Among by research, I read the pilot for Supernatural, which is a particular fav of mine. The opening does what a lot of pilot openings do - throws you into a prologue to explain how we got to where we're going to spend the series. It's brilliantly written and does an amazing job of grabbing your attention - have a read and see how we are teased as to what the hell is going on! Also, feel the tension as you get the urge to read faster and faster......
(Please excuse the crude formatting - the text didn't translate right from PDF)Trivia: In the pilot episode, Sam and Dean's dad is referred to as Jack, whereas in the show itself, he goes by John. Also - as you'll notice - their last name is Harrison, not Winchester. Not a big thing, but I think we all know Winchester is cooler!
TEASER
OVER BLACK--
LAWRENCE, KANSAS. 1982.
EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD STREET - NIGHT
A small town American HOME on a small town American street. We DRIFT UP towards a warm, lighted yellow WINDOW, on the second floor. As we float closer, we spy inside... a WOMAN. Standing beside a crib. She holds a TODDLER.
When, suddenly... the window GLASS SHIMMERS. RIPPLES, as if it were liquid. Just for a moment. Blink and you miss it.
INT. HOUSE - NURSERY - NIGHT
INSIDE THE CRIB. An INFANT BOY, a few months old. SAM. MARY HARRISON, late 20’s, gently beautiful in a genuine, maternal way. She leans her 3-year-old son DEAN over the crib’s edge. Dean kisses the baby’s forehead.
YOUNG DEAN
‘Night, Sammy.
Now Mary leans over, kisses Sam.
MARY
Goodnight, love.
Mary carries Dean to the doorway, where her husband JACK HARRISON, 30, waits. Jack flips off the lights.
JACK
Sam. You sleep through the night,and you can have Dean’s room.
Jack leaves the door open a crack.
On Sam. Beat.
Then... the FISHER-PRICE MOBILE, above his crib, begins to spin, silent, of its own accord.
On the dresser. A TEDDY BEAR CLOCK TICKS, soothing. But then it abruptly stops. Frozen.
A Casper the Friendly Ghost NIGHTLIGHT flickers...
INT. HOUSE - MASTER BEDROOM - LATER THAT NIGHT
A BABY MONITOR, on a nightstand. (We also see Jack and Mary’s WEDDING PHOTO-- he’s wearing naval whites.) The baby’s PIERCING CRIES, through the monitor receiver.
Mary groans awake. Looks over. Jack isn’t in bed. Still the baby bawls.
INT. HOUSE - UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - NIGHT
Mary shuffles down the hall. Opens the nursery door, peers in. Pitch-black inside. But Mary discerns a FIGURE hunched over the crib.
MARY
Jack? Is he hungry?
FIGURE
Shhhhh.
Mary holds up her hands-- okay, sorry. She turns away. But when she reaches her bedroom door, she stops. Noticing--
At the other end of the hall... the stairwell. A pale, dancing, ghostly light. Coming from downstairs. Mary frowns. What the hell?
She moves toward the shimmering glow. Cautious. At the stairs now. Bare feet padding down the steps. Until, finally, Mary reaches the bottom, to see--
INT. HOUSE - FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT
Jack. Asleep in his La-Z-Boy. An old movie on the muted TV.
MARY
Oh my God.
Mary spins, BOLTS up the steps!
INT. HOUSE - NURSERY - NIGHT
Mary BURSTS into the nursery, flips on the light. And whatever she sees O.S., it causes the color to drain from her face; her breath to come in short, panicked bursts.
MARY
(a whisper)...get away from him...
INT. HOUSE - FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT
Coming from upstairs, Mary’s terrible, ragged SCREAMING! Jack LUNGES out of his chair--
JACK
Mary?!
As Jack takes the steps two at a time, Mary’s screaming abruptly snuffs out.
INT. HOUSE - NURSERY - NIGHT
Jack explodes into the nursery. Mary’s not there. He moves up to the crib. The baby’s okay, thank God, though he’s bawling, inconsolable. Jack holds Sam, confounded--
JACK
Mary...?
