Figured I'd do for this episode what I did for
The Pastmaster Always Rings Twice; compare the original script with the final product. For fun!
1. Mr. Young has the first line. "Mayor Manx, you say it's the largest building in the whole city?"
2. Jonny isn't identified by name. He's simply "Ann Gora's cameraman." He's also simply referred to as a "cameraman" with no name on the episode's model sheets.
3. Megakat Tower is said to be 150 stories, not 300. Also, extra bit of dialogue from Manx. Since he's responding to Young instead of initiating the conversation, he says "
That's right! At
150 stories, Megakat Tower is the tallest, most modern office complex in the whole city." Young never comments on the building. It goes right to Manx suggesting he put his corporate headquarters in it, eliminating the lines "Very impressive" and "Oh, yes!"
4. When Manx suggests housing Young's headquarters in the Megakat Tower, his two associates are described as liking the idea and nodding enthusiastically. In the episode, they're as taciturn as Young is.
5. Callie and Ann are the ones who act nervous when Young gives his non-committal answer, not Manx.
6. Manx frowns when Callie says greed brings out the best in him, before smiling, vs. him immediately grinning like a loon in the episode. He also never thanks her. He just shrugs.
7. Different dialogue from Callie: "
Actually, he's got a lot of the city's money sunk into this place," vs. "
He sunk most of the city treasury into this place." She also never tells Ann that this fact is off the record, and when thanking her for giving her the exclusive, Ann calls her Ms. Briggs instead of by her first name (similar to Dr. Sinian in
The Pastmaster Always Rings Twice's script, there's a lack of familiarity between the two here).
8. Different dialogue from Manx: "
Let's continue this meeting at Megakat golf course" vs. "
Now, why don’t we continue this meeting at Megakat Golf Course?" And instead of saying Megakat Tower is "an excellent location" Mr. Young says it is "well located," adding "Lucky we brought our clubs!"
9. Manx ushers the visitors out without any further dialogue (no "That’s what I’ve been tryin’ to tell you! Right This way, gentlemen!").
10. Instead of the comedic fake out, it's made obvious from the get-go in the next scene that Chance is playing a video game. No theatrical punch to the "camera." No "Not this time, sucker! You’re dead meat! Ha! Gotcha! Uh-oh, sneak attack!" The game is also played differently. Instead of flying through a canyon-like environment, the ship is flying through space. The scene flows a little differently, too. Chance says he's going for a personal best before, not after, Jake accidentally makes him get a game over, and Jake, annoyed at his friend for playing the game, asks him, "Don't you get enough of the real thing, Chance?" Chance replies that the game is "a blast," and we learn that Jake has modified the arcade cabinet to have louder speakers. Jake sarcastically asks if they're loud enough. "Never loud enough, Jake!" is Chance's answer. "Got that, partner!" replies Jake (
not sarcastically, apparently).
11. Jake stands on a crate to water his plant and not a stool. The plant (a fern) is also in a hanging tire and not in a pot on top of the arcade cabinet.
12. It's a little clearer here
how Jake makes Chance lose. In the episode, it appears, weirdly, that the fern frond grows down the screen to block Chance's view, but here, the frond is simply "dislodged" while Jake is watering it and pokes into Chance's field of vision, obstructing his view that way.
13. No annoyed "Hey!" from Chance as he moves the frond aside. He also has a whinier tone when complaining that he lost, and different dialogue. "Jaaake! You distracted me!" The game's voiceover also says more than "
Spaaaaaace Kat," and right after Chance loses, not when Jake resets it: "
Game over. Thank you for playing '
Space Kat.'" How polite!
14. Chance asks about "the greenery" after losing, not before. Jake doesn't talk about plants being good for the environment and air, merely that he wanted to do "something to get rid of the smell of your sour milk!" This phrasing is interesting; in the episode, it seems like Jake means literal sour milk, but here he seems to be speaking metaphorically (i.e. "sour milk" meaning Chance whining at having lost
Space Kat).
