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Restless With the seasonal Apocolypse neatly averted in the
last ep. it's time for Nightmare on Revello Drive with the First slayer
stalking the gang in their sleep. The W/T Pillowbook homage is lovely
with Willow painting Tara-back <sigh>
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INT. BUFFY'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT We see our four passed out heroes. Camera moves slowly to WILLOW, to her sleeping face,
and we DISSOLVE TO: INT. TARA'S DORM ROOM - DAY Though you can't tell if it's day or night -- the curtains are drawn and the room is lit only by the ambient glow of the Christmas lights. They are all we see at first, hanging out of focus as the camera finds Tara's face, in profile. She speaks almost in whisper, smiling thoughtfully. Lying on her stomach, on the bed.
CLOSE ON: WILLOW
She is looking down at something, intent on it -- we don't know what it is, nor her relation to Tara in the room. She glances up briefly.
ANGLE: THE KITTEN In the corner, in extreme slomo (120 frames per), attacks a red ball of string, framed before a gold pillow.
ANGLE: TARA Also watches the kitten.
ANGLE: A CALLIGRAPHY BRUSH
As Willow dips it into a well of ink. We see Willow's face as she moves the brush to where she is writing, very intent.
And for the first time, we see the room in tableau: Tara lies naked under the covers, her back exposed and covered in fine writing; Willow dips her pen and continues the text to the small of Tara's back.
Willow moves to the window.
ANGLE: THE WINDOW As Willow pulls the curtain aside to reveal that outside is all DESERT. Light cuts Willow's face, races up Tara's back as she looks back towards the window as well.
ANGLE: IN THE DESERT Something moves, briefly, out of focus. A human shape, in grey and dirty rags, moving like an animal. INT. UNIVERSITY HALL - DAY Willow walks along, lost in thought. Passes Oz and Xander, who have been talking.
She comes to a bank of lockers that are incongruously placed in the wall, starts her combination.
The school BELL rings. Willow becomes a little unnerved by it.
She gives up on her combination, hurries away. We hold on Xander and Oz, watching her go.
INT. BACKSTAGE - DAY Willow enters into a whirl of activity -- the place is crammed with students in costume, obviously getting ready for an imminent production. To one side, at the back of the stage, is a bright, lemon-yellow backdrop, a painted sunrise. On the opposite side, at the front of the stage, is an enormous red curtain, which separates them from the audience. A girl dressed as a 20's FLAPPER is sticking her head through the middle to peek at the audience. Pinspots highlight portions of the stage, colored lights occasionally sweeping across the throng. It's disorienting, particularly to Willow, who wades in tentatively, looking for some kind of guidance. The first person she recognizes is HARMONY, who is dressed as a milkmaid, hair in braids.
She hugs Willow with gleeful camaraderie.
The flapper pulls her head back from the curtain -- it's BUFFY. Full outfit, short black bob and everything. Like Harmony, (and everyone else here save Will), she's almost TOO excited, almost like a commercial for being here.
He is in fact, sporting a dude-ish cowboy getup just as doofy as his grin.
Giles rushes in, clearly in charge of this production. Claps his hands and addresses the troupe.
As he speaks, and Willow grows more and more unnerved, she notices ANGLE: THE FIGURE FROM THE DESERT Moving silently and quickly beyond the edge of the crowd. We see it only in glimpses, but slightly better than we did before. We won't catch all of this now, but: It's a woman. She appears to be in soiled rags, not unlike a mummy's. Black hair in coarse dreds -- through neglect, not fashion. Face painted in colored clay. Long, almost clawlike nails. We'll call her THE PRIMITIVE. She carries a long, jagged blade. (incredibly different from the blade carried by the villain in episode 22 of ANGEL, really I can't stress this enough.)
