Frank Briggs Jr.

Frank Briggs Jr. is a main character in Home Before Dark. He is portrayed by Michael Weston.

Biography
Frank Briggs Jr. was born in Erie Harbor, Washington, to police lieutenant Frank Briggs Sr. and his wife Annemarie. Frank is the brother of Kathryn. As a young boy, Frank grew his social circle and became best friends with classmates Matt Lisko and Richie Fife. They hung out at the local dollar arcades, played video games, and were virtually inseparable by the Summer of 1988.

They rode their bikes together nearly every day and paid little attention to those outside their circle. The trio also bullied social outcast Al Wergeles, nicknaming him "The Birdman" because of his dedication to birds and birdwatching. Matt and his friends thought little of how their actions affected Al or the other kids in their school. They spent weekends and hours after school in the back of Sam Gillis's van drinking beer and discussing films.

On January 31st, 1988, the boys spent the day together at the underpass. They walked home when a van came screeching to a halt next to them. The man driving jumped out, grabbed Richie, and threw him in the back of a white van. He told Matt and Frankie to run before he tore off in the van. Matt ran to a neighbors house for help. A search party was organized to find Richie but was unsuccessful.

Season 2
In "Not Giving Up", Frank is working at the Holmes County Sheriff's Department when Hilde enters. While the other officers turn away from her, Frank gives her a stern look as she pours a cup of coffee.

In "I Believe You", Bridget fills out a police report for the break-in at her law office at the station with help from Frank, who takes her to his office. He knows the power outage could have affected the alarm but isn’t sure he can blame the storm for the open door. She has a long list of potential enemies. Those who are mad at her for representing Sam, something with her new case, or just the people in town who dislike her. Investigator Frank Rutherford enters the office and Frank introduces the pair. Rutherford is there to audit the department on behalf of The Attorney General. He decides to sit in on the interview.

Afterward, Frank walks Bridget and Ginny to their car as they discuss how intense Rutherford is. She asks him for a favor, which he originally thinks is related to the office, and agrees to check on the store for her. She thanks him but admits that isn’t what she meant. They have a broken window at home and Matt is bad at fixing things. She doesn’t want to hurt his feelings but also doesn’t want a broken window. She asks Frank to stop by and help. He knows Matt is bad with that stuff and agrees to come by and make up an excuse to do it for him.

Frank stops by that night and pretends that he’s just there to say hi. Matt invites him inside and Frank pretends to be surprised by the broken window. He offers to take a look at it while Bridget silently thanks him from the other room.

Matt and Frank discuss Brigg's activities since he was kicked off the force. He’s been working security somewhere but was pretty heartbroken after Mayor Fife died. Frank isn’t sure what’s going on now as they haven’t talked in a while. Matt advises him not to let the distance go on for too long.

In "Fighting His Ghost", Trip learns that her lieutenants are out sick again. She decides to ask Frank what his dad is up to these days as she’s been trying to reach him. She feels like she’s fighting his ghost every day. Some people still talk about how Briggs wants things done, and it’s frustrating. Frank admits he hasn’t spoken to his father in months and isn’t planning on starting. She reminds him that Briggs is still his father and he can’t avoid him forever in a town this small. He plans to at least try.

Back at the station, Frank notices Hilde and her friends disagreeing with Trip. She has Lieutenant Bob help them with a complaint form, but Frank intervenes. He apologizes to the kids for things being tense around the station with Rutherford there. He offers to help them with whatever they need. They explain the situation with the pond and the fence, as they need to test the water. He remarks that it’s a public park so the town might have put up the fence after reading her article. He offers to make some calls for her. She thinks there would be meetings and red tape before the fence was put up. They run out but Frank stops Hilde to tell her to keep her head up. She smiles as she realizes he can be her new source.

