|
The Thin Dead Line Part 1 January 23, 2001 (Green) Written by: Jim Kouf & Shawn Ryan |
||
|
Teaser |
||
|
INT. OFFICE - NIGHT Cordy, Wes and Gunn. Cordy reads the newspaper as Gunn practices a simple magic trick with a quarter. Wes looks around impatiently, then -- WESLEY CORDELIA WESLEY CORDELIA GUNN WESLEY GUNN WESLEY CORDELIA WESLEY The three of them start suddenly, as THE DOOR OPENS. They relax as it's just -- MRS. SHARP (MOTHER from Episode #15) and her daughter, STEPHANIE (YOUNG GIRL from #15) both dressed tastefully, looking very innocuous. CORDELIA MRS. SHARP WESLEY MRS. SHARP WESLEY CORDELIA MRS. SHARP As Cordy starts to usher them to some chairs -- CORDELIA Cordy suddenly SCREAMS as she gets a look for the first time at the back of Stephanie's head. An EYE is there, blinking, staring right at her. CORDELIA Wes and Gunn rush over to get a look. WESLEY GUNN MRS. SHARP WESLEY Stephanie looks nervously to her mother. MRS. SHARP CORDELIA MRS. SHARP WESLEY CORDELIA MRS. SHARP WESLEY EXT. STREET #1 - NIGHT TWO STREET KIDS, KENNY and LES (a girl), wheel around the corner of a building and press themselves against the wall. They are panting, out of breath. Kenny has a fresh BRUISE on his jaw. Les holds her arm as if it's broken. Kenny ducks his head around the corner-- KENNY'S POV -- The SILHOUETTE of a man-shaped FIGURE appears on the wall of the alley, starts moving toward them. BACK ON KENNY AND LES, as Kenny pulls his head back. KENNY LES KENNY Kenny grabs Les and they run out of frame. INT. EAST HILLS TEEN CENTER - NIGHT ANNE, carrying a stack of BLANKETS, approaches a 20-something LATINA. As Anne speaks, she hands the blankets to the Woman. ANNE She looks around the room as we-- REVERSE ANGLE TO REVEAL -- The Teen Center is in chaos -- kids everywhere, sprawled over couches, sitting and lying on the floor. BACK ON ANNE -- as she stands there, takes in the scene. ANNE Suddenly a LOUD and FRANTIC POUNDING erupts at the door. Anne moves to the sound, swings open the door to find Kenny and Les standing outside. They keep throwing nervous glances over their shoulders. KENNY ANNE KENNY ANNE LES KENNY Anne sees the urgency in these two kids. A beat. Then she steps back and lets the teenagers in. After they enter, she pokes her head outside the door, looks around for a moment... nothing. She steps back in, starts to let the door close -- EXT. EAST HILLS TEEN CENTER - CONTINUOUS UNKNOWN POV -- We see the door closing (no need to have Anne for this), then hear a LOCK being turned. REVERSE ANGLE -- A COP steps out of the shadows though his face is still obscured.) He stares at the Teen Center for a beat, then slips back into the darkness. BLACK OUT. END OF TEASER |
||
|
Act One |
||
|
EXT. LOS ANGELES - DAY WACKY MONTAGE, ANGEL STYLE INT. MERL'S LAIR - DAY Merl is packing up, moving about the room as he tosses things into a suitcase. He turns from it and Angel is standing right behind him. He jumps. MERL ANGEL MERL ANGEL His tone is pretty deadpan - he's here on business. He takes in the suitcase, the mess. ANGEL MERL ANGEL MERL ANGEL MERL ANGEL MERL ANGEL MERL ANGEL MERL Still Angel says nothing. Finally. ANGEL MERL Merl continues to pack - the conversation is over. INT. EAST HILLS TEEN CENTER - DAY Anne speaks to a YOUNG BLACK MAN carrying a clipboard. ANNE The Young Man nods, moves off. Anne spies -- ANNE Kenny approaches, a little calmer than last night -- though the BRUISE on his jaw has worsened. KENNY ANNE Kenny shrugs. They move to a couch, sit. ANNE KENNY ANNE KENNY ANNE KENNY ANNE Kenny looks at her, uncomfortable. ANNE Kenny looks at Anne. He knows she's not an idiot. A beat. KENNY ANNE KENNY He looks around the