15. No dialogue about "another universe to save" before it match cuts to Dr. Viper in his gardener's disguise doing his thing.
16. Viper is wearing a different outfit. He's got the hat, but instead of a jacket and pants, he's wearing coveralls that have a patch reading "Greenery." Instead of simply ducking his head and pulling the visor of his hat down over his eyes, Viper "scurries off in a suspicious manner" as Callie, Ann and Jonny get off the elevator. He's more low key in the episode.
17. As the three from the elevator walk towards the door, their footsteps are described as echoing hollowly, which would've been a nice, creepy addition. Ann comments, "It's so empty" in response to the eerie quiet. But Callie says, "Yes, today it is. But when Megakat Tower opens to the public tomorrow, it'll be a circus, believe me." In the episode, Megakat Tower wasn't supposed to open for another month, whereas here it's ready for tenants to move in the very next day after the story is set.
18. Callie notices the world's most suspicious gardener differently. Continuing the circus analogy, Callie starts to elaborate that it it'll be "a three-ring circus" before she notices Viper scurrying off. And apparently Viper doesn't have his tail stuffed down the back of his pants, because Falk describes "a lizard-like tail whip into the darkness."
19. Ann notices Callie looking uneasy. "Something wrong?" "Just thought I saw something." She tells Ann and Jonny to go on ahead without her, instead of dropping her file folder when the door shuts on it. This actually explains how Ann knows Callie is inside the building to tell Feral later; Callie told her and Ann knew she was still inside when the wall of vines springs up. In the episode, neither she nor Jonny seem to notice Callie drop her folder and go back inside, so how she knew Callie was "trapped somewhere in that tower" (besides basic deductive reasoning) is unclear in the finished episode.
20. Ann doesn't give any kind of closing report or comments in the courtyard (or in the lobby, for that matter; her and Callie's discussion about the building's creepy emptiness takes the place of her report there). The second she and Jonny step outside, the vines erupt through the concrete. Ann simply screams instead of saying "What the--?" She and Jonny are also knocked to the ground by the force of the eruptions and don't run away yet.
21. Dr. Viper is (properly) introduced differently. In the episode, we see him with his back turned at his little chemistry set in the basement as some Plantimals scurry over, then he turns around and whips off the hat, revealing he's, shock of shocks, who we all knew he was the moment he appeared. Here, he already has the hat off, and we don't see the Plantimals just yet; Viper is only shown in silhouette, his eyes aglow. Weirdly, Falk never describes him emerging from the shadows; he's apparently intended to be hidden in shadow for the entire basement sequence. Despite this, Callie identifies him instantly (but then, he has a pretty distinctive silhouette and she isn't an idiot).
22. There are thirty Plantimals in the basement with Viper instead of only a handful.
23. The basement is described differently, with lots of pipes and machinery with a greenish light tinting everything (reminding me of the
Goosebumps TV episode's depiction of the titular basement in
Stay Out of the Basement from a few years later), instead of the big, bare, orange-y room in the episode.
24. Slightly different dialogue from Viper. He starts off by addressing the Plantimals as "Friendss," and says the building is impenetrable, but doesn't mention any growth formula. He says, "
But now you musst protect me from Feral, hisss Enforcersss... and
worssst of all... those meddling SSWAT Katss!"
25. Viper is never described removing his gardener's disguise aside from the hat. So unless Falk just forgot or says otherwise, Viper spends the entire script in his gardener's outfit.
26. Instead of "I'd better get some help!" Callie says "I'd better call the SWAT Kats!" Here, her first thought is the SWAT Kats, not help in general. She never runs to the front door to find it block or tries a phone only to discover it isn't connected before resorting to using the SWAT Kat communicator. It's interesting that Falk changed this in the final version to have the SWAT Kats as her
second choice for someone to alert.
27. Not a difference, but I love how Falk describes the noises the Plantimals make. "Squealing with vegetable glee!"
28. Callie doesn't give herself away with a creaky basement door. She successfully sneaks off.
29. There's a dramatic pullback from the building that isn't in the episode. When we see the exterior of the skyscraper covered in vines, Dr. Viper's evil laughter (coming from inside) is played over it.
