Devil's Advocates Coverage

SCRIPT COVERAGE

AUTHOR: Cassidy Haynes SETTING: Present // Austrian Alps GENRE: Fantasy DATE SUBMITTED: 03/01/20

TITLE: Devil’s Advocates FORM/PGS: 27 READER:N/A DATE COMPLETED: 03/05/20

SCRIPT: https://issuu.com/ch-scripts/docs/haynes_da_013020 —————————————————————————————————————————— LOG LINE: A young vampire on the run must fight to keep his identity secret when he takes refuge at a monster hunting academy.

SUMMARY: Wesley is a street smart kid on the run after accidentally killing a duke. The first place he takes refuge is an elite monster hunting academy. He also happens to be a vampire. His only two options are to maintain his identity and pretend to be the duke he’s just killed OR to join the students in defending the school against an even bigger threat.

—————————————————————————————————————————— SYNOPSIS: In a barren forest in the Austrian alps, two figures struggle in the snow. With a sharp SNAP, one of them falls. The boy left standing, WESLEY YORK (18, Black, doe eyed) looks over his opponent, COUNT WESTLY BRAGANZA, (18, European, deceased) guiltily. He didn’t know his own strength. Wesley hears an angry voice in the distance. He bares his FANGS, snatches the dead Count’s blazer, and makes a run for it. The Hall of the Mountain King plays over this sequence.

ARCHDUKE BRAGANZA (50’s, cruel) hunts for Wesley. He chases him rapidly through the snowy forest. Wesley stumbles into a massive stone archway, and ducks through. The engraving on the archway is hidden by snow, but depicts a dragon being slain. Archduke Braganza finds his son, the Count, dead in the snow. He wails and vows vengeance on Wesley.

Wesley enters a massive building with oaken doors. Something between a palace and a museum.

Elsewhere in the same building, HEADMASTER ALISTAIR (60’s, creepy) gives an orientation speech to a room of posh, uniformed STUDENTS. They are at LEUDWINUS ACADEMY OF THE ARCANE, an elite monster hunting school. At the same time, GENEVIEVE ATWOOD (20, perky) finds Westley wandering the halls. She takes one look at his coat, it’s crest matching the engraving on the school’s archway, and mistakes him for a lost student. Genevieve brushes off his tardiness and ushers him through the winding corridors, despite his frantic objections. She leads him to a curtained room where Alistair’s speech is just audible. Wesley pulls away from her and begins to turn back. She takes him by the shoulders and offers genuine encouragement. The two share a brief, tender moment. Genevieve pushes the curtains aside and shoves Wesley forward. He is now ONSTAGE with Alistair, who introduces him as the school’s esteemed guest, Count Westly Braganza. The auditorium erupts in applause while Wesley stands frozen.

At the end of the orientation assembly, Alistair takes Wesley aside, but not without a few backhanded comments about the young man’s supposed Portuguese background. He introduces URIEL (19), ZARA (20) , and Genevieve, members of the school’s honor society. They’re all very interested in getting to know Wesley, and despite his fight or flight inclinations, Wesley’s wooed by the promise of royal suites and gourmet food. From the back of the auditorium, EDDIE (20, nerdy and bitter) watches them, unseen.

After some time spent touring the school, Wesley’s acclimating very well. He’s dressed in finery and has a full plate of food, including blood pudding. The four of them pass a portrait of Braganza royalty. They ask Wesley about his ‘father’, the Archduke, and his ‘hunting trips.’ Wesley brushes off the question. They continue on, and Eddie follows at a safe distance, taking notes.

The farther the students lead him into the school’s armory and weaponry halls, the more apparent it is that Wesley’s sorely out of place. His goofy antics charm the honor students, however, and his allergic reaction to anti-vampire relics go unnoticed. While Wesley shows off his ‘skills’ with medieval weaponry to Genevieve, Uriel and Zara discuss how best to give him their big proposal.

In Wesley’s first class, a professor pierces a vampire dummy with a stake to the heart, letting the big mannequin thump to the floor. The students erupt in cheers, but Wesley is horrified. Eddie skulks at the back of the class. The students are dismissed and Wesley immediately begins to seek ways to step outside and escape. Uriel sits beside him and explains that this is standard procedure for MONSTER KILLING 101, and that policy dictates all doors be locked during the school week for the student’s protection. Realizing how nervous Wesley is, he pokes fun, and attempts to scare him with the threat of monsters lurking not just outside but inside the school as well.

