The Scarlet Pimpernel
Treatment
The light-hearted duel takes them through all the halls of the manor, out the back door, and into an orchard in the back yard. There, sitting in the shade of a particularly large and blossoming tree sit MARGUERITE, Percy’s fiery, beautiful French wife, and LLEWELLYN, Anthony’s young English fiancée. The women are talking and laughing about their men. Percy, ever aware of the situation, sees a glimmer of excitement in Llewellyn’s eye and lets Anthony win. Marguerite knows this but lets Llewellyn believe her man bested Percy. Truth be told, this very selfless and humbling act endeared Percy to Marguerite all the more.
Later that night, the lord of the manor, LORD BLAKENEY, surveys the damage his young and reckless son caused that afternoon. He’s ashamed of his son, the fact that he’s as old as he is and hasn’t any respect for him or his possessions. Lord Blakeney finds Percy and tells his son, in so many words, he’s living a vain and useless life. This isn’t a new conversation for Percy and his father to be having, but there’s a gravity to Lord Blakeney’s words that Percy has never heard before. Lord Blakeney says “good night” after telling Percy that he is shaming himself, his name, and his God.
Percy retreats to his quarters where he finds his young wife, Marguerite, waiting for him. She holds him and assuages the wounds his father’s tongue-lashing caused. They kiss and are about to make love when a servant rushes into the room, claiming that Percy’s father has collapsed. Percy pushes past the servant and runs down the corridor to his father’s room, where he arrives just in time to see his father gasp his last breath.
It’s raining at the funeral. The many people who looked up to Lord Blakeney, whether they be friends, family, or complete strangers, stand in the rain to pay respect to the greatest man they ever knew or heard of. Percy stands outside the crowd, watching from the same distance he felt his father always kept him at. As he turns to leave, he notices a small red flower sprouting up at the tip of his boot. He picks it and then notices an artistic variation of the same kind of flower etched on every tombstone in his family’s cemetery. The scarlet flower is a pimpernel. He drops it and walks away.
That night, in
Back in Blakeney manor, Percy’s countenance has completely clouded over. He’s moody, angry and sullen. His father’s words are still echoing through his mind. His wife, desperate to please her man, decides to throw him a party. Percy can’t believe his wife but goes along with it. But the party, if it can be called that, is abysmal. Only the Blakeneys’ closest friends are invited: Anthony and Llewellyn (who we met in the first scene), ANDREW and JOANNA, and FARLEIGH and JOANNA. The men sit in Percy’s study in a palpable, awkward silence.
The silence is shattered by the arrival of Armand, the Frenchman we met fleeing the authorities in
Percy’s cover-up story to Marguerite is that he is going away for a week, to visit his old friends the St Cyrs, who live in northern
Crossing the Channel on The Day Dream, Percy’s schooner, Percy is talking to Farleigh, his oldest friend. He doesn’t like the guilt he’s feeling over having lied to Marguerite about why he’s going to
Chauvelin and his men sift through the remains of Armand’s office, searching for anything that might lead to the capture of Armand and his band of counter-revolutionists. They find nothing. They’re about to leave when Chauvelin spies an old, torn poster from a play the theatre put on years ago. At the forefront of the poster is Marguerite, who had the starring role. Chauvelin looks at the poster and wonders aloud whatever happened to Marguerite, and someone, one of his subordinates, says she married “some Englishman.”
A little German woman rambles through the streets of
The Committee of Surveillance, overseen by FOUCQUIER-TINVILLE, BIBOT, DANTON, TALLIEN, and COLLOT D’HERBOIS, was set up to be the new (if not temporary) government to replace the royal regime. They give Chauvelin the charge of going to
Back in
Percy and his men meet at The Fisherman’s Rest to find out who won their wager. Tony is absolutely ecstatic about how he just walked into a prison and requested the prisoners and the soldiers handed them over. Percy wins, but takes no pride in his victory. Instead, he declares it was for this he was born and that his life now has a purpose. He will use what he has to save as many innocents as he can. Maybe then he can escape the memory of his disapproving father and prove to himself that he is someone he can be proud of.
