Season 2, Episode 14
(DREAM SEQUENCE, ALL WITH ECHO)
SUSAN
Hello. What's your name?
NOTES
My name? You know my name. You must listen to me Susan. It is important that you hear my voice. My name is Notes.
SUSAN
That's right. Notes. I seem to know you. How did you get that name?
NOTES
You know how. You gave me this name.
SUSAN
I remember now..It was because of all the notes you play on your guitar.
NOTES
That's how I speak to you.. I speak in music. It's just another language.
SUSAN
But I can never understand what you're saying to me. If only there were a way to understand the notes you play.
NOTES
You can! But you must listen with your heart, Susan. Remember, when I talk to you, you can understand me, [Zuni] Te wa se, you can understand me, Te wa se, you can understand me... (fades out)
One of the most interesting storylines in Milford-Haven involves Susan Winslow, a woman in her 20s whose snarky attitude and rude behavior provides a counterpoint to her boss Samantha Hugo, known for her adherence not only to law but to decorum. Thus the offices of the Environmental Planning Commission are never dull.
Susan is so bratty as the series begins that she was one of the characters our audiences “loved to hate.” And it was tricky to strike the right balance both for me as the writer, and for Marcy McFee as the actress who performed this roll. Marcy did a fabulous job, rising to the challenge of being the least experienced actor in a cast of seasoned pros. She jumped in, did her homework, and found a special resonance with Susan’s angst—perhaps aided by the fact that Marcy herself had a pre-teen at home at that point.
Any Milford-Haven character whose behavior was so irritating had a “good” reason for it, built into the back story that was gradually revealed. Susan was a prime example of this: she always felt she was between two worlds: by birth, a member of the Chumash Tribe; by inclination, a rock-and-roll photographer. She had no use for her roots, nor for political correctness . . . until she did.
What changed her attitude was forging a connection with a Man Of Mystery she meets backstage at a Doobie Brothers concert. He’s a member of the opening band, but when she asks him for directions backstage, he won’t speak to her. And yet she recognizes him from his performance, and loved his music. And in the first mystical element of the series, Susan feels she can understand what the man is saying when he “speaks” to her with notes played on his guitar.
Accordingly, she nicknames him “Notes” and his character is known only by that name for a while. And what actor could I possibly find who could perform a “speaking guitar”? None other than Marcy’s real-life husband, John McFee of the Doobies. Not only was he excited to create this role; he and Marcy and I had long discussions about the Native roots in their own extended families, and the spectacularly beautiful song John wrote, “Trail of Tears.” An excellent video interview of John, Marcy, and me, where we share more of this story, was conducted backstage at a concert several years later by Dianemarie Collins on the DMZone.
For their first several episodes, Notes can’t talk with words, and the only way Susan can understand him is when she’s dreaming. Even so, as I continued to write the Susan and Notes storyline, it became clear that we needed a Native American actor to join the cast to perform the speaking parts of the roll. I only had one actor in mind – Michael Horse, who at the time was best known for his work on Twin Peaks. Here’s a bit of synchronicity. When I called his agent, there was a pause, and then the agent explained that he had Michael on his other line, and that he’d just requested that the agent find him a radio drama role! All of us were stunned at the timing! And Michael joined the cast, bringing a vibrant, haunting and authentic qualities to the story. Ultimately this became a tale of a young woman discovering and embracing her roots, and staking a claim for her unique identity, supported by a friend and mentor.
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