Creating Better Stories
This post analyzes the Amazon Prime television series Hanna using the 5 Commandments of Storytelling and the Editor’s 6 Core Questions from the book The Story Grid by Shawn Coyne.
This post contains spoilers from the Amazon Prime television series Hanna, so make sure you watch the show before you read further.
The inciting incident for this episode is when Hanna is imprisoned in a CIA warehouse and then kills a women pretending to be Marissa and escapes her cell.
There are a number of progressive complications that lead to the Turning Point of this sequence:
The Turning Point is when Hanna realizes she likes this normal life with Sophie and her family.
Hanna must decide whether to stay with Sophie and her family or continue to find her father, Erik.
Hanna decides to find Erik and says goodbye to Sophie in the train station.
Hanna is tracked to the train station and Marissa orders her men to take her, she takes out most of the men and escapes on a train.
This value shift is a -/+. In the beginning, Hanne is captured and locked up, but at the end of the episode she has freed herself and is on her way to meet her father.
Forced to leave ordinary world, Hero lashes out – Hanna’s ordinary world is in hiding with her father. Once she experiences life with Sophie, she is tempted to stay.
Hero’s initial strategy against villain fails – To be determined
Hero’s All is Lost Moment, when he must change his approach in order to salvage some form of victory – Too early yet
Hero at the Mercy of the Villain – Too early yet
Hero’s Sacrifice is Rewarded – Too early yet
Hero, Villain, Victim clearly defined – Hero – Hanna; Villain – Marissa; Victim – Maybe Hanna too? Other children that were tested on? (To be determined)
The hero’s object of desire – stop the villain and save the victims
The Power divide between the hero and villain is very large – Hanna is alone, with only her father’s training; Marissa has many resources and men and an agency behind her
Speech in praise of the villain – Not yet; though Erik tells Hanna he has been training her to fight Marissa
This episode continues with more action as Hanna takes out a fake Marissa and multiple guards and hunters. There is room for an internal story, one where Hanna desires a normal life, but I’m not sure the writers will develop this storyline and will instead keep up with the action. Also, we know that Marissa is the chief of the bad guys, but we don’t yet have a Speech in Praise of the villain, no one is saying why this agency is bad or how bad they are.
For more information about the Story Grid, go to the Story Grid Webpage where you will find free videos and articles on how to implement the methodology.
Read these articles for more information about the 5 Commandments of Storytelling and the Editor’s 6 Core Questions from the book The Story Grid by Shawn Coyne.
For an example of how these techniques are used, read Jane Austin’s The Pride and the Prejudice with annotations by Shawn Coyne.
If you are interested in having your manuscript reviewed by me, see my Editing Services.