31 Plays in 31 Days, #1 - “Nefarious Plan”

[breakinglight11]

Okay, here we go. Let’s try some Dream Machine episode six, since I know a little more than zero about it right now.

A big part of episode six is going to be about Ryan’s alienation from his family. He and his ex-wife Veronica, née Waters, had a very acrimonious divorce and have not been in much contact since their separation except to occasionally fight over something. I’ve been trying to work out a timeline of their relationship, to figure out what the significant moments were.



Here’s my tentative thoughts. They were relatively young when they met, when he was up and coming in the film industry and she was making a name for herself as a fashion model. Let’s say around 1994. They were both pretty wild partiers, and though Ryan wasn’t an addict yet, they still used plenty of drugs. Their careers were on the rise and they were happy and had a lot of fun. They were in a committed relationship, but had no plans to get married until Veronica got pregnant with their daughter Meryl, born in 1996. They had a son Marlon (yes, they named their kids after Meryl Streep and Marlon Brando) four or so years later, in 2000.

Veronica got clean for the kids, pivoting away from modeling to found a lifestyle brand she still runs to great success today. But Ryan’s drug use gradually got worse, as he encountered career stumbling blocks and struggled with the demands of being a husband and father. They had a bunch of good years together, I think, but things started to crumble as his addiction took over his life. He’s described in scripts so far as a “fifteen-year heroin addict,” who’s been clean for about one year, which suggests he got into the hard stuff around 2004, but I think he was already pretty deep into other stuff before he reached that point. I’m not exactly sure how long their marriage lasted— between ten and fourteen years —but it definitely broke down several years before their actual split. By the point they crashed they despised each other, chiefly due to Ryan’s lousy behavior, which extended to not being a very present or supportive dad to his kids.

At the time Dream Machine picks up, Marlon is openly hostile with resentment toward him, and Meryl has cut him out of her life in entirely, banning him from her wedding when she got married a couple years ago and refusing to speak to him. Now that he’s clean and pulling his life together, Ryan would like to do something to repair these relationships. But since they’d heard the rehab song and dance from him before, they’re not optimistic. However, this is the farthest he’s come on that path ever, and he’s hoping that will make a difference. But he’s got to get over some more of his own bullshit first.

Here’s a scene with him and his son Marlon, who’s still in contact but doesn’t cut him an inch of slack. There’s not enough here yet, but it’s meant to display Ryan’s bad habits in relating to people that he will have to work on through the course of this episode.

Let out commence with the banged-out garbage!

Day #1 - “Nefarious Plan”
From Dream Machine:
“1.06 – Dresden’s Dolls”
By Phoebe Roberts
~~~

RYAN DRESDEN, head of programming for Dream Machine, early fifties
MARLON DRESDEN, his alienated son at college at Dartmouth, early twenties

Los Angeles, CA and Hanover, NH, 2020
~~~

INT. PAMPLEMOUSSE HALLWAY

Marching purposefully, Ryan whips out his phone to make a call. He waits impatiently as it rings in the dorm room of a young man, his college-aged son MARLON DRESDEN, who glances up annoyance before declining it. Undeterred, Ryan calls again and again until at last, in frustration, Marlon picks up.

MARLON: Ugh, what!?

RYAN: That’s how you answer the phone?

MARLON: Nah, Pop, that’s something special just for you. What do you want?

RYAN: You talked to your mom recently?

MARLON: No, she knows what it means when somebody sends you to voicemail. What do you care? Thought you two wanted each other to get eaten by lemmings.

RYAN: She’s tracked me down. She’s here.

MARLON: Oh, shit. She actually did it?

RYAN: Did what? Did she tell you? What do you know?

MARLON: Why don’t you harass her about it, since she’s right in front of you?

RYAN: She’s not going to reveal her nefarious plan to me! Come on, I’m getting things back on track. Do you just want to let her destroy me?

MARLON: I don’t know, kinda.

RYAN: Damn it, she is coming after me, I knew it! At least now I can get prepared. No thanks to you.

MARLON: So glad I could help.

RYAN: Don’t tell her I called, okay? I don’t want her knowing I’m on to her.

MARLON: On to what, exactly?

RYAN: Her plan! But she’s not going to sabotage me now. Oh, is she going to regret that she started something.

MARLON: Oh, I don’t doubt it.

RYAN: I told you, I’m getting things together. You’ll see. Have a little faith in me, will you?

MARLON: Send money and next time I’ll consider it.

Ryan hangs up the phone and sets his jaw resolutely.