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\lhead{GET DOWNZ: The Plow and the Fury}

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    \centering
    \vspace*{2in}
    \textbf{GET DOWNZ} \\
    \vspace{0.5in}
    Episode 101: The Plow and the Fury \\
    \vspace{1in}
    TELEPLAY BY: [Your Name] \\
    BASED ON THE CHARACTERS CREATED BY: [User's Prompt] \\
    \vspace{1in}
    LOGLINE: A brilliant detective with Down’s Syndrome and his uniquely-abled team also with Down’s crack the cases that stump the police, all while managing their hilariously clueless, “normal” supermodel receptionist. \\
    \vspace{1in}
    \begin{flushleft}
        \textbf{CAST} \\
        OLIVER DOWNZ (40s) \\
        PENELOPE "PENNY" BLOOM (30s) \\
        BARTHOLOMEW "BARTY" BUTTERFIELD (20s) \\
        CANDACE "CANDY" KANE (20s) \\
        AGENT STERN (50s), FBI Section Chief \\
        AGENT HARRINGTON (30s), FBI Special Agent \\
        ARTHUR PINTER (60s), Disgruntled former city worker \\
        MAYOR GARRISON (50s), Polished and panicked \\
        CLERK (40s), Nervous city employee \\
    \end{flushleft}
    \vfill
\end{titlepage}

% Screenplay content
\scene{TEASER}

\slugline{EXT. LOS ANGELES CITY HALL - DAY}
\action{CHAOS. Police cars and black FBI Suburbans block every street. Yellow tape creates a perimeter ten blocks wide. The iconic white tower of City Hall stands silent, a tombstone in the midday sun.}
\action{SWAT teams take positions behind vehicles. News helicopters, like mechanical vultures, circle overhead.}

\slugline{INT. FBI MOBILE COMMAND POST - DAY}
\action{A cramped, stifling RV filled with humming electronics and palpable tension. Maps and schematics of City Hall are taped to every surface.}
\action{AGENT HARRINGTON (30s, handsome, impeccably dressed in a suit that costs more than the RV, radiating arrogant ambition) points at a map. He’s addressing his superior, the grizzled, world-weary AGENT STERN.}
\character{HARRINGTON}
\dialogue{The threat is specific: "At noon, the den of vipers will be plowed into the ground." The email was routed through a server in Tehran. It was signed ‘The Scythe of Justice.’ This has all the markers of a state-sponsored Khorasani cell. We need to be looking at every Iranian national on the watch list within a fifty-mile radius.}
\character{STERN}
\dialogue{(Sipping lukewarm coffee) "Plowed into the ground." It sounds... folksy. For a terrorist.}
\character{HARRINGTON}
\dialogue{It’s a crude translation, obviously. They mean leveled. Demolished. They’ve likely planted a high-yield explosive in the substructure. EOD is doing a sweep, but the building’s a labyrinth. We’re forty-five minutes to noon.}
\action{A nervous FBI TECH looks up from his console.}
\character{FBI TECH}
\dialogue{Sir, we have the Mayor on a secure line. He’s... anxious.}
\action{On a monitor, the panicked face of MAYOR GARRISON appears.}
\character{MAYOR GARRISON (ON SCREEN)}
\dialogue{Stern! What the hell is going on? My chief of staff says you think it’s Iran! Are you telling me I’m on a hit list from the Ayatollah? I just cut the ribbon at a Persian bakery last week! I was very complimentary!}
\character{STERN}
\dialogue{We’re handling it, Mr. Mayor. Stay in the secure location.}
\action{Stern kills the video feed. He rubs his temples.}
\character{STERN}
\dialogue{(To himself) Give me a simple bank robbery any day.}
\character{HARRINGTON}
\dialogue{We have this, sir. It’s a classic foreign threat profile. Textbook. No need to muddy the waters with... outside consultants.}
\action{Stern looks at Harrington, then at the clock on the wall. The second hand sweeps with agonizing slowness.}
\character{STERN}
\dialogue{That’s exactly why I need to muddy the waters. Get them.}
\action{Harrington’s jaw tightens. He knows exactly who “them” is.}
\character{HARRINGTON}
\dialogue{Sir, with all due respect, we are the Federal Bureau of Investigation. We don’t need the local sideshow. They’re... amateurs. They’re an embarrassment.}
\character{STERN}
\dialogue{They get results. And right now, your ‘textbook’ has given me nothing but a sweaty mayor and a bad feeling in my gut. Make the call. Now.}
\action{Harrington clenches his phone like he wants to crush it. He stalks to a corner of the RV to make the call, his face a mask of pure contempt.}
\transition{FADE OUT.}
\action{END OF TEASER}

