Millennium 4C07: “The Well-Worn Lock”
The Millennial Abyss | Episodes | Season One
“The Well-Worn Lock” (4C07)
Written by Chris Carter
Directed by Ralph Hemecker
Edited by Steve Mark
Aired December 20, 1996
Summary
Accusations of incest draw Catherine Black to the plight of a troubled woman who has kept a terrible secret for twenty-three years: she was sexually abused by her well-respected father.
Epigraph
“The cruelest lies are often told in silence.”
Synopsis
In a nice middle class residence in Madison Park, Washington, the Bangs family — Connie, 32, Sara 9, mom Clea and dad Joe — are watching TV. After Clea goes upstairs to bed, an underlying tension and terror come to the surface. Joe, who has sexually abused Connie since she was nine years old, now threatens to do the same to Sara. Connie orders Sara to lock herself in Connie's room. Downstairs, Connie fights off her father and runs away.
Later that night, Connie is found walking down the middle of the street in a dazed stupor. Catherine is assigned to her case. With Sara in danger, Connie is finally ready to admit her father abused her. But after 23 years of silence, she is afraid no one will believe her.
The assistant D.A., Rhonda Preshutski, thinks they don't have a case. Since Child Protective Services can't take Sara away from her father until Connie's psychiatric evaluation, Catherine and Bletcher go to the Bangs' house to check on the girl.
Bangs furiously orders them off his property, as Clea watches dispassionately. Bangs has some political influences, and is able to put pressure on the D.A.'s office, angering Rhonda. Her hostility towards Catherine is evident, until Connie's evaluation reveals Sara isn't her sister: she's Connie's daughter by Joe.
Frank awakens Catherine in her office. She has slept there overnight, trying to get a legal angle to remove Sara from the house. Connie is now staying at her sister Ruthie's house, who tells Catherine that Joe abused her too until she had a mental breakdown and was hospitalized. Catherine is uneasy when she finds out Connie has been with Clea. Connie, fearful and unstable after years of abuse, may be easily persuaded to stop the fight against her father.
Bangs is unable to use his influence in City Hall, and Bletcher tells Catherine her pursuit of the case against Bangs is endangering her job. Catherine, knowing she's doing what's right, refuses to give up. Frank agrees with her. Catherine's fears are confirmed when Bangs kidnaps Sara.
Frank realizes Bangs' need for control would dictate that he choose a place he knows: the cabin in the woods where the family vacationed. Frank leads a caravan of police to the area, where they chase after Joe as he speeds away in his van. Catherine blocks the road with her Jeep, and the van broadsides her. Bangs is arrested; Catherine and Sara are unhurt.
A Grand Jury is convened. Catherine is afraid Connie won't be able to stand up to the cross examination. Once on the stand, Connie appears too afraid to testify. But with Catherine's support, Connie is finally able to reveal the horrible story of years of emotional and sexual abuse.
Time has passed. Connie is slowly recovering. Catherine brings her the "well-worn lock" taken from her bedroom door. She takes the lock, which was used to keep people from interrupting her father when he crept into her room at night, and hurls it off a dam into a river.
Starring
Lance Henriksen as Frank Black
Megan Gallagher as Catherine Black
Brittany Tiplady as Jordan Black
Bill Smitrovich as Lt. Bob Bletcher
Guest Starring
Paul Dooley as Joe Bangs
Michelle Joyner as Connie Bangs
Christine Dunford as A.D.A. Rhonda Preshutski
Lenore Zann as Ruthie Bangs
Sheila Moore as Clea Bangs
J. Douglas Stewart as Larry Bangs
Shaina Tianne Unger as Sara Bangs
Campbell Lane as Joe Bang's Attorney
Jim Fletcher as Bailiff
Steve Oatway as the Judge
Production Credits
Production #4C07
Music by Mark Snow
Production Designer Sheila Haley
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
Location
Book Excerpt
“Chris Carter’s ‘The Well-Worn Lock’ once again places Catherine in the spotlight in a story that examines intra-familial sexual abuse... In each of these episodes, the disintegration of family life is the driving force behind acts of evil—as, by extension, is the lack of a strong moral and social foundation.”
—Adam Chamberlain
Back to Frank Black
REVIEWS
“No supernatural entities, no serial killers and no overblown drama here: what we get is possibly the most harrowing recreation of sexual abuse ever committed to videotape. In a horrible way, 'The Well-Worn Lock' perfectly shows the difference between naturalistic TV and realistic TV: the former shows things the way they are, the latter shows them the way they really are. Millennium is so realistic it tears away the last vestiges of the lies we try to tell ourselves about the way the world works.”
—Andy Lane
Dreamwatch
“Though often unabashedly, intimately sexual, with an emotionally graphic tinge, and delving into the most heinous things humans can do, the series is never exploitive or sensational—this may be one of the least melodramatic explorations of human aberrance TV has ever seen.”
—Maryann Johanson
The Flick Filosopher