Season One

[Guest betweenthelines]

Not too long ago, I finished the Season 1 set. The only episode that I probably won't watch again is 'Dead Letters', but I pretty much enjoyed everything else. My favorites were:

'Pilot'--What a way to introduce viewers to the character of Frank Black. Violent, atmospheric, and unsettling, it was clear that Chris Carter's sophomore series would be vastly different from his other classic, "The X-Files".

'The Well-Worn Lock'--A change of pace from Frank Vs. Serial Killer of the Week, this was an intriguing story about a family who were forced to keep a very nasty secret. We also get to see Catherine do something other than play the part of "Worried Housewife".

'The Wild and the Innocent'--The music to this one was fantastic. Also, I liked the narration; I don't think we ever heard that on "Millennium" again...?

'Lamentation'--The first appearance of supernatural events in the show. This is memorable mainly for the grisly death of Bob Bletcher, something I didn't expect when I first saw this on television.

'Paper Dove': A great episode, although the actress who portrayed The Woodsman's mother was grating. Also, Frank's "I wanna get naughty" line was corny; the way it was presented just seemed really awkward .A question on this episode; what did Catherine's parents do for a living? She mentions going to Spain and Morocco with them, so they must have been fairly well off.

[Libby]

In "Paper Dove", Dawn (Catherine's sister) says: "I thought us foreign service brats had an image to uphold." Then a few minutes later, Tom (Catherine's father) says: "Do you remember the, uh, cultural attache in Karachi - the Texan who got drunk and rode the sacred cow into the market?"

As I don't know that much about the American foreign service (nor the British, for that matter), I would hazard a guess that Tom was either a diplomat or military attache. For some reason, I think probably a military attache - Tom just strikes me as someone who'd have a military background.

I like all the episodes you list. I also liked the voice-overs in Wild & Innocent - the actress chosen for that part was an absolute fit for the role. I'm much more a "voice" person rather than a "visuals" person, and I do wonder how actors/actresses cope when they don't have a set or other actors to act "against", but given the amount of voice-overs she had to do for this episode, she did them extremely well.

[Guest ZeusFaber]

I agree with your preferences, except for "The Wild and the Innocent". Somehow I never quite connected with that one, found it a little dull.

You could argue that the first appearance of the "supernatural" was in fact in "Gehenna". It all depends on how you interpret things really.

[Guest betweenthelines]

Another one I really enjoyed was 'Walkabout'. This was a riveting episode that featured an attention-getting teaser and was quite intriguing. Can't believe I didn't include that in my earlier post...

In any case, I'll be starting Season Two tomorrow. I can't wait, seeing as I enjoyed many of the episodes during that time.

Edited September 25, 2005 by betweenthelines

[4th Horseman]

Another one I really enjoyed was 'Walkabout'. This was a riveting episode that featured an attention-getting teaser and was quite intriguing. Can't believe I didn't include that in my earlier post...

In any case, I'll be starting Season Two tomorrow. I can't wait, seeing as I enjoyed many of the episodes during that time.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

ZeusFaber - agree completely, its all in the interpretation. Well-Worn Lock seemed to be a bone thrown Catherine's way, and i as well never really connected with "The Wild and the Innocent"....lastly, Gehenna was absolutely the first issue to deal with the supernatural, and it stands in my top 5 of all 3 seasons as well

[Guest Frank L.]

Ofcourse it's a matter of opinion, but what didn't you like about "Dead Letters"? Just curious...

[Guest betweenthelines]

Ofcourse it's a matter of opinion, but what didn't you like about "Dead Letters"? Just curious...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Honestly, there's really nothing specific I can bring up. I guess the episode, as a whole, didn't really do much for me...

As for 'Gehenna' and the inclusion of supernatural elements, I'll have to watch the episode again. I thought the devils were just visions brought on by the drugs.

[Guest A Stranger]

Honestly, there's really nothing specific I can bring up. I guess the episode, as a whole, didn't really do much for me...

As for 'Gehenna' and the inclusion of supernatural elements, I'll have to watch the episode again. I thought the devils were just visions brought on by the drugs.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That is one explanation. The men in the cult believe their leader to be supernatural, to be the Devil. Frank sees him this way as well and doesn't understand why since up to that point he believes he has an understanding of evil. The appearence of the same demon in "Lamantations" awnsers the question begun in "Gehnna" and to a lesser extent "The Judge," that the Evil force is real.

[vain68]

This is most indeed the case.......I just happened to randomly watch this episode again this evening, and boy, do we see harbingers of SII in this one............it provides excellent reappraisal for me. [Gehenna that is]; Indeed, the seeming incongruity or non-linearity of SII may have not been that non-linear at all. Indeed, there are direct connections with "A Room" in that the concept of "numbers" and that being all we are, is brought forth for the first time.......................................................

[Guest ZeusFaber]

Indeed, that is the great strenght of S1's subtlety IMO, that the events of "Gehenna" could equally be explained as a drug-induced hallucination, but also as a real force of Evil.

The fact that the episode doesn't preach either, and lets you contemplate the problem for yourself, is why it succeeds so well IMO.