Armand, praying that he’s wrong but ultimately suspecting his sister to be a spy, goes to Marguerite and tries to ascertain her political allegiance but leaves the meeting unsatisfied.
Chauvelin goes down to the port on the coast of
Marguerite meets the men at the dock. Armand confides in Percy his doubts and fears about Marguerite. Percy blows off Armand and his fears just in time to hear Marguerite invite Chauvelin to stay with them. Armand looks at Percy, silently saying, “See?”
The head of the French revolution, the Committee of Surveillance, have a letter that discloses the whereabouts of the St Cyrs, a family that is not only aristocratic, but is involved with counter-revolutionary groups. They have this letter thanks to a spy in
Percy is bubbling over with excitement like a kid at Christmas. He tells Armand he’s going to do this. He’s going to commit his every resource to this cause for as long as he can, for as long as he has breath in his lungs.
Over breakfast the following morning, Percy and Marguerite get into an argument over the French Revolution. Marguerite supports it, though she admits that it has gotten a little out of hand. Percy, having seen the horrors (but not being able to reveal that), has to rely on his having grown up a noble as to why he’s completely against it. Needless to say, he leaves breakfast fearing that Armand might be right. Marguerite might be a spy for the fledgling, forming French government.
Anthony and Llewellyn hold a pre-marital party. Percy convinces Chauvelin to come, who is openly reluctant, as the Prince of Wales will be there, and he knows his political views will not be appreciated – though he secretly wants and needs to go, so that he might catch a lead on the Pimpernel.
Before the party begins, Percy catches word that the St Cyrs were found, arrested, and executed. All evidence suggests that Marguerite is working as a spy for the new French government, which breaks Percy’s heart. He sends word forward to his friends that there is a spy amongst them and they must continue playing the game, they can admit nothing. They must play the role of fashion-conscious fops. He confronts Marguerite and wants to believe her when she swears she had no idea that the black book of Armand’s was a list of addresses for families in hiding, but he can’t.
At the party, Percy and his men form the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, swearing to use their goods and abilities to help the innocent people of
Percy kicks the party off loudly, making himself the center of attention. He quickly introduces Chauvelin to the PRINCE OF WALES, putting “Chauvy” on the spot and not leaving until he makes it as awkward for Chauvelin as possible. Percy is the life of the party, cracking jokes and laughing constantly. But it’s all an act. An act that is very hard for Percy to play. When no-one is looking, he’s just about in tears.
The Scarlet Pimpernel is a wave that crashes across all of
Percy and his men unite to rescue the Marceaus, large family that was recently condemned by the Committee of Surveillance. It’s a rescue that ends with Percy leading the family through the sewers of
Fearing that the English royalty, in wanting to sever any ties with the French Revolution, will close down the English ports and cease all travel to
At a party Percy throws at his estate, he is reveling and having an absolutely wonderful time. But Marguerite is not amused. She pulls Percy aside and confronts him. He blows up at her, saying she has to accept the fact that they hardly knew each other when they married. The fact of the matter is, he’s feeling betrayed by her and doesn’t trust her, he just can’t tell her that. And when she looks at him, she sees a man who is 180 degrees away from the man she married. They part ways, both on the brink of tears. The prince, at dinner, asks “who is this blasted Pimpernel?” Percy, with a laugh and a flourish recites his little Pimpernel poem (“they seek him here, they seek him there, those Frenchies seek him everywhere. Is he in Heaven? Or is he in Hell? That demned elusive Pimpernel.”).
Llewellyn finds Marguerite crying in a pantry and comforts her. But Marguerite cannot stand the life that she has found herself in. So, in so many words, if Percy is going to “play this game,” she will too. She finds Chauvelin, who details to Marguerite why he’s in
Percy notes to Marguerite that he noticed her and Chauvelin spending time together during the party. Marguerite hopes Percy’s jealous, but he’s not. At least, that’s how he’s acting.
