This week on Buffy and the Art of Story: I, Robot...You, Jane. (Season 1, Episode 8 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.)

This podcast episode covers using prologues to raise the stakes, whether the demon here is a compelling antagonist, and how I, Robot weaves in action in quick bursts.

As always, the discussion is spoiler-free, except at the end (with plenty of warning).

Story Elements in I, Robot

In this podcast episode we’ll look at:

Raising the stakes through a prologue  

Learning about strong chapter endings from Buffy

Weaving in action you don’t have time to show

What makes an antagonist less than interesting

Sorry, no Season 1 DVD commentary this time! (But there will be for The Puppet Show.)

Next Up: The Puppet Show S1 E9 (on December 30, 2019 after a short holiday break)

Last Week: Angel S1 E7

Plotting Your Story

Working through plot issues for your own novel, screenplay, or story?

Try this Story Structure Template, available free to all on my Patreon page.

If you become a patron, you’ll also get access to bonus episodes and content.

Episodes will include Buffy-adjacent stories (such as key Angel episodes). Also films or TV episodes that are intriguing from a story, theme, or character perspective.

Episode Transcript of I, Robot...You, Jane

Hi, and welcome to Buffy and the Art of Story.

 

I am Lisa M. Lilly, author of The Awakening supernatural thriller series and the Q.C. Davis mysteries, and the founder of WritingAsASecondCareer.com. If you love Buffy the Vampire Slayer and you love creating stories, or just taking them apart to see how they work, you're in the right place.

This Week: I, Robot, You, Jane

This week we’re talking about I, Robot, You, Jane, Season One, Episode Eight. Written by Ashley Gable and Thomas Ace Wyden and directed by Steven L. Posey.

In addition to the major plot points, we’ll talk about:

using a prologue to raise the stakes or at least let your audience know how high the stakes are;

chapter endings and what you can learn about them from Buffy;

weaving-in quickly action that you don't have the time to show, but that the audience needs to know about;

and what makes an antagonist less than perhaps as interesting as we would like

There will be no spoilers, except at the end, to talk about some foreshadowing. But I will give you plenty of warning.

Listener Comments

First, though we do have a couple listener comments. Both relate to the spoiler section on The Harvest.

But I can talk about this point now. Because last week we found out in the episode Angel, that Angel is a vampire and that he, over 100 years ago, was extremely dangerous.

Angel, in The Harvest, meets Buffy in the crypt. She is about to go down and face the Master. He says that he's afraid when she asks why he won't go down there.  I questioned that, given what we later find out about Angel and how strong he is and how feared he was.

Steve commented that he thought perhaps Angel just wasn't ready to reveal yet that he was a vampire, and he knew that was going to come out during the fight and also that he was confident Buffy would be fine.

So he didn't feel that he needed to go with her.

Similarly, Kerry thought Angel's facial expression and his tone showed he was clearly lying about being afraid. And she says, “I think he just says it to get her to go on her own and realize her own strength.” I love that reading of it.

I love both readings of it because they suggest Angel has a lot of confidence in Buffy. I like that my listeners had more confidence in the writers than I did at that particular moment.

If you have thoughts on the show, you can email me [email protected] or you can tweet me on Twitter @LisaMLilly.

Okay, let's dive into the Hellmouth.

I, Robot

I was a little bit surprised when I re-watched this episode for the podcast. I always remember it as one that I'm not that excited about. The whole Internet-demon-who-turns-into-a-robot thing is what sticks in my mind. While I don't think it’s terrible, I felt like it isn't that intriguing of an episode.

But there was so much more fun in here than I remembered. Also some really interesting things about technology, looking at it from a perspective of 20 years later.

In addition, a little more foreshadowing than I remembered. And I'll talk about that, mostly in the spoiler section. There are some great storytelling things in here, so let's get to it.

The Prologue

We start once again with the prologue. I also had forgotten how often we get prologues in Buffy, so this will challenge that idea that I mentioned in the first, I think in the first episode, that many writers, viewers, readers are not too fond of prologues.

This one is an example of one that I didn’t find super compelling. I feel like it's part of why this episode sticks in my memory as one that I don't particularly like, when it turns out I kind of do.

The first part of the prologue, I don't know that it is necessary, we find out were in 1418 in Italy. The characters are speaking Italian but we get subtitles and we had the demon Moloch. He asks his follower who is dressed in a robe, so perhaps some type of monk perhaps not. Moloch asks if the follower loves him. Even though the follower professes his love, Moloch snaps his neck.

Then we switch to a group of monks who are saying, “Moloch walks again,” and people are falling under his power.

They may even call him by his full title, Moloch the Corrupter, and they need to form a circle and bind him. We switch back to Moloch. He sensing this is happening, he's weakening, and he disintegrates into tiny little pieces that are captured in a book, which is slammed shut and put into a box.

Raising the Stakes

Here are the things that the prologue does well. Initially I was thinking it raises the stakes, but I guess what it does is show us the stakes. Because we see that people fall under the sway of Moloch. He claims to only want their love, but even when they give him what he wants, he's going to kill them anyway. He snaps his followers necks.

Later on, as we get into Willow and what's happening with her, we are aware from the outset that if this is Moloch, she's doomed. Because he may claim to be devoted to her, but that's not what he does -- he kills people is what he does.

The prologue also tells us how do you capture Moloch and why is this book dangerous.

These are all things that I think we would have gotten from the context of the rest of the episode. All of that is woven into it in a really effective way, so I don't know that this was necessary.

Perhaps though, the show also wanted to signal, especially in these early episodes, with each one what kind of episode is this going to be. In this one gives a clue that this is a monster the week episode. It isn't going to be focused on the Master.

Opening Conflict in I, Robot

The other thing the Prologue does is give us our Opening Conflict. Opening Conflict can relate to the main plot. And this Prologue, it does.

But it also could be an entirely separate Opening Conflict relating to our protagonist. The idea is just that we need some sort of conflict to draw the reader into the story before we get to that Inciting Incident or what I think of as the Story Spark that gets our main plot moving.

