Dead Letters

[Guest MillenniumIsBliss]

Although i still tend to disagree with you about McClaren, i find myself once again somewhat in you corner in regards to "Dead Letters"....i have always felt that the foundation of MillenniuM was built around the first 4 episodes, The Pilot, Gehenna, Dead Letters, and The Judge...at least thats the chronological importance i felt was so necessary to establish what the show was trying to convey....what i found to be interesting about "Dead Letters" was just how a person in this line of work can be completely consumed by it. Frank tells Horn not to take what he deals with "personal" or else the consequences could be catastrophic, and as we see by the way the epi turns out, Frank was correct. But in terms of "surprises" ,etc , it did not deliver...

Also, according to the interviews from S1, "Dead Letters" was one of the epi's that really pushed the envelope in terms of gratuity and violence. If you listen closely, as Lance approaches the postal worker's upper torso and squats down to examine it, there is a barely audible gasp or sigh, this was not scripted but is an actual reaction that Lance had to the severity of the scene...there is also talk that certain members of the crew quit due to its gratuitiousness and continued darkness....(its all in the interviews)

4th Horseman..

That is interesting about Lance at the crime scene in "Dead Letters". I will have to take note of that next time I watch it. I truly think it's a great episode, and I agree that Jim Horn was a great character. I really enjoyed the dialogue between Frank and Jim and their relationship. Unfortunately, for Jim anyway, he didn't have the mental capacity to handle the job. Personally, I don't think it was quite as good as the Pilot and Gehenna, but to me, it's not a big step down, and I rank it right there with "The Judge". I agree, the first 4 episodes kind of define the series and lay the foundation going forward, but in terms of great episodes, I would throw in 522666 as being right up there and starting off the series with a string of unparalleled greatness. I guess you could make an argument for "Kingdom Come", but to me, it was the first episode that wasn't a 5 star effort in my book. Then, Blood Relatives and Well Worn Lock were a drop off for sure, but I'm getting off track a little here.

As I have said before, it never occurred to me that any of the crime scenes were gratuitous, but rather that they portrayed the reality of what people like Frank and Jim have to deal with. If crew members quit due to this kind of thing, they probably needed to get a job working on a show like "Home Improvement" anyway.

[Guest ZeusFaber]

I'd say that both "Blood Relatives" and "The Well-Worn Lock" were a fair sight better than "5-2-2-6-6-6", but as you say that gets us a little off-topic.

"Dead Letters" is best described in my eyes, as I mentioned before, as a base line. The base line of a normal episode, the standard, by which the truly great episodes excell in comparison, and the miss-fires fall below.

[Guest Laurent.]

It's probably what the show needed at this point in its life -- a grounded, standard-fare, unremarkable serial killer episode to establish a base line, but realizing that still doesn't elevate it above anything but a standard-fare, unremarkable serial-killer episode for me.

Don't you think it's a bit strange that M&W criticized season 1 because it followed a "killer of the week" type of format, yet their episodes in the first season are some of the most straightforward in the season (among those written by the main writing team)?

Note: I'm not complaining though; I'm a big fan of Dead Letters and The Thin White Line!

Edited March 28, 2007 by Laurent.

[4th Horseman]

Don't you think it's a bit strange that M&W criticized season 1 because it followed a "killer of the week" type of format, yet their episodes in the first season are some of the most straightforward in the season (among those written by the main writing team)?

Note: I'm not complaining though; I'm a big fan of Dead Letters and The Thin White Line!

Very good point Laran...my thoughts exactly...and i have to say that all anyone has to do is listen to the interviews at the end of S2 to see what most of the cast and crew thought of the direction M&W took the show in...i have always thought of the first four episodes as being the "pillars" that MillenniuM was built on...all the succeeding shows built on aspects whose genesis can be traced back to these first 4...

4th Horseman..

[Guest MillenniumIsBliss]

Don't you think it's a bit strange that M&W criticized season 1 because it followed a "killer of the week" type of format, yet their episodes in the first season are some of the most straightforward in the season (among those written by the main writing team)?

