“Drunken Savior” — our protagonist has telekinesis only when absolutely hammered
Title is bit of a wordplay on ‘drunken sailor’. Also, the action will pay homage to “Drunken Master” AND “Drunken Master 2” with Jackie Chan.
You might have failed to notice, but it has become really easy to acquire superpowers. In the original “Star Wars” trilogy, having the Force was so special that only a few characters had it. In the prequels, there were 10 000 Jedi but the Force was still a genetic predisposition. But in Disney “Star Wars”, the blood of Baby Yoda was used to transfer powers over to anyone. Apparently, ‘flowing through all living things’ now indicates that the Force can also be bent to the will of any living thing. The trend of democratizing superpowers also extends to the latest MCU offerings and TV shows like “The Boys.”
We can only hope that the future of “Dune” won’t see anyone gaining prescient powers by simply drinking the Water of Life. Paul was trained as a Mentat, a Guild Navigator, and a Bene Gesserit. This made him the only male capable of surviving the worm’s poison to see both the past and the future. Which is a great example of acquiring powers through rigorous training.
Look, I get it. The idea is to have the audience feel like someday they, too, could harness some superpower. Escapism in the 20th century blockbusters was about the possibility of travel. With commercial flying becoming cheaper, James Bond made people in the 1960s feel that someday they could travel to these exotic locations. In 1977, “Star Wars” made the younger audience imagine they might get to travel in space. With NASA making the moon landing happen so soon after the idea was conceived, anything seemed possible.
Back then, most of the audience used to be unfamiliar with long-distance travel. Just as today it is augmenting oneself, which I believe to be the escapism of the 21st century. For those soon to be born, mental/physical enhancement will become as commonplace as owning a phone is today. Albeit not as quickly as most prognosticators would have you believe.
So… becoming the best version of yourself without effort. The movies/shows are missing the essential ingredient over developing any skill — time. 10 000 hours, was it? The (social) media has already cornered the market for the ‘overnight’ hacks. It would be great for some other content to say how it really is. That there is no easy fix. A change you’re looking for has to become a habit — systems over goals. I really hope MCU brings back the X-Men back with that message intact. Meaning that those being brought up outside Xavier’s school without a proper guidance will struggle with their powers.
How to differentiate from other superhero content?
A primary message for “Drunken Savior” would be to discover and put your best traits to a good use. Every power will be a double-edged sword. A fitting analogy to technology. “Captain America: Civil War” and “The Boys” were a good showcase of the destructive power heroes can have.
In addition to the collateral damage, there should be a personal price to be paid for using the powers. It’s hard to see those suffer who put themselves last. Which is why superhero movies like “Spider-Man 2” still get an emotion out of me. “X-Men: Days Of Future Past” manages to do so because of Xavier’s treatment. The way McAvoy delivers ‘I sacrificed my powers so that I could sleep’. It had never occurred to me that just like Wolverine popping out his claws, reading minds can hurt. Empathy can hurt. In his youth, his powers terrified him. He had to master their use and do it alone, because who could he turn to? Before creating the school and the mutants becoming public, everyone would have thought he’s merely schizophrenic. He had to learn how to become a psychologist on steroids in order to ‘bear their pain without breaking’.
I want to put every power user through a struggle whenever they use their powers, beyond just mastering them. Just like in life, there are always tradeoffs if you want to have a proper effect. ‘You can have anything, but not everything.’ Which is why some of our characters will refrain from using the powers, preferring to live a normal life. If they do accept the tradeoff, they do so for a variety of reasons. To earn money with it, divulge their thirst for power or simply to help. The latter being the case for our protagonist.
PROTAGONIST — Yoderik “Yo” Bolder
Yoderik is a lovable geek in mid-20s, who wishes to help solve environmental problems by studying mechanical engineering. He grew up idolising Elon Musk, who he believes to be spread too thin between a variety of problems. Even for a genius like Musk, it’s just too much. As recent years have proven, it ends up hurting his credibility. Yo wants to avoid making the same mistake. Global warming being touted as the problem above all, he subconsciously saw it as the ‘cool’ thing to be solving. Which is associated with recognition, a topic that we will get into later.
Yo is about to be done with the Master thesis, feeling like the master of his universe (sorry, I couldn’t resist). He’s hoping to move on to PhD and one step closer to his obsession — the Nobel Prize for ‘saving the world’ as he sees it. He’s so mission-oriented that he doesn’t go out, never had a girlfriend or friends outside class.
He hasn’t had a sip of alcohol after a graduation trip in high school. He has a bit of a social PTSD from this experience. Intoxicated, he did something he knows he should regret. If he only remembered what it was. All he knows is that it must’ve been off-putting, frightening even. Perhaps something to do with his parents, who he never knew. We never learn exactly what happened, although this formative past event will occasionally be alluded to.
If you’ve seen “Atlanta”, Earn’s incident in Princeton was something that deeply affected him but we never knew much until the final season. We will do the same before Yo sacrifices his life to save his friends. Having confronted his repressed memories, he can die in peace. Even if he doesn’t end up ‘saving the world’, he at least saves his world. Having done his part and his best under the circumstances, he will die with no regrets.
Pilot Episode
That formative night at a high school trip will first be alluded to as they talk about it with Frederik, essentially his only friend. Frederik then invites Yo to his birthday next week, who is hesitant to RSVP. After some pestering, Frederik convinces Yo to come out for a drink. Yo wakes up the next morning, with his studio apartment trashed. According to Frederik, they were in good spirits going home so there was no reason for Yo to be acting out.
We learn that Yoderik is an orphan, with no family to turn to. Nor does he know too much about his heritage, whether he might have a genetic predisposition towards drunk rage. Anxious by nature, Yoderik’s first instinct is to see a therapist. But the visitation line stretches out for months. As a fellow researcher, Frederik suggests they ‘acquire more data’ by going out again.
In his head, Yo is always slightly suspicious of Frederik’s true intentions. Never the most popular kid, there’s paranoia stemming from his past. These suspicions will later build into a confrontation between the two, just as their relationship has grown to be strongest and when the stakes are highest. Yo hopes that Frederik simply wants to make sure he can handle alcohol before allowing him to join the birthday next week. But the cynic in him suspects Frederik aims to record footage of his rage.
The screenplay has Yoderik’s inner monologue, but I don’t see it included as a voiceover. If a show like “Dexter” would have been made today, it would not have one. Even though it is based on a book that does and it definitely fits a show of that time. Just like “Dune” (2021) doesn’t, even though the book does. The audience will take their time guessing Yo’s opinion on things. He’s a lab geek like Dexter, but more expressive. “Drunk Savior” could easily be a show released weekly to generate speculation (online). The subject of trust and blackmail will come into play during this season, especially once we introduce the primary antagonist.
Long story short… they discover that when drunk, Yoderik has telekinesis. He can move things by moving his body. In later seasons, he will be able to do more with less. Just like Fassbender’s younger Magneto developed into a more physically reserved one with Sir Ian McKellen. Speaking of which, the action will be more akin to Fassbender dynamically playing around with smaller objects in ‘First Class’ first two acts and the third act of ‘Dark Phoenix’. At first, Yoderik will be clumsy as he’s also drunk. But over time, his muscle memory will make him almost as fluent as Fassbender’s Magneto.
Yo is too shy to publicly flail his body around, which is why the powers only manifested in the apartment. Higher doses of alcohol produce stronger telekinesis, even being able to lift more weight than his own. The downside is that just like one loses control of their body when intoxicated, he can’t fully control his abilities. Just like one would accidentally stumble on toes on the dance floor, he could risk accidentally hurting others more severely.
How does he exercise control and avoid collateral damage? Other heroes in media have mastered their powers sober. He has to do so drunk. Pretty much everyone has a memory of being too drunk, or a lack thereof. After which they have learned to drink moderately. They’ve learnt control. Problem for Yo becomes the obvious. If he wants to become more powerful he would have to drink more. So where does he draw the line?