\scene{ACT I}

\slugline{INT. "GET DOWNZ" DETECTIVE AGENCY - DAY}
\action{An oasis of peculiar calm. The loft is spacious and clean, a mix of old-world academia and cutting-edge tech.}
\action{OLIVER DOWNZ, in a perfectly tailored tweed three-piece suit, stands before a large, antique chessboard. He contemplates the board, a half-empty cup of Earl Grey tea beside it. He gently picks up the white queen.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{A bold move. Provocative. But it leaves your king vulnerable to a long-range bishop attack. Overconfidence is a dangerous foe.}
\action{He nods to himself, sets the queen down, walks around the table, and studies the board from the Black side with equal gravity.}
\action{Across the room, at a U-shaped bank of computers, PENELOPE "PENNY" BLOOM is a whirlwind of focused energy. Her fingers move with a pianist’s grace across three keyboards. On her screens, lines of code scroll past, satellite images resolve, and encrypted files are being brute-forced. She wears a headset, listening intently.}
\character{PENNY}
\dialogue{(To herself) No, no, no... the hash is too simple. It’s a decoy. The real data is in the packet headers... there you are.}
\action{At a long, pristine table, BARTHOLOMEW "BARTY" BUTTERFIELD is engaged in a task of supreme importance. He has a box of assorted pastries. With a small ruler and a protractor, he is measuring and sorting them by size, shape, and glaze consistency. He examines a bear claw, finds it aesthetically displeasing, and eats it. Balance is restored. He then begins arranging pretzel sticks by their salt-crystal density.}
\action{The only point of chaos is the reception desk. CANDACE "CANDY" KANE, stunningly beautiful and dressed for a Milan runway, is battling the telephone.}
\character{CANDY}
\dialogue{(Into phone) Okay, let me see if I have this right. Your husband is missing. And he’s a... mime? So, he was last seen... not talking? In a box of... his own making?}
\action{She puts the caller on hold, looking deeply confused.}
\character{CANDY}
\dialogue{Uncle O, this lady is very upset but also very quiet. I think her husband might just be, like, really committed to his art.}
\action{The main door opens. Agent Harrington enters, looking deeply unhappy to be there. He stops, taking in the scene: Oliver talking to a chessboard, Barty organizing snacks, and Candy staring at him with wide, curious eyes.}
\character{CANDY}
\dialogue{Oh, wow. Hi. Are you here for a casting? Because your look is very ‘grumpy but secretly has a heart of gold’ detective. It’s a hot archetype right now. I have an agent I could call. His name is Barry, he’s a shark.}
\character{HARRINGTON}
\dialogue{(Ignoring her, voice dripping with condescension) Oliver Downz?}
\action{Oliver turns from his chessboard, his expression placid. He gives Harrington a slow, deliberate look, taking in the expensive suit, the polished shoes, the tightly-wound anger.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{Agent Harrington. Your reputation precedes you. I read your monograph on narco-terrorism financial structures. An interesting, if slightly derivative, take on the subject. You rely too heavily on the works of Alvarez, without crediting his foundational theories. A common oversight for the ambitious. Tea?}
\action{Harrington is visibly taken aback.}
\character{HARRINGTON}
\dialogue{I’m not here for a book club. Agent Stern sent me. We have a crisis at City Hall.}
\character{PENNY}
\dialogue{(Swiveling in her chair) Bomb threat. Emailed threat sent at 08:02 this morning. Routed through a public server in Tehran. Claimed by a group calling itself ‘The Scythe of Justice.’ Threat is for high noon. Current time is 11:17.}
\action{Harrington stares at her.}
\character{HARRINGTON}
\dialogue{How could you possibly know that? That’s classified.}
\character{PENNY}
\dialogue{Your departmental server has a backdoor vulnerability in its firewall’s SSL handshake protocol. You should really upgrade to a 256-bit encryption standard. It’s 2023.}
\action{Barty looks up from his pretzels.}
\character{BARTY}
\dialogue{Noon is a bad time. Lunchtime. People are hungry. It’s not orderly.}
\action{Oliver picks up his teacup and takes a sip. He seems to consider Barty’s point with great seriousness.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{An excellent point, Barty. Chaos is often a mask for a deeper, more personal logic. Agent Stern is stumped, I presume? He wouldn’t have sent his prize pupil otherwise. He would have come himself.}
\character{HARRINGTON}
\dialogue{Agent Stern is managing the tactical situation. He wants your... unique perspective.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{He means he has a puzzle he cannot solve and a clock that will not wait. Very well. The mundanity of it all is rather appealing. A municipal building. How very drab. Penny, pack the mobile rig. Barty, bring the architectural integrity files for downtown city structures, subsection C. And a bag of the salted pretzels. The ones with the large crystals.}
\character{CANDY}
\dialogue{Should I come? I could be, like, a decoy. Or offer fashion advice to the hostages? A good silhouette can be very calming.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{(With a hint of affection) You will be of most use here, Candace. Manning the phones. And please, try to differentiate between a missing person and a performance artist. There are subtleties.}
\action{Candy beams, taking it as a supreme compliment.}
\character{CANDY}
\dialogue{You got it, Uncle O! Subtleties are my jam!}
\action{Harrington watches them assemble their gear, his expression a mixture of disbelief and disgust.}
\character{HARRINGTON}
\dialogue{(Under his breath, to himself) This is a joke. A complete and utter joke.}
\action{Oliver, walking past him towards the door, pauses.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{The most dangerous jokes, Agent, are the ones you don't understand until the punchline. And the punchline is in thirty-nine minutes. Shall we?}
\action{Oliver sweeps out, his team in his wake, leaving Harrington no choice but to follow, fuming.}
\transition{FADE OUT.}
\action{END OF ACT I}

