Written by Trevor Munson & Ron Koslow
Green Revision 3/16/07
This article describes creative differences between the script and the episode that aired. Minor differences from the actors not delivering lines exactly as written are not included.
Abbreviations used in the script
- EXT. Exterior (location)
- INT. Interior (location)
- V.O. Voiceover
- O.S. Offscreen
- O.C. Off camera
The biggest difference between the script and the pilot presention is that the script starts with a series of flashbacks. In the pilot presentation, these flashbacks are interspersed throughout the episode.
Interestingly, both the script and pilot presentation end with Beth waking up in Mick's loft and Beth hugging Mick. This last scene is later absent from the script of "No Such Thing as Vampires" but added back in the final episode of "No Such Thing as Vampires."
One major difference between the pilot presentation and the later series is that Beth finds out both that Mick is a vampire and that he was the one who rescued her when she was little in the pilot, which gives the pilot presentation an emotionally powerful, poignant, final scene. In the series, Beth finds out that Mick is a vampire in the second episode, "Out of the Past," and finds out that he was the one who rescued her in the eighth episode, "12:04 A.M."
The script begins:
FADE IN:
OVER BLACK-- WE HEAR a smoke-shredded VOICE in the dark...
MICK (V.O.) Before Coraline, I thought I'd been in love, but I was wrong...
MACRO SHOT-- SLOW-MO A MATCH LIGHTS in darkness and a WOMAN'S FACE IS ILLUMINATED...
CLOSE ON: CORALINE -- She's lovely-- midnight black hair worn in a 40's style, blue eyes like welder's torches and red licorace-whip lips.
INT. WESTERN AVENUE JAZZ CLUB (1947) - NIGHT
We pull back to find we are in a quintessential smoky, forties jazz dive.
SUPER: Los Angeles. Western Avenue. 1947.
ON STAGE-- A JAZZ BAND PLAYS. THE TRUMPET PLAYER-- darkly handsome with a wise-guy grin-- plays a soulful SOLO, eyes closed. Meet MICK ST. JOHN, late 20's.
Sensing something, Mick's eyes open, and immediately LOCK with CORALINE'S. They stare for a long moment and then Coraline smiles as if sharing a secret. Mick smiles right back.
MICK (V.O.) The passion I'd felt for other women was a ghost emotion compared to what I'd feel for her...
In the presentation, Mick's voiceover is different: "I met Coraline in forty-seven. Fell hard. The war was over, and there was a future again. People were getting married, settling down. Everyone was looking for someone, and it was just my luck that Coraline found me. The passion I'd felt for other women was a ghost emotion compared to what I'd feel for her."
The script has additional flashback scenes missing from the presentation:
INT. WESTERN AVENUE JAZZ CLUB (1947) - LATER
The club is closing up. A BARTENDER mops down the bar. A LONE PIANO PLAYER improvises a dreamy tune.
ALONE on the DANCE FLOOR, with eyes only for each other, Mick and Coraline dance a breath apart...
MICK So where's your fella?
CORALINE Who says I've got one?
MICK A girl like you always has one.
CORALINE (smiles playfully) So what if I do? What if he's a great big jealous Marine and he's waiting for me right now. Then what?
MICK I'd tell him to keep on waiting...
She smiles. He pulls her close.
EXT. MULHOLLAND DRIVE - NIGHT
Mick and Coraline sit in his CONVERTIBLE looking out at the TWINKLING LIGHTS of forties LOS ANGELES. Coraline wears a white Orchid in her hair.
Mick puts an arm around her and looks into her eyes...
MICK ...Marry me.
Initially she seems pleased, but her smile turns enigmatic as she peers back at him.
CORALINE Are you sure this is what you want? You have to be sure.
MICK I'm sure.
They kiss.
The presentation's voiceover in the turning scene is not in the script: "A love like that can make you blind, make you miss things that you maybe should have seen." In the script:
INT. HOTEL ROOM (1947) - NIGHT
The door opens and Mick carries his bride, still in her white dress, across the threshold. He lays her down on the bed.
IN A SERIES OF QUICK CUTS WE SEE--
- Coraline, tearing at his clothes.
- They make violent, passionate love.
- Mick opens his eyes to see her straddling him. She smiles down at him and he smiles back.
- As Coraline begins to climax, her lovely lips part. Mick's smile fades as her FANGS DISTEND, and she MOVES IN A RUSH for his throat... He struggles, but she is too fast, too strong--
CORALINE (whispers in his ear) Till death do us part...
As her TEETH SINK HOME we... SMASH CUT TO BLACK SCREEN.