On a separate note, Yo or anyone else mustn’t feel overpowered. He cannot lift a car, for instance, like they often do in the movies. Anything that heavy would require him to be proper drunk, which obviously will happen at some key moments. But he’ll be more dangerous for those around him. Even if he cannot move a truck, the radius he can use his powers within is still fairly large.
1st Act of the season — Frederik (Friend)
Teamwork with a sober Frederik will be the essential element in utilising his powers. It is Frederik’s responsibility to keep him in check, choose which fights to pick and limit collateral damage.
Our point of view is still Yoderik’s. The information we receive is whatever he remembers and the camerawork will reflect his level of intoxication. Just like a sleepwalker or someone with dissociative identity disorder (DID), he’s often unaware of his actions. An unreliable narrator with trust issues.
It will all come to a head at a crucial moment where the two should be sticking together, as their enemies are closing in. It will be revealed that Frederik has been using Yo for his own gain. There are small hints early on that Frederik is not good with money. He then uses their predicament to fill his pockets, which was never Yoderik’s intention.
Above all else, they agreed that the priority is to keep the powers hidden. Yo wants to do some good, but only if they can do so covertly and this is Frederik’s responsibility. They are eventually arrested by the police because Frederik urged them to pick a fight and they end up in jail. By sheer luck, the powers are not discovered. But the moment they get out, Yo confronts Frederik based on the information provided by the police reprimanding them about what happened. As usual, Yo has a hard time remembering on his own. Whatever the situation, it was absolutely not in line with what they had agreed upon. Frederik comes clean about needing money, to which Yo reacts by ending the partnership.
2nd Act — Anita (Antagonist)
We have been following our antagonist from the second episode as a B plot and the strife between the guys allows her to swoop in. We will later learn that she was the one to call the police on them. Meaning that Frederik is actually not so dim-witted as to allow for their capture and can make a good sidekick if he gets his priorities straight. We get a proper glimpse into her life but she won’t be interacting with either of the leads before the third episode of an 8-episode season. I want to properly focus on the friendship of the two leads, before tearing it down.
If you’ve seen “Mr. Robot”, Anita is a bit like the protagonist. But a much better socialiser than she gives herself credit for. Her arc will be gaining confidence and dealing with social anxiety. Her more plot-driven arc would be realising that she could have a real positive effect, if she puts her mind to self-actualisation. Unlike “Mr. Robot” where the protagonist wishes to improve the world, she’s only used her hacking skills for a personal benefit. Mainly, to learn about people to try and force friendships.
She feels that she needs information to compensate for her lack of social skills. Because of her lack of confidence she fails to realise how manipulative that is. Believing she needs to “be prepared” by knowing all she can and playing through potential conversations before they happen. Which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when her friends learn about Anita hacking them.
As an introduction, we thoroughly see her process of befriending a new group. Similar to how “Mr. Robot” or “Dexter” would introduce us to their code of conduct right off the bat. In the next episode, she accidentally reveals information about someone as a joke. Something that isn’t public knowledge and she most certainly is not supposed to know. Naturally, this freaks them out. This isn’t the first time this has happened and yet, she fails to realise that this obsession to hack people is the crux of her problems. Essentially, her anxiety causes overthinking relationships. The audience sees this from early on, rooting for her to realise and overcome it.
On a deeper level, it originates from a need for control. Her parents divorced when she was 15 and it had a profound effect on her. She’s always believed that she could’ve done something about it. She had a lovely childhood, which she looks onto with great nostalgia. Her parents had problems for a while and a year before the divorce she came up with a plan that would have forced her parents to weather the storm. It would have required hacking, however, which she didn’t know how to do yet. This became an incentive to learn fast. But by the time she was skilled enough to enact her plan, it was already too late.
In addition to losing her family, she also lost her friends. She was so focused on coding that her grades suffered and she wasn’t accepted to her (high) school. Her parents were so busy with work and their own issues that they didn’t pay enough attention to her in the 9th grade. A quote that succinctly summarises every facet of her life would be from “Steve Jobs” (2015): ‘It’s having no control. You find out you were out of the loop when the most crucial events in your life were set in motion. As long as you have control, I don’t understand people who give it up.’
Her entrepreneurial and progressive parents with their own startups recognised her talent in programming. She wasn’t forced to go to college, but she also didn’t look for employment. Thus, to have some sense of community she had to try more unorthodox ways of instigating relationships.
She is a dark mirror to Yoderik who is also fairly antisocial, although there’s no reason to be. Other than that, they differ in every possible way. She has always wanted to be a rebel so she didn’t go to college. Although her parents have no trouble supporting her, she has earned some money as a freelancer who works alone. Yoderik, on the other hand, realises that he can only ‘save the world’ by working with others within the system. Anita doesn’t appreciate what she’s had, while Yoderik has worked himself up through constant hardship. She had a great family, which is why the divorce was difficult for her. Yoderik never knew his parents.
It simply means they have much to learn from each other. I see the first season as a tragic love story and by the end, they will have learnt to grow into better people. They will continue to do so and in the third season, they will end up together. At his lowest and her highest, Yoderik goes to her for help. As they deal with the new antagonist, they also rekindle their relationship.
Her arc is about learning that to have friends, it is enough to be normal. She’s jealous of Yoderik’s powers— hacking is the closest she has ever gotten to feeling special. In his most vulnerable state, Yoderik imparts that he hates his powers. The choice that comes with it. He has to drink to help others, which he finds revolting. By using his powers and drinking away his potential, he has to sacrifice his true aspirations to help someone every day.
In other words, we witness Yoderik’s marshmellow test. Do you focus on short term goals that are more achievable or do you hold out hope and work on the long term goals? There’s often the recognition and social status factored in as well. Particularly for scientists who may easily become disillusioned. Which is why many eventually decide to sell out, understandably so, in one form or another.
Anita learns that doing something special doesn’t have to result in validation here and today. It is about finding a problem you care enough about to go without any acknowledgement for decades. She’s built random apps that could make her rich, but never followed through. Telling herself that she didn’t care for the money. But the underlying problem is that she never cared enough about any problem to go through the pains of solving it.
Nowadays, being indifferent is the most dangerous thing you can do. Being neutral makes others think you don’t care. Even though openness to differing opinions has been proven to be a sign of intelligence. Unfortunately, it leads to polarisation. But I digress…
In the end, Yoderik teaches Anita that she should switch her focus from helping herself to helping others. With her skill set, she could help people every day and then create something that could change the world. Unlike him, she doesn’t have to choose.
What does the antagonist teach our protagonist?
Yoderik realises that he cares about recognition more than he’s willing to admit. By pursuing something like the Nobel Prize his deeper motive for ‘saving the world’ was about social status. When Anita reveals his powers to the world for a moment, he gets to feel what fame feels like. Even though the footage will be explained to be fake, Yoderik thinks it too dangerous to continue being a hero. In the real world that we depict, it will only take weeks before he’d be exposed. Especially now, as there will be conspiracy theorists who suspect he has powers.
However… while it was shocking being a celebrity overnight, part of him actually enjoyed it. In the second season, this is where his internal conflict stems from. Is he motivated by altruistically improving the world or is it about recognition? Something he has never felt, but subconsciously yearns for.
We explore his two potential paths to fame. One where he’s appreciated for his efforts to actually help solve global warming. And the other where he’s celebrated basically without merit, referring to his abilities that seem to have come from nature. In the first season, his intoxicated telekinesis probably caused more havoc than saved lives. And yet, his superhero persona would get more clicks (in the media) than his scientific efforts ever could.