Chauvelin reveals to his superiors that he knows who the Pimpernel is, but has to wait until the Pimpernel is back on French soil before he can arrest him. That, and he wants the Pimpernel to be absolutely devastated when he’s led to the guillotine, to believe that he was betrayed by his beloved.
Marguerite begins asking questions, trying to piece together who the Pimpernel is, but to little avail. Meanwhile, her marriage is just about in shambles. Percy and her are no longer sharing a bed.
Chauvelin makes it known to Percy and Armand that they’ve arrested every leader of every counter-revolutionist group in
Percy dashes out of the manor, not telling anyone where he’s going. Armand notices his absence and wonders what’s going on. He asks around, no-one knows. He finds Chauvelin drunk in the kitchen, who’s celebrating “the capture of the Scarlet Pimpernel.” He laughs at how Percy tried to fool everyone with his fop act, but he saw through it. Armand races out of the kitchen, in a blind panic . . . which is exactly what Chauvelin predicted.
Marguerite bumps into Percy in the hall, who has returned from Anthony’s, having calmed “Tony’s pre-wedding cold feet.”
Chauvelin announces that he’s leaving for
Marguerite begs Percy for help in finding who the Pimpernel is. Percy laughs at her, asking why she would think he would know who he is. Marguerite insists it’s a matter of life or death. Percy reluctantly agrees to help. He’ll poke around at the engagement party tonight.
At the party, the Pimpernel meets Marguerite on the bridge in the back. He stays behind her the entire time, speaking with a thick Irish accent and pressing a knife to her throat. She tells him everything he wants to know. He asks about Armand, Chauvelin, and why he should trust her. He’s rough with her until she reveals the misunderstanding with the letter to the St Cyrs. Marguerite startles Percy as he’s leaving and he accidentally drops his knife and leaves it as he flees into the night. Percy finds his men in the party and tells them they must leave at dawn for
She gets back to Blakeney Manor, but he’s not there either. She goes into his study and finds everything. Maps, notes, routes, and the very large picture of Percy’s father looking down on her, with the family crest at each corner – the scarlet pimpernel.
Percy and his men break into the Bastille to rescue Armand, but his cell is empty. It’s a trap that Percy, Farleigh, and Andrew find themselves caught in. Farleigh is shot dead, despite Percy trying to keep him from fighting.
In
Percy, Marguerite, Anthony, and Armand try to escape
Percy finds himself in a stinking jail. He has resigned himself to the death that faces him the next day. Inasmuch he doesn’t want to die, he would much rather die for something than of something. Chauvelin comes in and the two share a moment of mutual respect and disdain.
The next morning, Percy is led to the guillotine. A large crowd has gathered to see the execution of this criminal. He is laid on the bed of the guillotine’s bed, only he’s laid on his back, that he might see the blade coming. Time seems to stop. The blade is released and begins to fall, but the blade never completes its fall. An explosion rocks the city centre and the guillotine blade is shattered by a cannonball that lodges itself into a townhouse, much to the embarrassment of the Prince of Wales, who is still holding the punk and standing over the cannon. Percy sits up as splinters from the guillotine rain down around him. The crowd disperses in a blind panic. Marguerite pushes her way through the crowd and climbs the scaffolding. She hugs Percy tight, they laugh, kiss passionately, and leap into the carriage Anthony’s driving and narrowly escape the French soldiers. The whole lot of them ride off into the horizon, catching The Day Dream back to
Remnants: Episode 5 from COGfilm on Vimeo.
So over on DarkUFO someon claiming to be working at Bad Robot posted this. We probably can't say whether or not his claim is true, but what he has to say is certainly intriguing.
