Season 1, Episode 4
SOUND OF A CAR DRIVING
ZACK
(ECHO – Thinking aloud)
Boy, it seems like I've been away for weeks, not just a weekend.
Here I was all this time right down the road, and I never even broke out of my little world enough to discover a town two hours away. In Milford-Haven life seems to be so simple. People are direct, honest. People are beautiful there. Or at least some certainly are. She's as beautiful as her paintings. And her paintings knock me out. How am I going to see her? How am I going to break away from all that's expected of me at home?
Why did I ever allow myself to get so boxed in? What have I really got to show for it? I mean it's well and good for Dad -- he's built his dream, and it's worked for him. But does that mean it's right for me?
And I've got to find it. I've got to find it.
The setting is the first thing audiences hear when a scene begins. In this case, we hear the interior sound of a car’s motor, and we also know from the short piece of narration that leads into the scene, that Zack Calvin is on the road back to Santa Barbara.
All the characters speak through dialogue, but occasionally we also hear their “internal thoughts,” which are presented with a slight echo, to differentiate them from straight conversation. In the previous episode, Zack has experienced something of a shock, getting a glimpse of life in a small coastal town that’s very different from his own high-powered world. He has also met a woman he likes, and who is very different from the one he’s been dating at home. Now, he’s driving home, wondering how his new perspective will play out once he gets there.
In terms of story arc, this is the beginning of an awakening for Zack, where he first begins to realize something is missing from his life. And what a surprise that is, since he and everyone around him believes he’s a man who “has everything”—wealth, privilege, opportunity, social status, professional success, and a gorgeous, sexy girlfriend. He even has a great relationship with his father, with whom he shares the Calvin estate, Calma. He did lose his mother at a tender age. But by all accounts, she left him a legacy of love, a devoted father, and even a trusted “second father” in the form of the family Houseman, James.
The episode title does refer to the specific physical activity of Zack driving down Highway 1, and then the 101 back into his home city. But it also is a metaphor for larger story elements. What is home? Is it more than a physical place? Can a sense of home evolve? And what is Zack actually driving at in his life? Is he pursuing the goals that actually matter to him?
This scene is also introduced by a fabulous music cue by Marilyn Harris and Mark Wolfram, called “On the Move”, which underscores not only the thrill of the drive, but the undertones of major shifts in the character’s life.
In real life, Colby Chester played Zackery, a role that was written for him. Colby’s own sophistication and privilege was something he never took for granted, and examined closely as his own career evolved. He played many vivid characters in other projects, became a soap opera star in The Young and The Restless, and later became a well-known photographer. Find about more about Colby here. http://milfordhaven.com/cast/colby-chester
As you listen to Milford-Haven, have fun imagining yourself driving down the highway with the sparkling Pacific off to the right, and a whole new chapter of life ahead of you.
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Tune in to your favorite device, and join us in . . . Milford-Haven!