The flashback jumps ahead to 1985. Little Beth's kidnap scene is longer in the script:
TIME CAPSULE - 1985
RAPID CUTS OF IMAGES and VIDEO of the times. WE SEE-- Regan... Gorbachev... "Miami Vice" main titles... Pete Rose breaks Ty Cobb's record... L.A. Times Headline: ANOTHER CHILD ABDUCTED...
Over a PANORAMIC SHOT of L.A. at night --
SUPER: Los Angeles. 1985.
EXT. TWO-STORY SHERMAN OAKS HOUSE (1985) - NIGHT
A modest, two-story traditional home on a quiet Sherman Oaks street... MOVING CLOSER, the CAMERA ABRUPTLY LEAPS to a SECOND STORY WINDOW.
We are now peering into a FIVE-YEAR OLD GIRL'S BEDROOM. The adorable, LITTLE BLOND GIRL lies under a pink comforter as her MOTHER read her a bedtime story. The child's eyes begin to droop and soon she is asleep. Her Mother kisses her tenderly, turns off the light, and exits
INT. LITTLE GIRL'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
We MOVE IN on the little girl, fast asleep CREEPING CLOSER... closer... Sleepy-eyed, the child sits up in bed. She peers into the darkness and sees a FEMALE FIGURE backlit against the window.
LITTLE GIRL Mommy?
We RUSH at the child with supernatural speed. A GNARLED HAND CLAMPS DOWN over the Little Girl's mouth as she is lifted out of her bed and pulled from the room.
Next comes the flashback where Beth's mother hires Mick. The presentation has a different voiceover:
"L.A. in the eighties. No place you'd wanna be unless you had to be." In the script:
EXT. HOLLYWOOD FREEWAY - TWILIGHT
A BLOOD-RED SUN SINKS over Hollywood and the Hollywood Freeway...
INT. MICK ST. JOHN'S HOLLYWOOD APARTMENT/OFFICE (1985) - TWILIGHT
A PAIR OF EYES OPEN in darkness. Pulling back we see the lid of a DEEP-FREEZE OPEN. Frost-bitten air escapes. Mick, looking no different than he did in 1947, climbs out and brushes at the film of frost that covers him.
MICK (V.O.) You don't have to like what you are just because it's what you are, but you do have to come to terms with it...
As he crosses the room we see that he has FANGS. He goes to the refrigerator and takes out a vial of BLOOD. At his DESK he fills a hypodermic needle. On his desk we see a framed black and white photograph of Mick with his BAND.
MICK (V.O.) That's why I take my blood with a needle and why I have rules about who I kill...
As he injects himself WE SEE his FANGS RECEDE. His EYES fill with blood the color of midnight.
MICK (V.O.) No women. No children. No innocents... Because of what I am, I have abillities others don't. I can't change it, but at least I can use it to do some good...
The rest is the same as the presentation: Beth's mother appears at Mick's office door and falls, crying, into his arms. Mick goes to little Beth's house and scents that Coraline was there. What Mick scents is different in the script:
He closes his eyes and INHALES. In a RUSH OF IMAGES WE SEE--
- Coraline's sensuous RED LIPS as they draw on a cigarette.
- Her long slender neck.
- Midnight black hair spilling over a pillow.
- Mick and Coraline make violent love in a tangle of sheets.
MICK (V.O.) I hadn't seen her in years, but I'd know that scent anywhere...Orchids and death... Her scent... Coraline...
CLOSE ON: Mick's HAUNTED EYES as he snaps out of his reverie.
Next, Mick tracks Coraline to her Bel Air mansion. In the presentation, Mick's voicover is:
"I did some asking around and found out she was living in a guarded mansion in Bel Air." The script has a different scene for the voiceover:
INT. MICK'S MERCEDES - TWILIGHT (PROCESS)
CLOSE ON MICK behind the wheel, fedora pulled low, as the SETTING SUN is reflected in his sunglasses.
MICK (V.O.) I did some asking around and found out that Coraline had been living the high life in a villa up in Bel Air...
EXT. THE SIDE OF A BEL AIR ROAD - TWILIGHT
Mick parks on the shoulder and goes to the TRUNK of his car.
FROM INSIDE THE TRUNK WE WATCH as Mick loads silver bullets into a chrome .357 and screws on a SILENCER. This done, he grabs several wooden stakes and a can of lighter fluid and slams the trunk SHUT on us.
Dropping this scene also erases the only reference to Mick wearing a fedora. Fedora-wearing Mick is from Trevor Munson's original Angel of Vengeance novel.
