After an egregiously long delay, About Schuyler Falls returns to spotlight some beautiful yet damaged creatures in "Broken Blossoms" Part I, aka Episode #4.41, where the consequences of Chelsea's kidnapping, among various other traumas (there are always plenty to choose from!) continue to ripple forth in ever increasing circles. And we also see some personalities not heard from in many years.
Frank investigates the kidnapping crime scene and discovers a suspicious familiar face;
Olivia gets a pleasant surprise but her scheming could mar the pleasure;
Beth realizes that Molly has sabotaged her psychiatric appointment--and must decide whether to flee or fight;
Jem has the cajones to seek a tender reunion with Chelsea;
Cameron has a deadly new mission for Jonnie to prove his loyalty;
Charles needs comfort and counsel from a friend as he fears for his children's safety;
...and Tristan takes a last stab at connecting with the woman who haunts him.
A teaser from the ep:
Spoiler
When Beth Durand opens her eyes and discovers her surroundings—the hospital elevator—she feels the familiar combination of disorientation, dismay, and a piercing headache that almost always accompanies one of her ‘spells’. For a few seconds she tries to get her bearings by summoning the last moment she recalls. Her memory responds with Kalid Behar’s attractive, patient face waiting for her to answer a question.
The realization stabs at her. The psychiatrist. She managed to make it to her psychiatrist appointment, but she wasn’t the one to finish it because Molly—the presence inside her, sharing her life and who Beth believes is her grandmother—took over for her. And now she has no idea what she told him. What Molly told him.
“No,” she groans into the empty elevator, shutting her eyes. She tried so hard and Dr. Behar turned out to be so kind, and now she might have ruined everything. How can these sessions help if she can’t remember what happened?
Suddenly she wonders: did Molly schedule another appointment for her? She dives into her pocketbook to find her little datebook. After a lifetime of missed deadlines and meetings and milestones, Beth has learned to write things down as quickly as possible. Facts and dates fly right out of her head if she doesn’t.
Scrabbling through the pages of the black leather-bound calendar, she can’t find any reference to a second session. Molly’s handwriting is different from hers. It’s neater, more elegant, more certain. Beth would recognize if there were any new entries.
There aren’t.
ASF's URL is http://www.skyfalls.com. As always, there's a printable version of the episode available on the site, and both a detailed previous episode recap and a quick summary that will remind you of stuff you need to know for this episode. And of course, we have easily accessed character bios so you can learn more about everyone you come across.
This is by necessity a 'getting to know ASF again' episode, so it might be especially good for newcomers or those who haven't visited in a while.
Also, this turned out to be a longer segment than expected (quel surprise) and so I've split it into two episodes, although the second half is much shorter and will be posted next Monday. "Broken Blossoms" represents the completion of certain plot beats that had some strict time requirements, which means finally we'll be moving forward much more quickly. Yes, I said quickly. Thanks to Web Series Writing Month, there are several episodes in the hopper, I'm happy to say.
Along with the episode, you'll find:
- Several character bios have at last been updated with new editions as of this episode, including Rena, Chelsea, Jem, Greg, Charles, Tyler, Jason, Beth, Martina, Alex and Tristan. (Tristan's bio is up to its 11th edition!) You'll find them peppered throughout the episode, as usual.
- The first new Viewers' Voice Survey in five years! For those who don't know, ASF's VV surveys allow you to choose the direction of a specific plot point. You can access the survey by completing our feedback form at the end of the episode, after which you'll get the survey link. This time around, you can choose a plot involving one of ASF's most popular characters -- Chelsea -- so don't miss out!
- There's also a new frontpage poll asking: who's your favorite younger ASF character? And by "younger" I'm arbitrarily using 25 as a cutoff. Mainly 'cause I didn't want Jonnie stuck in the kiddie pool, but I still wanted to include Ian.
- God help me, I've created a Twitter account for ASF. @aboutSkyfalls. (Someone already has @skyfalls, the creeps.) It'll an easy way to get updated for ASF. You can see the icon on the ASF homepage.
Many thanks for your kindness and generosity of spirit, and I do hope you enjoy the episode! If you get a chance, tell everyone what you think of the episode via our Viewers Voice feedback form or our message board.