\scene{ACT II}

\slugline{INT. FBI MOBILE COMMAND POST - DAY}
\action{The Get Downz team enters the RV. The air is thick with anxiety. Harrington tries to assert control immediately.}
\character{HARRINGTON}
\dialogue{Alright, Downz. Here’s the situation. We have a bomb, we have a deadline, and we have a foreign enemy. Your job is to find something our guys missed. A nuance. Don’t touch anything.}
\action{Oliver completely ignores him. He walks to the wall of schematics, his eyes scanning the blueprints of City Hall. He glides his fingers over the paper, as if reading braille.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{This building is a palimpsest. Built in the ‘20s, retrofitted in the ‘60s for earthquake proofing, upgraded for security in the ‘90s. Each layer tells a story. But the original story, the foundation, is always the most important.}
\action{He turns to Stern.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{The threat. The exact wording. "Plowed into the ground."}
\character{STERN}
\dialogue{Yeah. We’re assuming it’s a bad translation for ‘leveled.’}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{Never assume a bad translation. Assume a literal one. To plow, one needs a plow. A tool. A vehicle of significant power and mass. Not a bomb in a briefcase. A bomb is... impersonal. Plowing is intimate. It is agricultural. It is about uprooting. Agent Harrington, you are looking for a ghost in the machine. I believe we should be looking for a man with a grievance. And a tractor.}
\action{Harrington scoffs loudly.}
\character{HARRINGTON}
\dialogue{A tractor? Is that your expert analysis? That we’re looking for Old McDonald? This is a coordinated terror attack, not a county fair dispute. My team is tracking shell corporations tied to the IRGC. That’s where the real threat is.}
\action{Penny has set up her mobile rig in a corner. Her laptop and a series of tablets are already online. She ignores the argument, her focus absolute.}
\character{PENNY}
\dialogue{The Farsi in the email header is grammatically flawed. It’s formal, but stilted. The kind of phrasing you’d get from running English through a first-generation translation software, then back again. For example, the phrase ‘den of vipers’ translates back from modern Farsi as ‘nest of poisonous snakes,’ a common idiom. But the syntax used here is archaic. Nobody in Tehran has spoken like this for fifty years.}
\character{HARRINGTON}
\dialogue{They’re trying to throw us off. It’s misdirection 101.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{Or... it is the misdirection of a singular, unsophisticated mind, not a state intelligence agency. A state agency would have hired a native speaker. It would be flawless. This is... clumsy. This is personal.}
\action{Barty has unfolded a massive, detailed blueprint on the floor. He lies on his stomach, examining it closely, a pretzel stick in his mouth.}
\character{BARTY}
\dialogue{The concrete seals. The 1998 security upgrade. They sealed 42 access tunnels. Work order numbers C-98-101 through C-98-143.}
\character{HARRINGTON}
\dialogue{We know. We’ve reviewed it. They’re impenetrable.}
\character{BARTY}
\dialogue{(Without looking up) No. One is wrong.}
\action{He taps a specific point on the map with his pretzel.}
\character{BARTY}
\dialogue{Section G-7. The old steam conduit to the Department of Public Works surplus yard. The work order is T-98-113. Not C. ‘C’ is for Concrete. For Permanent. ‘T’ is for Temporary. Like the patch they put on the roof in 2004 after the rain leak. That was T-04-621. They used the wrong flashing. I saw the invoice.}
\action{Harrington kneels down, annoyed.}
\character{HARRINGTON}
\dialogue{It’s a typo, obviously.}
\character{BARTY}
\dialogue{The city’s accounting department doesn't make typos. They make categorizations. That work order corresponds to a requisition for three sheets of drywall and a can of spackle. Not 20 tons of reinforced concrete. The invoice was for 37 dollars and 14 cents.}
\action{Stern looks from Barty to Harrington, a flicker of doubt in his eyes.}
\character{STERN}
\dialogue{(To an aide) Get a tactical team to the Public Works yard. I want eyes on that G-7 access point. Now.}
\action{The aide scrambles. Harrington looks furious, undermined by a man with a pretzel.}

