EPISODE 1: MCMURDO
EXT. PLANE - STORM
A pilot speaks into a walkie talkie.
PILOT
Gil, come in, over.
Gil, come in, over!
Gil, come in! What's the hold up?
We're going to be stuck here if you take much longer, the weather is turning.
Sirens go off.
Are you serious.
I'm going in, over.
INT. STATION BLUE - STORM
PILOT
I hate this Station.
Gil?
Gil, I'm inside, where are you?
You have to be kidding me.
I'm coming up, you better be ready to go.
I will fly out of here storm or no I am NOT sleeping in this place.
INT. ELEVATOR - STORM
He enters the elevator.
It begins rising, then stops.
PILOT
You have to be kidding me.
What?
Something grabs him.
No, no no-
Something strangles him, beats him against the walls, then cracks into his skull.
INTRO MUSIC
CREDITS
Station Blue
Episode 1
McMurdo
INT. DORM ROOM - DAY (ALWAYS DAY)
LEADS
Turn the light on...
PRATCHER
It's on. Here, hand it to me. Don't press tha-
INT. DORM ROOM - DAY (ALWAYS DAY)
LEADS
Sorry.
PRATCHER
You turned it off.
LEADS
It was an accident.
PRATCHER
We need you to make regular recordings for the job. Make sure that light stays on.
VOICE OVER
That's Pratcher, bureaucracy incarnate. He's my contact at the Flower Company.
I hate that he's the last person I ever saw at McMurdo.
PRATCHER
You've got the rest of the day to practice with it.
We need you to be fully proficient before you get to the Station.
LEADS
You want me to record other people?
PRATCHER
Don't interrupted me.
There won't be anyone to help you when you get to Blue Station.
If you have any questions you'll need to ask me here.
LEADS
When is the plane taking off?
PRATCHER
You interrupted me again.
LEADS
Sorry.
PRATCHER
Look, be ready. Don't leave McMurdo.
We'll collect you when it's time.
INT. DORM ROOM - DAY (ALWAYS DAY)
LEADS
Finally alone.
ROOMMATES
Muffled talking
VOICE OVER
Roommates.
LEADS
Shoot.
ROOMMATE 2 (MUFFLED)
Apparently sanitation was trying to recruit me but the carpenters grabbed me last minute. I want to check out those dry valleys everyone is talking bout.
Leads starts shoving his pack into the corner.
VOICE OVER
I flew 9,000 miles to find solitude.
ROOMMATE 1
Whoa, what happened in here?
ROOMMATE 2
What the hell dude, this place is a mess.
LEADS
I was just cleaning up...
VOICE OVER
It's not that I hate people.
I just haven't had a lot of positive experiences with them.
ROOMMATE 2
Bad enough that they shoved an extra bed in here.
Why do we get stuck with the newbie?
ROOMMATE 1
Next time just keep it to your bed.
TRANSITION
INT. LIBRARY - DAY (ALWAYS DAY)
Walking sounds with a door opening.
LEADS
Hey man, are you in here?
Glasses?
GLASSES
Oh.
Leads.
You're not supposed to talk in here, it's a quiet area. Let's go.
Door closing.
LEADS
That's the library right? It's bigger than I thought it would be.
GLASSES
It'll never be big enough for me.
LEADS
I guess you spent a lot of time in there over the Winter.
GLASSES
You have no idea.
VOICE OVER
That's Glasses. He managed to pass the Psych Evaluation that won him six months of Antarctica's Winter. He's heading home in a few weeks.
BEANIE
Don't you slackers have a job?
VOICE OVER
And there's Beanie. I met her at Christchurch before flying over.
GLASSES
I've done my time.
BEANIE
Go out and get some sun, you look like Dracula.
LEADS
I'm up for a walk.
BEANIE
Of course you are. I've already put in a nine hour work day and you're out here casually wandering the halls.
What is that?
LEADS
This? It's a voice recorder.
BEANIE
Weird.
VOICE OVER
I've had a hard time connecting with others as I've gotten older. But the three of us? We clicked.
BEANIE
We're going drinking tonight. Want to come?
LEADS
Drinking? There's a bar here?
GLASSES
Two.
LEADS
Two?
GLASSES
Two bars.
BEANIE
And the cafe serves wine. Gotta keep everyone sane somehow.
INT. DORM - TWILIGHT
LEADS
Dear Diary. I can't find my passport.
I've gone through my packs three times. I don't know where it is.
Leave it to me to lose my passport three days in...
I give up. I don't want to be here when the roommates show up. I'll let them sort through this. I'm going to the bar.
INT. BAR - TWILIGHT
Glasses clinking.
BEANIE
You're still crazy.
You should have come back to New Zealand with me.
We went backpacking, it was rad.
LEADS
Three years and you've never Wintered here.
BEANIE
Hell no! You couldn't pay me enough. Six months of sunlight is bad enough, six months of darkness?
GLASSES
I liked it.
It was peaceful.
