Scenes I Love . . .
"Provenance" (cont.)
“So, what was the . . . providence?” Dean asks, and Sam explains that a prov-e-nance is a certificate of origin, “like a biography. You know, we can use them to check the history of the pieces, see if any of them have a freaky past.”
Dean suggests they might get more information from Sarah, a task Sam tries to offload back onto his brother, but Dean points out, “It wasn't my butt she was checking out.”
I love the ominous focus shot on the phone, like it’s a hot potato that might burn Sam’s fingers if he takes it. Nevertheless, as Dean says, “sometimes you’ve gotta take one for the team.” 😉
Then we cut to a fancy restaurant . . .
Whose choice of venue, I wonder? Did Sam pick it because he imagined it was what Sarah would expect, or did Sarah choose it because she’s still testing him? If so, Sam is clearly struggling with the entrance exam, particularly when he’s presented with the wine list, which is evidently a total mystery to him.
The casting sides for Sarah Blake are very interesting. They reveal an early draft of the script that was radically different from the aired episode, which provides a fascinating opportunity to observe the evolution of the story process. The original “date” took place in a blue-collar bar where Sarah worked as a bartender, a location she chose so Sam would feel comfortable. It was the polar opposite of the “fish out of water” scene at the high-end restaurant, perhaps signifying that Sarah was an earthy girl at heart, quite unlike her snobby father. The only hint of all this that survived to the final cut of the date scene was her choice of beverage:
The early conception of Sarah’s character seems to have been somewhat different from the one we’re familiar with. For example, she demonstrated a talent for palmistry (presumably intended to imply she was open to the concept of the supernatural) and was able to read in Sam’s hand that he was holding onto a big secret – which she managed to persuade him to reveal on a second date that we never got to see. That took place in her art studio where it was revealed that she was an aspiring painter. We learned that she was saving up to move out of home but was held back by a sense of responsibility to her father who didn’t handle her mother’s death too well. In this scenario her situation was analogous to Sam’s before he left for college. After she opened up to him in this way he reciprocated by telling her about Jessica, at which point the scene faded out then back in again once he’d evidently recounted his entire life story. Sarah’s reaction was sceptical – she hinted that she thought he was delusional – but instead of kicking him out as a normal person (Cassie, for example) might have done, she seemed to find his plight arousing, going in for a passionate embrace.
I think I can understand why this version of the script never made it to the final cut. I found it rather long-winded and clumsy, and both Sam’s and Sarah’s behaviour felt implausible. It seems unlikely to me that Sam would keep his secret from Jessica for two years only to unload everything, on a girl he’d only just met, on their second date. Perhaps the intent was to imply that he’d grown emotionally, but I don’t buy it. If the brothers had learned anything by this point in the story, it’s that honesty is only the best policy with civilians once they’ve had the opportunity to witness the supernatural for themselves. As for Sarah, she seemed far too willing to run into the arms of a young man whom she appeared to believe might be psychotic.
In addition to the date scenes, the plot resolution was also very different. Deciding that news of the murders surrounding the painting would appreciate its value, Daniel Blake bought it himself. Now technically an owner of the painting, Sarah became a target of the spirit, and the final fight scene took place not in Evelyn’s house, but at the auction warehouse. There are other differences too, but I’ll talk about those later.
Overall, I prefer the aired episode. It’s a tighter script, I like Sarah’s character better, the parallels between her and Sam are handled more subtly, and their relationship develops more naturally. I notice that this was the only time David Ehrman wrote for Supernatural, and I do wonder how much of the final script was his work, and how much more we should thank story editors Sera Gamble and Raelle Tucker. I don’t know why, but I’ve always felt like the dialogue had a flavour of Sera’s work about it.
In the show’s restaurant scene, the artistic pretensions that had been introduced on the second date are now dismissed in a couple of lines:
The parallels in their situations are drawn economically: Sarah’s no longer pursuing her art, just as Sam’s not pursuing law. They’ve both sacrificed their own goals to support the family business. And since Sarah’s artistic ambitions are already in the past in this scenario, her life now mirrors Sam’s present rather than his pre-Stanford situation. At the same time, their dialogue does more to establish Sarah’s personality.
“So, what did you mean when you said you haven't been on a date in a while,” he asks her. “Trying to make me feel like I'm not such a loser?”
“I'm sure you're many things, Sam,” she responds.
It’s intended as a flirtatious compliment, of course, but there’s also an unconscious irony in the statement since, as we know, Sam has had more than his fair share of losing. But, it seems, he’s not the only one:
SARAH
It was my mom. She died about a year ago. Totally unexpected. It really threw me. I went into this shell. A nice warm safe shell. But lately I've been thinking. It's not what she would have wanted for me. So....
(Ibid.)
