Trigger Warning: The following includes references to suicide.
In the mid-1990s,The X-FilescreatorChris Carterwas reaching new heights in his career.The X-Fileswas at the peak of its popularity, and the 1998 feature film was just around the corner. The only way for Carter to go was up, and so he developed a new series for Fox about a former FBI profiler named Frank Black (played to perfection byLance Henriksen) who had an unnatural ability to see into the hearts and minds of criminals. The series, calledMillennium, ran for three seasons, each unique from the last. For many, the second season wasMillenniumat its peak, and it’s here that the show’s iconic Halloween episode “The Curse of Frank Black,” which many consider the series' best, became a reality.
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In a season full of retrospective and deeply personal episodes that dive into Frank Black’s psyche, “The Curse of Frank Black” is the absolute best. It not only chronicles Frank’s continued struggle with personal obsession and responsibility, but it also serves as a very character-driven Halloween story that takes the holiday to new heights. Halloween specials tend to go in one of two directions, either they’re cutesie “trick-or-treat”-themed stories that are all about the Americanized version of the holiday (sometimes with a paranormal twist), or they’re bloody horror shows that lean deeper into supernatural spectacles meant to frighten both the lead players and the audience. Unlike most Halloween episodes of television, “The Curse of Frank Black” touches on both of these tropes while not exactly fitting into either, making it a must-see Halloween classic.
ThoughMillenniumis known for its dark cases surrounding serial killers and gruesome murders, there’s surprisingly none of that here - and maybe that’s part of the “trick-or-treat” gag. Nevertheless, there is a deep mystery in need of solving, but it’s more of a psychological nature than anything else, bleeding slowly into the spiritual. As Frank carves a jack’o’lantern of his own (in a sly reference to Lance Henriksen’s horror featurePumpkinhead) and takes his daughter Jordan (Brittany Tiplady) trick-or-treating, we get a glimpse into a traditional Halloween night, or, at least as traditional as it gets for someone like Frank Black, before the veil lifts and the battle for Frank’s soul begins…
Frank Black Is Haunted By Ghosts
The first season ofMillenniumwas pretty traumatic for Frank and his family, and the beginning of the second didn’t fare much better. His longtime friend and ally Lt. Bob Bletcher (Bill Smitrovich) was brutally murdered in the Black family’s old yellow house, and Frank’s wife Catherine (Megan Gallagher) had been kidnapped, forcing Frank to use lethal force. Needless to say, Frank had a rough go that resulted in the death of his best friend, being separated from his wife and daughter, and losing the yellow house he worked so hard to make into a home. These are the ghosts that haunt him on this Halloween night, but they’re not the only ones.
The episode’s spare use of music and dialogue lends well to this introspective look at Frank Black’s own personal Hell. Unable to find salvation in the evening spent with his daughter or in his favoriteBobby Darintunes, Frank can’t quite escape his own childhood memories of Halloween, namely his encounter with the neighborhood pariah Mr. Crocell, played masterfully byDean Winters. In Frank’s youth, Crocell had babbled on about ghosts and the afterlife, hoping that the spirits of the dead (namely his World War II buddies) could come back to warn us about what it was like afterward. At least, he wondered this for years before killing himself. Though Frank isn’t suicidal, recent events, including the looming Apocalypse as prophesied by his employer the Millennium Group, have forced him to ponder some of the same questions. And, Halloween is as good a time as any.
Accidently making his way back to the old yellow house, Frank encounters a group of teenagers who have gathered in his former unfinished basement, telling spooky ghost stories about the mythic Frank Black. Just as the teenagers of Frank’s youth told stories about Crocell, he is now the subject of neighborhood folklore and fascination. As a man with a somewhat off-putting demeanor (he can’t even get the locals to trick-or-treat at his house), it’s no wonder that Frank, given his line of work and the horrors that occurred in his former home, would be the focus of ghost stories and campfire legends. Even though Frank isn’t a ghost, he’s beginning to feel like an apparition of his former self.
