Episode discussion - 1x01 Pilot: The Beginning (old thread)
 

[img]smilies/star.gif[/img] [img]smilies/star.gif[/img] CHARACTER FROM DAWSON’S CREEK RETURNS IN THE NEW SUMMER SERIES YOUNG AMERICANS [img]smilies/star.gif[/img] [img]smilies/star.gif[/img]

Blue blood meets blue collar as summer session begins at Rawley Academy, a prestigious New England boarding school. Will Krudski (Rodney Scott, Dawson’s Creek) is a local boy on scholarship and his new roommate, Scout Calhoun (Mark Famiglietti), represents everything that made Will always want to attend Rawley — to be one of those guys for whom anything is possible. While Will struggles with an ethical crisis relating to his acceptance into Rawley, Scout falls for Bella Banks (Kate Bosworth), a luminous local girl, but their blossoming romance may turn out to be star-crossed. Meanwhile, a student on the fringe of the new entering class at Rawley, Hamilton Fleming (Ian Somerhalder), is edgy, alternative, and the antithesis of what you’d expect the Dean’s son to be – which he is. His outsider status attracts the friendship of Jake Pratt (Katherine Moennig), who matches Hamilton in his aloof stance. These teenagers are led by Finn (Ed Quinn), the teacher and crew coach who hopes to inspire them to shoot their arrows high in what will be the greatest summer of their lives. James Whitmore, Jr. directed the episode written by series creator Steven Antin.

Full transcript (pdf)

http://jh.subvertigo.com/pilot/pilot_017.jpg
http://jh.subvertigo.com/pilot/pilot_039.jpg
http://jh.subvertigo.com/pilot/pilot_100.jpg

This was the episode that started it all. So break out the old tapes guys, refresh your memories and come join in the conversation! [img]smilies/glow.gif[/img]

(At the moment I can only get Jake or Ham caps from vertigo's J/H site, does anyone has any other caps they would like to share? [img]smilies/look.gif[/img] )

[ 04-07-2004: Message edited Silversun ]

I think the Pilot is my fav eppie. It's where it all started and that roof top kiss. I mean... what's not to love about that?

I haven't seen the pilot in ages. But as far as I remember, I really liked it. I mean, I wouldn't have continued to watch YA if I had hated it [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]
The roof top kiss is a classic. Who doesn't love this scene? I`ll try to rewatch (*cough*download*cough*) the pilot as soon as possible and will definitely post here again [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

I wasn't that big a fan of the major plotlines involving Will or Scout/Bella. It just seemed run of the mill. But my attention was caught from the very first moment Hamilton appeared in Jake's doorway. Jake looked soooo hot with the longish black hair, and I completely fell in love with 'him'. And then 'he' turned out to be a girl and that was even better because I had just gotten into Placebo back then and gender-bending was one of my most highly-valued things. Still is. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

I really liked the Tender scene, first with Scout/Bella at the station, and then with Jake in her room. That was gorgeous. [img]smilies/sigh.gif[/img]

Reading over the script of S meeting B - as opposed to watching the vid - v different experience.

Talking about the "smells like money" scene. The lines don't point toward instant attraction at all. She's being a reverse-snob + I don't see why S is supposed to fall for her. But then, the script doesn't have pretty people acting it. A lot of the chemistry IMO is in YA because the actors put it there, not because of the dialogue they were working with. Even more so in the case of J + H, who were so endlessly smoulderishus.

Yes, I know there is no such word as smoulderishus. There should be.

[ 04-07-2004: Message edited ness ]

Mmm, definitely. Most of the dialogue is just your standard teen show stuff. And who else found Will's voiceovers more and more cringe-worthy as the show went on? [img]smilies/look.gif[/img] Of course the problem for me nowadays is I'm stuck with trying to emulate it with every new fic I write. [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

You know what's interesting? Setting up the body of the S/B storyline in the first episode, and from then on their storylines just seemed like endless fallout. All the S/B drama had been and gone in the pilot and then for the rest of the episodes, they just spend endless amounts of time angsting, talking, and angsting some more. It's interesting because I've never seen another show do that. Then again, I've never seen another show that only lasted for eight episodes. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

A lot of intensive eye contact and getting inside each other's space - hard things to bring across in words in fan fic. & not written in the script at all.