You just didn't want to talk to the psychologist.
LEADS
I still can't believe they have a psych test.
BEANIE
What's not to believe. They don't want to leave a bunch of crazies in here for half a year.
One year a guy lost it and started attacking people with a hammer.
LEADS
That's ridiculous.
BEANIE
It's true. Ask anyone.
LEADS
So fly them out.
GLASSES
There are no flights during the winter.
LEADS
No flights.
BEANIE
You try landing here during Condition 1 weather.
Once that last plane takes off, that's it, you're stuck.
No boats, no calvary, just you and the other hundred lunatics who volunteered to stay.
LEADS
What if there’s an emergencies?
GLASSES
It doesn't matter.
Years ago the doctor here got cancer during a Winter.
She had to treat herself.
LEADS
That's rough...
BEANIE
If you can't get a plane for cancer you can't get a plane for anything.
GLASSES
Well, now they keep two doctors on staff.
BEANIE
I don't care if they have fifty doctors. I'll be long gone before the sun goes down.
LEADS
So how did you spend your free time?
GLASSES
Alcohol.
BEANIE
Cheers to that!
TRANSITION
INT. DORM - DAY (ALWAYS DAY)
Mic clicks on. Leads is breathing.
ROOMMATE 1
He left his bags out again.
ROOMMATE 2
This sucks. We have seniority, they should have stuck him in the bunks.
ROOMMATE 1
Whatever, let's get going, we're going to be late.
Door closes.
VOICE OVER
I'm not a thief.
Zipper sounds.
Sure I've stolen food on the road. But I don't usually steal from people.
I just needed to know if they had my passport.
Bag moving.
TRANSITION
INT. MCMURDO - DAY (ALWAYS DAY)
GLASSES
Still haven't found it?
LEADS
Nope.
GLASSES
I wouldn't stress out too much. You won't need it until the end of the summer.
We can always mail it to you at Amundsen-Scott if it turns up.
BEANIE
I didn't know you were going to South Pole Station!
LEADS
Yeah, I've just been waiting on the weather.
VOICE OVER
A lie.
GLASSES
He's doing a documentary.
LEADS
It's why I've been recording everything.
VOICE OVER
Another lie.
Look, I'm not proud. What would you tell them? That you're off to do a job that you don't understand for a company that you can't even pronounce? I was going to be gone any day, this was easier.
BEANIE
Well shoot, I have some friends heading down there. You should meet them!
LEADS
Cool... You'll have to point them out to me.
GLASSES
You okay?
LEADS
Yeah, I'm fine. W
BEANIE
That South Pole flight is supposed to leave tomorrow. We need to take you to the cross.
GLASSES
I've been meaning to go up there.
BEANIE
And I haven't gotten a good look at Erebus yet.
Go get your stuff Leads.
We're going to Ob Hill.
TRANSITION
EXT. OB HILL - DAY (ALWAYS DAY)
VOICE OVER
Above the hundred something mismatched buildings that make up McMurdo stands Observation Hill. It's widely regarding as the best view you can get to in a pair of bunny boots.
LEADS
Jeeze, how long is this hike?
BEANIE
Quit being such a baby.
LEADS
You've spent the last season backpacking...
BEANIE
Shut up. It's worth it.
VOICE OVER
The thing you need to know about Antarctica, is that it's not some snowy wonderland. It's the worlds largest desert. And Ob Hill was all volcanic ash, ice chunks and boulders. I'm surprised no one broke their ankle.
BEANIE
Close your eyes.
LEON
I'll break my neck!
BEANIE
You're the most dramatic person I've ever met in my life.
Close your eyes, take my hand.
Glasses, make sure he doesn't fall backwards.
GLASSES
Yes Boss.
LEADS
And you say he's the crazy one.
BEANIE
Shut up. It’s worth it.
VOICE OVER
I've never been good with surprises. Especially if they're meant for me. My ex once lead me on a six hour blind scavenger hunt for my birthday. I was nothing but nerves the whole time.
GLASSES
Yo, watch it Leads.
BEANIE
Just a little bit further.
VOICE OVER
But sometimes being pushed out of your comfort zone can bring you to incredible things.
BEANIE
Alright, look up.
VOICE OVER
I'll never forget that view.
LEADS
I... I don't have words.
BEANIE
Told you it'd be worth it.
VOICE OVER
It wasn't the old wooden cross that caught my attention. It wasn't the barge docking against ice or the bustle of the Station below.
LEADS
That mountain...
GLASSES
Mount Erebus.
BEANIE
If I could go anywhere, and I mean anywhere, I'd go in Mount Erebus.
LEADS
In?
BEANIE
It's an active volcano. See the steam coming from the top?
It's one of six volcanos in the world that has an open lava lake.
You'd have to go to Africa to see anything like it.
LEADS
Africa... The Flower Company does work in Africa.
GLASSES
The Flower Company?
BEANIE
I've been trying to convince them to let me on the team that flies out there since I first came here.
They're not having it.
