#season 1 episode 1 script

[air--so--sweet]

Personally I think not giving Klaus telekinesis in TUA was the right choice (or at least not to give him telekinesis to the extent he has it in the comics) as it would just make him very OP and, in my opinion, it doesn't quite work with the direction they took his character. That said - I really love the image of Klaus conducting a ballroom of dancing clothes and laughed out loud at the punchline.

The differences I find interesting in the script are the bits that are actually closest to what we see on screen but not not quite there yet, like Luther and Diego's fight resulting in damage to Reginald's favourite tree rather than Ben's statue, or a random locket in Viktor's room that gets pulled across the room and pins itself to the wall instead of the locket Luther gave Allison.

Or Five simply saying 'that's unfortunate' in reference to Viktor leaving having originally been this -

I know it was likely changed as it undermines Five's line to Viktor later that he's the only one he can trust (which exists, though slightly differently in this draft also), but on the flipside it also adds a lot of weight to why it's Klaus that Five gets to pose as his father when he goes to meritech. Because you could just read it as Five choosing Klaus because he knows he'll agree to do it for money, but it is in fact that Five trusts him.

Also, if anyone else wants to read the script download link is here. I found it quite some time ago on reddit, I don't know how it got online or what draft of the script this actually is (I think I called it a first draft in another post, but that was an assumption, I tried looking it up and there's no info on how far into the process this script was written).

[1doesnotsimplyhavejust1fandam]

Two full seasons of Hen and Karen trying their best to give that little girl a permanent home and keep her close to her brother (both of her brothers! because Denny counts!), and the payoff was a 15 second scene in a song montage in a season finale when we’ve barely even seen Mara or Denny in 8b. If you were going to write Hen and Karen struggling to add to their family across that many seasons (like were they not already agreed on trying IVF with a donor when the ladder truck exploded??? in season TWO???), the scene where they finally completed their family should’ve been paid much more attention and love than that single scene. It’s the same thing with Madney’s baby number two birth scene. Maddie, Chim, and Jee have suffered so much over this season (and since season 2 as well!!) trying to be together and heal as a family. You can’t just shove these adorable children and additions to the 118 family in our faces in 15 second scenes and expect it to feel fulfilling. If you want to have big emergencies in multiple episodes, get better at pacing so that you can show the family moments that you should know by now are the real aspect of the show that makes fans stay. The big emergencies can still be the draw without overwhelming the script and character arcs. These aren’t fulfilled storylines when you wrap things up quickly at the end of the finale’s big emergency because the time after the final commercial is not enough to give the whole firefam their rightful screen time.

[crab-milk]

for the ahiru piece, i might do it more of an homage/tribute to the episodes of princess tutu! what's your favorite little piece of the story for you

[thewolvesof1998]

Don’t get me wrong I’m devastated that we’re not getting the karaoke scenes (mostly because they said we were and now are not, don’t get my hopes up like that abc) but really the annoying part is that this Madney story is being crammed into one episode. The way I understood it at first was that “oh chimney’s missing but is quick to resolve” but an hour and 45 minutes!?!? (I don’t remember the exact run time they said but it was something ridiculously long) that’s a lot bigger of a story, so why isn’t it a two episode arc?? One, Madney deserve it and two, surely when they were writing this episode they knew how long it was all going to be and then they filmed it and still thought it would all fit in one episode??? And then to know you have a lot of footage and promise people that a certain scene was going to be in it when there was a high chance it might not?

[roychewtoy]

shots from simons flickr account

[humbledragon669]

Script to Screen comparison: Episode 5 – The Doomsday Option P1 – large changes and deletions

Standard Intro

Having followed the episodes through with the Script Book, I've tried to break the differences between the original script and the end result on screen into a couple of different categories:

Large changes (whole scenes/multiple lines of script.

Things that are in the original script but not in the finished episode (I'm calling these deletions). This blog post will cover these and large changes only (for brevity) – additions and amendments will be covered separately.

Things that aren't in the original script but are in the finished episode (I'm calling these additions).

Things that have been changed (I'm calling these ones amendments).

Not all of the changes fit neatly into one category or the other (there are shades of grey...). The first three of the differences will be presented within bullet lists, with a description. The last of the categories will be presented in a table. I'll make comments about anything I find particularly notable after each category.

Large changes

The opening shot of the first scene has changed – the script had Crowley driving towards the camera, angry and scared, amongst a cacophony of fire engines and police sirens, instead of an overhead shot of the Bentley driving through the streets of London.

The opening to scene #503 has changed – a shot of Crowley in the Bentley driving past a hive of activity outside the bookshop is missing entirely, and instead of seeing him drive the car up onto the pavement (or sidewalk if you prefer) with a dramatic brake screech, we have a simpler shot of his exiting the already stationary car.

Scene #506 changes:

The opening of this scene is missing, which would have showed the bookshop collapsing, the police doing some crowd management and a firefighter telling his colleagues how he tried to stop Crowley from entering the building.

The voiceover speech from God has been repositioned (it would originally have been heard as Crowley departs Soho).

There is a line from God’s speech that has been cut (“He had nowhere to go.”).

The stage directions suggest Crowley should have looked a lot more dishevelled than he does in the finished episode.

There should have been a number of onlookers at the scene, all of whom are scripted to look at Crowley but not really see him. They even move, silently, out of the way as the demon returns to his car.

Crowley’s sunglasses were originally scripted to go into a bin.

The stage directions have the Bentley reversing from the scene.

The explosion that takes place as Crowley drives past the window of the bookshop is additional to the script.

A conversation between a firefighter and a police officer about Crowley’s departure is missing.

There is a shot of Madame Tracy answering the door to Shadwell, including an obviously rehearsed welcome speech for her clients, that has been cut.

A chunk of conversation between Madame Tracy and Shadwell, where he hints at the devastating power he now believes he has, is missing from the finished episode.

A handful of lines from Adam where he appears to be talking to Dog about the events that are underway have been cut.

Scene #514 (Madame Tracy brings a sleeping Shadwell a cup of tea) has been cut.

A couple of lines between Newt and Anathema about the morality and their capacity to kill a child have been cut.