\slugline{INT. CITY CLERK'S OFFICE - DAY}
\action{Penny, with her gentle demeanor, sits opposite a terrified-looking female CLERK. FBI agents had grilled her for an hour and gotten nothing. Penny slides a cup of herbal tea towards her.}
\character{PENNY}
\dialogue{It’s chamomile. It helps. They’re very... loud, aren’t they? The agents.}
\action{The Clerk nods, wringing her hands.}
\character{CLERK}
\dialogue{They think I’m involved. They kept asking if I’d seen anyone suspicious. Anyone who looks... foreign.}
\character{PENNY}
\dialogue{We don’t think that. We think the person who did this loved this place very much. So much that it hurt them when it didn’t love them back. Do you know anyone like that? Someone who was here a long, long time? Who maybe... lost their job recently?}
\action{The Clerk’s eyes fill with tears.}
\character{CLERK}
\dialogue{You mean Arthur? Arthur Pinter?}

\slugline{INT. "GET DOWNZ" DETECTIVE AGENCY - DAY}
\action{Candy is on the phone with a friend, her feet up on the desk.}
\character{CANDY}
\dialogue{No, I’m telling you, Gisele, it’s a power move. They fired him! After 29 years! Can you imagine? It’s like, you spend your whole life perfecting your signature runway walk, and then some new casting director comes in and says they want more ‘jaunty energy.’ Jaunty! It’s insulting. Some people pour their whole soul into their job, you know? It’s like, what else do they have?}
\action{She unwraps a protein bar and takes a bite.}
\character{CANDY}
\dialogue{Anyway, I have to go. My uncle is, like, solving a national security crisis. I’m holding down the fort. It’s very stressful.}

\slugline{INT. FBI MOBILE COMMAND POST - DAY}
\action{Oliver is on the phone, listening silently. We realize he’s listening to Candy’s conversation via the office line he patched through to his cell phone.}
\action{...fired him! After 29 years! ...Some people pour their whole soul into their job, you know? It’s like, what else do they have?}
\action{A look of profound understanding crosses Oliver’s face. He hangs up. Penny returns to the RV, her face grim.}
\character{PENNY}
\dialogue{I have a name. Arthur Pinter. Maintenance engineer. He worked here for 29 years. Fired three months ago.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{Let me guess. For an infraction of staggering triviality.}
\character{PENNY}
\dialogue{(Reading from her tablet) He used the wrong brand of floor wax in the City Controller’s office. A new supervisor with a sensitive nose wrote him up. It was his third write-up in 30 years. The other two were for taking too long on his lunch break in 1995 and parking his personal vehicle in a city spot in 2008.}
\action{Harrington laughs. A genuine, dismissive laugh.}
\character{HARRINGTON}
\dialogue{And you’re telling me this guy, this janitor, is our international terrorist mastermind? Because he got fired over floor wax? Get real.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{The smaller the reason, the greater the wound, Agent. A man can understand being fired for grand larceny. But for floor wax? That’s not a firing. That’s an invalidation of a lifetime of service. That’s the kind of thing that makes a man want to... uproot the entire garden.}
\action{Oliver looks at the clock. 11:41.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{Penny, I want everything on Arthur Pinter. His life, his family, his hobbies. Barty, cross-reference Pinter’s work logs with the dates of the ‘temporary’ patch on G-7. I have a feeling our Mr. Pinter was a very meticulous man.}
\character{BARTY}
\dialogue{(Still on the floor) He was. His inventory requests for the maintenance department are perfect. Every screw accounted for. Every lightbulb logged. A place for everything, and everything in its place. He would hate this RV. It’s messy.}
\action{Harrington just shakes his head and walks away to talk on his phone, back to his "real" investigation.}
\character{STERN}
\dialogue{(Quietly, to Oliver) Keep digging. My gut’s still churning.}
\action{Oliver nods, his eyes fixed on the blueprint, seeing not lines and numbers, but the story of a man’s life being erased.}
\transition{FADE OUT.}
\action{END OF ACT II}

