler it was ‘phase’ Philip was going through. Her handler doesn’t believe her, and rightly so. Perhaps one of the only badly written-rings-hollow lines in it.
Handler cautions her this can’t happen again—he might not be able to protect her.
• Reagan signs an order authorizing the Feds to move hard on any spies living in US. They’re at war with the bad guys, but silently.
ACT 5
• Philip asks her why she kept the assault a secret—she tells him it was while they were in Russia, and they weren’t supposed to talk about Russia. She tells him her handler has told her things are going to get a lot worse. He reassures her—reminds her they’ve been in the USA a long time now, they’ve got this. Philip stays with the horse he rode in on, much to Elizabeth’s relief. He’s not going to become a ‘real’ American. She trusts him with a piece of her real—and very painful—childhood and with her Russian name.
• FLASHBACK: Early in the US, she’s awed by the AC in a hotel, and isn’t ready for sex. He reminds her they may need to have a family—it’s what’s expected. She asks him his take on the US…he wistfully talks about how in Russia they told them how the US was—but now that they’re here, everything feels brighter. She counters with her contempt for Americans, noting, ‘they’re soft.’
• Stan checks out the car/garage of his next door neighbors with a flashlight, while Philip grimly videotapes him.

2. From that, make a list of the 5 Star Points for that show.
1. Big Picture Hooks
Ask this: What is the big hook of this show?
Two normal-seeming Americans with jobs, a house and kids, are actually Russians and are spying for the Motherland.
2. Amazing and Intriguing Character
Ask this: What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting?
Rich room to be lots of people, and wear lots of masks. A fascinating premise brought to life by actors at the top of their game.
3. Empathy / Distress
Ask this: What situation causes us to feel both empathy and distress for this character?
We very much like these two American traitors/excellent spies, we like their kids, the life they’ve created, and by moving in an FBI superstar next door and getting us into both the US room and the Russian handler’s room, we see the stakes and they’re getting higher all the time.
And, as their back stories are gradually peeled back, we feel great empathy for both of them. Even Philip calling America ‘brighter’ is said in a wistful way that makes us like him, and want to know more about his past, too.
4. Layers / Open Loops
Ask this: What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season?
Will Stan catch them? Will they get away? Will the kids find out that Boring Mom and Dad aren’t so boring after all? Will the uber patriotic son, Henry, instantly hate his father and feel betrayed by both parents? Will the creepy predator get his mitts on Paige? Will Paige and neighbor Matthew hook up and put a wrench in their parents lives? (Well, duh.) Will Philip actually shove that grilling meat fork straight into the predator’s forehead, as promised? Will these parents ever figure out a way – together –to leave their past behind and still live?
5. Inviting Obsession
Ask this: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode? It moves like silk on speed. (No idea what that means but I love the alliteration.) You can’t wander off to the pantry and root around for chips watching this one.
Beautifully written, acted, produced. Big home run for John Landgraf country.
3. Watch the same first episode A SECOND TIME while looking at your 5 Star Point analysis. This time, your purpose is to see beyond the obvious answers. Assume there is more to learn and discover it! THIS was the really, truly Hard Work part of this assignment, and I really had thought I'd done a valiant job taking notes the first time through. A truly remarkable assignment, demonstrating what it takes to write compulsively watchable TV. Loving it.

 

• This reply was modified 8 months ago by  Susan Arnout Smith.
• This reply was modified 8 months ago by  Susan Arnout Smith.
• This reply was modified 8 months ago by  Susan Arnout Smith.

[Marlon Jones]

What I learned: How crafting the 5 Star Points into the show hooks and keeps you engaged. I watched this show when it originally aired and loved it but didn't know about the 5 Star Points but now that I do… I understand its importance in creating a sense of "I must keep watching this show."

Scandal
Olivia Pope and her team of crisis managers do whatever it takes to get justice for their clients… which appears to be outside of the lines. But they insist that they are “the good guys.”