So here we do get that Opening Conflict with Moloch, which didn't draw me in all that much. We also have a first scene of our present-day story, which has some Opening Conflict that does draw me in. It is not about a monster of the week.

It is between Giles and the high school computer teacher, Jenny Calendar.

Meet Jenny Calendar

So this is the first time that we meet Ms. Calendar, as the students call her and Giles calls her, I think through all of this episode. He may say Jenny towards the end. I love that she called him Rupert.

I think she's the only want to call him by his first name so far in the show. Which makes sense because we see him mainly interacting with the students. He does interact with Joyce, but she knows him as the high school librarian and calls him Mr. Giles. She doesn't know him that well yet, so she's not calling Rupert.

This makes a nice dividing line. And sets up that perhaps there is going to be a little more of a relationship between Jenny and Giles -- I’m going to keep calling him Giles because that's how I think of him. It also draws a nice line between the teachers and the students because of course the teachers don't call each other Mr. and Ms., at least once they know each other. They might in front of the students, as Giles does call her Ms. Calendar.

That she calls him Rupert also gives us a sense that she is a little more informal, a little more relaxed. He's using the Ms. Calendar, very formal approach. And she is coded as more current, or more fun, which we will also see some other hints of that later.

Technology as Villain?

Interestingly, while this opening scene with Jenny and Giles isn't specifically about the monster in the sense of being about Moloch, it is about technology.

When I really think about it, technology, in a sense, is the antagonist here, or the villain. If we see this from Giles eyes. He has several times mentioned feeling afraid of computers of technology and these changes.

Storytelling through Scene Cuts

We have a nice cut between these opening scenes. At the end of the 1418 scenes in Italy, we get the monks putting the book in a box and saying “May this accursed book never be read again”.

Cut.

We’re in the library, Buffy opens the box and says “Oh, great, a book.” We have lots of these kinds of cuts in Buffy. Where one character is saying one thing or something is happening and you get a cut and the other character either is saying something very similar that perhaps relates to a different situation. Or is actually handling a book when we've just mentioned a dusty old book,...

This week on Buffy and the Art of Story: I, Robot...You, Jane. (Season 1, Episode 8 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.)

This podcast episode covers using prologues to raise the stakes, whether the demon here is a compelling antagonist, and how I, Robot weaves in action in quick bursts.

As always, the discussion is spoiler-free, except at the end (with plenty of warning).

Story Elements in I, Robot

In this podcast episode we’ll look at:

* Raising the stakes through a prologue  

* Learning about strong chapter endings from Buffy

* Weaving in action you don’t have time to show

* What makes an antagonist less than interesting

Sorry, no Season 1 DVD commentary this time! (But there will be for The Puppet Show.)

Next Up: The Puppet Show S1 E9 (on December 30, 2019 after a short holiday break)

Last Week: Angel S1 E7

Plotting Your Story

Working through plot issues for your own novel, screenplay, or story?

Try this Story Structure Template, available free to all on my Patreon page.

If you become a patron, you’ll also get access to bonus episodes and content.

Episodes will include Buffy-adjacent stories (such as key Angel episodes). Also films or TV episodes that are intriguing from a story, theme, or character perspective.

Episode Transcript of I, Robot...You, Jane

Hi, and welcome to Buffy and the Art of Story.

 

I am Lisa M. Lilly, author of The Awakening supernatural thriller series and the Q.C. Davis mysteries, and the founder of WritingAsASecondCareer.com. If you love Buffy the Vampire Slayer and you love creating stories, or just taking them apart to see how they work, you're in the right place.

This Week: I, Robot, You, Jane

This week we’re talking about I, Robot, You, Jane, Season One, Episode Eight. Written by Ashley Gable and Thomas Ace Wyden and directed by Steven L. Posey.

In addition to the major plot points, we’ll talk about:

* using a prologue to raise the stakes or at least let your audience know how high the stakes are;

* chapter endings and what you can learn about them from Buffy;

* weaving-in quickly action that you don't have the time to show, but that the audience needs to know about;

* and what makes an antagonist less than perhaps as interesting as we would like

There will be no spoilers, except at the end, to talk about some foreshadowing. But I will give you plenty of warning.

Listener Comments

First, though we do have a couple listener comments. Both relate to the spoiler section on The Harvest.

But I can talk about this point now. Because last week we found out in the episode Angel, that Angel is a vampire and that he, over 100 years ago, was extremely dangerous.

Angel, in The Harvest, meets Buffy in the crypt. She is about to go down and face the Master. He says that he's afraid when she asks why he won't go down there.  I questioned that, given what we later find out about Angel and how strong he is and how feared he was.

Steve commented that he thought perhaps Angel just wasn't ready to reveal yet that he was a vampire, and he knew that was going to come out during the fight and also that he was confident Buffy would be fine.

This week on Buffy and the Art of Story: I, Robot…You, Jane. (Season 1, Episode 8 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.)

This podcast episode covers using prologues to raise the stakes, whether the demon here is a compelling antagonist, and how I, Robot weaves in action in quick bursts.

As always, the discussion is spoiler-free, except at the end (with plenty of warning).

Story Elements in I, Robot

In this podcast episode we’ll look at:

* Raising the stakes through a prologue  

* Learning about strong chapter endings from Buffy

* Weaving in action you don’t have time to show

* What makes an antagonist less than interesting

Sorry, no Season 1 DVD commentary this time! (But there will be for The Puppet Show.)

Next Up: The Puppet Show S1 E9 (on December 30, 2019 after a short holiday break)

Last Week: Angel S1 E7

Plotting Your Story

Working through plot issues for your own novel, screenplay, or story?

Try this Story Structure Template, available free to all on my Patreon page.

If you become a patron, you’ll also get access to bonus episodes and content.

Episodes will include Buffy-adjacent stories (such as key Angel episodes). Also films or TV episodes that are intriguing from a story, theme, or character perspective.

Episode Transcript of I, Robot…You, Jane

Hi, and welcome to Buffy and the Art of Story.

 

I am Lisa M. Lilly, author of The Awakening supernatural thriller series and the Q.C. Davis mysteries, and the founder of WritingAsASecondCareer.com. If you love Buffy the Vampire Slayer and you love creating stories, or just taking them apart to see how they work, you’re in the right place.