The focus this time is on Sarah’s grief, and the implied similarity to Sam’s experience with Jessica. Her story isn’t cluttered with any reference to her father; there’s no attempt to humanize him, or imply a comparison with John, as there was in the earlier script. Doubtless it was decided that Daniel provided more entertainment value if he remained a two-dimensional, greedy unscrupulous snob. 😄
There follows a humorous exchange where Sarah teases Sam about his looks, and he exposes a streak of vanity.
SARAH
So what about you? You're a reasonably attractive guy.
SAM
(laughing, embarrassed) Reasonably?
(Ibid.)
In the “Then and Now” podcast for this episode, Rob Benedict and Rich Speight commented that they thought this was out of character for Sam, but I beg to differ. Not in season one, it wasn’t. Early seasons Sam was still reasonably self-assured in most respects and could even be a little too cocksure of himself at times but, of course, Rob’s and Rich’s experience of Sam’s character mostly relates to later seasons, after years of trauma have eroded his early confidence. I find it cute that he’s assured of his own attractiveness here, and sad that he loses so much of his self-belief over time.
Sarah follows up with another searching question about why Sam hasn’t been “out and about” romantically. Here is another example of an episode title that can have more than one meaning. As we recall, Sam is tasked with charming the painting’s provenance - its “certificate of origin” - from her, but we can see that her questions are similarly probing Sam’s provenance, and whether he’s hiding anything “freaky” in his past, 😉 but Sam isn’t willing to be drawn on the subject at this time.
He pointedly doesn’t burden her with his life story as he did in the early script. Rather, Sarah will soon learn about him by becoming involved in his work. Her strength of character – and worthiness as his romantic interest – are established through her willingness to take an active role in the case. There’s an old rule of good writing: show, don’t tell. Alas, I’m not sure how many contemporary show makers got that memo, but Supernatural’s original crew were masters of the art.
If others would like to read the full casting sides from Provenance, they’re available from Supernatural Wiki at https://supernaturalwiki.com/1.19_Provenance#Trivia_&_References
I’d love to hear what other people think of them. Do you like the early drafts? Is there anything from them that you wish had survived into the final script? What do you think of the early conception of Sarah’s character? What do you think of the changes, and why do you think they were made? I look forward to hearing your thoughts 😊
.
“So, what was the . . . providence?” Dean asks, and Sam explains that a prov-e-nance is a certificate of origin, “like a biography. You know, we can use them to check the history of the pieces, see if any of them have a freaky past.”
Dean suggests they might get more information from Sarah, a task Sam tries to offload back onto his brother, but Dean points out, “It wasn't my butt she was checking out.”
I love the ominous focus shot on the phone, like it’s a hot potato that might burn Sam’s fingers if he takes it. Nevertheless, as Dean says, “sometimes you’ve gotta take one for the team.” 😉
Then we cut to a fancy restaurant . . .
Whose choice of venue, I wonder? Did Sam pick it because he imagined it was what Sarah would expect, or did Sarah choose it because she’s still testing him? If so, Sam is clearly struggling with the entrance exam, particularly when he’s presented with the wine list, which is evidently a total mystery to him.
The casting sides for Sarah Blake are very interesting. They reveal an early draft of the script that was radically different from the aired episode, which provides a fascinating opportunity to observe the evolution of the story process. The original “date” took place in a blue-collar bar where Sarah worked as a bartender, a location she chose so Sam would feel comfortable. It was the polar opposite of the “fish out of water” scene at the high-end restaurant, perhaps signifying that Sarah was an earthy girl at heart, quite unlike her snobby father. The only hint of all this that survived to the final cut of the date scene was her choice of beverage:
The early conception of Sarah’s character seems to have been somewhat different from the one we’re familiar with. For example, she demonstrated a talent for palmistry (presumably intended to imply she was open to the concept of the supernatural) and was able to read in Sam’s hand that he was holding onto a big secret – which she managed to persuade him to reveal on a second date that we never got to see. That took place in her art studio where it was revealed that she was an aspiring painter. We learned that she was saving up to move out of home but was held back by a sense of responsibility to her father who didn’t handle her mother’s death too well. In this scenario her situation was analogous to Sam’s before he left for college. After she opened up to him in this way he reciprocated by telling her about Jessica, at which point the scene faded out then back in again once he’d evidently recounted his entire life story. Sarah’s reaction was sceptical – she hinted that she thought he was delusional – but instead of kicking him out as a normal person (Cassie, for example) might have done, she seemed to find his plight arousing, going in for a passionate embrace.
I think I can understand why this version of the script never made it to the final cut. I found it rather long-winded and clumsy, and both Sam’s and Sarah’s behaviour felt implausible. It seems unlikely to me that Sam would keep his secret from Jessica for two years only to unload everything, on a girl he’d only just met, on their second date. Perhaps the intent was to imply that he’d grown emotionally, but I don’t buy it. If the brothers had learned anything by this point in the story, it’s that honesty is only the best policy with civilians once they’ve had the opportunity to witness the supernatural for themselves. As for Sarah, she seemed far too willing to run into the arms of a young man whom she appeared to believe might be psychotic.
