debate: "pilot"

8/12/2019 Debate: "Pilot"

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DEBATE

“Pilot”

written by /u/meningles



TITLE CARD – NORTHVILLE DREAMCATCHER INN. 9:00 AM. 4 HOURSBEFORE THE NORTHVILLE HIGH DEBATE TOURNAMENT.

INT. HOTEL – MORNINGJARED and his MOTHER are walking down a path to their motelroom. JARED carries a thick notebook. His MOTHER carries alarge backpack rolls two large bags, which she is havingtrouble fitting on the path.

MOMToothbrush?

JAREDGreen bag, top left pouch.

MOMSocks?

JAREDBlue bag, bottom pouch.

MOMFloss?

JAREDRight next to the toothbrush.

MOMYour striped blue tie?

JAREDI brought the red one.

MOMOh, this is turning into a nightmare.

Freezeframe as we see captions below the two: “JAREDDOUGLAS: CAPTAIN, ROCK VALLEY HOMESCHOOLERS” and “CINDY

DOUGLAS: ASSISTANT COACH, ROCK VALLEY HOMESCHOOLERS”. As weunpause, CINDY drops one of the bags.

JAREDAre you sure you ve got that?

CINDYYes, I m fine.



JARED continues walking. She picks up the bag and walksquickly to catch up with him.

She turns to JARED.

Now, if someone offers you drugs…

JAREDI don t think that s going to happen.

CINDYBut if that DOES happen – what do you say?

JARED (with CINDY)Take those pills away from me„Cause that s not who I want to be!

They approach their motel room.

CINDY316 … I think this is our room. Oh! It turns outthat your roommate s name is Cody. He goes toRoosevelt High School.

JAREDI don t think I ve heard o f it.

CINDYI figured you wouldn t… He s his team s onlymember.

JARED starts to get his room card out.

CINDYI hope you two get along together.

JAREDPlease, mom. He sounds wonderful.

CINDYYou re right. Well, have fun.

CINDY walks away as JARED opens the door.

We see the inside: already strewn with trash, especially onCody s bed (cans, magazines, etc.). There are two main



beds, and Cody sits on his, eating Hot Cheetos out of abag. He is dressed in an old shirt and sweatpants. Metalmusic plays in the background.

Methodically, Cody walks in with one of the bags, places abag by his bed, then turns the music down on CODY s stereo.JARED walks back to get his first bag as CODY turns thevolume up again. He sets the other bag right next to thefirst one, places his notebook on the table, and then pullsthe stereo. CODY stares at him. After a brief pause:

JARED(holding out his hand, as if for a handshake)Jared Douglas.

CODYCody.

JAREDCody…

CODYCorrect.

Another freeze f rame. CODY s caption just says “CODY:DEBATE CAPTAIN/ONLY MEMBER, ROOSEVELT HIGH”.

JARED

I meant your…

CODYIt s just… Cody.

JAREDSo what school do you go to, Cody...?

CODY doesn t respond.

I m homeschooled.

CODYI could tell.

JARED starts unpacking.

JAREDWhat s it like at Roosevelt?



CODY

Didn t you just ask me where I went to school?

JAREDI can tell we re going to be friends already.

INT. HOTEL LOBBY – DAY

ROSE, a formally dressed girl in her senior year, stands bythe lobby s free coffee. MITCHELL, a formally dressed guyin his senior year, walks up to her.

MITCHELLWell, it looks like Jared s staying here.

ROSEHave you seen him?

MITCHELLHeard him. He has the room right above mine. Ihave to listen to that damn kid s voice for awhole weekend, not even including our debate.

ROSEAssuming you ll debate him.

MITCHELL

Seriously, Rose? He s my only competition inLincoln-Douglas this year. I m sure we ll runinto each other sooner or later. And the worstpart? I don t even know what his damn case islike.

ROSEWell, what if you got your hands on it?

MITCHELLWhat, you want me to just ask him?

ROSEIt s Lincoln - Douglas debate, right? You reallowed to look at each other s cases.

MITCHELLDoesn t mean he ll let me do it.