This Week: I, Robot, You, Jane

This week we’re talking about I, Robot, You, Jane, Season One, Episode Eight. Written by Ashley Gable and Thomas Ace Wyden and directed by Steven L. Posey.

In addition to the major plot points, we’ll talk about:

* using a prologue to raise the stakes or at least let your audience know how high the stakes are;

* chapter endings and what you can learn about them from Buffy;

* weaving-in quickly action that you don’t have the time to show, but that the audience needs to know about;

* and what makes an antagonist less than perhaps as interesting as we would like

There will be no spoilers, except at the end, to talk about some foreshadowing. But I will give you plenty of warning.

Listener Comments

First, though we do have a couple listener comments. Both relate to the spoiler section on The Harvest.

But I can talk about this point now. Because last week we found out in the episode Angel, that Angel is a vampire and that he, over 100 years ago, was extremely dangerous.

Angel, in The Harvest, meets Buffy in the crypt. She is about to go down and face the Master. He says that he’s afraid when she asks why he won’t go down there.  I questioned that, given what we later find out about Angel and how strong he is and how feared he was.

Steve commented that he thought perhaps Angel just wasn’t ready to reveal yet that he was a vampire, and he knew that was going to come out during the fight and also that he was confident Buffy would be fine.

So he didn’t feel that he needed to go with her.

Similarly, Kerry thought Angel’s facial expression and his tone showed he was clearly lying a...

This week on Buffy and the Art of Story: Angel, Season 1, Episode 7.  This episode covers how season-long antagonist The Master is the protagonist in the main plot.

Also how the episode intertwines that plot with 2 subplots - one with Buffy as protagonist, one with Angel. And the way the episode serves as a Season Midpoint.

As always, the discussion is spoiler-free, except at the end (with plenty of warning).

Story Elements in Angel

In this podcast episode we'll look at:

How the main plot and 2 subplots weave together perfectly

A villain as protagonist

3 things a protagonist should do

The Season 1 Midpoint 

As I note on the show, my understanding of the role of the protagonist was deepened by listening to story expert Lani Diane Rich of Chipperish Media.

She explains protagonists and antagonists here and in many of her podcast episodes.

Story Structure

For help applying the 5-point story structure the podcast covers to your own work, a free story structure template is available on my patreon page. You don't need to be a patron to download it, though it's great if you'd like to be.

Support The Show

If you become a patron for as little as $1 a month, you'll not only help fund more episodes like Angel, you'll get access to bonus episodes.

Those episodes will include Buffy-adjacent stories (such as key Angel episodes). Also films or TV episodes that are intriguing from a story, theme, or character perspective.

Including Wonder Woman once I reach 50 patrons.

Next Up:  I, Robot...You, Jane (S1 E8)

Angel Episode Transcript

I am Lisa M. Lilly, author of The Awakening supernatural thriller series and founder of WritingAsASecondCareer.com. If you love creating stories or just taking them apart to see how they work, you're in the right place.

This Week: Angel

This week we'll be talking about Season One, Episode Seven: Angel. In particular, I'll talk about how the main plot and two subplots weave together and the use of a character who is normally our antagonist as a protagonist in the main plot. The discussion will be spoiler-free except at the very end. But I'll give you plenty of warning.

Okay, let's dive into the Hellmouth.

The Main Plot and Two Subplots

As I sat down to analyze the plot points in this episode, I struggled to figure out exactly where they were. Which seems strange because I love this episode and I think it is very well structured.

After a while I realized it's because we have a main plot and two subplots.

The main plot is really the Master's plot to both kill Buffy and win Angel back. He is our protagonist, the Master that is, in this episode, though he acts through Darla, and though he normally is our antagonist during this season.

Our other plot, which you could also see as the main plot since Buffy is our traditional protagonist and it's her show, is Buffy wanting to be with Angel, falling for Angel. Which is really part of the overall series struggle Buffy has with trying to have a normal life and personal life, along with being the Slayer..

We also have a subplot for Angel wanting to be with Buffy. Angel is the protagonist of this plot.

I'll talk as I go along about why I don't see the Buffy/Angel subplots as one cohesive subplot, although all three of these plots are woven together so well that it did take me a while to see them separately.

The Opening Conflict

We start with our opening conflict. And remember that conflict is what draws the reader in and gets the reader intrigued, though it might or might not relate to the main plot.

Here it does if we see the Master's plot to kill Buffy and win Angel back as the main plot.

The Master starts out by saying “Zachary did not return from the hunt.” And there is a conversation between him and Colin -- him being the Master, not Zachary who's gone -- between the Master and Colin, the little boy vampire Chosen One from the last episode, and Darla.

They are all blaming Buffy. The Master asks Colin what he would do and Colin says “I would annihilate her.” The Master says something like, ‘From the mouths of babes.’ And Darla wants to be the one to kill Buffy but the Master says no, Darla has personal interest. He'll send ‘The Three.’

We don't know who The Three are but the tone tells us that this is something serious and ominous and not good for Buffy.

Party At The Bronze

The next scene is at The Bronze. It is the fumigation party before they are going to fumigate The Bronze and get rid of the cockroaches. Everyone gets a free drink if they bring up a cockroach that they killed.

Willow is explaining this to Buffy, which also obviously tells the audience about what is going on here, but Buffy is really not paying attention. And Willow says “What's it like where you are?”

This is when they get into a conversation about Angel and how Buffy is thinking about him, but she can't really see how she'd have a relationship with Angel.

She says, “How would that be? Every time he turns up it’s, ‘Hi, honey you're in great danger.’” This is a nice way, I've talked before about getting exposition in through conflict. And this is a very minor exposition issue, both the fumigation party and the Buffy/Angel relationship.

It's very quick, but it brings viewers up to speed with what's happening. And it does it through conflict because Willow’s explaining something and Buffy is not paying attention. They are good friends so Willow doesn't take it personally.

But there is a little conflict there and that helps keep us interested even as both characters are really telling us things that we need to know. We also see Cordelia and Xander exchange some insults on the dance floor.