This theme comes together when we reveal the overarching antagonist in the end of the first season. A brilliant scientist whose unethical practices and inventions resulted in his humiliation, being ousted from the scientific community. We’ll get into it later.
2nd Act
After botching her friendship with yet another group, she discovers Yoderik and his powers. We mentioned a large potential radius. Held down in a fight, as a fight-or-flight response he desperately tries to pull any object he could use. He took the fighting to a secluded alley, but still a crowded area in the old town. He ends up pulling in all the kitchen utensils in the range of 50 meters and injuring people in restaurants as the utensils fly off the tables. As if someone would pull them with a magnet and they stick to a wall.
The incident is all over the web and Anita manages to access videocameras in the area. Frederik and Yo are careful enough to avoid getting caught on tape using the powers, but they’re not invisible. There’s footage of them appearing from the alley, both injured after a fight. Anita doesn’t know what to make of the two — one completely hammered and the other trying to take care of him. She’s feels there’s something there and finds a way into their phones.
Learning all she can about the two, she eventually witnesses Yo’s argument with Frederik near the police station. With Yoderik in a vulnerable state, she sees an opening. Somehow managing to leave a great first impression by making it seem like a random “meet cute”. The episode gradually turns into one of romance, while we wait for the other shoe to drop.
At the high point of their relationship, after a few weeks and a montage, it all comes crashing down like it always does in a romcom. They have rented a really nice Airbnb at a countryside and they have quite a bit of wine. It starts off really nice, but becomes tense because we know what could happen if Yo gets drunk. He’s concerned about accidentally revealing his powers. Anita doesn’t yet know about alcohol being the direct cause, but based on her research she’s aware that there’s a correlation.
She’s come to really like Yo and wants him to open up about the powers. This would show vulnerability and real trust, bringing their relationship to the next level. After all, Frederik was his accomplice for weeks. Why shouldn’t his girlfriend know? And yet, she can’t just ask. As far as Yo is concerned, she shouldn’t know. So her plan is to get him to exhibit telekinesis by accident. What she fails to take into account is that the wine loosens her up, as well.
Letting her guard down, she ends up making a mistake by alluding to the restaurant utensils incident. Something they have never really discussed and he shouldn’t have anything to do with. History repeating itself, Yo questions her and she fails to spin the lies in a believable manner. Due to an intoxicated fear of abandonment, she threatens to release videos of Yo using his powers. Footage she managed to record stalking them.
Yo has built up his anger because yet again, he feels betrayed. Just like with Frederik in the beginning of the episode. He feels something building and tells Anita to leave, but she doesn’t realise the danger. He releases a burst of energy and sends her flying back. Along with all the furniture, just like he probably did on his first night using the powers. But now we witness the destruction he could release if it goes unchecked. Anita is knocked out and injured. Dead? Yo is horrified by what he’s done and the episode ends on a cliffhanger.
Paramedics think it was him being violent. He tells the police he trashed the place out of anger and by accident, something hit Anita. Even if he told them the truth, they would never believe him. In the hospital, Anita is joined by her parents who want to press charges. But in a surprising turn, she tells them not to and that she’s to blame.
For a second there, we think that this incident might not lead to anything. But then Anita shares Yo the footage she blackmails him with. Hoping to gain control over him, even though we don’t know to what end. She’s also aware that the footage of fights Yo doesn’t remember cements Frederik’s betrayal in Yoderik’s eyes. From here on, Anita becomes a cunning antagonist whose motives are unclear and we don’t know what else she’s capable of.
Anita has reached a new emotional bottom because Yo was someone she really felt something for. Yo feels manipulated and her parents would not allow for the relationship to continue. Unlike before, she’s now lost something even more potent than friends. She thinks there’s no salvaging this either and starts ‘acting out’ by taking control of Yoderik. Sometimes by simply having him be his boyfriend at social events. Other times, she uses his powers for her own ends. If the previous episode had a romantic montage, now we get an opposite of that.
At his lowest point, the episode ends with a ray of light. Frederik appears on his doorstep with a solution to his ‘blackout problems’.
3rd Act
Frederik has a chemical engineering background. To make amends, he took a few weeks to figure out a way to properly dose the alcohol for Yo to better control his powers. He floated the idea when they did tests early on, so that it wouldn’t come out of nowhere as a Deus Ex Machina. Back then, Frederik just didn’t want Yoderik to have that much control so that he could be taken advantage of.
With Frederik partially pardoned, they strategise how to go about defeating Anita. Just bear in mind that our characters have a conscience. Not to mention, a fear of spending their lives in prison. This is not a show where they just kill their opponents. Not until the opponent crosses a line and it becomes an ‘eye for an eye’ thing. Which we’ll leave for the second season when Frederik is killed (spoilers :O).
Anyhow, the guys are not left with a lot of options. Anita has assured Yoderik that if something were to happen to her, the footage would be released and he would be the primary suspect. His reputation would be all at once a freak with superpowers, degenerate drinker and a murderer. They can’t go to the police because the world would learn of his powers. Which brings us back to recognition. He keeps telling everyone that he doesn’t care for fame and has come to believe it in the process.
I should also mention that a side plot has Anita’s father hire a private investigator. So the final act turns into a game of cat and mouse. on more than two fronts. There are similarities to “Breaking Bad”, where Walter tries to assassinate Gus Fring for a couple episodes straight.
Their best idea is to steal Anita’s computer with the files from her apartment. Their heist requires a much more surgical approach and this time Frederik is not there to assist. Fortunately, Frederik’s prototype provides Yoderik with a better grasp on his abilities. They initiate the plan but as usual in heist movies, something instantly goes wrong. For some reason, Anita is notified by something and she hurries back to the apartment.
Yoderik needs to drink more than planned to pull the computer to himself in time. Just as he gets the computer, Anita steps on the roof. For the first time, we see Yoderik throwing up on screen. Anita already has her phone out to record that, as well. “That one’s just for me.”
Even as Yoderik pleads not to go through with it, she proceeds to anonymously share a small fraction of the footage on social media. Revealing his powers, as a punishment and a warning. The episode ends with him alone watching the demonstration of his powers on his phone. Fortunately, only the ones painting him as a hero. Rather than a villain or a vigilante. This means that Anita still has something to hold over him. Or does she actually have benevolent motives and simply wants him to become a public superhero? We will later learn that to be the case as it would make her famous overnight.
Next episode begins with a drunk Yoderik considering jumping off the roof, but Frederik arrives just in time. Apparently the footage has blown up and the public sentiment is polarising. Some have already connected the dots with the supernatural occurrence in the restaurant a few weeks back. Half of the public believes it was an accident, the other half thinks the tragedy was intentional. But on both sides there are those who don’t understand why would such abilities ever be put into action in a crowded city with collateral damage?
Our protagonists discuss their next move. Explain the situation to the public? That they were acting in self-defense in the alley next to the restaurant? But they’re aware it would be pointless because Anita has footage painting them in a negative light, which would instantly demolish their stance. Even though they can’t instantly come up with anything worthwhile, at least Frederik talks him off the ledge.
Arriving at Yoderik’s, the place is already crawling with reporters so they decide to go to a countryside place Frederik has. Realising that the only way out of this is for Yoderik to become an actual superhero. To prove to the public that his intentions are good, even though he’s had a rough start. Public’s skeptical reaction could still be something to the tune of ‘Road to hell is paved with good intentions.’ For Yoderik to prove them wrong, the next public display of his powers has to be a surefire success.
The longer they wait while honing Yoderik’s skills, the public sentiment only worsens. Other people such as Anita’s former friends have come forward with stories of such supernatural events. Being harrassed a couple of days ago by what could only be attributed to Yoderik and his powers. Even though the public has no footage of it, they now have actual victims coming forward. Yoderik is being painted as a two-faced criminal and there seems to be no way out.