Mick's voiceover as he encounters the vampire guard is also different. The presentation has snappier dialogue:
"There are a lot of misconceptions about vampires. Garlic and holy water don't do jack. And cruxifices? Come on. You could spot a vampire if you know what to look for though. The dead don't give off body heat." In the script:
EXT. BEL AIR MANSION - NIGHT
Mick scales an IVY COVERED wall and cautiously makes his way up the densely wooded hillside. Ahead, we see a HUGE, UNIFORMED GUARD with a DOBERMAN on a leash.
MICK (V.O.) Dealing with vampires is no easy thing. First, you have to know one when you see one...
MICK'S POV: The DOG GLOWS BRIGHT RED, but the VAMPIRE GUARD is a dead spot because of his near complete lack of body heat.
MICK (V.O.) Infrared vision is good for that, because vampires don't give off body heat.
Hearing something, the Vampire Guard turns and sees Mick.
VAMPIRE GUARD Sic him, boy!
As the DOG CHARGES, Mick looks deep into the snarling animal's eyes and employs HIS HYPNOTIC GAZE.
MICK Sit.
Giving a meek whimper, the Doberman halts and sits obdiently.
MICK (V.O.) The hypnotic gaze comes in handy too. But it only works on the living.
Pissed off, the Vampire Guard now TRANSFORMS into full VAMPIRE FORM... The Guard's FANGS GROW. His JAW UNHINGES. His EYES FILL WITH BLOOD...
The unhinging jaw is also a remnant of the vampires in Angel of Vengeance.
Mick's voiceover in the presentation continues:
"The real trick comes in knowing how to destroy a vampire. Silver bullets hurt like hell, but they don't do the job." In the script:
MICK (V.O.) The real trick comes in knowing how to destroy a vampire. Silver bullets'll hurt a vampire, but they won't destroy him.
Mick's voiceover as he dispatches the vampire guard is different. In the presentation: "A wooden stake through the heart will put them down, but for my money, the only way to be sure is fire." In the script:
MICK (V.O.) Wooden stakes are effective too-- They'll paralyze a vampire, but they won't destroy him either-- it takes fire to do that.
The helpless Vampire Guard can only watch as Mick douses him with LIGHTER FLUID and scratches a match.
MICK I don't dance.
Mick tosses the match and... WHOOSH!
With the Vampire burning behind him, Mick gives the dog a friendly pat and continues on without looking back.
In the presentation, Mick's encounter with Coraline is longer. Coraline: "Mick. I knew you'd come. Look at us, one happy family. Just in time for dinner." Mick:
"I'm not gonna let you hurt that child." In the script:
INT. BEL AIR MANSION (UPSTAIRS BEDROOM) - NIGHT
Inside he finds CORALINE cluthcing the LITTLE GIRL he has been searching for.
In MICK'S EYES we see that she still loves Coraline and hates himself for it. Coraline gives Mick a sweet smile...
CORALINE Mick, what a surprise. Just in time for dinner...
HER FANGS DISTEND and she BENDS OVER THE CHILD TO FEED...
SMASH CUT TO BLACK:
The present-day story unfolds with a darker voiceover from Mick than what ended up in the presentation:
EXT. NEW YORK CITY SKYLINE (2007) - TWILIGHT
SUPER: NEW YORK CITY. PRESENT DAY.
The SETTING SUN ingites a FIERY SKY over present day NEW YORK CITY.
MICK (V.O.) Nightfall comes with an ache...
NEW YORK STREETS - MEAT-PACKING DISTRICT - NIGHT
The camera MOVES through the fashionable downdown meat-packing district to a FIVE-STORY LOFT BUILDING. We move over a BALCONY and through a wall of windows... As we roam around the loft, the NIGHTLY NEWS DRONES on the TV...
INT. MICK'S LOFT -- NIGHT
We FIND Mick, eyes half-closed, seated in an antique leather chair as he compulsively flicks open and fires up a ZIPPO LIGHTER. He has been a vampire now for sixty years. It has taken its toll. Having lived for so long out of the light, without the touch of another, he is sliding ever closer to the abyss. He is in a bad place.
MICK (V.O.) What do you do when both living and dying mean nothing? When each new night only makes you more aware of the emptiness of your unending existence...
CLOSE ON: THE FLAME-- Mick runs his FINGERS trhough it as if testing the water.
In the presentation, the next scene is Beth at the crime scene. In the script (as in "No Such Thing as Vampires"), Mick first sees Beth on TV and then goes to the crime scene.
