Supernatural Spin-off Proposal: The Men of Letters

LOGLINE:

By 1916, the Men of Letters have been dead for over a century. Six individuals in Kansas are forced to confront the supernatural world and unite to recreate the Men of Letters after they are caught in the middle of a fight to the death between the Trickster Gabriel and an escaped Purgatory foe from his past—Loki, the real Trickster.

SUMMARY OF SHOW:

This is the story of the emergence of the Men of Letters as we know them today through the series Supernatural. By 1916, the Men of Letters have been long lost and forgotten after they mysteriously died out in the 1800s. After a group of individuals find themselves caught in the middle of a battle between two supernatural creatures, Gabriel and the real Trickster, Loki himself, six of the witnesses come together to make sense of the shattering of their perceptions of the world around them. This series follows the evolution of their increasing interaction with supernatural creatures, their character developments and group personalities, and the evolution of the new Men of Letters as we know them today. Riley Singer, who is the collector of knowledge, the inheritor of the old archive of Men of Letters knowledge, and the grandfather of Bobby Singer from the Supernatural series, is the main protagonist, upon whom the season focuses primarily.

The show is about the building upon of the Men of Letter’s archive of knowledge, the individuals’ coping with the realization of supernatural beings in the world, and the fight to the death between the “Trickster” Gabriel, Loki, and the newly-forming Men of Letters themselves. The season also uncovers the true story of Gabriel, defining and reinvigorating the character in a way that transforms his prestige and prominence in both CW series. Old favorites, such as Crowley, are also explored in a new light in the series. Additionally, much of the classic stylistic flare of the Supernatural series is maintained while at the same time creating a new story with which the audience will become enthralled and engaged. The themes remain similar, yet unique. Riley, the Archivist, is a major source of the series’ pondering of the question of what it means to be human versus monstrous. The Men of Letters shows the characteristics of humanity and monstrosity, delving into Purgatory and the idea of Tricksters and gods more than ever before.

OVERVIEW OF MAIN CHARACTERS:

Riley Singer: The main character. He is the archivist: the inheritor and collector of all the knowledge that the new generation of the Men of Letters obtain throughout the series. Similar to Bobby Singer’s archive of knowledge in the main series, the Archivist is Bobby’s grandfather.

Gabriel, the Trickster: From the original Supernatural series, played by Richard Speight, Jr. While he has traditionally called himself a Trickster, this spin-off will look into Gabriel’s background, origins, and character. The series reveals more about him, one piece at a time. He is not a real Trickster, but has instead adopted this personality to hide himself from the wrath of the universe’s gods. He derives from Purgatory, which is where he had locked away his rival, the real Trickster, Loki, whose identity he stole to protect himself.

Loki, The Trickster: Gabriel’s greatest enemy, as well as the true Trickster. Like Gabriel, Loki also comes from Purgatory. It is his identity that Gabriel steals. Having escaped from Purgatory where he had been trapped by Gabriel, Loki will do whatever it takes to obtain his vengeance.

Al “Magnus” Rummond: The primary human antagonist who becomes the new leader of the Men of Letters once they are reestablished in the final episode of the season. Due to philosophical differences, particularly those relating to notions of “the greater good” and black and white conceptualizations of good humans versus bad monsters, he finds himself increasingly at odds with Riley throughout the series. Ultimately, his views and support within the group of Kansas allow him to obtain a position of leadership that affords him an unbalanced amount of power and influence. He establishes the use of the Men of Letters’ infamous code name, Magnus, based off his interest of a man with the same first name, Albertus Magnus, who was a 13^th- century German Dominican and advocate for the coexistence of science and religion. His wife, Charley, is also a part of the group that becomes formed.

13-EP. EPISODE OUTLINE:

1- Six individuals in a shopping building are forced to confront the supernatural world when two humanoid beings (Gabriel and Loki) with special powers appear from nowhere. Experiencing this battle and escaping from the building just before it is blown up, a young man (Riley) and another man (Al) get the group out of harm’s way. They find themselves struggling with but rising up to the challenge of comprehending that the world around them is not as they believed it to be.

2- Riley, Al, Al’s wife, Charley, and three other people who were present in the explosion return to the scene to try to make sense of what happened. They are introduced to one another and begin to congregate, talk, and sort through their experiences together. Gabriel sees them and recognizes an opportunity to manipulate them into recreating the Men of Letters so that they can unwittingly assist him in his fight against Loki. In this, he also looks out for his long-term interests, as by establishing the group without them knowing he was the impetus for it, he can hide himself from other future hunters and keep track of the information that they have or gain regarding him. Additionally, he is unable to access the Men of Letters’ leftover works because they are warded against his kind. He approaches Riley and cunningly manipulates the archivist into finding a large body of knowledge about supernatural beings—the archive of the long-lost Men of Letters.

3- Riley shares the knowledge of the Men of Letters and their archive with the group. They sort through the knowledge they have obtained to try to identify the beings that could have had the powers that they saw. The Aquarian Star (the six pointed sign representing great power and magic linked to the gates of Atlantis) becomes the symbol for their club. Meanwhile, Loki is plotting his next attack on Gabriel, which includes the destruction of a large quantity of people in Kansas as well.

4- Loki’s plan in enacted and catches the attention of not only Gabriel, but especially the group of humans. When they hear that supernatural beings such as demons are possessing and killing members of the city not far from their town, a demon they captured by using the directions from the Men of Letters books tells them just enough to fill in a few pieces of the puzzle. Loki is discovered to somehow be connected to Purgatory, and intends to get his revenge on Gabriel and all of humanity as vengeance for being wronged.

5- The group’s focus on Purgatory grows as they attempt to gain more knowledge to defeat Loki. The monster-of-the-week style episode focuses on the development of the group, the development of the different members’ characters and interactions with one another, and their utilization of the Men of Letters archive of knowledge to defeat a new supernatural creature.

