Scene 4 circles back to Bill, as everyone is getting their second scene before the tilt table. Everyone gets one more chance to set themselves up for success, before it’ll all, inevitably, turn bad. Let’s take a closer look at the next card:

#26 A House Is Not A Home

It’s what’s inside that matters.

 Large house, big porch, a sleeping dog on the lawn.

Bill returned home after many years, but not to settle back in, not to make a living. He’s an undercover cop, trying to bring down the mob. He’s lying to his old friend, and now also to the love of his life. What exactly is his “home” in any of this to him?

On the surface, everything seems normal. But look a little closer, and you realize this is an illusion.

Is your hero’s ordinary life a lie? And if so, are they an unwitting dupe (the naive daughter) or complicit in the fabrication (the sleeper spy)?

What does “home” mean to your hero? Is it a sanctuary or a prison? Is it a location or a relationship? Most heroes are either running to or from home.

Yeah, right. Bill is a rat. An undercover cop. His home town is run by a crime boss, and he’s involved himself with her to bring her down. Everything he knew, every street, every corner, the same old restaurant, even his old girlfriend, are now a lie. A lie he has to maintain, if he wants to succeed. Failure isn’t an option.

Try This

Imagine one of your hero’s allies is lying. What is the lie, and how could the hero discover it.

Funny, given that Bill is the obvious liar here. Okay, what if Ash or Jay have secrets? What if one of them is actually an informant, as well? Not just for law enforcement, but maybe for a rival gang. Either one having ulterior motives could be interesting. 

Empty houses burn faster. How can you destroy your hero’s initial setting or situation, preventing them from returning?

This question/framing makes me think not so much about his home town, but about his job and assignment. I know that he has the Need: Get away and start over attached to his relationship with Ash. What if, now that she’s back in his life and directly involved with this entire situation, he knows he can’t see this through. Ash will go down with this Boss, not the least because she’s directly related to her. This is Bill’s final scene before the tilt, so maybe he’s making a move to get her and himself out of there. 

Perhaps your hero finds a midstory safe haven—a place (or relationship) of relative security. Brainstorm three dark secrets they could discover about it.

According to the outline, Bill corners Ash to have a talk. Maybe they reconnect. With that in mind:

1. Maybe there is a moment where he finds himself being “happy” to be reunited with his friends, but then finds out what the job is about: something with a bomb.

2. To riff on the previous ideas, Ash could have her own secret agenda or knowledge of something

3. I established early on that Bill’s parents had to move to the city abruptly. Maybe the reason for that had to do with a criminal element they wanted to run away from—the same element that moved in and took over the town. And Ash learned about that from her aunt, and she also knows that Bill is a cop. This whole thing is a setup; Bill’s worst fears from his first scene coming true. 

Final Thoughts

This scene is going bad for Bill, that much I know for sure. It will also have to start with Jay telling them about the bomb and what it’s for. During the outline, I said that they have to bomb a train or something. Keep in mind, the bomb and detonator are part of the original Fiasco setup, and I have decided to make it central to the job they’re on. Part of me thinks that this whole job is a bit of a farce to begin with. Why would the Boss send these three idiots to do something so drastic? Either, she’s secretly desperate because her business is coming undone (there were some hints at that in Bill’s first scene), or it’s so extreme so she can force the rat to panic and make a mistake, revealing themselves and their contacts. 

Or it’s both.

Either way, this scene is about Bill finding out about the job and having a private conversation with Ash. It’ll end badly for him, so whatever he wants to get out of it (convince her to run away?) won’t work. If anything, he won’t be able to stop what’s about to happen.