Major Final Project - Pilot Part 2 Synopsis

The following is the synopsis for the 2nd episode - the Pilot: Part 2. The first episode focused mainly on Edward, I wanted to focus on Evelyn, his sister. In episode 1, we see how so soon after Edward is released, he becomes a killer. Part 2 focuses on his sister Evelyn - it tells the story of how she becomes part of Edward's dark and twisted world. This may be subject to change as I continue to write it, but for now, here is the synopsis.

Foreshadowing: The episode begins with police sirens howling. Evelyn is seen, standing static and holding a blood stained candelabra. The screen pans out to see that Edward is stood over the body of a middle-aged man, holding two fingers to the dead man’s neck. Edward declares him dead, before standing up and hugging his sister, who does not respond at all, instead, keeps a look of shock and terror on her face as well as disbelief at what she’s just done. Edward releases her and grabbing her face, he attempts to reassure her.

Cut back to: 1 week earlier. Evelyn is in bed until the alarm on her clock goes off, 6am on the dot.  Her eyes barely open as she rolls over slamming her hand on the snooze button. 6.05 and repeat. 6.10 and repeat. 6.15, she finally gets up.
Once Evelyn is ready for the day she leaves the house, not before kissing a picture of her boyfriend Richard (who the audience now know is dead, which Evelyn is oblivious to) and getting in her small blue VW Beatle to leave.

Shortly after, Evelyn arrives at St. David’s Church, a church local to her. She chirpily heads on in, greeting those who pass her ever so sweetly, crowds of people heading into the Church with her. Once inside, she takes a seat near the front of the hall, and the service begins. Shortly through, Evelyn is called up for a reading, which she does to many a loving eyes.

At the end of the service, Evelyn is thanked before she heads to one of the backrooms of the Church. It resembles an ordinary elementary school classroom, complete with a new interactive white board. It doesn’t take long for the room to fill with children of all different ages, from around 5 to 10. Evelyn is revealed to be the Sunday school teacher, and she begins to teach her class.

When the class finishes, one of her students comes up to her, a boy around 8 years old. He simply thanks her for the lesson, being a polite young man, but as he turns to leave, Evelyn notices a slight scarring down his back. She brings him back and lifts up the back of his shirt, to reveal scars all down it. Asking the boy about it, he says that Daddy told him to be quiet, and he runs off. Upon seeing the scars however, Evelyn has violent flashbacks to her abuse as a child, which leave her a sobbing mess on the floor of her classroom.

When she gets home, she looks more composed, and over what she had just seen. She picks up her phone to call Richard. His phone is off, so she tries his home phone. This time it just rings out. She knows they have a date that night, so she shrugs it off and gets ready as planned, deciding to go to the restaurant alone.

She arrives at the restaurant, looking beautiful in her black dress and heels, her haired tied up in a bun. She is seated at her table and orders a glass of wine while she waits. After waiting a short while she calls his phone again but gets no answer. Just as she puts the phone down, someone sits at her table in front of her. It is her brother, EDWARD. Confused and angry, Evelyn asks Edward where Richard is. Edward plays it innocent saying that he was just passing and saw her in here. Evelyn accepts this, though is upset by the lack of her boyfriend being there. She leaves a message and a text and begins to eat with her brother.

After eating and saying her goodbyes, Evelyn heads home. She spots in her car a key, remembering that Richard gave her one to his apartment not long earlier, so she decides to drive round. His car isn’t in the drive so she decides to head up to his apartment. She is very cautious as she does this but lets herself into his apartment anyway. Calling his name a few times and looking around, she spots nothing, he isn’t home. What she does find strange though is the amount of dirty dishes left over, some with food still on.

Just before she leaves she notices a shadow behind her. She turns around saying Richard’s name, but to her surprise, it is Edward. She gets angry shouting at him asking why he is there. He explains he was following her to make sure she was safe. She then gets even angrier at that statement and accuses him of doing something to Richard. To shut her up, Edward puts his hand over her mouth and forces her onto a sofa, leaning over her. He tells her to calm down and that if she’d just let him explain he will, as long as she promises not to shout. She nods, and he releases her.

Edward then admits that he can’t lie to her, being her sister, and he confesses. This riles her up even more and she starts screaming and sobbing, throwing pillows at Edward, who in return, pulls a large KNIFE out of his trousers and gets down on her level pointing it at her. He threatens her, telling her to hear him out, almost begging her not to make him have to kill her. Terrified, she agrees to listen.