OUTLINE (Sweet Baby)
• Two of the main characters (Quinn Perkins and Harrison Wright) are introduced in an intriguing way.
• Olivia Pope (lead character) is introduced in her element doing something that seems shady but it is revealed that she is working for her client’s benefit… with much success.
• On the heels of a “win” for her team, another crisis finds them in their office. A war hero (Sully) is on the run for the murder of his fiancé and insists that he is innocent. There we are introduced to the whole OPA team and their “special talents.”
• The newest team member, Quinn Perkins, is clueless as to what her new employer does and we learn along with her that OPA specializes in crisis management for their clients by any means necessary.
• Olivia receives a suspicious call and quickly leaves her team in the middle of researching their case.
• Olivia meets Cyrus Beane (with whom it is obvious they have history) who tells her “He wants to see you.” To which Olivia responds, “I don’t work for him anymore.” We learn that “He” is the President of the United States.
• Olivia again leaves her team and goes to Camp David to meet the President who we learn that she used to work for but there is something deeper between them. He asks for her help to quiet a White House worker that is claiming that she is sleeping with the President. He denies it and Olivia believes him so she helps.
• Olivia goes to “talk to” the woman (Amanda Tanner) and threatens her. Quinn, who is there because Olivia asks her to be here “witness” doesn’t like what Olivia does to Amanda and questions is she wants to be a part of OPA.
• Olivia goes to David Rosen (District Attorney) to request time for her team to prove her client’s innocence and he agrees but gives her a shorter time than she requests which puts a ticking clos on her and her team.
• Quinn goes to visit Amanda Tanner after she tries to commit suicide because she is distraught over Olivia’s threat and not being believed about her involvement with the President.
• Olivia’s team finds evidence that will clear their client of the murder, but it is NOT what we would have thought… during the time of the murder the war hero is caught on a surveillance camera kissing another man! Sully vehemently refuses to let that alibi clear his name and David Rosen and his team come to OPA’s office and arrests Sully.
• Meanwhile, Quinn pleads with Olivia to believe Amanda because she feels it “in her gut” that Amanda is telling the truth, but Olivia’s gut says that Amanda is lying… until Quinn mentions the nickname “Sweet Baby” that the President called Amanda… stopping Olivia in her tracks. She heads straight back to the White House and interrupts an important Presidential dinner to confront the President and we learn that not only was Amanda telling the truth but that he also called Olivia “Sweet Baby” because they had an intimate relationship. And he admits that he loves Olivia and they share a passionate kiss! Olivia rushes out of the White House clearly conflicted.
• Olivia convinces Sully to reveal who he is and she gets him cleared of murder but Quinn asks is they are going to look for the real murderer to which she is told, “that’s not our fight” which shocks her but she accepts it.
• Cyrus comes back to OPA’s office saying that he didn’t know about her relationship with the President but he still needs her help with the Amanda Tanner problem and Olivia tells him that she has taken on Amanda as a client.
• END OF PILOT!!!

5-Star Model

Big Picture Hooks

The big hook of this show is that a team of lawyers take unconventional cases and use any means necessary to win for their clients… sometimes crossing the line but they consider themselves the “good guys.”
Amazing and Intriguing Character
The main characters are intriguing and interesting because they are all broken and come together to do good for the people who come to them for help. They all have their strengths and secrets.
Empathy / Distress
I felt empathy for the lead character, Olivia Pope, when I learned about her secret relationship and how it was used against her. I felt distress for her as her brokenness caused her to antagonize an innocent woman she didn’t think was telling the truth.
Layers / Open Loops
What is the relationship between Olivia and The President? Why are all of the people on Olivia’s team? Are they really good guys?
Inviting Obsession
I want to see how each character fits into the mission of the team. I want to see the relationships play out as there appears to be some entanglements.

• This reply was modified 8 months ago by  Marlon Jones.

[David]

Succession 5 Star Model

What I learned is that there is a whole lot crammed into a pilot episode of a hit show. Many layers and introductions to unpack. But the important thing is to build up the big hooks and intriguing characters by showing the distress / empathy situations and layers between each other.

Teaser – bed snoring. Old man gets up disorientated. Pees on the carpet. Nurse calls him. He doesn't know where he is. This is Logan Roy.

City street. Mr. Roy in car with headphones. Arrives at office.

Title Sequence for Succession. Old vintage family film footage contrasted with modern New York.

Board room. Mr. Roy comes in to the meeting. Looks like they are ditching the meeting. Not letting him buy the company. Calls him Daddy's boy. This isn't going to work out.
Do you wanna call your dad? No.

Dad calls him and asks if he closed. Mr Roy wishes his dad happy birthday.

Poor Guy smoking in car. Watches TV Waystar Royco. He's working as a dress up mascot in a theme park. Kid beats him up and try to ride on him. He pukes out of his eyes.

Bedroom. Greg, calls him mom. He's fired after lying about smoking weed. She tells him to get to New York to his great uncle's birthday.

Mr. Roy's office. Guy comes in to burn sage in his office. Kendall his brother congratulates him on his imminent promotion.

Old home. Man goes out for a walk.

Street. Son in Law is trying to get a gift for the rich dad.