room, then leans in, confidential. KENNY ANNE KENNY ANNE KENNY ANNE KENNY Anne takes that in. ANNE KENNY A beat, as Anne looks thoughtful. ANNE HARD CUT TO: INT. OFFICE - DAY GUNN turns to see Anne in the doorway. CORDELIA and WESLEY are present. Gunn approaches Anne, gives her a warm hug. GUNN ANNE CORDELIA They shake hands. ANNE WESLEY GUNN ANNE GUNN ANNE TIME DISSOLVE It is now night. Anne sits in a chair, a cup of tea nearby. Gunn sits across from he. Cor and Wes in the background, researching in some musty TOMES. ANNE GUNN ANNE She stops, looks over at Wes and Cor. Gunn notes this. GUNN Cor looks up. CORDELIA GUNN ANNE Gunn gestures: "For example." ANNE She stands. Gunn follows. ANNE GUNN CORDELIA ANNE WESLEY CORDELIA ANNE WESLEY CORDELIA ANNE GUNN
GUNN ANNE GUNN ANNE CORDELIA WESLEY ANNE A beat. CORDELIA EXT. OFFICE - NIGHT CLOSE ON ANGEL, in shadows. Looking down at an angle. Watching. ANGEL'S P.O.V. The office. Anne and Gunn exit. Move down the street. ANGEL Moves to the edge of the roof, watching them for a moment, then he steps off the edge, drops out of sight and disappears. EXT. EAST HILLS TEEN CENTER - NIGHT Anne's car pulls up. Gunn and Anne get out of the car. PAN WITH THEM AS THEY WALK to the center and enter. CONTINUE CAMERA MOVE AROUND THE OUTSIDE OF THE BUILDING so we can SEE GUNN AND ANNE THROUGH A SIDE WINDOW. We watch as Anne takes Gunn to the kids... But we CONTINUE PAN TO ANGEL, revealing him in the shadows of an alley... already watching. INT. EAST HILLS TEEN CENTER - REC ROOM - NIGHT Gunn sits across from a group of EIGHT TEENAGERS, listening to their stories. Anne stands behind Gunn. RAY, 17, black, and CALLIE, 17, Hispanic, will do all the talking for the kids. RAY GUNN CALLIE RAY ANNE Gunn looks back at Anne. GUNN ANNE Anne turns, heads out of the room. Gunn waits for her to go, then turns back to the kids with a "no more bullshit" look. GUNN CALLIE RAY GUNN RAY GUNN RAY GUNN RAY GUNN CALLIE RAY Gunn looks at them, trying to take a measure of their honesty. EXT. EAST HILLS TEEN CENTER - NIGHT Angel moves to ANOTHER WINDOW so he can continue to watch Gunn and Anne as they move through the center. (Note: this will help set up the various entrances to the center to be used in the attack sequence. There are BARS on some of the windows.) Angel checks his watch. Time to go. MAN'S VOICE (O.S.) Angel turns. Someone is stepping from the shadows at the corner behind him. As the light form the street lamp hits him we SEE THE UNIFORM... POLICE OFFICER... his BILLY-CLUB out and ready. Angel tries the friendly tack. ANGEL POLICE OFFICER ANGEL Suddenly the Police Officer CRACKS Angel in the head with the billy-club, spins him around and SHOVES him against the wall. POLICE OFFICER Angel PUSHES off the wall, knocking the Police Officer back and away. There's a few feet of space between them now. ANGEL The Police Officer comes at him again. POLICE OFFICER He swings the billy-club again, but Angel ducks, uses the Police Officer's momentum to slam him into the wall. But the Police Officer just turns, keeps on coming -- POLICE OFFICER The Officer swings, Angel ducks, COLDCOCKS him. The police Officer goes down. Angel looks at him for a moment, then turns to leave -- POLICE OFFICER (O.S.) Angel turns back to find the Police Officer getting up. Angel's confusion is plain on his face. POLICE OFFICER The Police Officer attacks again. Angel fends off a few blows from the billy-club as -- POLICE OFFICER Finally, Angel spins and kicks, connecting with the Officer's head, knocking it clean off the body The HEAD caroms off the building wall, drops into a puddle of putrid water. Eyes still open. Mouth still moving. POLICE OFFICER The HEAD BEGINS TO RAPIDLY DEGRADE... the flesh shriveling up... hair falling out... eyes disappearing... until all that is left is a grotesque, almost mummy like, head. Angel turns to the body. The body, too, has reverted to a corpse-like state. THE WEIGHT OF THE BADGE hanging limply from the sagging blue uniform. BLACK OUT. END OF ACT ONE |