There is a sentence from Madame Tracy where she tells her clients to hurry up and get inside owing to the terrible weather, which Mrs. Ormerod’s responds to. Both of these lines have been cut.

A few lines between Madame Tracy and her clients as they are welcomed into the flat are missing from the finished episode.

An exchange between Madame Tracy, Julia and Mrs. Ormerod about their donations has been cut.

Scene #522 (an exterior shot of the café car park showing Famine’s bike parked up) has been repositioned. It was originally scripted to take place after Famine’s entrance into the café, rather than before it.

A chunk of dialogue between Famine and War about them not having birthdays and the weather, including scene #524 (an exterior shot of the café car park showing Pollution parking their bike up), has all been cut.

Scene #528 (an establishing exterior shot of Shadwell’s flat) and the dialogue at the beginning of scene #529 that immediately follows (where Madame Tracy issues séance instructions to her clients) have both been cut.

A chunk of Madame Tracy’s lines, where she initiates the séance proper, is missing from the finished episode.

Mrs. Ormerod’s initial questioning of Colleen about Ron being with her originally included a much longer speech, where she lists out some of the things she wants to tell him.

A couple of lines between Madame Tracy and Mr. Scroggie about his supposed spirit visitor have been cut.

The final interaction between Madame Tracy and Mrs. Ormerod, complete with a pathetic threat from the latter, is missing from the finished episode.

An extension to the scene in the kitchen, where Madame Tracy actually makes two cups of tea, taking Aziraphale’s preferences into account, has been cut.

Most of the content from scene #531 (Crowley stuck in the traffic jam) is missing. This includes a conversation between Crowley and Beelzebub via the car stereo. The following scene (a police officer in their car talking to the dispatch room as a rain of fish starts to fall) has been cut entirely. The final cut to this sequence is a single line from the beginning of the next scene, where the radio announces the M25 traffic jam to be the worst in history.

Scene #534 (the shot of Crowley in a muddy field, repositioning markers) has been repositioned to interject scene #127 (Crowley giving a talk about the M25). The script also gives quite a bit more in terms of stage directions for this shot, all of which is missing, along with the only line Crowley says for this scene (him telling the M25 that it is both a motorway and the sigil, Odegra).

Shadwell’s awakening in Madame Tracy’s flat is different – he was originally scripted to wander through the flat, flattening himself against the wall before he enters the kitchen, holding his hands in front of him in a childlike “gun” arrangement.

An interaction between Madame Tracy and Shadwell, where he refuses to listen to what Aziraphale has to say, has been cut.

We were supposed to see the scene in Shadwell’s flat where Aziraphale and Shadwell discuss the arrival of the Antichrist on earth in two separate POVs (one from Madame Tracy, the other from Shadwell), rather than the standard narrative-type position we see in the episode.

A chunk of dialogue and its accompanying establishing shots about Madame Tracy’s available transportation, including one of the two/three of them mounting the scooter and leaving the flat, has been cut.

The stage directions have Crowley’s Bentley covered in dust and already stationary, incorporating a police roadblock, and some sort of special effect to give the impression of “evil energy”. The dust, roadblock, and special effects are all missing, and we actually see the Bentley come to a stop, which forms the only content for this scene.

A large chunk of the beginning of the scene where Adam eventually releases The Them has been cut. In it, we would have seen Adam forcefully levitating Brian, Pepper, and Wensleydale several hundred feet into the air, much to their fright.

The Them having a reunion at the end of the scene on the cricket green has been cut.

Scene #557 (which essentially consists of a bunch of double entendre comments from Madame Tracy whilst she and Shadwell try to get comfy on the scooter) has been cut.

Scene #563 (The Them coming together in Tadfield on their bikes) has been repositioned. It was originally scripted to take place after the Horsemen get the directions from R.P. Tyler, instead of immediately after the cricket green scene.

A chunk of dialogue between Newt and Anathema about how Agnes’s prophecies work in practice is missing from the finished episode.

Scenes #560 (a conversation between some scientists and the police officer that saw Crowley driving through the wall of flame) and #561 (an establishing shot of Madame Tracy and Shadwell flying through the sky on the scooter) have been cut.

An exchange between R.P. Tyler and Pollution, following the latter’s littering in the middle of the street, is missing from the finished episode.

Scene #564 (Heaven preparing to advance) has been cut.

Scene #565 (Hell preparing to advance) has been cut.

The beginning of scene #566 (Newt and Anathema driving to the airbase) has been cut. Mostly this consists of more scene setting for Agnes’s prophecies.

A handful of lines between Newt and Anathema (about the prophecy they’re working with and what her family thought of it) have been repositioned. Originally, they were scripted to take place after Newt’s concerns about being waterboarded rather than before.

A shot of the Horsemen on the other side of the airbase entry gate, becoming four individuals again, concluded with a “creepy” wave from Pollution to the guard, is missing from the finished episode.

Scene #570 changes:

All of the dialogue, which mostly consists of comments about the location that Armageddon is taking place in, has been cut (or repositioned – see amendments).

The setting for this scene was originally scripted to show the Horsemen walking through the airbase, rather than seeing them pull up to the bunker and dismounting.

An interaction between Dog and Shutzi, with accompanying lines from Adam, has been cut.

A speech by War about the human desire to kill is missing from the finished episode. It was meant to be preceded with a shot of Pollution hitting some keys on a keyboard, causing wisps of smoke to appear from it; this is also missing.

An exchange between Death and Pollution, where they explain to him what they’re doing, has been cut.

A handful of lines between War and Famine about Death are missing from the finished episode.

A chunk of scene #575 (two army men in a nuclear bunker), in which the commander and the crewman are trying to complete a crossword, has been cut.

Scene #578 (Madame Tracy/Aziraphale and Shadwell getting directions from R.P. Tyler) has been cut.

The opening to scene #585 has been changed – the shot of Madame Tracy arriving on the scooter is additional to the script, and the whole thing was supposed to be shot as if from the Guard’s POV.

A couple of lines between Death and War about the world being theirs are missing from the finished episode.

A handful of changes have been made to the middle of the scene on the tarmac:

Adam was originally scripted to tell the soldiers the reason that they had to go to sleep (“So you don’t get hurt.”).

There was supposed to be a shot of the lead solider looking at him incredulously.