By the end of the episode, Crocell appears to Frank in his attic. Recognizing his deep desire to leave his work, his mission, behind, Crocell attempts to convince Frank to give up the fight. “Sit back and do nothing,” Crocell pleads, “Anyone can do it. Hell, most people do.” After all his efforts to push back the darkness, after everything Frank Black has stood for and against, this choice, to leave it all behind, feels like a no-brainer to us, but to Frank, it’s the out, the return to normalcy, that he’s been waiting for. This ghost, much like Jacob Marley inCharles Dickens’A Christmas Carol, seems on the surface to want what’s best for him, but in truth, Crocell isn’t a free agent with altruistic intent. He’s a devil in disguise…
“The Curse of Frank Black” Warns Us Against Ignoring Our Demons
Before Frank confronts the kids hanging out in his old yellow house, one of the teenage ringleaders (Kett Turton) makes a comment about the Devil. He says, “It is believed that the Devil uses the souls of the dead to get at people, to drive them insane.” If anything, “The Curse of Frank Black” makes it clear that there’s a spiritual antagonist behind Frank’s moral anguish, one who isn’t exactly named and only appears on-screen momentarily. Yes, Frank Black has his demons, and they’re much more literal than he would like to believe. Though this demon doesn’t speak to Frank like the succubus Lucy Butler (Sarah-Jane Redmond) does acrossMillennium’s three-season timeline, nor does he have the personality of the four demons seen in the Season 2 episode “Somehow Satan Got Behind Me,” its presence on this specific night feels all to intentional, rooting itself in the conflicted history of October 31st.
The origins of our modern notion of Halloween are both pagan and Christian in nature. Samhain was a Celtic festival meant to usher in the post-harvest season that involved food and drink offerings and the occasional animal sacrifice. It was the time of year that the Celts believed the veil between the natural and the supernatural was the thinnest, and thus they thought they could welcome the fairy spirits into our world. All Hallows' Eve, on the other hand, was a Christian festival (the first part that continued and concluded with All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day) meant to commemorate the dearly departed saints of Church history while also declaring victory over Christ’s demonic foes. “The Curse of Frank Black” pays clear homage to both histories, and uses these themes to construct a simple but profound narrative.
Just as writersGlen MorganandJames Wongwere no stranger to writingdemon-fueled stories onThe X-Files, they further excel here at creating an unspoken conflict between Frank and this demonic creature. Frank never dresses up for Halloween, he never wears a mask. He doesn’t participate in the celebration of Samhain’s spiritual awakening, nor does he dress up to mock or triumph over the Devil and his angels. In fact, Frank never addresses his literal demon, even as the creature stalks him around town and shows him a quick flash of Bob Bletcher’s hanging corpse. In his anger, when Frank leaves his old home, he throws eggs at the window, leaving an uncanny splatter on the glass that resembles a laughing demon, mocking Frank’s pain. And this isn’t even to mention the appearance of the laughing Satan that torments Frank on his television screen.
As the teenage ghost storyteller said, the Devil uses our ghosts to torment us. In Frank’s case, this means Mr. Crocell, who quite literally tells Frank that the Devil will win in the end, that “there’s no way he can lose.” According to Crocell, only by accepting this deal, by giving up the fight, will Frank and his family escape the horrors that are coming. The Devil sees Frank as a threat, but rather than show him the same horrors he sees on a weekly basis, he shines a big spotlight onto Frank’s biggest failure: his inability to protect his family and keep them together.
Frank Black Washes the Devil Away, Resurrecting His Soul
But there’s hope for Frank in all of this. Though Fox Mulder said inThe X-Filesepisode “Die Hand Die Verletzt” (also written by Morgan and Wong) that “even the Devil can quote scripture to fit his needs,” that may not be what’s going on here. Throughout the episode, Frank’s observation of the Bible passage Acts 26:8, which seems to appear everywhere he turns, is thought to be the Devil’s own torment, asking the question, “why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?” With Crocell’s return in the episode’s climax, hoping to scare Frank out of his mission to prevent the Apocalypse, it seems like we get our answer. But the Devil’s tricks may not be the reason Frank sees this piece of scripture everywhere.
As Frank is bogged down by minor inconveniences and crippling doubts, Acts 26:8 might just be the hope that Frank needs to keep going. The passage itself is from the New Testament’s Book of Acts, with the 26th chapter following the Apostle Paul as he gives his testimony to King Agrippa, sharing his conversion story. His own turn from darkness to light. It’s in this context that Paul asks the rhetorical question of Acts 26:8, implying that God didn’t just raise Jesus Christ from the dead, but raised Paul himself from a spiritual death into a new life. As Paul boasts in his newfound freedom, forever a changed man, we can’t help but wonder if this verse is God’s grace towards Frank Black, hoping that he too will find newfound freedom in his righteous cause.
Rather than succumb to the apathetic temptings of evil, Frank chooses instead to shed the weight of darkness and step back into the brightness of his yellow house to wash the Devil away. It’s noteworthy that “The Curse of Frank Black,” a Halloween episode, ends with the brightness of the day. Though darkness may cover the night, especially on Halloween, the thinness between the material and the immaterial only lasts a few hours, as do Frank’s darkest of doubts. Resurrection of the body might be most impressive, but it’s the resurrection of one’s soul that matters most. If you’re looking for a compelling episode of television to watch this Halloween, look no further than theMillenniumclassic “The Curse of Frank Black.” It won’t disappoint you.