Edward explains that he needed her to be with him, that being with Richard wasn’t in God’s plan and that it was a sin. He tells her that God told him to do it and that as a result; Richard is in a better place now. Terrified, yet calmer and furious, Evelyn calls him crazy. She questions his therapy and his judgement. He brings the knife closer to her, telling her that this isn’t how it works, that she has to be on his side and that if she were to tell anyone, then he would have no choice then to change his plan, and that she would have to die as well. Evelyn understands this, fearful for her life, and agrees, telling him what he wants to hear. That he is her brother and she’ll do as he asks.

The next few days, Evelyn is locked up in her own apartment, looking sad and distressed. She gets a knock on the door, only to answer it to the police, who ask if they can come in to ask her a few questions. Evelyn complies and lets them in. Sitting down with them, they ask her whether she knows anything about Richard’s disappearance. She manages to keep her cool, asking who called it in; finding out it was Richard’s sister, HANNAH.  She knows she can’ tell them what she knows, through fear of her brother finding out, so she tells them that it was there anniversary the other night and he didn’t show up and that she can’t get hold of him. She plays the distressed girlfriend very well, but is able to seem truthful enough as to how ignorant she is towards it. The police seem understanding, eventually leaving asking her to let them know if they hear anything from him and she agrees.

The next day she receives a call from Hannah, asking her to meet her for lunch. She does so and upon arriving finds a distressed Hannah. Hannah is sympathetic but very uncomfortable and upset, asking anything that Richard might have said to her. Evelyn reveals they haven’t had an argument and that it is just as confusing to her as it is to Hannah. The two part ways.

Finding it hard, Evelyn tries to continue about her own ways, and once again heads to Church on the Sunday. We see the same scene, but this time Evelyn seems very different, not really talking to anyone. She doesn’t do a reading during the service and then it is time for class.

As the class finishes she spies a visitor. Edward is in the doorway. As the children leave, Evelyn confronts Edward asking what he is doing here. He explains he just wanted to see how she was doing and that she shouldn’t worry. She whispers to him the police have been round to see her, but that he shouldn’t worry, as she hasn’t told them anything. The boy from before is still sat in his seat, which Evelyn notices and she goes to talk to him. The boy, TIMOTHY, says that he doesn’t want to go home because he is scared. Edward approaches asking him why, but the boy doesn’t tell them why. Eventually, the boys’ father, MIKE, comes to the classroom to collect him. He doesn’t look like a particularly nice man and he grabs Timothy by the arm and strolls him out. As he does so, the boy’s shirt comes up a bit and Edward see’s the scarring on his back. Edward immediately clocks what is going and makes to follow them, but Evelyn stops him. She explains it’s none of their business what goes on at their house and they should just leave it. Edward doesn’t accept this and gets angry, which Evelyn understands as it is reminiscent of when they were younger. She begs Edward, knowing what he is capable of, not to do anything rash.

That night, Evelyn is eating ice cream whilst under a blanket on the sofa and watching television. Her phone goes off and she checks it to see a text from Edward, reading, “I’m going to do it. Don’t try and stop me”. Evelyn immediately jumps up and in a hurried state leaves the house.  – Change the text up a bit, make it more subtle.

Whilst in the car, we see Evelyn pull up to a small neighbourhood. She checks a piece of paper from the Church with contact details, including addresses on, and confirms the right address. There is no sign that Edward might be there so she is reluctant to get out of the car. As she waits, she spies a figure jump the back gate and she clocks that it’s Edward. She jumps out the car and runs near to the front door. She ducks down near some bushes and waits; she can’t just knock, as she doesn’t have a reason to. Suddenly, a loud crash and a bang are heard and she springs up, trying the front door, which happens to be open.

As she treads through the house, she’s hears a loud cry of anguish from a man. She picks up the nearest thing she can find, a medium sized candelabra, bringing it to her head, raised, with the intent of knocking out Edward. As she nears the source of the sound she hears more male voices, from two people.

Entering the kitchen, she see’s something she is not expecting to see. Edward is there, but at a disadvantage to Mike, who has him pinned against a wall with a knife to his throat and looking a bit beaten up. Mike hasn’t noticed Evelyn and continues to threaten Edward’s life, calling him a creep and a pervert. In a sudden rush of adrenaline, Evelyn runs over and hits Mike on the back of the head at full force with the candelabra. He staggers slightly before turning and seeing Evelyn, who immediately smashes him with the candelabra again, sending him toppling over to the floor.