Pepper had a line, which was ignored, where she asked Adam how he did the things he does.

In episode 4, I noted how much the finished episode differed from the original script by way of amendments. In this episode, the same is true, but this time it’s the amount of material that has been cut that’s notable. Entire scenes (sometimes more than one in a sequence) and speeches have been cut away, seemingly quite brutally. There is also, for the first time in this script-to-screen journey, the first instance of a note-free page in my Script Book, that is to say that particular page is exactly the same between script and screen (it’s page 328 if you’re interested, part of the conversation between Aziraphale and the Quartermaster).

I feel like most of these large changes have been pretty expertly implemented. There are a few of them that would have felt entirely at home in the earlier episodes, where the tone was less urgent and doom-laden (like the scene with the Commander and Crewman completing a crossword), but don’t really have a place this late on in the series – their presence would have slowed the pace, dampening the sense of urgency, and wouldn’t have offered a great deal in return. I feel like it probably takes a very savvy production team to read a series in that multi-layered way, and make the (probably painful) cuts that are needed to maintain the tone they want to achieve.

There is only one large change on the list above that I feel like I miss. It’s the handful of lines between Anathema and Newt where she confesses she wouldn’t be able to kill a child, even if it was to save the whole world. Had those words been present in the finished episode, it would have really highlighted the journey that both Aziraphale and Crowley have made towards becoming human, seeing as they have both admitted the same thing.

Deletions

The stage directions state that Crowley is angry and scared, but this is not apparent in the finished episode.

A line from the firefighter about appearances being deceptive.

An exclamation from the firefighter in an attempt to stop Crowley from entering the bookshop.

The stage directions suggest we should have heard “rumblings” inside the bookshop.

Crowley was scripted to call Aziraphale’s name once more after being knocked over, and then putting his glasses back on.

A line from Shadwell about the events that have happened not having any place on Earth.

A couple of sentences from Madame Tracy, where she assures Shadwell that Newt can probably look after himself.

An interjection from Shadwell where he attempts to reject Madame Tracy’s offer of help.

The stage directions have Heaven with an open roof, and in a state of chaos.

The model of Earth was supposed to be contained within a glass box.

Adam originally brought back the mouths for the rest of The Them with a verbal cue (“Mouths back.”)

The stage directions have a tear running down Brian’s face whilst he grins maniacally.

A line from Anathema about the earth moving during her escapades with Newt.

A line from Anathema about the storm dying down.

The stage directions have Anathema picking up the prophecy cards in the bedroom after she tells Newt to get dressed.

A couple of words from Anathema where she stipulates her doubt is specifically focussed on what they do about Adam (“I don’t know about that any more.”).

A couple of sentences from Crowley’s drunken soliloquy (about how he and “the guys” were going to ask about job conditions and career progression opportunities).

The stage directions have the entire bar taking on the impression of an old polaroid after Aziraphale’s arrival.

A line from Crowley about him trying to get drunk.

We were supposed to see a shot of more of Aziraphale’s notes (not just the map).

Mrs. Ormerod was supposed to be carrying an umbrella that had blown inside out. She was also scripted to make reference to it as “cheap rubbish”.

A shot of War dismounting her bike and entering the café.

A shot of the café door opening for Famine’s entrance to the café.

Famine offering War a greeting (“Hello”), rather than just greeting her by name.

War was scripted to express the length of time it’s taken for the four of them to get together (“finally”).

A line from Famine where he expresses relief that a thunderstorm is on the way.

The stage directions state that Madame Tracy is irritated at Mrs. Ormerod’s interjections as she “goes under”, but this is not apparent in the finished episode.

A few sentences from Julia where she expands upon her mother’s death.

A line from Madame Tracy as Aziraphale starts to take possession of her body where she announces that something is “coming through”.

Aziraphale was originally scripted to ask if Madame Tracy’s clients spoke English in two languages in addition to German – French and Mandarin.

A couple of extra words from Mrs. Ormerod as she expresses her shock than Ron is actually there in the room with her.

A sentence from Mrs. Ormerod where she comments that she was sitting down at the wedding.

The stage directions have Madame Tracy’s eyes rolling up as Ron prepares to lose his temper.

A line from Ron about him not caring about kimchi.

The lights were originally scripted to be turned back on by Aziraphale (as Madame Tracy) snapping his fingers.

The kettle was supposed to be whistling as we join Madame Tracy in the kitchen, making tea.

Crowley was supposed to mark the changes he made to the design of the M25 on the diagram as he gave his speech.

A line spoken by the audience of Crowley’s speech.

A second shot of Aziraphale’s reflection in a mirror as Shadwell enters the kitchen.

We were supposed to be able to hear people shouting in the background on the M25.

A line from Crowley where he talks himself through the route he needs to take to get to Tadfield.

The stage directions have rain flooding down the windows at the call centre (there aren’t even any windows in the finished episode, let alone rain).

According to the script, we were supposed to have a panning shot of the cubicles with their occupants in the call centre.

The script has the lights getting darker in the call centre as Hastur materialises out of the phone lines.

There was supposed to be a shot of Aziraphale (as Madame Tracy) crossing his fingers when he tells Shadwell how many nipples Adam has.

A line from Crowley about not having to complete any compliance paperwork anymore.

A line from Hastur about him not liking jokes.

The stage directions have a police roadblock on the hard shoulder that Crowley has to drive around.

Hastur’s hands were supposed to catch on fire before he tells Crowley to stop.

The stage directions have the flames dissipating inside the car after he gives the Bentley a pep talk about it not burning.

Crowley’s suit was supposed to be “interestingly ripped” during the extended close-up of him in the burning Bentley.

Buddy Holly’s “Everyday” was supposed to be playing as Crowley drives through the wall of fire.

The script had a moment of very eerie silence immediately after we see all four of the Horsemen proceeding down the highway, towards Adam’s voice.

A couple of sentences at the end of Adam’s speech about which parts of the world each of The Them will get to rule over, mostly just expanding on what they’ll all do.

The stage directions have Pepper stroking Dog after Adam’s speech about who gets which bit of the world to lord over.

A line from Adam that spells out more distinctly where his territory will be, which sounds suspiciously like the territory he gave to Anathema when he first met her.

