JULY 9, 2006
GRADUATION DAY
by Craig Sweeny
If I hadn't written "As Fate Would Have It," the episode from Season 2 in which Jordan Collier was assassinated, it would have been a lot easier to write "Graduation Day."
Let me explain that.
"As Fate Would Have It" was the sixth episode of Season 2 (for production purposes, we count the two-hour premieres that begin each season as two episodes). It was a surprising, eventful episode, and everyone liked it a lot; it's often cited as one of our best.
So when I sat down to start thinking about the sixth episode of Season 3, which eventually became "Graduation Day," I was constantly thinking about "As Fate Would Have It." I was determined to make this new episode even bigger, even more surprising. I wanted it to be a highlight, very badly.
And I got stuck. It's the first time in my career that I've been absolutely frozen up -- but I guess that's what happens when you try to write a "highlight" instead of a story. We spent a couple of weeks talking about potential story events, eventually settling on a few big ones.
Then I wrote a script ... which felt like a bunch of events strung together, instead of a story. I found myself in the strange position of going to my boss, who thought the script was perfectly serviceable, and begging him to chuck it out.
That's right. I begged to start from scratch. I annoyed Ira to the point where he agreed to let me have another shot at a new story. We were now up against a deadline.
That's one of the good things about writing for TV. Writer's block never lasts. Too many deadlines.
I relished the opportunity to explore Alana's backstory in this episode. Ever since we introduced her in "Life, Interrupted," I've wanted to learn more about the car crash that claimed the life of her husband and young son. I quite like the story we devised around it, mostly because it places Alana in a virtually impossible situation. She knows who committed this terrible crime, but there will never be any evidence to prove it. What does she do?
Alana's dilemma reminded me of the fix we placed Diana in at the end of "Gone, Part One." Her daughter had been kidnapped, and not only did her efforts to find her fail, at the end of the episode she didn't even remember that she had a daughter.
As a writer, any time you can construct a problem so complicated that you're not sure there's a way out ... you know you've got a good story on your hands.
Keane Driscoll, the man who was behind the hit and run, is named after a guy I knew in college. We were roommates for a while. The character needed a distinctive name, and for some reason Keane's kept jumping into my head. I finally gave into it. The real Keane is utterly respectable and, as far as I know, innocent of any crimes.
Isabelle spent the first five episodes doing quite a bit of observing. She cast about for connections, wondered about her place in the world, and occasionally scared the crap out of the people closest to her.
Obviously, this episode was designed to push her into a more active role. But that's tricky to do ... putting Isabelle in play is like bringing your queen onto the board during a chess game. Everything comes to revolve around this powerful figure who can do things that none of the other pieces can.
In the end, we decided to keep her fairly contained. It may not feel that way when you're watching the episode, but she only acts on people who are in the way of her goal of healing Shawn. She kills her way across Seattle, but it's all in the name of human connection.
It's significant that her first "victim" is Matthew, who tried to isolate her and prepare her to act against the 4400.
Hope you liked the episode. I wonder what Isabelle was going to see Ryland about?
Past Entries:
- (6/25) Gone
- (6/18) Being Tom Baldwin
- (6/11) The New World, Parts I & II
- (6/1) Ira Steven Behr's Season 3 Sneak Peek
