Season One

[Guest Frank L.]

Yes, I agree. But Frank does sense something about this guy. After Peter questioned him, he rises from his chair and looks straight at Frank through the mirror, where he's not supposed to see him. Then Frank says that he knows who he is, and "I've got to get out of here." And the final line of the episode is: "I'm not sure if the bad man can be caught." This still leaves room for discussion, but I think this was the first time Frank had to deal with the supernatural and it frightened him.

[Guest ModernDayMoriarty]

Yes, but the idea of evil being something that exists in man is a very old concept used in just about every cop show ever made at some point. The idea of an all-pervading evil that keeps reappearing in various criminals etc is a staple that is generally used in the 'depressed cop' storylines when they think 'what the hell is the point of catching X - they'll be 10 new guys like him by tomorrow alone'.

Millennium simply went further along this supernatural angle than most cop shows before it. 24 for example has very similar plot threads to Millennium but with terrorism as the greater evil that Jack cannot turn away from facing. It however shies away from anything supernatural but it does imply heavily that evil exists both in the villains and the heroes.

[Guest Frank L.]

I have always believed that everybody has darkness within them, and everybody is capable committing a murder.

[Guest ZeusFaber]

I think this was the first time Frank had to deal with the supernatural and it frightened him.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I completely agree, and that's exactly how I interpret the episode too. However, the point is that if you wanted to, you could read it differently as the answers weren't spelled out in definitive, absolute terms.

[Guest ZeusFaber]

24 for example has very similar plot threads to Millennium but with terrorism as the greater evil that Jack cannot turn away from facing.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have often considered the simmilarities between the characters of Frank Black and Jack Bauer. Both are strong single lead males, incredibly intense in their own way, both having lost their wife and now protecting their daughters, both somewhat private and alone...

They are of course each unique, but they have that same presence about them of being intense tortured souls.