New Homes

[Jabbapop]

I just finished "The Curse of Frank Blank," and seeing the big yellow house (kind of evokes currents of curious george's man in the yellow hat, now that I type it!) in such a bare state, it made me think of the characters' living states. Of course, I knew Frank moved to a new place, and I remember Catherine said she was staying with friends. One of the boys in the basement on Halloween mentioned hearing the"story" from the mother of one of the neighborhood kids, so presumably Catherine is staying with someone nearby? It was odd, this episode really highlighted it, we've never seen the characters interact in this setting; Jordan appears to go trick or treating without anyone picking her up or dropping her off. (Not to fault the tight atmosphere of this episode, it just brought to mind....)

The house Frank is staying in... did he buy a new one? Renting? For a moment I considered, when Frank was having childhood flashbacks, that  it may have even been a family house.  When Frank receives the "vision" from smoking hell dude, he appears sitting on a trunk. A newly obtained house wouldn't have such an item stored away up there: the previous owners would have removed their property,  and the new owner/resident wouldn't have had time, energy, or care to trundle it up in that space... In S1 "Broken World," Frank reveals in response to the horse doctor's question that he himself is also a rider.  Does he own a horse at a stable? Ah, the elusive resources of Frank Black.

I realize all these concerns can be resolved rather mundanely; Catherine decides to move with a friend for support and help with her child, Frank rents a house off Zillow. Still, the details are taken for granted to just such a degree and without any narrative acknowledgement (thus far) that one can't help to try and fill in the blanks.

[Earthnut]

Sadly, there are a lot of blanks, and it would have been awesome if we had at least a movie for closure.  Naturally, we all wanted a season 4, and everyone agrees that the X-File crossover was horrible.  So many questions, and noticing "a house off Zillow" really has be going.  Wonder if the name "Zillow" has any meaning to the show, or just a street.

Quote

Zillow is a blend (or, to be old-fashioned and French about it, a portmanteau) of zillions (as in “zillions of data points”) and pillow (a metonymic reference to home–where you rest your head). Because blend names are based on real words, they often have a familiar ring to them.

 

[Jabbapop]

I realize I may have been confusing.  By "a house off Zillow" I don't mean to refer to a street, but the real estate website...  which didn't exist at the time of the show, so I'm being a bit loose and anachronistic in attempting to come up with some kind of story for how Frank acquired the second house (But isn't that more fun that keeps on giving, interpreting the show by the world we now live in?)

Edited January 23, 2018 by Jabbapop

[Earthnut]

Familiar with Zillow Real Estate, and didn't pick up on it.

Yes, the show does keep on giving.  I always enjoy reading the trivia on the main page with each episode.  There's also a page for additional trivia ~

https://millennium-thisiswhoweare.net/guide/millennium_episode_trivia_list.php

Enjoy.

[seesthru]

There was mention of Frank needing money.  When that group approached him with an offer to  leave Millennium and join them,  they mentioned it.   I know  when Catherine wanted Frank to sell the yellow house ( Beware of the dog)  I think she might have mentioned 2 mortgages. So he was buying a different house.   I thought that was weird, him buying, if they wanted to be back together.  But they had a realty company they dealt with.  There was a sign.  Odd though, Franks house they never mentioned selling  IT.   But Frank was  in that house before Catherine moved out of the yellow house. It's like he left the night   they got home after he killed her kidnapper  and poof magically in a different house! Then the next episode, he's in his place, and they are fighting over the yellow house, keep or sell.

I think  they didn't  fully form that whole aspect.

 

[Earthnut]

Wow, what an awesome thing to notice seesthru.  Yes, it was like Frank moved out that same night, and may have.  Maybe they were buying a second home to move in to.  I need to watch that episode again and listen intently...or, there's always the transcripts that Libby posted at the main site.

https://millennium-thisiswhoweare.net/guide/episodes/transcripts/

Quote

[The yellow house. Catherine is sitting on the veranda in the sun. Ben is lying by her side. She is holding a mug and seems deep in thought. Memories: from "Lamentations" – Bletcher hanging in the basement, the figure at the top of the stairs; from "The Beginning and The End" – a Polaroid camera flashing, the Polaroid Man attacking Frank, Frank stabbing the Polaroid Man. Suddenly she is brought back to the present day by the sound of a car door shutting. It's Frank and Jordan.]

JORDAN: Hey, Mom! Ken Griffey hit two home runs.
CATHERINE: Wow!
JORDAN: (to Frank) I mean, Junior jacked two out of the yard.
[Frank holds out his hand and Jordan promptly gives him five.]

FRANK: You're right, sweetheart.
[Jordan runs to Catherine. Frank's pager sounds. The display reads "2000." He switches it off. Benny barks and starts to growl. Frank looks quizzically at the dog as the barking continues.]

FRANK: Benny, it's me. Save that tough-dog stuff for guys you don't know.
[Benny settles back down and Jordan runs up to the steps to him.]