Honestly, I haven’t written myself out of this corner yet. Even if I have a pretty clear picture for the season’s end state of things. In other words, I don’t know how they would end up defeating Anita or cleaning up Yoderik’s name. The very last resort does involve just ‘taking care of her’. Yoderik is very much against it because even all the ethical questions set aside, this would probably bury them both. Frederik would be his accomplice in a murder. But Frederik fully believes that they are in this situation because of him. Frankly, it was he who invited Yoderik out to drink in the first place. He couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t do his best to help Yoderik. Such willingness to sacrifice cements their friendship.
They also discuss how should Yo continue if they got through this. I definitely won’t let any season end back in the status quo. I don’t understand why so many shows do this. The feel good ending should come from characters digging themselves out of a hole, while still having their lives changed.
In the second season and probably until Yoderik dies, I still don’t want the public to fully know he’s a superhero — there are too many interesting situations to be drawn from his secrecy. He should continue to have that dilemma between benefiting the society by being a superhero and helping the world by being a scientist. A boring option is for the footage Anita released could have him pixelated so people know there is someone like this out there but don’t know who. But I really like the idea of him learning something from his 15-minutes of fame. Namely, how much he liked it.
Fragments of future seasons
Such an ending will be important for kicking into gear the overall plot spanning across seasons. Now, I’m aware that shows are extremely lucky to run beyond the first season. Which is why I would never omit something in the current season in the hopes that I “might get to do it someday”. It’s why Hollywood with its guaranteed sequels is faltering. They don’t feel desperate to make the current movie or season as good as it can be, leaving good ideas for the future. I would happily include any idea that benefits the story, while building up expectations and speculation regarding the future.
The upcoming season will be teased in Anita’s final scene. Anita returns home somewhat enlightened after her final talk with Yoderik. It begin as a confrontation, but turns into a warm scene where both sides learn something. However, the tone changes once again when Anita is abducted. Even if she’s not a public figure, the intelligence agency is now aware of her and obviously wishes to have the footage. That’s our guess and hers, as to what is happening. After intimidating her to extract Yoderik’s true identity and the footage, he amicably lets Anita go without revealing himself.
We can only tell he’s an older man. Obviously an ominous figure but with morals. I never understand why the antagonists are made completely psychotic and ruthless right out of the gate. Why not have us discover their skewed judgment one step at a time? Then have morals evolve, demonstrating how far they are willing to go for their goals. Keeps them unpredictable, in contrast to many antagonists who simply do whatever necessary without hesitation.
We follow the man home that is not particularly lavish and has scientific research papers all over the place. He has a world map hidden in the wall with about a hundred pins in it. He prints out a photo of Yoderik, pins it on the wall and scribbles ‘telekinesis’. As we end the scene by pulling back a wide shot, we make out about 20 other photos with notes about people with powers just like it. We don’t see their faces, but can determine that most are concentrated in Europe. Which is where the show takes place.
Every season, there will be a couple new such characters with powers to whom the map refers to. Each with a different upbringing and demographic background. As a result, we are completely unaware what are their intentions and the extent of their powers. Even more importantly, how skilled are they in using said powers. Yoderik only discovered his in his early 20s, but some have trained for years. Harkening back to the theme of developing one’s skills of preference from an early age, which we discussed in the very beginning.
The father figure as the overarching antagonist
Before introducing some of those superpowers (with caveats), I first want to talk about the mysterious elder man in the end. Throughout the first season, he presents himself as yet another professor at Yoderik’s university. A scientist specialised in gene technology. He would very much be a side character in the first season and there would be a hint that he’s not actually giving any classes in their university. Even if it’s something small like other professor not recognising the name. We won’t explicitly reveal that professor to be the older man interrogating Anita.
At first, he seems to be encouraging Yo’s long-term dreams. So that we could have a character representing that side of Yoderik. Unfortunately the only father figure he is going to get is a manipulative antagonistic force, working his magic behind the curtain. The gradual reveal in the second season is that he actually wants Yo to become a full-time superhero celebrity. The first of its kind.
I would like to lean into the trope of a mad German scientist, although I imagine him to be Scandinavian. Let’s combine two names — Oswald (“god”) and Onno (“forefather”) — into Osno. Bit lengthy, though, so let’s make it Osno. We’ve already leaned a bit into weird names like Yoderik, so why not. In English, you’d pronounce it like the capital of Norway (AWS-noh/OZ-noh). But when he appears in front of a tribunal for the scientific commnity, in a flashback, it will be in his home country. There, in the Scandinavian accent, it would have a strong S (OSS-noh).
We will learn about his true intentions in the second season, a bit earlier than Yoderik — bomb under the table, as Hitchcock would put it. Even though everyone needs to understand his motives and find his scheming fascinating, most of the audience should come to despise him. Similar to Walter White in “Breaking Bad”.
I like my antagonists to be gradually revealed, so his goofy boomer-like catch phrase will be ‘Johhminngotte!’ Pronounce it like the Swedish would: ‘Joh-min-got-te!’ It doesn’t actually mean anything, but it can be considered his own personal slang for ‘Oh my god!’ I want him to feel like a warm father figure who can be goofy at times. It would lend him a bit of levity. A nutty professor with darkness underneath.
It is gradually revealed Osno to be the one who created the powers when 20 years ago he recklessly altered the genes of 100 orphans, without their knowledge. Under the guise of some other study that was known to be harmless. He does so in search of recognition that he feels he deserves but hasn’t received by the time he’s 40. I can totally imagine the show taking place in Tallinn. He could be a foreign scientist taking advantage of a 1990s Estonia that had just regained its independence. So he found a loophole with orphans of various ages who did not have a next of kin from whom he should get permission from.
Eventually he was, of course, caught in the act and lost his tenure. He even did prison time. None of the children exhibited anything out of the ordinary, other than some minor reactions to the treatment. Thus, he was released and forgotten about. A bit like the older Drago in Creed II.
But instead of rebuilding his life and raising a family, he saw all these children as his own. He keeps tabs on their development and whether they exhibit any powers. Powers manifesting at different times or not at all is an allegory for people finding their path in different times.
Osno very subtly tries to direct them towards their discoveries. That would be a commentary on a dilemma parents have — whether to direct a child towards their unfulfilled dreams or have the child discover themselves what they might be good at and love doing.
Over time, Osno recognises a pattern. The thing you hate and/or fear doing most is the one thing necessary for the powers to manifest. An allegory for putting in the work to make the thing you like doing actually useful. Or the more well known: ‘Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.’ I guess Bruce Wayne getting over his fear of bats is what subconsciously draws people to his character.
Yoderik hates drinking, because of his discipline and dreams. In the second season, Osno indirectly helps Yo and Frederik use the powers for good so that it wouldn’t hinder the rest of Yo’s life. Frederik dies in the second season as they go up against one of Osno’s creations, who used the powers for his own gains. When Yo is at his lowest, Osno reveals his backstory while omitting the worst parts of it. He admits that this is his doing and wants to help take down the antagonist. He feeds into Yo’s needs for a supportive father figure. One who wishes to help Yo become both an unknown local superhero and someone saving the planet through his work.
Osno wishes Yo to get over his fears of using the powers. He’s still hesitant because of his class trip incident that he doesn’t remember. In the third season, Yo will learn that Osno knows about the incident. He then goes to find out himself, at a class reunion. Which will be a pivotal moment in their relationship. Osno didn’t want him to know for a reason. Something tragic that would make Yo scared of his powers forever. Osno had to do all he could for Yo to never learn the truth. They still manage to mend their relationship by taking down the season’s antagonists (plural).
But we will learn that Osno has been manipulating his more antagonistic creations to come to Yo. Let’s just say it’s Tallinn (Estonia) and stick with it for now. The idea is that Yo would then be forced to use his powers to take them down. Yo is slowly coming to suspect it, but he’s still blinded by his need for a father figure like Osno. Osno is the reason Frederik’s dead and other pains Yo has gone through taking them down. Which Yo will fully realise in the fourth season.
