Part 1
Episode:
1.07
Air date:
July 11, 2002. The episode is set sometime in early June, near the end of the school year
Cast Members:
Desi Stark, Doug, and JD
We opened the Episode with a "Previously, on Buffy,"
where we highlighted the elements from the earlier Episode that would have
relevance to this one.
Teaser
Nighttime. A nice car is stopped by the side of the road. We see this car
through the windshield of another car. Because there’s a video monitor
mounted on the dash of this second car, we take it to be a police cruiser.
The radio inside the police cruiser crackles to life. A voice announces,
"Everything checks out OK." A hand enters the frame and picks up
the radio handset inside the cruiser and replies, "Roger that."
The hand returns the handset to its cradle.
We hear a car door open and close. Moments later, we see a policeman
through the windshield, and on the video monitor, as he approaches the first
car.
Cut to the driver of the first car. He’s a young, Hispanic-looking kid.
Well-dressed, maybe 18. He’s nervously fidgeting, but there are no signs
of any illegal activity. The kid straightens when the policeman appears at
his window.
- Cop: (handing back driver’s license and registration) Do you
know why I pulled you over?
- Kid: No.
- Cop: Your right tail light is broken.
- Kid: (visibly relaxing) Is that bad?
- Cop: It’s not a moving violation, but you want to make sure you get
that fixed.
- Kid: OK, I’ll tell my dad.
- Cop: Thank you, Mr. Mendez.
The cop steps away from the car. The kid composes himself and is just
about to put the key into the ignition when the cop returns quickly and says
angrily, "Thought you’d get away with it this time, didn’t
you?" Cut to the view from the cruiser’s windshield as the cop fires
point-blank at the kid. A moment later, he fires a second shot at the
slumped and motionless driver.
The cop turns and begins to walk back toward the cruiser. Cut to black.
Roll theme song and title sequence.
Act 2: The next day at school
- JD uses a microscope in biology class to compare the blood she collected
from one of the "homeless" prom attackers to the slide of standard
human blood. Yup, looks like blood, alright.
- Desi is collecting yearbook signatures. She’s all bubbly, and signs
others’ yearbooks with joyous wishes and little pictures of flowers.
- Troy signs her yearbook, "Have a great summer, Donna."
- Desi is chatting light-heartedly with everyone she sees. She goes to her
locker. When she opens it, the locker door blocks everyone’s view of
Desi. The camera, however, is on the same side of the door as Desi, and
the camera sees all. Desi’s face falls as she drops her charade of
cheer. She sighs heavily.
- There’s a knock on Desi’s open locker door. Desi reasserts her
façade of happiness and closes the locker door to reveal Doug. She
perkily asks him to sign her yearbook. In a spot by his picture that Desi
has reserved for him, Doug writes, "Thanks for pulling me out of that
foxhole. You saved my life. –Doug."
- Melissa comes strolling up to Desi, smiling. Melissa and Desi
enthusiastically ask each other to sign her yearbook. That done, Melissa
poignantly looks at Doug for a moment, does not ask him to sign her
yearbook, then says to Desi "Have a great summer!" and strolls
off.
- Doug says "I’m going to miss her."
- Desi asks Doug what he’s been doing. He replies he’s been writing
songs and studying (not for school – we’ve seen him spending lots of
time on his computer, reading up on the occult). Doug points out the
information that’s available on the Internet, plus the existence of The
Occult Emporium for "hardcopy" books, just a few blocks away.
Desi says she thought you had to be a priest to get books about this
stuff. Doug says, "No, they just get an expense account. I have to
pay for my own."
- Desi asks if Doug found anything about the "homeless people"
who attacked the prom. Not so far, he says. Desi says she’s glad that
nobody got hurt. That’s when JD comes limping up. Yearbook signings
follow. JD signs the book, and also draws a picture, but the camera doesn’t
see what it’s of.
- Plans for the summer are discussed. Neither JD nor Doug have any
specific plans. Desi’s father will be taking in the local historical
sights and tours. They’re not maritime, but they’re interesting. To
him. Desi fears she’ll be out of town a lot. Desi plans to do more
volunteer work at Phoebe Home so as not to have to go back to Steamtown
again.
- Mr. Kovacs is walking down the hall. He sees the Cast Members. Desi does
not ask him to sign her yearbook, and he doesn’t offer.
- Mr. Kovacs: Ladies. Doug.
- Doug: Good day to you, sir.
- Mr. Kovacs: Nice hair, Doug.
- Doug: Thank you. I quite like your coif as well.
- Mr. Kovacs: That answered that question. I thought maybe you were straightening
out.
- Doug: In a fashion.
- Mr. Kovacs: Well, I guess it’s better than nothing. You people have an enjoyable
summer. I’m sure I’ll be reading about you in the police blotter,
Doug. (he exits.)
- Doug: He’s an inspiration to us all.