\scene{ACT III}

\slugline{INT. FBI MOBILE COMMAND POST - DAY}
\action{The clock reads 11:51. Ten minutes to noon. The tension is unbearable. FBI agents are shouting into phones.}
\action{Harrington is briefing Stern, pointing at a map of LAX.}
\character{HARRINGTON}
\dialogue{We have a hit. An Iranian national on the watch list, a student visa, bought a one-way ticket to Yemen this morning. Paid cash. The flight leaves in twenty minutes. He’s our guy. I’m scrambling a team to intercept. This is it, sir. We got him.}
\action{But Stern is watching the Get Downz team, who are huddled around Penny’s tablet. They’re in their own world.}
\character{PENNY}
\dialogue{Okay, I’m in the city’s un-archived personnel files. It’s a mess, but it’s all here. Arthur Pinter. Perfect service record for 29 years. Commendations for his work during the Northridge earthquake. Praised for his efficiency. Then, six months ago, a new supervisor is appointed. Dale Maxwell. A Wharton MBA grad brought in to ‘streamline departmental redundancies.’}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{Translation: A man with a spreadsheet who has never held a wrench.}
\character{PENNY}
\dialogue{First, he cuts the budget for high-quality cleaning supplies. Pinter files a complaint, saying the cheaper wax is bad for the marble floors. Supervisor Maxwell issues a write-up for ‘insubordination.’ Second, he rejiggers the work schedules, taking Pinter off the historic rotunda he’d maintained for two decades. Pinter complains again. Write-up number two for ‘failure to adapt to a new workflow paradigm.’ The floor wax was the third strike.}
\action{Barty looks up from a stack of printouts he’s meticulously arranged on the floor.}
\character{BARTY}
\dialogue{The work logs. For the last five years. They aren’t random. It’s a grid pattern. Every Friday, he’d log a work order for a different, obscure part of the building. The sewer junction under the east wing. The ventilation shaft above the council chambers. He was mapping. He knew the building was going to be taken from him. He was studying it. Saying goodbye. Or finding its weaknesses.}
\action{The pieces are clicking into place. Oliver’s expression is grim.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{He wouldn’t have seen it as insubordination. He would have seen it as protecting the building. The building was his life’s work. The supervisor wasn’t just firing him; he was desecrating his legacy. Penny, financials. Hobbies. What did he do when he wasn’t here?}
\character{PENNY}
\dialogue{His 401k was cashed out two months ago. A lump sum of seventy-three thousand dollars. Most of it is gone. Last week, a single, large purchase from a garden and farm supply depot in the Valley.}
\action{She turns the tablet to Oliver. The invoice is on the screen.}
\character{PENNY}
\dialogue{Fifty-pound bags of ammonium nitrate fertilizer. And two canisters of diesel fuel.}
\action{Stern and Harrington have drifted over, listening. Stern’s face goes white.}
\character{STERN}
\dialogue{A fertilizer bomb. A big one. McVeigh style.}
\character{HARRINGTON}
\dialogue{It’s a coincidence. The old man is a gardener. The student at the airport is our bomber. Don’t get distracted by this... this soap opera.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{It is not a soap opera, Agent. It is the most powerful motive in the world: a broken heart. Penny, what about his family?}
\character{PENNY}
\dialogue{He was a widower. His wife, Eleanor, died five years ago. He never remarried. Her obituary says she was a passionate horticulturalist. She was the president of the Los Angeles chapter of...}
\action{Penny stops. Her eyes go wide. She looks at Oliver.}
\character{PENNY}
\dialogue{The "Friends of the Centennial Rose Garden" society.}
\action{Oliver turns slowly to the main map on the wall. He points to the green patch directly adjacent to the Department of Public Works surplus yard. The Centennial Rose Garden.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{He’s not going to bomb the building. He’s going to \textit{plow} it. He’s going to drive a piece of the city’s own forgotten machinery through that G-7 tunnel and physically uproot the foundation. The foundation he spent his life maintaining. It’s not terrorism. It’s poetry. Cruel, destructive poetry.}
\action{An FBI aide bursts into the RV.}
\character{FBI AIDE}
\dialogue{Sir! The team at the surplus yard! They have eyes on something!}
\action{On the main monitor, a grainy image from a tactical drone appears. A massive, ancient, rust-yellow BULLDOZER sits in the middle of the yard. And a figure is visible in the cab.}
\character{STERN}
\dialogue{My God.}
\action{The clock on the wall reads 11:57.}
\character{HARRINGTON}
\dialogue{(Stunned) It doesn’t make sense...}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{It makes perfect sense, Agent. You were simply reading the wrong book.}
\action{Oliver grabs his coat.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{To the surplus yard. Now.}
\transition{FADE OUT.}
\action{END OF ACT III}