Mick snaps the lighter closed, leans forward, and turns the VOLUME UP as an attractive blond female reporter, BETH TURNER, fills the TV SCREEN--
BETH (ON TV SCREEN) ...The body was found late this afternoon by sanitation workers in a dumpster in an alley off Eighteenth Street. Forensics are still on the scene-- police have yet to identify the young woman. This is Beth Turner in Chelsea...
Leaving the TV on, Mick gets up from his chair and abruptly leaves.
Beth's news report is also longer in the presentation: "In this exclusive report, the body of a young female has been discovered in Lower Manhattan. The woman appears to be the victim of a grisly murder. The body was found late this afternoon..." etc.
The script has a detailed description of Beth's job:
Betha and her two-person crew are packing up. Beth is a stringer-- a freelance TV field reporter-- for Rapid Reponse News Service. She travels around the city in a remote van in constant communication with her dispatcher, searching for breaking stories-- crime, politics, human interest. Her stories are then sold to local TV stations.
The presentation cuts back to Mick with the Zippo lighter and a voiceover that introduces Guillermo:
"You know, because of what I am, I have abilities that other's don't. Abilities that give me an edge as a private investigator. Most of my kind embrace their nature, but some of us try to rise above it, do some good. My friend Guillermo, he's like me. Well, not exactly like me." The script goes directly to the scene in the city morgue with no voiceover. The scene in the morgue is the same as the presentation.
Next, the presentation again cuts back to Mick with the Zippo and a voiceover:
"In my line of work, sometimes I'm hired, and sometimes I take cases because I can go places and do things that others won't. There's a lot of dark alleys in this world, and I've been down them all." And follows it with a scene of the second victim getting killed.
In the script, the next scene is Mick at Josef's townhouse. In the presentation, this scene occurs later, after Beth leaves Mick's apartment and Mick flashes back to 1985. The voiceover in the presentation that introduces the townhouse scene isn't in the script:
"But that's all yesterday's news. Right now, I have more pressing business." Mick's dialogue in the presentation is also longer:
"Josef, you're tapped into everything in this town. I hate to impose on your friendship, but could you look into this for me?"
The script describes Josef:
INT. UPPER EASTSIDE TOWNHOUSE (LIBRARY) - NIGHT
WE HEAR MICK'S VOICE as we PAN AROUND an opulent LIBRARY-- The room is filled with Picassos and Matisses and Moroccan bound first editions.
MICK (O.S.) Josef, you're tapped into everything in this town. Could you look into it for me?
Seated by a fire, Mick is having cognac and a cigar with JOSEF KONSTANTIN, one of his few confidants. A mysterious figure, Josef is an ancient vampire of European descent. For many years he has been the patriarch of one of the wealthiest and most powerful vampire sects in New York.
The script has an added bit cut out of the presentation:
MICK (gazing into the fire) I don't know... I don't know what I believe in anymore...
For a moment Mick seems lost in the flames.
JOSEF (follows his gaze) Yes, I understand-- life seems pointless, existence bleak... Immortality isn't what you expected... Perhaps you've even entertained thoughts of ending it all...
Mick looks up in surpirse and we see the truth of Josef's words in MICK'S EYES. Josef smiles knowingly.
JOSEF These thoughts, they are not uncommon for vampires approaching the century mark... I went through something similar myself. (leaning forward) It will pass-- as all things do with time, trust me.
From Mick's expression we can see that Josef's insights have hit a nerve. Josef gives his friend an encouraging pat on the arm and rises to refill Mick's cognac.
JOSEF The challenge for our kind is to continually find new reasons to live.
MICK And what are you living for after all this time?
JOSEF The best reason of all, my friend. (raises his snifter) Love...
Josef reaches out and warmly clinks snifters with Mick.
Next in the script is Beth's fiery nightmare:
INT. A BURNING HALLWAY - NIGHT
In her nightgown, Beth Turner finds herself trapped in a HALLWAY ABLAZE. Everywhere she turns, she is blocked by a WALL OF FLAMES! As the FLAMES MOVE IN ON HER...
INT. BETH'S APARTMENT (BEDROOM) - NIGHT
BETH STARTS AWAKE in bed. Wide-awake now, Beth climbs out of bed and goes out onto her balcony.
As in the presentation, Beth stares out at the night and its full moon, then the scene switches to show Mick on his rooftop under the same full moon. Mick's voiceover on the rooftop, "Sixty years is a long time to live in darkness," occurs at the end of script, just as it does at the end of "No Such Thing as Vampires."
The script next has the scene of the second victim getting killed mentioned above.
In both the script and presentation, the scene in the downtown tunnel where the second body is found comes next. The script has a short bit with Beth and Carl missing from the presentation:
At the edge of the excavation WE FIND Beth talking to her Detective friend, Carl.