I've read it awhile ago but was busy. Let's see...
Hi, Olivia and Frank! See ya in a decade or so!
Nasty, nasty, I know. But that's what I thought when I read about them.
First of all, I want to say, I don't know why, the more I like something, the more I want to criticize it, even when it's very well done, but you should consider this part of my psyche (psychosis?), Kira. I guess it's my way to love.
This episode solidified my belief that you have way too many stories going on and, for lack of better word, POV characters. I know that you like having many characters, I do, too, but there has got to be some way to rotate them, keep them as supporting only (without their own story) for the time being. It's not that they are there, it's that they all have some storyline! I could like Olivia, but right now I don't want to read about her and other shitload of people that we haven't seen for awhile. I don't think the problem is just slow posting. If episodes run weekly, I'd feel the same. I don't know. You know about plotting much more than I do, but I feel your goals are slightly misguided. I realize it is all interconnected and stuff, but I'm sure some profy at some point have written a number of stories that is reasonable for readers to follow at the same time. Anyway, that's just the persistent feeling I have, I know others will disagree.
Anyway, moving on.
My first fav scene was Charles's. You described his anguish very well, I feel.
If we HAVE to have stories about every man in town, maybe you will make Del important POV character. I think you described him very well, and I like this type of character - small time criminal, lowbrow, ordinary guy who gets in trouble due to his shady character. Much more interesting than Cameron and co.
I could almost feel your frustration at having to write so many "aftermath" stories, that is, "boring" readers with them. At least from your words I took to understand that you have same syndrom as me "omg they must be getting bored!" Readers are very resilient though.
Scene between Beth and Tristan was like something out of telenovela! This is a compliment, by the way. To practice Spanish I've seen few very good columbian telenovelas recently, and some of their writers know how to create angsty and screwed up sexual and psychological tension. Maybe you should make more couples like this, dysfunctional and hot. Of course Tristan IS rather a creep, but that's what makes it good. I hope Beth flips on him with her alters couple of times, to confuse him even more.
Hi Cruella! Thanks so much for your comments, I really appreciate them. Sorry things aren't that involving for you in ASFland, but I do understand what you're saying and can't fault your criticisms. The series is overstacked with cast and plot. At this point I know I'm the only one these days who cares about most of these people (or even remembers who the hell these folks are)! The lack of interest is palpable. But that's my fault, I can certainly own it. At the moment the stories are planned too precisely to change that much, but my hope is that should this season ever end, I'll be able to tighten things up.
Olivia and Frank actually are pretty much backburnered characters right now, although as you mention, their stories are interconnected to a few others. I had a few reasons for including them in this ep (and Del is included in part 2). Mostly, I kinda needed to bump Olivia, Frank & Del back into the spotlight, however briefly, because they're related to another storyline (which I've pretty much telegraphed -- and you'll see a bit of this connection in part 2) and I wouldn't want to wait to trot 'em out when the actual event occurs like a bad deus ex machina.
Plus, OMG, there's a limit to how much misery I can write about (yes, even I have my limits!) so I thought I'd take a break and show a couple who ... at the moment ... are actually happy and healthy! Livvy's one of the few non-victimized women, so she makes a pleasant change from all the Angsty McTorment characters weeping around town! So she, Frank & Del were in this ep not just because I was scrambing to address all the other characters on canvas, but because they have a role to play in one of the main plots this season.
But I'm not gonna be one of those writers who's all, "Thanks for the criticism, you have a point, but oh BTW here are all the excuses for why you're actually totally wrong." There are too many characters and plotlines running around and I don't blame those who've stopped reading because of all the series' issues -- slow posting, slow plots, depressing characters, diffused canvas. I cop to all of 'em. I love it and it's the sort of series that I would enjoy even if it weren't mine (well, except for the slow posting, obviously), but while I would hope others feel the same way, it's clear that my work isn't connecting with or appealing to most people. I will try to change what I can, without affecting the stuff that makes ASF so ASFy.
