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Summary:
Frank travels to Bucksnort, a backwater town where residents
fear for their lives outdoors after the sun goes down, when packs of
blood-thirsty dogs roam the streets. Here he discovers that the
Millennium Group and its members may be stranger than is commonly thought
and he experiences firsthand the balance the universe maintains
between good and evil.
Season Two on DVD
Full Transcript Available
Synopsis:
A retired couple driving
along a country highway pull their R.V. over to the side of
a road outside of a town so small it's not on their map. As
they begin to turn in for the night a pack of dogs invades
their motor home and kills them.
Peter Watts attempts to contact
Frank regarding the attack as Frank is taking Jordan home to
Catherine. Ignoring his pages, Frank and Catherine discuss their
living arrangements. Catherine has decided to take Jordan and live
with a friend and since Frank is already living in an apartment by
himself, they discuss selling the house and the implication of that
action.
Watts finally reaches Frank
after he's returned to his home, and urges him to take the case. Frank
dismisses the deaths as the result of a wild animal attack.
Cryptically, Watts insists Frank investigate further, "It's time you
go there Frank."
Frank arrives in "Bucksnort"
and, looking for a hotel, enters the adjacent diner. There he
encounters some local townspeople who mistake him for their new
sheriff and warn him to return before dark. Sticking out from the rest
of the locals is Michael Beebe who later explains his recent
relocation to the area as an attempt to escape the crime-ridden
streets of Los Angeles. Thinking that he is the new sheriff, Michael
asks Frank to investigate his elderly neighbor, whom he believes is
connected to the attack.
Instead, Frank inspects the
crime scene at the R.V. Just as the sun dips below the horizon, he
notices a pack of five dogs descending from a nearby hill. Frank
returns to the hotel, and discovers he has been locked out and those
inside ignore his pleas for assistance. As he searches for shelter the
dogs ferociously attack. Frank fights his way to his car and heads for
a small hospital, hitting and killing one of the dogs in the process.
Despite Frank's frantic pleas that he has been injured, he is again
ignored by those inside the hospital. An elderly man stops his truck
and retrieves the dead dog. The other dogs trot away, following the
vehicle.
After he passes out, the
townspeople finally help Frank into the hospital. Believing he is
unconscious they discuss the town "situation" and its recent
disturbances. Frank however is conscious and begins to think that
there are greater forces than wild dogs at work in Bucksnort.
Early the next day Frank makes
his way through a forest and comes upon several obelisks near an
embankment. As Frank pauses, Michael Beebe emerges from nearby bushes.
Almost simultaneously, dogs appear on the embankment ridge. The same
old man appears and Frank asks him to call off his animals. The old
man laughs "They're not my dogs." But the animals leave the area
nonetheless. As Frank looks down to the obelisk he picked up as a
defense he notices that it is etched with the ouroboros-the symbol of
the Millennium Group.
Confused by the apparent
graveyard, Frank searches out the Old Man in his shack. They speak of
the Millennium Group, the history and meaning of the ouroboros and
most importantly the Millennial event. The men walk to a nearby
clearing where the Old Man encourages Frank to approach the growling
dogs who have gathered. As he complies, Frank is struck by several
internal images: his wife, Jordan, his home, etc. Frank eyes the dogs,
the incarnation of evil, and stands his ground. The animals back away.
Frank has passed the test.
The Old Man explains that the
equilibrium between good and evil has grown increasingly out of
balance with the approach of the Millennium. Frank realizes the dogs
started attacking after Beebe constructed his home on previously
protected property, upsetting the delicate balance. The Old Man states
that the "crime" Beebe ran away from in the city is not evil-but the
fear that kept him trapped inside his home, inside his tiny world, is
the evil.
Afraid that the dogs will kill
Michael Beebe, Frank tells him that he must move out of his house.
Beebe balks at the idea. As he asks Frank to leave they discover the
dogs have surrounded the house. The Old Man enters and insisting it's
the only way, sets fire to the dwelling, burning it to the ground.
Back at his yellow house, Frank removes a
"For Sale" sign from the lawn, telling Catherine that they can't give
up on the idea of the house and that they'll move back "when it's a
home again."