The stage directions have Dog whining in a very distinctive way just after Pepper tells Adam they don’t want to go anywhere.

A line from Adam where he points out that The Them are now able to talk after he tells them they can go anywhere they want.

A line from Brian where he asks Adam what’s going to happen next after Adam tells them all he doesn’t care.

The stage directions have a loud crash noise that announces Adam’s presence as he hangs over The Them on the cricket green.

The script gives a description of Adam desperately looking from one member of The Them to the next, getting increasingly panicked.

Dog shaking his head when Adam begs them all to come back.

The stage directions have Hogback Wood shaking during Adam’s inhuman scream.

Pepper demanding that Brian hit Adam with the cricket bat before he can fully awaken.

Pepper signalling that Brian should in fact not hit Adam with the cricket bat after she sees Dog licking his face.

According to the script, we should see Anathema packing up her cards and the elusive bread knife as she’s getting ready to leave Jasmine Cottage.

A line from Aziraphale about how fast Madame Tracy’s scooter is (not) going.

A line from Madame Tracy about the speeds her scooter is actually capable of achieving.

The stage directions have the scooter wobbling as immediately before it is encompassed in the blue light that signifies Aziraphale’s miracle.

According to the script, we should have seen R.P. Tyler leaving his house with Shutzi.

A sentence from Anathema where she gives Newt directions to the airbase.

The stage directions have War giving a cursory glance around her surroundings before she becomes so dismissive of them.

According to the script, we were supposed to see Anathema becoming more “witchier” in appearance once she and Newt arrive at the airbase.

Anathema’s acknowledgement of a broken security camera, which has been crushed by the fallen tree.

The stage directions indicate that a long shot of the weather during the exchange between The Them and R.P. Tyler would have been desirable.

The soldier repairing the computer was supposed to be doing so lying on the floor.

A shot of the Horsemen looking less human immediately following God’s voiceover speech about them initiating worldwide nuclear war.

There are console lights described in the stage directions for the scene that takes place in a North American nuclear bunker.

According to the script, the commander in the North American bunker was supposed to tap the control panel after the switches had flipped.

A montage of missiles launching immediately after the Commander asks to speak to Stratcom cyber command.

The stage directions describe a “SUDDEN CRASH DOWN” as the Bentley comes to a stop.

According to the script, Agnes’s book was supposed to be little more than a blackened lump of charcoal by the time Crowley arrives at the airbase.

The airbase alarm was supposed to be triggered during a shot of the Guard hitting a red alert button.

A shot of the guard raising his gun at Madame Tracy/Aziraphale and Shadwell.

A line from Famine about the tardiness of the Antichrist.

A shot of The Them dismounting their bikes as they arrive at the communications bunker.

A line from Brian about how they always lose whenever they go up against adults.

The stage directions have an alarm and a red flashing light being heard/seen across the airbase compound as the soldiers approach The Them on the tarmac.

A shot of the Horsemen responding to Adam’s announcement of his presence.

“Everyday” rendition leading us into the end credits.

As with the large changes, I think all of these cuts have been pretty expertly made. I mostly don’t feel like their presence would have given us anything that would we haven’t gotten from elsewhere, despite them all feeling like they are in keeping with the general tone of the show. I have two exceptions to this. The first is the description from Adam about what his territory is going to be. True, it’s an exact repetition of what he describes as his “world” to Anathema in episode 3, but isn’t that kind of the point? He could have the entire world, but all he wants is this little patch that he thinks he’s already king of. The notion that he truly loves his little life is something that gets hammered so hard in the book, but I think is significantly underplayed in the show, and this would have gone a long way to rectifying that.

The second of my two exceptions is Crowley calling Aziraphale’s name after he’s knocked down. Not the part where he puts his glasses back on – I think it’s desperately important that we see his eyes during his ragey speech. But the part where he calls out Aziraphale’s name? That would have broken my heart, in the gloriously safe angst-y way that this show does so well. Don’t get me wrong, David does an exceptional job in that scene: it must have been incredibly difficult to deliver that heartfelt speech with everything else that was going on at the time, and my heart is breaking by the end of it anyway. There’s just something about the idea of him calling Aziraphale’s name one last time, mostly in despair but with a little bit of dying hope. Aaaand I’m crying. Actually crying as I write this. THAT’S why I miss it.

That’s it for this part. Additions and changes coming up in Part 2! As always, questions, comments, discussion: always welcome. See you in the next one!

[sienarossosource]

Script excerpt of the deleted Siena and Anthony scene from 1.01:

I saw people wondering where these two stills are from, so I thought I might share the original script of that scene for everyone who hasn't seen it yet.

This isn't really a deleted scene - it just got re-shot. The dialogue is pretty much the same as their conversation in Siena's dressing room. I guess they filmed this scene first but then chose to change locations for some reason.

(Here's the link to the entire script of the 1st episode, including this scene)

(For comparison, here's the link to a later script of that same episode which now includes the dressing room scene - the scene starts on page 23)

Personally, I quite like the change. The dressing room scene is beautiful and it allows us to see some intimacy between them before Anthony decides to leave Siena. Plus, I love how it parallels the bedroom scene in episode 8.

However, I also love the original scene - I definitely would've liked to see them on a casual walk together. I also feel like the original script for this episode focuses a lot more on Anthony's fear of being seen with Siena - which is still a theme throughout season 1, but not as heavy as it is presented here. At the same time, the relationship we do see on screen also seems a lot more secretive. Who knows, maybe that's why they changed it.

[domtheforestgnome]

Lisa posted fragments of script from season 1 🥹

"Felt like everyone needed a present today:"

[magentagalaxies]

season 2 of the sitcom i wrote when i was 13 is gonna give me an existential crisis oh my goddddd

[hislittleraincloud]

No, they didn't rob you of anything.

Two women were in charge of "Quid Pro Woe": Gandja Monteiro and April Blair.

Actually, three women were in charge if you count Ortega.

It's anti-Ortega for you kids to glom on to a characterization that is the opposite of what she worked so hard to craft for us, changing lines and admitting to changing lines in the script [for "Woe What a Night"] because she knew what Wednesday would and wouldn't say and do and is "very, very protective of her".