When a brick goes through the Johnson Farm window, Trip and Frank investigate but and are glad everyone is okay. Matt is there comforting Izzy and Bridget. Bridget plans to file the injunction right away. The women leave while Matt stays behind. They think it might be Wott Management but the guy drove away before Junior could get a good look at him. Frank offers to add the Johnson Farm to his daily patrol to give Junior added protection, but Trip refuses as this is still a standard vandalism case. She doesn’t want Rutherford to blame her for directing resources to her father. Junior knows it might be Wott but it could be some racist punks too, as he’s had run-ins with them in the past. Frank decides to check the perimeter for the car and Matt joins him. Trip assures her father it will be okay. Frank and Matt walk as they discuss Matt doing a story about the Johnson Farm as Frank had no idea they had problems before with racism. Matt tells Frank about Brigg’s visit and how Briggs wants to fox things. Matt knows it isn’t his place but he can’t think of his kids not talking to him again. He tells Frank to break the cycle as his father might be trying this time. Frank will believe it when he sees it. He then spots a pile of broken bricks and investigates. They determined that they were casing the place and found the bricks as they could do damage.

Frank is in his car late at night when Briggs comes over to talk. He tries to make small talk but Frank isn’t interested. He tried to reach out to Frank before but didn’t know what to say. He owes him an apology as he failed him as a boss and as a father. Frank appreciates the apology as he knows Briggs had a lot of hard choices to make but tried to do his best. Briggs through making the hard choices made him good at his job. He thought he was doing his best for everyone but he was scared of being wrong, and of facing the pain he caused. Frank knows he was wrong a lot of people are still in pain because of him. Briggs wants to make things right, but Frank tells him to talk with Sam instead. Brigs become physically defensive so Frank leaves.

Frank comes into the station and a few moments later, Briggs walks through the door. The deputies stop everything as they stare at him. By the time Briggs leaves Trip's office, Frank is back in his office. Briggs stops at the door and gives his son a half-smile before leaving. Frank gazes down at a childhood photo of him and Briggs.

In "Dark Rooms", Trip asks Frank into her office as she needs to expand his patrol territory. His response makes her believe he has an attitude, but he didn’t mean it that way only as him following orders. She apologizes for the misunderstanding. She’s stressed with Rutherford on her, always tracking her movements. He jokes about her coffee intake but then asks how he can help. She appreciates even the offer but just wants him to take the extra patrols and run interference with Hilde and her cohorts.

Frank walks the pier on his patrol when he sees Kim inside a restaurant laughing with a man. He texts her asking how her day is going. He watches her check the text then lie about being stuck in talent rehearsal. She then sees him on the bridge. She walks over to ask what he’s doing there. He calls her out for lying and she apologizes but wants to talk about it later. He asks what the man’s talent is. She explains she’s on a job interview as everything with the PTA has her thinking of transferring to another school district. He can’t believe she wouldn’t tell him her plans to leave Erie Harbor. She tells him not to worry about it. With her mom in prison and a cop shaking her down during an interview, she probably won’t get the job.

In "The Black Box", Frank examines an engagement ring before turning to see the trio waiting for him. They have an old flight recorder but need his help to find out what’s on it. She states that it’s urgent so he takes it from Donny. He asks how they got it but Spoon just states they are entrepreneurial. Donny thinks someone is trying to cover up a plane crash. Hilde asks him to unofficially help them, to which Frank agrees. His father has a contact at NTSB, but if he finds anything crazy on it they have to tell him where they found it.

That night, Frank thanks his father for his help with the recorder as he walks back to his truck. He hangs up and finds Kim waiting by the hood of his truck. She remarks that he sucks as tailing people. He apologizes for following her and losing his temper. She would never cheat on him but he’s worried about her leaving. She would leave for the right job and wants to know how he feels. He feels like he wishes he wouldn’t be carrying around a ring this entire time waiting for the right time to propose. He gets in his car and drives off without another word as she shouts after him.

Frank visits the Lisko house that evening with news about the black box recording. His NTSB contact came through and the original magnetic tape was damaged debut heir lab was able to recover a decent audio track. Hilde thinks that’s great but their faces say otherwise. Matt reveals that it’s from Sam’s dad’s plane. It’s mostly static but there is something they all need to hear.

