Catherine & Frank

[Guest MillenniumIsBliss]

From a practical point of view; I believe the seperation was written into series 2 so that they could do more episodes without Megan Gallagher - she'd signed onto the series believing that her and Henriksen would be on equal footing. When it didn't work out this way (being used mainly as support) she became unhappy and was given several months off to decide her future. Having then decided to leave at the end of the season, Chris Carter suggested that they kill her off.

Ahhh, so that's the story. That is as close as I have heard to an explanation for Catherine being written off the show. I guess we now know that it was not a decision made by the writers of the show, but rather one made by Megan.

[Guest Doll]

From a practical point of view; I believe the seperation was written into series 2 so that they could do more episodes without Megan Gallagher - she'd signed onto the series believing that her and Henriksen would be on equal footing. When it didn't work out this way (being used mainly as support) she became unhappy and was given several months off to decide her future. Having then decided to leave at the end of the season, Chris Carter suggested that they kill her off.

Did you read that in an article or see an interview? I'm not sure Megan would've had such a strict interpretation of equal footing when the main character & his occupation/abilities were the focus & foundation of the show.

It's all about Frank Black.

[Guest Ricardo Clement]

Did you read that in an article or see an interview? I'm not sure Megan would've had such a strict interpretation of equal footing when the main character & his occupation/abilities were the focus & foundation of the show.

It's all about Frank Black.

As I understand it the show was originally supposed to be more of a two hander like The X-Files (which is presumably why Gallagher is credited in the opening titles along with Lance). The idea was that Frank and Catherine would work on the same cases with the SPD but from different angles; he as profiler and her in the victim support role (as seen in Blood Relatives, The Well Worn Lock & Wide Open). At some point during season 1 the focus got shifted onto nationwide cases and Terry O'Quinn was given a more prominent role instead, whether this is because the show was getting too bogged down in formula or that the writers felt the format had to change when Bill Smitrovich decided to leave, I don't now. Gallagher discussed her reasons for leaving and her lesser role in the second season, in a UK magazine at the time of it's original broadcast over here.

[Guest MillenniumIsBliss]

As I understand it the show was originally supposed to be more of a two hander like The X-Files (which is presumably why Gallagher is credited in the opening titles along with Lance). The idea was that Frank and Catherine would work on the same cases with the SPD but from different angles; he as profiler and her in the victim support role (as seen in Blood Relatives, The Well Worn Lock & Wide Open). At some point during season 1 the focus got shifted onto nationwide cases and Terry O'Quinn was given a more prominent role instead, whether this is because the show was getting too bogged down in formula or that the writers felt the format had to change when Bill Smitrovich decided to leave, I don't now. Gallagher discussed her reasons for leaving and her lesser role in the second season, in a UK magazine at the time of it's original broadcast over here.

I think Megan might have been sold a fake bill of goods, because I never really had any indication that this was ever intended to be anything other than a show about a roving, free lance, forensic profiler, who was retired from the FBI. I'm not saying that they didn't plan to make them an equal duo at some point prior to the start of the show, but if this was the plan, it never got off the ground in my opinion. In fact, it didn't even appear to start out that way and then drift more and more into Frank being the main character. Sure, they threw Megan a bone or two with "Blood Relatives" and "Worn Lock", but we didn't see her as a main character at all in most of the episodes. I would be interested to hear her wording regarding season two, as opposed to season 1, because, although I haven't given it a ton of thought, I never really thought about her role as diminishing in season two, but rather as staying about the same. In season two, we see her get big chunks of the action right off the bat in "The Beginning and the End", as well as having Anamnesis all to herself (well, her and Lara), and then having good bits in Luminary, Midnight of the Century, Owls/Roosters (the Odessa thing), and the final two parter, along with her normal share of episodes where she had small roles. It just seems to me like about the same balance as season 1. I have, however, always suspected that the reason she was written off the show is that she wanted to move on to bigger and better things.

[Guest Ricardo Clement]

I think Megan might have been sold a fake bill of goods, because I never really had any indication that this was ever intended to be anything other than a show about a roving, free lance, forensic profiler, who was retired from the FBI. I'm not saying that they didn't plan to make them an equal duo at some point prior to the start of the show, but if this was the plan, it never got off the ground in my opinion. In fact, it didn't even appear to start out that way and then drift more and more into Frank being the main character. Sure, they threw Megan a bone or two with "Blood Relatives" and "Worn Lock", but we didn't see her as a main character at all in most of the episodes. I would be interested to hear her wording regarding season two, as opposed to season 1, because, although I haven't given it a ton of thought, I never really thought about her role as diminishing in season two, but rather as staying about the same. In season two, we see her get big chunks of the action right off the bat in "The Beginning and the End", as well as having Anamnesis all to herself (well, her and Lara), and then having good bits in Luminary, Midnight of the Century, Owls/Roosters (the Odessa thing), and the final two parter, along with her normal share of episodes where she had small roles. It just seems to me like about the same balance as season 1. I have, however, always suspected that the reason she was written off the show is that she wanted to move on to bigger and better things.

