Welcome to Script Watch! After doing Fight the Future, I decided it might be fun to go back to Season 1 and check out an earlier script. First on my list? Beyond the Sea!
I’m honestly not sure whether or not this is the final version of the script, but the most recent pages seem to have been added on November 23, 1993. If anyone wants to follow along with the original Twitter thread to join in on the discussion, you can find it here.
(And don’t worry, any script is going to be easier on the eyes than the blinding red FTF script.)
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Shall we?
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Beyond the Sea is interesting in that it’s the first episode that really starts to establish Scully’s relationship to her family (outside of mentioning that her parents didn’t really approve of her career choice in the Pilot).
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Morgan and Wong tended to be the ones who really fleshed out Scully’s history in those early seasons (and they continued to do so when they came back for Seasons 10 and 11, as well).
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We get our first descriptions of Scully’s parents here. Her father was apparently 63 when he died and had been retired from the Navy for five years.
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We also find out that Maggie is 58 here. Lots of ages in this script!
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The cute little salute Scully gives her dad isn’t in the script, and the order of things is a tiny bit different, but same general idea.
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This part played out a little differently.
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“How are you, Dana?” Stop trying to act like a normal person, Mulder, she’s not into it.
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In the script, Boggs is described as having a “deep black goatee,” which he doesn’t in the episode.
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Another “Dana” in the script that didn’t make it into the episode.
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Unscripted touching.
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In the script, Scully starts to ask Mulder about her vision and stops herself. In the episode, she just goes to check the files herself after he leaves.
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Bill and Charlie don’t have names yet, but they do have ages. Bill is 32, and Charlie is 25.
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Not sure if this would still be considered canon, of course, since Melissa probably just didn’t exist yet (though her absence is kind of explained in Christmas Carol when they say that she was traveling, and they weren’t sure where she was).
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Though I guess the ages could work if Bill, Melissa, and Dana were all kind of born back-to-back-to-back. Curious if an age is given for Melissa in the One Breath script.
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So, that pretty much confirms that the people in attendance were Bill, Charlie, their significant others, and Scully’s nephews that she mentions in Home. Though they were probably supposed to be Bill’s kids here until that was retconned in Christmas Carol.
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Though I guess Charlie could have had kids pretty young. *shrug* Obviously different actor for Bill, but hey, we did see an adult Charlie once, I guess.
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Also, it was supposed to be sunny in this scene, but Vancouver gonna Vancouver.
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“Her eyes turn to the sea as if it could provide an answer.”
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“Mulder studies Boggs with an increasing detest.”
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And, sadly, some scripted touching that did not make it into the episode.
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More Scully wanting to tell Mulder but not being able to bring herself to do so.
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Scully’s joke here was cut out, probably for the best.
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Another scripted “Dana” that didn’t make it into the ep. Jesus, there are “Danas” all over the place here. Chill the fuck out, Mulder.
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More scripted touching that didn’t make it into the ep.
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Instead, they make up for it by just sitting reeeeeeally close to each other.
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After Mulder is shot: “…as a doctor, she understands what is going on. As a friend, she feels helpless.”
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While it plays out more or less as scripted, there’s nothing in the script that prepares you for just how fucking intense and absolutely incredible Gillian Anderson and Brad Dourif’s performances are in the confrontation between Scully and Boggs in the jail cell.
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The beginning of this scene was cut, depriving us of more scripted touching and awkward character moments. Don’t worry, kids. There will be plenty more hospital bed hand-holding in your future.
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Unscripted touching.
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And that concludes this Beyond the Sea script-watch. Thanks for joining me! Let’s do this again sometime!
