Ecco i primi sides per questo episodio:
ED: (nods, laughing) Lost my flashlight, and then Harry’s battery failed. And we were just trapped there, in a scary pitch blackness, and it kinda – kinda freaked us out, actually.
HARRY: We realized we’d feel a lot better in those type situations if there were some more people around.
ED: Which spells ‘team’.
Interior Ghostfacer HQ- Apartment- Night
Covered by two mounted cameras, the HQ is a modest, above-garage apartment. But the space is cramped with ghosthunting tech, and editing/production area with cameras, equipment, a table shoehorned into the kitchenette.
GHOSTFACERS [various Ad-lib greetings]
We find Maggie, circling the table, laying out documents and clippings. She looks up, a warmth passes between her and Ed.
Int. Confessional Interview- Else-When
Maggie addresses the camera. Caption: “MAGGIE SPANGLER. Research Team Co-leader, Adopted”
MAGGIE: I try to keep us honest, impartial, you know, scientific. I’m kind of the team’s Scully. Put together Ed and my brother Harry- well you get sort of an almost-Mulder. (thoughtful nod)
You know…less hot…but they’ll believe pretty much just about anything.
More cuts- around the HQ as the Facers prepare for a meeting. Corbett makes coffee in the kitchenette. He watches Harry, looking almost wistful.
CORBETT (v.o): I saw Harry putting up flyers at the outlet mall down in Skogen.
Int. Confessional Interview- Else-when
Now Corbett addresses the camera.
CORBETT: So I read one, and I thought to myself, ‘Huh…where do ghosts come from?’ (shrugs)
Now here I am. Helping him find out.
Int. Ghostfacer HQ- Night
Spruce Cam- on table- Maggie, Ed, and Corbett sit down, still joking around, chatting. Harry steps up to a white board, marker in hand. Camera rotates 180 degrees- now Spruce shoots his own close-up. Caption: “KENNY SPRUCE: Camera, Licensed Shamanologist, 1/16 Cherokee”
SPRUCE: Spruce here. Bringing you, the viewer, the real story.
HARRY (o.s.): OK, people. Let’s cut the chatter and get on mission.
Spruce turns camera back to the group. Caption: “ GHOSTFACER- HQ: 7:15 PM- RESEARCH DEBRIEFING”
Harry starts writing on the board [SQUEAK]. The margins of the white board are plastered with printout photos of a haunted house, floor plans, etc. He writers “MORTON HOUSE’
GHOSTFACERS [ad lib murmur, excited cheers]
ED: That’s right. One of the big ones.
(Skip page 8)
ED: I like Corbett. I do. He does his job, shows up early, lot of good hustle. But he’s ga for Harry, which could mean trouble for the team…
Quick montage- the same for slam cuts of the house used at head of act. SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SCREEN: “PHASE II: INFILTRATION’
Ext. Morton House- Night
Spruce-cam- Night vision- On House- it looms foreboding in the distance. Caption:” MORTON HOUSE- 9:59 PM, MARCH 31ST”
Camera pulls back- to see a chain link fence is between us and the house. Topped with razor wire. NO TRESPASSING.
HARRY: (o.s.): So, OK…it turns out, as one might expect-
Pan to Harry- who lies in wait, using brush as cover with the rest of the Facers behind him. They all wear radio headsets. He whispers.
HARRY: - a lot of people have broken into the Morton House over the years. Guess the local authorities got fed up with that-
ED: Looks like cops have fenced it off pretty good.
HARRY: (playing ‘army): Yep. Might even have the place uder surveillance.
MAGGIE: Wait. Didn’t you guys get like a permit or something?
Ed turns to Harry, he nods with it.
ED: Ooo. Good idea for next time.
Harry nods back. Maggie frowns. Spruce hears an OS Engine:
SPRUCE (b.c): Car!
The Facers belly down in the underbrush. Spruce pans to the road- the impala drives by, slows- checking out the distant house. Then it’s engine guns and it is gone. Pan back to Facers as they rise again. Harry is absent.
ED: It’s OK! Not cops. Just hicks.
Ed helps Maggie out of a bush. She reacts to something OS:
MAGGIE: Jesus, Harry!
Whip pan to Harry – night goggles on, bolt cutters in hand, pulling open the flap he’s just cut into the chain link.
SPRUCE (b.c): Right. On.
HARRY: Come on Go! Go! Go!
Spruce-cam runs forward- pushes through the flap.
Spruce-cam follows facers- Harry on point, Maggie hefts a light kit, Ed and Corbett carrying a heavy trunk.