I'm not saying the lead was ever supposed to be split 50/50 but I think Gallagher was led to believe that her character was going to be more than just someone for Frank to sound off at, in fact I know she felt this as she has mentioned it in interviews. With regard to her role in season 2; she only appears in 12 of the 23 episodes, in season 1 she is only absent from 2 - this hardly seems like the "same balance" to me. Her having time off to consider her future wasn't supposition on my part - again she has stated it in interviews.

[Guest MillenniumIsBliss]

I'm not saying the lead was ever supposed to be split 50/50 but I think Gallagher was led to believe that her character was going to be more than just someone for Frank to sound off at, in fact I know she felt this as she has mentioned it in interviews. With regard to her role in season 2; she only appears in 12 of the 23 episodes, in season 1 she is only absent from 2 - this hardly seems like the "same balance" to me. Her having time off to consider her future wasn't supposition on my part - again she has stated it in interviews.

No, don't get me wrong, I am just commenting on what little I have heard and speculating on the rest. I'm not challenging any of what you say. I'm sure that she knew that it wasn't going to be a 50/50 split too. As mentioned, I have never really contemplated the show from the point of view of Megan's involvement, but what I meant was that it seemed like about the same balance to me. This was not based on how many credits she got in her filmography, but rather how much she really contributed to the episodes, as opposed to having a forgettable token appearance. I'm sure someone could point out some kind of contribution but, for me, I basically either have no memory of her, or see her as only a brief plot tool in about 2/3 of the episodes from each season. As far as being a key part of the story, I view it as a pretty even balance, given that she had a good hand in "Beginning", "Midnight", "Luminary", "Owls/Roosters", "Siren", "Anamnesis", "Forth Horseman" and "Time is Now" (S2). This is 9 episodes. In comparison, and now this is only my opinion, she plays a key part in "Pilot" "Dead Letters", "Blood Relatives", "Well Worn", "Wide Open", maybe "Sacrament", "Walkabout" and maybe "Paper Dove" (S1). This is 8 episodes, including a couple of "maybe's". Again, the balance is pretty close in my view, but like I said, I'm sure someone will be along soon to point out other key contributions, but for me, I'm drawing a blank on the rest of the episodes.

[Guest Doll]

As I understand it the show was originally supposed to be more of a two hander like The X-Files (which is presumably why Gallagher is credited in the opening titles along with Lance). The idea was that Frank and Catherine would work on the same cases with the SPD but from different angles; he as profiler and her in the victim support role (as seen in Blood Relatives, The Well Worn Lock & Wide Open). At some point during season 1 the focus got shifted onto nationwide cases and Terry O'Quinn was given a more prominent role instead, whether this is because the show was getting too bogged down in formula or that the writers felt the format had to change when Bill Smitrovich decided to leave, I don't now. Gallagher discussed her reasons for leaving and her lesser role in the second season, in a UK magazine at the time of it's original broadcast over here.

I don't remember MM ever being advertised in that nature here & the series never gave me that vibe, personally. CC seemed to always focus on Frank when pitching MM - from the interviews/articles that I've witnessed. It would be interesting to read articles like that though; from Megan's viewpoint. If you can find them - w/d you post them for us?

I never saw her character's participation as being greatly reduced in season 2 given the fact that Animesis was an ep strictly for her & Lara, & Catherine was also greatly focused upon in Roosters when she took up her career part-time. I didn't look @ it, in regards to the ep's she was in.

Has anyone ever taken note of how much time, in hrs & mins, each character is on screen?

Edited July 7, 2007 by Doll

[HighPlainsDrifter]

Originally Benny the Dog was suppose to have the lead role and first in credits, but apparently he ran away

[Viivi]

Has anyone ever taken note of how much time, in hrs & mins, each character is on screen?

No, as far as I know, but that sounds like something Graham would love to have statistics for on the forthcoming new Millennium site!

[Guest Doll]

No, as far as I know, but that sounds like something Graham would love to have statistics for on the forthcoming new Millennium site!

I think you just voluteered!!!