And it repulses me that a trans man would saturate the scene (and the entire book) with fanonist, anti-Ortega crap that never happened on screen to queerbait. LGBTQIA+ people who deliberately queerbait a popular franchise in the entertainment industry aren't doing us any favors. Queerbaiting has always been bad, but it's 2024 and we're supposed to be aware of it/be enlightened about it.

And more, a trans man shoving his hands into something women created and fucking with it so that the main female character is nearly unrecognizable in an officially published take is offensive to me as a feminist.

It is extremely disrespectful to their work, especially when women who write and direct still have to work harder in the industry to be seen, their work often overlooked in favor of what the men put out. You don't ever see anyone talk about Monteiro, this shitshow is always Burton's:

I'd tell you to stop it but I know you won't. It's like watching y'all run right into the pretty, rainbow-ringed Grand Prismatic Spring at Yellowstone. I keep telling you not to fucking jump in, that you'll get burned (and worse), but you're blinded by those cute little swimming goggles that you fully believe will protect you.

[kvetchinglyneurotic]

i have a fic planned where one of the chapters takes place during jamie's stint on lust conquers all so i was like. ok i'll watch a season of love island uk (which i gather is the closest real-world equivalent) for research but i looked it up and all the season have like 50-60 episodes??? and they're not even short episodes each one is like 50 minutes long??? i think i see why reality tv has such a massive problem with exploiting/overworking the cast and crew. like idk maybe if the season wasn't 58 episodes you wouldn't be having this problem

[air--so--sweet]

Personally I think not giving Klaus telekinesis in TUA was the right choice (or at least not to give him telekinesis to the extent he has it in the comics) as it would just make him very OP and, in my opinion, it doesn't quite work with the direction they took his character. That said - I really love the image of Klaus conducting a ballroom of dancing clothes and laughed out loud at the punchline.

The differences I find interesting in the script are the bits that are actually closest to what we see on screen but not not quite there yet, like Luther and Diego's fight resulting in damage to Reginald's favourite tree rather than Ben's statue, or a random locket flying across Viktor's room and getting pinned to the wall instead of the locket Luther gave Allison.

Or Five simply saying 'that's unfortunate' in reference to Viktor leaving having originally been this -

I know it was likely changed as it undermines Five's line to Viktor later that he's the only one he can trust (which exists, though slightly differently, in this draft also), but on the flipside it also adds a lot of weight to why it's Klaus that Five gets to pose as his father when he goes to meritech. Because you could just read it as Five choosing Klaus because he knows he'll agree to do it for dtug money, but it is in fact because Five trusts him.

Also, if anyone else wants to read the script download link is here. I found it quite some time ago on reddit, I don't know how it got online or what draft of the script this actually is (I think I called it a first draft in another post, but that was an assumption, I tried looking it up and there's no info on how far into the process this script was written).

[1doesnotsimplyhavejust1fandam]

Disregarding whether he is actually permanently dead or not, you’re telling me that we’re just supposed to what? Accept that this was Bobby’s last episode, his last few scenes. His non-goodbyes to literally everyone except Athena and sort of Buck? This is definitely such a Bobby way to go, protecting his team to the last moment he can, making sure he’s the only one going down. But he doesn’t even get a goodbye to Chimney whose LIFE he directly saved with his decision to stay quiet? The promo showing Chim struggling with this just proves the point that it’s crazy to think that Bobby would just go without a proper goodbye, even over the radio. And the “worthless” military guy telling HEN??? Why would you do that to my girl!?? And no idea who tells Ravi because he is the one to tell Karen. I get that you can’t show every moment of the downward spiral, but it just seems so cruel. Not that Bobby would sacrifice himself like this, but that the rest of the team isn’t even able to be together when they find out. I mean, Eddie is in TEXAS!!! It’s not real life, so the show is allowed to be careful and send a message with something this big, with a main character death. And they kind of, didn’t?

My video was buffering for pretty much the last fifteen minutes of the show/commercials, but I don’t think the time from when Buck realizes Bobby stayed back to the end of the episode could’ve been longer than five minutes of screen time. And while this isn’t a show that’s killed off mains before, this isn’t a show that killed off mains before. So why was the emotional impact so short and unfulfilling? There’s eight seasons worth of history for this character, I KNOW emotionally impactful death sequences. That was just. So short. If it’s a real death, are they planning on a fulfillment of the characters’ grief, Bobby’s arc, and the team as family dealing with this in the next episode, which is in TWO WEEKS, when irl feelings have already been processed and lessened?

[rollforjackass]

okay so i reread the good omens script book trying to look up a quote i remembered and i kept writing down the things that i absolutely loved about it, so here's just a list of all the quotes and moments that rewired my brain chemistry

aziraphale sasses the hell out of crowley about his antichrist birth organization skills

aziraphale saying “oh sugar” instead of oh shit...

first appearance of everyday by buddy holly, we all know how that turned out

aziraphale doesn’t know how an ansaphone works. this was in the book too, but it’s still funny, especially considering how in radio omens he at least knows about caller id

aziraphale brought shortbread for the drive to the convent. did he think it was a date? please say yes

crowley asked aziraphale if heaven wouldn’t give him (crowley) asylum and aziraphale was going to ask him the same about hell

aziraphale says “what the hell” after pointedly not swearing earlier. hypocrite ass

aziraphale is fine with killing the antichrist himself but gets upset about the humans killing each other at tadfield manor....more tasty hypocrisy. he thinks he can only ever do the Right Thing but he knows it's Wrong when anyone else does it

“aziraphale is rather enjoying having the upper hand in the ideas department for once”

crowley says “dude. chill.”

“for a moment his noble better nature rejects the idea out of hand. THEN HE FALLS...”

“aziraphale is softening. they haven’t spoken in a hundred years: he’s realizing they are still friends.” gets me every time i look at it

why was shadwell in prison?? america explain

“i work in soho, i hear things” patron saint of soho confirmed

i still think that the neon halo blinking on and off above aziraphale’s head is the HARDEST that neil gaiman has ever gone and that we deserved to see it in the final cut

"michael: when your cause is just you do not hesitate to smite the foe, aziraphale." i'm thinking thoughts about the s2 finale under this lens; when your cause is just (saving the love of your life) you do not hesitate to suffer for pursuing it

“crowley looks back. he looks at aziraphale. above them, a beautiful starry sky. and crowley softens.”   jesus janthony christ.

