Pilot Episode: 21 months to finish (630 days)
Episode Two: 10 days
Mathematically speaking, that's about a 98.4% improvement (of course, this says nothing about quality).
Even though the amount of time doesn't reflect it, composing the second episode was MUCH, MUCH, MUCH, MUCH, MUCH more difficult than the pilot. In the pilot, the world was new, fresh, and all possibilities are the table, it's the first date, so to speak---the start of a new relationship.
But the second episode is a VERY awkward second date. But why? The answer is not so obvious, but it makes perfect sense once dissected. The pilot is the beginning, anything goes, and by the THIRD episode, the viewers should know all the characters, understand the basic plot, conflicts, and goals of the major players.
But then there is the second episode. It is the middle child, it is the demilitarized zone, it is that semi-lucid state between deep sleep and slamming the alarm clock at 6:00am. The second episode is an awkward and difficult tale that must be told, and told well. The home audience is still coming off of the pilot, they understand many things, but they do not know the characters and conflicts well enough to just jump into the first big challenge for the group. They are still getting to know and feel comfortable with the setting, they are still building love for heroes, and disdain for the villains.
So what do you do in the second episode? Technically, you still build it like every other episode sans the pilot. The order is predictable:Group faces a new problem
Group tackles the problem
Group apparently loses the battle
Group revives to overcome (or do they?)
Episode Two needs a magical blend of "difficult challenge" + "character development on speed". The audience needs to meet and develop impressions of all major players, white hats, black hats, and those unpredictable gray ones, at an accelerated rate, especially in a show like this with over a dozen major characters.
With an episodic serial like "Back to Normal," it is crucial to introduce all key players in the first couple of episodes, and then avoid the introduction of any MAJOR new heroes or villains until well into the first season. If you are constantly introducing new and significant characters, it makes it difficult for the audience to connect and feel comfortable, safe, "at home," in this new world you are building for them.
Obviously there needs to be new challenges, new obstacles, new setbacks--each episode--but these need to be within the constraints of a known and familiar environment, filled with known and familiar people. Think of Gilligan's Island, an enormously successful show, it had nearly 100 episodes. Yet think about it, after the pilot, no new major characters were ever introduced again....ever. It started with 7, it ended with 7.
So, I finished the "second date." It was difficult, it was awkward, I was nervous, I was uncomfortable. But, at the end of the date, I think we're finally ready for that important third one, I think the bridge from the first meeting to the "let's go steady" phase is a success. I think, wait, no...let me rephrase that...I KNOW she likes me.
I have no marriage plans just yet, but I am looking at rings.