Frank sets the computer down and plays the audio. They hear air traffic control and then Hank’s voice. Hank tells the control officer to stand by and says “that’s gotta be it”. He’s turning around to get a closer look. He can’t believe that Richie was right. Matt is shocked as Hank Gillis knew Richie. Matt wonders if it’s because Richie loved planes but they all did. He plays the recording again. Hank is getting photos but something goes wrong as the engine’s stalling. The control center warns that his plane is getting too low. Hank knows something is wrong but notes that it’s too late. He asks the control center to tell his kids he loves them. Bridget stops the audio. Everyone is in a state of shock as Hilde looks at the airplane figurine. Later, Frank and Matt sit with Hilde and ask if she’s okay. She’s doing okay but playing with origami her grandfather made. She wonders what Hank was looking for when it crashed. Frank can’t do the math needed to figure out the location of the plane when it crashed. Matt knows that pilots need to file a flight plan. Hilde replays the audio in her mind and remembers that Hank wanted pictures. Richie must have told Sam’s dad to look for something. She finds it’s weird that they didn’t know their best friend was hanging out with an adult. Frank remarks that she hangs out with adults, but she justifies it as having sources. He’s a little offended as he thought they were friends. She smiles as she’s not sure yet. Frank remarks that Richie could be introverted or shy sometimes. Hilde remarks that Spoon is like that sometimes. Matt and Frank discuss how Richie was just like that sometimes even before anything happened. They wonder if that was who he was or if he was hiding something. Hilde wonders if someone hiding something like that means they don’t wanna be your friend. Matt tries to explain but struggles, so Frank intervenes. He explains that it can sometimes mean that they’re scared of what you’ll say. Matt adds that she has to help her friend through it. Hilde’s going to try and find that flight plan. Matt believes she will. The next morning, Frank comes back to his office to find Kim who is apologizing for not telling him about the job. They both start apologizing at the same time and realize they were both wrong and shouldn’t have fought. They sit down together and he admits he was scared as he doesn’t want her to leave. She doesn’t think she will as the district is too far. She asks if he really bought a ring and he takes it out of his jacket. She’s surprised he’s been carrying it around the entire time. He’s terrible at hiding things as she would have found it in a second. He shows it to her and she finds it beautiful. She asks if he still wants to marry her because she wants to marry him. She takes the ring and tries to propose but he interrupts as it’s his line. He gets down on one knee and begins to ask when she cuts him off to say yes. From behind them is a round of applause from the office as they saw everything. Trip smiles at him and they leave as Kim kisses Frank and hugs him. Matt visits Frank at Sylvester's old boat and learns he’s got it working again. Matt remarks he’s a genius and Frank agrees. Matt wonders why Frank is this happy and he reveals that he’s engaged to Kim. Matt hugs him as he congratulates him. He decides to make a toast using their old stash from the cabinet.

In "What's Out There", Frank, Matt, Hilde, Spoon, and Donny head out to the island where Hank Gillis crashed. With Frank operating the boat, Spoon pushes the lever to make it go faster. He remarks that you only have to be 12 to operate a boat in Washington, so he’ll be certified next year. He then tells them that something is up ahead and makes Franks top the boat. Spoon thinks it’s a reef but Matt knows it can’t be as there are no reefs in freshwater. The more they look, they realize the lake has overflowed and the fence. They decide to drop anchor at a sandy beach.

Matt carries Hilde to the shore on his back and helps Frank set up. He and Frank go in a little further and leave the kids behind, which Hilde doesn’t like. He gives her binoculars to look for anything suspicious, and long-range radios from Frank so they can stay in contact.

Matt and Frank wonder who built the barrier in the lake. There aren’t any signs prohibiting people from coming onto the island, so they aren’t breaking any rules. Meanwhile, Hilde tries to radio her dad who responds quickly but he still doesn’t have anything to report. The men look at a strange marking on a tree which Frank remarks look familiar. Matt takes another photo, this time, of a long metal pipe. Frank wonders why someone would be the infrastructure. He spots someone running and alerts Matt, who inadvertently alerts Hilde via the radios. He tells her to stay by the boat so they can check it out. He investigates with Frank, as someone steps out behind them with a knife.

Matt and Frank stop to search for the person, and Frank spots them across the field. Matt thinks he’s a hunter but Frank chuckles that the man doesn’t look like a hunter. But he is moving fast and could know what’s going on there. However, they decide to head back to the kids first. They arrive at the beach but don't find the kids. Matt tries to reach them on the radio but doesn’t get a response. Frank wonders if they decided to look further inland, but Matt knows she went looking for the X. They find Spoon and Donny who admit they left Hilde behind as they got into a fight. Spoon apologizes as Hilde went after the X on the map. They rush off to find her. When the group finds Hilde, she is with Frank Briggs Sr.. Frank pulls his father aside to ask what he's doing there, and Briggs admits he's there for Sam - to make things better as Frank suggested. The group hides when they hear a helicopter overhead. Meanwhile, they discover a dump site of barrels leaking toxic waste into the water.