We are now back to the beginning where the foreshadowing took place. Edward confirms that Mike is dead. After hugging her, she remains shocked at what she has just done, but Edward tells her she’s back and that she did the right thing. He then prises the Candelabra out of her hands and keeps hold of it as he walks her outside and back to the car, asking if she is all right to drive.

The final scene we see is Evelyn wrapped up in a blanket, staring into a furnace as Edward breaks up the candelabra as he throws the smaller bits into it. The look on Evelyn’s face is completely solemn. Her years of therapy have been thrown to waste. She is once again, a murderer.

Final Major Production - Channel and Format

My Series is aimed to be a 6-part television drama, with each episode being 40 minutes in length. Researching in to different networks on which my series would be suited to, I decided to go with HBO - and their English Counterpart, Sky Atlantic.

HBO (Home Box Office) is an American premium cable and satellite television network that is owned by Home Box Office Inc., an operating subsidiary of Time Warner. HBO's programming consists primarily of theatrically released motion pictures and original television series, along with made-for-cable movies and documentaries, boxing matches and occasional comedy and concert specials.

List of drama series: 

·      Sex and the City

·      The Soprano’s

·      The Wire

·      Entourage

·      Six Feet Under

·      Boardwalk Empire

·      Game of Thrones

·      True Blood

These shows are shown on channels in the United Kingdom such as Sky Atlantic – an extension of HBO. They have been known to show British programming using mainly British casts as well, such as Life’s Too Short and the overly successful Game of Thrones.

Many HBO programmes are intended for audiences of 16-18+ as swearing, violence and nudity is a prominent theme in a lot of the different series. The Book of Tamlock would be aimed at this age group. The more family friendly series are shown on an extension of HBO, HBO Family, to leave room for the more serious and adult dramas and comedies. The main HBO channel mainly airs R-rated films only after 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, but does air certain TV-MA rated programs during the daytime hours.

Seeing as the company do use British actors and locations, which would still appeal to an American demographic, I feel this would be the right network for my show to be on as the network has much more of a wider range of titles then most other networks, such as Showtime and AMC that seem to focus, although with great shows of their own, on very similar styled and themed programming. The broader sense makes HBO, and their expanse of networking to other countries, the prime media format for my show to be on.

Final Major Production - Character Profile, Evelyn

Here is the second complete character profile, this time of Edward's sister, Evelyn, who plays a major role within the entire series.

Character Profiles

Name: Evelyn Tamlock

Gender: Female

Age:  26

Physical Appearance:  Evelyn is quite short compared to her brother, standing at about 5’5”. She has long, flowing, dark brown hair and a very pretty face. Her large eyes are a prominent feature and they are a deep ebony colour – very piercing to look at.

How does the character feel about his appearance: Evelyn likes compliments. Her boyfriend constantly showers her with them, despite not always believing them. She doesn’t mind how she looks at all, but she doesn’t think she’s the best looking person in the world.

Describe the character’s childhood in terms of:

a)    Relationship to parents – Evelyn, along with her brother Edward, never got on very well with her parents. She was abused and beaten by both Mother and Father. This lead to their untimely demise as at the age of 8, Edward and Evelyn committed matricide and patricide, ultimately freeing them from the long-term abuse they suffered.

b)   Relationship to siblings – Evelyn as a child had a very close relationship with her twin brother, Edward. She felt he was a force that could always protect her from scary things. Ultimately, this led to a complete dependency on Edward. Through therapy, she learnt she shouldn’t be so dependent on her brother, and shouldn’t always listen to what he has to say, as it was because of him, she ended up where she did, and ended up murdering her parents. She is now quite scared of the prospect of meeting him, but upon doing so, that dependency and closeness she thought she had gotten rid of over her 14 years of therapy, actually comes flooding back.