Office. They are discussing how to salvage the deal. His dad goes into the office. With paperwork for a trust. Mr. Roy signs the paper. Dad tells him its his call. Dad leaves.

Family gathering. Tom talks about owning water rights. Global Tom and sister comes in.

Street. Roy senior walks past press with security guards.

Greg shows up. Gets accosted by guards first.

In the apartment they are hiding for the not really surprising birthday surprise.

Elevator, Greg tells his sob story about throwing up and getting fired from the theme park.

Romulus (Logan's son).
Siobhan or Shiv (Logan's youngest and daughter).
Kendall shows up to the birthday party but is distracted trying to salvage the deal on his phone.
Connor is the other brother to Kendall has the ranch.

Kendall's ex-wife and kids show up. His ex-wife makes a joke about coke over the ipad.

Greg tries asking Logan for the favor to get him hired back to the theme park, and Logan says no problem as long its his brother who asks him directly, then he will do it. Obviously their relationship is fractured so that will be challenging.

Logan hands out contracts for the trust to his kids. He wants to give his board vote to his wife if he dies, giving 2 votes to his wife Marcia and the kids are not happy about it. Kendall saying Marcia has his "…dad's dick in some super-max pussy grip…".

Logan announces he is staying as boss for a few more years instead of giving succession to Kendall.

Connor's out and refuses to sign.

Dad brings up the rehab. Then brings up that sometimes it is a big dick competition.
They get into a big debate. Dad asks if he's crying.

Kendall throws a tantrum in the bathroom. Breaks things and screams into a towel. Comes to his senses and starts to tidy up.

Lunch. Everyone has a toast. Logan says he wants to play the game. No mention of what it is. It's all mysterious.

Greg tries talking to dad in the car again.

They arrive at the heliport and fly into the air.
Siobhan shakes her head as she looks overs the trust contract Logan wanted them to sign.

Dad asks Romulus if he wants back in. Romulus says he quit because he was denied by Frank. He had a lot of ideas but was shut down.

They arrive at a baseball field and play baseball.

Kendall strategizes with his sister and brother. But they don't want to play ball with him.
Kendall makes a call to bring bad press on the family as he leaves by helicopter.
Romulus bets a million dollar check on a kid, but he loses.

Kendall leaves by helicopter and is back in the office to give Lawrence a new offer. Looks like he's got the win by taking the competition off the table and offering way higher than anyone thought. Looks like its about to be closed.

Baseball. They give non-disclosure to the family watching. Logan offers an offer to his long term friend / lawyer for light duties.

In the Helicopter. Frank's out of the picture. The kids aren't convinced. Dad has a heart attack. They head to a hospital. Dad just had a brain hemorrhage.

Kendall's deal may not be as good as he thinks as Lawrence breaks the news of Logan's condition to Kendall.

Kids are all worried at the hospital.

They give the rich watch to the poor kids family that played baseball.

Ends with headlines of chaos over the Roy's family medical condition.

• Big Picture Hooks
Ask this: What is the big hook of this show? Who is going to inherit the company.
Will Logan survive? Will the family tear itself apart?

• Amazing and Intriguing Character
Ask this: What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting?
Logan Roy: Faced with losing his mental capacity and also body is sick.
Kendall Roy: Doesn't have the respect of his father or his family. Willing to sell out his own family for his personal gain. Cares about his appearance.
Roman Roy: Quit the company because of Frank.
Greg Hirsch: Entry level loser with drug addiction issues.
Tom Wambsgans: Straight up asshole. But funny.
Shiv Roy: Snide sister, who is intelligent and conniving.
Frank Vernon: Loyal friend of Logan and COO who gets ousted in episode 1.
Lawrence Yee: Antagonistic entrepreneur who is

• Empathy / Distress
Ask this: What situations causes us to feel both empathy and distress for these characters?
Logan Roy: faced with mortality.
Kendall Roy: Faces disapproval scrutiny of his work colleagues, rivals, and family.
Greg Hirsch: Humiliated by kids and fired by the theme park.

• Layers / Open Loops
Ask this: What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season?
Who is going to inherit the company?
How are the family members going to plot and scheme against each other?

• Inviting Obsession
Ask this: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?
The pilot ends with Logan Roy in the hospital and the fate of the company in turmoil. Who is going to inherit the company? And how are they going to tear themselves apart in the process?

[Matt Ferro]

Matt Ferro
Sorry for the delay. Family man, trying to keep up!

