Monster

[Guest MillenniumIsBliss]

<font color='#000000'>I thought Lance Henriksons performance in this episode was fantastic - you don't often see him cry but when he was talking about Jordan it was really moving.  The ending was excellent too and hinted at things to come.  Great Episode </font>

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, I watched this episode tonight, and that scene is what struck me the most about it. It was fun to see it again after all these years (I think I saw it last in 2001 in reruns). I remembered some parts, such as Lara's arrival and other details, but I forgot how much I enjoyed the scene where Frank meets with the parents of the girl, and how poignant that part was. Lance really does an incredible job of acting in that scene and, as I so often say, nails the scene perfectly. Not too much, not too little, but perfect. How anyone can say that this guy can't act is beyond me. I really think he is in the upper echelon of actors.

[Walkabout]

As I watched that same scene [ it was my first time] I was wondering if that was scripted or if he was putting himself there as a father of a young girl [his oldest would have been 10-11] and just the thougth of someone doing that to her or being accused [as a father] brought him to that emotional state. It would be cool to peek at the script that was sold on eBay!!

[Guest LeHah]

Sadly, something rang hollow with me about "Monster". I cant quite put my finger on it but it has something to do with the build-up and the revelation that the child is the evil presence - only to have the writer jumpback at the last second and stick her in a foster home for evil children.

It was going in the right direction, faultered and failed.

[Walkabout]

Since the child was placed in a 'Millennium' family it seemed to me the group was interested in getting control of this child for future use withiin the group... the scary part is there are documented cases of children like this.. socialpaths at such a young age...

[Guest paranoid eyes]

Did anyone else found the title a little odd? After almost thirty episodes which shown evil in all shapes and sizes, this particular one gets to be titled "Monster". Since a vast part of my last literature class was spend on discussing why did Mary Shelley used that word 27 times in "Frankenstein", I'll humbly add my two cent's. The word "monster" derives from Latin "monstrous" which can mean can also mean "omen", "sign". The root of this word is "monere" which means "warn". In the middle ages it was believed that God uses monsters to warn people against some greater evil. Sure the reasons why the writers chose this title are debatable, but it would fit quite well one of the shows main themes. As the end of the century is coming closer, the fight between the forces of good and evil is becoming fiercer and people will have to face more horrible, abnormal events. A five a year-old girl with a mind of a serial killer is one the most disturbing sings of that. Even such an experienced psychiatrist like Lara found it more then she could take and she asked the vital question: Are there any more of these children coming? It's also a sign for Frank, that if he continues to rebel against evil he will loose everything and wont even know from which way came the attack.

[Guest Laurent.]

Very good points!

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but from my point of view (i.e. a french one) the word monster usually denotes a childish or naive view of human evil. I thought it was well chosen because of the subject matter and that it worked well with the child story being told by the voice over.

One way or another, that voice over fits also very well with what you brought up!

Danielle Barbakow is a pre-storm, a breeze, of an approaching hurricane.

[Orodromeus]

Is the use of "monster" 27 times in a novel notable because it's much or because it's little? I haven't read Frankenstein yet.

Interesting bit on the root of "monster"! I always thought that it came from "show" (mostrar in Spanish), so I thought of the accusations from the monster girl against the teacher and Frank. As "omen" it gains a whole new significance. Beyond the little girl being an omen for a larger evil in the future, Lara's angel sightings are also omens. Lara is also introduced in this episode.

[Guest The Robin]

OT on what you guys are talking about...

In the episode, Jordan's mouth was bleeding when she was brushing her teeth and the dentist reported that she had gotten hit by something blunt and he started accusing Frank of "abusing" her, what really happened to Jordan?

[ethsnafu]

Medical questions, my speciality lol.

Jordan had a tear in her lingual frenulum which is a small fold of mucous membrane connecting the tongue to the floor of the mouth. The dentist states that tears such as these often occur due to blunt trauma, what he doesn't explain is that this trauma can be something as simple as brushing a little too harshly and catching the frenulum. In addition it is not uncommon for tears in the frenulum to happen spontaneously during infancy. Both of which leave our Frank in the clear.

Hope that answers your question :)

Eth

[Guest paranoid eyes]

Is the use of "monster" 27 times in a novel notable because it's much or because it's little? I haven't read Frankenstein yet.

27 is significant because it’s the most frequent word in the book. It didn’t bother me as I read on but the other frequent words are creature, devil, wrench and all of them refer to the same person. Anyway back to the topic. I think that whatever the upcoming apocalypse was supposed to be, a virus, a change of the universe, Satan rising to full-power, God deciding to “pull the plug”, it manifested itself in some rapid, unpredictable changes in the nature. A few episodes ago we had dogs which turned against men and it was never explained why, now we see a child who is not only capable of murder but also of perfectly concealing her crime and of manipulating adults using the legal system and their belief that all children are innocent. As we move on through S2 it gets even stranger.

Some people complain that there was not enough of that stuff in S3 which was even closer to the doomsday but look how Legion behaved. It seemed that their influence on the world was stronger than ever before. Lucy Butler could somehow clear her account and become a trustworthy nanny, Frank and Jordan were terrorised by elaborate visions.

Dam shame there was no season four.