Jack is about to exit the room, to search for his wife, when he stops. Sensing something. He turns back, noticing--
INSIDE THE CRIB. Plink. A dime of crimson red appears on the Sesame Street mattress. Plink. Then another. Another. They’re drops. Drops coming from above.
Jack looks up at the ceiling. His face twists into equal parts anguish and terror.
JACK
...no...oh my God no...
ON THE CEILING. MARY. Impossibly splayed out, as if it were the floor. Eyes wide open, glassy. Dead.
Jack barely has time to react, before...
Sizzling. BLACK LINES, BURNING THEMSELVES into the wall. Spiderwebbing. Some horizontal, some vertical. At first, we don’t realize what it is. But then it takes shape.
A message. Branded into the wall, in charcoal black letters four feet high--
COMING FOR YOU
The message smolders and IGNITES. Flames curl the wallpaper. Spreading fast. A smoke alarm BLARES, piercing.
Outside, in the hallway, Dean begins to push open the nursery door, crying, terrified.
YOUNG DEAN
Mommy?! Daddy?!
Snapping to lucidity, Jack carries baby Sam out of the room. Snatches up Dean with his other arm, before the boy enters.
JACK
No, Dean. Don’t look, okay? We gotta go.
Jack darts quickly for the stairs.
Out the front door.
CUT TO:
EXT. HOUSE - NIGHT - FEW MINUTES LATER
An angry BLAZE. Firetrucks. In a few hours, when they finally extinguish the flames, there won’t be much left. Jack. Across the street. Holding, comforting his two sons.
TIGHTER. Jack. Watching the house burn. Fire illuminating his expression, reflecting in his eyes.
His jaw sets in pain and FURY--
BLACKOUT.
END OF TEASER
Great stuff. There are a lot of things I love about the writing in here. The first is obviously the massively tense situation. Mary's realisation that the man in her son's room is not her husband - it still sends a shiver down my spine!Probably unusually, I also love the description of Mary walking down the stairs before that moment:
Bare feet padding down the steps.
The use of "padding" is what does it - creates a sense of drawn out, slow movement - every step taking forever. When we want to hurry up and find out what's going on, we're not allowed. It also serves to emphasise the change in pace when Mary turns and runs back up the stairs.
I also love:
Jack explodes into the nursery.
A great moment that makes perfect sense. You instantly switch POV from Mary to
And finally, the last image we are left with - a beautiful shot of a broken man pointlessly comforting his two sons:
Jack. Across the street. Holding, comforting his two sons.
TIGHTER. Jack. Watching the house burn. Fire illuminating his expression, reflecting in his eyes.
His jaw sets in pain and FURY--
I'm not sure if this is my favourite pilot opening or not, but it's definitely close. Buffy had a smashing one, perfectly capturing the show's tone and playing on our expectations. Angel did the same, providing several "Whoa! That's awesome!" moments. Either way, I love Supernatural's opening and the show on the whole.
What say you? What's your favourite TV show opening?
2 comments:
I love Supernatural, it's one of my all time favourite shows! Funnily enough, when I first came round to watching it on TV, I was half dragged into watching it, only semi-interested. But this pilot totally drew me in, gave you awesome moments, and intrigue, and you had to watch more! I agree, an excellent opening!
Thanks for posting! :)
Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I think this opening is probably my favourite. I think the best pilot I've seen is probably Angel, but in terms of the first 5 minutes to draw you in, Supernatural takes it.
You instantly feel for the characters. And it throws you a bit of a curve ball by making it about Jack/John then showing us Sam and Dean later on.
Buffy's was very good - a helpless schoolgirl breaking into the gym with her scary boyfriend. Oooh there might be something lurking after them.... then the girl turns out to be a vampire and rips her boyfriend's throat out. Awesome!
And Angel gave the title character his cool, taking him from drunken, moping guy to dark avenger, actually managing to pull off the line "Have you seen my car? It's big and shiny...."
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