On the plus side, I am glad that you found Charles's scene affecting -- I'm rather surprised, actually, as it's such a lowkey moment. But definitely pleased because he's been so unlikeable for years, and it's taken effort to portray him more sympathetically without changing his basic personality. How cool that you mention this specific scene!
(And the irony here is that of all the scenes in this ep, this was the one with which I'm most guilty for including it just for the sake of showing more aftermath merely 'cause I like aftermath. Well, that and I had to explain why the cops aren't finding it easy to solve this crime. It's tough keeping criminals like Jem and the Nicholses on the street while still preventing my police characters from looking like inept idiots! I've honestly never been impressed with the way either webseries or most soaps handle crime investigtions for this very reason. Detectives who are supposedly at the top of their fiield end up behaving like morons: arresting the first person who looks vaguely guilty, missing obvious clues, ignoring the constitution, and generally embarrassing themselves and their badges. That's cheap and I try, not always successfully, not to fall into that trap.)
Er anyway. Yes, Tristan/Beth is the sudsiest storyline I've done in a while! It's all kinds of fucked up and operatic and high melodrama and well, that's the series' raison d'etre. I'm guessing you're not going to like the Tris/Beth stuff in the second half of this episode, as it's probably too shmoopy for your tastes, but hey, what can you do. There had to be some happy moments between them for Tristan to feel this much of a connection! And yeah, Tristan is totally moving toward creep territory, not that he had that far to go, heh. He is treading a very thin line and he's about to get called on it in the next half of the ep. From his POV, Beth is a total put-on artist; we're seeing this stuff from Beth's perspective, and we know she's a hot mess and genuinely frightened of him. Tristan thinks she's acting. Sadly things will be worse before these two crazy kids (literally) get together, assuming they ever do.
All my couples are dysfunctional. My trouble is making 'em hot. That is not my forte, alas. There's a coupling coming up that I hope will add some steam to the mix.
Anyway, that's enough from me. Thank you very very much for your comments and your honesty, and I really hope I can get the series back to being something you enjoy more thoroughly.
I'll echo Cruella's comment that there seems to be a LOT going on with a LOT of different characters, some more interesting than others -- but I suppose that's better than not having enough material. I feel like the episodes themselves have had a nice pace since you returned, given the posting schedule, especially the Chelsea/Jem/Rena stuff. I can see how it would be frustrating though for those waiting for a specific story to play out, but sometimes you have to get all the pieces in the right places before you can continue or press onward (Personally, I've been waiting to see more of Laurie/Adele and the leadup to her wedding to Victor, just because I know it'll probably be a big catastrophe, and I've been waiting for the Nichols to become more ingrained into the rest of the cast and Skyfalls citizenship for a while).
It was nice seeing Frank and Olivia again. I'd sort of forgotten that they were a real, full-fledged couple now, so it was nice seeing them interact on that level again. I'm curious to see how Olivia will factor into the upcoming stories (and I haven't read Part II yet, so I have that "Olivia connection" you mentioned upthread to look forward to).
My favorite part of the episode was Tristan and Beth's run-in. I can't wait to see how Beth comes to terms with this, and if/when/how she figures out exactly what happened and what's been going on with her and Tristan. As far as Beth knows, she has every reason to be scared of him! Since she knows about the pregnancy now, is she relatively certain (as certain as Beth can be, anyway), that Tristan is the father? If so, I can see why she would be afraid of him. She must think he raped her or took advantage of her in some way, since she can't remember the encounter or being attracted to him to begin with. And poor Tristan! He must think Beth is the worst for purposely ignoring him and 'playing games.' I wonder if they can have any sort of future when the truth eventually comes out ... and if Tristan would even want to pursure things with such a disturbed individual. Then again, she's probably the only character who can give Tristan a run for his money in the 'baggage' department!
Congrats on your return, Kira. I'll be sure to let you know what I think of Part II...
__________________ Wonderland - Experience the Highwind's tangled web of family and friendship, power and greed, and darkness and light.
