What Was Your Fav. Lara Means Episode

[4th Horseman]

I agree that the two seasons had a very different feel, but that is the work of the writers. I think, (just my opinion) that Lara's charcater could have evolved and developed into a point counter-point relationship with Frank. In season 3 Frank has made up his mind about the group based upon his knowledge and experiences up to the end of season 2. I think it would have been interesting to see Lara, who at one time was a close colleague of Frank's, now in a position to dangle hidden knowledge before him. In season 3 It's my impression that Frank does not feel overly threatened by Peter Watt's presence. Annoyed...absolutely, hostile to a fault...definately, yet not threatened or menaced. I would have loved to see Lara, provided she got at least a marginal grip on her sanity, back to face Frank as a "true believer". One to whom he is both attracted and repulsed. Lara a little bit crazy might even been cool. Oh well, we shall never know. It is however fun to talk about!

FK.

Frankly, and this may seem brutal, but could it be the only reason she got any part to play at all was due to her husband being Glen Morgan????...funny how that happens, isnt it???

4th Horseman...

[Guest ZeusFaber]

See also, The X-Files ("The Field Where I Died"), Space: Above and Beyond, Final Destination, The Others, Black Christmas...

[Guest betweenthelines]

M&W loved to re-use certain actors from time to time. Kristen Cloke wasn't the only one they worked with often. Besides, Cloke and Morgan didn't get married until June 1998... when the second season of "Millennium" was completed.

Granted, I'm sure being in a relationship with one of MM's showrunners did help, but I think Cloke was a great choice to portray Lara.

[4th Horseman]

M&W loved to re-use certain actors from time to time. Kristen Cloke wasn't the only one they worked with often. Besides, Cloke and Morgan didn't get married until June 1998... when the second season of "Millennium" was completed.

Granted, I'm sure being in a relationship with one of MM's showrunners did help, but I think Cloke was a great choice to portray Lara.

BTL - thats cool...right now i cant think of anyone else who SHOULD have played Lara's part, which lends itself to the possibility that the character should never have been introduced in the first place...the character i most wanted to see be developed in S2 was that of John-Pyper Ferguson...his cumulative 3-4 minutes in "Anamanesis" was absolutely stellar. His demeanor was so cold, calculating, confident (in particular the way he dressed Lara's chracter down in their one on one conversation), that i felt his character would have, had it been expanded, been a wonderful counter to Frank's....

4th Horseman...

[Guest ZeusFaber]

M&W loved to re-use certain actors from time to time. Kristen Cloke wasn't the only one they worked with often.

True, but none of the others have been in every single thing they've produced, and virtually nothing but.

[ethsnafu]

Found this dusty tome on a bit of a wander through and like a compass-near-north couldn't help but add a bit to the mix with regards to 'Ms. Means'.

She's my Millennium idol so I fully accept that I'm blinded by the 'pout' and languishing in the 'glib' of her but Lara has me solely as she is one of the few 1013 women allowed to be bold and acute, not desirous of rescuing, not aflame with unrequited passion, not a receptacle for infodump but a knotty soul exploring her own omniverse without the need for a male figure to dot her 'i's' or cross her 't's'. The prominent draw for me was that Lara's experiences outshine Frank's, her experiences are more transcendental, her savvy is more acute, her erudition, with regards to the Group's deepest aspects, far outweighs Franks.

I am not asserting that Lara was an opportunity to impose a feminist principle but she has a solidity and authority that Catherine and Emma were denied. If you stitch together a character who remains in the shadows of the profundity of the protagonist's experiences then there is only opportunity for explanation, deceit, mentoring and so on and so forth but this paints the feminist principle as merely a vehicle for the male narrator to explain things to. Female critics complained continually with regards to the 'Scully gets captured and Mulder saves her' format, and the general sense that she was simply the person who publicly announced they didn't understand what was going on, so Mulder could fill us all in.

In that epoch of accepted male dominance to present a character who was an equal and, in instances, a superior was a bold and welcome move.

Presenting the character of a fellow Millennium Group candidate, a Doctor and a visionary negates the protagonist's ability to tell the woman that she shouldn't worry, doesn't need to know or simply cannot understand.

Whatever you may think of Lara she gave our universe the chance to explore a solid, informed, kaleidoscopic feminine role who dispensed with the need to be rescued or explained to.

With regards to Kristens casting in all M&W's stuff...

True, but none of the others have been in every single thing they've produced, and virtually nothing but.

It certainly looks that way doesn't it but the 'extras' on 'Willard' explain this. Kristen, after the birth of her first child, decided to retire from acting and devote her attention to being a Mother. She explains that she was fearfull of accepting roles that removed her from her children and husband and decided not persue them. Acting in her Husband's creations allows her to keep the family unit together and she is content to do the odd role as long as her cherished role as a Mother and Wife is not comprimised.

Edited November 29, 2007 by ethsnafu

[Raven Wolf]

Wow.... "eth".... thanks for that. That was...refreshing....!

And, as I've always identified with Lara far more than Scully.....It's somewhat validating to hear here appreciated in such a way.

I have a hard time picking a "FAV" episode with her....since she added so much to ALL of them! Her wit, her independence, her support of Frank, I could go on and on with "Here's my thing".... but, I'm probably preaching to the converted already! LOL

[Guest paranoid eyes]

As for the best episode I'd say Monster it was so powerful and disturbing, although I think the angels looked cheesy. I liked the way she seemed very strong and out-spoken in her first scenes and then revealed her insecure side ( I don't think she was insecure in every day life but she had experience that other people woud not understand and didin't know who to tell about them, Frank didin't seem to have a problem with that).

Lara: This may sound totally crazy, I know but I really think...

Frank: It's the little girl

I just love that dialogue.

As for an episode that made Lara most likeable to me, it would be Goodbuy Charlie. I was impressed by her openness with which she talked about her attitude towards death.

She and Frank definitely made a great team, they completed each other. It seemed to me, that Frank could see evil, while Lara's gift made her see the good. Plus it was refreshing to see a team in which the guy was always serious while the woman was the more relaxed, witty one. It's usually the other way around.