Now Ann and Jonny get up and run away.
30. Chance and Jake are already in full SWAT Kat gear as T-Bone and Razor when Callie calls. Cha--I mean T-Bone also talks to Callie on a wall-mounted speaker instead of the phone thing. Callie simply says "It's Dr. Viper!" and not "Dr. Viper's back!" Both SWAT Kats go "Viper?!" together instead of just Chance's "Viper? Where?" Callie also never tells them that she's at the Megakat Tower(s) before getting naughty-tentacled by those pervy, phone-interrupting vines. Her reaction to getting grabbed here is kind of unintentionally hilarious ("Hey! Hey!!"). She tries to scream, too, before having her mouth covered.
31. Despite having just gotten done saying they're in their SWAT Kats outfits and thus T-Bone and Razor, Falk returns to identifying the two as Chance and Jake here. After Chance calls Callie's name in alarm, it's Jake, not him, who says, "Let's kick some Viper tail!" The two give a "battle cry" (?) as they fly off in the Turbokat.
32. The Enforcers (except for Feral) have already arrived in force on the scene at the Megakat Tower and put up barrier tape, instead of them being seen in
the process of arriving and setting up as in the final episode.
33. Present with Ann and Jonny to cover things are the other reporters from
The Giant Bacteria, described here as Ann's "entire WKAT news crew." I can only assume Falk means the tall guy with black hair and the short guy with orange hair in the polka-dotted tie. Obviously, neither of these guys showed up in the finished episode (or ever again, although
Metal Urgency's model sheets indicate the black-haired reporter was meant to appear there, apparently for the original ending).
34. Commander Feral examines the vine wall and breaks a chunk off to inspect it, commenting, "What
is this?"
35. It's Sergeant Talon and not a nameless commando who gives Feral the skinny. His dialogue with Feral is also slightly different than the commando's in the finished episode.
36. When Feral suggests burning through the vine wall, it is Ann Gora of all people who interjects and warns him he might start a huge fire. Feral apparently has no idea who she is even though he was interviewed by her in the script for
The Metallikats, which was written before this one, so she has to introduce herself. She also says she's from Katwitness News, not Kat's Eye News or even the just-established "WKAT." Feral doesn't dismiss her concerns the way he does the commando's in the finished episode, but he
is actually
angry rather than just cynically annoyed when told that Callie is inside the building.
37. There's an extra scene of the SWAT Kats en route. Because Callie didn't manage to tell them where she was before the icky, icky vines got her, our heroes are using the signal of her communicator to figure out her location, the same way they did in
The Pastmaster Always Rings Twice, although here it makes more sense since the communicator hasn't been broken (that we know of). After Razor says the signal is coming from the Megakat Tower, T-Bone says it'll take them two minutes to get there.
38. Extra dialogue from Feral as the choppers attack the tower. "We're gonna do this by the numbers! King, Burge. I'm going in first! Cover me!"
39. King's chopper, not Burge's, is attacked first. When Burge comments that the stuff the Plantimals spit is acid and is eating through his chopper, King says, "Mine too! Weapon systems are all gummed up!" In the finished episode, King's is the only chopper
not attacked, and the line about the acid gumming up the weapons is given to Feral, not him.
40. Burge is described as starting to "lose it," as opposed to merely being amazed at the acid but otherwise keeping his cool.
41. Extra dialogue from Feral as he orders a retreat: "OK, OK! Fall back, before we have total meltdown!" Only then, as the three choppers are flying back, does he notice Dr. Viper on the penthouse balcony. He vows, "This isn't over, you lizard!" instead of saying "Should've known that crazy lizard would be behind this mess!"
44. Viper's taunt is also different: "Run, Feral,
sstupid fool!
Thiss iss perfect! There'ss nothing you can do to sstop me!"
