Episode 1: Let the Games Begin (Part 1)

02Dec09

Episode one opens with several shots of New York City at dawn. First, we get an aerial view of tall buildings, lights blinking in the soft dark gray of early morning. The camera moves almost lazily across rooftops, tracking the majestic steel and concrete landscape of the city, but it picks up speed after transporting us to street level, moving quickly past parked cars and storefronts—the colorful mesh of signs and words blurring together in a strange, but beautiful mosaic. Only a few people are awake, a jogger turning the corner on her daily run, a street vendor setting up his cart, and some teenagers sneaking home after a night on the town. As these images flit by, we hear a voice in the background… dreamy, melodious, but distinctly masculine. It belongs to Alastor:

Even in this city of dreams, not everyone’s dream can come true. So what if I told you that there is a way—a way to make it all happen?—Would you be willing to play my game? Even if losing means living a perfect nightmare? …It makes you wonder, doesn’t it? How far can you go, how much are you willing to sacrifice?

After he poses this question, the camera stops abruptly in front of the Washington Square Arch. On the bottom of the screen these words are typed:

Washington Square Park, New York City.

February 15, 2010 6:17 AM.

A brief pause and then we are brought into the park, a place that often evokes fond memories for New Yorkers… of lazy summer evenings watching the occasional street performance, of hours spent chatting with friends on the stone steps. But here on this dark morning we see the body of a young girl, somewhere in her early twenties, sprawled across the concrete floor. As the camera zooms in on her face, we glimpse a slow trickle of blood coming from the back of her head, mingling with the dust and dirt on the ground. Suddenly, her eyes open and she sits up with a start. Her hand immediately goes to the wound and she winces in pain, staring dazed and confused at the blood that appears on her fingers. We follow her eyes as they shift back and forth across the unfamiliar forms of the park—benches and trees taking shape in the morning light, yet somehow still eerily a part of the darkness… But all through her frantic searching, there is a profound silence; we hear none of her gasps of pain, not even the faint rustle of her clothes as she sifts through her purse in a panic, searching for something—a mirror—that she clasps in her shaking hands. The only sound we hear is Alastor’s voice in the background:

Imagine waking up one morning cold, alone, confused… with no idea of where or who you are. When she glimpses her face in the mirror, the girl opens her mouth to scream and drops it… but this scream and the sound of breaking glass are not heard; only Alastor’s words reach our ears, clear and crisp:

Not even knowing exactly what it is that you have lost… The camera lingers on her vacant expression, zooming into her eyes until we see clearly the strange mixture of blue-gray-green flecks that finally dissolves into nothingness as we are brought to a different scene… Transported through quiet, suburban streets and stopped before the still frame of a house, nondescript, flanked by two almost identical houses on either side. Classical suburbia. The following words are typed across the bottom of the screen:

Hwang House, Little Neck, Queens

February 15, 2010 6:17 AM

Another brief pause and suddenly the tranquil surroundings are disturbed by the arrival of news vans. Reporters and photographers crowd around the entrance of the house as a different girl emerges from within, shading her eyes from the bright flashes of the camera. Again, there is only silence as Alastor speaks:

But imagine too, what it would feel like to finally get the attention you have always known you deserved. To finally stand in the spotlight and know that against all odds, you have won. The camera zooms into her face and a smile of utter contentment curls her lip. She brushes her black hair behind her ears and grins directly at us, brown eyes reflecting the bright glare of the morning light.

Then the camera zooms out and brings the two separate panes together. We see both girls on one screen, separated by a thin line, but immersed in completely different worlds. Alastor speaks:

This is not my story. It’s theirs, and maybe it’s yours—the Dreamers who make this game worth playing…

Two cell phones suddenly go off, a strange combination of jarringly different ring tones. This is the first noise we hear besides Alastor’s voice so it should feel unsettling, intensely disconcerting. Both girls simultaneously reach for their phones and see that they have gotten a new text message. The first receives one saying, “Loser,” and the second, “Winner.” As they go through these motions, Alastor continues:

So, will you play? …And better yet, will you win or will you lose?

When he finishes, the first girl drops her cell phone, letting it clatter on the ground, while the second flips hers shut with an audible click. We receive another close up on both girls’ faces, capturing their distinct expressions—one of despair and the other of intense joy—then the screen goes black and the title “Alastor Dreams” appears, followed by the opening credits.

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Tags: Alastor Dreams, Drama Script, Episode 1, Let the Games Begin