BETH I just want to know if you think they're related, Carl.
CARL Beth, I can't talk to you right now. Not with all these cameras around. Call me later.
Carl moves off as BETH'S CAMERAMAN signals to her.
BETH'S CAMERAMAN We're all set up. You ready?
As she heads toward her Cameraman, Beth NOTICES MICK standing in the crowd.
BETH (to Cameraman) Hold on.
The scene between Mick and Beth is the same as in the presentation. The next scene, with Beth looking up Mick's address on her computer, is also the same as the presentation.
Next, the script has the flashback from the morning after Mick's turning. A shorter version of this scene occurs later in the presentation.
INT. MICK'S LOFT - TWILIGHT
Mick goes to the refrigerator and retrieves a VIAL OF BLOOD and a HYPODERMIC. He carries them to his desk, fills the needle, and JAMS it home. As he depresses the plunger and his EYES FILL with BLOOD we--
FLASHBACK-- 1947
INT. HOTEL ROOM (1947) - NIGHT
Pale rays of early morning sunlight slip past the blinds. ON THE BLOOD-STAINED BED, MICK JOLTS TO LIFE like a patient brought back with a defibrillator. Still in her bloody dress, Coraline leans over him on the bed.
CORALINE Welcome back.
Mick PUSHES Coraline away. Her MOUTH AND CHIN are coated with his DRIED BLOOD. Hand clamped to his neck, Mick jumps off the wedding bed and moves into the small
INT. HOTEL ROOM BATHROOM (1947)
where he flicks on the light.
What Mick sees in the mirror horrifies him. His neck and chest are smeared with blood. As he inspects the TWO DEEP PUNCTURE MARKS in his neck, Coraline appears in the doorway behind him.
MICK (shell-shocked) What have you done?
Coraline wipes the blood from her mouth with the white sleeve of her wedding gown. Losing it, Mick turns to her.
MICK What have you done to me?
CORALINE We made a vow that we'd be together forever. Now we can be... I did this for us...
Mick stands speechless as he struggles to comprehend what he sees in the mirror...
CORALINE There aren't any rules for us, anymore.
MICK No... No...
CORALINE Don't be afraid. You're something greater, now...
MICK (terrified) What?? Damnit, tell me! WHAT?!
Coraline moves up behind Mick.
CORALINE You're immortal...
Coraline puts her lips to his ear.
CORALINE (whispers) I made you immortal.
Enraged, Mick turns and pins her up against the bathroom wall.
MICK No!
Mick grabs her FACE and FORCES HER to LOOK into the MIRROR where WE SEE what Mick sees for the first time-- the REFLECTIONS of both he and Coraline are frighteningly WARPED AND DISTORTED.
MICK You made me a monster!
Mick turns back to the mirror and SMASHES it with HIS BLOODY FIST.
Next in the script and the presentation, Beth visits Mick's loft. In the presentation, Beth speaks first after Mick lets her in:
"It's a nice place. I made some calls. No one hired you to work this case." In the script, a more formal Mick speaks firrst:
Mick reluctantly steps aide and allows her to enter.
MICK (shuts the door) What can I do for you, Ms. Turner?
Despite the surface tension, there is a palpable attraction between them that they both pretend to ignore.
BETH I made some calls. No one hired you to work this case.
The scene unfolds the same as in the presentation, but the script doesn't have Mick's voiceover at the end:
"What do you do when what you want most and what you fear most are the same thing? What then? Live long enough and the past always catches you."
The scene in the "No Such Thing as Vampires" script when Beth is leaving Mick's office is described almost the same as when Beth is leaving Mick's apartment in the presentation script:
BETH If you won't be a subject will you at least be a source...? We could help each other...
MICK I can do that.
Beth hesitates for a moment not quite ready to leave...
MICK (uneasy) Well, okay...
Mick leans across her to open the door. In that moment of proximity, time seems to stop.
The air CRACKLES with electricity-- and both of them find themselves powerfully drawn to each other... Stunned by the intensity of the moment, they simply stare.
BETH (gestures to the hall) I should be--
MICK Yeah...
Using all of his will-power, Mick opens the door. Speechless, Beth exits. As he closes the door behind her, we can see the turmoil in Mick's normally impassive eyes.
The presentation cuts to the 1985 flashback: Beth's mother shows up at his office and hires him to find her missing daughter, Mick dispatches the vampire guard at Coraline's Bel Air mansion and finds Coraline with little Beth (which occurs at the start of the script).
Next, in the presentation is Mick at Josef's townhouse and their conversation about love being the best reason for livng (described earlier).
