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Summary: A
prominent case from Frank Black's
past haunts him as
he prepares to interview Richard Alan Hance,
a manipulative serial killer he locked away decades ago, in
an effort to capture that man's protégé, a copycat killer. Frank is
tortured day and night by his memories, prompting bizarre nightmares and a
nagging conscience which insists that he should have killed Hance
when he was given the opportunity.
Season One on DVD
Full Transcript Available
Quote:
"A man's past is not simply a dead history... It is a still
quivering part of himself, bringing shudders and bitter
flavours and the tinglings of a merited shame." —George
Eliot
Synopsis:
Frank
enters a hospital emergency room looking for Catherine, who is working
the night shift in child counseling. Suddenly, paramedics rush in with
a bloodied woman on a gurney. Frank is inexplicably drawn to the stranger,
and as he moves closer, notices a curved slash on her palm. He raises his
own right hand, revealing a thin white scar which matches exactly the slash
on the victim's hand. The woman dies from her injuries.
Frank
asks Bletcher for any information pertaining to the victim. Bletcher reveals
the woman was Anne Rothenburg, whose husband found her body when he returned
home from work. It's believed the woman surprised a burglar and was then
attacked. A short time later, the same man who killed Mrs. Rothenburg shoots
a liquor store clerk. Frank and Bletcher examine a security video of the
murder. Frank notices the killer tossing something on the floor. When Frank
searches the store, he discovers a torn playing card, half of the Jack
of Spades, on the floor. A search of the Rothenburg home turns up the second
matching half.
Frank
tells Bletcher that, twenty years earlier, a man named Richard Alan Hance,
was discharged from the service after serving two tours in Vietnam. That
same year, a woman was found dead inside her home. Half a "death card,"
used by soldiers to designate their kills, was found at the scene. Three
days later, the other half of the playing card was found beside the body
of a jogger. A week after the first two murders, another pair of bodies
was found. The FBI then received an anonymous tip indicating the killer
was living inside an abandoned building. Frank and three of his fellow
agents searched the structure for clues. Hance murdered two of the agents,
dropping a playing card piece near each victim and cutting their hand with
a knife. Hance then cornered Frank, scarring his hand just before moving
in for the kill. But the fourth FBI agent interceded. Hance turned his
gun on the agent and opened fire, killing him. During the commotion, Frank
grabbed his gun and took Hance into custody.
Frank
realizes that Hance's former cellmate, Jacob Tyler, is responsible for
the current murders, calling him the "living reincarnation" of Richard
Alan Hance. Shortly thereafter, two more bodies are discovered in a remote
area.
Despite
a great deal of trepidation, Frank meets with Hance at the prison. During
their discussion, Hance admits he enjoyed killing the FBI agents, as "the
hunters became the hunted." Frank then realizes it was Hance who placed
the anonymous tip that drew the FBI to the abandoned building twenty years
earlier. And he also realizes that Jacob Tyler intends to follow the same
pattern.
Tyler
phones police with an anonymous tip, claiming the man who killed the liquor
store owner is living inside an abandoned building. Frank and a SWAT team
set up a perimeter around the structure. Suddenly, several officers are
hit by sniper fire from a nearby building. Frank and Bletcher, guns drawn,
rush inside. Tyler smashes Frank from behind, sending him to the ground.
Thinking quickly, Frank plays to Tyler's delusion. He shows him the thin
white scar already etched in his palm. Seizing the moment, Frank knocks
Tyler's gun away from his face. Frank retrieves the weapon, but not before
Tyler pulls out another handgun and opens fire, emptying the chamber. But
Tyler proves a poor shot, and Frank avoids being injured. Frank then attempts
to reason with Tyler in an attempt to convince him his personality has
been altered. Suddenly, Bletcher arrives at the scene. Tyler raises his
gun, tightening his finger on the trigger. Frank attempts to avert disaster,
but Bletcher instinctively opens fire, killing Tyler.