Good stuff on here! I can finally throw in my two cents! I’ve had to bite my tongue for far too long. Also, hopefully I can answer some of John’s questions about Dharma and the “pointless breadcrumbs” that really, weren’t so pointless …
First …
The Island:It was real. Everything that happened on the island that we saw throughout the 6 seasons was real. Forget the final image of the plane crash, it was put in purposely to f*&k with people’s heads and show how far the show had come. They really crashed. They really survived. They really discovered Dharma and the Others. The Island keeps the balance of good and evil in the world. It always has and always will perform that role. And the Island will always need a “Protector”. Jacob wasn’t the first, Hurley won’t be the last. However, Jacob had to deal with a malevolent force (MIB) that his mother, nor Hurley had to deal with. He created the devil and had to find a way to kill him — even though the rules prevented him from actually doing so.
Thus began Jacob’s plan to bring candidates to the Island to do the one thing he couldn’t do. Kill the MIB. He had a huge list of candidates that spanned generations. Yet everytime he brought people there, the MIB corrupted them and caused them to kill one another. That was until Richard came along and helped Jacob understand that if he didn’t take a more active role, then his plan would never work.
Enter Dharma — which I’m not sure why John is having such a hard time grasping. Dharma, like the countless scores of people that were brought to the island before, were brought there by Jacob as part of his plan to kill the MIB. However, the MIB was aware of this plan and interferred by “corrupting” Ben. Making Ben believe he was doing the work of Jacob when in reality he was doing the work of the MIB. This carried over into all of Ben’s “off-island” activities. He was the leader. He spoke for Jacob as far as they were concerned. So the “Others” killed Dharma and later were actively trying to kill Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley and all the candidates because that’s what the MIB wanted. And what he couldn’t do for himself.
Dharma was originally brought in to be good. But was turned bad by MIB’s corruption and eventually destroyed by his pawn Ben. Now, was Dharma only brought there to help Jack and the other Canditates on their overall quest to kill Smokey? Or did Jacob have another list of Canidates from the Dharma group that we were never aware of? That’s a question that is purposley not answered because whatever answer the writers came up with would be worse than the one you come up with for yourself. Still … Dharma’s purpose is not “pointless” or even vague. Hell, it’s pretty blantent.
Still, despite his grand plan, Jacob wanted to give his “candidates” (our Lostaways) the one thing he, nor his brother, were ever afforded: free will. Hence him bringing a host of “candidates” through the decades and letting them “choose” which one would actually do the job in the end. Maybe he knew Jack would be the one to kill Flocke and that Hurley would be the protector in the end. Maybe he didn’t. But that was always the key question of the show: Fate vs Free-will. Science vs Faith. Personally I think Jacob knew from the beginning what was going to happen and that everyone played a part over 6 seasons in helping Jack get to the point where he needed to be to kill Smokey and make Hurley the protector — I know that’s how a lot of the writers viewed it. But again, they won’t answer that (nor should they) because that ruins the fun.
In the end, Jack got to do what he always wanted to do from the very first episode of the show: Save his fellow Lostaways. He got Kate and Sawyer off the island and he gave Hurley the purpose in life he’d always been missing. And, in Sideways world (which we’ll get to next) he in fact saved everyone by helping them all move on …
Now…
Sideways World:
Sideways world is where it gets really cool in terms of theology and metaphysical discussion (for me at least — because I love history/religion theories and loved all the talks in the writer’s room about it). Basically what the show is proposing is that we’re all linked to certain people during our lives. Call them soulmates (though it’s not exactly the best word). But these people we’re linked to are with us duing “the most important moments of our lives” as Christian said. These are the people we move through the universe with from lifetime to lifetime. It’s loosely based in Hinduisim with large doses of western religion thrown into the mix.
The conceit that the writers created, basing it off these religious philosophies, was that as a group, the Lostaways subconsciously created this “sideways” world where they exist in purgatory until they are “awakened” and find one another. Once they all find one another, they can then move on and move forward. In essence, this is the show’s concept of the afterlife. According to the show, everyone creates their own “Sideways” purgatory with their “soulmates” throughout their lives and exist there until they all move on together. That’s a beautiful notion. Even if you aren’t religious or even spirtual, the idea that we live AND die together is deeply profound and moving.