GHOSTFACERS: Go! Go! Go! Go!
High speed montage- angles of house exterior – then FLASH! CRASH! Cut inside:
Int. Morton House- Night
Montage Cont’d- now with grainy surveillance b/w shots: of the dark, shadowy interior rooms, SLAM! SLAM! SLAM!
Camera winks on- Corbett’s just hooked it up, he looms FG in wide angle b/w, a dim corridor stretches off behind him.
SPRUCE (over headset): Looking good, Corbett.
CORBETT: Copy that.
(Pages skip….)
SAM: (shrugs, admits): It’s rare, but sometimes you can shock an echo out of its loop. If you can talk to the part of the ghost that’s still human- (see Dean’s OS progress)
I mean, it usually helps if you had a connection to the deceased.
On Dean- yelling into the swaying blind face of the ghost.
DEAN: C’mon Uncle Drunky! Bar’s closed!
Too loud, too late: An eerie train whistle, a cold white light washes over the drunk spirit- he raises his arms emits a ghostly screech!
Then SLAM! The figure is hit by an invisible freight train- it knocks him across the room and into a wall- GONE.
Off Dean, swaying in the dissipating specter wash.
Time cut:
Int. Morton House- Corridor- Night
Caption: “12:15 AM” Facers and Winchesters move along, searching and puzzling. Harry is devastated by the loss of a fellow facer-
HARRY Where is he, Ed? God, I’m going to ****** loose it- CORBETT!
ED: We’ll get him. We will-
Maggie Cam on Sam and Dean – as they theorize.
DEAN: No records show any of this, man. No one shot here, sure as hell no one was run over by train here.
MAGGIE (b.c): Did the Echoes take Corbett?
DEAN (into camera): No. Yes. Know what? We don’t know what’s doing who here, lady. That’s what we’re trying to figure out. OK?
Maggie cam pans to Sam; he sees her fear, slows it down.
SAM: Death Echo works like a ghost. Bound either to the place they died, or to their remains.
HARRY: Those people didn’t live here- we checked. Why are their ghosts here?
Off Sam and Dean. Who the hell knows?
Maggie cam on Dean- as they move further down the corridor, Dean lit in the camera’s flood. He turns back.
DEAN: Does looking at this nightmare through that camera make you feel better or something?
MAGGICE (b.c): (sheepish) Uh…I think so. Yes.
Behind Dean, a doorway falls into the camera light.
Int. Morton House- Freeman’s Den- Night
As the Facers and boys swing their flashlight beams into a dust covered den.
As they move in camera finds Harry, scanning keenly. He narrates a short montage of a group search- ‘clues’ are gathered on the main workbench-
HARRY: Many times, in the field, you may end up working with other paranormalists. There is no established etiquette for this, but in my experience, every one brings something to the table.
Various details- moldering Taxidermed Animals 60’s era Anti-Commie propaganda, boxes and boxes of ancient C-Rations. Sam pools the clues they get, examines-
SAM: Well, well…Freeman Daggett, what were you all about?
HARRY: (impatient) How can this help us find Corbett? We should be tearing up the floorboards.
Sam looks over an Army ‘Nuclear Fallout Survival Guide’
SAM: (reading, indifferent) Go ahead. (reads cover) ‘U.S. Army Nuclear Fallout Survival Guide.’ Huh. An optimist.
Maggie cam on Dean- who searches along one wall, past stacks of boxed C-Rations packets.
MAGGIE (b.c.): Wow. What are these? C-Rations?
DEAN: Army-issue four-squares, yeah. And a lifetime supply.
MAGGIE (dismal): God. Is that all he ate?
DEAN: (shrugs) Lived alone, worked alone, right? Could have dusted more often.
Dean catches a clear trail in the think dust atop one stack- made by a flow of air. Dean pulls boxes away, finds an air vent in the wall.
He reaches in, pulls out a large tobacco tin.
At the workbench- moments later- Dean looks through the tin, pulling up yellowed documents, a hardcover book…
DEAN: Crap, crap…(Takes book, reads cover) “Home Taxidermy- For fun and Profit”…’kay…And…
Dean digs into the tin, pulls up for toe tages.
DEAN: Eww….
SAM: Gross.
MAGGIE: What? What?!
Dean: Toe tags. Morgue issue. Oh God. Eww!
He looks up at Sam.
Insert sequence, photos and objects shot later:
On four toe tags- names and non-vitals scratched in ink.
ED (v.o): Four toe tags, to be exact. Along with body transfer documents from the same hospital where Freeman Daggot worked as a janitor…
SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM! The four body transfer reports.