Both of them consider the situation while drinking coffee.During this, we have another freeze frame with the captions“MITCHELL SANDERS: ASSISTANT DEBATE CAPTAIN, DUNSFOLDPREPRATORY” and “ROSE HILL: SPEECH CAPTAIN, DUNSFOLDPREPRATORY”.

ROSEYou know which room he has, right?

MITCHELLI m not sure what you re talking about Rose…

ROSEWell, you could say your lost your room key –

MITCHELLGod dammit, Rose, of course I know what you regetting at!

He takes a sip of coffee.

MITCHELL (CONT.)Doesn t mean I want to do it.

ROSEFor Christ s sake, Mitch, have a strongerbackbone. The homeschoolers will be taking apicture together at 10 :00. That s your chance to

get in his room.

MITCHELLWait a minute, why are they taking picturesbefor e the tournament s even started?

ROSEThey ve tried that before… it doesn t alwaysyield the best results.

CUT TO a slideshow of past pictures of the homeschooled

team, taken after different debate tournaments. In eachphoto, all of them seem disappointed (or perhaps angry)with the exception of JARED, who is, in each instance, theonly one wearing a medal.

ROSESo how about it?



MITCHELLIt seems selfish.

ROSEYou won t be doing it for yourself.

MITCHELL looks into ROSE s eyes.

MITCHELLYou re right… I ll be doing it for you.

ROSEYou ll be doing it for the team, you idiot.

ROSE walks away. Dejected, MITCHELL looks down for a fewseconds, and then pours himself some more coffee. We seeJUSTICE, a blond senior with glasses, walk in frontconfusedly.

MITCHELLYou looking for someone, J?

JUSTICEFrancisco.

MITCHELLYeah, he s your partner this year, isn t he?

JUSTICEWe re also–

At this point, FRANCISCO, a young-looking, energeticfreshman, runs up to JUSTICE and hugs him, yelling:

FRANCISCORoooommmates!

Another freezeframe occurs as we see “FRANCISCO HERREREZ:DEBATER, DUNSFOLD PREPRATORY”.

JUSTICE(still looking at MITCHELL)Found him.

MITCHELLI ll leave you two to whatever it is you do.



He exits.

FRANCISCOWell, he ll be missing out on all of our fun.

JUSTICEOr debating.

FRANCISCO…But mostly fun.

JUSTICE…No, almost entirely debating.

FRANCISCOSo, do you know if we have another roommate?

JUSTICE…We don t.

FRANCISCOWell, I guess it s… just us then.

JUSTICE gives him an annoyed look. We pause, and thecaption shows that h is name is, in fact, “JUSTICE EVANS:DEBATE CAPTAIN, DUNSFOLD PREPRATORY”.

JUSTICE

Get to the point.

FRANCISCOI can t find our room.

JUSTICE254?

FRANCISCOIt s 3 54, smart guy. Anyways, I was just thinkingthat with my wits, and your –

JUSTICENo.

He starts to walk away. FRANCISCO catches up to him.

FRANCISCO



Oh, come on. If you don t help me out, I could bewandering up there for hours while you would bethat room by yourself.

JUSTICE turns to FRANCISCO.

JUSTICEIn case you ve forgot, debate involves making acompelling argument for your side.

FRANCISCOIt will be fun! Justice and Francisco, Explorersof the Unknown …

JUSTICEWe re debate partners, Francisco. Outside ofthat, you re on your ow n.

Once again, he walks away. But instead of catching up tohim, FRANCISCO stands in place.

INT. JARED AND CODY S ROOM– DAY

We hear a flush from inside the bathroom. CODY comes outand finds JARED taking notes in a binder.

JAREDHey, Cody, I noticed that you left your room key

on the table… you should always keep it in your pocket.

CODYAre you writing on my case?

JAREDOh, it s nothing. Just a few minor adjustments. As a varsity man myself, I feel it s myobligation to help novice kids with their cases.

CODY snatches it from him.

JAREDYour second card on the aff case actuallycontradicts your first contention. With all duerespect, have you passed this by your judge?