At first we hope that Osno has altruistic goals and that he actually does care for his ‘children’. That being said, it is gradually revealed over five seasons that his primary driver is recognition. Once again, a dark mirror to Yoderik. How important is recognition for the good deeds? Is a failure to be acknowledged a reason to become cynical and selfish?
Osno’s ultimate goal is for his creations that turned out well to eventually reveal themselves to the world. Which is why he hopes to destroy all the antagonistic ones before doing so. So that he would be seen as the creator of the world’s first superhero and not someone who created monsters.
He unfortunately has no regard for the wishes of his “children” like Yo. That they might not wish to reveal themselves due to alienation. They’ve seen the X-Men movies and draw their conclusions from there. Yoderik constantly wants his old life back and to ignore his powers, but is being brought back into the fold by necessity. Situations manufactured by Osno.
Why is Osno so interested in Yoderik?
Unlike his other creations, Yoderik is altruistic and disciplined while more easily manipulated because of his seclusion. He had to grow up independently in an orphanage and his powers manifested relatively late. Take it from Captain America: ‘A weak man knows the value of strength, and knows compassion.’ Osno hopes that Yoderik could be the face and de facto leader of the superhero group, if it ever were to form. Basically Osno wants to form an “Umbrella Academy” type thing and get the recognition. But he’s broke and without any influence, as opposed to the group’s affluent creator in that show.
He’s hoping to bring his ‘children’ together and see that they are not alone. Taking inspiration from X-Men, they might then agree to come out of the shadows. But as they are in their 20s with very different background and aspirations, he knows they might instead end up fighting. Either way, he wins. Even if one of the two dies in a fight, there’s a good chance they will eventually reveal themselves to the world.
There are many facets to explore here, from a mentorship to a father-son relationship. Every season, the dynamic between the two will change as we will be introducing other characters. Yo will have friends after Frederik and girlfriend (Anita). Osno’s creations will differ in power sets, in their levels and fluency. But also in their morals. The show will have similarities to “Breaking Bad” in many aspects, but most in their similarity to the relationship between Walter and Jessie.
Superpowers with caveats
As mentioned in the beginning, every character will have a fear or a major obstacle they have to overcome in order to put their powers to use. The abilities themselves are not always reliable — just like in the real world, we don’t always operate at 100%. The more you train and put yourself in dangerous situations, the more you can hope to control them. I’ve come up with a few combinations that I find interesting. A combination of a power and the downside it could have. Namely, what would make it difficult or dangerous for such a power to be used? I imagine that every one of these backstories could theoretically go on for a full episode.
Teleporting without knowing where (2nd season)
The first superpowered antagonist Yoderik will go against is a thief who teleports at will after a lot of training, but still never knows where he’ll end up. Let’s give him yet another uncommon name that he gave himself, Flak Anew. He can take something small with him, like a bag full of cash… or an infant. Which is tragically what happened when he was 8 years old. He was playing with his 2-year-old brother when he teleported for the very first time. They were by the pool and he gave his little brother the “airplane ride” by horizontally moving him around. He then tripped and almost dropped his little brother into the water. Out of reflex, he teleported them both to the middle of the ocean. He tried to keep them both above the water for as long as he could. But eventually his legs gave in and cramped. He had no choice, but to let his baby brother go.
We will definitely have him expose his backstory at one point to Yoderik and Osno, who manage to catch him by working together. There will be parts that we show, but definitely not the drowning part. I’d like to show how he almost falls into the pool, then cut to his acting as he tells the story. Along with reactions from Yo and Osno. Then cut back to him being saved from the brink of death.
He managed to stay alive, until a cargo ship passed by and picked him up. He was in complete shock, unable to tell them what happened. Eventually his foster parents disowned him, thinking he was somehow jealous of his baby brother and killed him. It was their biological child and despite what they thought, Flak loved him dearly. Before, he always felt alone because the parents were upper middle class workaholics who thought that having a child would “cure” them of that. Due to the stress, they couldn’t conceive on their own. Frankly, they didn’t have that much sex either. But they happened to adopt him right before the economic recession of 2008, which will also be the case with other characters. As a result, they were forced to work as hard as they could. He subconsciously felt that they prioritised maintaining their lifestyle over loving him.
He eventually becomes a thief, because he was subconsciously conditioned to crave a fairly affluent lifestyle. A bit like DiCaprio (Frank Abagnale) in “Catch Me If You Can”. Consciously, he feels contempt and tries to object to their way of life by living at off-map beach houses instead of a cul-de-sac. One day, he’d like to confront them and rub it in their faces. Conflicting feelings have held him back, however. On one hand, they did abandon him and he’d like to believe he would not have become a criminal if they hadn’t. But on the other hand, deep down he wants them to be proud. Becoming a thief simply seemed like the easiest solution to his troubles, but it is not something they’d ever approve.
A corny version of their meeting would go like this: he would drive there with a sports car and show off all his wealth. But once they ask where the money came from, the truth would eventually unravel and they would express their disappointment, yet again. The version of their meet that I would prefer requires slightly delving into the second season…
For the past year, Yo has been completely sober and out of the superheroics. He’s been fully focusing on his PhD, with Osno as his primary supervisor and mentor. Considering Osno’s background in gene technology and not mechanical engineering, Frederik finds this suspicious. With whom they’re back to being friends with, as Frederik supports Yo’s decision to continue his life like it was before powers. After what they went through in the first season together, it is fair to say they even consider each other a best friend.
Amongst the law enforcement agencies, there’s a manhunt going on for a thief who has robbed 15 banks in three years. The notoriety comes not so much from the sums he takes, but the mystery of him always getting away. By now, the public has come to know some crucial details and conspiracy theorists are beginning to suspect superpowers. He essentially gets into the vault one way or another, but has disappeared as the guards open the vault doors. Just imagine “Ocean’s 11”, if everyone in the vault could teleport. They would have never needed their SWAT team exit strategy (sorry, spoilers).
By pushing the right levers, Osno convinces Yo that he is the only one capable of catching the teleporter. If Osno can figure out a bank that he might hit next, Yo agrees to help. Namely, he could try and hold the teleporter in place with telekinesis before he can disappear. In theory, Osno says it should work. There’s also a considerable monetary reward for catching him and they could both use a payday.
The primary problem for our antagonist is that 71% of our planet is covered with water, which is where he usually ends up teleporting. His backpack thus needs to carry an inflatable boat for one person. He also has a partner-in-crime who also his girlfriend — Gaby. He teleports into an unknown location and contacts her to come get him. They then go into hiding for a couple months, until the next heist…
Yo succeeds in holding him in place from the other side of the vault. But when the guards arrive to open the door and detain him, Yo lets go at the last second so that his powers would not be discovered. Teleporter gets away, but is shaken because never before has anyone stopped him from teleporting. He believes it was someone else with powers on the other side of that door. Yo and Osno are questioned by the police, which makes for a funny scene as Yo is completely hammered. He is thrown into the sobering cell (drunk tank).
Yo is grateful to Osno who manages to get him out earlier than expected. Telling them that he’ll take care of Yo. Which he does, by curing Yo’s hangover with IV therapy. He’s also extremely proud of Yo, for being able to hold the teleporter for as long as he did. Which is a huge step for their father-son type relationship.
To nurture that relationship, Yo agrees to lean back into superheroics. Even for someone with his credentials, Osno has found it difficult to have any real impact in the academics. At an old age, he regrets for not doing something that would have bore fruit quicker. A bit like Walter White, who waited for his opportunity that never came. This resonates with Yo and it directly speaks to our theme of recognition. Deep down Yo wants to be recognised for his work, whatever it ends being. He sees that Osno has failed in that regard and fears a similar fate.
