Janek (Jan Hench) is an otherworldly presence who seems to want to stop the Phantom.
Things That Happened[]
The Mansion[]
Jack enters a dark mansion room; as the lights come up, Jack disappears and Janek manifests, hinting at a link between the two. Janek then speaks to the Phantom in Polish. Janek asks if the Phantom is "looking to go in," and the Phantom agrees: he is looking for "an opening." Janek says he understands, and the Phantom repeatedly yells that he is glad Janek understands, while Janek fades away in a blur.
Sue's Reality[]
Janek teams up with Smithy in Poland to find the Phantom. They drive to the site of a few trailers in the woods. Janek waits by the car while Smithy approaches a trailer, and is told the the Phantom left for Inland Empire.
He later accompanies Smithy to a séance in Poland held by three old Polish-speaking men. The men give Smithy the gun which is used to kill the Phantom.
Analysis[]
- Janek apparently has the power to allow the Phantom to "go in" and reenact his curse with a group of new humans. He apparently allows the Phantom to do so; however, his later actions suggest that he does so so that Nikki may kill the Phantom.
- The fact that Janek appears when Jack disappears (and vice versa) in the Mansion scene may indicate that Janek is a manifestation of Jack. However, Janek subsequently appears in the same room as Marek, who is almost certainly a manifestation of Jack, so it is possible that Jack merely arranged or covertly observed the Mansion meeting.