Story Spark

We now move to our Story Spark or Inciting Incident which typically comes about 10% into any story, whether it's a book, a movie, or a 42+ minute episode of TV. And here we see that Story Spark right on target at four minutes and ten seconds.

The Three, these very powerful vampires, attack Buffy. There's a fight. Two of them end up holding her, one is advancing toward her. She looks nervous and there is a cut.

So this is the Story Spark for our plot which is driven by the Master, who wants to kill Buffy.

Two More Story Sparks

We have the credits and then we have Angel, who was lurking in the shadows, he joins the fight pulls one of the vampires off Buffy. And for the moment saves her. The fight continues.

Buffy then saves Angel and they race to her house. She says something like, you know, ‘Get in, come on in,’ which allows him to enter, though at that point we don't know that that's necessary for him to come in.

I see this moment as the Story Spark for both the Buffy plot and the Angel plot. This gets rolling their personal relationship, which is going to move to another level in this episode, as both of them will discover in less than direct ways how the other one feels.

Main Plot and Subplots

So why am I seeing the Buffy plot, Angel plot, and the Master’s plot as three separate plots? And, particularly, why are the Buffy and Angel plots not just one subplot? I think it's because I see a different protagonist for each one.

In her podcast How Story Works, story expert Lani Diane Rich gives a great definition of a protagonist, who is our main character. And she says,

“A protagonist does three things. The protagonist is the viewpoint character, that's the first one. The protagonist must have an active goal and propel the story forward. Also, the protagonist has the most at stake.”

Those three things are key to how I separate these plots.

Main Plot: The Master

In the main plot, the Master is the one who is moving that story forward. And he is our viewpoint character, either personally or through Darla, for that story of trying to kill Buffy and trying to turn Angel. It is his choices and decisions that move that story forward.

And he has the active goal. Buffy in that story is not the one with the active goal. She is reacting to the Master’s plot. She is defending and pushing back against it.

Subplot: Buffy

Then we get to Buffy’s and Angel’s relationship, Buffy is the protagonist of her story. We see much of it from her viewpoint — including how she feels when she thinks Angel has read her diary. When they kiss and he vamps out, all of this is her point of view – how she feels about it and what she chooses to do at different points in the story.

And I'll talk about those different plot points and how I see them fitting in her story.

So there she has the active goal which is to resolve her feelings about Angel. And first that takes one form of moving the relationship forward or knowing if he feels the same way.

It becomes having to deal with the turn, the reversal that he is a vampire, and then to trust him. But the relationship, how she feels about him, is her story. In that story she has the most at stake.

More on The Master Plot

And I should backup for minute, the Master in the plot about killing Buffy and getting Angel back, he has the most at stake because getting rid of Buffy is key to his strategy of getting out from his trap. Getting Angel back is both important to him for that reason, but also because he wants this group of vampires around him, including Angel and Darla.

Subplot: Angel

When we look at the Angel/Buffy relationship from Angel’s perspective, we also see it through his eyes. We see scenes where Buffy is not there. We see him struggling with his past, who he is: not human, not vampire, something in between, and his struggle with how to live with that.

Darla brings that to the forefront, symbolizes that, and he ultimately must make a choice.

He has an active goal of wanting to not just be with Buffy, but wanting to find a way to live life and make up for the past and change and be a hero. So that is his active goal. In that story he has the most at stake because he is at a true crossroads.

...

This week on Buffy and the Art of Story: Angel, Season 1, Episode 7.  This episode covers how season-long antagonist The Master is the protagonist in the main plot.

Also how the episode intertwines that plot with 2 subplots - one with Buffy as protagonist, one with Angel. And the way the episode serves as a Season Midpoint.

As always, the discussion is spoiler-free, except at the end (with plenty of warning).

Story Elements in Angel

In this podcast episode we'll look at:

* How the main plot and 2 subplots weave together perfectly

* A villain as protagonist

* 3 things a protagonist should do

* The Season 1 Midpoint 

As I note on the show, my understanding of the role of the protagonist was deepened by listening to story expert Lani Diane Rich of Chipperish Media.

She explains protagonists and antagonists here and in many of her podcast episodes.

Story Structure

For help applying the 5-point story structure the podcast covers to your own work, a free story structure template is available on my patreon page. You don't need to be a patron to download it, though it's great if you'd like to be.

Support The Show

If you become a patron for as little as $1 a month, you'll not only help fund more episodes like Angel, you'll get access to bonus episodes.

Those episodes will include Buffy-adjacent stories (such as key Angel episodes). Also films or TV episodes that are intriguing from a story, theme, or character perspective.

Including Wonder Woman once I reach 50 patrons.

Next Up:  I, Robot...You, Jane (S1 E8)

Angel Episode Transcript

I am Lisa M. Lilly, author of The Awakening supernatural thriller series and founder of WritingAsASecondCareer.com. If you love creating stories or just taking them apart to see how they work, you're in the right place.

This Week: Angel

This week we'll be talking about Season One, Episode Seven: Angel. In particular, I'll talk about how the main plot and two subplots weave together and the use of a character who is normally our antagonist as a protagonist in the main plot. The discussion will be spoiler-free except at the very end. But I'll give you plenty of warning.

Okay, let's dive into the Hellmouth.

The Main Plot and Two Subplots

As I sat down to analyze the plot points in this episode, I struggled to figure out exactly where they were. Which seems strange because I love this episode and I think it is very well structured.

After a while I realized it's because we have a main plot and two subplots.

The main plot is really the Master's plot to both kill Buffy and win Angel back. He is our protagonist, the Master that is, in this episode, though he acts through Darla, and though he normally is our antagonist during this season.

Our other plot, which you could also see as the main plot since Buffy is our traditional protagonist and it's her show, is Buffy wanting to be with Angel, falling for Angel. Which is really part of the overall series struggle Buffy has with trying to have a normal life and personal life, along with being the Slayer..

We also have a subplot for Angel wanting to be with Buffy. Angel is the protagonist of this plot.

I'll talk as I go along about why I don't see the Buffy/Angel subplots as one cohesive subplot, although all three of these plots are woven together so well t...