Genevieve and Zara are waiting for the boys when they get out of class, and chide Uriel for startling Wesley. The three encourage Wesley to be brave, reminding him of his ‘royal status’, and though Wesley tries again to correct them, Genevieve cuts him off. She loops her arm in his, and the four of them go to the cafeteria. Eddie watches all of this from the classroom door, where a student bumps into him and spills his books and papers.

The honor students and Wesley take seats in the cafeteria, and the honor students join hands.

Much to Wesley’s alarm, the three make their proposal: they invite him to join their honor society.

Wesley scrambles to find excuses as to why he can’t. He admits he’s never killed a monster, and reluctantly the others concede that they have not either, though they’re confident that they’re well equipped should the chance arise. Uriel mentions that another student has been desperate to get into the honor society, and that his views might’ve influenced Wesley’s hesitation. Zara and Genevieve outline Eddie’s chronic nerdiness, repeated attempts, and his inferior family history as reasons for his rejection from the honor society. Wesley is intrigued to hear about Eddie’s family’s history as vampire-allies, and promptly excuses himself from the table.

Wesley finds Eddie spying on him in the library. He’s none the wiser, however, and invites the older boy to sit and talk. Wesley tentatively admits he was invited into the honor society, much to Eddie’s disapproval. When he expresses his reservations about killing monsters, Eddie insists that the academy is strictly for training, but echoes Uriel’s earlier rumors of ancient monsters wandering the bowels of the school. Just as quickly, he dismisses them as fiction, and begins to prod Wesley about his unusual behavior during their class dummy demonstration. Wesley sighs, and admits he doesn’t belong at the school. He tries to come clean, but Eddie stops him, confident he knows exactly what Wesley’s talking about. It’s a relief for the young vampire, and he thanks Eddie for understanding. Eddie, however, is quick to distance himself, and remind Wesley that they are nothing alike. Even still, however, he reflects on the alienation he’s felt for his whole life, and Wesley shares an empathetic moment with him. Embarrassed by his emotion, Eddie quickly stands and leads Wesley further into the library, intent on showing him something.Wesley follows, lured by the promise of a private basketball court. Eddie opens up heavy wooden door far in the back of the massive library, and shoves Wesley inside, locking it tight.

In the evening, Genevieve and the others come to the library in search of Wesley. They find Eddie, reading a book on monsters by candle light. When the three quickly dismiss his attempts to play coy, he admits he knows where Wesley is but that he has news they will not like. He begins a dramatic villain’s monologue, complete with pacing and an ultimatum as he reveals that their newest student and esteemed guest is not who he appears to be. Through a careful recount of all of Wesley’s behavior, Eddie concludes that he is not the Count, but is in fact POOR. The honor students are sickened, horrified at the accusation. They challenge Eddie, and he tells them that if his assertions are correct, they must induct him

into the honor society instead. In the face of their disbelief, he seeks to prove it. Eddie leads them to the door at the back of the library, yanking it open. Wesley falls out, and tries to play the part of a kidnapped royal. Eddie cuts him off, and in fear of being found out Wesley tries to confess. “You got me! I’m a—!”

At the last moment, Genevieve spots a creature creeping out of the doorway behind Wesley, a cloaked figure groaning in anguish. This MONSTER gives a blood curdling screech, and all the students scatter.

Wesley, still bound on the floor, attempts to scoot away. Genevieve, Uriel, and Zara grab anything they can to use as weapons, throwing books to no avail. Eddie flees the room. The Monster grabs Genevieve with an icy cold grip and glides across the floor, dragging her back to the dark room it emerged from.

She cries out for help, and Wesley hesitates. He knows if he fights back, it will expose his powers to the others. He looks at her, and breaks apart his restraints. He leaps to his feet and grabs the nearest candelabra. With a courageous lunge, he shoves flames into the Monster’s face, and it drops Genevieve. It shrieks once more and evades the flames, fleeing past the students and further into the library. Wesley chases, but it disappears.

When he returns to the honor students, he questions their poor response time, and explains what kind of Monster that was. The honor students attribute his bravery and skill to his royal lineage. They Eddie and his accusations and entreat Wesley to join their honor society once again. Wesley is flattered, but still hesitant, until Genevieve insists that they need him. Eddie watches this entire exchange from beneath a table nearby, fuming.