45. Viper's interaction with Callie is a little different. When Callie tells the Rover Plantimal to release her, she asks what it is
before Viper explains that they're his Plantimals and obey only him. Different/extra dialogue from him: "
And I won't be letting you go! Why, you'd jussst run away and miss all the excitement!" he teases. "The Plantimals live to protect me and
that! My spore pod!"
46. Callie is actually scared here instead of disgustedly defiant towards her captor, asking what the spore pod does. "Oh... you'll find out
real sssoon!" Viper promises, and... does not explain his plan! That actually happens later. He uses a syringe to inject something into the pod.
47. Callie regains her defiant gusto as she and Dr. Viper hear the approaching Turbokat. "
Maybe not, you twist-o! Here come the SWAT Kats!"
48. Minor difference but Razor says Viper has captured Callie vs. having "got" her.
49. T-Bone, not Razor, points out that the Flyer Plantimals are spitting acid. When saying he's taking evasive action, he also adds "
Hang on!"
50. Razor has a fun little moment before retaliating against the Plantimals. He cracks his knuckles and goes, "And now, sports fans, the moment you've
all been waiting for. The SWAT Kats bite back!"
51. Slightly different dialogue from Razor: "
No way! Those things melted my missiles!"
52. The fight against the Plantimals goes on longer here in the script, with extra dialogue. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" asks T-Bone. "You know it! Let's take this weed welcome wagon from behind!" replies Razor, launching some Octopus Missiles. Which actually work! Three of the Plantimals "pop like something on a teenager's face" (eeew). A fourth, evading its missile, is so stupid is flies face-first into the side of a building (!). The impact kills it (!!!) and it slowly slides down the building (ick). "Octopus Missiles! Don't leave base without 'em!" cheers Razor and he and T-Bone high-five.
53. Slightly different dialogue from Dr. Viper: "
Nooo! Attack! Dessstroy the SSSWAT Kats!"
54. When Viper smacks the Rover Plantimal that let Callie escape into the window, it smashes through the glass instead of just splatting it against it and sliding down. Viper also tells the creature "It's
your fault!" not "You fool!" We're also not told
how Callie got away (i.e., there's no visual clue of the typewriter used to bash the Plantimal).
55. There's some more extra action with the SWAT Kats in the Turbokat. Despite the success of the Octopus Missiles against the earlier batch of Plantimals, they can't use them against the wave of reinforcements Viper has sicced on them because "I'm fresh out of Octopus Missiles!" T-Bone suggests something else.
56. There's an extra scene where Feral, back on the ground now by his cruiser, notices the Turbokat. "The SWAT Kats! I should have known!" Meanwhile, the Plantimal Dr. Viper knocked out the window falls 150 stories and splatters all over Feral's cruiser. Although the Rovers are never shown spitting acid like the Flyers (here or in the finished episode), here they've got acidic blood, as the splattery monster guts melt the car and some even gets on Feral's coat, hitting him with enough force to knock him off of his feet (!). "Yaaa!! Get it offa me!" he screams as the acidic goo starts dissolving his clothes. Sergeant Talon runs in and hoses him off, but keeps spraying him long after the acid has been washed off, forcing Feral to yell at him "OK, OK! Turn it off!"
57. Another extra bit as, annoyed by his melted car, Feral decides "Enough of this! It's time for
military force!" This is intended to be when he decides to bring up the Enforcer Peacekeeper tanks.
58. When T-Bone is questioning Razor's decision to infiltrate the building, warning him that "plants have taken over the whole building, or hadn't you noticed?" there's some extra dialogue as Razor says "Affirmative.
And that snake's probably got a few surprises waiting inside, too. But Callie's in there, T-Bone!" and when T-Bone says "Riiight!
We can't attack Viper..." and Razor finishes, stating not until he gets Callie safely out of the building.
59. More extra dialogue. After Razor says he's "Goin' in," he adds, "Gentle as a baby."
60. Razor smashes through a window on the 100th story of the building, not the 145th floor as in the finished episode.