Note: I'm not complaining though; I'm a big fan of Dead Letters and The Thin White Line!

I never really thought of it that way, but like you, I am a huge fan of Dead Letters and The Thin White Line.

[4th Horseman]

I never really thought of it that way, but like you, I am a huge fan of Dead Letters and The Thin White Line.

MIB...outstanding new avatar? does mine bring back any memories?? The only album they ever did with vocals...Bent Cold Sidewalk...13 minutes of bliss...

4th Horseman

[Guest MillenniumIsBliss]

MIB...outstanding new avatar? does mine bring back any memories?? The only album they ever did with vocals...Bent Cold Sidewalk...13 minutes of bliss...

4th Horseman

Ahh, yes, that does bring back some memories. I like your new Avatar at least as well though.... Yes, I really enjoyed Cyclone, although it seems like some of the hard core fans didn't care for the injection of vocals. With all of the new things they have tried and all the experimentation they did, it only seemed natural that they would do an album with vocals at least once. Come to think of it, didn't they use vocals on Tyger too?

[Guest JMunch]

Three more observations about Dead Letters:

1. The family setups of the two Profilers, Frank and Jim, are shown in an effective contrast. Horn is Frank Black gone wrong and thus defines our hero.

2. At the end of the episode, another biblical reference appears in Jim Horn´s now clean-shaven face. Like Samson, he has lost all power he ever had, but while Samson restored it by his belief Jim will never get it back.

3. After viewing the episode one must question the Group´s criteria for selecting candidates. The group must have been aware of Jim´s marital difficulties. And it got in touch with Frank after he had suffered a nervous breakdown. In a second season episode (Owls/Roosters perhaps?), Peter Watts recalls the crisis of the soul that made him susceptible to the Group´s offers. That´s three known instances of selecting then-unstable persons for candidacy who would then accept the Group´s goals and beliefs more easily.

Of course, this raises the question whether the Polaroid Man was another candidate who went completely out of control. Some of his rantings in 'The Beginning and the End' suggest an awareness of and even familiarity with the Millennium Group. Vice versa, the Group has information about that man in alarming quantities.

[Viivi]

Of course, this raises the question whether the Polaroid Man was another candidate who went completely out of control. Some of his rantings in 'The Beginning and the End' suggest an awareness of and even familiarity with the Millennium Group. Vice versa, the Group has information about that man in alarming quantities.

Brilliant observations, JMunch, all of them!

IMO, it's pretty clear that the Polaroid Man was a former candidate for the Group, but I know that there are many of us who don't share that opinion. (Getting a bit off-topic, sorry about that..)

[4th Horseman]

Brilliant observations, JMunch, all of them!

IMO, it's pretty clear that the Polaroid Man was a former candidate for the Group, but I know that there are many of us who don't share that opinion. (Getting a bit off-topic, sorry about that..)

DBSD/JMunch - This connection has been covered at length here in previous threads...I would say that most of the members here would agree that there was some kind of "connection" between PM and The Group...what it was exactly is the seed for ideas...

my bone of contention has always been that there is a more nefarious connection between the PM and Ed Kuffle, their most significant signature is the fact that both use Polaroids to take photos of their victims...remember, Kuffle has been locked up for nearly a year before Frank began to receive Polaroids in the mail of Catherine....we know it could not be Kuffle because he was supposedly serving triple life sentences, so who could it have been? Its obvious in later episodes that it was indeed PM, so that would point to the fact that he was in some way connected to the group during their pursuit of Kuffle...to what extent, no one knows? PM was obviously well versed in Biblical prophecy, and on his papers in "The Beginning and the End" it states that his major in college was Theology...There obviously came a point in the relationship where ideas clashed, but what precipitated this?

"You think you know me Frank, but you don't them"

PM was obviously talking about The Group, so what exactly was he trying to say?

4th Horseman...

4th Horseman