"Nextland" is a ten minute short 'fan' film set twenty-one months after the final episode of the original series of Graceland. It was posted to Youtube on October 22, 2024. Written by and starring Graceland's Brandon Jay McLaren as 'D.J' in a collaboration with Aaron Tveit, who reprises his role as 'Levi'.
| Nextland | |
 | |
| Airdate | Oct 22, 2024 |
| Writer | Brandon Jay McLaren |
| Director | Torre Catalano |
| Episode chronology | |
|---|---|
| Previous | Master of Weak Ties |
Summary[]
Twenty-one months after running away with Courtney and the money, D.J hopes he has put his past behind him. But he might have to face some harsh truths when a familiar face comes knocking at his door.
Plot[]
In a garden in Upland, California, D.J is spreading compost in a planter. The camera pans across to reveal long black hair peeking out from the dirt. D.J tucks it down and sits on the edge of the planter to smoke a cigarette. A necklace bearing the letter 'C' is shown to still be exposed among the cigarette butts and compost.
As D.J returns indoors later that evening, a black car is seen pulling away.
At a hardware store, D.J dumps a dirt-covered shovel on the counter. The blonde woman working there protests that the shovel is clearly used because the dirt is still moist. But D.J rebukes it by showing her the terms on his receipt. The receipt states that the shovel can be returned if he isn't satisfied with it, and he claims he isn't. The young woman gives him his twelve dollars and ninety-one cents and asks him to sign the receipt,
She rolls her eyes when he leaves. But she then realises he has left her his phone number on the receipt under the name 'D.J'. She is about to discard it before deciding to keep it for the future.
Once outside and counting his money, D.J is stunned to see Levi waiting across the street. He flees back to his house and grabs guns and a dufflebag of cash. As he races areound, he goes through a nursery with an empty crib to the kitchen. He stuffs his bag with food and grabs a gun from the oven. He opens the refridgerator to find it is packed full of OJ. He closes his eyes, shuts the door and is unsurprised to see Levi in the window.
Levi and D.J sit at the firepit in the back yard that night. Levi compliments D.J's hair but D.J complains that he can't get anything past Levi. They awkwardly chuckle before D.J asks how everyone is. He refers to 'The Idiot', who Levi informs him that he's no longer an idiot and is pretty much in charge. D.J is impressed and calls him the 'Mexican Mike'. Chuck is fine and sends Levi sauce. Levi is reluctant to answer anything about [Paige] and they both understand why. When D.J asks about 'The Ghost', Levi turns it back around with, "You tell me."
D.J gives in and asks Levi what he's doing there. Levi goes to pull something out from behind him and D.J is hesitant until he reveals a letter. Neither know what it is but Levi informs him that he knows who it's from and that D.J should open it. When D.J does, he takes a deep breath and says, "So what?" But Levi seems confused by the reaction, pointing out that it has to be pretty important because whoever sent it went through Chuck to get to Levi, to get to D.J.
The letter says that D.J's his mom got into a serious accident, her boyfriend left her and she is now on the streets. D.J fights back tears as he admits that that was how she had him. He then stands, saying he doesn't get it and doesn't like it. He asks why she would send Levi of all people. But Levi reminds him that no one has been able to find him. Except Levi managed to find a trace and followed it to Upland and to D.J. When asked how, he cockily says, "Because I'm me."
Levi asks how D.J managed to disappear without a trace. He then admits that he needs to find out how so he can copy him. He fucked up so badly that he needs to disappear, too. But D.J tells him he can't stay with him. Levi makes a flippant remark about how he used to like being his roommate.
D.J tells Levi that he doesn't give a fuck about him. Levi stands, nodding as he claims he understands. As he picks a flower from a bush, he reminds him that Levi is the only one who knows where D.J is for now. He shows some more admiration about how well D.J has built a new life for himself under the radar.
Levi then approaches the planter, turns to D.J and reveals that he never realised he was a smoker in all the time they lived together. Levi then places the flower in the planter, where the body is buried.
He then tells D.J to think about it, while D.J visibly has tears in his eyes.
Cast[]
Starring[] |
Guest Starring[]
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Quotes[]
- "Nice to see you're growing back out the locks."
- ―Levi to D.J
- "I see nothing's changed. Still get anything past Levi."
- ―D.J to Levi
- "Not much of an idiot anymore. He's kind of running the show,"
- ―Levi about 'The Idiot'
- "Alright man, I know you're not here for the vitamin C. So what you want?"
- ―D.J to Levi
- "So what? He found Chuck, Chuck found me and I found you. It must be pretty fucking important."
- ―Levi to D.J about the letter
- "It's not like you're on some remote island. You're in fucking Upland, for fuck's sake."
- ―Levi to D.J
- "I fucked up. Like, bad. And I got a couple of days to figure it out. May not even be able to get out from under it. So, I might have to disappear."
- ―Levi to D.J
- "Shit I've got here, you can't build in a day."
- ―D.J to Levi
- "You know what, I really don't give a fuck about you. Matter of fact, fuck you."
- ―D.J to Levi
Trivia[]
- Tveit has called this his and McLaren's 'loveletter' to Graceland and hinted that if there is enough interest, they might be able to pick it back up.
- This project was apparently started due to a scheduling opportunity McLaren and Tveit shared as they were both in the same area in 2020. They started filming in 2021.
- As this is technically a 'fan' short, they only use nicknames and never mention explicit details to protect intellectual property rights. This has previously been done by the writer of the show Oz when he made his short film ZO.
Soundtrack[]
| Song Title | Artist | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Homeward Bound | Simon & Garfunkel | |
| Out of Control | Sebastian Borromeo |
Media[]
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