||
|
Act Two |
||
|
OMITTED INT. EAST HILLS TEEN CENTER - REC ROOM - NIGHT Various teens congregated in here, not so much recreating as they are waiting out a proverbial storm. Two tough looking guys, RONDELL, 20, black, and GEORGE, 20, black, enter, look around. Rondell carries a SMALL CAMCORDER. They spot Gunn talking with Anne, walk over to him. RONDELL Gunn greets the two of them. GUNN ANNE RONDELL GUNN GEORGE GUNN RONDELL GUNN GEORGE RONDELL GEORGE RONDELL GUNN RONDELL GUNN RONDELL A tense pause, as Gunn considers whether to push this or let it slide. He opts for the latter. GUNN ANNE GUNN INT. SQUADHOUSE - KATE'S PRECINCT - NIGHT We follow a UNIFORMED COP as he walks through the squadhouse. He passes KATE, who carries a manila folder. The camera stays with her as she makes her way through the squadhouse and towards her desk where -- ANGEL waits for her, leaning comfortably against her desk. A pause, as Kate eyes him, clearly uncomfortable. KATE ANGEL KATE She goes to her filing cabinet, opens it, files her manila folder. She pulls out two other folders, waves them at Angel. KATE Angel glances at file non-committally, they both know he knows more than he's letting on. ANGEL KATE ANGEL KATE ANGEL KATE ANGEL A pause, as this stops her. KATE Angel takes a BADGE from his jacket, tosses it on to her desk. ANGEL Kate picks the badge up off her desk, gazes at it. ANGEL She slides into the chair behind her desk, punches the badge I.D. number into her computer. After a moment, she spins the COMPUTER MONITOR around for Angel to see. It's the computer dossier for one OFFICER PETER HARKES -- including service record and PICTURE. The picture is of the cop that Angel killed earlier, albeit in happier times, as reflected by his smile. KATE ANGEL KATE Angel nods, not surprised. ANGEL Off Kate, undeniably curious -- INT. OFFICE - NIGHT Cordy is on the phone as Wesley sits at a nearby desk doing some research. CORDELIA Cordy hangs up the phone, frustrated. CORDELIA WESLEY CORDELIA WESLEY CORDELIA WESLEY CORDELIA Wesley rises from his seat, contemplates this development. WESLEY CORDELIA Cordy and Wes contemplate the situation. WESLEY CORDELIA WESLEY CORDELIA After a long beat -- WESLEY CORDELIA As the two of them exit, hurriedly -- EXT. GRAVEYARD - NIGHT Moonlight. Quiet. Creepy. Tombstones dot the grounds. Angel and Kate approach. Kate points to a particular grave. KATE They approach. We see the tombstone now. It reads PETER HARKES, 1965-2000. KATE ANGEL KATE Angel squats down next to the grave, stares at the ground. ANGEL KATE ANGEL KATE Angel just shoots her a look. She registers it, then Angel rises, his attention drawn to another grave. ANGEL KATE Angel walks towards another GRAVE, points to it. ANGEL KATE ANGEL KATE ANGEL Kate tries to fathom this. Suddenly, something awful occurs to her. A look of panic races across her face. Kate SPRINTS away through the graveyard. Angel gives chase. EXT. GRAVEYARD - BACK AREA - NIGHT Angel running. He slows down, arrives at KATE, who's standing in front of a grave. Angel walks up, stands next to her. She's visibly shaken. Angel looks at the tombstone. It reads, "Trevor Lockley, born 1938, at rest 2000, Beloved Father" (NOTE TO PRODUCTION: This tombstone should exactly match the tombstone from "The Prodigal.") KATE ANGEL KATE ANGEL Kate's flooded with memories and