CODY



You know why I m the only person on Roosevelt steam, right? Coach Jasper doesn t give a shit,and he sure as hell hasn t taught me to.

JAREDBut you give a… you know … right?

CODYI don t know. I guess I get to bullshit otherpeople, but it doesn t feel… special to me.

JAREDWell… what made you want to join debate in thefirst place?

CODY gives a sad laugh.

CODYIt sure as hell wasn t because I wanted to do it.

Suddenly, he notices something missing from his binder.

CODY (CONT.)Where are my drawings?

JAREDThey contained… questionable content. Now, if ajudge happened to see those…

CODYWhere the hell are my fucking drawings?

JARED(as if remembering) Oh, that s another thing… youshould probably tone down your language. There sone point in your case where you call the UN a„coalition of … um…

CODY

I can call them a coalition of shitheads if Iwant. Now where are my pictures?

Suddenly, CINDY barges in armed with a bag of clementinesand a board game.

CINDYHello, boys!



JARED

Hi, mom!

As JARED S MOM sets the bag and game down on a coffeetable, she says:

CINDYI m guessing you re Jared s new friend…

CODYYou d be surprised.

JAREDI was just fixing up Cody s case.

CODYFixing it up. Sure, if that s what you want tocall it. If you want to call taking a perfectlyacceptable, if unorthodox, argument and take outeverything compelling about it, sure. Then that sexactly what Jared did. Isn t that right, youlittle –

JAREDSo what do you have there, mom?

CINDY

Well, I have a bag of clementines for you two…

JARED turns to CODY, as if to try and get him excited.

JAREDOooh! These would be so much better than yourCheetos, Cody. They have nutritional value, butthey re still orange!

CINDYAnd it looks like I have something else here,

too…

JARED looks at the box and gasps.

JAREDNow what could this be?

CINDY



I don t know…

JAREDWhat could it be? (turns to CODY) What could itbe, Cody?

CODYA rope?

CINDYIt s TEN TO COUNTER !

JARED looks at the box, unimpressed.

JAREDOh… it s the original one.

CODYWhat the hell am I looking at?

JAREDOh, nothing, really… it was a fun debating game,but this one s from the 90 s, so it s prettyuseless now. You can set that wherever, mom…probably just under a bed or something.

JARED S MOM do es so while saying:

CINDYIs there something wrong with it, sweetie?

JAREDI really don t know, mom. Is there? I mean, I mfine with it, unless Cody isn t… are you okaywith this, Cody?

Both of them stare at CODY.

CODY

What the hell happened to my drawings, Jared?

JAREDCould you excuse us for a second, mom?

CINDYAlright. Be out in five minutes for pictures,okay?



She walks out of the room.

JAREDHave you ever heard of being polite, Cody?

CODYBe polite? You want me to be polite? Youdestroyed all of my drawings!

JAREDI never said I destroyed them! I just put them ina place where you d never see them again.

CODYHours of work! All gone!

JAREDScantily- clad women? I m sure those would begreat on your résumé, Cody.

CODYFor the love of God, Jared, it s called a hobby.I m sorry, but not everyone s like you, buddy…“Oooh, I m Jared, I m just a little bitch whodoes nothing but debate and shit all day. Oh,this game? I can t have this game because it sfrom 1998.”

JARED1994, and no, I do not spend all my time atdebate. I just care enough about it to realizethat yes, life is more than Hot Cheetos andamateurish graffiti. Get over it.

JARED exhales.

JARED (CONT.)What was that nonsense doing in your notes,

anyway?

CODYI don t know! I just like to draw stuff duringrounds.

JARED audibly gasps.



JAREDYou should be taking notes.

CODYI can debate however I damn please.

JAREDNo. No. You can not. You are learning how to takenotes right now, young man.

CODYNo, I m not . You know why?

JARED(sarcastically) Why?

CODY starts packing.

CODYBecause I don t need to put up with you and yourbullshit anymore. I m switching rooms.

JAREDGood luck finding someone who will take you, you a ––

JARED hesitates.

CODY

Oh, go ahead and say it. You re a big boy.