“aziraphale is looking for someone. he spies a human statue dressed as an angel, with wings. it’s not him.”   GOD

gabriel about aziraphale: “i’m disappointed in him. not thinking like an angel.”

crowley “looks up, and talks to god, in the classical fashion.” see i really want a script book for s2 because i want to see aziraphale's expressions of faith plucked out a little bit more

crowley in the cinema: “he’s waiting for the end of the world. out of time. out of hope.”

the fact that crowley saw aziraphale walking down the street and left dagon on read is priceless

aziraphale looks hurt after crowley says he won’t even think about him

the music for the gavotte scene was recommended to be “i am a courtier grave and serious” from gilbert and sullivan’s the gondoliers which is PERFECT

“aziraphale is heading down the street, looking harried and as if he is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. which he is.”

sandalphon says “you know how we treat traitors in wartime?” to aziraphale and there was meant to be blood on aziraphale’s lips after sandalphon punches him. death to sandalphon

“why would you do this? we’re the good guys.”

aziraphale (resolutely not swearing): you. you B…AD angels.

“seducing women to do your evil will!” “i think perhaps you’ve got the wrong shop.” still the campiest line delivery i've ever seen

we don't need to speculate about crowley being in tears in the burning bookshop because according to the script he is canonically right on the verge of it

“right. i’m done. i’ve had it. i don’t care about any bloody angels or humans or anyone. i hate you all. somebody killed my best friend, and i don’t even care who did it. bastards, all of you.”   😭

when aziraphale is discorporated, his heavenly appearance is all his normal clothes but gleaming white

aziraphale: i have no intention of fighting in any war. “all angels on the floor turn and look at the angel who has said the unsayable.”

aziraphale can’t actually see crowley in the bar scene…he has no idea how wrecked his best friend is

aziraphale doesn’t take sugar with his tea. bastard

aziraphale crosses his fingers under the table when answering shadwell’s nipple question

aziraphale is wearing madame tracy’s pink motorbike helmet in the mirror of her scooter

they describe crowley’s suit in the burning bentley as “interestingly ripped”...........we were robbed of a crowley boob window moment and i'll never forget

aziraphale introduces crowley to madame tracy as “he’s…well, we’re sort of business associates.” you know, like a liar

aziraphale was fully about to murder adam. i don’t think i can stress this enough

aziraphale pokes himself to make sure he’s solid once he’s separated from madame tracy

aziraphale isn’t threatening crowley with the sword, “just making his point that he can do dangerous out-of-character things if he needs to.”

crowley: what if the almighty planned it this way all along? from the very beginning aziraphale: takes a drink from the bottle of wine

aziraphale looks like he’s going to cry when crowley reminds him that the bookshop burnt down 😭

aziraphale-as-crowley looks depressed 😭 he still thinks his bookshop is gone

the angels kidnapping crowley-as-aziraphale zip-tied his hands those dickheads

aziraphale-as-crowley: my friend! they’re kidnapping my friend!

the hit hastur gives aziraphale-as-crowley would have killed a human 0/10 wahoos

“the van with [crowley-as-]aziraphale in it drives away, and [aziraphale-as-]crowley tries to crawl after it.”   HEY NEIL I JUST WANT TO TALK

crowley-as-aziraphale says “what fun. i love a barbecue.”

i am literally ENRAGED that sandalphon was like “hell yeah you can hit aziraphale” to the minor demon who brought the hellfire i WILL throw hands

uriel calls it a barbecue too those fuckers

in the script uriel and sandalphon have their flaming swords drawn, so it wasn't going to be as insidious as expecting aziraphale to walk into the flame of his own volition. but they didn’t end up including it in the show, so it is that insidious after all

aziraphale-as-crowley keeping his socks on for the bath was such a choice

“he doesn’t actually have a newspaper and a cigar, but damn, he’s enjoying himself in his bath” 

i've seen so little talk about how absolutely ice cold aziraphale is in the bath scene with the whole “so you’re probably thinking, ‘if he can do this, i wonder what else he can do’? and very, very soon, you’re all going to get the chance to find out.” BECAUSE THAT SHIT IS TERRIFYING

aziraphale-as-crowley: michael. duude.

crowley and aziraphale both get out of their own elevators and meet up to walk out together which is poetic cinema

PIGBOG AND THE OTHER MOTORCYCLE IDIOTS THAT HUNG OUT WITH DEATH WERE GOING TO BE INCLUDED i miss them

[br1ghtestlight]

its annoying bcuz s1ep1 obviously does a good job introducing the important characters and the general premise but it ALSO has the worst most offensive jokes by a large margin and doesn't accurately represent the humor or general vibes of the show on any level. like thats Not what the show is like past maybe season two. idk i would say bob belcher and the horrible no good very bad kids is a better starting episode (makes sense considering as the 200th episode it was like kind of honoring the beginning of the show) it better shows the humor characters and locations AND has all the same characters as s1ep1 including hugo and ron. anyway

[humbledragon669]

S1E3 – Hard Times Write Up P5 - Friday (One day to the end of the World) up to "the break up"

So, here we are, more than halfway through the episode yet only just getting to the credits. That really threw me the first time I watched this episode! I do think it’s a very clever way to handle the format of this episode though – you couldn’t exactly break the flow of the historical scenes to make way for the credits, and those scenes definitely don’t belong nestled in amongst the main storyline, particularly as all of those scenes were additional material written specifically for the show (as described by Neil in the introduction to the Script Book – this was do with ensuring consistency for seeing Crowley and Aziraphale in every episode of the season). Despite the fact that the storyline covered in these scenes is newly created, the information we learn from them is crucial to understanding the motives, emotions, and thought processes that the angel and demon show throughout the show, and I genuinely don’t think the rest of the episodes, or our relationship with the two main characters, would have been the same without them.

I also think the crazy-fast montage of scenes that we see immediately following the credits is a great way of bringing us back to the main storyline of the show, picking up right where we left off at the end of episode 2, which in fairness does seem like an awfully long time ago – after all, we’ve just been through a whistle-stop tour of 6000 years of history.

