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A Single Blade of Grass

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This is an episode that grew on me, not liking it at first, but liking it better each time I went back to it. I like the secret tribe idea. Some of the acting parts were a bit overplayed, but like the darkness feel of the episode as well as the musical part as well. It definitely seemed to be the episode that advanced Frank's gift from seeing into the mind of a killer, to seeing another spiritual plane, to parphrase the episode. I can see where this would be a major downer for folks who have season 1 as their favorite season and the changes brought on in season 2. It is an episode with a predictable ending, but I think that the drastic surprise ending loses its flair when it's used every time. But on the other hand, while we are pretty sure we know Frank is not the man from the west, the Native Americans in the episode seem to have their own little underground Millennium Group (literally!!), and like the larger one, are trying to make things happen on their own terms. As a fan of the apocalyptic episodes, I like this one.

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One of the things I always wondered with regards to Frank's visions in this episode (despite the fact that there were so many of them simply because the episode under-ran and needed additional content thanks to Fox tinkering with things) is whether Frank is really experiencing things on another plane per se. I accept that the episode goes from broke with this facet of Frank's character but as Frank's ability was to see what the killer sees maybe that's what he is doing. We are looking a series of murders that have been brought about by the visionary experiences of an apocalyptic cult using hallucinogenic drugs. Rather than seeing what they see in the visual sense, maybe he is seeing what they see in the visionary sense. The whole modus operandi of the Native American Cult is to walk between to the two worlds and act on the information the receive whilst in trance. If Frank was to try and get inside their minds then surely this would be reflected?

I know this isn't a perfect explanation but it's one that I like to comfort myself with in trying to understand how his abilities took a radical leap in that episode.

Eth

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This episode really does grow on you. Just like IHaveGoodInstincts, I wasn't real fond of it at first, but appreciate it more and more every time I see it.

Since spirit it not bound by time and space as the material world, I truly believe Frank was in the spirit and not simply having a vision.

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  • Elders (Moderators)

As "old-timers" here probably know, I don't really like this episode, and I don't really like the mythology aspects of season 2, but I just love it when I read something that puts forward a different perspective and I can understand why someone has a different view. IHaveGoodInstincts, your comment: "the Native Americans in the episode seem to have their own little underground Millennium Group (literally!!), and like the larger one, are trying to make things happen on their own terms" has given me something I could hang on to to get me past the elements I don't like.

It just goes to show, no matter how much I think I know about Millennium, there's still more to learn.

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Guest WaveCrest

I wasn't a great lover of "A Single Blade of Grass" when I first saw it. It felt weaker compared to the episodes around it. I didn't realise at the time that the actress who played the archaeologist was a Friday the 13th heroine (Amy Steel). When Josef's Avatar music video for A Single Blade of Grass was available to view on the web and I watched it I noticed things better than on the original viewing. The one image of the pumpkin-like object with the lines through it has stuck in my mind.

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Unlike the Native Americans in this episode, we have attained "resurrection," in this old thread topic! Being new to the forum, I thank you all for you comments and insights. It's great to be in the presence of folks who love to dig deep into Millennium, and by your replies, are still digging!

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And it truly is our pleasure to have you along for the ride and for inspiring us oldies to take a fresh look at things once in a while. I have been meaning to revisit this episode after Kay Reindl suggested that as a result of the episode coming in under time they inserted more visions to fill the running time and this resulted in Frank experiencing twenty one visions in the space of one episode. This is always seemed to be an over-estimation to me and I've been curious to go back and count them because I have time on my hands. :whistling:

That said, whilst I do agree that this is a less than satisfying episode it does benefit from being a Reindl and Mayer script and therefore you know there is a big mythological idea behind the narrative. In "Anamnesis" they go for broke by taking inspiration from The Grail Myths, The Merovingian Conspiracy, Gnosticism and so on and in "A Singly Blade Of Grass" they were inspired by the Native American 'Ghost Dance Movement'. After this topic was re-started I was inspired to have a look at said movement and I found the following information that I think demonstrates where Kay and Erin were drawing their inspiration in this case.

I do wish that Glen Morgan had, as he wishes he had, resisted attempts by Fox to tinker with the script and we had been able to see it in its original from as was intended.

Any how, I thought you might find the following interesting.