HARRY: Four morgue entries. Robbery-related shooting. Death by train. Playground accident. Monoxide poisoning.
Int. Morton House- Taxidermy shop- Night
Spruce-cam on Sam and Dean- as they theorize
SAM: So Freeman was a morgue-robber.
DEAN: And a body stuffer. These Echoes, their remains are around here somewhere.
As Sam speaks, Dean’s spider-sense goes off.
SAM: But we don’t know for sure if he’s the ghost we’re dealing with—
DEAN: (troubled, turns away): Hang on-
Maggie cam- follows a winding path through a junk-filled storage area.
MAGGIE (b.c): Corbett! Corbett?
More animal heads, furniture, a full length mirror, which gives us a glimpse of Maggie behind camera-
Her camera starts to roll with ghost static- begins to sway with her growing panic- whip pan into—
Dean, right behind her, palms up-
MAGGIE (b.c.): [loud yelp of fright]
She recovers. Dean nods, calmingly –
DEAN: Closer to the herd, OK?
MAGGIE (b.c.): OK.
Maggie cam suffers another roll of ghost static. Ed and Harry run up, faces grave with concern.
ED: Maggie!
DEAN: She’s OK.
Harry’s checking his EMF. Camera image rolls and wavers-Then the deep rumble shakes through the house.
HARRY: Something’s coming…
On Spruce- walking up with his camera. Behind him, we see Sam at the workbench. Then Spruce blocks our view of Sam.
(Page skip)
Act Three
Int. Morton House- Freeman’s Den- Night
Opening burst montage- cuts of Dean and the Facers racing calling out, kicking doors-
GHOSTFACERS: (assorted calls to the missing)
DEAN: SAM! Where are you?
HARRY: Corbett!
Time cut to Spruce cam- sweeping area- finds Ed and Maggie, in an embrace. Camera centers them-
ED: Damn it. I’m scared.
MAGGIE : (sad and tender) It’s gonna be OK. It is…
She kisses his neck. He, hers. Their mouths find each other, lock in and end-of-the-world kiss, then Spruce cam pans off them, to Harry who stands agape, watching them.
HARRY: My best friend! (turns to Maggie) And my best sister!
ED: (pleads) Harry—
HARRY: What, are you banging her?!
Harry rushes Ed, slams him against a wall, both gripped now in the battle they’ve been waiting for since they were ten years old- but then Dean steams through-
DEAN: HEY! (they startle apart) Cut the Sweet Valley high crap. We’re down by two people!
(Pages skip…)
SPRUCE (b.c.): Comin’ with you.
DEAN: Listen, idiot- you’re gonna get yourself—
Dean looks into camera for a long beat, gives up.
DEAN: F*ck it.
Dean turns, races off—
Int. Unknown Space- Night
Creepy shot on Sam- as he struggles in vain, the record skipping on and on- “It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to, cry if I want to, CRY if I want to—“ SCRITCH! Then a ghostly gray presence falls into frame.
EERIE WHISPER (o.s.): Lonesome, hard living, to be a person. Scratch-living..’till I thought of the party…
The Mysterious gray presence crosses frame like a slow pendulum. Each time it passes over Sam, more blood trickles fro his ears, eyes, and nose-
EERIE WHISPER (o.s.): But you don’t know any of my stories yet. (unhinged chuckle) I have lots of stories.
The gray shape covers him aid a chorus of eerie whispers.
Int. Morton House- Basecamp- Night
Maggie-cam on Harry and Ed- scared shitless, hold up in their circle, glancing around the haunted dark. Their voices waver, adrenaline-soaked:
ED: I’m not sure how this one’s going to turn out, partner.
HARRY: Yeah. (foxhole epiphany) But you know, it’s OK if you want my sister…I guess.
Maggie punches Harry in the arm, hard.
MAGGIE: Nice!
HARRY: OW! HEY!
MAGGIE: You know Ed- you can have my brother if you want. I guess!
She punches him again- he tries to swat back, typical sibling combat-dance.
ED: Hey. HEY!! (they disengage) Are we looking for a bomb shelter or not?
HARRY: Quit kickin’ me. (looks at meter) Ed! EMF is trembling, sub-peak—
A low rumble begins. The Facers brace for impact, as the camera image warps and ghost rolls with growing intensity.
They turn into the glow from a pinpoint of light. An eerie moan of pain rises, the light pools down into a form—
On Facers- who look on in bottomless horror.
MAGGIE: Oh…Oh no…
It’s Corbett, spectral, dorrific, blood drains from his nose, mouth, and ears as per his demise. He is now a death echo.