The entire sequence takes 5 seconds and appears to use a different image for every frame of film, which means it consists of approximately 130 different tableaus, in chronological order of their appearance in the season. Some editor had fun doing that I’m sure.

Knowing that I should be looking at any instances of writing whenever it’s used, I paused my rewatch of this episode at the point where we’re shown Aziraphale’s little planning board. Whilst most of it makes perfect sense (a map, notes about Adam’s name, relevant prophecy numbers), there is also a sheet of paper covered in writing that, to me at least is completely ineligible:

If anybody knows what this writing is, or even if it’s just made-up scribblings to look cool, I’d love to know the answer.

The conversation between Adam and Anathema has always struck me as slightly odd. I mean, it’s nice that Adam stops to ask if she’s OK (when she clearly is not), but there doesn’t appear to be any recognition from either party that they actually met just the day before. And forgive me for imposing modern-day suppositions on to work that was written a few decades previously, but a fully grown adult inviting a kid into their house for something to drink just feels creepy to me. We know she’s perfectly fine to be around though so we’ll let it go. What I do like about the conversation is that there’s an echoing of the exchange that Crowley and Aziraphale shared as they were leaving Tadfield Manor (about angels not being occult but ethereal) but this time the labels in contention are “witch” and “occultist”.

ADAM: Are you a witch? ANATHEMA: No, I’m an occultist.

It’s a nice nod to the notion that words have power. Both parties are describing the same idea but choosing what connotations they want to associate with it. And what’s really important to note on that matter is that changing Anathema’s label completely changes Adam’s opinion of her immediately.

Side note: anybody else find the juxtaposition of some manky old thumbscrews right next to a colourful birthday candle to be a beautifully accurate summation for what an oblivious shitshow the Witchfinder’s Army really is?

I find the choice of location for Crowley’s meeting with Shadwell to be an interesting one. The café they meet in proudly declares itself to be the “Best Café in Wandsworth”. Wandsworth is a long way from Crouch End, where we know Shadwell lives, and Mayfair, which is where the book states Crowley’s flat is located. And just so we’re covering some of the other possibilities, it’s nowhere near Soho and Aziraphale hasn’t set up the meeting at the 3rd rendezvous point yet for it to be a precursor location for the meeting on the bandstand. Why Wandsworth?

There are a couple of Easter Eggs in Crowley’s newspaper here, and perhaps one on the TV playing in the background. Let’s start with the newspaper. It’s no surprise that Crowley would be reading the Infernal Times, but who knew that demons would consider a bit of hiking for their holidays:

It’s a bit hard to make out, but I’m pretty sure that the headline reads something about walking trails. And it’s a pretty pathetic sounding front page headline:

In case you can’t read it (again, it difficult to make out), it says “SOUL MUSIC: Catalogue your collection of Souls?”. As a headline it doesn’t make a great deal of sense, but I think this is probably a reference to Crowley’s soul music collection mentioned in the book.

He was very proud of his collection. It had taken him ages to put together. This was real Soul Music. James Brown wasn’t in it.

The last of the headlines I can actually make out is the following:

Again, if you can’t quite make it out, this one describes some latest research that suggests exorcisms are on the rise in Wales. Just who has done the research, and why specifically concentrating on Wales, remains a mystery. Now let’s have a look at that TV in the corner of the room:

This was really tricky to get a clipping of something that made sense but the footage on the screen looks like it’s set in Puritan times. The guy on the right in this image is even wearing a costume reminiscent of Adultery Pulsifer’s clothes in the previous episode, so perhaps this a witchfinder? I couldn’t get anything concrete, but I think it’s probably a little Easter Egg nonetheless.

It’s nice that we have an acknowledgement of Shadwell’s involvement with Crowley going back decades during the conversation where we discover the demon is sponsoring the Witchfinder’s Army. We know, from the 1967 historical scene, that Crowley has been dealing with this dense oaf for 50 years by this point. I suppose in a show where character recognition, or rather the lack of it (see previous scene with Adam and Anathema, or even the use of the same actors to play different characters as we see in season 2) happens regularly, it was probably necessary to script something that explicitly states that these two characters are aware of the “resemblance” that Crowley bears to someone Shadwell knew many years previously.

Moving back to Anathema and Adam now (this episode does fair rattle through the sub-plot development doesn’t it?!). What’s with the whale obsession please? This isn’t the first time we hear about how whales have big brains (Crowley already raised this point when he was very drunk in episode 1), and it won’t be the last. I mean, I’m not denying that they do have huge brains, I just didn’t realise it was a thing that so many people thought about. I wonder if it’s one of those questions you supposedly can ask men about to get an unexpected response, like how often they think about ancient Rome? Regardless, the whale comment is just one of a bunch of foreshadowing Clues in this scene for later on.

They’ve got it all covered – ley lines, nuclear power stations, the Kraken, Atlantis, and Tibet, all mentioned or seen in a very short space of time. There’s even mention of the destruction of the Brazilian rainforests, something Adam tries to resolve in the book.

Up in Heaven, which looks like an incredibly boring place in my opinion, Aziraphale is busy telling his superiors things they’re either not interested in or already know. I don’t know whether Uriel’s line “what’s happening” is a little reference to Jesus Christ Superstar (the song “What’s the Buzz” uses this phrase repeatedly throughout), but if it is it would effectively put Aziraphale in the role of Jesus, with the archangels being disciples. Not exactly fitting with canon, so maybe this is a little Easter Egg. Or maybe it’s nothing at all.

Whilst I was doing this write up, I noticed that Aziraphale is the only one of the angels to be wearing a patterned garment – his trademark tartan. It’s a nice way to subtly distinguish him, or more precisely his relationship with the concept of free will, from the other angels, and whilst we know he has been exercising his own free will for centuries, his addition of a non-standard item of clothing to angelic attire would suggest he is becoming more comfortable with his stance. Looking back through the historical scenes (including the ones from season 2 we are yet to see), I think the tartan first makes it appearance in 1862, but I’m happy to be corrected on that.

It's a good job that the archangels are a somewhat dense bunch because Aziraphale does not do a good job of hiding when he’s hiding something here. He has a tendency to overact when it comes to the discussion around Crowley, and the pause he puts in before his non-committal answer to Gabriel’s questioning is almost painful.

