The Yoko Factor
How Spike got series four out of a corner.
BBC
: In seasons past, the main story arc has tended to conclude with a major two-part story, written and directed by Joss. Season four wraps up early with The Yoko Factor and Primeval. You were entrusted with kicking off this pivotal story: how daunting was that?
Doug Petrie: Very daunting. Both The Yoko Factor and Primeval were a little more group-written than most episodes. It really took the full strength of the team to finish up season four. The Yoko Factor was particularly tough for me because we were addressing [the fact] that the group was a little disenfranchised. They bicker and they fall apart.
It was just an emotionally tough episode to write, and a tough episode to watch for a lot of fans. We really addressed something that we knew we has to confront this season: When you go to college, you fall a little bit away from your original high school friends. We wanted to really test the dynamics and the strength of the Scooby Gang. It ends in a big fight!
There were many, many plots threads - that were fairly complicated - which had to be neatly tied up in terms of the Initiative, Adam and his plan. A very challenging episode that the team pulled off nicely.
BBC
: How do you physically keep track of all those plot threads? Is there a whiteboard in Joss's office where it's all mapped out so that you don't leave any loose ends lying about?
Doug Petrie: No, we didn't leave anything lying about (laughs). This was a particularly complex season plot-wise. We did paint ourselves into a little bit of a corner, but only a small one.
BBC
: What was your way out of that particular corner?
Doug Petrie: Joss came up with the idea that, everything we can't explain – "Blame it on Spike!". We all loved that! It was very satisfying and very funny. So that's kind of how we dealt with that. In general we do literally have a big whiteboard in Joss's office but not everything is written down. Joss Whedon's cranium is the resting place for a lot of the ideas.
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