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Storylines concept: Season vs Episode storylines
Last updated June 10, 2026 · 4 min read
A storyline is one narrative thread — a set of characters followed along a particular conflict or goal. Slima storylines come in two kinds: Season storylines and Episode storylines.
Why storylines
A short film / movie usually has 1-2 main threads. Long-form series must run multiple threads in parallel:
- The audience sees different characters' arcs progress each episode
- Different storylines can stagger climaxes (A-story climax in E3, B-story in E5)
- It stops a single thread from ending too soon and leaving episodes flabby
Example (The Last Night Train): the A-story is J. Doe and A. Smith's encounters, the B-story is the lighthouse's secret, the C-story is J. Doe's childhood flashbacks.
Two kinds: Season vs Episode
The Storylines tab is split into two sections:
| Kind | What it is | Bindable to scenes? |
|---|---|---|
| Season Storylines | Main arcs spanning the whole season | ❌ Not bindable to scenes |
| Episode Storylines | Per-episode or cross-episode plots | ✅ Bindable to scenes |
- Season storylines describe a season's big direction — season-level planning, not attached to individual scenes.
- Episode storylines operate at the scene level — you link scenes to them, and scene cards show their colour stripe.
A-story / B-story / C-story naming works for either kind; the difference is whether it's a season-level arc or an episode-level, scene-linkable thread.
A / B / C naming convention
Series-writing custom: the A-story is the episode's primary story, the B-story the secondary thread, the C-story often a single-episode vignette or long-form setup. Importance per episode is your call.
Colour coding (Episode storylines)
Each storyline picks a colour. When an Episode storyline is linked to scenes, those scene cards carry its colour stripe — the Scene Board reads at a glance. See Scene card anatomy.
A scene can belong to multiple Episode storylines
One scene can link to multiple Episode storylines (e.g. a dialogue that pushes the A-story and unlocks the B-story's mystery). The card displays multiple colour stripes.
Storyline status
Each storyline has a status: Planned / Active / Resolved / Abandoned. The Storylines tab filters by status, and an "Orphans only" filter surfaces storylines not yet linked to any scene.
The AI Coach uses storyline structure
The AI Coach in Script Studio ingests the storyline structure when reading the script — you can ask "Is the B-story too quiet after E5?" and the AI answers from this metadata.