Eth

The Ghost Dance

was an attempt of a group of North American Indian tribes to further separate themselves from the white man and the religious doctrines they were forcing upon the tribal peoples. Among the Sioux and Arapaho, the Ghost Dance was one of the central rituals of a new religious movement that focused on the restoration of the past, as opposed to a salvation in a new future. The movement was active within limited tribes and mirrored other attempts by previous Indians to escape the civilization of the white man. The earlier movements included the Good Message of the Iroquois and the Dreamers of the Columbia River tribes. All of these movements had similar features including a rejection of the white man's civilization, especially alcohol, weapons and technology. In addition, the movements preached unity among tribes, even those that were once enemies and a revival of Indian customs that were threatened by the civilization of European peoples.

The despair and nostalgia associated with the Ghost Dance reflects that period from which the movement evolved. Plains tribes faced losing their freedom and being overtaken of their homes, their beliefs and their existence. The Ghost Dance was a resurrection of the dead, a bringing back of the customs and way of life that the Indians were trying to hold onto.

The prophet who began the movement of the Ghost Dance was Wovoka, a member of the Paiute Tribe. He was descended of a family of prophets and Shamans. Known as a medicine man, it was said that during an eclipse of the sun and while suffering from a high fever, he had a vision which inspired the development of the movement known as the Ghost Dance. The vision embodied the beliefs that inspired the followers of the movement including that the white man would disappear from the Earth after a natural catastrophe and that the Indian dead would return bringing with them the old way of life that would then last forever.

To bring these and the other beliefs into effect, the Indians had to practice the customs of the Ghost Dance movement and to renounce alcohol and farming and end mourning, since the resurrection would be coming soon. The most important practice to ensure the effectiveness of the movement was the dance itself.

The dance was unlike other Indian dances with fast steps and loud drumming. The Ghost Dance consisted of slow shuffling movements following the course of the sun. It would be performed for four or five days and was accompanied by singing and chanting, but no drumming or other musical instruments. In addition, both men and women participated in the dance, unlike others in which men were the main dancers, singers and musicians.

The first dance was held by Wovoka around 1889. Word spread quickly and the Ghost Dance was accepted by the Utes, Bannocks and Shoshone tribes. Eventually, the Plains tribes also adopted the Ghost Dance movement and the peaceful message of hope was spreading and uplifting many Indians. While adapting the movement, many tribes added specific customs and rituals to the Dance that reflected their tribes individuality. The Sioux added two specific elements including the use of hypnosis to bring about trances and aid in the communication with the dead, and a ghost shirt. Made of buckskin or cloth, the shirt was said to make the wearer immune to bullets, a weapon of death known initially only to the white man.

A famous Sioux warrior, Sitting Bull, adopted the Ghost Dance into his way of life. He was a respected leader, medicine man and warrior. His following of this movement alarmed the military and Indian Agencies. In 1890, just a few months after presiding at his first Ghost Dance, Sitting Bull was killed. His followers fled and joined the band of Kicking Bear, one of the first to practice with Wovoka. Donning their ghost shirts and with their beliefs firm in their hearts, the followers of the Ghost Dance were rounded up at Wounded Knee creek and killed while resisting arrest. Among those killed were women and children wearing their ghost shirts, which did not stop the bullets of the Indian Agencies or the Military.

The Ghost Dance continued to be danced in more southern tribes, but the end of the movement really came with the deaths at Wounded Knee. The hopes of the Indians also ended at that massacre. Many of Wovoka's ideas and concepts were adopted by Peyote cults and can even be found in practice today. Indian tribes did not survive the push of the white man. Broken up and with broken dreams, the tribes were shuffled onto reservations and lost many of their customs and rituals. The Ghost Dance was one of those customs lost, but never forgotten. Resurrected from the past, the Ghost Dance and other tribal beliefs are brought to life everyday in the education of our nation.

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It just goes to show, no matter how much I think I know about Millennium, there's still more to learn.

Libby

thumbsup.gif You can say that again. Everytime I see an episode I see something I missed the last time.

Mark, thank you so much for your post of "The Ghost Dance." I appreciate it so much that I saved it. Yee ha. jumping.gif

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Guest WaveCrest

That must be a character trait of Millennium fans, we keep digging and finding new facts and trivia about episodes!

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Thanks for the ghost dance information. I see where some of the lines were put right into the script.

Being a fan of the apocalyptic episodes, I think I would have liked a 4 or 5 minute "lookback" (in the flavor of "The Curse of Frank Black" or "Sebastian") into more details about the ghostdance, instead of the quick background statements made by Dr. Liz. I think it would have probably made the episode better. I would assume that would have been a good way to fix the reported short episode length, but I'm just being a Monday morning armchair director.

If I sound like a Timelord trying to change the past, it's just my other favorite TV show creeping in !!!

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