Let me remind you that Osno is doing much of the work behind the scenes. He’s hoping that Yo’s powers would become known, but Yo himself has to be the one to make it public. Osno subtly attempts to orchestrate events, otherwise Yo would see through it. For instance, Osno is the primary conspiracy theorists in forums. Fanning the flames that there are superheroes among us. Keeping tabs on his ‘children’, he has enough information to make the conspiracy theorists at times seem correct.
When it comes to Osno, the audience along with Frederik is ahead of Yo. He’s blinded because of the father figure he finally has. He fails to notice signs about Osno’s duplicity. Primarily, how much he knows about the teleporter. Which brings us back to…
Teleporter gets away, but not with the bags of money. He wasn’t holding them when Yo froze him in place. Flak is picked up by Gaby, but suddenly they are then chased by the police. It makes no sense as there are no other people around. We will later learn that Osno has actually known where he is at all times due to the transmitter Gaby finds him with. Osno tipped the police about their location, but at the same time he can only blame Gaby. Not for betraying him, but somehow being careless.
They discover that all their beach houses, of which there are a couple, are overrun with the police. It also means they are out of money, considering it was all hidden somewhere in the houses. We’ll have one whole episode of them on the run. Perhaps a bit reminiscent of “Prison Break”, after they broke out. They don’t know how this might have happened, but they take every measure by also getting rid of any phones and transmitters for good.
This paranoia indeed leads to Osno losing sight of them. But he knows that they are broke, which will force Flak to do the next job. But even without Osno playing puppet master, they get into another chase with the police. As they are led to a corner, Flak tries to teleport them both out but is unable to. In a touching scene, he slowly lets go of her hand and teleports out. She’s arrested as an accomplice, a proceeding which Flak will keep an eye on.
It is now the perfect moment for Osno to get in touch with him and figures out the bank he will strike next. The moment he arrives at the bank under a disguise, Yo freezes him in place from afar. Osno proposes that he come with them or they will hand him over to the police. I’d like us to see this from Yo’s perspective who knows this to be the plan, but doesn’t actually hear their conversation. Which means Osno might have told him anything.
They end up conducting an interrogation in a garage Osno ownes. The serious interrogation is juxtaposed with Yo being really drunk, otherwise there’s a chance Flak might teleport away. Yo slurs his words, while his father figure tries to conduct a serious interrogation.
They eventually learn that Flak is unable to teleport away if he is stuck to the floor with chains attached to his hands. Namely, the object he wants to take with has to be disconnected from the ground. Osno figures out a way to detain Flak, so Yo can stop drinking nonstop. As we delve into the teleporter’s backstory, the tone becomes somber. Yo/Osno wish to help Flak saves Gaby, under the condition that he leaves the criminal life behind.
This is where I should talk about Frederik who so far has been an accomplice in everything Yo/Osno have been doing. When Osno tells Yo to embrace the powers, Frederik is telling him not to as he knows it won’t lead to anything good. The devil and angel on Yoderik’s shoulders. When Yo agreed to work with Osno, Frederik had no choice but to go with. He still feels guilt from using Yo in the first season and feels obligated to be his sidekick — he doesn’t really want to. So he becomes increasingly outspoken against Osno, who is pushing Yo to drink and put himself in danger.
Naturally, Frederik freaks out when he arrives to the garage. He thought that their mission was to catch Flak and hand him over to the police. Now Yo/Osno want to help him commit a highly illegal crime by breaking Gaby out of the courthouse and risk revealing their powers in the process.
Yo is still a bit drunk and reeling from Flak’s backstory that is even worse than his. As they’re both without family and superpowered, Yo strongly empathises. This sadness turns to rage towards Frederik, who doesn’t seem to care and ‘could never understand’.
Yo also admits that if his powers were to become public, he feels that this is meant to be. For the first time in his life, he will get to properly help someone. So far, it was just random fights that ended up causing more trouble than good. Flak has also thought about revealing himself to the world and feels the same. Although, they will still avoid using the powers on camera unless absolutely necessary. Frederik comes with and plays small part in their plan. His doesn’t trust Flak, but wants to make sure Yo is out of harms way.
In summary, the courthouse heist couldn’t go much worse. Flak goes along with the plan, but teleports out with Gaby the first chance he gets. Frederik gets killed by gunfire, while Yo/Osno barely get away.
Yo feels immense guilt for not listening to Frederik and becomes paranoid. He recalls the many times Frederik expressed skepticism about Osno, who he confronts about the actual reasons why Osno has gotten so involved. How Osno still hasn’t explained the ways in which he finds out about the banks Flak chose to target. This is when Yo begins to suspect Osno’s true motives.
Osno tells a bit of truth by saying that he’s been tracking the teleporter and wanted to catch Flak himself. He says he’s simply fascinated by superpowers. A bit like Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson) in “Unbreakable”, but the good kind. He read comics like X-Men as a teenager and went to study gene technology. And why the interest in Yo? Even though Anita’s footage in the first season was debunked, Osno believed it to be true.
Osno lies by omission, but convinces Yo to trust him (for now). Yes, his actions got Frederik killed. But Yo is rational enough to understand why Osno did what he did. On an emotional level, there is still the underlying need for a father he never had. Particularly when Osno says that he didn’t want to reveal his fascination with Yo as a potential superhero. He thought Yo would then feel like Osno only values Yo for his powers. But Osno reiterates that (paraphrasing) ‘I could have chosen to offer my guidance to anyone, like Flak… but I’m here for you’. He almost makes the mistake of revealing that there are others. Yo clocks this and kickstarts the plot of the next season from there. Which will force Osno to constantly bring in new enemies for them to face. So that Yo would need him and focus on other threats instead of his suspicions regarding Osno.
Yo would like to see Flak killed or at least incarcerated. For Frederik’s death, although I’d like to make it ambiguous how much of the teleporter’s fault it actually was. Again, revealing the audience pretty much as information as to Yoderik. Whenever we get to know more, like knowing a bit more about Osno… there’s always a reason for it. In other words, only when there’s a bomb we can set under the table as Hitchcock has put it.
Flak goes for his next job. This time with Gaby because it’s a two-man job. Thanks to Osno, he can now teleport both of them away. Once again, Yo freezes Flak from afar for Osno to go talk to him. That’s the plan, at least. But seething inside and not fully trusting Osno, Yo decides to throw Flak against a wall. To remain undetected, he cannot do much else. Osno tells Flak to teleport them both away if he wants to live. Flak looks at Gaby for a moment, but realises he has no choice and does what he’s told.
Gaby tries to get away, but is taken by Yoderik who is now in a blind rage. He thinks that Osno has abandoned him and fully sided with Flak. He lost the only person he could trust and is now just looking to avenge him. He wants to draw in Flak and kill him. Yoderik has Gaby tied up and tries to contact Osno to no avail. He starts getting drunk and goes into such a dark place that for the first time, the audience becomes afraid of what he might do.
A tense situation between the two eventually turns into one of empathy. Similarly to a scene in the first season between Yo and Anita, who Gaby reminds him of. Gaby tells Yo all about Flak and her warmth eventually gets through to him. Seeing Yoderik in this vengeful state, she comes to understand why Flak teleported away with Osno and leave her behind. They’re both disappointed in their “partners” for leaving them behind and manage to learn a lot from each other during the conversation.
It turns out that Flak once again teleported to the middle of the ocean. With their phones drenched in water, it took time for him and Osno to get back to land. But it still took a day so Yo thinks he’s completely abandoned. Again, I want to fully maintain his perspective for us to better understand his fear of abandonment and the distrust that stems from it. In reality, Osno instantly calls to apologise to Yo who only wants him to deliver Flak.
