![]() Betty is divorcing him, and a much bigger company is taking over his advertising agency. The opportunity for hero Don Draper is introduced immediately. Mad Men couldn’t be much more different in plot, tone, style or genre from a police procedural. (This is also a familiar device for this show – that the B Story involving Castle’s mother or daughter will somehow tip him off to the key to solving the mystery.) They finally arrest the killer at the climax, and the aftermath (as usual) wraps up the B story and closes with the two heroes together in some lighter moment, having brought the bad guy to justice. This is the Major Setback for the episode. When they think they’ve solved the crime, and that the killer is dead, Castle inadvertently says something about his daughter to Beckett and realizes that they were wrong – that the killer is still on the loose. This marks the Change of Plans – when the hero begins pursuing the Outer Motivation (in every mystery or police procedural, it’s to find and arrest the killer). Once they identify the victim, interview his ex-wife and hypothesize the motive, they formulate some plan for pursuing the most likely suspect. ![]() This is the Opportunity, and in the next scene, Castle and Beckett are examining the crime scene, figuring out what happened. This is typical for television mysteries and police procedurals (including The Mentalist, Lie to Me, and all the incarnations of CSI, NCIS and Law and Order), which invariably open with a crime, or the discovery of a crime. Take, for example, episodes of two series that were broadcast this week: Castle and Mad Men:Ĭastle opened with a dead body crashing down on a car. From there the structure is basically identical: after the heroes figure out what the new situation is, they begin pursuing a visible goal that will carry them to the end of the episode. The heroes then move immediately into the New Situation. Since we already know the heroes (who are always the lead characters of the series) and are familiar with their everyday lives from all the previous episodes, the opening scene is usually the Opportunity (the 10% turning point in a feature film). In one-hour episodic series (and most sitcoms as well), the first two stages (the Setup and the New Situation) are combined. For a much more detailed explanation, including the 6 Stages of the hero’s Inner Journey, get the CD or DVD of The Hero’s 2 Journeys.) (If you’re not familiar with my 6 Stage approach to plot structure, please see the article entitled STORY STRUCTURE: The 5 Key Turning Points of All Successful Stories. Even though an episodic series has recurring characters and lasts an average of about 40 minutes (more on commercial free cable), the same principles apply, with just a few exceptions and modifications. Many of you have asked how effective the elements of my 6 Stage approach to plot structure are when applied to one-hour dramatic television series.
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