THE AMERICANS

What I learned from this assignment: information information information – yet none of it very expositional — is the key element to building a rich tapestry full of questions we are dying to have answered with only a few answers given to orient us, but leave us wanting more. This information must not only be about plot setup, but most importantly – character, character, character, their dynamics individually and interpersonally, the stakes they are involved with professionally and personally, while also setting up the worlds in which they live, whether the familiar and mundane to us, or new and fascinating. We basic leave the episode knowing everything we need to, to judge whether we want to learn more about these people and what they are involved in.

Outline (not very brief, sorry)

1. An on-the-make blonde woman is picked up in a bar by an FBI agent who thinks he’s seducing her by sharing his identity and selling the dangerous world in which he travels, and his sacred job as protector of America and therefore the World. He spills his secrets to her in the bedroom, where she takes over aggressively and he’s all than willing to let her. The next morning she hops in her car, seemingly pumped up and agitated/disgusted. Then she removes her wig revealing she’s a brunette.

2. Two men wait for their victim and discuss the justification of killing him (duality of conscience). One’s older than the other and plays mentor. For now, we’ll call him that: the mentor. Are the men hit men? Agents? Of good? Or Bad? Must be good, because they talk sports (American). The older one seems an authority (he’s VERY AMERICAN). They see the woman from the opening pickup scene, now in a military style sniper-type uniform, gaining entry to an apartment near them. Is she also a target, or is she joining them in this operation?

3. Despite the mentor’s advice to the other man, when a chase ensues, the younger one is stabbed by their target and falls. The mentor battles his target who reminds him the target is probably not supposed to be killed. The Mentor reminds him he’s a bad man and there are a lot of people who wouldn’t mind him dead anyway. (We wonder: is this target a spy? The mentor and woman stuff him in the trunk of their car and drive off, changing the license plate first. Why are they hiding their tracks? Maybe THEY’RE the spies! And the target betrayed them? Who’s working for who? In the car the woman and the man argue: the woman wants to finish their captive off right now, but the mentor wants to drop the critically wounded man at a hospital first. It’s obvious from his tutelage during the stakeout and chase, and his concern for a life, that she is a badder-ass than he. Compromising, they release the wounded man to make his own way to the hospital – but you can see the mentor doesn’t feel right about it. They arrive at the handover – a pier – but they are too late, the ship has literally sailed. Mission: failed. At least for now.

4. Meet the COPS (FBI). They talk about the challenge of working with these Russian spies and their credible threat to the U.S.. They are waiting for the spy who was captured in the previous scene. It’s unlike him to be late without warning. (This spy (now captured by the mentor and the woman) must be working for the U.S.). The bald agent, who seems to know everything, doesn’t believe there is really a huge network of spies in the country, and the few who have turned are doing so just to get the big payouts.

5. The captured spy offers the mentor a chance to make millions releasing him to his people. The mentor hears it but refuses.

6. Meet the mentor’s family: a typical busy family with a maybe 9 year old son and 13 year old daughter. It’s a typical school morning breakfast rush. We realise the mentor’s wife is the WOMAN from the previous scenes. They are a TEAM. In a sidebar, he tells her how many millions the captured spy said they could make turning him to his own people. In between, they talk about normal family stuff. He comes back to the money – imagine it ! – but she is unmoved.

7. In the park, the mentor is dressed in a business suit having a takeaway coffee, looking like any other businessman on a coffee break. With police a few feet from him, discussing the discovery of a body, and that there are witnesses. We assume it’s the younger assassin from the opening. When the police aren’t watching, the mentor slaps a sticky pouch under the park bench, and leaves.

8. The wife goes to the garage to look at the captured spy in the trunk of her car, and seeing a reflection of what her present self has become in her rear windshield, she flashes back to her early days of training as a spy in Moscow. In her flashback, she is sparring with her teacher. The captain of the program walks in and we see it is THE CAPTURED SPY. This is the first memory of her being trained by him. It’s clear now FOR SURE that she and her husband are Russian operatives undercover in the U.S. The captain beats her in the fight and rapes her. Coming out of the flashback, she opens the car trunk to see him there, tied up. She taunts him: “Remember me, captain?”

9. Back at home, we learn that the wife can’t relate easily to her kids. she’s all business, and very hard and black and white; the kids have to educate her on basic social norms like political correctness. They go out for ice cream; we see that the mentor is a great dad. He is playful and they respond to him. The wife watches, but doesn’t want to play their game. He tells the kids he can’t have dinner with them because he has to work late.

