Interviews - Robert Goodman on 'Ro's
Reunion' and 'The Wrong Morph'
In addition to the interview, Robert Goodman gave us some
thoughts on the two unaired (in the US) episodes, "Ro's Reunion"
and "The Wrong Morph."
"Ro's Reunion" wasn't the best looking episode as far as the
animation went (as you know, the series was plagued by
inconsistent production quality from overseas studios), but it's
an important piece of the story, and a bummer that U.S.
audiences didn't get to see it.
It's the episode where Ro finds out her brother Casey's name
(before this, she only had the picture Tiffy gave her at the end
of "Hicksburg"), and at first, it seems like she has a chance to
find him. Problem is, to take that chance she has to expose her
whereabouts to Bennet. After much soul-searching, and Zee really
putting Ro's best interests ahead of his own feelings, the two
decide to part ways. Forever. (Because if Ro did successfully
reunite with her family and stop running, Bennet would
presumably have eyes on her for the rest of her life.)
So there's a really tender goodbye scene between them (with
fabulous music by Michael McCuistion). Later in the episode of
course, the reunion with Ro's brother turns out to be a hoax.
Our heroes escape just as Bennet and team arrive - and then
there's a really nice tag scene, in which Ro assures Zee that
"for now at least," he's all the family she needs.
Speaking of Bennet's team, a bit of trivia: This episode is the
first time Agent Rush speaks. She'd previously appeared without
dialogue in "West-Bound." And the cast was DCAU-star-studded:
Cree Summer ( Batman Beyond's Max) plays a talk show host named
Skye Hoaps, and the episode also includes a social worker named
Gwen Evans played by Lisa Edelstein (who was Mercy on Superman
).
"The Wrong Morph," on the other hand, was one of my favorite
"standalone" stories (meaning it exists more or less independent
from the larger arcs, and could be watched almost anywhere in
the series without feeling out of place). I always saw TZP as
being in the spirit of The Fugitive (the original 1960's
series), and this episode really captured the kind of story they
did on that series.
In it, Zee and Ro sneak into a scientist's lab for info about
Dr. Selig. While doing so they have a run-in with a security
guard, so Zee quickly morphs into someone he's previously seen
at the lab: a kid named Kevin (played by Wil Wheaton).
Unfortunately, there's a theft at the lab that same night, and
Zee's choice of disguise has inadvertently incriminated Kevin.
The next morning, Kevin's arrested. Of course, Zee and Ro could
just run and never look back, but Zee's sense of right and wrong
demands that they help prove Kevin's innocence. Problem is ,how
do they do that without Zee revealing his own identity?
If you're familiar with The Fugitive , you can see what I mean:
Good hero, on the run. His actions have caused someone else to
be in trouble - but to help them, he risks his own capture. Of
course, he can't run away. He has to help. This may seem less
exciting to some than stories which advance the heroes' larger
arcs, but it was exactly the kind of predicament I wanted to put
Zee and Ro in week-to-week.
I'll let you in on a secret, in case anyone reading this aspires
to get into the TV writing biz: Standalone stories are the
engine that drives television; and if you ever find yourself
writing a sample script (they're called "specs", short for
"written on speculation", which is just a fancy way of saying
"for no money"), write one of those. As a showrunner, I can tell
you all about the big problems my heroes are facing, and
probably plenty about where they're going and how they're gonna
get there. That's the easy part (okay - comparatively easy). But
ask me to come up with thirteen, or twenty-two, or a HUNDRED,
individual episodes to get them there, and that's when my
forehead'll start to sweat. That's the grind of TV, filling the
airwaves week in and week out. (Especially when the stories you
come up with not only have to please yourself, but also please
the studio, and the network, and the sponsors, and the
censors... and oh yeah, the audience. Can't forget the audience.
Plus, each story has to feel like it fits in the same series you
were doing last week, so the audience doesn't wonder what
alternate universe they just fell into.) If you want to impress
a showrunner so they'll give you a job, write the standalone
story - the one that could fit in anywhere. That's how you'll
show that you can make their life easier.
(But that was NOT an invitation to send scripts to me! :) I
don't have a show at the moment to hire anyone on! It was just
general advice, for whomever cares to benefit from it.)
For more from Robert Goodman, check out
The World's Finest talks to Series Creator, Robert Goodman.
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