It’s a really cool and spirtual concept that fits the whole tone and subtext the show has had from the beginning. These people were SUPPOSED to be together on that plane. They were supposed to live through these events — not JUST because of Jacob. But because that’s what the universe or God (depending on how religious you wish to get) wanted to happen. The show was always about science vs faith — and it ultimately came down on the side of faith. It answered THE core question of the series. The one question that has been at the root of every island mystery, every character backstory, every plot twist. That, by itself, is quite an accomplishment.
How much you want to extrapolate from that is up to you as the viewer. Think about season 1 when we first found the Hatch. Everyone thought that’s THE answer! Whatever is down there is the answer! Then, as we discovered it was just one station of many. One link in a very long chain that kept revealing more, and more of a larger mosiac.
But the writer’s took it even further this season by contrasting this Sideways “purgatory” with the Island itself. Remember when Michael appeared to Hurley, he said he was not allowed to leave the Island. Just like the MIB. He wasn’t allowed into this sideways world and thus, was not afforded the opportunity to move on. Why? Because he had proven himself to be unworthy with his actions on the Island. He failed the test. The others, passed. They made it into Sideways world when they died — some before Jack, some years later. In Hurley’s case, maybe centuries later. They exist in this sideways world until they are “awakened” and they can only move on TOGETHER because they are linked. They are destined to be together for eternity. That was their destiny.
They were NOT linked to Anna Lucia, Daniel, Roussou, Alex, Miles, Lupidis, (and all the rest who weren’t in the chuch — basically everyone who wasn’t in season 1). Yet those people exist in Sideways world. Why? Well again, here’s where they leave it up to you to decide. The way I like to think about it, is that those people who were left behind in Sideways world have to find their own soulmates before they can wake up. It’s possible that those links aren’t people from the island but from their other life (Anna’s parnter, the guy she shot — Roussou’s husband, etc etc).
A lot of people have been talking about Ben and why he didn’t go into the Church. And if you think of Sideways world in this way, then it gives you the answer to that very question. Ben can’t move on yet because he hasn’t connected with the people he needs to. It’s going to be his job to awaken Roussou, Alex, Anna Lucia (maybe), Ethan, Goodspeed, his father and the rest. He has to attone for his sins more than he did by being Hurley’s number two. He has to do what Hurley and Desmond did for our Lostaways with his own people. He has to help them connect. And he can only move on when all the links in his chain are ready to. Same can be said for Faraday, Charlotte, Whidmore, Hawkins etc. It’s really a neat, and cool concept. At least to me.
But, from a more “behind the scenes” note: the reason Ben’s not in the church, and the reason no one is in the church but for Season 1 people is because they wrote the ending to the show after writing the pilot. And never changed it. The writers always said (and many didn’t believe them) that they knew their ending from the very first episode. I applaud them for that. It’s pretty fantastic. Originally Ben was supposed to have a 3 episode arc and be done. But he became a big part of the show. They could have easily changed their ending and put him in the church — but instead they problem solved it. Gave him a BRILLIANT moment with Locke outside the church … and then that was it. I loved that. For those that wonder — the original ending started the moment Jack walked into the church and touches the casket to Jack closing his eyes as the other plane flies away. That was always JJ’s ending. And they kept it.
For me the ending of this show means a lot. Not only because I worked on it, but because as a writer it inspired me in a way the medium had never done before. I’ve been inspired to write by great films. Maybe too many to count. And there have been amazing TV shows that I’ve loved (X-Files, 24, Sopranos, countless 1/2 hour shows). But none did what LOST did for me. None showed me that you could take huge risks (writing a show about faith for network TV) and stick to your creative guns and STILL please the audience. I learned a lot from the show as a writer. I learned even more from being around the incredible writers, producers, PAs, interns and everyone else who slaved on the show for 6 years.
In the end, for me, LOST was a touchstone show that dealt with faith, the afterlife, and all these big, spirtual questions that most shows don’t touch. And to me, they never once waivered from their core story — even with all the sci-fi elements they mixed in. To walk that long and daunting of a creative tightrope and survive is simply astounding.