Hey Tom, thanks! Yeah, I sure hope no one's really dying to see some Doug/Elaine action or any of the other subplots that haven't gotten much play, because the pace would surely drive such fans crazy. Laurie and Adele will show up again in what's now #4.44 (episode numbers got changed around due to my splitting of this current ep) and in general the lead-up to the wedding -- and other related storylines -- will be taking center stage shortly thereafter. You're right that the Nicholses are fairly islanded off in Cornwall, though they play a role in nearly much every plot these days, and they need to be integrated better. The kids are the best way of doing that now, thanks to Jason/Tyler/Daphne going to the new school with Becca/Simon, and also Ian working with Tristan over at what used to be Boondoggles. And of course the Fiores are about to be linked with the Nicholses too thanks to the wedding. Hannah's involvement in the theater, which connects her to Clark/Ross/Lynn, is another aspect we'll see a little more of as time goes by. (Yes, the Ten Little Indians subplot will be touched on too, in the next ep as a matter of fact! Jebus there really is a crazy amount of stuff to deal with.)
Kinda hard to believe that Olivia / Frank are actually one of only two or three stable couples on the canvas (not counting old marrieds like the Nicholses, Stanfords and Grangers), isn't it? Livvy's direct connection won't appear for about two more eps -- it's actually Del who plays a role in the second half. I do enjoy writing Olivia very much. She's hard but not a one-note bitch, and thanks to Frank she's opened up quite a bit without losing her edge (I hope).
You're right, Beth has no other candidates for the daddy, so I'd say she has to have narrowed the possibilities to Tris. Tristan's perspective on this relationship is the major focus of the second half of the episode, so you'll see just how deeply he's into Beth (and hopefully his POV will seem more justified thanks to the flashbacks). One thing we know about him is that when he falls for someone, he's down for the count; Camilla had to die for him to get over her, and even then his feelings for her lasted for some time. He's kind of an intense guy. (Gee, ya think?) He also has a kind of paranoid personality these days, ever since the whole conspiracy, so he's tending to suspect the worst of people. Basically if you don't play straight with him, he assumes you're planning something awful. So he's torn between loving/being captivated by Beth and resenting/fearing her apparent deception. Not all that far from the dichotomy between Amanda and Beth's feelings for him, in fact.
Huge thanks for taking the time to read and reply, Tom! I love hearing your thoughts, as always.
I finally found time to read this episode, Kira. Welcome back! For what it's worth, I enjoy that you're playing the fallout of the PlayCity disaster and allowing us to see reactions from a variety of perspectives. It's certainly true to the series's premise, of being not only about certain characters but about this town as a community, and it also is the kind of content that too much drama -- daytime TV especially, but plenty of primetime stuff as well -- glosses over, which deadens the impact of significant events. Time seems to slow down in the aftermath of traumatic events, as people try to gather their wits and processed what's happened, so it makes sense that we're cutting from the Nichols crew to Charles to Chelsea's friends to Frank as they all absorb this.
I do agree with Cruella in that it feels like there are a ton of POV characters -- to the point where it can be distracting. Which isn't to say that any of them are "bad" or that I don't enjoy reading their scenes, but it can get a little whiplash-y. I dunno. Maybe it's just a matter of pacing. If you were posting 3 episodes a month, I think that depth and breadth of perspectives is a lot easier to digest. It's certainly a deliberate storytelling choice, so it isn't "wrong." I like knowing how Charles feels about Chelsea's predicament, and how Jonnie is reacting to what's going down with the Nichols, but perhaps there's a way to evoke and express everyone's perspectives without stepping inside their heads for entire scenes? Sometimes a line of dialogue or a described look can be plenty evocative. I dunno, rambling. I guess I just see both sides of this.
As for the action itself, I remain most involved in the Beth/Tristan scenario. Beth's plight is both out-there and totally palpable at the same time; I can't really envision having such little awareness of what my own body had been doing, but I can imagine the horror of realizing such things. I enjoy that she isn't dumb -- she truly just has no idea what's going on, but she's grasping at pieces as they appear. Going back to Dr. Behar seems like a big step, so it's an appropriate ending point for this first part of the episode.