Next, in the presentation is Mick's voiceover outside a jazz club: "Love. I used to think the worst thing that could happen was a broken heart. Turns out, you get mixed up with the wrong girl, you could lose a whole lot more." Then Mick flashes back to the jazz club where he met Coraline and the wedding night turning scene (described at the start of the script), and the morning after the turning (described earlier).
After the flashbacks, the presentation continues with a voiceover as Mick spies the goth teen vamps:
"When you're first turned, it's heady stuff. You're the top of the food chain. There's no rules for you anymore. It's only later that you begin to realize the implications of an unending existence. I mean, would you really want to be a teenager forever?"
Since the flashbacks occur earlier in the script, they are skipped:
EXT. DOWNTOWN STREET - NIGHT
Mick walks down a Chelsea side street. As he passes THE ALLEY ENTRANCE to a small JAZZ CLUB, the haunting strains of a horn solo stop him and fill him with memories... But the mood is broken when he spots A PACK of young, attractive, flamboyantly dressed Goth-chic REVELERS moving down the opposite side of the street.
MICK'S INFRARED NIGHT VISION POV: WE DISCOVER THEY ARE VAMPIRES appearing as ASHEN SILHOUETTES among the LIVING PEDESTRIANS on the sidewalk.
NORMAL POV: Recognizing Mick as well, the group of young vampires laugh at him as they move past and disappear around the corner.
MALE VOICE (O.C.) Can I give you a lift?
Mick turns to see his friend Josef Konstantin framed in the open window of a sleek black LIMO. Mick nods and climbs in.
The dialogue in Josef's limo is slightly different.
INT. JOSEF'S LIMO (MOVING) - NIGHT
From a GLASS DROPPER, Josef places TWO DROPLETS of DARK BLOOD into a snifter of Cognac, and hands it to Mick.
JOSEF (eyeing him critically) How are you doing? You had me worried after our talk the other night...
MICK I shouldn't have said anything.
JOSEF Of course you should have. This is what friends do. They talk.
Mick nods.
At this point in the presentation, Mick says, "You've been a good friend to me all these years. I appreciate it." This isn't in the script, but the script does have an extra bit missing from the presentation:
MICK People are paying to watch these girls get slaughtered?
Josef nods.
MICK Who? Do you know?
Josef shakes his head "no" and gives Mick a sardonic smile.
JOSEF And they call us monsters. (beat) Well, I'm off to the opera... Salome... There's an extra seat in my box...
MICK Thanks, but I'm more of a jazz kind of guy. (signals to the driver) I'll get out here.
The car pulls over. Mick starts to climb out, but Josef clasps his hand.
JOSEF (gravely) Be careful, my friend, these are dangerous times. Even for us...
MICK (nods) Yeah...
ON JOSEF as he watches Mick exit the car.
Next in the script and presentation, Beth wakes from a fiery nightmare:
INT. A BURNING HALLWAY --
Beth flees the BURNING ROOM we saw in the previous dream and enters a HALLWAY. She looks back and SEES a FIERY FIGURE as it emerges through a curtain of FLAMES. Frozen like a deer in headlights, Beth can only watch as the FIGURE SCREAMS in rage and agony and REACHES OUT FOR HER.
INT. BETH'S APARTMENT (BEDROOM) - NIGHT
ALONE IN HER BED, Beth STARTS AWAKE with a GASP. WE CAN HEAR HER HEART POUNDING as she sits up coveered in a COLD SWEAT.
The presentation then has the scene of Beth on her balcony watching the moon as Mick watches the same moon from his rooftop (described earlier).
Next, in the script and presentation, Beth and Carl have pizza and share information. In the script, the dialogue occurs as Beth is walking Carl to his car. In the presentation, they are eating at a cafe. In the script, Carl gets the last line:
CARL (nods) That's the theory. With that stuff in them, those girls could have watched themselves get dismembered and not complained.
BETH My God...
CARL (unfazed) Well, thanks for lunch.
Carl waves with his pizza slice, and gets into his car. Having lost her appetite, Beth drops the remainder of her slice into a nearby trash can as Carl PULLS AWAY.
Next, in the script and presentation, Mick visits Beth's apartment. In the script, the encounter starts slightly different:
INT. APARTMENT BUILDING - HALLWAY - NIGHT
Mick stands in the SHADOWS OF AN ALCOVE in an apartment hallway. CLOSE ON: His EYES which appear sad but resolved.
DOWN THE HALL a BELL CHIMES and a set of ELEVATOR DOORS OPEN. Carrying some groceries, Beth comes around the corner and walks down the hallway to her apartment.
