The Curse of Frank Black

[Viivi]

However, the part that I remembered from way back when, and the part that I was not that crazy about was the whole A.C.T.S. 2/6/8 coincidence thing. I know I have said it before, but I think it was just a little overdone. I just could not come to grips with Frank getting 8 letters that were all from organizations whose abbreviated names were A.C.T.S.

You're absolutely right about the ACTS thing being overdone, but I've always thought they did it that way for the sake of self-irony, and that's why I find those "subtle" little hints highly amusing. A great episode!

[Guest MillenniumIsBliss]

I agree. It works because it's an exercise in pure atmosphere. It perhaps doesn't stand out as great writing, like you say, because there is such little dialogue, but it certainly stands out as a great piece of directing and cinematography, plus the facial acting from Lance Henriksen. Kudos to Ralph Hemecker and Robert McLachlan.

Yes, it's funny because the first time I can really remember taking note of a character played by Lance was probably in his role as Bishop in Aliens. The funny thing is that his role was to play a synthetic humanoid and be pretty much expressionless. Upon watching him in Millennium and a hand full of films, I have come to the conclusion that he is possibly the best actor I know of as far as expressing the thoughts and emotions of his character with that incredible face of his and without words. There are so many examples of this in Millennium that I can't even begin to name them but, in many cases, the thing that makes it so amazing is the subtlety of his expressions. I don't know if this is something that can be taught or learned, or if it is something that comes completely natural to him as he immerses himself into the character and scene, but I really can't think of an example of anyone who has mastered this like Lance. One scene that comes to mind from my recent viewing of Paper Dove is when Catherine's family and Frank are at the dinner table and Catherine's sister insults Frank, and when Catherine looks over at him, he just continues to eat his meal and has this look on his face like he has no cares, is smiling inside and just letting it all role off. Another one that comes to mind is in Covenant when the prosecutor introduces Frank to the victims Grandparents, in an obvious attempt to influence Frank's profile of the accused killer. For a split second, before greeting the Grandparents, he gives the prosecutor a look like "what the hell is going on here". Like I said, there are a million more, and "The Curse of Frank Black" is among the very best. Another one that pops into my head is "Beware of the Dog".

[Guest jimmy b]

I have just now finished watching the curse of frank black , and i agree with many Franks acting is brilliant, the non-dialogue of most of the episode simply means that the episode is mostly conveyed through facial and body expressions, something i think lance is great at....

I thought the acts 26:8 thing was to overdone, and a little insulting that most viewers needed to be prodded in that direction so many times , just a little overkill in my view

The episode reminded me in a way of a few of the x-files episodes that went into the "creation" of the main character , in this case frank

Also another sort of tie in to the x-files was the car/radio/cell phone dying, anyone see that also ???

Just my wandering thoughts !!

Jimmy

[4th Horseman]

Another one that pops into my head is "Beware of the Dog".

MIB...your affection for BOTD is most honorable. However, the one issue with the epi i still dont understand is just how did "Michael" upset the balance, and what did he upset the balance of? It is never really explained, other than the possibility that he "ran" (moved) from evil where he at one time lived (California) to the bucolic town of Bucksnort.

The Abyss says that he built his home on protected property, but this was never disseminated in the episode...

4th Horseman...

[Guest MillenniumIsBliss]

MIB...your affection for BOTD is most honorable. However, the one issue with the epi i still dont understand is just how did "Michael" upset the balance, and what did he upset the balance of? It is never really explained, other than the possibility that he "ran" (moved) from evil where he at one time lived (California) to the bucolic town of Bucksnort.

The Abyss says that he built his home on protected property, but this was never disseminated in the episode...

4th Horseman...

Yes, I think you pretty much summed it up. Michael was clearly considered a newcomer and outsider in what seemed to be the kind of town where everyone knew each other, knew the rules, and understood what was going on in the town. They don't really elaborate too much, but the way I took it is that Bebe ran away from the evil he was experiencing where he used to live, and the story implies that no matter how much you run from it, evil will always be present. If one evil presence is eliminated, another one will come to take it's place. Bucksnort was clearly not your run of the mill town, but it seemed like the evil presence, the dogs, had learned to co-exist with the people of the town, and the town people followed the "rules". The RV people in the beginning, along with Bebe were unwanted intruders to the order of things that this particular incarnation of evil demanded, and this upset the balance between the town people (good) and the dogs (evil), and that Bebe was not only considered an unwanted intruder, who doesn't know and follow the rules of the town, but also as an addition of "good" trying to eliminate evil as a presence in his life. I don't think the viewer is meant to understand every aspect of this strange town and all of it's inner workings, and much is left for our imagination and for us to ponder. To me, one of the great thing about the show was how abstract and thought provoking much of the writing was, and that they didn't always give us all the answers. Much of the inner workings of Bucksnort were left as a mystery. As usual, my writing skills leave much to be desired, and I find it hard to express my thoughts in writing, but this kind of sums up my interpretation of the story. As for the house being on "protected property", I think it is implied that Bebe's house might have been built on some kind of sacred graveyard, which may have also upset the balance. Like I said, the episode leaves a lot of unanswered questions, but this is often the case with this series. For example, it doesn't appear to make much sense in "Seven and One", when Frank's house fills up with water and then, after the water escapes, everything is suddenly dry, or when Emma watches herself commit suicide, but after you give it some thought and ponder it, you start to come up with some ideas that make sense.

