The Autopsy of a Thriller

A scene-by-scene analysis of The Terminator

Each scene is either good (+), Bad (-) or Neutral (0) for Sarah Conner, the protagonist.

Watch the movie and rate each scene. You will see that through the first 2/3s of the film things don’t go well for Sarah but she overcomes seemingly insurmountable odds to win in the end.

This is how a good thriller is plotted.

The Terminator (1984)

T = The Terminator

R = Kyle Reese

S = Sarah Conner

T appears in ball of light, takes clothes from punk after being stabbed and ripping out his heart. + - 0

R appears in ball of light, takes vagrants clothes, steals shotgun from police car, escapes from police, finds 3 Sarah Conners in phone book.

+-0

S works at Big Boy, ditsy and clumsy. + - 0

T steals guns from gun shop, kills owner + - 0

T finds 3 Sarah Conners in phone book. + - 0

T kills Sarah Conner #1. + - 0

S sees TV broadcast of Sarah Conner’s murder. + - 0

S date stands her up, she goes out alone. + - 0

Police learn of murder of 2nd Sarah Conner. + - 0

S heads out for night, R follows. + - 0

S in restaurant sees TV news of 2nd Sarah Conner murder, tries to call police, phone out of service + - 0

S senses she’s being followed by R, ducks into disco, R follows, S calls police, can’t get through. + - 0

T goes to S’s apartment, kills roommate and boyfriend, hears call from Sarah who leaves message about where she is, sees photo ID of S. + - 0

S reaches police, they are coming to disco. + - 0

(Inciting Incident)

T arrives, R and T have shoot-out. T shot multiple times but gets up. + - 0

S and R escape, T steals police car and chases + - 0

R explains that he is there to protect her and that she has been targeted for termination and that T is a cyborg that will not stop until S is dead. R tells Sarah that in the near future machines take over and start a nuclear war, then set out to destroy all humans. T must kill her to prevent her from having her son, John Conner, mankind’s savior from the machines that will rule the future world. + - 0

Chase resumes between R & S, T, and the police. S and R crash car, arrested by police, T escapes. + - 0

S learns that roommate was killed. + - 0

T repairs injured forearm and removes injured eye, revealing that he is indeed a cyborg. + - 0

Psychiatrist explains to S that R is crazy and that T was likely on PCP and wearing a flak jacket. + - 0

(1st Turning Point)

T attacks police station, killing many cops. + - 0

S and R steal car and escape. + - 0

T looks through Sarah’s address book, finds mother’s address. + - 0

S and R get room in motel out of city. Sarah calls her mother, tells her where they are, but she is talking to T. + - 0

S and R make sticks of nitroglycerine and then make love. + - 0

T arrives, but S and R escape in stolen truck, T chases on motorcycle. + - 0

T avoids nitro sticks, S knocks T off bike, crashes truck, T is run over by 18-wheeler. + - 0

T gets up, takes over 18-wheeler, and chases S and R. + - 0

R slips nitro stick into truck, blowing it up in huge fireball, T burns in fire. + - 0

(2nd Turning Point)

T rises from fire, now reduced to a metallic skeleton.

+-0

R and S hide in industrial building, T follows. + - 0

T corners S and R in building. + - 0

R places nitro stick in T’s ribs and blows him to pieces. + - 0

Upper half of T keeps coming, forcing S into corner. + - 0

(Climax)

S leads T into crushing machine and crushes him. + - 0

(Denouement)

R dies, pregnant Sarah leaves country to prepare for coming war.

+-0

Elements of a Thriller

Open with a Bang or a Chill or a Compelling Question

Establish the 4 Ws Early-------Who, What, When, and Where

Inciting Incident---Sets the protagonist’s story in motion

Establish the Story Question—What does the Protagonist want/need?

Rising Tension

Who/What opposes the Protagonist and Why?

What does the antagonist want/need?

Establish a Time or Situation Endpoint

Scenes advance or obstruct the protagonist’s attaining goal

Each power scene poses a question and ends with:

Yes------------------------------Weak

No-------------------------------Better

Yes, but------------------------Strong

No, and further more———————————-Strongest

Convergence of Space and Time—“Life in a Trash Compactor”

Epiphany---Protagonist grasps the solution

Personal Jeopardy---Protagonist must fear for personal safety

Mano a’ Mano---Protagonist must confront antagonist “face to face”

Resolution---all major story questions are resolved

From Publishers Weekly:

In Lyle’s ingenious third mystery featuring retired major league pitcher Jake Longly (after 2017’s A-List), Jake, who runs a restaurant in Gulf Shores, Ala., is again roped into working for his father Ray’s PI firm. An attorney has contacted Ray on behalf of Billy Wayne Baker, a convicted serial killer. Though Baker pleaded guilty to strangling seven women, he insists that he killed only five of them, and wants that assertion validated. When Jake meets Baker in prison, the murderer refuses to name the other killer, claiming that doing so would lead to accusations that Jake’s inquiries were biased. The investigator’s task is made even harder by Baker’s not even identifying which of the dead women were killed by someone

else . (To his credit, Lyle makes this complicated scenario credible.) Along with his girlfriend, Jake travels to Pine Key,

Fla., the scene of three of the strangulations, where the couple pretend to be researching a documentary examining the impact of the killings on the small community. The clever plot twists will surprise even genre veterans. This entry is the best in the series so far.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-60809-336-6

Gunshot wounds (GSWs) come in many flavors and those to the chest can be particularly dicey. Yet, a chest GSW can be a minor flesh wound, a major traumatic event with significant damage, or deadly. If you have a character who suffers such an injury, this podcast is for you.

Tom Abrahams is an Emmy and Edward R. Murrow award winning television journalist and member of International Thriller Writers. He is also a Kindle Unlimited All-Star, an Audible 5 Star Favorite, and author of more than two dozen novels. He writes in several genres including dystopian, sci-fi techno-thriller, post-apocalyptic, and political thrillers. His stories combine the realistic with the fantastic and have sold copies all over the world. The dramatic rights for his “A Dark World” trilogy are optioned for television and film. He’s married with two children and lives in Southeast Texas.

Matt Witten is a TV writer, novelist, playwright, and screenwriter who has written for many TV shows including House, Pretty Little Liars, CSI: Miami, and Law & Order. His thriller novel The Necklace is published in eight languages and optioned for film by Leonardo DiCaprio, and his latest thriller Killer Story, about a true-crime podcaster, came out last year. Matt wrote four amateur sleuth novels, including the Malice Domestic Award-winning Breakfast at Madeline’s, and he has been nominated for two Edgars and an Emmy. His published stage plays include The Deal, Washington Square Moves, and The Ties That Bind. He wrote the movie Drones, produced by Whitewater Films. Most recently Matt wrote a Hallmark Mystery Movie based on the novel A Dark and Stormy Murder, by Julia Buckley.

https://mattwittenwriter.com/