Her little brother, Jacob, she believes to be dead, after her and her brother attempted to suffocate him with a pillow when he was only 3.

c)    Relationship to other key people from his youth – The family butler, Roland, played a key part in Evelyn’s growing up. He nursed Evelyn through all illness and injuries acquired from her parents while growing up. He is the closest thing to a father that Evelyn has. Since her release, Roland has helped her sort her new life out and was the one who helped her find her own place and a job. She maintains a close relationship with him, calling him and meeting him for coffee whenever able to.

d)   Lifestyle while growing up – Evelyn had a painful upbringing; her parents beat her, like they did Edward. Being a girl and more fragile, the abuse to her was never as harsh as that towards Edward, though what scarred her more was having to watch what they did to Edward. This scare-factor resulted in her being very polite and submissive, always doing what she was told. She was brought up Catholic, respecting those ways. However, while she maintains some beliefs, she does not follow the religion as closely as others like her brother.

e)    Education – Evelyn attended a private school with her brother. She was never quite at his level of intelligence however, averaging B grades while her brother got top marks. Her education continued during her time in the institution, however she often struggled, due to her shy and reserved nature. When this was worked on and she gained more confidence, her grades improved, but she still remains of average intelligence because of this struggle in education.

f)     Childhood activities – Playing with her brother. Evelyn never wanted to anything without Edward. He would often read her stories from the books he was reading, until she fell asleep in his lap. She would never not be at his side.

g)    Location – Evelyn spent the first 8 years of her life in the same house. A large gothic mansion in West Sussex; very pristine with religious symbolism everywhere (Christian). Following that, she spent the majority of her life, 14 years, in a mental health institute in Liverpool.

Describe the characters current relationships with:

a)    Parents – non-existent, as they are dead.  Evelyn feels much remorse to their murder however.

b)   Siblings – Evelyn, upon making first contact with Edward, is very scared and cautious about meeting him.  She was told in therapy that he too easily manipulates her and she makes a conscious effort not to be dragged in to his old ways, if they are still the same. Upon discovering that he is murdering again, she takes a lot of consoling, but again, she is easily manipulated until she eventually murders someone herself, forcing her right into Edward’s vicious circle of lies and deceit.

c)    Roland– As mentioned earlier, Evelyn and Roland maintain a close relationship. Having helped her get on her feet after leaving therapy, Roland and her now meet on a regular basis, as two old friends would.  He is very protective over her, which she appreciates.

Describe the character’s romantic life and any relevant background: Evelyn is now with a man of around the same age called Richard. It is her first relationship since being out of therapy and it is going well. She feels comfortable around him though he is just a replacement for Edward essentially. She feels protected when around him.

Describe the character’s sex life and moral beliefs: Evelyn used to have strong morals when it came to sex. She only believed in having it before marriage; that is, until she met Richard. Richard isn’t a particularly religious fellow and he managed to bed her in the couple of years they have been together. She succumbed to temptation and ended up having intercourse with him, something that she intends to hide from Edward at all costs, not knowing how he would react to it. She holds many other moral beliefs, being that she doesn’t agree with lying and she doesn’t always agree with hurting someone. It is the fact that Edward, who makes her ditch most of her morals, easily manipulates her.

Does the character have children? If not, how does he feel about children?

Evelyn has no children.  She does however, love children. She believes they are the hope of the future and she works at a Sunday school in order to help children and their affirmation in their belief of God.

What is the character’s religious background? :  Evelyn maintains her beliefs as a Catholic, though doesn’t practice them as well as people like her brother. She still believes in a heaven and a hell and she follows all the commandments as she can. It is Edward who ends up acting like her parents used to, though without the abuse, to make her more willing to act upon her beliefs. She still holds much mental scarring, despite being out of the institution for 4 years, which is all brought up again once reuniting with her brother.

What is the character’s occupation: Volunteers at a Church’s Sunday school.

Describe the character’s philosophy of life: Evelyn believes on the fundamentals. Enjoy the little things. Practice makes perfect. She goes through life doing what she believes to be right, even if sometimes that view can be quite warped. She is easily persuaded and convinced however, and other people’s views tend to rub off on her quite easily, with her then believing they are her own views and beliefs.

Sum up the main aspects of the character’s personality:  Evelyn is a calm and reserved person. She is very shy apart from people she is comfortable around. Easily manipulated and easy to please. She keeps herself to herself and doesn’t let people know about her dark past.

What is this character proud of? Evelyn is proud of herself, for getting over something she never thought she would. She is also proud of how well she has adapted into the real world, unknowing that this will all change.

What is this character ashamed of? Evelyn is deeply ashamed of her past, which is why she tends to never bring it up to anyone.

What is his state of health? Evelyn is of sound mind, but her being easily manipulated into doing things that others wouldn’t, show that she is slightly degenerate in that area. She doesn’t have the same problems that Edward has, though she often has night terrors of her black past.

How intelligent is he or she? Evelyn is of average intelligence. She didn’t get the grades in education she hoped she’d get, but she is very knowledgeable in other areas, such as cooking and her religion.

