Frank Black (character)
| Frank Black | |
|---|---|
| File:Frank Black (Millennium).jpg Lance Henriksen as Frank Black | |
| First appearance | "Pilot" |
| Last appearance | "Millennium" |
| Portrayed by | Lance Henriksen |
| In-universe information | |
| Occupation | FBI Special agent |
| Family | Henry Black (father) Linda Black (mother) Catherine Black (ex-wife) Jordan Black (daughter) |
| Birthname | Frank Black |
| Affiliated with | Millennium Group |
Special agent Frank Black is a fictional character in the American Fox television shows Millennium and The X-Files, two science fiction shows about a conspiracies and supernatural phenomena. Frank was a highly skilled criminal investigator within the FBI who had the gift to put himself into the killer's mind and imagine himself as the killer. He had frequent dealings with the Millennium Group after he retired and moved to Seattle, Washington. In season three Frank re-joins the FBI and gets a new partner, Emma Hollis.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent Black made his first appearance in the first season 1996 episode "pilot". He was the son of Henry and Linda Black, the brother of Thomas Black, the ex-husband of Catherine Black and the father of Jordan Black.
Character arc
Frank Black was born on July 12, 1947 in Seattle, Washington to Henry and Linda Black. A renowed profiler and criminal investigator for the FBI, he was able to solve cases attributable to an ability to go inside the mind of a killer. Having witnessed many atrocities during his long career in the FBI, Black was forced to retire after getting polaroids of his family in the mail. Frank started to work again after being contacted by the Millennium Group, a shadowy organization waiting for the new Millennium. Frank said yes to the offer to be a consultant for the group, after this event he and his family moved to Seattle to start a "new life".
After he moved to Seattle, he began receiving new pictures of his family in the mail. Frank worked hard to keep up the facade that his family was okay. The only people that knew about the pictures sent to him were select members of the Millennium Group. At the end of the first season, his wife Catherine Black is drugged and kidnapped in the Seattle Airport. Frank tracked down the kidnapper and killed him in a fit of rage. After this incident Catherine broke up with him, being shocked over Frank's actions.
Later on Frank realised that the Millennium Group knew that the kidnapping would happen, he also found out that the groups origin dated back to the birth of Christianity. Frank continued to consult for them, but his limits was tested when his ex-wife Catherine died of the Marburg Virus which had affected and killed several others in Seattle. Convinced that the Millennium Group stood behind it and needed to be stopped, Frank moved back to Virginia and re-joined the FBI and became a special agent. He was teamed up with his new partner, Special Agent Emma Hollis. His career in the FBI ended after being accused of killing Special Agent Barry Baldwin. In The X-Files crossover episode, "Millennium" Frank checked himself in a asylum until Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully asked for his help solving a case involving the Millennium Group. While he is reluctant at first to help Mulder and Scully, he later checks himself out of the asylum to help them. At the end of the episode he reunites with his daughter Jordan Black.
Conceptual history
Chris Carter recalls, "I had this idea for a character in mind that became Frank Black and it sort of took shape over time, but I was under the gun... A retired FBI agent, and the idea of the prophecies, Nostradamus, taking the poetry, the millennial, apocalyptic poetry: those things were sort of added on to this idea of this character, a person who wanted to retire from something but could not, and that was basically the long and short of that; it didn't require much research." Carter later comments, "I think, you know, like a good... like Shane, like any cowboy, any good movie, western movie, the hero is always very self-reliant, quiet, capable, dangerous. That's what I saw Frank Black as."[1]
According to portraying actor Lance Henriksen, "My first question to Carter was, 'How are you going to make this hero a hero? I mean, it is so dark, how are you going to handle this?' And he said that the fact that the guy is a stand-up guy through all of this is what makes him a hero. Not that I was looking for a hero role, but I knew you had to care about this guy." Regarding Carter, Henriksen later notes, "He was very, very convincing. All the questions I had, he answered. The way it all went down was pretty outrageous."[1]
The Fox executives were not initially convinced that Lance Henriksen was right for the main role, and they suggested using William Hurt, until they discovered that he had no interest in acting for television. Chris Carter then sent the script for the "Pilot episode". Henriksen read the script and thought it was "great". When his manager told him that it was a television script, he backed out for a while until he talked to Carter himself.[2] Regarding his casting of Henriksen for the lead, Carter stated that:[3]
I had tried to cast Lance Henriksen on The X-Files several times, he had always been either unavailable or uninterested. Anyway I remained a fan of his, I was in bed working in Vancouver and I realized he was working there too. So I found out where he was staying, wrote a note and had a fan note slipped under his door and told him that I'd tried to get him on the show and hoped to work with him in the future. Little did he know when I was then writing Millennium I was writing with only him in mind, with no idea whether or not he'd actually do the project. So I wrote the project, approached him, he was very excited about it, we made a deal and the rest is now history.
Although Frank Black was usually played by Henriksen, A.J. Adamson also appeared as younger versions of the character in the season two episodes, "The Curse of Frank Black" and "Midnight of the Century", as well as the season three episode, "Seven and One". Additionally, Shaun Toplass played Frank Black aged 14 years old in "The Curse of Frank Black".
References
- ^ a b Carter, Chris, Horton, Ken, Spotnitz, Frank, Henriksen, Lance, Gallagher, Megan, Nutter, David, Snow, Mark, Peter Kousakis, John, Freeborn, Mark, McLachlan, Robert, Johannessen, Chip and J. Wright, Thomas. Order in Chaos, Making Millennium Season One (DVD). FOX Home Entertainment.
{{cite AV media}}: Unknown parameter|year2=ignored (help) - ^ Rogers, Troy and Seeton, Reg. "LANCE HENRIKSEN TALKS MILLENNIUM". UGO.com. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "CHRIS CARTER INTRODUCES US TO MILLENNIUM". Millennium This Is Who We Are. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help)
External links
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