- [Here’s where we decided that Mr. Kovacs is bald. We also retroactively
decided he wears a toupee. While he was chaperone at the prom, during the
fight, his toupee got launched into the air and landed in the punch bowl.
It hasn’t been the same since. And it’s of Mr. Kovacs and his toupee
that JD’s picture is. (Diagram that sentence, I dare ya.)]
- Cut to scene of the exterior of the police station at 4th
and Hamilton
- Most of the traffic is inbound, entering the police station. Many
policemen are bringing in various and sundry ruffians and youths. Some of
the kids wear gang colors. In fact, a large cop is dragging a handcuffed
Lucas (formerly known as Youth #4) into the police station.
- As Lucas is led into the station, he cockily yells to the crowd things like,
"You’re all safe now! He’s got it under control!"
- Inside the station, Lucas is plopped down into a chair for
in-processing. The camera pans around the room. There are many people in
similar positions throughout the room.
- The camera wends its way to a less-public room in the police station.
Uniforms and plainclothes are working busily at desks. A higher-ranking
officer (HLG) is crossing the room when he’s stopped by a lower-ranking
officer (LRG) with a manila folder in his hand.
- Lower-Ranking Guy: You need to see this. (hands paper to
higher-ranking guy)
- HRG: What is this?
- LRG: It’s for the arrest warrants we’re going to be putting out.
For the gang stuff. Take a look at who owns that building.
- HRG: (under his breath) Oh, mother of
God! Go show this to Chief Kuhns. (hands paper
back and heads out of the room)
- [In real life, Chief Kuhns
resigned as chief of the Allentown police shortly before we played this
episode. Whatever’s coming up in our Series bodes ill for Chief Kuhns.]
- JD is looking to find Pedro, the Lobo whom Desi and JD saved from
the mob last episode.
- JD finds Pedro with some other Lobos. She waits around until the other
Lobos leave and Pedro is alone. She greets him in Spanish. He doesn’t
recognize her, but she convinces him that she was present when Pedro was
accosted by the mob of townspeople. She asks him what happened. He
honestly doesn’t know; he was on his way to Hamilton Mall to buy new
treads [shoes] when the residents of the neighborhood descended on him.
["The whole town is getting strange. My homies are getting picked
up by police or getting chased through hoods. That’s not the way it’s
supposed to go. We’re supposed to rule here."]
- JD wonders if that’s what happened to Lupito – was he the victim
of vigilante action? Pedro asks what JD knows about Lupito. JD says he
turned up in a park. Dead. Pedro is incredulous. Who killed him?
Carmines? Pedro vows revenge on whoever killed Lupito.
- It occurs to JD that because of the condition of the body, it may take
the police some time to discover the identity of Lupito’s corpse. It’s
possible that Pedro may have realized that Lupito was missing, but word
hadn’t yet gotten out that he was dead.
- When Pedro asks, JD says that Lupito’s body was found in Fountain
Park. Pedro vows to take the information of Lupito’s death back to the
Lobos so they can strike back against the Carmines. JD points out that
it could have been nearby residents who killed him, particularly since
Fountain Park isn’t in either gang’s territory. Pedro says that in
any case, something has to be done about this.
- JD offers that Lupito may have been killed by another Lobo.
- In parting, JD says that if Pedro sees anything weird going on, he
should let her know. She does not, however, give him a way to contact
her. Instead, she says she’ll "be around."
- As JD heads home, she passes SeraTec, a corporation that processes and
sells human plasma. Healthy people can donate plasma twice a week
because the blood cells are separated from the plasma and returned to
the donor. According to some of the Carmines, SeraTec pays a donor about
$50 for each collection. In fact, the Lobos and Carmines have agreed to
a cease-fire while on SeraTec property, because both gangs earn money by
donating plasma there.
- JD had heard that SeraTec does all sorts of testing on the blood of
donors to ensure that the donors are healthy and the blood is safe. She
has a brief flashback to the scene in biology class when she was looking
at the prom-crashers’ blood through a microscope. As JD enters SeraTec,
we cut away.
- Cut to Doug. He stops in at the Occult Emporium.
- The proprietor of The Occult Emporium, Abe
Solomon, is played by Tony
Shaloub in an aged version of his role of "Jeebs" from Men
in Black.
- Solomon is standing behind the counter, watching the shop.
- The book on demonology that Doug ordered has arrived.
- Doug asks how familiar Solomon is with demons. Solomon draws the
blinds and speaks in hushed tones. He asks Doug what he wants to know
about demons. Doug says he’s seen several of them, just a few nights
ago. They had runes where their eyes were supposed to be. Solomon tells
him to come back tonight, alone. Doug asks if he can bring a friend?
Solomon consents and Doug leaves with his book.
- Desi calls Aegis Security
- She’s calling to apply for a job. The personnel director (a woman
named Brenda) describes the qualifications (which Desi meets) and
schedules an interview.
- Cut to a commercial break.
Act 2