feelings she's been keeping in far too long. She begins to cry. She looks at Angel, who doesn't move to her or away from her. He's just there for her. A moment of agreement, of understanding between them. She begins to compose herself. Realizing that she's let Angel see behind the curtain, she draws it closed once again. She wipes her eyes dry, looks around the cemetery. KATE Off Angel, without any answers -- INT. EAST HILLS TEEN CENTER - NIGHT The place is swarming with TEENS. Anne moves through the throngs, carrying a stack of towels, trying to maintain some semblance of calm and control. ANNE The kids nod, move off as there's a KNOCK at the door. Anne balances the blankets in one hand, opens the door with the other. ANNE Wesley and Cordy stand there. ANNE CORDELIA ANNE WESLEY ANNE WESLEY As Wesley exits -- CORDELIA ANNE CORDELIA ANNE CORDELIA Just then a GIRL passes by, wearing CORDY'S SHIRT (the one Angel donated in episode 12). CORDELIA The Girl turns, looks back at Cordy. CORDELIA The Girl moves off. Cor turns to Anne -- CORDELIA Anne goes to close the front door. Just before it closes all the way, though, a BOOT jams its way in, prevents the door from closing. Anne opens the door warily to reveal -- JACKSON, early 20's, black, scary, a career criminal, stands there. Even if she doesn't know him by name, Anne recognizes him and the kind of person he is. ANNE JACKSON ANNE She starts to close the door on him. Before she can, Jackson glides in, used to getting what he wants. JACKSON Jackson steps inside, scans the various girls milling around the Teen Center. JACKSON ANNE CORDELIA JACKSON Jackson pushes past them, nudging Cordy aside, slightly. CORDELIA Anne stops Cordy from going after him. ANNE Cordy watches Jackson disappear into the rec room -- CORDELIA INT. EAST HILLS TEEN CENTER - REC ROOM - NIGH Ray turns from some friends, BUMPS into Jackson. RAY Ray realizes who it is. Jackson clearly scares him. RAY JACKSON RAY JACKSON RAY JACKSON Jackson puts his arm around Ray, faux friendly, speaks quietly in his ear. JACKSON Off Ray, squirming -- EXT. STREET #2 - NIGHT TRACKING SHOT. MOVING with THREE SETS OF LEGS... down the sidewalk. TILTING UP TO GUNN, RONDELL, GEORGE. They've got the angry youth look. Rondell is messing with a VIDEO CAMERA. RONDELL GUNN RONDELL Rondell points up at... ANGLE ON STREET SIGN We can READ THE SIGN - 45TH STREET - as the guys pass, looking up at the sign. Graffiti on the STREET. RONDELL GUNN RONDELL GUNN RONDELL They continue on, but as they round the CORNER... they stop... because the street is empty. Not a car to be seen. Nobody walking. Nothing moving. GUNN We HEAR A TAP, TAP, TAP... They turn to find a UNIFORMED STREET COP standing at the corner, tap-tap-tapping his billy-club against the wall. He wears a sharp blue uniform. Trim mustache. Shiny badge. Rondell quickly tries to cover the video camera with his coat. STREET COP GUNN Gunn glances at Rondell, who backs off a little as the cop approaches. Rondell exposes the lens as he secretly starts video taping. (Note: Let's film a couple of takes of this scene from the videotape perspective to use in coverage.) STREET COP GUNN STREET COP GUNN STREET COP GUNN Gunn glances at Rondell. Rondell gives him a slight nod, acknowledgement that he's getting it on tape. GUNN The Street Cop raises his club, starts advancing on Gunn -- STREET COP Wesley suddenly runs in. WESLEY The street cop calmly draws his gun from his holster, turns and SHOOTS Wesley in the stomach. Wesley clutches his gut. Dropping to his knees... WESLEY BLACK OUT. END OF ACT TWO. Continue on to Part
Two |
|
The Thin Dead Line Part 2 January 23, 2001 (Green) Written by: Jim Kouf & Shawn Ryan |
