SPARCs:Kibbitzing005

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OK, here's the kibbitzing page for the discussion in the SPA board room. I really like the disputes we've seen so far between the SPARTAns! Now, my general thinking in this scene is that this is going to be one where we move the season-long arc, such as it is, along. Or, if you like, this is a scene in the B story, rather than the Livewire vs. Gunslinger A story. What is Livewire's role in SPARCs? What is the proper relationship between SPARTA and SPARCs? Who's in charge here? All that kind of stuff. -- James Holloway 15:46, 24 January 2006 (PST)

OK, so: here's what we know about the outcome of this scene:

- Joe gets booted out of the team, or at least his currently kind of absent status is confirmed. - Milka gets returned to the mental institution - AND: whether ot not the SPARCs remain active has nothing to do with their actions.

Here's my current thought on the situation.

I think that Exemplar has determined that the SPARCs program is going to be a success whatever the individual members have to say about it. And they're going to be successes the right way, which is to say following the guidance and leadership of the SPARTAns. And Livewire is by God going to be their successful leader.

That means that the team members who are bad influences on Joel have got to go. Joe quit by himself after the incident at the mall, right? Well, who are we to stop him. And Frost needs to be hospitalized for her own good. I wonder if Exemplar relalizes that Frost has feelings for Joel?

Now here are the things I'm not certain about:

- am I making Exemplar too much of an obvious shitheel? I'm trying to paint him as an overprotective parent rather than out-and-out domineering type. - how do we make Frost's kicking-out not seem abrupt?

Comments! --James Holloway 16:14, 3 February 2006 (PST)

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[Miss fermoy ]I suppose they could do a psych evaluation of Milka, stating its just routine, then when he realises that a, she's still a bit nuts, and b, has feelings for Joel decides its best that she is hospitalised "until she feels better"

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Well, the only SPARCs left uninvolved are Sarah and my character, so the SPARTA might try to enlist them in taking care of the dirty work -- either nicely "Help us help your friends", or nasty "Help us or you're gone too" or Machiavellianly "Help get rid of the troublemaker and we'll know you're ready to be a leader". I personally like the Machiavellian approach for Amy, because it gives me a chance to firm up her mean-girl credibility, and it sets up a nice dynamic for next episode, when Amy realizes that she screwed over a friend just to clear the way for Joel.

But do we need to both decide and wrap up everything in one scene? It seems to me that we could resolve this scene with the big dogs deciding what to do and some of how to do it, and leave the scene where Frost gets hospitalized for later in the episode.

I'm not sure which would be better, to have the SPARTAns have a grownup tell Joe he's out, or have Exemplar delegate it to Livewire, so that even his moment of triumph over Joe is served to him on a platter from his doting dad. (By the way, I think Exemplar is a shitheel -- he's the superhero version of every sports dad you see screaming at the coach for not putting his kid in enough.)

One other thought: whenever the bosses want to do something really crappy, they usually do it as part of a "Quality Initiative" or some such. So maybe these changes could be billed as a team makeover -- new costumes! New gadgets! Promises of new exciting things in the future, like going to Tokyo to cross-train with Tokyo's favorite Teen-team, the All-New MegaTokyo Superstars! Inevitably, the really good stuff will never materialize and the new uniforms will suck, but Diane's performance report for the year will look much better. --DannyK can't remember the Wiki widget for signing his name.