LEADS
It's so big. It takes up half the sky.
BEANIE
In Greek Mythology, Erebus was a child of chaos and the god of darkness. One of the oldest beings in their pantheon.
GLASSES
It also served as a sort of gate between death and the Underworld, depending on which interpretation you follow.
LEADS
I can see why they named it that.
GLASSES
Yeah?
LEADS
Well, we're in Antarctica. Humans aren't supposed to live here. Then you have this giant standalone mountain on an uninhabitable continent that has a literal entrance to the core of the earth.
BEANIE
Kind of creepy, huh.
I love it up here.
GLASSES
It makes your problems seem small.
BEANIE
As if you have problems!
GLASSES
Everyone has problems.
BEANIE
How about you Leads? Got any problems?
LEADS
Everyone has problems.
BEANIE
Cop out.
LEADS
People.
GLASSES
Your problems are people?
LEADS
More or less.
BEANIE
Well, you've come to the right place for that.
LEADS
I don't know. There are more people than I was expecting.
BEANIE
But the type of people, that's what counts.
We're all outcasts here.
We picked sixty hour work weeks in this wasteland over jacuzzis and restaurants.
We all came here to get away from that.
LEADS
Huh.
GLASSES
And who knows.
You could be dying for those Megamalls and fast food joints by the end of the season.
LEADS
Oh I'm sure. Bring on the sitcoms and cubicles.
BEANIE
The true American dream.
TRANSITION
EXT. BASE OF OB HILL - DAY (ALWAYS DAY)
LEADS
Is that a seal?
BEANIE
Oh, sad.
GLASSES
That's not good.
LEADS
It's struggling.
GLASSES
It got lost.
It's crawling south.
It should be making its way to the ocean.
LEADS
Lost? I can see the ocean from here.
GLASSES
That doesn't mean it can.
It's scared. It's trying to make it to safety.
LEADS
Oh. Well lets help it. Hotel California is close, we can grab a blanket from my dorm.
BEANIE
Leads, we can't.
LEADS
What do you mean?
GLASSES
The treaty. You can't interfere with wildlife.
LEADS
Who cares about a treaty?
BEANIE
You don't break the treaty.
Everyone on Antarctica is either here to observe or support the observers.
Where were you when we had to watch all of those videos in New Zealand?
LEADS
I was a little distracted! But... Really? I thought that meant don't hug the penguins. Look at it.
It's going to die.
GLASSES
Not quickly. But yes, most likely.
LEADS
I'm going.
BEANIE
Leads! No. You'll get kicked off the continent. You could get arrested.
LEADS
I can't just watch this thing crawl to its death!
GLASSES
You have to.
This is the only place in the world that all nations have agreed to leave alone.
We can't mess with that.
BEANIE
Come on Leads, let's get out of here.
PRATCHER
Leads!
BEANIE
What the hell?
LEADS
Oh no.
PRATCHER
Leads!
Where have you been?
LEADS
I went on a hike.
PRATCHER
You weren't supposed to leave the Station! I've been looking for you.
LEADS
I know...
GLASSES
What's going on?
Who is this guy?
PRATCHER
Get your bags. I'll meet you at 155.
Your plane leaves in an hour.
BEANIE
The South Pole plane doesn't leave for another day.
LEADS
I know...
GLASSES
You aren't going to Amundsen Scott, are you.
LEAD
It's been great meeting you. I have to go.
LEADS
I'm sorry.
BEANIE
That's it?
INT. DORM - DAY
VOICE OVER
Why did I get on that plane. Why did I come to Station Blue.
I should have stayed with Beanie and Glasses.
I should have dragged that seal back into the ocean.
A jail cell would have kept me from this.
So many things would have kept me from this.
But that's all hindsight.
OUTRO MUSIC - FRIGID WIND
This episode of Station Blue was written and directed by Chad Ellis and produced by Gretchen Schrieber.
The cover art was created by Kessi Riliniki.
Our intro and exit music, Frigid Wind, was composed by Sage GC.
The Pilot at Station Blue was voiced by Travis Reaves.
Pratcher was voiced by Jay Speck.
The First Roommate was voiced by Sydney Gonzales.
The Second Roommate was voiced by Matan Inbar-Hansen
Matthew Leads was voiced by Chad Ellis.
Beanie was voiced by Abigail Johnson.
Glasses was voiced by Joe Sarte.
And the Police Officer in Teaser Two was voiced by David Michmerhuizen.
You can follow the show on Twitter and Instagram @StationBluePod and email us at stationbluepodcast@gmail.com
Transcripts will be available when our website goes up, but in the meantime you can request them by emailing stationbluepodcast@gmail.com
Episode 2 of Station Blue will release in two weeks.
While you wait we recommend listening to the first season of The White Vault.
It follows the collected records of a repair team sent to Outpost Fristed in the Arctic Circle, as they unravel what lies waiting beneath the ice.
That’s all for tonight!
My name is Kristen McLaughlin, and until next time.
I will haunt you.