He staggers forward, pleading for help, eyes empty—the Facers back away, can’t bear to look-
HARRY: (guilt and horror) Corbett..
(Pages skip…)
CORBETT: (means it) I don’t know what to say.
SPRUCE (b.c.): Say what comes to mind. (Corbett laughs; nervous) This is one of our confessional moments’, Corbett. So confess. What did you think about the trip here What do you think’s going to happen tonight?
Corbett takes a deep breath, throws his eyes to a bank of mountains, turns back to camera with a pure, infectious wonder:
CORBETT: I think tonight…I really do—I think all our dreams will come true tonight. (deprecating laugh) Does that sound stupid?
SPRUCE (b.c.): (after thoughtful pause) Kinda does. Y eah.
Corbett laughs heartily. Dude can take a joke.
Fade Out.
Black Screen: Caption: “IN MEMORY OF ALAN J. CORBETT 1981- 2008- ‘KING OF THE IMPOSSIBLE’
Image is on the editing monitor of Ghostfacer’s HQ.
Spruce cam widens to include- the remaining Ghost facers watching, in reverence, beer at half-mast.
Sam and Dean sit among them, not unmoved. The pilot ends. A beat as they absorb. Dean trades looks with Sam, then:
DEAN: You know, that…I half think that was awesome.
MAGGIE: (buzzed on beer) Half-awesome is like, full-on good.
Mounted camera as Sam talks, Dean slides a duffel bag forward, reaches into its open zipper. He seems to flip a switch—Image stutters as we barely hear a low rumble.
SAM: It’s weird how you manage to honor Corbett’s memory while grossly exploiting the manner of his death.
DEAN: Yeah. That’s a real tightrope.
Spruce ca on brothers- who can tell this didn’t go over with the crowd. A beat, then Sam back-pedals as he and Dean move to the door, exiting:
SAM: You know, in our experience, the world outside—the only thing that you’ll get when you show them this?
DEAN: Entry level job offer at Industrial Light and Magic, or a punch in the face.
SAM: (shrugs candidly) I’d take the job.
Cuts to each Facer- these are the bright, unjaded futures of our nation, and they shake their heads at this.
ED: No, man. You don’t get it. It’s time. People can take it. Maybe even be ready to believe in it.
MAGGIE: Hell yeah!
HARRY: You should have more faith in humanity. It can surprise you man.
On Sam and Dean- a beat, then with darkness and comedic understatement, just before they close the door behind them:
DEAN: Believe me, Harry. I think we get the surprise part…
Soon after- the Facers clean up after their soiree, electric with the promise of their pilot.
ED: We should get a bigger office. I mean after this goes national—
MAGGIE: Definitely.
Spruce cam finds Harry- as he retrieves take-out detritus and sees a canvas duffel bag We hear a ramping whine:
HARRY: Hey. I think those guys forgot their bag—(RE: Whine) what is that?
Harry unzips the bag, lifts up a strange black box, a red led lit on its side. The whine grows louder.
HARRY: What the hell--?
MAGGIE: (reading EMF meter): EMF is peaking off the scale—
Image flutters- oddly reminiscent of the ghost roll.
ED: Uh---Hey—
Pan to Ed- now with the static roll almost eclipses image. The editing monitors Ed sits before roll to black.
ED: Got some..technical diff—
A deep bass rumble sines out to a ringing tone; after a flicker of static, our picture goes black. A beat, then:
GHOSTFACERS (o.s.): NOOOOOO!!!!
Int. Morton House- Elsewhere- Night
Spruce cam- On Harry and Maggie- as they explore another room. Maggie’s got a temperature gauge, Ed an EMF Meter. Ed addresses camera over his shoulder-
ED: OK…it’s 11:50, ten minutes to zero hour…I’m doing an EMF sweep of the premises, see what we can find. We got Spruce recording for EVP.
Suddenly the camera image quivers with static, a snowy warp of picture hisses creepily. (This is what the cameras do when a ghost is near. It will recur).
SPRUCE: Whoa.
Image warps again, louder, more violently.
SPRUCE: WHOA!
MAGGIE: What is it?
Spruce turns camera on himself looking down its barrel.
SPRUCE: Dunno…it’s ….weird.
Another static image tremor underscores his point.
Int. Morton House- Corridor- Night
Corbett cam follows Harry (nightvision green)- they clamber down a hall, shmuck putting forward, toward a turn up ahead…
(Pages skip…)
Int. Morton House- Elsewhwere- Night
Spruce cam on Spruce’s feet- as he fiddles with it. Image ghost rolls with creepy static.
