Frank Black (character)

Frank Black is a fictional character in the

Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) started his career as an offender profiler for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), where his unusual gift for empathising with the killers he was investigating aided in their capture. However, Black retires when he finds that his family—wife Catherine (Megan Gallagher) and daughter Jordan (Brittany Tiplady)—are being threatened by an unknown stalker, who is mailing polaroid photographs of the family to Black. After retiring from the FBI, Black moves to Seattle, Washington, and begins to consult for the Millennium Group, a private investigative organisation that aid law enforcement in violent criminal cases.^[1]

Despite the change in career, the stalker (Doug Hutchison) catches up with Black, kidnapping Catherine. Black is able to track them down and rescue Catherine, stabbing the stalker to death in the process. Disturbed by both the abduction and Black's rage, Catherine moves out of their family home with Jordan for a time.^[2][3] Before they can reconcile, Catherine dies in a virus outbreak orchestrated by the Millennium Group, who Black discovers are attempting to control the possibility of the end of the world at the turn of the millennium. Disgusted by the group's motives and actions, Black breaks rank and returns to work with the FBI in order to take them down.^[4][5]

Working with his new partner Emma Hollis (Klea Scott), Black finds himself struggling to combat the far-reaching influence of the Millennium Group. Due to the workings of the Group, Black is framed for the death of a fellow agent, prompting his resignation from the FBI and fleeing Washington D.C., with Jordan; likewise, Hollis is convinced to abandon Black and work with the Group.^[6] Several months later, Black is able to work with FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) to foil a last-ditch effort by the Group to bring about the end of the world; vindicated, he reunites with Jordan after the case.^[7]

Conceptual history

Millennium's creator Chris Carter conceived Frank Black's character early in the series' genesis, knowing that he wanted to build the show around a retired law enforcement agent; the tone of Millennium came to Carter later in the process but shaped Black's character.^[8] Carter saw Black as an archetypal Western hero, describing him as "self-reliant, quiet, capable, dangerous" and comparing him to the title character of the 1953 film Shane.^[9] Actor William Hurt was considered for the role early in the conception of the series, although Carter denies that Hurt was seriously approached for the part, saying Henriksen was their "first and last choice".^[10] David Nutter, a frequent director for the series, described Henriksen as an "everyman" who appears to have "seen hell, and has reached for heaven but not often had it".^[11]

When Henriksen first received the script for "Pilot", he was impressed with what he saw as "vivid and edgy" writing, but was incredulous as the possibility of it being a television script, having initially mistaken it for a feature film. He also held reservations about working on television, as he was primarily a known for acting in films.^[12] The initial casting of Henriksen was not well received by executives at Fox Broadcasting Company, who had envisioned the lead role being played by "someone hot and in his mid-thirties, at worst" according to producer Ken Horton.^[13]

Producer

Henriksen's portrayal of Black has been met with a positive reception. Henriksen was nominated for the