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Photographs:
- Young Agent Black in the field
- A paranoid Jacob Tyler hallucinates
- Serial killer Richard Alan Hance
- Frank faces off against Hance
- Frank Black holds a sniper rifle
- Frank and Bob Bletcher stalk a killer
- Bob Bletcher prepares to fire
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Abyss Rating:
(5/5)
Media Review:
"Taking
a page from Silence of the Lambs, Frank goes back to an old
nemesis to pick his deviant brain about what makes a killer. The
confrontation and quid pro quo are excellent. Less successful are the
flashbacks to Frank as a young FBI agent in the 70s. Lance sports a
silly sprout of hair and jacks his voice up a couple of notches, but
he still looks like our middle-aged main man running around. Yet
because the past material is directed and edited in a very spooky
manner, we mostly fall for the fakery and go with the flow. With a
stellar final act and a closing scene that has a great deal of impact
in a very restrained manner, this is an excellent installment." —Bill Gibron, DVD Talk
Trivia:
Writers Glen Morgan and James Wong,
like the show's other writers,
clearly spent time researching the stories of real life serial
killers. The conversation between Frank Black and Richard Alan Hance, which provides one of this episode's highlights, was directly
inspired by famed FBI profiler
Robert Ressler's interview with serial killer Edmund Kemper. Similarly, Jacob Tyler's delusions, in which he seems to believe his
victims are volunteering themselves, were inspired by delusions
professed by real life serial killer
Herbert Mullin.
This episode marks the first occasion in
the series, and one of a scant few, wherein Frank Black takes up a
firearm. Both Chris Carter and Lance Henriksen were adamantly
opposed to depicting Frank as a character who was willing to use guns
or take the life of another person, regardless of circumstances.
The death cards seen throughout the
episode serve as a means of delivering Glen Morgan
and James Wong's trademark references to their work on the science
fiction drama Space: Above and Beyond. Each playing card
bears the insignia of Space's
58th Squadron along with their motto,
"Expect no mercy." Each of the cards left by Jacob Tyler
throughout the episode corresponds to the call sign of a character
from that series.
At the end of the episode Frank Black
shouts to Jacob Tyler, "You are not who you are!" The line is
taken from The X-Files episode "Ice," also written by Morgan
and Wong.
Death Toll:
6
Title:
The episode's title
presents a variation on the idea of a "thin blue line," often
used as a metaphor to describe the role the police have in our
society, separating the public from the criminal element. It is
the crossing of a symbolic thin moral line that Frank Black
contemplates throughout the episode, questioning whether or not he
should have taken the life of Richard Alan Hance as a means of
ensuring the future safety of others.
Soundtrack:
"How Deep is Your Love" by the Bee Gees
Awards:
American Society of Cinematographers
Award - Robert McLachlan, Outstanding
Achievement in Cinematography in a Regular Series (Nomination)
Starring:
Lance Henriksen as Frank Black
Megan Gallagher as Catherine Black
Bill Smitrovich as Lt. Bob Bletcher
Guest Starring:
Jeremy Roberts as Richard Alan Hance
Scott Heindl as Jacob Tyler
Ken Tremblett as Agent Riley
Allan Harvey as Agent Johnson
Mark Holden as Agent Clark
Nancy Sivak as Anne Rothenberg
Larry Musser as Warden
Tom Heaton as Store Clerk
Production
Credits:
Production #4C13
Music by Mark Snow
Production Designer Mark Freeborn
Director of Photography Robert McLachlan
Associate Producer Jon-Michael Preece
Consulting Producer Ted Mann
Consulting Producer James Wong
Consulting Producer Glen Morgan
Co-Producer Ken Dennis
Co-Producer Chip Johannessen
Co-Producer Frank Spotnitz
Co-Executive Producer Jorge Zamacona
Co-Executive Producer Ken Horton
Co-Executive Producer John Peter Kousakis
Executive Producer Chris Carter
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