This week on Buffy and the Art of Story: Angel, Season 1, Episode 7.  This episode covers how season-long antagonist The Master is the protagonist in the main plot.

Also how the episode intertwines that plot with 2 subplots – one with Buffy as protagonist, one with Angel. And the way the episode serves as a Season Midpoint.

As always, the discussion is spoiler-free, except at the end (with plenty of warning).

Story Elements in Angel

In this podcast episode we’ll look at:

* How the main plot and 2 subplots weave together perfectly

* A villain as protagonist

* 3 things a protagonist should do

* The Season 1 Midpoint 

As I note on the show, my understanding of the role of the protagonist was deepened by listening to story expert Lani Diane Rich of Chipperish Media.

She explains protagonists and antagonists here and in many of her podcast episodes.

Story Structure

For help applying the 5-point story structure the podcast covers to your own work, a free story structure template is available on my patreon page. You don’t need to be a patron to download it, though it’s great if you’d like to be.

Support The Show

If you become a patron for as little as $1 a month, you’ll not only help fund more episodes like Angel, you’ll get access to bonus episodes.

Those episodes will include Buffy-adjacent stories (such as key Angel episodes). Also films or TV episodes that are intriguing from a story, theme, or character perspective.

Including Wonder Woman once I reach 50 patrons.

Next Up:  I, Robot…You, Jane (S1 E8)

Angel Episode Transcript

I am Lisa M. Lilly, author of The Awakening supernatural thriller series and founder of WritingAsASecondCareer.com. If you love creating stories or just taking them apart to see how they work, you’re in the right place.

This Week: Angel

This week we’ll be talking about Season One, Episode Seven: Angel. In particular, I’ll talk about how the main plot and two subplots weave together and the use of a character who is normally our antagonist as a protagonist in the main plot. The discussion will be spoiler-free except at the very end. But I’ll give you plenty of warning.

Okay, let’s dive into the Hellmouth.

The Main Plot and Two Subplots

As I sat down to analyze the plot points in this episode, I struggled to figure out exactly where they were. Which seems strange because I love this episode and I think it is very well structured.

After a while I realized it’s because we have a main plot and two subplots.

The main plot is really the Master’s plot to both kill Buffy and win Angel back. He is our protagonist, the Master that is, in this episode, though he acts through Darla, and though he normally is our antagonist during this season.

Our other plot, which you could also see as the main plot since Buffy is our traditional protagonist and it’s her show, is Buffy wanting to be with Angel, falling for Angel. Which is really part of the overall series struggle Buffy has with trying to have a normal life and personal life, along with being the Slayer..

We also have a subplot for Angel wanting to be with Buffy. Angel is the protagonist of this plot.

I’ll talk as I go along about why I don’t see the Buffy/Angel subplots as one cohesive subplot, although all three of these plots are woven together so well that it did take me a while to...

This week on Buffy and the Art of Story: The Pack, Season 1, Episode 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This episode includes how to build the character of the victim to make the loss greater while misdirecting the audience regarding who the victim will be.

As always, the discussion is spoiler-free, except at the end (with plenty of warning).

Story Elements in The Pack

In this podcast episode we'll look at how The Pack handles:

All major plot points

Creating a victim the audience likes

Misdirection regarding the victim

Characters' responsibility for what they do while possessed

Highlights from the Buffy Season 1 DVD commentaries by Joss Whedon are also discussed.

Story Structure

For more on the 5-point story structure the podcast covers, check out Super Simple Story Structure: A Quick Guide To Plotting And Writing Your Novel.

Or become a patron for as little as $1/month and download a free story structure template to use with your own writing.

Support The Show

If you become a patron, you'll not only help fund more episodes like The Pack, you'll get access to bonus episodes.

Those episodes will include Buffy-adjacent stories (such as key Angel episodes). Also films or TV episodes that are intriguing from a story, theme, or character perspective.

Including Wonder Woman once we reach 50 patrons.

Next Up:  Angel S1 E7

Last Week: Never Kill A Boy On The First Date S1 E5

The Pack Episode Transcript

Hello and welcome to Buffy and The Art of Story.

If you love Buffy the Vampire Slayer and you love creating stories or just taking them apart to see how they work, you're in the right place.

I am Lisa M. Lilly, author of suspense, mysteries, and supernatural thrillers, and founder of WritingAsASecondCareer.com.

This Week: The Pack

This week we'll cover Season One, Episode Six: The Pack. It's a standalone episode, so we'll talk about all the major plot points, as well as interweaving storylines, and building the character of the victim to make the loss greater, or more serious, for the audience. We'll also talk about the use of misdirection as to the victim.

Okay, let's dive into the Hellmouth.

Prologue

We start with Buffy at the zoo alone. A group of four mean kids teases her.

And one of them says, “Were you this popular at your old school before you got kicked out?” This particular line feels to me like a backfill for the audience. Not the, ‘were you this popular at your old school?’ because I feel like that works, but the ‘before you got kicked out,’ seems like something thrown in there, to remind the audience or inform a new audience member, that Buffy was kicked out of her old school.

I say that because these four kids don't seem like ones who would mock Buffy for being kicked out because they appear to always be on the edge of being kicked out themselves.

It seems more like they might think she was cool for that. I could be wrong, but that's just my feeling from it. It's one of the rare times, or I guess first time so far, that I felt like the opening dialogue back and forth was a little bit obvious in being there to fill in the blanks. However, I do really like that these kids are teasing Buffy because we see that she feels bad that she doesn't have the social network or the friends or the standing that she had in her old school.

Opening Conflict in The Pack

We then see the main kids picking on Lance, who I noticed as I watched this time is in a red shirt. Which I think is kind of fun and might or might not be a reference to the red shirts in Star Trek who always end up getting killed.

This scene is part of what initially makes us think that Lance is going to be the real victim here. And certainly these students do victimize him, but he survives the episode, which I did not expect.

The first time I watched it, and even this time, um, my initial thought was, ‘Oh yeah, this is the kid. They're gonna throw into the hyenas and kill him,’ which doesn't happen.

So they steal his notebook.