At the door of her apartment, she fumbles for her keys and they fall to the floor. She bends to pick them up and SEES A PAIR OF SHOE-CLAD FEET BESIDE HER! She jumps back startled, to find Mick standing there.
MICK Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you.
She opens the door. They stand there a moment... Beth finds herself torn between her attraction to Mick and the unmistakable sense of danger that surrounds him.
BETH ...Would you like to come in?
MICK I wasn't planning on staying...
BETH It's silly for us to stand out here. Come in.
Mick nods and steps inside.
The script describes Beth's apartment:
In many ways it is a classic New York career woman's apartment-- a blend of Pottery Barn and funky thrift store pieces.
The script has a few extra (redundant) lines of dialogue not in the presentation:
BETH (O.C. FROM THE KITCHEN) Red or white?
MICK Red.
Beth enters with two glasses of red wine and hands one to Mick who drinks.
BETH So, I found out the last victim was seen at a club called Griffin's the night she disappeared. Thought I'd go down there tomorrow.
Mick just nods.
BETH How 'bout you? What've you got?
MICK Nothing.
BETH You didn't find out anything?
MICK That's not why I came.
BETH Oh? Then why?
She gives him a puzzled look and now WE HEAR...
MICK (V.O.) To erase your memory. To make you forget you ever met me... Forget I exist...
Mick looks deeply into Beth's lovely blue eyes and uses his gaze on her.
MICK Beth, listen to me--
A glazed, dreamy look comes into her eyes. Glass of wine in hand, she stand there... Waiting...
MICK (V.O.) This is no good. None of it. It can't go anywhere...
Unable to resist, Mick reaches out and gently, lovingly touches her face...
MICK Are you listening?
BETH (far, far away) Yes...
CLOSE ON: Mick's tortured expression... His jaw clenches as he wages an internal war between what he wants and what he fears... He can't do it. He withdraws his hand.
ON BETH-- the glazed look still in her eyes.
MICK (V.O.) I know it's what I ought to do. Need to do. But somehow I can't bring myself to do it...
THE DOOR SLAMS. A stunned look on her face, Beth BLINKS as if coming out of a trance. She looks around to find--
MICK IS GONE-- the GLASS OF WINE on the coffee table the only sign he was ever there.
BETH Mick...?
Next, in both the script and presentation, is Beth's voicemail on Mick's answering machine. The script describes Mick's loft:
INT. MICK'S LOFT - AFTERNOON
CLOSE ON: MICK'S ANSWERING MACHINE-- We hear Beth's VOICE OVER as the CAMERA ROAMS around the darkened apartment... We see his old trumpet, the black-and-white photo of Mick with his band, a shelf of eclectic books (History, the Occult, Hemingway...), and souvenirs from his travels around the world.
Next, Beth goes to Griffin's. The scene is the same in the script and presentation. The
next scene of Mick calling Bocaccio's restaurant and finding out that Beth never showed is also the same.
The next scene in Griffin's starts with a mention of Mick using his night vision:
INT. GRIFFIN'S CLUB - NIGHT
Mick enters the trendy downtown club, TECHNO MUSIC blasts. Using his INFRARED NIGHT VISION he SCANS THE CROWD-- Everyone in here is human.
Mick's voiceover is slightly longer in the script:
MICK (V.O.) I smell Beth-- her fear. It hangs in the air like stale smoke. It permeates everything...
WE MOVE IN ON: MICK, eyes still closed-- HIS EYES snap open. There is a danger in them we haven't seen before.
MICK (V.O.) And it makes me angry...
The rest of the scene has minor differences. The script mentions that Mick breaks Victor's arm at the shoulder when he grabs him. And the second bouncer shows up in the storage room for a scene with more graphic violence than the presentation:
INT. CLUB - STORAGE ROOM
where the CLUB MANAGER is taking inventory of his liquor stock. As Mick and Victor come through, the Second Bouncer strides up from behind and claps a hand down hard on Mick's shoulder.
SECOND BOUNCER This guy giving you trouble, Vic?
VICTOR (in pain) He's looking for the girl.
Before the Second Bouncer can respond, Mick DRIVES HIS ELBOW BACK into the guy's NOSE, breaking it-- the big man falls to his knees, clutching his bloody face. IN THE SAME MOVEMENT, Mick now DRIVES HIS FIST FORWARD into Victor's JAW, shattering it. Teeth fly as Victor drops to the floor.
It's chaos, everyone in the kitchen SCATTERS except for the CLUB MANAGER who stands frozen a moment. Seeing Mick coming toward him he DARTS down a STAIRWAY to the basement. Mick goes after him.