\scene{ACT IV}

\slugline{EXT. PUBLIC WORKS SURPLUS YARD - DAY}
\action{A desolate landscape of automotive ghosts. Decommissioned street sweepers, salt trucks, and garbage trucks sit silent under the L.A. sun.}
\action{The Get Downz team’s sedan screeches to a halt behind a line of FBI Suburbans. They get out and join Stern, who is crouched behind a vehicle, peering through binoculars. Harrington is there, looking utterly bewildered, his "Iranian terrorist" theory evaporating before his eyes.}
\character{STERN}
\dialogue{(Into his radio) All units, hold positions. Sniper team one, what’s your status?}
\character{SNIPER (V.O.)}
\dialogue{Alpha One has a clear shot on the subject in the cab. He’s wired the engine block to a dead man’s switch. Looks like a classic IED. If his hand comes off that lever, or if we take him out, the whole thing goes up.}
\action{Through Stern’s binoculars, we see ARTHUR PINTER. He’s not a monster. He’s just a sad old man in a flannel shirt, his hand resting on a large, greasy lever connected by wires to a bundle of what looks like explosives strapped to the engine. His face is a mask of grim resolve.}
\action{The bulldozer is aimed directly at a large, corrugated metal wall – the entrance to the G-7 tunnel.}
\action{The time is 11:59.}
\character{HARRINGTON}
\dialogue{This is insane. The bomb, the bulldozer... it’s an unnecessarily complicated plan.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{(Without looking at him) It’s his plan. It’s his story. The complexity is the point. He’s using the city’s own tools, its own forgotten pathways, to strike at its heart. He’s not just destroying a building, he’s making a statement.}
\character{STERN}
\dialogue{A statement that’s going to get a lot of people killed if that bomb goes off. I have to give the order, Oliver. The sniper can end this.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{And detonate the bomb? No. Let me talk to him.}
\character{HARRINGTON}
\dialogue{Are you certified as a hostage negotiator? Because I am. This is my scene.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{You speak the language of procedure, Agent. I speak the language of floor wax. I believe my dialect will be more effective.}
\action{Before Stern or Harrington can stop him, Oliver steps out from behind the vehicle. He holds his hands up, open and non-threatening, and begins to walk slowly, deliberately, across the dusty yard towards the monstrous machine.}