Principal Flutie

He doesn't rat them out when Principal Flutie intervenes, and they take him to the hyena exhibit. This interaction between Flutie and these kids starts the building up of Principal Flutie as someone who we like.

In the pilot I liked him a lot because we saw how much he cared about the students and about Buffy and how he was dealing with his internal struggle to both be supportive for her and yet protect the other students from this newcomer who burnt down the gym at her old school.

Here, there's this nice interaction where Flutie shows some self awareness.

Because the student starts to talk, one of the mean kids, and Flutie says, “Did I ask you to speak?” And then he realizes he did just ask, “What happened?”

And so Flutie says, “Okay, I guess I did.”

So we get a little humor and a little awareness on his part of conflicting directives he's sending, which I like because often we see authority figures never wanting to acknowledge that they either are wrong or that they are being confusing, and that that's kind of not a fair thing when they yell at someone after that. We also see that he would like to protect the weaker student.

And again, we ought to expect this from school authorities, but it doesn't always happen.

Story Spark in The Pack

So we've talked in previous episodes, and I'll continue to talk about our Story Spark or Inciting Incident. Usually it comes about ten percent into a movie or book or TV episode.

And in Buffy, so far it's been right about at that ten percent mark, about four minutes, 30 seconds into a roughly 43, 44 minute episode, and that runtime includes credits.

Here it comes a tiny bit later, it's at five minutes, eight seconds.

The kids grab Lance as if they're going to throw him in. Xander has followed these kids in to try to help Lance and he tells Buffy, you know, he'll go because this doesn't require actual slaying. Because so far Willow and Xander have both said that these kids are mean, but not physically dangerous, although Willow kind of second guesses herself on that.

The hyenas eyes flash when there's this threat to throw Lance in. And then the kids' eyes flash, including Xander's, and they all turn on Lance and Lance runs away.

So this is where, in my memory, I'm always thinking they actually threw Lance in and he died, but he does get away and we go to the credits.

After the Hyena Pit

So now we're at The Bronze, and this moment was Xander's eyes flashing in the prior scene was another example of dramatic irony. That's where the audience knows something that the protagonist or other characters do not.

And here it's that Xander has been affected by whatever happened. Xander acts strangely at The Bronze, he sniffs Buffy his hair, he grabs Buffy's food and he laughs when these mean kids make fun of another student who is overweight and Xander shrugs and says, “Ah, the kids fat.”

Character Development: Principal Flutie

Our next scene shows, it's from the point of view of this little pig, I think his name is Herbert. And he is running through the hall and I just kind of enjoy that perspective.

Then we get Principal Flutie. He is trying to catch this pig and Buffy grabs the pig for him. And again we, I at least, like Principal Flutie. He's so excited about this pig and he has put this little razorback on it. And tried to make it look fierce.

He's insistent when Buffy says the pig is cute, he says, “No, he's fierce. He's a Razorback, he's our mascot.”

And we also get the, he is a little afraid of the pig because Buffy tries to hand it to him and he backs off and says, you know, “No, you, you take him.”

So Buffy carries him to the room where he is in a cage. It's this nice moment of vulnerability for Principal Flutie and that's another reason that we like him, he shows a little bit of fear, he shows his human side.

And he starts talking to her about the old days and school spirit and things were better. And then again, we got this self awareness on his part that yes, there were old guys telling him how things were much better in their times. So that is also very nice.

We get a little bit of a hint of the later conflict and of what Xander is. Because the pig squeals when Xander walks by.

This is a hint to Buffy. She doesn't know it at the time, but it adds to her feeling of strange things around Xander.

The One-Quarter Point Turn in The Pack

All of this is building up to our first major plot turn. That turn usually happens around a quarter way through an episode or a story.

And it turns the story in a new direction coming from outside of our protagonist. So here we should see it roughly twelve -- twelve and a half -- minutes into the episode. And so far it's often been coming slightly later than that.

Here we've got a few things that could be that One-Quarter Turn in the story. Right at the 11, 12 minutes is that pig squealing. So we could see that as a bit of a turn, but I don't think that it's enough.

It doesn't really change anything. It just adds to Buffy’s awareness of weirdness around Xander.

So where I see this turn is about 14 minutes in there's two things that happen.

Willow and Xander

We have dodgeball in gym class and Xander throws really hard at Willow to get her out.

And you can tell how hurt she feels. Yes, it's a game. But one, he didn't have to throw it at Willow. There are plenty of people on his team, he could avoid throwing the ball at her. But also, even if their deal, because we don't know, is, ‘Hey, yeah, if we're playing a game or playing a game, we're both going to try to win,’ he doesn't have to throw so hard at her.

So we see how upset she is.

This really is a turn in the emotional arc or subplot between Xander and Willow because she is seeing this, as we'll see in a moment, as part of perhaps he has feelings for Buffy and that he doesn't really want her around anymore.

The Hyena Kids

...

This week on Buffy and the Art of Story: The Pack, Season 1, Episode 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This episode includes how to build the character of the victim to make the loss greater while misdirecting the audience regarding who the victim will be.

As always, the discussion is spoiler-free, except at the end (with plenty of warning).

Story Elements in The Pack

In this podcast episode we'll look at how The Pack handles:

* All major plot points

* Creating a victim the audience likes

* Misdirection regarding the victim

* Characters' responsibility for what they do while possessed

Highlights from the Buffy Season 1 DVD commentaries by Joss Whedon are also discussed.

Story Structure

For more on the 5-point story structure the podcast covers, check out Super Simple Story Structure: A Quick Guide To Plotting And Writing Your Novel.

Or become a patron for as little as $1/month and download a free story structure template to use with your own writing.

Support The Show

If you become a patron, you'll not only help fund more episodes like The Pack, you'll get access to bonus episodes.

Those episodes will include Buffy-adjacent stories (such as key Angel episodes). Also films or TV episodes that are intriguing from a story, theme, or character perspective.

Including Wonder Woman once we reach 50 patrons.

Next Up:  Angel S1 E7

Last Week: Never Kill A Boy On The First Date S1 E5

The Pack Episode Transcript

Hello and welcome to Buffy and The Art of Story.