You're right about the Bella/Scout arc all happening in one ep. Wish they'd stretched it out more. If viewers'd seen more of them being flirty and awww together - and they are adorable as a happy couple - we might be more sympathetic when S Cannot Take No for an answer + goes all stalky obsessive.

Would you agree: That the Scout is Stupid thing is fanon, not canon? Loads of stories on ReqRead about Scout being a twit, grounded purely in fannish dislike of the way he acts for most of the series.

Was watching pilot and ep 2 as Easter treat. Have to say that Will's self righteousness and pomposity really irritate me.

sorry, that was random rambling. Trying to think about Scout's character.

Mmm... you know, I heard that in the original script they actually had sex in the pilot. Anyone care to verify that? [img]smilies/look.gif[/img] If that's true, then it definitely better explains the aww-ness, and the eww-ness. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

<STRONG> Absolutely! I think he's a lovely boy! But Scout has to be one of the hardest characters to write because he's 1)granted, a little bland and 2)the proverbial lamb. It seems like no matter what sort of storyline you come up in fanfics, he gets kicked around or his character needs subtle 'enhancement' to make him seem more like the bad guy.

As I remember it, it was inferred that Scout and Bella had sex in the lake house. I do have a copy of the original story treatment for the first pilot. I won it at the first YA Gathering. Some of the storyline and characterizations were different, especially Hamilton. This was before Ian got the role, and I felt that Hamilton evolved into an extension of Ian. Even in the second pilot, you got the illusion that Scout and Bella might have gone a lot further off camera. Sometimes it's better left to the imagination in determining what happened off camera, especially if you have sqeamish network censors and concerned sponsors. For example, in my mind after first seeing "Cinderbella", I was convinced that Jake and Hamilton got it on in her dorm room. I still think they did, irregardless of succeeding scripts written probably to passify those who want squeaky clean shows. Call it a romantic notion on my part. From my perspective it would have been realistic too. Kids of my generation, particularly my friends at that age, would have seized the moment. If I could have been Hamilton in Jake's dorm room, I would have too.

More comments on the pilots, when I get the time.

Green Ranger
-------------------------------------------------------
Five Power Rangers were created for good, and the sixth was green.

It's so cool that you got the original story treatment Green Ranger! Could you share with us some of the more interesting diversions from the aired pilot? [img]smilies/innocent.gif[/img] I'd love to know what Hamilton was like before the changes.

I didn't get the impression just from watching the show that anything went on offscreen, I guess my years of watching squeaky-clean TV ingrained that in me. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] I just figured that if any main character was having sex, it would be a big enough deal to at least be mentioned onscreen. Have a shot of them tumbling toward the bed in a fade-out, or something. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] So I can't see that S/B actually had sex in the aired pilot... but of course there was no definitive statements in the episode that said they didn't, so I guess it's up to the viewer to decide!

Mmm... just managed to watch the last few minutes of the episode - it's so sad! I don't remember it being so sad the first time I saw it, probably because I was too smitten with J/H to notice. But the S/B talk by the lake really broke me up. [img]smilies/cry.gif[/img]

I watched it again this weekend - S+B by the lake was sadder than I remembered, too. (& when Will bounded in on their break up all happy-puppy, I got annoyed with him.)

Me too. Then again... what else could they have said in that situation, you know? "We're brother and sister, so..." [awkward silence] [img]smilies/look.gif[/img]

The more I watch the more I like Scout. He's a really nice boy. He's also got man-boobs, but that's another story.

I'll have to get back to you on my thoughts. But I can say that I was weirded out by "Jake" [img]smilies/lol.gif[/img]

and back with the Scout-love (which is weird, because I didn't register him 1st time around, + usually fastforward the W/B/S scenes. I suppose that's why these bits are coming fresh to me) I think he's very decent to Will, supportive + taking on his problems with fitting in at Rawley, with W's fear about the test, more than most would. He's dropping his big emotional spondulick to talk Will through his options when Finn overhears.

"No one belongs anywhere. It's in your head."
[img]smilies/cool.gif[/img]

I like Finn (said this before) *so* much more in this where he's coming the heavy authority figure than I do later in the series. This may be down to me being parent aged. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]