JORDAN: Come on, Benny.
[Catherine walks over to Frank and the two of them turn to look at Jordan.]

JORDAN: He told me he wants you to move back with me and Mom.
FRANK: Maybe you should have the same talk with Benny that you and I had. Okay, sweetheart?
[Jordan looks a little grumpy.]

CATHERINE: Um, Ann Watkins from work? She and Dave have separated.
FRANK: Really.
CATHERINE: Yeah. So Jordan and I are going to move in with them for a while.
[Frank appears to be stunned by this.]

CATHERINE: Why don't you move back into the house?
FRANK: I want us to live here as a family.
CATHERINE: I just think it would be crazy to carry the mortgage with neither one of us living here.
FRANK: Is that another way of telling me to sell it?
CATHERINE: I believe in the point of the house. I really do, honey. (pause) But we've lived here for a year and we haven't exactly been racking up the Kodak moments.
FRANK: Selling would be giving in after what's happened. My heart believes what life could be here for us, Catherine.
CATHERINE: I know. But I don't know if we can get it back.
[Frank thinks.]

FRANK: Will you call the real estate agents?
[Catherine nods.]

FRANK: OK.
[Frank's pager beeps again – "2000".]

CATHERINE: You want to use the phone?
FRANK: No. I'm going.

 

[Gotham Gal]

Considering how dark the show was for it's day, the optimism in that yellow house always amazed me.  I always wanted to think Jordan would stay so happy.

[Earthnut]

Catherine did everything she could to keep the yellow house a "happy house," and finally reached her limit after being abducted.  Jordan was still very young and unaware of all that had been happening in the house, but even when her parents were separated, she remained happy.  Catherine was a good mother and wife, but as we know, the group didn't want her around.

Then there's the classic ending scene in "Goodbye To All That," which in a way, did give us closure, just not them.

Quote

Frank discovers Watts’ distinctive packet on the dashboard of his car. Inside are two files. One is labeled "Black, Frank;" the second is labeled, "Black, Jordan." A look of terror passes over Frank’s face. He races to the school and into Jordan’s classroom. Jordan calmly retrieves her backpack and, acting as though the summons has long been expected, leaves the room. Frank and Jordan run down the hallway. As Frank and Jordan drive along a mountain road, towards their uncertain future, Jordan reminds her father that "we are all shepherds."

 

Edited February 9, 2018 by Earthnut

[seesthru]

Thanks for the  Beware of the Dog  line.  THE mortgage.     So, maybe Frank was renting his house?

Yeah the only time Jordan in  season 2 mentions  her parents being split is in the Beware of the Dog episode... Then in Midnight of the Century, when Catherine turns into Frank's Dad basically, regarding Jordan coloring angels with her dead grandmother.  I thought that was out of character for Catherine. But, given the circumstances.... understandable. She definitely didn't want for Jordan the life Frank had.

 

The yellow house was so pretty.  It was a metaphor for the evil that lurks beneath the surface I think.   Bletch dying in there, the old man,   the idney in the fridge.... I'd have sold the house  5 minutes after the cleanup crew left when Bletch was murdered!

[Earthnut]

14 hours ago, seesthru said:

Thanks for the  Beware of the Dog  line.  THE mortgage.     So, maybe Frank was renting his house?

Yeah the only time Jordan in  season 2 mentions  her parents being split is in the Beware of the Dog episode... Then in Midnight of the Century, when Catherine turns into Frank's Dad basically, regarding Jordan coloring angels with her dead grandmother.  I thought that was out of character for Catherine. But, given the circumstances.... understandable. She definitely didn't want for Jordan the life Frank had.

The yellow house was so pretty.  It was a metaphor for the evil that lurks beneath the surface I think.   Bletch dying in there, the old man,   the idney in the fridge.... I'd have sold the house  5 minutes after the cleanup crew left when Bletch was murdered!

I thought he would be renting the house too.  I just couldn't picture him buying another house and giving up hope of them ever living again as a family in the yellow house.  I have to admit, I'm with you, I would have put the house up for sale right after Bletcher's death too.

Besides being very intelligent, Catherine was always a very spiritual woman, but I believe she felt a person's spirituality was personal.  She was also a very realistic person and believed in  simple common sense.  Most of her childhood was living abroad, since her father was a foreign service officer.  As an adult became a clinical social worker, which empathizes reality, and  providing emotional and mental health counseling,  intervention, and getting the help they need.

Catherine understood what Frank had to do and was aware of the evils he faced day after day.   Like the rest of us, she had her limit, and I believe it started with the kidnapping of Frank's sister-in-law in "Sacrament," and then had all she could take after her own kidnapping, the fear of something happening to Jordan, and then seeing Frank stab the kidnapper repeatedly.  It was a lot to deal with, and I am sure most of us would not have handled it as well as she did.  She was/still is a beautiful, inside and out, strong woman, and has always been my favorite character.