SPRUCE (b.c.): Something’s messing with it, I don’t know…
He turns camera in his hands, panning over to Ed and Maggie. They look frantic- washed in eerie glow as a pinpoint of light moves down the corridor towards them.
MAGGIE: Um…Spruce…
Spruce is focused; he turns camera back to the floor.
SPRUCE (b.c.): Could be our headsets’ frequency, screwing with the –
ED (o.s.): SPRUCE!
Ed reaches in, grabs frame and drags it back up to previous shot---the point of light closes in, pooling down into an apparition—a man, in a suit, pleading, eerie, disjointed—
TRAVELLING SALESMAN: Look buddy- I’m sorry, that’s all. It’s all the damn money I—
The ghost spasms violently as four bullet holes rip into him. With a thunderous whooshing scream the apparition disappears.
A beat, then Spruce cam pans to the Ed and Maggie’s faces, frozen maps of shock and terror—Screen wipes to the bumper with a sting: “GHOSTFACERS!”
END ACT 1
(Pages skip…)
Int. Morton House- Basement- Night
Spruce cam- on Dean as they move through Freemans’ junk filled basement.
SPRUCE (b.c.): What did you mean back there? When you were fighting with Sam--?
DEAN: What---?
SPRUCE: Just curious. You were arguing about why you were here—
DEAN: (Walks on, then): Morton House…Man, my Dad used to talk about this place like it was Mount Everest. He tried once, you know. To make it through the night.
SPRUCE: Still don’t get why you—
Dean stopped, scanning the area, but can’t think—
DEAN: Look. I got—I’m not—(collects words) For reasons I won’t go into I—I’m not gonna be around much longer. (Dean nods, takes that in)
I just wanted to try this one before I…(laughs at himself) Morton house’. This was the big one, you know?
SPRUCE: Yeah. I know.
DEAN: (deep vulnerable) Where the hell is my brother man?
The wavering shot calms, nods, then centers on something behind Dean.
Rusted vents, high up in the outer basement wall. Under it, a tall, bolted rack of rusted steel shelves. Dean sees this, looks back at camera.
Dean races to the shelf, starts to haul it.
DEAN: Now lose the camera or so help me, I’m gonna jump up and down on it.
SPRUCE (b.c.): Aw God. Habit. Sorry man.
He puts the camera down, strides into the shot it captures.
DEAN: Just come and help me try to—
Spruce puts his shoulder into it, and ‘helps’ Dean rip the shelf down. It falls with a clang and a tidal cloud of dust. Beyond it—a rusted metal door.
Int. Unknown Space- Night
Corbett cam- past Sam to the door. Loud bangs, the door shudders, gives way—light pours in, from Spruce’s camera light.
Spruce cam- as it moves in, sees Freeman Daggett’s ghost hovering over a blooded and weakened Sam. Dean steps into frame; a shotgun blast flares and the ghost disappears.
The blast skips the needle on the record, which finally plays on: “You would cry to if it happened to you…”
DEAN: Sam--!
SAM: (barely conscious): Corbett- help Corbett—
Spruce cam pans off Sam and around dark shelter space, lit now by the camera’s light, revealing a birthday party.
A table laid out with dust-covered plates, an ossified cake, candles around the frosted legend: “Happy 54th, Freeman Dagget!” And around the table stiffly mounted and posed, the four mummified corpses from the sixties.
SPRUCE: Oh no…
The newest guest- Corbett’s blooded corpse—Screen wipes to the bumper with a sting: “GHOSTFACERS!”
END OF ACT III
(Pages skip….)
HARRY: (nods) And Maggie.
ED: (nods along): Right you are. War changes men, and one woman.
A breath. Then with a wave of emotion that is no act:
HARRY: Corbett we know you’re out there.
ED: And…you’ve officially been granted non-intern Ghostfacer status. Because you more than earned it. Plus it would be cool to have a ghost on the team.
Camera pushes in slowly- both are fighting emotion
HARRY: You taught us about dedication, about heart, about…about how…how even gay love can pierce the veil of death…and save the day…(collects composure)
Thank you, Alan J. Corbett.
ED: Yeah. Go well into that starry night, young turk…Go well.
They are truly moved by the making of this tribute.
Fade to:
Ext. Ghostfacer van- Confessional Interview- Sunset
On Corbett- who coils various cords at the back of the van. Corbett talks to camera, shyly
CORBETT: Spruce, really. I have to get all these cables coiled-
SPRUCE (b.c.): Come on. Coil and talk.
Same as Maggie’s sides (Corbett: I don’t know what to say….)