The rest of the scene, where Mick chases the club manager and gets stabbed after he finds the club manager with Beth, is the same as the presentation.
Next, the flashback in the script is slightly longer than the presentation:
FLASHBACK-- 1985
CLOSE ON: FIVE-YEAR OLD BETH TURNER'S EYES as they OPEN to SEE MICK standing in the bedroom doorway...
MICK Let her go.
INT. BEL AIR MANSION (BEDROOM) - LOS ANGELES - (1985) - NIGHT
We are back in the BEL AIR MANSION... Coraline cradles Young Beth, fangs distended ready to feed. With a mischievous smile, Coraline slowly dips her head toward the little girl's neck.
MICK (raises his gun) Coraline, let her go.
CORALINE (shakes her head in regret) We could've been so good together, and you ruined it with all your silly rules. (beat) When are you going to realize they're just food to us...?
MICK I'm not gonna let you hurt that child.
CORALINE You sure this is what you want?
MICK (cocks gun) I'm sure.
Coraline tosses Beth aside, and with blinding speed, moves for Mick.
YOUNG BETH'S POV: Coraline ATTACKS Mick. Before the child's eyes, both Mick and Coraline TRANSFORM into FULL-BLOWN VAMPIRES-- Their JAWS UNHINGE. Their EYES fill with blood. It is truly terrifying. (This is the first time we see Mick in full vampire form.)
The script describes Coraline's death a bit more sympathetically than what ended up on screen:
Coraline triumphantly SINKS HER TEETH into Mick's neck and begins to drain him.
As he WEAKENS, Mick grows pale and returns to HUMAN FORM. Realizing he has been defeated, he turns to give Young Beth an apologetic look, and--
HE SEES THE LITTLE GIRL NUDGING THE PISTOL INTO HIS REACH
IN RAPID CUTS --
- Mick GRABS THE GUN and PUMPS six silver bullets into Coraline. She HOWLS in pain.
- Mick pushes Coraline's writhing form off of him.
Weakened, Mick lifts Coraline into his arms. They lock EYES. A momentary look of hope passes over Coraline's FACE-- the hope that Mick still loves her and will relent. But her HOPE DIES when she sees the hard resolve in his EYES.
Not unmoved, Mick bends and gently places Coraline into the FLAMES...
The LIGHT OF THE FIRE illuminates the FEAR in CORALINE'S EYES as her GOWN IGNITES. They share one last look and then...
Exhausted, Mick scoops Young Beth into his arms and carries her from the room...
INT. UPSTAIRS HALLWAY --
Mick closes the door behind them... As they move down the darkened hall, Young Beth looks back over Mick's shoulder--
YOUNG BETH'S POV: THE BEDROOM DOOR BLOWS OPEN.
Mick wheels around TO SEE Coraline standing in the doorway, enveloped in FLAMES.
Still beautiful within the flames, Coraline glares at Mick and Young Beth with a look of hatred and betrayal. She begins to move toward them and as she REACHES OUT for them...
ALL AT ONCE, Coraline and the HALLWAY EXPLODE in a FIREBALL!
SCREAMING and CONTORTING CORALINE COLLAPSES and is CONSUMED.
The next scene where Beth wakes up in Mick's loft is the same as in the presentation except that the script uses Mick's "sixty years" voiceover here as "No Such Thing as Vampires" does instead of during the rooftop scene as the presentation does:
AND MICK, who hasn't been truly touched by anyone in 60 years-- who is not afraid of anything-- suddenly finds himself terrified. Terrified that this girl who saved his life, who helped him eradicate the greatest evil in his life, who has been his touchstone-- his beacon-- his only link to humanity and goodness... will be repulsed by him.
MICK (V.O.) Sixty years is a long time to live in darkness... A long time to deny yourself the touch of another... But you do it. You do it because you just can't bear the thought of seeing yourself as a monster in someone else's eyes...
Fearful, utterly exposed now, Mick smiles sadly...
MICK This was a mistake...
As he turns away, Beth stands... She comes up behind him and takes his HAND...
BETH No.
SHE DRAWS MICK TO HER in an embrace of gratitude and acceptance...
Uncertain, he stands stiffly for a moment, and then... He puts his arms around her... Holding her close, Mick St. John has the look of a man who has just been saved.
The script ends with the scene with Coraline and Josef on a neighboring rooftop watching Mick and Beth's embrace.
The presentation has an additional cut back to Mick and Beth's embrace and a last voiceover:
"They say there's someone out there for everyone, but what if that person was born in a different time? What if you never would have met but for one horrific twist of fate? And what if you finally found her, and you knew there was no way. What then?"