10. The mentor goes to a public bathroom and changes into a disguise as a different man, and visits an FBI agent named MARTHA who cooperates with him. He is posing as a counter-intelligence “oversight” agency man who needs to keep secret tabs on her counterintelligence dept. It’s all flirty and taken by the spark she senses between them, gives him valuable information about the agency’s progress in finding the missing spy, whom we now know is being held captive in the Mentor’s car trunk.
11. At home, the mentor goes to the safe in their closet where they keep their spy stuff. As he puts his disguise away, he finds his wife’s blonde wig and her voice recorder. He plays the recording she made of the seduction of the FBI agent in the opening. The agent gave her the information about the spy coming to town who had turned against the Russians. We realise this is how the mentor, his wife and the younger agent came to know where the spy would be and hatch their plan to kidnap him. But…he also hears the full audio of how she seduced the fbi agent and had very kinky sex with him. Is a he jealous? Mad? Intimidated? Or does he understand it’s just part of the job? Either way, it’s intense. Could she like sex that way? Is he too timid in bed? Is that why she doesn’t feel attracted to him? All these things could easily be playing in his head as he listens to the sounds of his “wife” – with which he has had and raised two children.

12. They talk about the witnesses who saw the car and what to do with the spy – she wants to kill him (as we know of their past) and the mentor wants to finish the operation and deliver him to their people (the Russians). They plan their next steps.

13. The mentor takes their daughter shopping in the mall; the wife declines an invitation to join them. He seems a little disappointed.

14. In the mall, he waits in the dept. store while his daughter tries something on. He playfully starts line dancing to himself, to a country music song on the PA system. (How much more AMERICAN can you get?)..and embarrassing for his daughter. A bully with a younger girfriend whom he obviously controls, hits on the mentor’s daughter; the mentor stands off with him. It’s obvious to him that this is a PREDATOR, the worst kind of guy.

15. 14. At home, the wife sees a reflection of herself in a kitchen knife she’s about to use to cut some brownies, reminding her once again of her past with the captain, and she takes the knife down to the garage, where the captain is still held captive. The mentor comes home and sees her with the knife as she quickly returns to the kitchen. They grapple with her desire to kill the captain. He stops her, kisses her neck – trying to get her attention romantically but she stops him, (is he more attracted to her than she is to him? Or is she just startled by the resurfacing feelings of trauma she is experiencing having the captain back in her life-) but he doesn’t stop she turns and raises the knife. He declares that she’s his wife (implying there’s nothing wrong with him kissing her neck) and she says: “Is that right?” And they stare each other off. WHAT is their relationship all about???????
16. MIDPOINT: The brownies she was cutting was for their family visit to meet the new neighbors. The two men introduce themselves. This is the first time we learn the mentor’s name: he is PHIL. His wife is ELIZABETH. Standing there with their children, holding a tray of BROWNIES they look like the quintessential all-American family. The new neighbor husband is STAN. And then they learn: STAN is an FBI AGENT. Are they under suspicion? Or is this just a coincidence? Phil tries to understand more: does Stan mix it up with bank Robbers and the like? No – Stan is part of the counterintelligence unit – as Phil tries to joke: you mean spies, right? Ironically – the exact thing that Phil has posing as when seducing MARGARET for information.! Phil jokes he better not do any spying around here! And Stan agrees with humour: “especially not for those Russians.” Phil jokes, oh they’re the worst, right? Awkwardness.

17. At home Phil is afraid that this means the FBI is closing in. He is in a panic. Elizabeth thinks it’s a coincidence – FBI agents have to live somewhere, right? – but uses Phil’s fear as a reason to push for killing the captain now, get rid of the evidence with an agent so close to them. Phil brings up a sensitive subject: if the FBI is getting close, maybe this is a right time to hand themselves in, like the captain was saying – turn on the Russians, get paid millions to be a protected informant – and live the rest of their lives as a normal American family, and them having a normal, romantic marriage. “Be relocated, take the good life, and be happy.” Elizabeth can’t believe what she’s heard. She sees this as him wanting to betray their country. Phil expresses how comfortable he is as an American. She slaps him. she fears what the children would think of them, after having lied to them their entire lives.

18. Phil goes out for a run, high speed to burn off his angst. While he runs he has a flashback: he sits waiting in an office. Takes out a picture of a girl he obviously held dear; he rips up the photo as if saying goodbye to her. A Russian officer introduces him to Elizabeth for the first time. They are told that they are meeting only as Philip and Elizabeth, and they are not to reference their former lives/names in any way. As part of their prep to become Americans, they should only discuss their fabricated American pasts, and look forward to their American futures. We learn about their fake births and childhoods in America. Back in the present, phil uses a pay phone to pose as a police officer and enquire about the health of the agent who was stabbed in the beginning. The nurse on duty tells him the man died that night.