We only cut to the perspective of Osno for his following conversation with Flak, after the phone call. We learn a bit more about Osno, to stay one bit ahead of Yo in that regard. Namely, Osno knows all about Flak’s foster parents and comes up with a plan to visit them. He hopes to have Yo witness Flak meeting his foster parents, humanising him and let him live in the process.
Why should their meeting convince Yo to spare Flak? He thinks that the foster parents probably got over the tragedy with their first two children and simply made another. However, it turns out that they were going to commit suicide together. They were such perfectionists in every area of their lives. Confronting their feelings about such a failure and massive burnout resulted in depression after the death of their biological child. At the hands of their adopted one, as far as they knew. They eventually jumped off the roof together, like they would have almost done in “Inception”. But unlike the father, the mother landed on her feet. He died, but she ended up in a wheelchair and eventually a mental institution.
Flak always imagined visiting his parents and throw it in their face how well he has done for himself. He has all the money in the world and even more importantly, he is free (unlike them). Osno asks ‘Your foster parents… or biological parents?’ This gives him pause as he’s never even thought about his biological parents. He has always blamed the foster parents (nurture) for the way he turned out and completely ignored the role genetics (nature) might have played.
Osno masterfully orchestrates Yo to arrive there, just as Flak is about to sit down with his foster mother. Flak never had any idea about the terrible state that she’s in. It turns out that she always knew deep down that the death of his infant brother wasn’t Flak’s fault. Who then finally breaks free from his guilt and the victim mentality he has used as a defence mechanism. Bawling his eyes out, he promises his mother to visit her weekly and take care of her. To himself, he promises to leave behind the life of crime.
Yo/Osno witness their meeting from afar (the other side of the window) and Osno tells Yo even more about Flak. Although he actually knew all about Flak already, he makes it seem like he learned all the information during their time away. We don’t actually know much of what Osno tells us it true, but apparently Frederik’s death was not Flak’s fault. Just a freak accident. Yo lets go of his need for revenge, but he still tells Osno ‘I don’t know what to believe anymore.’ The first seeds of doubt have been planted in his mind and for a good reason… because we learn that Osno caused Frederik’s death at the courthouse.
Just like introducing Osno in the end of the first season, this season ends with introducing a detective. Someone who starts connecting the dots in the next season and believes that there are superpowered people out there. He’s looking at the footage from the courthouse. In addition to Yo and Flak, he starts to suspect that it might have been that Osno covertly assassinated Frederik. It wasn’t any of the stray bullets sprayed by the courthouse police officers. In the middle of a huge ruckus, Osno uses a spy gadget from the cold war times — an umbrella with a silencer inside.
These past couple weeks have been really transformative for Flak, who can settle down with Gaby. Osno helps them out because although Flak is not a super publicly known criminal, his face is still known to the law enforcement. I see him coming back to help Yoderik, by sacrificing himself. Just as Yo is about to be killed by an indestructible antagonist in the final season, Flak teleports away one or the other. If he does so to Yo, he will live. But Yo would probably die of his injuries in the middle of the ocean. But if he teleports away the antagonist, he will probably die himself. It would actually be great to visually see him play through both scenarios beforehand. The audience will then know how heroic he ended up being by going with the latter option. Otherwise teleporting away with the antagonist will seem like an obvious choice and we might miss the nuance.
Twins born with telepathy between each other (Season 3)
At an early age, twin brother and a sister heard each other’s thoughts and developed mental issues. They were diagnosed with psychosis, ADHD and put on several medications. Nothing seemed to help, but their adoptive parents and the doctors wouldn’t believe them. At first, they saw no other option but to sleep in 12-hour intervals using sedatives while the other was awake. But obviously they wanted to live more than 12 hours a day and spend time together.
Fortunately, their adoptive parents were supportive and well-off. After trying western medicine to no avail, they moved to India and began therapy. They turned to meditation in order to quiet their minds and control their thoughts. So that they both be awake at the same time. They would begin their training by being awake and meditating 4 hours a day in the same room. Then they would simply expand that time, one minute at a time. Once again, we will have some funny moments amongst a tragic story as a result of going through puberty and having access to each other’s ‘excitable thoughts’ at such a period.
Over time, they would control their thoughts to such extent that they would no longer disturb the other. While they seem to behave like everyone else, internally this requires a massive discipline of thought. At 15 years old, they began to see it as a superpower if applied correctly. For starters, they began cheating at school. They got into great universities and received scholarships because of tennis and chess. Playing together as a pair, their coordination was unparalleled, although being of opposite genders proved to be problematic later on. They also loved playing beach volleyball back in India, but their parents were fixated on tennis. With chess, they also cheater by having the other ask a computer for moves. Eventually, this didn’t pan out either because they weren’t that into the game so they had to resort to sneaky ways of making a living. For fun, they went to “Who wants to be a millionaire” and found other ways to get rich quick. Their adoptive parents weren’t too pleased because they knew what would happen if their ‘condition’ were to become public.
In the show we will test how they will learn to use in a fight, but also use it in clever ways after they’ve done years of constant training.
Super hearing applying a cocktail party effect. She would become a politician who has better information than anyone else. She can essentially eavesdrop any conversation in a massive room where you imagine a UN meeting taking place. and as she’s a learned polymath who knows 10+ languages. What would be an interesting downside for a politician who constantly needs to mingle, though? One obvious option is to make her into a mute, so she needs sign language to relay all the information she is constantly gathering. It’s not a bad idea as in the form of a sign language expert and a secretary, it would introduce another pairing. As we haven’t yet had a romantic pair working together, they could have a relationship (same-sex). Even better, have the one with superpowers be the secretary. Would make more sense for her to lay out the information in sign language, for the politician to play it out.
Let’s view the ability to fly realistically (4th season)
Many would list it as their first choice for a superpower. But even with a parachute, I would find flying super scary. What if instead of the classic movie trope of needing to fly ‘on the fly’ and being able to do so at a crucial moment, he would start randomly floating. Kinda like the first scene in “Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban” where the rather offensive aunt Midge starts floating like a balloon. This would be freakin’ terrifying because if you can’t get yourself down, how DO you get down? Are they going to send a helicopter or someone with a jetpack after you? Then everyone would know you can fly and there’s no denying that. Anyhow, the first time flying he randomly starts to float while trying to hide it. He luckily manages to force himself back down, just in time.
He (John D. Materix) doesn’t so much train to be able to fly high but rather to control it. So that he wouldn’t randomly float and can make himself come back down. Why? He has a massive fear of heights. So when training, he starts off with soft ground below him and a very low altitude. After all, it’s a power that will kill you if it stops working midair. Higher altitude level includes a parachute and that is the one thing he always has. Instead of having a normal backpack, he has a parachute always fitted in there. He’s just that anxious that his powers might randomly activate. However, we will definitely have a situation where he doesn’t have it on and has no choice but to escape by flight.
When it comes to the practicality of it, how would he fly while keeping it under wraps? He also figures the power of flight isn’t very useful in a fight.
Here we need to know his backstory. A tragedy strikes and he’s unable to do anything because of his powers. Namely, his foster parents in a crime-ridden country are the ones publicly opposing crime in the city and are killed in their own home. He just floats away because this is what his uncontrolled fear naturally forces him to do. After that traumatic event, he takes his training seriously. Wishing to fully be in control of his powers, before he goes on his revenge quest.
He figures out that if he can become an expert sniper then he could be the perfect assassin. Over time, he also learns to do more than just float. He most definitely can’t go full Superman flight because honestly it has never made sense to me. Which is also the reason Stan Lee gave Iron Man repulsors. But without them… how do you move forward with nothing but air around you? He can float really high, move a bit in the air and then drop down as one would with a parachute and direct oneself in a certain direction. Once he has gotten his revenge by simply floating above the compound undetected and taking out the criminal gang one by one, he should have a go at saving someone. He has not yet trained to carry someone so he manages to take the person and make the fall slow enough so that they don’t die but end up in a critical condition in a hospital. After which he also trains to do that but as the physics stay the same, he can still merely slow down the fall. Like I said before, the powers have to maintain clear limits to make action scenes tense. We can’t have deus ex machinas coming out of nowhere.