If you love Buffy the Vampire Slayer and you love creating stories or just taking them apart to see how they work, you're in the right place.

I am Lisa M. Lilly, author of suspense, mysteries, and supernatural thrillers, and founder of WritingAsASecondCareer.com.

This Week: The Pack

This week we'll cover Season One, Episode Six: The Pack. It's a standalone episode, so we'll talk about all the major plot points, as well as interweaving storylines, and building the character of the victim to make the loss greater, or more serious, for the audience. We'll also talk about the use of misdirection as to the victim.

Okay, let's dive into the Hellmouth.

Prologue

We start with Buffy at the zoo alone. A group of four mean kids teases her.

And one of them says, “Were you this popular at your old school before you got kicked out?” This particular line feels to me like a backfill for the audience. Not the, ‘were you this popular at your old school?’ because I feel like that works, but the ‘before you got kicked out,’ seems like something thrown in there, to remind the audience or inform a new audience member, that Buffy was kicked out of her old school.

I say that because these four kids don't seem like ones who would mock Buffy for being kicked out because they appear to always be on the edge of being kicked out themselves.

It seems more like they might think she was cool for that. I could be wrong, but that's just my feeling from it. It's one of the rare times, or I guess first time so far, that I felt like the opening dialogue back and forth was a little bit obvious in being there to fill in the blanks.

This week on Buffy and the Art of Story: The Pack, Season 1, Episode 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This episode includes how to build the character of the victim to make the loss greater while misdirecting the audience regarding who the victim will be.

As always, the discussion is spoiler-free, except at the end (with plenty of warning).

Story Elements in The Pack

In this podcast episode we’ll look at how The Pack handles:

* All major plot points

* Creating a victim the audience likes

* Misdirection regarding the victim

* Characters’ responsibility for what they do while possessed

Highlights from the Buffy Season 1 DVD commentaries by Joss Whedon are also discussed.

Story Structure

For more on the 5-point story structure the podcast covers, check out Super Simple Story Structure: A Quick Guide To Plotting And Writing Your Novel.

Or become a patron for as little as $1/month and download a free story structure template to use with your own writing.

Support The Show

If you become a patron, you’ll not only help fund more episodes like The Pack, you’ll get access to bonus episodes.

Those episodes will include Buffy-adjacent stories (such as key Angel episodes). Also films or TV episodes that are intriguing from a story, theme, or character perspective.

Including Wonder Woman once we reach 50 patrons.

Next Up:  Angel S1 E7

Last Week: Never Kill A Boy On The First Date S1 E5

The Pack Episode Transcript

Hello and welcome to Buffy and The Art of Story.

If you love Buffy the Vampire Slayer and you love creating stories or just taking them apart to see how they work, you’re in the right place.

I am Lisa M. Lilly, author of suspense, mysteries, and supernatural thrillers, and founder of WritingAsASecondCareer.com.

This Week: The Pack

This week we’ll cover Season One, Episode Six: The Pack. It’s a standalone episode, so we’ll talk about all the major plot points, as well as interweaving storylines, and building the character of the victim to make the loss greater, or more serious, for the audience. We’ll also talk about the use of misdirection as to the victim.

Okay, let’s dive into the Hellmouth.

Prologue

We start with Buffy at the zoo alone. A group of four mean kids teases her.

And one of them says, “Were you this popular at your old school before you got kicked out?” This particular line feels to me like a backfill for the audience. Not the, ‘were you this popular at your old school?’ because I feel like that works, but the ‘before you got kicked out,’ seems like something thrown in there, to remind the audience or inform a new audience member, that Buffy was kicked out of her old school.

I say that because these four kids don’t seem like ones who would mock Buffy for being kicked out because they appear to always be on the edge of being kicked out themselves.

It seems more like they might think she was cool for that. I could be wrong, but that’s just my feeling from it. It’s one of the rare times, or I guess first time so far, that I felt like the opening dialogue back and forth was a little bit obvious in being there to fill in the blanks. However, I do really like that these kids are teasing Buff...

This week on Buffy and the Art of Story: Never Kill A Boy On The First Date. (Season 1, Episode 5 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.)

The podcast episode covers interweaving plot lines, theme, and cliffhangers versus game changers.

As always, the discussion is spoiler-free, except at the end (with plenty of warning).

Story Elements in Never Kill A Boy On The First Date

In this podcast episode we’ll look at how Buffy handles:

All the major plot turns in this standalone episode

How the different story lines interconnect

Theme

The difference between a game changer and cliffhanger

Also discussed - Buffy Season 1 DVD interview with Joss Whedon. He says Never Kill A Boy On The First Date is important because it is all about Buffy maintaining a normal life, and it juxtaposes her vampire slaying directly with a date with a cute boy.

Next Up: The Pack, S1 E6

Last Week: Teacher's Pet S1 E4

Plotting Your Story

If you're working on your own novel, screenplay, or story, check out the Story Structure Template available free to all on my Patreon page.

Or you can check out Super Simple Story Structure: A Quick Guide To Plotting And Writing Your Novel (Book 1 in the Writing As A Second Career series).

As a patron, you’ll also get access to bonus episodes.

Those episodes will include Buffy-adjacent stories (such as key Angel episodes). Also films or TV episodes that are intriguing from a story, theme, or character perspective.

Episode Transcript

Never Kill A Boy On The First Date S1 E5

Hello and welcome to Buffy and The Art of Story. If you love Buffy the Vampire Slayer and you love creating stories or just taking them apart to see how they work, you’re in the right place.

I am Lisa M. Lilly, author of suspense, mysteries, and supernatural thrillers, and founder of WritingAsASecondCareer.com.

Each week I”ll talk about one episode of Buffy in order, covering plot turns and other story elements. The discussion will be spoiler-free, except at the very end, and I”ll give you plenty of warning.

This Week: Never Kill A Boy On The First Date

This week, we’re covering Season One: Episode Five, Never Kill A Boy On The First Date. It’s a standalone episode, so we”ll cover:

all the major plot points,

plus how the different storylines interconnect,

a little bit on the dialogue and

the difference between a game changer versus a cliffhanger.

Okay, let’s dive into the Hellmouth.