19. Returning from his walk Phil bumps into Stan outside their homes. He offers Stan a beer (very American) but what Stan wants are jumper cables. That means going into Phil’s garage to get them. Phil feels the jeopardy and you can tell he’s wondering if this is a ploy to get to the captive Captain, who is in their car trunk. He has Stan follow to the garage, but with great trepidation in his face (unseen by Stan). Phil offers Stan another beer (very American again, and also an attempt to use alcohol to loosen Stan’s lips). Stan says he can’t, he’s going into work. Stan recognizes the car model (there were witnesses that night), and they talk about the model as Phil gets the jumpers out of the boot, warning the gagged captain in the boot not to make a sound. As Stan comes around the back of the car, Phil gets the jumpers and quickly closes the trunk, hands Stan the jumpers.

20. In the FBI office, the bald agent discusses Russian food with a colleague and admits he kinds of likes them. Stan is introduced around – the bald agent is CHRIS. Stan reveals his last job was being embedded in a white supremecist group – and also introduces the strain it put on Stan’s family. Stan indicates he believes that the captain is still alive, and the race is on to find him before the Russians get him back. He theorizes that the kidnappers would have taken them to their house and keeping a regular profile. (This indicates that it is probably a coincidence that he’s moved next door to Phil and Elizabeth).

21. Walking to school assembly with his son, he expresses that Elizabeth isn’t warm to change (implying to us, the contrast between them). It’s clear that his son is very comfortable with his dad, they have a close bond. It’s clear he would love to live a normal life and be a normal dad.

22. In the garage, Phil removes the captain’s gag and handcuffs and talks about making a deal. He removes the straight jacket, but Elizabeth watches quietly, then stops them. Phil says he’s taking him over to Stan, and that they are going to turn themselves all in. Elizabeth is furious – he’s deciding for her, too. She refuses – she is a KGB officer to the end. She would go to jail, she would die – she would suffer anything before betraying her country. She knocks Phil out of the way with an elbow to his jaw, and attacks the captain. She’s savage. The battle’s savage. She kicks his head through a wall and beaten, he apologises that he had his way with her and hurt her – explains it was a perk he had with the cadets. Phil doesn’t know what they’re talking about. He wants to know. She walks away, telling Phil to do what he wants with him – take him to the Americans or whatever – with the rage inside him palpable, Phil breaks the captain’s neck. Elizabeth watches on.

23. In the car, a quiet moment between Phil and Elizabeth. she looks at him as he drives, considering the passion for her that fuelled his rage. Surely she must be wondering if the fire in him now makes him more attractive to her. They dispose of the body together. A long quiet look at each other in the car ends with Elizabeth moving over onto his lap to kiss phil passionately. They fall into the backseat and make love; she stares into his eyes, connected to him perhaps in a new way.

24. In the bathroom, they lean each other up in time for family breakfast. Elizabeth puts more energy into interactions at the table. Leaving for hockey practice, Phil and his son stop to gab with Stan, getting his newspaper out front. Stan notices a couple of bandaids on Phil’s neck. Phil attributes them to shaving. Stan takes a long look at them as they drive away.

25. Inside their kitchen, Stan eats one of Elizabeth’s brownies, and expresses that he likes Phil, even if he has a bit of an “off” vibe. His wife makes fun of his over-developed nose for criminality, and reminds him that he can fun in the “normal world” again.

26. The bully from the department store is brutally attacked by someone, stabbed with his own bbq fork through the hand. It turns out it’s PHIL, in disguise. NO ONE messes with his daughter.

27. Elizabeth meets with the GENERAL. He’s upset that the captain was killed instead of being handed over per the mission. He expresses his fear that Reagan is changing the game from a Cold War to a hot war. He asks Elizabeth about Philip, citing that she has reported on several occasions that Philip might be having second thoughts. He can’t afford that with the heat turned up. She says it was just a phase, and takes responsibility for the failed mission. He warns her that the orders from here will be tougher, as the game’s changing. The risks will be greater.

28. At the FBI, the assistant AG informs them that Reagan has signed an executive order giving the FBI free reigns to eliminate all Russian agents in the state.

29. Phil and Elizabeth have a vodka together in bed. Elizabeth relates her conversation with the general. Phil reassures her that they’ve been at this a long time and will be fine. They hold hands. Elizabeth breaks the rules – and finally – after two children and all this time – tells him about her childhood. Flashback to their first walk into an American motel. Phil is excited about air conditioning – they’ve never experienced it before. He looks at her romantically, and sensing it, tells him she’s not ready. He senses she’s not attracted to him, and expresses his positive reaction to living as an American; but she sees something darker – “a weakness” inside its people.