Wesley reenacts his fighting ‘moves’ with an unlit candelabra, and the four of them clean up the space and return books to their shelves. Genevieve kisses Wesley on the cheek.

Headmaster Alistair comes into the library and commends the students on handling themselves and reporting their sighting. He has chained the door where the monster emerged closed with big golden links. He commends assures them that the situation will be handled and the Monster caught, before dismissing them dorm rooms. When he is alone, he sniffs the air. He turns to face the camera. He snarls, revealing rows and rows of yellowed fangs, and lunges at the camera with unnatural speed.

COMMENTS: PLOT The story begins with an action packed sequence and just enough comedy here to reveal Wesley’s character and the tone of the rest of the show. The musical cue did a lot to further that. The rest of the pilot is full of twists and turns that unfold in sequence, regarding the school and the characters within.

Rarely is there a moment where both audience and characters are not surprised.

The fish-out-of-water premise finds a unique use here as the story follows a character who would traditionally be a villain confined to a place full of characters who would traditionally be heroes. The episode opens with Wesley making a mistake, doing something horribly wrong, yet sympathy for him comes naturally as the plot progresses. His simultaneous naïveté and final act of bravery solidify him as the hero of this story.

Subtly present factors in this story are class struggle, racial issues, and morality. Wesley, as an African American whom the reader can infer is from a modest background, being thrust into an elite, luxuriant setting in the middle of Europe and being openly accepted simply because of his perceived royal status brings up questions regarding prejudice in the real world. During Eddie’s monologue, when he brings up all of Wesley’s bizarre behavior, they’re readily dismissed by the honor society students. Even his conclusion, that Wesley is poor, rather than a monster, upsets and disgusts the students to the point of comedy. The similarities between Wesley and Eddie, both of lower status based on their heritage

(supernatural and otherwise), reflect and interrogate the value systems surrounding class in the story world and, by proxy, our own.

CHARACTERS Wesley Braganza is a protagonist who is confined to one mode of emotion for the majority of the episode, yet bits of his personality shine through despite this, during some of his most unusual experiences. His ability to be glib with the honor society students, and to empathize with the one student who actively has it out for him make him a sympathetic and amusing protagonist to follow. Despite being a vampire, much of his personality is like that of any 18 year old, and his constant questioning helps the reader see this bizarre new world in a way that begins to make sense.

The cast of characters are fun and unique, but more individuality needs to shine through. Aside from Eddie and Wesley, whose motivations are clearly outlined and whose personalities shine through, the honor students fell a bit flat. There are hints at their individuality, which has a lot of room to be explored in later episodes.

The character of the Headmaster is particularly interesting as well, because it is unclear how much he knows regarding Wesley (or Count Westly) and whether or not he’s allowing the deception. The reveal of his monster-form at the end is particularly startling, and opens many avenues for his motivations and potential antagonism to be explored in later episodes. Will he be a friend or a foe to Wesley? Something to consider. To have the head of the school not only be evil but to be apart of the ‘enemy’ the school is sworn to fight against was a refreshing twist.

SETTING The setting of Leudwinus Academy of the Arcane blends a bit of Harry Potter and a bit of A Series of Unfortunate Events. The creation of the story world here allows for the potential of a long running series and raises many questions that don’t have time to be explored in the pilot. It’s success rises from both its familiarity and twists.

Even its location in the Austrian Alps, a barren forest laden with snow, help set the tone for the world. The luxuriant, ancient, and vaguely creepy aesthetic is palpable. Although not much time is spent exploring the grand academy, there is a sense that it is much larger than what’s presented in the script, and it provides the reader with a curiosity to see more. This only helps heighten the potential for the rest of the series. The mention of passageways, bowels of the building, and its ancient nature also help achieve this curiosity.

CONCLUSION The Devil’s Advocates pilot trades on the relatable feeling of being a ‘fish out of water’, and drapes a story about the travails of young adulthood and identity in the trappings of monsters and fantasy. Its success rises from its clear placement within the genre and its representation of a demographic so often confined to gritty realistic depictions of urban landscapes. The CW or Freeform would be fiting avenues for release, but streaming are where a show of this kind is most likely to end up.

Although its most likely to be marketed toward younger audiences because of the academy setting, the characters are older and the stakes are higher, which would likely draw in younger adults (18-35) and those interested in monsters, magic, and the macabre.

RECOMMEND.