Zack Stentz’s Stance on Script Stakes

I may not have previously expressed my appreciation for Zack Stentz (from the truly awesome Sarah Connor Chronicles show), so here we go.

I’ve been thoroughly enjoying his daily long tweetscussions© about screenwriting for a bit now.
They’re so cool that he should really compile them on his blog.
Since this isn’t the case (yet?), I shall do it for him. Rather, I’ll compile what I think is one of his better tweetologue© from this past month: the August 6 talk about stakes. And not the Buffy kind.

Turns out, scripts need to have stakes. Yeah, shocker. What’s relevant to us however, especially for television, is that stakes can’t be as high as a lot of modern block-busters (at least they are in appearance). You can’t save the planet every episode. In fact, one would think that the average action movie has the Earth/USA in jeopardy, constantly. Turns out, this isn’t quite right. You should dig a little bit deeper to find the real meat. That’s right, character stakes (aka TV’s bread and butter).
Zack goes over a few feature examples, specifically from both Thor (which he co-wrote) and the Star Trek reboot. It may not be much (only ten tweets), but it’s still pretty interesting.

And now, I’ll shut up and let the tweets talk:

It's funny how almost no one noticed that Thor was a summer blockbuster (450 m WW) in which the Earth was never placed in danger.

— Zack Stentz (@MuseZack) August 6, 2013

What are the "stakes" in Thor? On one level, it's "will the antagonist commit genocide against a nasty, warlike race."…

— Zack Stentz (@MuseZack) August 6, 2013

But really, it's "Will Thor stop being an asshole and grow into a good prince, and can he save his brother's soul?"

— Zack Stentz (@MuseZack) August 6, 2013

@mariancall But no one cares because the real stakes in the Avengers are "Can these huge egos bury their differences & work together?"

— Zack Stentz (@MuseZack) August 6, 2013

Quick, what are the stakes in Star Trek (2009)? Hint: if you answered "Nero wants to destroy the Earth," you're wrong.

— Zack Stentz (@MuseZack) August 6, 2013

Trek 2009's real stakes are "Will Kirk and Spock stop pissing each other off long enough to realize they can do great things together."

— Zack Stentz (@MuseZack) August 6, 2013

@missmissa85 My point is that real stakes that the audience cares about are emotional & internal. The external stuff is just plot mechanics.

— Zack Stentz (@MuseZack) August 6, 2013

@danhindmarch @missmissa85 I think the global audience cares a lot less about that stuff than executives think…

— Zack Stentz (@MuseZack) August 6, 2013

@danhindmarch @missmissa85 What was the villain's plot in MI:4? Um, missiles, computers, and OH SHIT LOOK AT TOM CRUISE ON THE SKYSCRAPER!

— Zack Stentz (@MuseZack) August 6, 2013

@missmissa85 You ask yourself, "If I take away all the external stuff is there still a story there, or is spectacle a substitute for it?"

— Zack Stentz (@MuseZack) August 6, 2013