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Photographs:
- Frank faces off against a devilish dog
- Frank first meets the mysterious Old Man
- The dogs observe the Old Man's boundary
- The Millennium Group's leading Old Man
- Frank holds back the dogs using a pallet
- The Old Man shares his wisdom
- Frank finds a dog waiting atop his car
- Frank faces the dog atop his car
- Frank considers the bizarre facts at hand
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Abyss Rating:
(2/5)
Media Review:
"When Millennium was good, it was
great. But when it wandered off into way out elements, where the focus
moved away from evil on Earth, the show sure could get goofy. 'Beware
of the Dog' is a fairly good example of this idea. We begin with what
seems to be a straightforward animal attack. Then the townspeople all
offer this creepy, Stepford vibe. Then we meet an old coot in the
woods who speaks in Zen-like riddles and seems afraid of and in
control of the devil dogs dwelling in the surrounding woods.
Unfortunately, all of these atmospheric elements do not quite add up
to a cohesive whole... The story suffers from too many ambiguous
statements and unanswered questions. The citizenry speak in
Twilight Zone-like couplets, referring to circumstances that are
never clarified and bowing to unseen forces we aren’t privy to. This
makes for a lackluster narrative, one heightened and helped only by
the acting, and the antics, of Henricksen. Only Lance could make a
pack of mangy mutts seem like the non-housebroken hounds of Hell and
get us worried about the potential problem with these pups." —Bill Gibron, DVD Talk
Trivia:
This episode revealed to viewers that
executive producers Glen Morgan and James Wong intended to elaborate
upon the mysterious, ancient origins of the Millennium Group. In
an interview published weeks before the second season began Wong
explained, "We're going to say it's
a group that began two thousand years ago, when Christianity was a
series of underground cults or sects. Once one of them was embraced
by the Romans, the Millennium Group went underground and has become
recorders of events. And when these events seem to indicate that
something's about to happen and it's going on now, they take action."
"Beware of the Dog" also introduces R.G.
Armstrong in the role of the Millennium Group's leading Old Man. Armstrong has had a long and illustrious history in television and
film, appearing in movies from Predator to Dick Tracy
and in such television shows as Alfred Hitchcock Presents,
The Twilight Zone, Gunsmoke, and L.A. Law. The
actor has been a longtime favorite of Glen Morgan. He
would go on to appear twice more on Millennium in the role of
the Old Man.
A significant influence on Morgan and
Wong's mythology decisions throughout the second season were the
symbols that Chris Carter had established at the show's start. Frank
Black's loss of the yellow house, for instance, was created to
continue the character's development. "What really appealed to me was
that Chris had said that he had made the show because of the Black's
yellow house," Glen Morgan has said. "This year was an opportunity to
make a hero-myth of the story; take the house away from Frank, have
him go through the dark forest, and get back to the yellow house."
Guest star Randy Stone, who portrays the
irritating Michael Bebe, was the casting director at 20th Century Fox
Television responsible for casting both The X-Files and
Millennium. As an actor, Morgan and Wong prompted him to
appear in Space: Above and Beyond and The Others in
addition to Millennium.
This episode introduced viewers to Frank
Black's penchant for the music of singer Bobby Darin. On the
musical choice Glen Morgan commented, "Lance
doesn't quite understand, but it actually makes some upcoming scenes
creepy."
Death Toll:
2
Title:
That traditional sign warning of
threatening canines, "Beware of the Dog," takes on new levels of
severity in the town of Bucksnort. The phrase, originally
the Latin Cave Canem, was not an
uncommon inscription on Roman homes and has been utilized ever since.
Soundtrack:
"Close to You" by the Carpenters
"As Long as I'm Singing" by Bobby Darin
Starring:
Lance Henriksen as Frank Black
Megan Gallagher as Catherine Black
Brittany Tiplady as Jordan Black
Terry O'Quinn as Peter Watts
Guest Starring:
Randy Stone as Michael Beebe
R.G. Armstrong as the Old Man
Brent Butt as the Short Order Cook
Ralph Alderman as Nate
Anita Wittenberg as Cora
Arnie Walters as Paul Lombardo
Margaret Martin as Mary Ann Lombardo
Production
Credits:
Production #5C02
Music by Mark Snow
Production Designer Mark Freeborn
Director of Photography Robert McLachlan
Associate Producer Jon-Michael Preece
Consulting Producer Chip Johannessen
Consulting Producers Darin Morgan
Co-Producer Robert Moresco
Co-Producer Paul Rabwin
Producer Thomas J. Wright
Co-Executive Producer Ken Horton
Co-Executive Producer John Peter Kousakis
Executive Producer Glen Morgan
Executive Producer James Wong
Executive Producer Chris Carter
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