Episode 10: The Long Night in Orbit --OR-- Polly Put the Kettle On

Download the script for Episode 10 of the Misery Loves Company here

Only five(ish) episodes left in season one. The end is nigh. Yet— right now, more than at any point in the season, everything seems like it’s going alright. I’m sure it’ll last. It always does, right?

This is the start of a series of shorter, more focused episodes. I think when we come back with a second season, it’ll be a bit less meandering. Or at least that’s my expectation. It’s always hard to say that until you’re out there actually writing it. And rest assured— I’m not. Though I did jump back into it briefly… I’ll talk about that maybe next week.

After wrapping up the story-telling with Magna and Bloodstorm as well as releasing the hostages and data the mysterious group or groups had captured from the Triple Sevens, Ahab and Clyde make the totally necessary trip over to Cobb Gnarly’s port. Bernie, having decided to heal up from his recent adventures, takes the backseat and disappears for the time being.

Someday we’ll have to tour Golden Bear a little more than we’ve gotten to see so far. Maybe a very special episode.

Cobb’s favor got called in a little quicker than I think anyone was expecting— most all, Cobb. I think he was hoping to save it for a suicide mission, but it turns out he’s a little more desperate than that to save his flighted mistress from an outbreak of the Werecrows.

Werecrows are nasty business.

This episode, honestly, felt a little short to me. I wanted to tack something onto the end of it, but nothing really felt right. And God forbid my favorite couple from Episode 8 returns so soon.

This is the start of a big story for our boys. I hope you’re around to hear it.

Credits:

Ahab - Ryan Sheehe

Bernie - Morgan Stewart

Clyde - Derek Huss

Kyrgan - Katie Pappas

Narrator - Jake Roberts

Guests:

Cobb Gnarly - Daniel Dockery

Warlord Magna - Katelyn Sabet

General Bloodstorm - Jason Edwards

Malinda - Tyler Quick

Warlord Solomon - Kate Matthews

Music:

All music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

SFX: Various libraries

Episode 9: The Delivery --OR-- The Parting Glass

Read the complete script for Episode 9 of The Misery Loves Company here

So this is an episode. My initial idea for this one was to try and mix up the style a little bit— take Ahab and make him the POV for the first time and see how he tells a story versus just being involved in one. I’m not sure listening to it that it panned out all the way creatively, but it was a nice attempt at being fresh midway through the season I think. Maybe I just didn’t commit enough? Hard to say.

Either way, another failure for the episode I think is just the overall fact that for the season we haven’t seen DOM as anything but a modestly antagonistic force. He was always kind of the way he is, but he was all the way on MLC’s side. He and Ahab served for a long time in the Triple 7’s together even. But these facts kind of get lost in the noise of what he’s done since then. Maybe something that can be fixed in later episodes. Maybe not. We’ll see.

So this is how we got to the present status quo. DOM, either by choice or duress, led the Company to near extinction. After leaving Clyde and Ahab for dead last time, leading to Clyde losing his body, he this time attacks them head on. The fact that they made it out alive at all is a testament to their grit.

In some ways, the story of this episode is a spin on MLC Vol. 1, the initial backyard movie from 2010 that led to all this in the first place. In that story, Bernie is the one that betrays the team in order to save Bernadette from an unknown assailant. It’s not something this Bernie would do. Or really even that one. It’s a whole thing. I wouldn’t worry about it.

But this re-working is where the story for this show comes into its own, having exhausted the comic scripts in Episode 8 and the prior material here.

I also made a conscious effort moving forwards during the 2017 writing process to try and keep the episodes at a steady length. Somewhat shorter than they have been recently. I think about 10-13 minutes is plenty per episode. Here’s a good look at the overall project file for this episode. Gets busy and gross near the end, but pretty clean up until then.

This is also the first time we hear the MLC theme during the show! I kind of like it being saved for big moments. We’ll see. Thanks for reading.

ep9mix.png

Credits:

Ahab - Ryan Sheehe

Bernie - Morgan Stewart

Clyde - Derek Huss

Kyrgan - Katie Pappas

Narrator - Jake Roberts

Guests:

DOM - Christian Moore

Warlord Magna - Katelyn Sabet

General Bloodstorm - Jason Edwards

Music:

All music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

SFX: Various libraries

Episode 8: The Wind and the Weight --OR-- Dem Bones, Dem Bones!

The script for Episode 8 of The Misery Loves Company can be found here

So this was a big one. I love this episode. It was a pain in the ass forever to work on. Clyde’s “accident” took me longer than basically anything else in the show so far. The action feels clean (to me), and the sound all episode long is sharp. I like Hexil a lot, and I hope we learn more about it.

I realize around this time in the season that there’s a lot of questions being asked but very few answers given (so far). This isn’t a mystery box show, where there’s some cosmic turtle spinning away, but just a narrative that might take some time to unwind.

Starting from the beginning of their story was never really something I considered, I found them far more compelling to talk about starting from after the worst day of their lives has already happened. Which, coincidentally, will be seen in Episode 9.

Clyde doesn’t speak much. He’s a quieter guy, but at the end of the day he’s just as messed up as anyone else. He just doesn’t talk about it as often as some of the others. I think he has some intense stuff going on inside him. We’ll learn more about this later.

This episode we got to hear more from Sarah Shepard and Rebecca Booth, two people I’m sure we’ll get more of as time goes on. They’re too good to keep wasting on these side characters. We also meet a power couple late in the episode played by Breanne Hollis and Ian Lawrence. Some people I’ve spoken to really hate this part, but it amused me more than anything else. I get that maybe it’s a little tonally inconsistent with the end of the episode, I accept this cognitively, but there are some bits too good to go. I will die on this hill. I stan the trauma bonding power couple. And to defy you even further, I make a vow to include them in future episodes whenever possible. Because, and I can’t stress this enough, it makes me laugh, and so it is written.

I’m really excited for you to have listened to this little mini-saga of episodes. Starting here is where the comic material runs out. From here on, everything was written specifically for this show, and I think honestly it may be better for it. Except for episode 9. We’ll talk about that next week. Until then.

Credits:

Ahab - Ryan Sheehe

Bernie - Morgan Stewart

Clyde - Derek Huss

Kyrgan - Katie Pappas

Narrator - Jake Roberts

Lizard Man - Rebecca Booth

Goon - Breanne Hollis

Schmuck - Ian Lawrence

Lord Bowtie - Sarah Shepard

Hexil/Various - Morgan Stewart

Music:

All music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

SFX: Various libraries