Post by -|E|- on May 22, 2007 16:39:26 GMT -5
May 1, 2007
“HAUNTS” Blog By Glen Mazzara
After Shawn Ryan, Clark Johnson, Scott Brazil, and the cast & crew shot the pilot of what was then called “The Barn”, FX immediately knew what it had. But they took a long time to make the fateful decision to pick it up to series. I guess part of that delay was News Corp. trying to figure out what exactly FX would be. Another pilot was in contention – can’t recall the name but it starred Jason Priestley – and it was going to be either one or the other.
Part of that deliberation process involved Shawn Ryan writing what’s called a “show Bible,” a blueprint for episodes, stories, character arcs, you name it. Basically, Shawn’s plan for the series. It was filled with a lot of great ideas that played out in Season One. When the writing staff convened, people pitched new ideas and Shawn farmed out some from the Bible. I was lucky enough to get the story in which Vic & the Strike Team kidnap a visiting star basketball player in order to help the Lakers that night. (“The Spread.”)
Even though it was a comic premise, we really hit Shane’s racism and class resentment very hard. Near the end of the episode, Shane can’t take the basketball star wising off anymore and pulls a gun on him. Vic pushes him into another room and asks Shane, “What the hell are you doing? Executing him?” And Shane says, “Isn’t that what we do?” Right then, Vic knows he’s talking about their killing Terry two episodes prior.
I’m very proud of that scene. In fact, it’s the best scene I ever wrote. Maybe I love it so much because it was such a total surprise. We had not discussed it at all. It was not in my outline. I just started writing that scene and then Shane said that. It just came out. THAT is why he was so pissed off that entire episode. He was tortured about Terry.
I thank Shawn for embracing that. A lot of showrunners don’t allow their writers to express their vision but Shawn Ryan always trusted us. I’m a much better writer because of him.
Over the years, I loved writing all the characters but always had a certain affinity for Shane. Maybe it’s because I became Shawn’s #2 in the same way Shane was Vic’s. (Hopefully, I wasn’t that much of a f*ck-up.) All of the writers wrote Shane well but I felt that character vacillated between the angry, redneck opportunist (Kurt’s vision) and heartbroken, damaged cowboy (mine). I always tried to write him as a man with a heavy heart who was trying to do the right thing.
That’s why I strongly objected to him using a grenade to kill Lemonhead. (I don’t feel like getting into that here but I expressed my thoughts on the Season 5 DVD commentary for “Smoked.”) Shawn & Kurt thought that Shane would use this cowardly method and I still strongly disagree.
So when my contract was running out on THE SHIELD, I had a real passion to write one more Shane story. I knew that character was in pain over killing his friend. I knew he would be seeking punishment. That he had a need to confess. But that murder was so horrific, he could never confess it. So he would try to push all that shit down, but in vain. It would have to bubble up elsewhere. It would have to come out in destructive behavior. In essence, Shane would want to get beaten and get caught. Why else would he f*ck a barely legal girl?
So just like “The Spread,” Shane’s action is misdirected. He’s tortured by some heinous act and because he can’t deal with it, he fucks up his life even more.
As I watched the final cut of “Haunts,” I thought to myself: “I’ve got nothing left to say. I’m very happy to go out on that.” Through Shane, my writing on THE SHIELD came full circle.