Field of Screams

"Field of Screams" is the second episode of The Unexpected Podcast. It aired on December 4, 2017. The episode was originally written as a short film by creator Andrew Soucek in 2002, though it was heavily rewritten for use on the podcast.

Writing for "Field of Screams" began while the first episode was still in post-production. Seeing the ease of adapting film to the audio format, Soucek and co-writer Erik Bergstrom decided to cull from more source material for their second episode. Halfway through writing, however, Soucek considered taking the story in a completely new direction, replacing the mysterious ghost boy from the original film with a long-dead Grandma character and her team of history's worst evildoers.

After the positive reviews from his initial poster for "Honk for Homicide", Dustin Riccio returned to develop the artwork for "Field of Screams". Once again, his work was a hit, with one critic remarking how "Those granny's eyes made me lose sleep for 3 days!"

Reviewers have additionally commented on how Soucek and Bergstrom grew overnight into quality performers with their takes on Ben and Cody, with some stating that they'd enacted "real, flesh-and-blood people." Another reviewer stated, "You could really get the sense that these two characters had been friends for a while with the almost lyrical and poetic dialogue to open the story." The episode did come with some detractors, with more than a couple commenting on the Jack the Ripper voice. "I don't know what the deal was with that Mickey Mouse thing they did," one reviewer stated.

Many ideas and concepts returned to this episode from the previous one, including the name "Tim", a commercial for a business owned by a "Tony", and the Old Man's usage of "lovers" in his opening dialogue.

Plot
Original Description: ''A boy reunites with his long-lost Grandma to play a game of baseball. And this time, she brought her friends.''

Two friends, Ben Scratt and Cody Lunge, are out at a deserted baseball field hitting balls around. After Ben teases Cody a bit, it comes out that Cody's still suffering from the loss of his Grandma, Bea, who he was close with. Ben recalls Cody's relationship and their shared love of baseball, mentioning how his Grandma was buried in her favorite baseball jersey, and apologizes. They get back to playing, and soon after Cody hits a ball far past the outfield fence and into a nearby wooded area.

While looking for the lost ball, Cody encounters his Grandma. He questions whether it's a vision or not, already feeling unsettled by the creepiness of the woods. Grandma Bea then accuses Cody of stealing her jersey after she was buried, which Cody vehemently denies. Eventually, she's able to get him to admit it, yet instead of agreeing to simply give the jersey back, Cody challenges his Grandma to play him in a game of baseball for it.

Cody lets Ben in on the challenge, though he instructs him to "not believe" a word his Grandma says. Grandma Bea arrives with her team of infamous historical figures she made in the afterlife; people like Al Capone, John Wilkes Booth, Henry the VIII, Lizzie Borden, Jack the Ripper, Harvey Weinstein, Genghis Khan, and Tim Hitler, who Grandma Bea states is far worse than the Hitler everyone knows.

The game commences, and a disassociated old-timey game announcer summarizes how Grandma's "Hellstars" are able to rack up 47 runs to Cody and Ben's measly 1. After a rallying speech by Cody, the underdogs somehow score 47 consecutive runs to defeat Grandma's Hellstars. In his excitement, Cody taunts his Grandma over the jersey, and Ben realizes he's been lied to by his friend all along. Before he can confront Cody, however, Jack the Ripper announces there's been a violation of one of the rules, and that Cody and Ben lost after all. Cody reveals that he's sold the jersey, and so Grandma Bea announces that, in return, he must now be sewn into a brand new jersey, along with Ben, and remain alive for all of eternity.

Commercial
The commercial for "Field of Screams" is the second consecutive commercial to include a business ran by a man named Tony, called "Tony's Sports Cards & Collectibles". In the commercial, an employee known only as Jerry runs down a list of collectibles that can be found at the shop during a "big blowout sale", including Jewish baking all-star cards and a fireman's calendar from 2002.

There's also two references to a jersey being on sale, along with "gifts for Grandma", calling back to the episode's story itself.

Production
Though the script for "Field of Screams" was pulled from Soucek and Bergstrom's film archives—similar to "Honk for Homicide"—the podcast script underwent vast rewrites. Unlike "Honk for Homicide", which contained various scenes of action and suspense, the original "Field of Screams" short film was highly visual in nature, and so updates were necessary for the audio format.

Story outlining and script-writing began before the first episode of The Unexpected Podcast was released. Once criticism started coming in about the over-the-top acting in "Honk for Homicide", Soucek went back and added more subdued dialogue for the main characters, including a special, heartfelt scene at the beginning.

Much hand-wringing was done over how to raise the stakes and provide a new climax to the story. Looking for a similar twist to go along with the "Unexpected" theme, Soucek had it written into the script that the boys are sewn into a pair of Grandma Bea's panties. Bergstrom pushed back on this idea, claiming that the show was still too "new" to take such big risks with controversial content. The two remained at odds for days, nearly ending the podcast after only one episode, before a compromise was made to have them sewn into her jersey instead.

Memorable Quotes
"I get it. But hey, look at us right now, isn’t it cool that we’re out here playing a little ball together? It almost seems now like it’s in honor of her, you know? After all, she really did love this game. And...maybe this is weird to bring up, but...it’s pretty cool she was buried in that old baseball jersey of hers. Never heard of anyone doing something like that before." - Ben

"Growing up and growing old is unfortunately something that happens to everyone. I mean, believe it or not, even you and me will get old someday. Ya know? The important thing to remember is that she had a great life. And besides that, I know she really loved you. If you can recall, I used to deliver her paper, she’d tell me that all the time." - Ben

"Wow. It’s so dark all of a sudden. And it sounds like lots of creatures live here, too. Jeez...so many trees, never noticed them all before...and all these leaves on the ground...who knows what they could be hiding?" - Cody

"Ben is probably wondering what’s taking so long...but these woods are so dense, and...if I’m being honest with myself...kind of spooky! " - Cody

"You think the dead don’t have eyes? You stole my beloved jersey your grandfather gave me, and then you and your ungrateful father buried me in a potato sack!" - Grandma Bea

"If you don’t win...it’ll be a shame. For you!!" - Grandma Bea

"These don’t look like your run-of-the-mill old people, Cody. In fact...some of them look kinda familiar, somehow..." - Ben

"Now you listen here, I’m the real deal kiddo, and I play a mean second base, see?" - Al Capone

"I’m about to take 40 whacks, with a baseball bat!" - Lizzie Borden

"Guess you just don’t know the importance of great teamwork! You tried to put your evil pals together, but it looks like some people will never change!" - Ben

"Now Jack, why don’t you go ahead and...rip...these boys faces off? They’ll make quite the nice fabric! And the best part...the best part of all...is that you boys will be very much alive for all of eternity as Granny’s new favorite jersey!" - Grandma Bea