\slugline{EXT. SURPLUS YARD - CONTINUOUS}
\action{The world seems to hold its breath. The snipers have Oliver in their sights. Harrington is muttering into his radio for them to hold fire. Penny and Barty watch, their faces etched with worry.}
\action{Oliver stops about thirty feet from the bulldozer.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{Mr. Pinter! My name is Oliver Downz. I’m an admirer of your work.}
\action{Pinter glares down from the cab, his eyes wild.}
\character{PINTER}
\dialogue{Get back! You’re one of them! They sent you!}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{I am not one of them. I’ve seen your work logs, Arthur. The ones from 1994, after the Northridge quake. You and your team worked for 72 hours straight, checking the structural integrity of every support pillar. You diagnosed a hairline fracture in column B-12 that the city’s own engineers missed. You saved that building.}
\action{This penetrates Pinter’s anger. He blinks.}
\character{PINTER}
\dialogue{I... I remember that. They gave me a plaque. I think they spelled my name wrong.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{They did. They spelled it P-I-N-T-A-R. An inexcusable error. An insult to a craftsman. Just as it was an insult to reassign you from the rotunda. The marble floors you tended to for twenty years. You used a carnauba-based wax, didn’t you? To give it that deep, warm glow. The new supervisor, he wouldn’t understand that. He only understands spreadsheets.}
\action{Pinter’s hand on the lever trembles. A tear traces a path through the grime on his cheek.}
\character{PINTER}
\dialogue{He said... he said I was inefficient. That my methods were antiquated. My whole life... my whole life was in that building. Tending to it. Keeping it alive. And they threw me out. Like this bulldozer. Left to rust.}
\action{While Oliver is talking, Barty has been studying the bulldozer. Not the bomb, but the machine itself. He sees the thick, greasy engine cables. He also sees his own reflection in a small, grimy puddle of oil on the ground. He notices his coat is unbuttoned. He meticulously buttons it. Order.}
\action{Then he looks back at the engine. His eyes follow one specific, thick black cable. He whispers to Penny.}
\character{BARTY}
\dialogue{The ignition coil cable. It’s a 1978 Caterpillar D9. They have an external distributor. It’s... simple.}
\character{HARRINGTON}
\dialogue{(To Stern, whispering) He’s losing it. Oliver’s just making him more emotional. This isn’t working. I need to take the shot.}
\character{STERN}
\dialogue{Stand down, Harrington! Stand down!}
\action{Back at the bulldozer, Oliver takes another step closer.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{I know about Eleanor, Arthur. I know about her roses. The Centennial Garden was her passion. You’re not just destroying a building. You’re destroying her memory. The city took your legacy, don’t let them take hers too.}
\action{Suddenly, Barty gets up. He calmly walks past Stern and Harrington.}
\character{HARRINGTON}
\dialogue{Hey! Where do you think you’re going? Get back here!}
\action{Barty ignores him. He walks with a steady, unhurried pace. He’s not looking at Pinter. He’s looking at the engine. He walks right up to the side of the massive machine. Pinter is too focused on Oliver to notice.}
\action{Barty reaches into the greasy engine block. He finds the thick, black cable he identified. With a firm, decisive tug, he disconnects the spark plug cable from the distributor cap.}
\action{He holds it up. It’s covered in grease. He looks at it with slight distaste.}
\character{BARTY}
\dialogue{(To no one in particular) It won’t start now.}
\action{In the cab, Pinter, sensing the shift, tries to turn the ignition. Nothing. He frantically tries again. The engine doesn’t even turn over. It’s completely dead.}
\action{He looks down and sees Barty, holding the cable. The fight, the anger, the purpose—it all drains out of Pinter’s face. He looks at the useless lever in his hand. He slumps in his seat, a broken man. He begins to sob.}
\action{Oliver walks to the cab and gently places a hand on the cold steel.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{It’s alright, Arthur. The noise is over. Now we can talk. Now we can make them listen.}
\action{Harrington stands frozen, his mouth agape. He was preparing for a firefight and a massive explosion. Instead, the crisis was ended by a quiet conversation and a man who just unplugged something. He looks completely and utterly defeated.}
\transition{FADE OUT.}
\action{END OF ACT IV}

\scene{ACT V}

\slugline{EXT. SURPLUS YARD - LATER}
\action{The crisis is over. An EOD robot is carefully disarming the makeshift bomb. Arthur Pinter is sitting on the running board of an ambulance, a blanket over his shoulders, sipping water. Oliver is sitting with him, not talking, just being present.}
\action{Stern walks over to Harrington, who is staring at the scene, still processing his failure.}
\character{STERN}
\dialogue{The student at LAX? The one you were so sure about?}
\character{HARRINGTON}
\dialogue{(Dejected) His father sent him cash for a plane ticket to see his sick grandmother in Sana’a. He’s just a kid. It was nothing.}
\character{STERN}
\dialogue{You saw a textbook, Harrington. You saw what you wanted to see. Downz saw a man. You need to learn the difference. You’re on administrative review until further notice. I’ll be handling your caseload.}
\action{Stern walks away, leaving Harrington alone with his shattered ego.}
\action{A young, ambitious lawyer in a sharp suit approaches Oliver and Pinter. Oliver discreetly hired her an hour ago.}
\character{LAWYER}
\dialogue{Mr. Pinter? My name is Joyce Remnick. Mr. Downz has retained me on your behalf. We are filing a multi-million dollar wrongful termination and emotional distress lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles. I think we have a very, very strong case.}
\action{For the first time, a flicker of something other than despair appears in Arthur Pinter’s eyes.}

