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First attempt at act/scene breakdown
Episode 1: Breakdown
- Teaser:
- Dawn dreaming. Woken up by Willow or Xander calling for her to get ready for school. She groans and says that Buffy’s lucky she’s away and not having to deal with all this.
- Cut to Buffy, having to deal with all this, just in another country.
- Act 1:
- Morning scene. Willow and Xander playing mother and father to Dawn. Through the conversation, they set up where people are and what’s going on – Buffy in Europe, helping Giles with the new Council, finding all the Slayers, etc. There’s some sadness and perhaps even a little bit of resentment that Buffy’s not there with them, but understanding as well that she’d finally able to live a life outside of Slaying.
- Giles speaks to a new recruit and offers her the opportunity to stay and train with them. Show Andrew as a secretary of sorts to Giles, perhaps.
- Faith arriving in new town to find new recruit.
- Kennedy doing morning training with other Slayers. She’s still a drill sergeant.
- Giles comes over to the house to see Willow and Xander. They talk about Buffy. Giles talks to Willow about magic, perhaps scheduling a time to work with her to continue her training/meditation. Giles makes a passing comment about something that breaks the thin façade Xander has. Giles leaves at the end of the scene to do official Council stuff.
- Act Break: Willow talking to a depressed Xander. He tells her that he’s planning on leaving.
- Act 2:
- Willow talking to Xander, trying to find out why he wants to leave.
- Dawn talking to her friends at school.
- ...
- Act Break: Faith’s recruit meets her first vampire.
Character action breakdown
- Buffy:
- Wakes up in a hostel, irritated by all the other people there.
- Willow:
- Plays mother to Dawn, sees her off to school.
- Talks with Giles when he comes over. Makes arrangements for magic training at some point in the future.
- Discovers and talks about Xander’s depression.
- Convinces Xander not to leave (right now).
- Talks with Kennedy about what’s troubling Xander and becomes upset over an off-the-cuff remark by Kennedy. Things are smoothed over quickly, and they then try to decide what to do with their night, unable to find anything in common save snuggles.
- Xander:
- Plays father to Dawn, sees her off to school.
- Talks with Giles when he comes over, but is detached and quickly becomes visibly depressed.
- Broods silently, but is confronted by Willow. Announces that he is seriously considering leaving.
- Tells Willow that he won’t leave right now, but can make no promises about the future.
- Greets Dawn after school. Something she says makes him perk up a bit, but he is still conflicted, his guilt outweighing any happiness.
- Seen alone, outside, drinking quietly.
- Giles:
- Talks with new Slayer, offering the girl the opportunity to stay and train with them. Demonstrates via Andrew that he is the focal point for the new Council.
- Heads to Willow & Xander’s house, where the three of them discuss how the new Council is coming along. Anxious to ensure Willow continue her regular training/meetings with him about her magic. Somewhat absorbed in what he’s doing, and doesn’t entirely pick up on Xander’s well-disguised depression. Excuses himself, saying he has an important meeting.
- Meets up with installation people at his new loft. They’re installing a state-of-the-art sound system. Giles complains about having to use CDs now (he lost his prized record collection), but grudgingly agrees the sound is ... nice. (Velvet Underground, "Sweet Jane"?)
- Meets up with Wood for dinner and the two discuss some more about what’s going on. Giles will express fears to Wood about the dangers of awakening all the Slayers, including the fact that their group is surely not alone in noticing how much power for good is out there now.
- Dawn:
- Has a dream, and is awakened by the clattering downstairs and general hubbub from Willow and Xander getting her up for school. She grouses about the noise and comments that Buffy’s lucky because she doesn’t have to deal with this sort of thing.
- Gets ready for school, bantering with Willow and Xander about a variety of topics. Rushes out the door to catch the bus (complaining about being a big loser and catching the bus in the meantime).
- Interacts with some friends at school, maybe trying a little too hard to appear cool. Makes some off-hand comments about some of her family, which her friends think sounds really awesome (like, say, her sister backpacking across Europe, or some neat-looking protection charm she carries that Willow made for her – innocent, but cool stuff).
- Comes home and talks to Xander about her day at school, maybe letting it drop that she’s frustrated at how much more interesting everyone else seems but her. Makes some sort of comment to Xander about how much she loves him and is glad he’s there.
- Faith:
- Arrives in a town somewhere, seeking out a new recruit. She has directions as provided by Willow and Giles.
- Finally finds the girl, and talks to her about her new destiny. The girl doesn’t believe a word Faith is saying, even after admitting that she does seem stronger, faster, etc. Faith isn’t surprised – she’s faced this disbelief a dozen times by now.
- Trying to convince the girl, Faith drags her off to a nearby cemetery, where the girl encounters her first vampire. Faith dusts it, fairly nonchalantly. The girl is pretty wigged out by what she’s seen, which is something else Faith has encountered a dozen times now. She leaves the girl with a business card and tells her to call them when she decides what she wants to do, but leaves the girl with a serious caution about her powers. Nobody knows better than Faith what power can do to you.
- Kennedy:
- Training a small squad of new Slayers. She’s still the drill sergeant.
- Interacts with her new Watcher. The two have an uneasy, tense relationship. The Watcher is fairly new to his/her job, and Kennedy was never one to take well to authority. She bristles at the fact that she has to have a Watcher while Faith and Buffy don’t. The fact that they’ve been Slayers for years makes little difference.
- Meets up with the recruit Giles was talking to, and takes an instant liking to the girl. Offers to show her around and introduce her to everybody.
- That night, she and Willow are talking. She’s enthusiastic about the Slaying thing, and somewhat oblivious to Willow’s concerns about Xander. She makes a comment that really upsets Will, but it was entirely unintentional and the hurt is easily soothed. They then try to figure out what to do with the rest of their night, but are unable to agree on anything, except snuggles.
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