30. Stan breaks into Phil and Elizabeth’s garage to pursue investigating the car, which matches a witness description. He breaks into the trunk – but finds it well organized and normal. He shakes off his curiousity with embarrassment that he even thought it and leaves. PHIL is inside the garage, hiding in the shadows, watching. RUNNING TIME: 1:06 without commercials.

5 Star Points for THE AMERICANS:

1. Big picture hooks: The enemy lives amongst us, disguised perfectly as us – the way we walk, talk, and live – covertly gathering and passing information, acting against their targets (kidnapping, murder, etc.) and generally acting against us in whatever ways necessary (including using their bodies) in the fight to shift the global balance of power towards Mother Russia.

2. Amazing and Intriguing Characters: Their facade mimics the stereotypical American family. Yet they are betraying the people they live with. Their marriage is phony, and they have had children as part of the deception, not out of love – So there are strong bonds grown over time, and due to building and maintaining a family together. But underneath it all there are things that have, until recently, kept Elizabeth from giving herself romantically to Phil. They both maintain this marriage and family – and show signs that they do in some way love and are (at least now) attracted to each other, but still willing to seduce outsiders to glean information and do their job. Elizabeth’s need for “edge” allows her to be kinky in her approach, hard and sexual, where his similar operations are carried out more via courtship and romance. Phil is having second thoughts about continuing his work for Russia as he has been seduced by America and all it offers, where Elizabeth is a hard-liner, committed to the Russian cause.

3. Empathy/Distress: they both are torn: duty vs. love, grappling with feelings that naturally build over time in a partnership, having a family. Phil has a more maternal, caring approach than Elizabeth, but it is obvious they both feel the internal conflicts.

4. Layers / Open Loops 
Ask this: What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season? Will they become more bonded or will their internal conflicts tear them apart? How will they keep their partnership and family together under this stress? Will Stan learn their secret? Will Phil be seduced by the west? Will Elizabeth allow their personal relationship to grow despite Phil’s interest in western life and the promise of a big payoff if he turns them in?

5. Inviting Obsession 
Ask this: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode? By posing more questions than it answers, most importantly more about the character’s dilemma’s than the situational ones – unless they relate directly to the characters and/or their interpersonal relationships. The stakes are so high on a high level (success of the free world) as they are for the condition of their marriage, their family, and physical safety. With an FBI agent right next door, and a friendship being forged between the families, the enemy has a front row seat to their private lives. That’s something you want to watch to the finish.

• This reply was modified 8 months ago by  Matt Ferro.

[Bryan Koss]

Show Analyzing : The Queen’s Gambit
⭐︎
Outline:
A 9-year-old orphan, Beth, who has just lost her single mother in a car accident, is sent to an orphanage. Bored with the monotonous routine of her new life, she begins learning how to play chess with the school janitor. At night, she secretly saves and takes tranquilizers, using the effects to visualize chess games in her mind and practice. Before long, she defeats the janitor, an amateur chess player. Her talent catches the attention of a local high school chess club, where she is invited to play against 12 students simultaneously, beating them all.

However, due to a change in government policy, the orphanage is no longer allowed to distribute tranquilizers. Beth starts to experience withdrawal symptoms and, in desperation, she breaks into the school infirmary to steal a large amount of tranquilizers, consuming them in secret. Unfortunately, she is caught by the entire orphanage staff and, possibly due to the overdose, she collapses in front of everyone.

⭐︎
THE 5 STAR POINTS
◇
1. Big Picture Hooks

A story about a hopeless orphan girl who rises to become a top chess player in an era where only boys play chess.

◇
2. Amazing and Intriguing Character

Beth's greatest appeal lies in her extraordinary talent and intelligence.
Her refusal to give up is another key trait that makes her compelling.
Even at a young age, she understands that losing her "queen" doesn’t mean the entire game is lost.
Fearless, she’s willing to do things others wouldn’t dare, like stealing Tranquilizers.
Her cunning and antisocial personality may resonate with those who feel stifled by societal norms.
She’s straightforward, even a bit rough around the edges, but because the audience understands her tragic backstory, they are willing to accept her flaws. Being a young girl, she also retains a sense of purity, which makes her less unlikable despite her harsh demeanor.
Her social awkwardness might also connect with many introverts, making her even more relatable.