It should be obvious to them that he’s covering something up but luckily they’re totally oblivious and Aziraphale actually manages to buy himself some time. Credit to him here – he went to Heaven with preconceived ideas of how this conversation was going and he not only manages to adapt to the deviation from his expectations, he also considers what this means, how it changes his plans, comes up with a plan for how to achieve his new objective, and executes that plan very convincingly. There’s a lot of talk about how Aziraphale can often be pretty dense at times, but this little scene should tell you that that’s only really true when it comes to Crowley – outside of the blinkers of friendship and love, this is one quick-thinking and intelligent angel.

We’ve had a couple of mentions of Crowley being “fallen” before now in the show, but I think this is the first time we get any clues as to why that might have been. And surprisingly for such an important piece of information, it’s delivered in an almost nonchalant way.

There was war in Heaven, long before the Earth was created. Crowley and the rest were cast out. Not nothing was ever really settled.

We already knew that Crowley wasn’t the only fallen angel (see Hastur’s comments in episode 2) but this is the first mention of him being involved in all-out war against Heaven. Hastur talks about rebelling in the previous episode, so we can only assume that these are two puzzle pieces that fit together. I don’t know whether season 3 will bring us a fuller answer for Crowley’s fall, but I hope so. I feel like it’s a huge part of his history and who he is; as a fan it would be nice to be able to put it all together for an even better understanding of his character.

Gabriel’s comments about the war and Armageddon make for some interesting discussion points. He says that even though the fallen angels were cast out of Heaven, nothing was settled. What exactly were they hoping would be the outcome of that war? If it was the destruction of those who rebelled, why only cast them out? Why not destroy them at that point? And why exactly does Earth have to get tied up in all of this? His parting line about Earth’s destruction offers little to the debate about what Earth’s role is in the whole Heaven/Hell war, only that Heaven is determined to destroy it, regardless.

The Earth isn’t going to just end itself, you know.

Charming. And unfortunately for Aziraphale, his lack of enthusiasm for another war has triggered the suspicion of the archangels – it’s interesting that he was able to cover his intentions through his talk of Crowley and poorly disguised buying for time but what really makes them think he can’t be trusted is that he clearly isn’t fully on their side when it comes to war.

There is a line in the book about anybody who meets Aziraphale believing him to be “gayer than a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide”. I can see how this might have been a little difficult to get into a TV show, but I think the double entendre delivered by the following exchange probably serves as a suitable alternative:

AZIRAPHALE: Do you have any men free? I need them to poke about a bit. SHADWELL: Poke, eh? And where exactly do you want them poking?

And if it wasn’t clear what Shadwell’s thoughts on Aziraphale were, calling him a “great southern pansy can probably fill in the blanks for you.

Remember what I was saying about Aziraphale not being dense earlier? Well this is one of those moments when he proves the exact opposite. He genuinely appears to believe all the stories Shadwell has fed him about the soldiers of the Witchfinder’s Army. I suspect he simply can’t bear to think that somebody would lie to him for financial gain, something which Crowley appeared to be fully conscious of when he dismissed Shadwell’s presentation of the ledger in the café earlier on. Whatever the angel’s reasons for this gullibility, we as the audience can now see that both of our hero pair are not only funding the Witchfinder Army (for the paltry combined sum of £500 per year according to the Script Book) but making use of their services, and hiding the organisation from the other for fear of reprimand. How very Shakespearian.

There are a few little things I’d like to show appreciation for in the Famine scene. First off, and I did have to look this up, but the word “sable” can be defined as “black”. So Famine’s chosen name consists of 2 words that describe black. Given that one of War’s alternative names is Red (or Carmine, which means crimson, as well as her chosen surname of Zingiber, which is another name for ginger – a word you might use to describe a red-headed person), this is hardly surprising. Next up. I love how beautiful the plate of non-existent food in the fine dining restaurant is. I have eaten at a Michelin starred restaurant and I can assure you, that isn’t far off the mark at all.

Next little Easter Egg – there’s a picture of the Bentley, albeit in red, on the wall of the burger joint that Famine and his assistant go to:

And how many times have we heard/read terms and conditions that sound very similar (scratch that, there are some phrases that are word-for-word perfect) to the ones for Chow for any/all new health product that comes to market with the sole purpose of making money out of gullible/vulnerable people. Neil really nailed the wording and delivery in the script there. Elvis’s presence in the restaurant is a cute bit of humour too, and halfway makes up for one of the lines in the script that didn’t make it to the final cut but made me guffaw like a loon – it’s Death’s response to a question about the year of Elvis’s death from the quiz machine:

I DON’T CARE WHAT IT SAYS. I NEVER LAID A FINGER ON HIM.

Lastly, I’d like to think there’s another instance of script mirroring in the use of the word Chow here. Cast your mind back, all the way to episode 1…

LIGUR: Wassat mean, “Ciao”? HASTUR: It’s Italian. It means “food”.

Except to anyone actually eating Sable’s prized invention Chow isn’t food at all, but eating it might result in you having to say “goodbye” to a lot of things like “hair. And skin tone. And, if you ate enough of it long enough, vital signs.” Beautiful word play.

Side note for the next scene: the Witchfinder Manual actually has a price on the cover (I can’t quite make out what it is, but it’s “old” money), which means at some point that sack of crap was actually sold to people.

One last tiny note: Crowley tells Aziraphale to meet him at the 3rd alternative rendezvous. Not the 3rd rendezvous or the alternative rendezvous. And Aziraphale can’t remember which location it maps to, though he can list off three possibilities, much to Crowley’s annoyance. I’d quite like to know how many formally named rendezvous locations they have, and why they think that referring to them in “code” prevents their respective superiors from knowing they’re meeting in the first place.

I am going to call it on this part of the write up at this point. I had intended for this part to be the last one for this episode, but I’m already at nearly 3000 words and I haven’t covered the “break-up” scene yet. I think I’m partly just putting off the inevitable by not including it here because I find the last scene of this episode very difficult to watch. Nevertheless, I hope you’ll forgive me. I’d hope I can give that scene the attention it deserves if I split it out into its own write up. So for now… comments, questions, discussion, all welcome, as always.