Fourth Horseman/The Time is Now

[Guest A Stranger]

A Stranger:

Are you talking about that tingly feeling at the back of your neck; I get that from loads of MM episodes (especially season2: Midnight of the Century, Curse of Frank Black, Luminary...). Mark Snow's score for Force Majeure always gets me too.

Well, enough of this talk of crying and 'the chills', it's time to, you know, watch some manly sport and drink some manly beer. :grin2:

Yeah, that's the chills.

[Guest soylentblack]

I agree, se7en, that it was like a "screw-you" to fox. That's probably why I liked the episode. [i honestly believe that

Rupert Murdoch is Legion incarnate, distributor of all that is foul...but that won't stop me from buying the DVD's! Me and my

double standards,eh?]

Even if you dont like the episodes, i think it's clear that they were completely unlike anything else on the TV (then, now or

ever). To show a once blissful family bleeding to death at the dinner table seems inconceivable, and I don't think M&W would

have written it if they hadn't known it was their last episode. It made clear the fact that M&W wanted to go out on a

magnificent, unique downer.

I think Lara's breakdown sequence suffered from budgetary constraints rather than any artistic deficiencies... a lot of it

unfortunately looked like an art school project, IMO. But ultimately I really liked the scene (and the song), and again, it

was utterly unique.

This is embarrassing but I'll admit that these episodes brought me close to tears a couple of times (please say I'm not the

only one), and by the end I was pretty distraught. The image of Jordan playing with Frank's grey hair, intercut with

ear-peircing white noise was like some kind of TV terrorism, a completely 'downbeat' grenade thrown into FOX's otherwise

banal schedule (so yes, it was a screw-you to FOX, but it was also, I thought, powerful beyond words).

Perhaps it WAS over the top, perhaps it WAS pretentious... but Hell, that never kept Shakespeare from success.

I haven't said half of what I wanted to say, but as I said: powerful beyond words; "my cup runneth over", and all that...

see you,

PMO

[PS. Netscape makes my posts look like experimental poems]

Agreed, PMO,

but I'm afraid I've been beyond "close to tears" on several levels. This two-parter transcends television-as-entertainment and is in the realm of television-as-ground-breaking-art. The ducts are fully functional on any repeated viewing: Lara's break-down (odd and video-ish, but utterly unique), Frank screaming "There IS no Millennium" at Peter, Katherine discovering her infection and having to 'say goodbye' and walking out into the forest, Frank waking and realizing what's happened, and yes, Jordan giggling with blissful ignorance while playing with her father's gray hair. The best episodes? Maybe, maybe not. But as far as mass market commercial television goes, it was unbelievable, unheard of, and unfortunately unappreciated by most.

Also, an episode that always suprises me with its illustration of the power of love: "In Arcadia Ego". Anyone else?

And any episode, whether considered great or not, significantly depicting "the big yellow house." Working in an environment of gray to black (figuratively, in reference to his job and the horrors he's seen; and literally in reference to the cloudy, raincoat conditions so many episodes were shot in), this yellow house stands out, containing all that is precious and meaningful to Frank. Home, family, love, something like a regular happy life, a true refuge. Aside from blood, it is the most significant (and I believe intentional) use of color in the show. That is, until a close friend and colleague is killed there...now the big yellow house begins to represent something else: evil, hate, ugliness, eventually a marriage in disrepair. Evil had penetrated that place where Frank has always found solace. Was nothing sacred, or at least safe? Probably why it was featured prominently in opening credits. And the morose theme music. Some of these episodes are an emotional workout...

Have I made to much of the color angle? I think there is real artistic intent there.

[Guest se7en]

....damn straight there was artistic intent there! :~) Credit the brilliant DP-Robert McLachlan,woh intentionaly bled much of the color out of the film the farther frank got away from the yellow house. And when Frank was home the color was actually tweaked UP a little more than usual. Look for more on this topic,if it's cleared,in the upcoming TIWWA-MM-GUIDE-book.

BTW: McLachlan is also being filmed/interviewed for the S1 box set as well! :~)

~Take care,

se7en

[Guest chrisnu]

About the S1 box set: I do hope it's released soon. I became an MLM fan very, very late - I never saw the show while it was being televised! The only material I've seen is in front of a computer screen, in relatively poor quality. I haven't really been able to just take in the sheer beauty and aesthetics of the show much. In that light, I'm looking forward to seeing the show as intended.

[Guest A Stranger]

Frank screaming "There IS no Millennium" at Peter

Also, an episode that always suprises me with its illustration of the power of love:  "In Arcadia Ego".  Anyone else?

I'm with you on those two points. Does anyone else hear what Frank is saying to Peter before he erupts? "Revelation is not a prophecy it is a code.....for people who have been put through hell" something along those lines. This is a historical intreptation, that it was written for the Christians who were being persecuted, to tell them that their faith was righteous. It's always struck me as important because Frank's beliefs were very rarely stated plainly on these issues.