◇

3. Empathy / Distress

At a very young age, Beth lost her single mother in a car accident, with no idea where her father is. She was then sent to an orphanage, left without any support. This kind of hardship evokes deep Empathy

◇
4. Layers / Open Loops

The story begins by showing Beth as an adult, struggling with drug addiction and a messy personal life. However, it's soon revealed that she is a female chess prodigy,
with a crowd of spectators waiting for her to start a match. The story then quickly flashes back to her childhood, which makes viewers curious about how she transformed from such a bleak starting point into a chess master.
This creates what feels like the biggest unresolved question.

Also, It shows Beth’s curiosity about the opposite sex and her longing to be loved, stemming from her experience as an orphan. And makes me wonder how will her relationship be like when she’s an adult? Will it be toxic?

Next is the mystery surrounding Beth’s father. Will she eventually find him later in the story?
Finally, after Beth consumes a large number of tranquilizers and passes out at the end of the first episode, the question arises: will she survive?

◇
5. Inviting Obsession

In the first episode, Beth gradually becomes addicted to drugs, and her exceptional chess performance often relies on taking tranquilizers. This central issue feels like the phase in the second act of a three-act structure, where she's either winning or losing repeatedly, edging closer to the core conflict. Then, after the government changes its policy, viewers become increasingly concerned for her.
Without the drugs, will she still be able to maintain her chess prowess?
At the end of the first episode, after Beth takes a large amount of tranquilizers and passes out, the question arises: will she survive?
Personally, I keep returning to the main theme: how did this child slowly but surely become a chess master?

• This reply was modified 8 months ago by  Bryan Koss.
• This reply was modified 8 months ago by  Bryan Koss.

[Ayesha Morris]

Bridgerton 5 Star Model

“What I learned doing this assignment is…?”

There are multiple decisions made in the writing of the pilot that set the scene for a drama to unfold over the course of a season that, as a regular viewer, I didn’t pay attention to. After picking out the details for the 5 star points model, I have a better consideration for the high stakes, depth, and multiple ingredients needed to factor into a binge worthy tv show. After teasing out the elements below and reviewing, the resulting assignment read a bit like a pitch to me.

1. Big Picture Hooks
In the heat of London’s 19th century social scene, a flawless debutante hand-picked by the Queen struggles to secure a husband, as her brother’s efforts and the town’s scandal sheet threaten to catapult her into social ruin.

2. Amazing and Intriguing Character
The lead female character, Daphne, navigates fitting into society’s expectations while challenging the restrictions placed on women. She agrees to a plan of a fake attachment hatched by the lead male, the mysterious Duke of Hastings, whose complicated family background commits him to never to marry. Side characters with layered histories and wants also add intrigue.

3. Empathy / Distress
When Daphne’s brother scares away the most eligible bachelors of the town, she is left with only one suitor, who he arranges for her to marry — the ogre-like Lord Berbrook.

4. Layers / Open Loops
Who is scandal sheet writer Lady Whistledown?
Will Daphne secure a match?
Will the fake attachment be revealed?
Will the Duke get married?

5. Inviting Obsession
Lady Whistledown casts praise, then aspersions on the people of the town, revealing their deepest secrets and adding to the Queen’s disapproval an inescapable layer of public scrutiny that addicts the town’s personalities. Several of the characters are hiding secrets that could damage their reputations forever.

[Barbara Fix]

"LOST" 5-Star Points

What I learned is to pay attention to the points that make something binge-worthy; be highly aware of the exact formula that hooked me so I can create it myself. Watching a 2nd time , of course, I saw more. 🙂

Big Picture Hooks
Ask this: What is the big hook of this show?
— An airplane crashes on an island that has mysterious and dangerous things going on; this is not your normal island, and maybe some of the passengers are dangerous too..

Amazing and Intriguing Character
Ask this: What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting?
There's a good mix of characters from possibly dangerous to the hero [doctor], to people running away from something, a junkie likely to cause trouble, a pregnant lady which is the last thing they need in a situation like this.

Empathy / Distress
Ask this: What situations causes us to feel both empathy and distress for these characters?
There's destruction, an explosion and fires so high stress and injured passengers amongst many dead ones. AND they find out they re well and truly fucked since they are lost; the radar quit while on the flight so no one knows where they are. And there's something very dangerous that killed the pilot.

Layers / Open Loops
Ask this: What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season?
Will they get of the island? Where the hella re they? Will that smoke creature kill them all? What is it?

Inviting Obsession
Ask this: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?
Will these people survive their ordeal and what is the mystery of this island? Odd things happen too: like show hanging from tree. Charlie asks: "how does that happen?"

• This reply was modified 6 months, 3 weeks ago by  Barbara Fix.