Journey vs. Destination

There is a contest to design a TV show that will draw people to engineering the way that MacGyver did for so many of us. And they want a woman protagonist. You can see the contest rules and enter at TheNextMacGyver.com. This is one of my entries.

Title: Underground

Genre: Drama

Logline (summary):

Jenny joins The Game to solve puzzles. If only she knew which side she’s on…

Pilot synopsis:

Jenny Quinn has three degrees: electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and cognitive psychology. She knows a lot of theory but not much about people.

Hired as a junior professor despite her extreme social awkwardness, Jenny discovers she not only hates lecturing, she’s so bad at it that her school is about to fire her.

She calls her aunt to complain and ends up playing a complicated real-life game of puzzles, science, math, even costume play. She flies through everything except the costume part: pretending she’s a spy (she does ok but throws up after, the only physical stress she shows throughout the game).

Jenny is enthralled but does not realize the game is actually breaking into Acme Technology HQ. When “caught”, actually by presenting herself at the head office, Jenny is reprimanded then offered a position creating gadgets for spies. She jumps at the opportunity to continue solving excellent puzzles.

Main Character Description:

Jenny is 24, striking. She is healthy from swimming but klutzy: her body is a tool but she spends her time in her mind. Being social is as difficult and exhausting for her as it would be for another to solve a two-body physics problem.

Through her job at Acme Tech, developing devices for covert operatives (spies), she gains people skills and connects with her coworkers. Eventually, she grows from introverted nerd to someone who speaks for the agents heading into danger.

Three Sample Episode Storylines:

1. When a rush job comes in, Jenny learns speed is of the essence. She fumbles around, working alone and refusing help. She fails to deliver the required gadget. Luckily, she’s not the only smart one and Joe saves the day. Jenny wonders if she’s smart enough.

2. Jenny lets a shield device go a little early, knowing there was an occasional glitch. It fails and someone gets very hurt depending on her tech. At work, she act like it is no big deal but is unhappy as she heads home.

3. After several episodes of awesome puzzles, Jenny realizes her devices kill people, real world people, not simulation targets. She begins to wonder who she works for.