|
Act Three |
|
EXT. STREET #2 - NIGHT - WHERE WE LEFT OFF Wesley crumples to the street. GUNN The cop swings the gun at Gunn, but Gunn lunges. Hitting the cop as he fires. The shot goes wild. Gunn and the cop slam to the street. The cop loses his grip on the gun. ANGLE ON THE GUN As it skitters into the gutter. GUNN AND THE COP struggle on the street. Gunn slams a fist into his face. The cop kicks Gunn aside and gets to his feet as George hits him from behind. The cop sprawls into the street again. Gunn gets up. The cop pulls up his pant leg, reaching for -- RONDELL Gunn sees the cop pulling the small pistol from an ankle holster. There is no place for Gunn to go. The cop aims at Gunn as we HEAR GUNSHOTS. The COP IS BLOWN BACKWARDS as two bullets slam into his chest. Sending him sprawling onto the street. The small pistol slides away. Rondell and Gunn turn to George who is scared shitless and holding the cop's other gun which he picked up from the gutter. George turns to them with an "oh shit what have I done look." RONDELL, GUNN AND GEORGE exchange looks. Uh-oh. GEORGE RONDELL GUNN Gunn goes to Wesley. Wesley is curled up on the street, clutching his stomach. Wesley looks up. He's scared. Hurting... WESLEY GUNN Wesley merely nods. Gunn turns back to Rondell and George. GUNN Rondell slides around Wesley, but George is too freaked to move. GEORGE GUNN RONDELL GUNN GEORGE George points at the cop lying in the street. And he sure looks dead except for the fact that he suddenly sits bolt upright. Staring at them. EXTREMELY FAST PUSH IN ON George, Rondell and Gunn. Oh fucking shit all over their faces. GUNN RONDELL No argument now. George helps them pick up Wesley. They run down the street as fast as they can. EXTREMELY FAST PUSH IN ON THE COP Sitting in the street. He touches his collar radio. STREET COP EXT. STREET #3 - NIGHT Gunn, Rondell and George struggle down the street with Wesley. Wesley suddenly coughs. GUNN They slow. Gunn looks for someplace to hide. Sees a BOARDED UP ALLEY. Two boards have been kicked away. Gunn rips out another board. They pick up Wesley and carry him -- INTO THE ALLEY --finding a hiding place behind some crates and trash. GUNN WESLEY GEORGE GUNN GEORGE GUNN Gunn pulls out his cell phone as George moves back down the alley. RONDELL EXT. 23RD PRECINCT - NIGHT Establishing INT. 23RD PRECINT - RECPETION AREA - NIGHT Unlike Kate's bustling, noisy squadhouse, this one's eerily quiet. Angel and Kate walk in, approach the front desk, which is unmanned. Kate looks around suspiciously. KATE Angel notices a bell on the front desk. He rings it. After a moment a DESK SERGEANT ambles in from the back, biting into an apple. He's mid-40's jovial, non-threatening. DESK SERGEANT Kate badges him. KATE A lone DETECTIVE wanders past in the background. DESK SERGEANT KATE DESK SERGEANT ANGEL DESK SERGEANT ANGEL DESK SERGEANT ANGEL DESK SERGEANT KATE The desk sergeant looks at the two of them for the first time as potential enemies. DESK SERGEANT EXT. STREET #3/ALLEY - NIGHT Blood oozes through GUNN'S HAND. CAMERA PANS UP from his hand to Wesley's face. He's not doing well. From the alley entrance, George turns to them. GEORGE RONDELL George gives him a look and turns back. Gunn rips his jacket off, uses it to stop Wesley's bleeding. Wesley looks up weakly at Gunn as he tries to help him. WESLEY GUNN Gunn glances up at Rondell. Rondell gives him a look - "Like who for instance?" George suddenly comes running back. GEORGE MINI-TIMECUT ANGLE ON THE BACK OF THE AMBULANCE As the DRIVER and EMT lift Wesley, strapped to the stretcher, into the back. Gunn helps push the stretcher in. Then turns to Rondell and George. < |