Baby In A Box

[Guest Bertaut]

Hey there, perhaps this has already been discussed but I'm new here, so apologies if it has.

Yeah, the baby in the box story, you know it. For me, Peter Watts was the co-star of season 2, forget Lara, Catherine, Gieblehouse, Peter was the second man, to the point that the first part of the season finale was more about him than it was about Frank. Which brings me to my question. In the first episode of season 2 (were Peter has a really really cool entrance, if anyone has noticed, as he comes through the airport door, excellent stuff), Peter tells Frank why he has four daughters, becuase, basically he found a dead baby in a box and it screwed up his mind (a crass summary I know). Then in the second last episode this story returns big time, to the point that I thought it might actually be a plot point. Well it wasnt, not as such, it was used to explain why Peter got involved with the Group in the first place. But that's ok, during the break between 2 and 3 I figured it would all be taken care of, but alas, it was never ever mentioned again.

In season 3, Peter became a shadowy villain and was then promplty executed (although whether or not he was actually dead is a whole other issue - I mean him sacrificing his life for Frank and Jordan makes absolutely no sense, NONE, at all). But to get back to the issue at hand, the baby in box, what the hell happened to it, were there any plans to return to it in the 4th season.

I even held out hopes that X-Files: Millennium would address it, or at least address Peter himself, but no, all we got there was 45 minutes of utter garbage about zombies...yes, cause that makes so much sense, because Frank left the group they all turned into zombies, wow I could see that coming from all the way back in 'Gehanna'! Jesus, that show show was such a kcik in the teeth to all the fans. So any ideas what happened to this cracking backstory? Peter Watts, incidentally is my all time favourite TV character ever.

[Libby]

Hi, Bertaut,

I love Terry O'Quinn's acting as well - he's the reason I started watching Lost.

I think the baby in the box thing was probably just to give an idea of Watts' passion for his work and the indebtedness he had to the Millennium Group. In season 3, although Watts played the villain to a certain extent, there were increasing signs that his devotion to the Group (and the hold they had over him) was crumbling - mostly because of the challenging view of the Group from Frank.

I should imagine that the baby in the box scenario is familiar to those who work in law enforcement - some crimes are never solved and the emotional effect can be overwhelming.

I tend to tune out a lot of the X-Files Millennium episode. I did like the interaction between Frank and M&S. And I did like the opening teaser, but agree that the zombification aspect worked better as an X-File than as a Millennium episode, but I guess that was more for the XF fans who hadn't watched MM.

As for any kind of resolution - well, 1013 don't tend to give that. They certainly didn't to MM fans, nor did they to XF 'shippers as far as "the kiss" was concerned.

Don't worry about bringing up something that may have been discussed before. I suspect many aspects of MM have been discussed in more than one topic here.

Anyway, we like new people. Welcome aboard!

[Guest Bertaut]

That's why I started watching Lost too, just as well for us that Locke is far and away the best character in it, with the best back story too.

I've been a fan of O'Quinns since way back in the Stepfather days (I'm 27), and I loved him in everything from Young Guns to X-Rated (a very underrated film), but the Peter Watts character just had a certain something to it, something bubbling underneath the surface kind of thing, hard to pinpoint, so assured and calm at all times. That's why I refuse to accept that he's dead. My girlfriend is a huge Frank Black fan so we have some arguments about where they stand in relation to one another in season 3, but to be fair my girlfriend's only a casual fan, and I think somethings I probably scare her when I start ranting on about 'the time Peter went to save Frank in Alaska' or something like that.

I guess thats why I would like some resolution to the baby story, it was such a big part of his psychological makeup, to leave it dangling is a little, I dont know, untidy, but as you say, Millennium fans by and large have been left with plenty of bits and pieces left dangling. As for the X-Fies episdoe, I usally watch all the stuff in hospital at the start, and then the stuff when Jordan arrives at the end, what's in between is utter tripe. Even Lance Henriksen himself has said that.

[Guest canadian girl]

I think the baby in the cooler flashbacks were a means to an end........those flashbacks showed us how Peter was driven to the Millenium Group. He could make no sense of the case. It was too horrible for him to process, I guess, so he turned away from the FBI and to a group he felt might answer some of his questions.

I guess there was no need to go into it further.

I do find those scenes very haunting. It would have been interesting to see more of that part of Watts' life.

[Guest Father Karras]

Sorry for the Lateness of this reply,

This subject is one that hits very close to home for me so I feel the need to address it and at least put in my 2 cents. I have been a police officer for the past 17 years. In this capacity you are granted the opportunity to see both sides of the human condition. People at their absolute best as well as at their absolute worst. For the last 9 years I have been a Detective, and am currently a Detective Sergeant and the head of my County's Crimes against Children Unit.

I like to believe that I have always given my all to every case I worked. That I have always gone the extra mile to try and find some semblance of justice for the victim and or the community. With this in mind however, I can say with no hesitation that I have never put more into, or become more invested in the cases I work than since I began doing child abuse cases 8 years ago.

I know, I know, it should not make a difference. A victim is a victim, and crime is crime, but it is different when it happens to a child. I have seen more dead bodies and attended more posts than I care to remember. After time names and details tend to blend and blur and we move on with our lives and on to the next case. What I never will forget however are the names and the details of every dead kid whoose case was never solved. I carry these children with me, I can recite their names like a mantra, and when I go to work I pray that this will not be the day that I have to add another name to my list.

This is why Peter Watts made hi s deal with God, and why it is so easy to seek answers for things that have no acceptable resolution.

Thanks for letting me speak.

FK.