1x18 Lamentation
Millennium (1996)
1x18 Lamentation, written by Chris Carter, directed by Winrich Kolbe.
quote
Every man before he dies shall see the Devil.
-- English Proverb, 1560
In a setup reminiscent of Hannibal Lecter, a psycho-killer doctor is kidnapped from a hospital during surgery -- he was donating a kidney to his sister. Frank is called in because his profile helped catch the doctor years earlier.
We make a sharp turn into the demonology aspect of the series, the first such indication since the hints of the second episode.
This is the first appearance of Sarah-Jane Redmond as Lucy Butler, a mysterious and frightening woman with a peculiar interest in Frank. She can appear in many forms, including a demonic one.
This is also the last episode for Bill Smitrovich as Lt Bob Bletcher. He sees the devil before he dies.
Lucy seems mild mannered and quietly witty, but she taunts Frank and threatens his family from the outset. She tells him:
quote
The soul expresses itself in so many amazing ways, especially when there's a comprehension of extremes. Ephraim said you and he share that ability.
Meditating on that might send Frank down the wrong path.
The mad doctor tells him what he is up against:
quote
Fabricant: You had me commuted so you might learn the nature of evil. I can tell you now. You think I'm evil, Frank? You don't know what that is. It's greater than we are -- you and me.
Frank: Who did this to you?
Fabricant: The base sum of all evil. The sleep of reason. The Devil's liege.
Frank: Who was in my house?!
Fabricant: It knows you, Frank. It feeds off your passion.
Frank: Who killed my friend?!
Fabricant: Everything you hold sacred... Frank. Run. Run.
In a tragedy apart from Bletcher, we have signs of the marriage starting to crack:
quote
Catherine: We were kidding each other. We were kidding ourselves thinking that we could come here and escape anything.
Frank: It's not true.
Catherine: It is, Frank. You can't talk it away. You can't ask me to pretend or make believe. You can't make what happened in this house just go away.
Frank: You know I love you more than anything in the world. I don't know what to do.
Catherine: I love you too. But it's not about that. It's about things that happen to us that don't happen to other people.
Notes:
Peter is still concerned for Frank's mental state.
Frank saved the doctor from the chair when he was first caught. Others dislike that and he again doubts himself, signaling a possible turn down that dark path..
Frank tends to hang up the phone abruptly but is irritated when others do the same.
Polaroids again, different subject matter. Are the envelope labels the same?
Lucy keeps a Bible handy.
Frank lives at 1910 Ezekiel, which is also a Bible verse.
Lt Geibelhouse has been a supporting character so far, but now he has to step up.
A nice bit with police waiting outside the interrogation room, wanting to know if the killer has been caught.
In season 2, Frank asks Bletcher if his ghost lingers in the basement. No answer.
Finally: in an early scene Bletcher takes Frank into the mountains to get away from it all: "the only thing in my life that never changes". In the final scene, Frank takes Jordan to the same spot.