Going against a guy like that is scary because Yoderik will have to be alert at all times. Namely, he could be sniped at any time from the air. So does he stay indoors? Does he only dare to go out drunk because he has to actively use his powers to create an invisible defensive field? How does he protect others? This flying sniper guy could threaten to kill anyone he cares about, which is why I see him being the antagonist in the fourth season. He has to tell those he cares about to stay indoors. As a matter of fact, I could see this opponent be one he has to go up against for months. Harkening back to our pandemic, where we had to stay indoors, Yoderik asks quite a few people to basically spend their months in a bunker. But does he tell them why? That he has powers and their lives are in danger? Eventually, yes. But initially he will think of a lie that he has to maintain for months. It’s like in “Breaking Bad”, when Walter was dealing with his primary antagonist in the show. During which his family had to hunker down for days without much of an explanation.
Eventually it is revealed that Osno brought the flying guy into town and pointed him into Yo’s direction. Osno could get too frustrated with staying in and would assist Yoderik in defeating him. Revealing that he’s known the identity of our flying sniper all along. After all, he’s one of the 100 people he has kept tabs on.
They have a couple cinematic but also slapsticky fights where Yoderik throws everything he’s got at the sniper guy in the hopes of hitting him. The flying sniper guy is out of his 50-metre range so Yo can’t move him. Yo has to get really drunk for even the smallest objects to reach him. At one point Yoderik and Osno simply take turns sleeping, waiting for days until the guy comes down so that they could have some advantage. Because even though he can comically piss and take a s**t while up there, at some point he has to come down due to exhaustion. This could take place in a forest so eventually it becomes a tense battle of snipers. Osno and Yoderik were cowering in a bulletproof van as the plan was to lure the sniper away from Yo’s friends, into the forest. Even though they came prepared with long-range rifles, they were still at a disadvantage against a better sniper. But once he comes down, they might have 2v1 chance of taking him down. They still fail and barely manage to get out of there alive.
In contrast, the final confrontation is as basic as it gets. Similarly to Sicario’s final scene with only Emily Blunt and Benicio del Toro, Yoderik confronts the guy at his place along with Osno. In close quarters, Yoderik has the advantage. He is drunk, tired and frustrated that because this man is the reason Yoderik has had to destroy the close relationships he has formed over a couple of seasons. Osno has an agenda of his own. To stop Yoderik from killing the guy. By season four, Yoderik has had to kill people for lesser reasons so he very much would like to. Eventually Osno convinces them to work together, to be one step closer to having his dream superhero team. This leads into them being weaponised in the next season (fifth and final?) and going against the strongest of Osno’s creations. An indestructible war hero on the opposing side of a military conflict far from home, who has cost potentially thousands of lives on their side…
Realistic Superman / Indestructible Russian (Season 5)
First off, the character doesn’t have to be a Russian archetype that we have seen so often. It could just as easily be an Estonian, for instance. But if we were to play into a certain character type the audience is used to, it would be the easiest to imagine him as a Russian (for now). Just trying my best to distance the story for anything political and focus on themes that are considered universal.
At first I wrote the story for this war hero as a Superman film, but one whose superpowers would stay unknown at all costs. I asked myself, what would I personally do if I had powers like Superman? I wouldn’t want the world to know I was different, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t be useful and be applauded for it. I would go to whatever war happened to be the most relevant at the world stage and asked to be assigned to the most dangerous strategically important hotspots.
In our show, our final and strongest antagonist Alex (from Alexander) can’t fly but he’s just very strong and bulletproof. A further developed version of a mutation on the LRP5 gene which can cause super strong bones. “Unbreakable” by M. Night Shyamalan seems to have taken inspiration because apparently the increased density makes it nearly impossible for people with it to float. Anyhow, the skin of our antagonist has developed into something different, which is not visible but can be felt.
Alex can still be tortured, thus he has to keep away from being captured. He wants to be loved as one of his people and never found out as ‘a freak’. I imagine he could be Russian who loves fighting for his country and its people. He is seen as a war hero. If he were to be ostracised, he could never find another tribe.
Unfortunately, he has to kill whoever witnesses his powers so that the world wouldn’t know. Sooner or later he has to kill some innocent civilians in the process, which weighs on his conscience. He’ll get scolded but remains in service. Next, he has to kill soldiers on his own side and even his best friend because otherwise he would be found out. There are also others breathing down his neck, because the satellite footage does indicate some real luck or something supernatural. He will be fully surrounded by soldiers who are shooting at him, and yet he will come out unharmed.
Eventually, he is about to be found out by the Russian military and believes that they will never accept him as a non-human. I’d like us to go against type and regard the Russian military as a reasonable one. Meaning that they confirm that he’s murdered his own teammates and is seen as a liability. They perform a psychological assessment and believe him to be a psychopath, unfit for service. It is not actually true because he does feel guilt. But obviously, he’s still on that spectrum. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to sacrifice his comrades to continue living out his glory days.
At one point, a fellow Russian soldier tries to avenge his friend that Alex killed to keep his secret. When the bullets just bounce off him and he kills the man, he is taken into custody. It turns out that someone witnessed it from afar, he has bullets holes in his uniform and so they want to run tests. Instead of telling them the truth about his powers, he makes an epic escape from the army base.
They had a fight with Yoderik. He goes back into that region to find him and join their team. Essentially, he just wants to belong somewhere and have a purpose. Which other superpowered people and Osno as a father figure provide him with. With Osno as the brains, they become the final antagonists.
Osno convinces him that he will be seen as the next step in evolution and not a monster to be feared. Eventually Alex agrees to come out of the shadows and announces himself as the world’s first superhero. You can think of this as the origin of Vought in “The Boys”. A mastermind scientists/CEO and the world’s strongest superhero hoping to take over the world, one step at a time.
Osno becomes power hungry and is no longer only happy with creating the world’s first superhero. He also wants a proper superhero team, like The Seven in the case of “The Boys”. He now has control of Alex, the strongest of them, so he’s willing to force Yoderik into the team if necessary. He ends up kidnapping the closest people to Yoderik and hold them in a huge safe house type building filled with goons. Devotees that are really into eugenics.
Yoderik convinces the teleporter and the flying sniper to help him save his friends, instead of joining the team. The show and Yoderik’s journey ends with an epic showdown, with choreography and setting like “The Raid”. I see the telepathic twins and the cocktail party effect heroes being recruited as well, used in a non-action scene we will be intercutting with. Yoderik is working his way through the building and through countless goons to reach his girlfriend Anita and his friends on upper levels. Sniper helps by taking out whoever he can through the windows. His bullets don’t penetrate our indestructible Russian, so this is eventually all on Yoderik.
Yoderik finally manages to reach his friends. He’s been drinking as he has been making his way up, even throwing up a couple times. Albeit throwing up, he just takes another gulp to keep his power levels up. He knows there are no civilians in the building so he can go all out without fearing collateral damage. It once again makes for some physical humour as he’s completely drunk and drained walking up the stairs in the end.
The initial idea was for the teleporter to sacrifice himself and kill Alex. If we wanted to continue with Yoderik’s story, that is a way to go. But alternatively, he could try but fail as Alex is just too big to be teleported. Yo orders him to teleport away with Anita. The flying guy could help his friends get out of the building. Yo then goes up against the Russian and has no other choice, but to collapse the building. As they were planning, the last resort was for Yo to pull towards him certain parts of the beams holding up the building. Putting his engineering talents into a good use and sacrificing himself for ‘the friends he made along the way’.