Harmony has gone VAMP and is trying to bite Giles, craning at various angles to get a better purchase on his neck. He swats at her as at a buzzing insect as he continues:
He bustles off and everyone begins talking at once: the nervous excitement of just-before-curtain. Willow looks around her, completely cut off from the energy -- a fact that is highlighted when all the SOUND DIES OUT, though everyone continues chattering. Willow makes her way slowly to the edge of the stage. She looks around, nervous about seeing the figure in rags again. She looks in the wings and sees: ANGLE: THE CHEESE MAN A skittish, balding, bespectacled little fellow in an old woolen suit. A voice not unlike Peter Lorre's. He says softly, conspiratorially:
TILT DOWN to see a row of American cheese slices on a small wooden table. Tilt back up as the cheese man smiles, hungry for approval. Willow looks back at the bustling (still silent) crowd, moves slowly toward the edge of the red curtain. There are in fact two curtains, both red, about two feet apart. Willow hesitates a moment, then moves slowly between them, the camera following her, curtains billowing past lens on either side as she is enveloped. BETWEEN THE CURTAINS She journeys a while in this intimate space -- it seems to go on a long while. Finally she finds Tara standing, waiting for her. They speak, voices low.
ANGLE: ON STAGE We see the play in progress. We are wide, taking in the proscenium. It is lit old style, from below. To the right is a plush divan, the only set dressing. On it is draped Buffy, smoking from a cigarette holder with languid boredom. Harmony stands in the middle of the stage holding her milk pails on an old fashioned cross-beam-yoke-type-thing, look I can't remember what they're called, I'm not like joe dictionary, okay? Riley enters, from the left. Speaks, as they all do, in a big ol' stage voice.
ANGLE: WITHIN THE CURTAINS Tara and Willow continue to speak.
She looks around, worried. Willow does also. Things seem to be moving around them, indistinct whispers buzzing by their ears.
She looks around -- and turns back to find Tara gone.
ANGLE: ON STAGE This time we are close on Buffy and Riley as Buffy spews a rapidfire, venomous monologue to the unfeeling cowboy man. In the background, Harmony is sitting on the divan in tears. A man (high school actor boy) in a black suit lies dead on the stage. Somehow, all of this is in focus.
ANGLE: INSIDER THE CURTAIN Willow looks around, concerned at Tara's absence. The whispers continue around her…
The sentence is not out before a blade SHOOTS through the curtain right in front of Willow's face. It is the ancient, bloodcrusted blade of the Primitive. Willow jerks back with a startled scream as the blade is withdrawn, plunged again just as close. She turns to flee the way she came -- but the blade shoots out in front of her again. This time it pulls down, tears the curtain as an arm reaches in, swiping the blade at Willow. Fingernails rip down another part of the curtain and the second arm claws at Willow, tries to grasp her, Willow backs away but the knife slices through her flailing hand, a deep gash on her palm as she stumbles, collapses into herself, crying out, waiting to be cut, to be carved. A hand GRABS her, and she screams again -- taking a good moment before she realizes it's not the Primitive. She looks up to see Buffy, back in normal Buffy garb (and hair), reaching through one of the slashes in the curtain.
Willow rises shakily, steps through the curtain, Buffy holding onto her hand. Buffy looks around, tensed for action. They are standing in front of the curtain, but as they creep forward we see they are now in INT. HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROOM - DUSK The classroom is empty, lit by the last orange shafts of day. The curtain stands at the back, so Buffy and Willow move slowly to the front, ever alert, speaking in whispers.
Moving between desks. Buffy leads. She is all business, eyes front -- almost brusque in her Slayerness.
They've reached the front of the class. Buffy turns to Willow, really regards her for the first time.
And so saying, she grabs at an out-of-frame Willow, shoving her to the front of the class and ripping the outfit from her. Buffy stands, Will's outfit in hand, looking the girl over.
REVERSE ON: WILLOW As we saw her once, a long time ago. Long, slightly duller red hair. Plain grey frock that embodies the softer side of you know what. (Uh, Sears, just in case you don't.) A hapless, almost sick expression of embarrassment. She stands by the teacher's desk, looking at herself.
REVERSE ON: THE CLASSROOM The curtain is gone from the back of the class. Buffy stands at the front, looking at camera with disinterested contempt.
She sits behind a desk and we see the class is in fact filled. Among the students, all of whom eye us with contempt, are Xander, Harmony, Anya, Oz and Tara. Oz and Tara lean in close to each other, as though they've been whispering for some time.
Tara smirks, leans back in to Oz.
Willow tries to stand up straight, tries to get on with class. She is holding a sheaf of loose-leaf papers.