Final Major Project - Qualities of a Psychopath

I decided to get a more detailed insight as to who Edward is and how he behaves it would make sense to research into psychopaths. Here is my initial findings as to the such. With each point from Hervery M. Cleckley's characteristics, I shall provide a short description of how Edward relates to each of these characteristics. Some fit in with his character, while others he has overcome.

The following characteristics of a psychopath, defined by Hervery M. Cleckley in 1941 in the book Mask of Sanity include:

• Superficial charm and average intelligence. - Edward is a fantastic actor. He is able to maintain a convincing persona to whomever he deems it is needed. However, he is of a superior intelligence, rather than just average, using it to his advantage of being able to read people and then play on how he should act around that person, helping him in awkward, possible threatening situations.
• Absence of delusions and other signs of irrational thinking. - These aren't particularly absent when it comes to Edward, though he does suffer from delusional behaviour. Believing God talks to him is one, and he thinks very rationally.
• Absence of nervousness or neurotic manifestations. - Edward may play into being nervous or neurotic, but he keeps a very calm demeanour about himself. Thus fitting in with this particular characteristic.
• Unreliability. - Fits very well with Edward. He is not particularly reliable. If told to do one thing, he will usually do the opposite, whatever is fitting and suiting to him.
• Untruthfulness and insincerity. - While Edward doesn't believe in lying, he believes it is a sin, he does play in to not being sincere or truthful at times. This doesn't mean that he will always outright lie, it just means he won't always necessarily tell the truth, but he won't lie at the same time, he just doesn't say anything, or manages to manipulate the person in a way that he doesn't have to say anything/be truthful to get his point across.
• Lack of remorse or shame. - Edward feels nothing for the people he has shamed or murdered. He simply feels what he did was necessary.
• Antisocial behaviour without apparent compunction. - Edward is quite reserved. Talking to himself (God) may be considered anti-social, but as aforementioned, he has managed to come up with a tactic to make himself seem much more ordinary than he actually is.
• Poor judgement and failure to learn from experience. - Very true of Edward. He always takes things to the extreme. A good example is with his sisters boyfriend. His therapy should have taught him that if someone hurts him or gets in his way, he should 'forgive and forget' if it were. Instead, Edward believes that person should be convicted for their sins - be murdered. He never learns the otherwise, often jumping to the same result and conclusion.
• Pathological egocentricity and incapacity to love.  - Absolutely typical of Edward. While he comes across as loving his Sister and his butler, everything he does is completely in accordance to himself. He is a manipulator, convincing people to do things only because it is right for him. He fears no consequences of others or cares what it might do to them. After his sister joins him in the murders, he only feels that his plan is coming together, and doesn't care about how his sister might even feel about the entire situation.
• General poverty in major affective reactions. -Edward deals with a readiness of expression rather than a strength of feeling. While things do anger him and he may express it, it is more due to the fact that he is not being benefited in any way. He doesn't feel much, be it remorse, sympathy or anything of the such.  Essentially, everything is an act.
• Specific loss of insight. - Edward doesn't understand much about people or the world. Only himself. He doesn't quite grasp how his sister would feel if he murdered her boyfriend, and so on.
• Unresponsiveness in general interpersonal relations. - Unless it is something that truly gets on his nerves that he feels he must speak out on, Edward often responds to things with short answers, like he is constantly thinking something over. His interpersonal skills aren't great, as reflected by only calling his Aunt 'Aunt' and only calling Evelyn 'Sister'
• Fantastic and uninviting behaviour with drink, and sometimes without. - Edward doesn't drink, so not entirely relevant. Though he can be uninviting, especially when letting people into his own feelings.
• Suicide threats rarely carried out.  - Edward would never commit suicide. It is a sin.
• Sex life impersonal, trivial, and poorly integrated.  - Edward doesn't think of sex in any way. He doesn't think of it as a sin, but more doesn't believe in sex before marriage. With an incapacity for love, it remains something that may never happen for him, especially as he has never even thought about a reason to procreate.
• Failure to follow any life plan.  - Not so much with Edward. He has a life plan, and that is one given to him by what he believes to be God. Though his plan only seems to be to kill enough sinners so that he can go to Heaven, it is still none the less, his plan.

Hopefully that gives a better insight into Edward. As I do more research into the mind of a psychopath, I shall find more traits and characteristics which I will relate directly to Edward, in order to expand and evolve his character.