JAREDYou ASSHOLE!

CODY picks up his now-packed bag, not paying any attentionto the other trash he has left.

CODYGoodbye, Jared.

He walks out of the room and slams the door.

INT. HOTEL LOBBY – DAY

MITCHELL is voicing over his plan as we see the plan inmotion.

MITCHELL (V.O.)



So here s the plan. I go up to the desk. I say“Hello, I am from room 313. Oh no, I just lost myroom key!”

ROSEBut you wouldn t be losing it just then.

MITCHELLGood point. I should probably change that.

He goes back into voiceover mode.

MITCHELL (V.O.)So anyway, I tell them that I ve lost my roomkey. They re going to ask for my name, and I lltell them: “Me? You don t know who I am?” becauseI have to have a bit of a persona, make itrealistic, and so I say “My name s Jared.…Douglas?”

ROSEWhat s your name?

MITCHELL snaps out of his JARED imitation.

MITCHELLMitchell Sanders.

He realizes his mistake.

Dammit! I ll never be able to pull it off.

ROSEYou can do it, Mitchell. You just have to beconfident. Now. What s your name?

MITCHELLJared Douglas!

ROSEWhat do you want?

MITCHELLMy room key!

ROSEWhy do you want it?



MITCHELL

So I can break into his –

He catches himself mid-sentence.

MITCHELL (CONT.)Ahh – so I can break into my room.

ROSEYou ll get there.

INT. HOTEL HALLWAY – DAY

We are in a hotel hallway similar to the ones we have seenbefore. JUSTICE walks along confusedly, a suitcase in onehand. FRANCISCO walks up behind.

FRANCISCOWe meet again.

JUSTICEThis doesn t make any sense! I ve been lookingall over and the highest number I could find was348.

FRANCISCOWell, that s a shame… Because I’ve found it.

JUSTICE gives him a distrusting look.

FRANCISCO (CONT.)All right, I haven t. But the sooner one of usfinds us, the so oner the other does… What do yousay?

JUSTICEMy answer hasn t changed since last time.

FRANCISCOCome on, Justice! We have a combined IQ score of250!

JUSTICEI m definitely not a 200, but thanks for thecomplement.



JUSTICE is about to leave when FRANCISCO points tosomething.

FRANCISCOWait a minute… what s that hallway with thelights out?

JUSTICE turns around.

JUSTICEI don t know. I ve… never seen it before.

They move into a dark hallway. Most of the lights arebroken, but some are still flickering. Glass, emptybottles, and torn carpet line the floors.

FRANCISCOHuh. If they re putting us here, I guess theyreally are full on rooms.

JUSTICEWhat the hell is this place?

FRANCISCO points at a room number.

FRANCISCOWait a minute! There s 349!

JUSTICEWhat?

FRANCISCO keeps walking forward. JUSTICE catches up to him.

FRANCISCO350… 351…

JUSTICEI can t believe it, Francisco… I m actuallyreally impressed.

FRANCISCO slows down his pace.

FRANCISCO353… and, drumroll please…



CODY sighs, as if he felt guilty for leaving JARED. Thistrain of thought is interrupted by the overly peppy WOMAN.

WOMANYou re up !

CODY looks up, closes his binder, and approaches the desk.

CODYI d like to change rooms.

WOMANWhat s the magic word…

CODYI d like to change rooms…

CODY sighs.

CODY (CONT.)…Please .

WOMANI won t be able to do that… I m afraid we rebooked.

CODYWell, t here s got to be some place I can stay.

WOMANIf you really want, we can book you in the 350 s…But you really don t want to stay up there.

CODYI don t think you understand… honestly, any roomsounds good right now.

WOMANI don t think you understand…

Her tone grows dark.

WOMAN…you… do not… want to stay in the 350 s.

CODY



I m sorry, do you enjoy fucking around with yourcustomers?

WOMANDo you enjoy cholera?

CODYIt s better than what I have.

WOMANFine… you probably know better than me, right?

She catches her tone and reverts back to her peppyattitude.

I ll need your room number.

CODY316.

She types the number into her computer.