As for the other stories, I have a feeling Jonnie's going to make things a lot worse for himself, regardless of his intentions. Eek. This "playing both sides" thing is bound to blow up in his face. I enjoyed seeing Frank and Olivia again, because it's been a long while, and their closeness was well portrayed. I can understand why Frank is so raw about this horrible incident into which he's been thrust, but his lashing-out at Del came off as a bit much. Like, I get it, you think the guy's bad news. But it seems like a leap to start accusing him of being involved. I get where it came from, but it also felt irrational and illogical.
I hope to get to the next installment soon. It's nice to see ASF in action again.
I have to agree that Charles's moment is most effective ~ maybe because it is lowkey in an otherwise swirl of drama. Or maybe it's because the Charles/Chelsea/Jem storyline is the one I've latched onto. Charles has been degenerating nicely and here's another huge crack in his veneer ~ it's character development that shows real change. I enjoy the Beth/Tristan stuff too, but maybe because it's more obviously dramatic, I'm inclined to favor the others.
I confess the Olivia/Frank stuff lost me ~ but that has more to do with my poor attention span than with the writing. I do this with TV shows as well: get invested in a few characters and wish I could fast-forward through the rest. It's too much attention-splitting for me. I'm lame, I know. Even so, I don't know if I agree that you have "too many" characters, but I do agree that the storylines are competing. And maybe that's just an issue of this episode because, as you said above, you're reintroducing things for the future of the arc.
Hiya Michael and Elena, what a nice surprise! I'm really grateful for your comments.
Yeah, I definitely have a problem with over-sharing characters' reactions to things. It's always my favorite part of any continuing drama, the reprecussions of major (or even minor) incidents. Follow-through is something ASF can't be accused of lacking. Trouble is when you get slogged down in it, which seems to be the case since I'm getting such meh reactions!
Storylinewise I didn't think any of the POV characters in this particular episode were extraneous (except Charles, ironically enough -- he was originally just there to set up the Jem scene), though obviously my opinion isn't objective because I'm aware of what's going on in the next few eps, and which characters are important and which aren't. If they feel extraneous to the audience, that's very important to know. Like, with the Martina/Clark/Tristan/Mike scene early in the episode, I wasn't wholly certain whose perspective to use; my main choices were Clark or Martina, but the scene could easily have been shown from Mike or Tris's POV too. But Clark and Mike don't show up in the rest of the episode, so I nixed them. See? All evidence to the contrary, I do control myself sometimes!
Similarly, Jonnie was a natural choice for POV in the Nichols' scene; Nick and Cam were possibilities but we're not nearly as invested in them, and with good reason. I didn't want him to just show up unannounced in the Jem scene, so I wanted to show his reasons for visiting Jem. All in all the Nichols scenes were useful ways to catch the audience up on what the status of the kidnapping scheme was. I think this stuff won't be as necessary later on when both I and the readers in the swing of things. So I'll be more comfortable keeping things tight.
Michael: Frank's suspicions are -- or at least I intended them to be -- both illogical and somewhat justified, at least from Frank's knowledge of Del's history. If a cop shows up at a crime scene and spots someone he knows is a dangerous criminal on the site, I think he'd be a fool not to be suspicious. And this is coming from a dyed-in-the-wool, soft-hearted, ACLU-supporting Liberal! That said, Frank's reaction was indeed over the top. He doesn't think straight where Del is concerned, that's for sure.
Elena: I can definitely sympathize with your virtually yawning through the Frank/Livvy scenes. They were the first, aside from the teen stuff a few eps ago, that moved away from the focal point of the kidnapping scheme, so they probably came across as rather banal. And then there's the whole 'happy families are all alike' syndrome: two people getting along are difficult to make interesting, and I know I'm not good at writing contentment. Gee it's lucky that there's so little in Schuyler Falls!
Thanks guys for your advice and feedback! It's very generous of you to take the time to read and respond with such detailed, constructive criticism (and some praise too, yay ).
Definitely no yawning! Just anxious to see what the other peoples were up to. I am notoriously short-sighted when it comes to split focus/competing storylines. It's definitely my loss.
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Thanks to 
But that's what I thought when I read about them.
So she, Frank & Del were in this ep not just because I was scrambing to address all the other characters on canvas, but because they have a role to play in one of the main plots this season.