It LEAPS into frame, knocking Willow to the ground. No one even reacts (of course) as Willow thrashes, fighting for her life against the Primitive. It hasn't its knife this time, just struggles to hold the panicked girl down.
ANGLE: THE CLASS Does nothing. CLOSE ON: WILLOW As a gnarled and filthy hand closes around her throat. The head is lowered to hers -- we see its mouth open, dirty brown teeth as its mouth closes over Willow's -- then we hear a great RUSH OF AIR as the life is sucked out of Willow, her eyes widen and her skin goes sallow, gaunt, the lifeforce sucked out of her -- INT. BUFFY'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT -- and she lies, unwakening, gasping for air, choking, dying in her sleep. INT. ICE CREAM TRUCK - DAY [XANDER'S DREAM] A moment more of watching them, and Xander starts to the front of the truck. Anya sits in the passenger seat. The truck is ALREADY MOVING, the suburban streets going slowly by in the windows in what is pretty clearly REAR SCREEN PROJECTION. Xander gets into the driver's seat.
Through the end of this, he's become aware of some giggling in the back of the truck. He looks back to see: ANGLE: WILLOW AND TARA Are standing in the back, dressed kinda trampy. Very close to each other, whispering and looking at Xander.
They giggle a bit.
She and Tara move closer -
ANGLE: XANDER We hold on Xander pushing in incredibly slowly, while the girls show him something. Whatever that may be, we hold on him for quite a long time, and he remains impressively calm. The girls, having (however marginally) separated, smile at Xander.
They look to the further, darker back of the truck. Xander looks interested, then slightly perplexed. He looks over at Anya. She is still looking out at the road as she says.
She does, waving the truck from drifting off the road, as Xander heads for the back of the truck. REAR OF ICE CREAM TRUCK ANGLE: XANDER is framed in the open back window of the ice cream truck. The rear-projected town drifts by as he pauses, then he heads to the back of the truck. He has to squeeze between a few crates and sundries. He keeps going. As he gets further back, he has to climb on top of things. The space gets smaller, gets darker. He's still moving back -- now's he squeezing through a space the size of an air vent. Finally the space widens, and he finds himself tumbling out and landing on the floor, the floor of: INT. XANDER'S BASEMENT - NIGHT He looks around him. A little pissed. No girls. INT. BUFFY'S BEDROOM - MORNING [BUFFY'S DREAM] Buffy WAKES suddenly -- it was only a bad dream… WIDEN to see she's in her bedroom at home. She has made a mess of the sheets in her nightmare. REVERSE ANGLE: BUFFY Looks at the mess of a bed from the doorway. We find TARA standing next to her. Tara is completely poised, quite -- clearly on top of whatever's going on here.
She looks at the clock by the bed: ANGLE: THE CLOCK reads 7:30. Buffy looks worried about the time.
She produces a deck of tarot cards, tries to hand it to Buffy.
Tara moves closer, whispers in Buffy's ear: ANGLE: THE BEDROOM The bed is made now. It's very still.
Buffy leaves. EXT. DESERT - DAY Buffy walks past the Initiative wall and into the bright white desert, the flat, sandy vista spreading out forever. Camera arms up to find that Buffy stands atop a lone, large, sand dune. She looks around, worried.
ANGLE: TARA Appears opposite Buffy on the dune, walking toward her. She is dressed in Indian garb, midriff and skirt. Again, preternaturally calm.
She stands a ways apart, the two of them regarding each other.
As she says this, the Primitive appears right behind her. Buffy is aware of her, but does nothing. The Primitive circles her, slowly, sniffing her, assessing her. Buffy is rigid, the Primitive all angles and motion, finally ending up in front of Buffy. As this is happening, we cut between the two slayers as though they are conversing, though it is Tara who speaks for the Primitive.
The Primitive stands erect at that, facing Buffy with defiant pride. Buffy looks down, at her hand. Sees: INSERT: The deck of tarot cards that Tara had tried to hand her. The top card is actually a birds eye view of the four friends asleep in Buffy's living room (CGI insert).
The Primitive growls, snaps her teeth at Buffy.
The Primitive struggles to contain her rage, finally spitting forth:
As she says this last, the Cheese Man leans into frame, dangling a couple of slices invitingly.
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