[Guest ZeusFaber]

Bucksnort was clearly not your run of the mill town, but it seemed like the evil presence, the dogs, had learned to co-exist with the people of the town, and the town people followed the "rules".

My problem with this episode stems from this idea of "the rules". It doesn't make any sense. How did these "rules" come to be created? What governs them? How did the townspeople become aware of their existence? How were the "rules" agreed upon -- did the townsfolk sit down with a bunch of dogs and thrash out a deal?

The so-called "rules" about the town geography and being home by sundown are something that we are asked to see as vital to the plot, yet they don't seem to make any sense and are instead entirely arbitrary.

[Guest MillenniumIsBliss]

My problem with this episode stems from this idea of "the rules". It doesn't make any sense. How did these "rules" come to be created? What governs them? How did the townspeople become aware of their existence? How were the "rules" agreed upon -- did the townsfolk sit down with a bunch of dogs and thrash out a deal?

The so-called "rules" about the town geography and being home by sundown are something that we are asked to see as vital to the plot, yet they don't seem to make any sense and are instead entirely arbitrary.

LOL, I just got an image in my head, similar to the "Dogs playing poker" painting, of the town people and the dogs sitting around a table, hashing out a deal. I can only speculate on the origins of the rules, but I would guess that they were based on non verbal communication, such as the dogs stalking people in a menacing way when they came out at night, or even resorting to attacks, like we see with Frank and the RV people. We see this same kind of illogical writing in many other great TV shows and movies, and I guess you just have to suspend disbelief and draw your own conclusion, that is, if there are any to be drawn. For example, people have always loved a good werewolf movie, but why is it that they change form only during a full moon? It doesn't really make sense, but it is accepted. When dealing with pure evil, writers seem to be allowed a lot more creative license, and the viewer seems to be willing to believe and accept a lot more. For example, nobody, including myself, seemed to have any problem with Michael Myers coming back to life a hundred times in the Halloween films. It might be as simple as the dogs wanting to roam the streets at night and viewing this as their time to exist without human disturbance, and any such disturbance being met with some pretty vicious results. Maybe there are other reasons that the viewers simply have to accept as unexplained. Who knows, the episode just works for me, but I can see where others might have problems with it. Overall, I still give it a 5.

[Guest Moriarty]

LOL, I just got an image in my head, similar to the "Dogs playing poker" painting, of the town people and the dogs sitting around a table, hashing out a deal. I can only speculate on the origins of the rules, but I would guess that they were based on non verbal communication, such as the dogs stalking people in a menacing way when they came out at night, or even resorting to attacks, like we see with Frank and the RV people. We see this same kind of illogical writing in many other great TV shows and movies, and I guess you just have to suspend disbelief and draw your own conclusion, that is, if there are any to be drawn. For example, people have always loved a good werewolf movie, but why is it that they change form only during a full moon? It doesn't really make sense, but it is accepted. When dealing with pure evil, writers seem to be allowed a lot more creative license, and the viewer seems to be willing to believe and accept a lot more. For example, nobody, including myself, seemed to have any problem with Michael Myers coming back to life a hundred times in the Halloween films. It might be as simple as the dogs wanting to roam the streets at night and viewing this as their time to exist without human disturbance, and any such disturbance being met with some pretty vicious results. Maybe there are other reasons that the viewers simply have to accept as unexplained. Who knows, the episode just works for me, but I can see where others might have problems with it. Overall, I still give it a 5.

I for example have lots of problems with it. The whole dog/evil thing was just poor writing. Just as the thing with Michael. I feel that M&W wanted to introduce the character of the old man and wrote some silly story just to get him introduced. But maybe that's because I do not like the mythology of the group in season 2. And I don't like the character of the old man either. But that's beside the point. It still remains a silly story for me.

[Guest ZeusFaber]

I can only speculate on the origins of the rules, but I would guess that they were based on non verbal communication, such as the dogs stalking people in a menacing way when they came out at night, or even resorting to attacks, like we see with Frank and the RV people. We see this same kind of illogical writing in many other great TV shows and movies, and I guess you just have to suspend disbelief and draw your own conclusion, that is, if there are any to be drawn.

This is where the episode falls down for me. The only way to square it away is to dismiss it as a paranormal phenomenon that just has to be accepted without question. Never before in the series up to this point had Millennium fallen back on paranormal phenomenon to explain cases or as the basis for episodes, and indeed that was the very reason Chris Carter created the show -- to explore evil and horror in ways that didn't mitigate it with the paranormal in the way that The X-Files did. "Beware of the Dog" thus marked a significant turning point in that regard.

[Guest MillenniumIsBliss]

This is where the episode falls down for me. The only way to square it away is to dismiss it as a paranormal phenomenon that just has to be accepted without question. Never before in the series up to this point had Millennium fallen back on paranormal phenomenon to explain cases or as the basis for episodes, and indeed that was the very reason Chris Carter created the show -- to explore evil and horror in ways that didn't mitigate it with the paranormal in the way that The X-Files did. "Beware of the Dog" thus marked a significant turning point in that regard.

Yes, I guess this is true, although I never really thought about it too much. Beware of the Dog did have kind of an X-filesesque quality about it.