WOMANAll right… Cody J–

CODYJust … Cody.

She types something in. After a pause, CODY asks:

CODY (CONT.)How d you know I was Cody, anyway?

WOMANYour roommate – your former one, at least – justdropped by. He asked for a room key.

CODYJared? Jared Douglas?

WOMANThat s the one.

CODYJared Douglas forgetting a room key...

CODY laughs.



CODY (CONT.)

Serves that son of a bitch right.

WOMANOh, but he was so sweet… and charming…

CODY slowly begins to realize that something is wrong here.

CODYHe didn t come off as… annoying to you?

WOMANOf course not… not at all.

CODY has a genuine “Oh shit” look on his face as he comesto the realization that that person was not Jared.

WOMAN (CONT.)So, we have five rooms available –

CODYI have to go.

CODY runs out of the room, leaving his bags and binderbehind.

WOMAN

Sir…! Your bags…

As CODY doesn t respond, she mutters under her breath:

WOMAN (CONT.)Disrespectful little asshole.

INT. HOTEL HALLWAY

CODY hastily walks down the hallway. He is more angry thannervous. As he reaches 316, he takes out a room key and

uses it, slamming the door open. We see MITCHELL leafingthrough JARED s notes. He turns to see CODY, a shocked lookon his face. As CODY walks towards him, MITCHELL, thinkingfast, closes the binder.

MITCHELLFirst of all, this is not what it looks like –



CODY ignores this line as he continues to walk forward andpromptly punch MITCHELL in the stomach. MITCHELL staggersbackwards.

MITCHELL (CONT.)I didn t even know homeschoolers could throw apunch…

CODYI m not a homeschooler.

He proceeds to punch MITCHELL again. MITCHELL staggers backinto a chair.

MITCHELLThen what the hell are you doing in here?

CODYAll the rooms are taken. I m sta ying with thelittle bastard.

MITCHELLSo you hate him, too?

CODYYeah… I guess you could say we have that incommon. But at least I care about him.

He starts to punch MITCHELL again, when MITCHELLinterrupts:

MITCHELLCome on, man, you don t have to punch me afterevery single line. Listen, it s not like I wastrying to steal them or anything –

CODYI know what you were doing.

MITCHELLWho would have thought that Jared, of all people,made doodles in his notebook?

CODY picks up the notebook and looks through it. Sureenough, his drawings are in there.

CODY



Huh.

MITCHELLSo, am I free to go or what?

CODYUh… yeah. Hey, did you like his drawings, by anychance?

MITCHELL starts to get up. He can walk, but it s clear thathis stomach is hurting.

MITCHELLI didn t pay much attention to them, but theywere certainly… exotic.

As MITCHELL is leaving, CODY shrugs and says to himself:

CODYI ll take it.

Before leaving, MITCHELL turns to CODY and asks:

MITCHELLWhat did you say your name was, again?

CODYCody.

MITCHELLCody…?

CODYLeave before I put my fist somewhere else.

MITCHELL exits. We follow him into the hallway. As he turnsa corner, he unexpectedly finds JUSTICE and FRANCISCO, wornout from all of their searching, sitting in the hallway.FRANCISCO notices him, causing MITCHELL to try and act like

he has not just been punched in the stomach.

FRANCISCO(exasperated) Mitchell!

MITCHELLOh, hey! I was just… talking with a friend. Whatare you two doing up here?



FRANCISCO

We ve been looking for hours, man… all this timetrying to find 354… and we ve gotten nowhere…nowhere…

MITCHELLWell, good luck with that… but you shouldprobably know that we re all staying on thesecond floor.

As MITCHELL walks past them, the camera stays on JUSTICE, athousand-yard stare pointed at the wall in front of him,and FRANCISCO, who appears similarly war-torn.

As he takes a room key packet out from his pocket, he takesone look at it and goes back to normal.

FRANCISCOTwo fifty-four … yeah, that makes sense.

He gets up and leaves the frame, which stays on JUSTICE,who keeps his stare. We keep on this image for a fewseconds, and then…

CUT TO BLACK

debate: "pilot"

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