In "Just a Bird", Trip is confronted by Rutherford who has drone footage of Frank on the island which is criminal trespassing. He tells Trip to fire Frank but she refuses as he’s a solid officer and knows the community. He knows she wants to feel like she’s in charge and wants her to succeed, but she has to do this, or she will look just a corrupt as her predecessor. She looks at Frank who is laughing with the other officers and making small talk. He notices Trip looking at him solemnly and brushes off the other officers as having work to complete.

By nightfall, Frank is drinking while sitting by a campfire. Kim walks over to him to ask if he’s okay, which he isn’t. She confronts him for keeping the secret of his firing from her. She had to find out from Hilde and it was hard to keep a straight face in front of her. Frank just wasn’t ready for it to be real. He apologizes as she deserves better as she deserves someone better, someone, who doesn’t disappoint her or get fired from the first job they ever had. She doesn’t feel that way as he’s not just some guy but her fiancé. He remarks that makes it worse. She reminds him that he was Cranky Frankie in the first grade because he was the world’s saddest first-grader who would cry when his mom dropped him off. She’s known every version of him and she’s loved them all, even Cranky Frankie. She could never be ashamed of him and they hug tightly.

Personality
Frank is introduced as a self-serving man with a chip on his shoulder for the world. He is fiercely protective of Erie Harbor and undyingly loyal to his father, who is also his boss. He is smart, has a dry sense of humor, and strong instincts that he gradually learns not to repress. He is originally adamant that Matt's return isn't helping anyone and that his daughter, Hilde, is stirring up trouble by digging into the Richie Fife case. He shows brief moments of empathy or genuine care for others when he's around Sylvester, a man he views as a father figure. He also shows this side of him to Kim Collins, his on and off again girlfriend. As Matt and Frank begin to rekindle their friendship, albeit through tension and arguing, Frank begins to doubt his recollection of Richie's disappearance. He begins to remember that his father pressured him as a child to say what Briggs wanted him to say. He begins to realize that Hilde and Matt's investigation into Briggs isn't out of spite or because of a vendetta, but because Briggs genuinely did something wrong all those years ago.

His last act of loyalty in an attempt to protect his father was to destroy a copy of the video tape capturing Richie's disappearance - a tape that Briggs hid decades earlier. He becomes frantic to destroy all the copies until his father blatantly admits his crimes. Frank begins to trust Hilde and Matt as more of Brigg's mistakes come to light. He is put in the spotlight for his own mistakes in handling Sam Gillis, as he made a desperate move to understand his own trauma and memories by making a detour with the then-prisoner which resulted in Sam's hours-long escape. Frank ultimately tries to save himself by lying on the stand, following Brigg's suggestions, which ultimately made Trip seem unreliable. He failed to comprehend the ramifications of his statement, as he believed Trip would be fine, though her truthful testimony led to her being threatened by Briggs.

After losing the Sheriff race to Trip, Frank accepts his loss and supports Trip to the best of his ability, showing that the recent events have changed him for the better. As things cultivate to make him realize how poorly he acted towards his friends, Frank insists on following through with the last few leads in Richie's case, showing a gesture of good faith to the Lisko's - even if it is at Brigg's expense. "Frank defends the little guy and makes sure they get a chance. He sticks up for people when they don't have anyone else."

- Hilde about Frank

After his father was fired, Frank's personality shifted to a gentler and kinder spirit. Most likely because he didn't have the constant negativity and pressure that Briggs added to his daily life. Frank began to be more open towards helping Trip. He even offered his services to Hilde and The Magic Hour Chronicle, showing a softer side to him as he talked to the children. He also tries to make things right with the people he's wronged, ultimately proving that he has changed. He wants his father to do the same, as Frank isn't interested in worded apologies anymore - he wants Briggs to show that he's changed.

When Frank is fired from his job at the HCPD, he has a slight identity crisis as he struggles to find his place outside of his only job.

Physical Appearance
Frank is a tall man with short black hair, blue eyes, a long nose, and oval-shaped face. He usually has some form of stubble or facial hair.