Neglect Or Bad Luck?

[Guest CyberDude]

Do you remember the scene when the doctor takes off in her car and Frank is chasing her to make her stop? Then she arrives at the gas station and the man there notices the killer in the back seat and in a very clever fashion manages to take her out of the dangerous situation. Then Frank arrives and they tell him to call the police, then Frank and the doctor flew the scene. The poor man gets killed in a matter of seconds.

When I saw the scene and the way he managed to rescue the doctor from the situation I said "wow! what a wonderful and intelligent thing to do!" and I really liked the guy for that. Then when he got killed I felt so sorry for him when he got killed because in my mind he was "the man of the day", he had saved someone's life and yet indirectly paid with his life for that.

The fast departure of Frank and the doctor seems legit but then leaving that man over there knowing that a ferocious killer was in the very vicinity left me with a sour taste...

It was a controversial thing for me... what do you folks think?

[Guest chrisnu]

I think it's a plot inconsistency, and an irritating one at that. It really bugged me the last time I watched this episode. Would Frank and the Dr. really run off like that, with the killer in the vicinity?

[Guest MillenniumIsBliss]

I agree, it is a poor twist in the plot, and as is often the case in the cheesy type horror flicks, sometimes the character of a person in the story is compromised at the expense of a cheap thrill for the audience. It can be said however, that it was established that the killers target and fantasy was to tie up and kill the doctor, so maybe it was a reasonable assumption that the killer would not then go on any old victim of opportunity, and it would also be reasonable to assume that, after being discovered, he would have tried to flee and get back to the hospital before being discovered missing. At the time they were still of the mind set that it was Purdue that was after her. This episode does remind me of some of the not so brilliantly conceived horror flicks out there, and many times, while being fairly good and fairly effective, they have some holes when carefully analysed. Still, I did enjoy the episode. I think it was fun, and held up well to the standards of that type of story. Not one of the great ones, but not a stinker in my book. Oh, and like I said, Melinda McGraw makes up for a lot of the shortcomings.

[Guest canadian girl]

This bugged the hell out of me too.....poor sod. Like you said, he was so cool and calm and smart for getting the doctor out of the car. For Frank to just forget about him is negligent but I guess it's a plot-hole.

[Guest arcanamundi]

I agree with you all; it was inconsistent with Frank Black's character and with the quality of writing we're used to from Morgan & Wong. That's why I think it was deliberate on their part as writers; they were echoing the cheesy horror movies that exploit such devices. As I've said in another thread here, my opinion is that this was possibly the worst episode in season 2, but my belief is that M&W intentionally made a grim & gritty but cheesy horror tale as a side-swipe at the tv execs whose constant meddling was no doubt driving them crazy. They were, in their supremely subtle way, biting the hand that fed them.

In a nutshell, they were saying that when the 'administrators' steal the 'dreams' of the creative types, but are unable to 'digest' them, the ideas come out as cliches (the urban legend scenarios acted out by the killer).

[Guest SouthernCelt]

I agree with you all; it was inconsistent with Frank Black's character and with the quality of writing we're used to from Morgan & Wong.  That's why I think it was deliberate on their part as writers; they were echoing the cheesy horror movies that exploit such devices.  As I've said in another thread here, my opinion is that this was possibly the worst episode in season 2, but my belief is that M&W intentionally made a grim & gritty but cheesy horror tale as a side-swipe at the tv execs whose constant meddling was no doubt driving them crazy.  They were, in their supremely subtle way, biting the hand that fed them.

In a nutshell, they were saying that when the 'administrators' steal the 'dreams' of the creative types, but are unable to 'digest' them, the ideas come out as cliches (the urban legend scenarios acted out by the killer).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'd agree that you may have hit it. There were a number of cliched plot elements with the most obvious being the "killer in the back seat" that everyone had to recognize as being out-of-sync with the show's mythology and established character traits.

[hippyroo]

I like thought many of you put into this. I didn't like the good samaritan getting kileld either.

On the whold MLLM is choppy and inconsistant; a true diamond in the rough. Part of it's appeal is the wholes left for us to fill in as we each see fit.

[Guest citizenk]

I hadn't really thought about it when i first saw it years ago but yeah i have to admit it was a poor oversight. But i assumed like many that the killer was primarily after the doctor and Frank's immediate response was to get her as far away from the gas station as soon as possible but he did tell the attendant to call the police. Obviously, the attendant was gonna be jetsom anyway since any serial killer will improvise when interrupted. He was just convenient. You see this in all kinds of movies and I think it was an intentional reference to slasher movies and urban legends. But MM being a very thoroughly written and researched show could have found a better way to show it without making Frank Black look careless.

Still, though im not a big fan of S2, this has always been one of my faves. It really stood out from the usually fairy tail/cloak-and-dagger tone of the season.