In addition to the date scenes, the plot resolution was also very different. Deciding that news of the murders surrounding the painting would appreciate its value, Daniel Blake bought it himself. Now technically an owner of the painting, Sarah became a target of the spirit, and the final fight scene took place not in Evelyn’s house, but at the auction warehouse. There are other differences too, but I’ll talk about those later.
Overall, I prefer the aired episode. It’s a tighter script, I like Sarah’s character better, the parallels between her and Sam are handled more subtly, and their relationship develops more naturally. I notice that this was the only time David Ehrman wrote for Supernatural, and I do wonder how much of the final script was his work, and how much more we should thank story editors Sera Gamble and Raelle Tucker. I don’t know why, but I’ve always felt like the dialogue had a flavour of Sera’s work about it.
In the show’s restaurant scene, the artistic pretensions that had been introduced on the second date are now dismissed in a couple of lines:
SAM
So you studied art in school huh?
SARAH
It's true. I was an artist. A terrible, terrible artist. And that's why I'm in the auction business. And you were pre-law?
SAM
Yeah.
So you studied art in school huh?
SARAH
It's true. I was an artist. A terrible, terrible artist. And that's why I'm in the auction business. And you were pre-law?
SAM
Yeah.
SARAH
But you didn't go to law school. How come?
SAM
Ahh, that's a really, really long story for another time.
https://supernaturalwiki.com/1.19_Provenance_(transcript)
But you didn't go to law school. How come?
SAM
Ahh, that's a really, really long story for another time.
https://supernaturalwiki.com/1.19_Provenance_(transcript)
The parallels in their situations are drawn economically: Sarah’s no longer pursuing her art, just as Sam’s not pursuing law. They’ve both sacrificed their own goals to support the family business. And since Sarah’s artistic ambitions are already in the past in this scenario, her life now mirrors Sam’s present rather than his pre-Stanford situation. At the same time, their dialogue does more to establish Sarah’s personality.
“So, what did you mean when you said you haven't been on a date in a while,” he asks her. “Trying to make me feel like I'm not such a loser?”
“I'm sure you're many things, Sam,” she responds.
It’s intended as a flirtatious compliment, of course, but there’s also an unconscious irony in the statement since, as we know, Sam has had more than his fair share of losing. But, it seems, he’s not the only one:
SARAH
It was my mom. She died about a year ago. Totally unexpected. It really threw me. I went into this shell. A nice warm safe shell. But lately I've been thinking. It's not what she would have wanted for me. So....
(Ibid.)
The focus this time is on Sarah’s grief, and the implied similarity to Sam’s experience with Jessica. Her story isn’t cluttered with any reference to her father; there’s no attempt to humanize him, or imply a comparison with John, as there was in the earlier script. Doubtless it was decided that Daniel provided more entertainment value if he remained a two-dimensional, greedy unscrupulous snob. 😄
There follows a humorous exchange where Sarah teases Sam about his looks, and he exposes a streak of vanity.
SARAH
So what about you? You're a reasonably attractive guy.
SAM
(laughing, embarrassed) Reasonably?
(Ibid.)
In the “Then and Now” podcast for this episode, Rob Benedict and Rich Speight commented that they thought this was out of character for Sam, but I beg to differ. Not in season one, it wasn’t. Early seasons Sam was still reasonably self-assured in most respects and could even be a little too cocksure of himself at times but, of course, Rob’s and Rich’s experience of Sam’s character mostly relates to later seasons, after years of trauma have eroded his early confidence. I find it cute that he’s assured of his own attractiveness here, and sad that he loses so much of his self-belief over time.
Sarah follows up with another searching question about why Sam hasn’t been “out and about” romantically. Here is another example of an episode title that can have more than one meaning. As we recall, Sam is tasked with charming the painting’s provenance - its “certificate of origin” - from her, but we can see that her questions are similarly probing Sam’s provenance, and whether he’s hiding anything “freaky” in his past, 😉 but Sam isn’t willing to be drawn on the subject at this time.
He pointedly doesn’t burden her with his life story as he did in the early script. Rather, Sarah will soon learn about him by becoming involved in his work. Her strength of character – and worthiness as his romantic interest – are established through her willingness to take an active role in the case. There’s an old rule of good writing: show, don’t tell. Alas, I’m not sure how many contemporary show makers got that memo, but Supernatural’s original crew were masters of the art.
If others would like to read the full casting sides from Provenance, they’re available from Supernatural Wiki at https://supernaturalwiki.com/1.19_Provenance#Trivia_&_References
I’d love to hear what other people think of them. Do you like the early drafts? Is there anything from them that you wish had survived into the final script? What do you think of the early conception of Sarah’s character? What do you think of the changes, and why do you think they were made? I look forward to hearing your thoughts 😊
TBC
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