Opening Conflict

We start in the graveyard, Buffy slays; Giles critiques, and this sets up our roles of our two characters for anyone who’s new in the audience. Giles finds a ring and says he will consult his books. And we get a cut to a dusty book slamming down on a table.

It’s not Giles though, it’s the Master. And the Master hints at one of our plot conflicts, which is the Anointed One.

He quotes a prophecy about the Anointed One, says, “The Slayer will not know him. He will lead her into hell, and that he will rise from the ashes of five who die.”

Story Spark and Intertwining Plots

Right about ten percent in, at four minutes, 30 seconds of a roughly 43 minute episode, we get our Story Spark, or Inciting Incident. And usually this is right about when we will see this happen in the episode.

Buffy figures out that the ring relates to the Order of Aurelius. She sees this in a book in the library when Giles is saying he can”t find anything. And we get this nice line that shows the developing playful relationship between the two when she says “Two points for the Slayer, while the Watcher has yet to score.”

Owen comes in.

Now this is our real conflict. We basically have two plots here that merge into one, in a way.

Two Plots Merge

We have the plot, the main plot with Buffy, trying to have a normal life -- specifically to date a boy that she is very interested in -- while also fulfilling her Slayer duties.

And the other plot is the plot of Buffy trying to stop the Anointed One from rising or kill the Anointed One once he rises.

I”ll talk a little more about why the Owen/Buffy conflict is the main plot.

It’s also something in the DVD interview that Joss Whedon talks about, and he says, “This episode is so important because it is about Buffy maintaining a normal life, and it juxtaposes her vampire slaying directly with a date with a cute boy.”

So this is the most on target that we have addressed this issue. It is an episode all about that. Where in the other episodes to date, it’s been sort of an ongoing subplot or a side issue and an additional internal conflict for Buffy.

Owen

We see how much Buffy likes Owen because she gets flustered when she talks to him. She follows him upstairs. She’s happy that he’s even thought about what she’s like. And she has a hard time paying attention to Giles when he is telling her about this Order of Aurelius.

On the way from our 10% to our first major plot turn, we see Buffy clashing with Cordelia in the cafeteria and they literally crash. Or Cordelia crashes into her.

Buffy and Owen make a plan to meet at The Bronze at eight.

But the conflict escalates when Giles tells her about the prophecy he found about the Anointed One rising from the death of five and that it is going to be tonight. And Buffy argues. But eventually she agrees because she’s going to do what she needs to do.

And Giles warns her about the hazards of getting involved with anyone or revealing her identity and how it could put people close to her in danger.

We see Buffy and Giles on the roof waiting, sitting, clearly, nothing’s been happening, and he finally says, well, maybe he made a mistake.

The One-Quarter Turn in Never Kill A Boy

Now we’re at the first major Plot Turn. Usually this happens about one quarter way through the story, and here it is almost exactly on target: it’s 11 minutes and 23 seconds of a roughly 43 to 44 minute episode.

We see the bus. First we see this little kid, who’s I think playing with a paper airplane. And then we see the scary sort of guy who we find out later is a murderer, as well as gets turned into a vampire, talking about to everyone how “You will be judged.” The scene on the bus escalates as the scary guy is preaching to the bus driver, and the bus driver is telling him to sit.

There’s someone in the road. We see it’s a vampire. I don”t know that the bus driver picks up on any of that, but he swerves and he crashes.

All of this is inter-cut with Buffy at The Bronze. She gets there. Owen is dancing with Cordelia and Buffy leaves disappointed.

Too Long?

This bus scene has always felt a bit drawn out to me, even though I overall like this episode. I”m curious if anyone else feels that way. I”ve also wondered whether they ran short on this episode and perhaps kept in more of that scene than they really needed.

It ends when we see that the vampire is killing people.

We cut to Buffy at school the next day, and she’s complaining about how she has no life. And then Owen comes up. He’s flirting with her and it turns out he does still want to see her.

So while we had that One-Quarter Turn in our plot about the Master in the Anointed One, and Buffy, we also get a bit of a One-Quarter Turn here in that Owen changes things by revealing he’s not really interested in Cordelia and that he still wants to see Buffy.

We also get this moment where Buffy and Owen are flirting and he gives Buffy what looks like an antique pocket watch.

The joke is so she”ll know what time to meet him. And Xander, who is jealous, glances at his Tweety Bird watch and his expression is just so clear. And before Owen came back, or actually later in the episode, he will say to Buffy something about “What you need is someone who already knows your darkest secrets.”

Character Through Line: Xander

I found it interesting that in the comment in the interview, Joss Whedon commented that Xander has a terrible crush and, “What happens is sort of typical to what happens to Xander in his life.”

The reason I found that interesting is because for the most part, unlike Teacher’s Pet, this story is not about Xander. We already have two plots with the Anointed One and the Master, and then Buffy and Owen.

And Xander’s interest in Buffy for this episode isn”t really even a subplot.

There’s a little bit of a story happening here, but it’s really more of that character through line. So I found it interesting that Joss seemed to be saying that was what the episode is about in a way.

But he also said that, you know, the part about, it’s about Buffy struggling to have a normal life.

And I think what this points to is part of why the show works so well and any good ensemble show works so well,

There are many different ways to come into the world of the story and different characters that audience members can identify with. So one person might really identify with Xander, and that brings that person into the story in a way that they might not have engaged with it if Xander were not there.

The Main Story Arc

We also see the Master telling a vampire that, “When this work is done with the Anointed One he”ll be one step closer to freeing himself from his underground prison.”

So this does a couple of things.

It is a reference to our season story arc about the Master trying to get free and take over the world. It also is why I say the main plot is Buffy and Owen and Buffy trying to have this normal life, not Buffy trying to stop the Master. Because this makes it clear that if the Anointed One rises and comes to the Master, it”ll be a step forward for him.

It will help him, but it isn”t going to win the day.

Side note: there’s also this moment when the Master tells the vampires to give their lives, if necessary, to bring the Anointed One back to him and to kill the Slayer.

I have always wondered why vampires would give their immortal lives for another vampire’s cause. That’s done a few times in the series and never really explaine