The Netflix Fireplace Series has been a hugely successful series for Netflix and has gained many, many fans, myself included. But many of us fans on the forums feel the series has gotten a bit stale recently. The episodes are formulaic and very predictable. It’s missing the drama that got so many of us fans hooked in the first place. Please consider my spec script below as I believe it provides a reset and refreshes a series that fans want to fall in love with all over again.
OVER BLACK
TITLE: “Crackling Birchwood 2: New Beginnings”
FADE IN:
INT. FIREPLACE — DAY
Several logs burn in a brick fireplace. THE FIREPLACE (late '80s, full of character) shows signs of age, this is not its first fire and it shows. The aged brick suggests this isn’t a modern, upscale home where you would see granite or marble but the gentle shadow present from the mantle confirms this is definitely an upper-middle-class home.
The FOUR BIRCHWOOD LOGS from the end of Crackling Birchwood 1 are still present. We are picking up right where the last one left off. The tension from the end of the last film has not gone away, if anything, things are getting more tense between the logs as the fire continues to rage.
BIRCHWOOD LOG #1
Tsk, crrrk. Brph, crrrak.
BIRCHWOOD LOG #2 has a visceral reaction. She lets off a small burst of fiery ash.
BIRCHWOOD LOG #3
Tk, tsssssssssk
No one moves. BIRCHWOOD LOG #2 shoots a glance that could kill.
Suddenly, BOOSH. BIRCHWOOD LOG #1 rolls, unexpectedly, and crashes against the metal grate. He shatters into hundreds of small red embers.
Silence.
If Birchwood Log #2 had a lip, it would be quivering with emotion. Birchwood Log #4 clinches its bark, fighting back tears.
CUT TO:
FLASHBACK — EXT. FOREST — DAWN
A Birchwood tree is felled. Though there are people around, yet it hardly makes a sound. We see a very young Birchwood Log #1 (small, but bright-eyed, a Finn Wolfhard type, ideally one of the logs from the wood chopping scene in Avengers: Age of Ultron if we could get them) strapped to the back of a timber truck. As the truck pulls away we see the log facing the rest of the felled tree from whence it came. There is a sadness in their separation but everyone knows this is for the best. Birchwood Log #1 wanted out of this forest and he’s finally getting what he wanted.
SMASH CUT:
INT. FIREPLACE — MORNING
Birchwood Log #1 is tossed and lands with a thud in the fireplace. He’s in an unfamiliar place but he knows this is what he was meant to do. Even still, as the kindling is placed under him and fear starts to well up inside him he fights hard to remain stoic.
The fire starts, Birchwood Log #1 stands firm. He’s fulfilling his destiny.
SMASH CUT:
INT. FIREPLACE — LATER
The fire is really going now. A fresh, young Birchwood Log #3 is thrown in the fire. She’s slender, full of bark, beautiful but she doesn’t realize it. She’s terrified and she’s not doing a very good job of hiding it.
Just when she is about to scream from terror and confusion she sees Birchwood Log #1. He’s smaller now as the fire has burned away parts of his exterior but he still has his trademark stable, calm demeanor. He gives Birchwood Log #3 a knowing glance. Just seeing his steadiness gives her confidence and calms her.
MATCH CUT:
BACK TO PRESENT
INT. FIREPLACE — CONTINUOUS
Birchwood Log #3, now aged by the fire, still stares blankly, trying to grapple with the loss of Birchwood Log #1. A sap drop rolls down her cheek (log face?). Just as she is about to break down:
BOOM, the mysterious hand of God outside of the fireplace tosses BIRCHWOOD LOG #5 onto the pile. Birchwood Log #3 looks at the newcomer, she sees the panic in his face. It’s familiar. She sees herself in Birchwood Log #5. A quick glance down to the fallen ashes of Birchwood Log #1 and she knows what she must do next.
BIRCHWOOD LOG #3
Crrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt.
As she creaks she rolls ever so slightly. Hot ash rises into the air and Birchwood Log #5 slides, nestled further in the pile. Birchwood Log #3 gives a reassuring look and the worry and terror that was pasted all over Birchwood Log #5 starts to fade away.
FADE TO BLACK