JACK, Frank and Catherine's Neighbor...

[Guest notbadforahuman]

So, in the very first episode, we were introduced to Jack, neighbor to the Blacks. Besides being extremely nosy and somewhat grating, was there some other plot function to Jack's addition, besides being a useful way to learn more about the Blacks through his early inquisitions?

He didn't make many more appearances, but I always felt like there was something I was 'missing' when it came to Jack. Perhaps he was going to become a bigger character in seasons to come, but the opportunities never arose? I wasn't sure if he was someone to be trusted... as if he might have had a suspicious back story etc. OR... he is just a nosy neighbor... plain and simple. HAHAH

Anyone have any different takes on the guy?

Am I looking too far into his character?

Thanks for reading this!

[Earthnut]

I always wondered about him myself, and we never learned any more about him. Sure hope someone can shed some light. Thanks notbadforahuman for pointing this out.

Welcome to the MLM forums. Hope we see you here often.

[Guest notbadforahuman]

Thanks for the warm welcome! I am definitely planning on sticking around!

I just really am curious about the guy. I am almost convinced that they might have had some plans for his character development in future seasons... just didn't have the time or interest anymore (possibly).

[Earthnut]

I always questioned him too, especially when they filmed him watching Frank leave and arrive back home, and poof, there he was during the storm when the power was out. There had to be something planned and then they probably changed their minds. We may never know. I glad someone else brought this subject up, I was beginning to feel like a lone gunman, woman in my case.

[ethsnafu]

Welcome the 'Jack wonderer's club' folks. A great many of us over the years have wondered if there was intended to be a larger role in the scheme of things for him. One way of looking at it is simply that he serves a purpose to bring home the central message of the show with that being suspicion, paranoia and the idea that the evil doers could be the man next door. I guess casting suspicion on one such figure toys with the audience a little as a great many of us expected him to be revealed to have either had sinister intentions or be a member of the Millennium Group at some point. That said, there were a couple of characters who were dropped early in the season. Stephen E. Miller had been lined up for a recurring role long before he became Frank's boss is season three. I guess plans for Jack could have been jettisoned along with other plans that were felt unsuitable.

Who knows eh folks but it is sure interesting supposing.

Eth

[Earthnut]

Oh yes Mark, there really are a number of other characters that I thought for sure we would see again, and never did. We should start a thread called, "The Characters That Got Away."

[Guest WaveCrest]

Thanks for the warm welcome! I am definitely planning on sticking around!

I just really am curious about the guy. I am almost convinced that they might have had some plans for his character development in future seasons... just didn't have the time or interest anymore (possibly).

Very interesting thread you've started! I wished his character had returned for further appearances. I remember last seeing him in "Covenant", watching Frank walking to the red Cherokee before leaving to go on a case involving the sheriff, and then he never appeared again.

I didn't really believe Frank's neighbour was a villain at all. Just a curious, friendly neighbour. One question I do have is where exactly on the street did he live. In the pilot and the next one or two episodes it seemed like he lived right next door, or in one of the houses next door. Then in "Covenant" you get a shot from Frank's neighbour's viewpoint from directly across the road from Frank's driveway round the side of the Yellow House.

Welcome to the community! Hope you stay around here.

[ethsnafu]

That's a great point you raised Richard. It does appear that Jack neighbours Frank until Covenant which makes it look as though he lives across the street from him.

I thought you guys might find the following information interesting if you didn't already know about it. In the original script of "Covenant", Jack Meredith has a bigger part than in the final episode. After noticing Frank Black load his car, Jack runs outside and greets him. Frank throws his garment bag in the car before Jack asks, "Going down to Ogden, I bet... ?" Frank nods politely and Jack smiles, his hunch confirmed. Frank slams the trunk of his car shut, but Jack doesn't take the hint and makes no move to leave. He rhetorically asks, "Slaughter your wife and children, what's there to say about a man like that?" He pauses before asking, "What do they do down there? Gas chamber? Electric chair?" Opening the driver's door, Frank tells Jack that there's a choice between lethal injection or death by firing squad. An awkward pause follows and Jack finally takes the hint. With no more to say, he wishes Frank, "God speed". Jack walks away, not feeling even a little bit awkward by his strange send-off. Frank studies his neighbor for a moment, before entering his car.

The fact that the scene ends with Frank studying Jack certainly implies to me that we were intended to view this man with suspicion but Chris Carter asserts that this was never the intention and that he only ever wrote him as a caring-neighbour-type.

Eth

[Guest WaveCrest]

Interesting stuff Mark. It's a tense conversation between Frank and Jack. About the original script of "Covenant"...it brings me back to something I read about a while back, that there was or may have been a longer cut of "Covenant", at 80 minutes long.

And I thought earlier of (and don't laugh at this idea) an episode which would have been from Jack's viewpoint, kind of like the episode "Somehow...", with Frank not being the focus but involved in the episode. And this is going to sound daft, but a spin-off with Jack.

[Earthnut]

Thank you again Richard for starting the thread, "The Characters That Got Away." the link.