6- Another monster-of-the-week style episode focusing upon the group’s discovery of resurrected vampires from Purgatory. They are beginning to gain the attention of the creatures of the supernatural world, as well as more knowledge of Purgatory.

7- The focus of the episode shifts from the normal story of Riley, Al, and the other 3 members of the group to a flashback to Gabriel’s life as he watches the present-day group attempt to deal with their new-found fame amongst the creature they are hunting. The audience learns the story of how Gabriel derived his identity, his relationship with Loki, the betrayal, and how he became the character he is today.

8- The Archivist stumbles upon a Men of Letters pondering that there might be some way to “cure” monsters. As they go looking for information, they encounter a monster called a Dream Catcher who forces them unknowingly into a dream-like state, in which they are off fighting in World War I. They must make their way through the dream and break the spell of the monster.

9- An encounter with Loki shows that the group will not come out of this unscathed. Riley’s first attempt at defeating Loki fails, and the price in lives is paid. Hopelessness and despair is rampant. Gabriel reappears to them.

10- While exorcising some demons, Crowley, the King of Hell, makes a visit and introduces himself to the group. While he poses a much larger threat, he offers the group a deal: stop exorcising his demons and go on a dangerous mission to defeat Loki, or be killed. The group chooses the former.

11- The group gets thrown unexpectedly into Purgatory by Crowley, who has not given them all the information they need to fully prepare. They must search for the region of the origin of the Trickster and Gabriel themselves, while avoiding the monsters hunting them. This provides much-needed insight into how a cure for monsters, including Loki, might be made.

12- Gabriel reappears in Purgatory himself. He is captured by Loki. After they find the information they need, Crowley pulls the group out of Purgatory and returns them to present-day Kansas, where they must work to save Gabriel, find a way to defeat Loki, and save humanity.

13- Riley achieves his “cure” for the monsters, only to find that the cure is actually a source of extinction, too. Using this knowledge, a final showdown takes place, in which the group enacts the method and successfully ends Loki, but Charley dies. The enemy is beaten, but the morality of the group is pushed to its limits. Al, hurting, vengeful, persuasive, and the emerged leader of the group, wants to use the Archivist’s creation to exterminate every supernatural for the “greater good” of humanity. Tensions come to a peak when Riley, unwilling to commit genocide, destroys his research of the “cure.” The Men of Letters are finally established, but, due to Riley’s defiance, the Archivist is removed from their records and not allowed into the society.

Explanation of spinoff idea based on class study:

              

Supernatural tends to close down or back away from many opportunities to explore the supernatural legends or creatures further. There are many captivating stories to be written about how the monsters that viewers know and love on the show today came into being. The Men of Letters makes many allusions to central figures in the current series, especially in regards to the Trickster, Purgatory, Crowley, and the Men of Letters themselves, who have become a vital aspect of Supernatural in recent seasons. The key elements of the show’s horror, supernatural, and drama genres are central to this spinoff, but include more elements of action than seen in the original series. Though there are key character, actor, spacial and stylistic connections between the show and the current series, this spin-off series is different enough to not seem redundant or less integral to Supernatural, especially because of the manner in which it is not an adventure on the road, but is rather focused in around the location of the Men of Letter’s locale. Additionally, the series’ focus on the formation of the Men of Letters and development of characters and relation to the supernatural world allows it the unique position of capping it as a complete story at one season, or continuing the story as it gains even more popularity through what can be a nearly endless amount of seasons due to the show itself. The Men of Letters have much more work to be done by episode 13 of this first season and can extends onwards through present day if so desired. While the origins and formation of it is the best and most substantial place to start to effectively create a prosperous spin-off, there are still an immense amount of story arcs to make the series an entity that could surpass even the ratings of the original series itself.

Discussion of audience commodity, marketability, and medium choice:

The Men of Letters is a TV series, which will allow it to be distributed to a wider audience, where it can gain the budget and actors it requires, as well acquiring more momentum and profit. A higher budget is required over a webisode series, but the cost of set productions, CGI, and travel will be very low in comparison with other shows. There is far more profit and potential for the TV series as well as involvement in fandom events, such as conventions, both separate and combined with Supernatural, which will produce a substantial amount of money and propaganda for the series. Additionally, according to the Nielsen Total Audience Report for the 3^rd Quarter of 2015, the monthly time spent by adults amongst traditional and emerging media formats, distinguished by annual household income, is overwhelmingly in the favor of live and DVR or time-shifted television. This is amongst house hold incomes from less that $25K, between $25K-$50K, $50K-$75K, and over $75K (http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/reports/2015/the-total-audience-report-q3-2015.html).

With the CW’s gearing towards an expanding audience originally ranging from 18-34 years old to now a median age of 43 years and 45% male, 55% female viewership, according to Adweek and CW President Mark Pedowitz, a fast-paced spin on some of the classic characters and styles of the Supernatural series while introducing identifiable, intriguing, stylish, and evolved characters into one of the most interesting parts of the current series, the Men of Letters, will be all but devoured by both the diehard fans of Supernatural, as well as average viewers for whom this series will by their first foray into the CW network. (http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/press-room/2012/the-cw-to-use-nielsen-online-campaign-ratings.html and http://www.adweek.com/news/television/qa-cw-president-mark-pedowitz-gets-guys-164297). Even though it is a spin-off, the show is self-contained and will be able to even bring in new viewers who have never watched an episode of Supernatural. The Men of Letters has great potential to be one of the CW’s top shows, drawing in a wider viewership, and causing audiences to become invested in thought, time, and money.

Justification- why this and not something else:

It’s rad and it has Richard Speight, Jr. in it.