\slugline{INT. "GET DOWNZ" DETECTIVE AGENCY - NIGHT}
\action{The team is back. The city lights twinkle outside the large loft window. A news report plays softly on Penny’s monitor.}
\character{REPORTER (ON TV)}
\dialogue{...what was first reported as a terrifying act of international terrorism has been revealed as the desperate cry for help from a wronged city employee. While Arthur Pinter will face charges, his lawyer says the real culprit is a toxic work environment and callous bureaucracy. Sources on the scene credit the peaceful resolution to the unorthodox but brilliant intervention of private detective Oliver Downz and his team...}
\action{Barty is at his table, carefully cleaning the grease from his hands with a special towelette. Penny is typing up her final report. Oliver is sipping a fresh cup of Earl Grey, watching his chessboard as if seeing it for the first time.}
\action{The door opens and Agent Stern enters. He looks tired, but less burdened. He walks over to the coffee machine and pours himself a mug.}
\character{STERN}
\dialogue{The Mayor sends his thanks. And his apologies for doubting you. The City Controller has fired Supervisor Maxwell. Apparently, a ‘new workflow paradigm’ doesn’t include multi-million dollar lawsuits.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{A predictable, if satisfying, outcome.}
\character{STERN}
\dialogue{You, uh... you did good, Downz. You and your team. You stopped a bomb, but you also saved a man. That’s not something we get to do very often.}
\action{It’s the closest Stern has ever come to a compliment. He gives a stiff nod, more of a neck spasm, and leaves.}
\action{Just then, Candy emerges from the small office kitchen. She is wheeling a trolley. On it sits a cake. A truly horrifying creation, covered in a thick, lumpy, Pepto-Bismol-pink frosting with suspicious green flecks.}
\character{CANDY}
\dialogue{Surprise! To celebrate another solved case, I made my signature victory cake!}
\action{Penny and Barty exchange a look of pure, unadulterated terror. Barty instinctively clutches a nearby bag of pretzels, holding it like a shield.}
\character{CANDY}
\dialogue{It’s a gluten-free, dairy-free, paleo-keto fusion! Very on-trend.}
\action{With the air of a king tasting for poison, Oliver stands, takes a small, clean plate and fork, and cuts a mathematically perfect sliver of cake. Candy beams with pride.}
\action{Oliver places the sliver on his plate. He examines its structure. He sniffs it. Then, he takes a small bite. He closes his eyes. He chews slowly, thoughtfully, his face a mask of intense concentration. Penny and Barty hold their breath.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{Mmm.}
\action{He chews again.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{Remarkable.}
\character{CANDY}
\dialogue{(Clapping her hands) Right?! What do you taste? What are the notes?}
\action{Oliver dabs his lips with a linen napkin. His delivery is perfectly deadpan.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{The frosting is... bold. An aggressive stevia base, I believe. With top notes of... lavender? And an undercurrent of... is that... canned tuna?}
\character{CANDY}
\dialogue{Yes! Oh my god, you have the best palate! It’s my famous Surf and Turf Surprise cake! The green flecks are kale. For antioxidants.}
\action{Penny looks like she’s going to be sick. Barty opens his bag of pretzels and begins eating them with a rapid, rhythmic crunching.}
\action{Oliver takes another tiny, deliberate bite of the cake. He savors it. He looks at his bizarre, brilliant, wonderful team. He looks at Candy, who is glowing with oblivious pride. He looks at Penny, who is trying not to gag, and Barty, who is stress-eating. A warm, genuine smile spreads across his face. This is his world. This is his victory.}
\action{Penny watches him, a look of pure awe on her face, the horror of the cake momentarily forgotten. She shakes her head in wonder.}
\character{PENNY}
\dialogue{I don’t know how you do it, Oliver. From a single verb to a heartbroken man with a bulldozer. It’s amazing. Oliver, what detective school did you go to?}
\action{Oliver sets his fork down. He looks at Penny, his eyes twinkling with deep affection and a profound sense of rightness.}
\character{OLIVER}
\dialogue{Elementary, my dear Penny. Elementary.}
\transition{FADE TO BLACK.}
\action{END OF EPISODE}

\end{document}