Frankie Lou

*This page contains spoilers for the newly-released Vide Noir film. It is highly recommended to watch the movie before reading.*

## Appearances

### Portrayed by

Sacha SchneiderAnhvan Bui
Joanna Bacalso

### Appears in

"Fool For Love" music video"The World Ender" music video
*Products of the Universe*
*Vide Noir*
*Alive From Whispering Pines*

**Francine S. Lu**, stage name **Frankie Lou,** is a Cambodian lounge singer who is famous for her album recorded at a bar called George's Place. She has a dark and mysterious past and sings haunting songs. She belongs to a prominent family in Cambodia, who sent her to America when it became apparent war was coming. She always loved to sing. She is signed with Whispering Pines Studios and appears on the *Alive From Whispering Pines* television show.

Lou recorded *Live at George's Place*, a fearless album to address colonial oppression, the poverty of her countrymen, and the corruption of their fraudulent royal family. In it, she sculpted sonic monoliths cast in anguish that pushed beyond jazz into catharsis. She later walked away from stardom - perhaps retreating into nostalgia. Her talent was matched only by her torment, and she had a tragic and untimely end.

## Description and appearances

       She is depicted as a woman with dark hair and sadness in her eyes, and often wearing elegant form-fitting dresses. She is credited in the “Fool for Love” music video as Francine Lu where she is briefly seen in the background and in the brawl at George's Place.

On *Strange Trails* she is credited as the performer for "Love Like Ghosts," "Meet Me in the Woods (w/ Claude Fox)" and "The Night We Met." While it is unconfirmed if the songs are from her perspective, it seems likely given the events of the Vide Noir film. These songs effectively bookend the album, placing importance on her character. She has been described as having a mysterious past, so details have been few and far between, although more information has come to light since the movie release. What is clear is that she seems to suffering from heartbreak, perhaps having been spurned by a cheating lover. In the cover art for "Love Like Ghosts," a woman matching her description is shown standing in front of George's Place. In the window above, a man kisses a woman's cheek - perhaps that of Louisa.

Frankie Lou is also credited in "The World Ender" music video, where she appears in a bar and is also possibly seen walking away from the Winthrop train boarded by Diane Greentree to escape Cobb Avery's revenge spree.

"The Night We Met" is credited to Frankie Lou, however the video depicts the beginning of Buck Vernon's quest to locate his fiancée who left to pursue stardom. In the video Vernon seems to be suffering from visions of a woman credited as Louisa.

In the film *Vide Noir,* Buck Vernon questions Frankie Lou on whereabouts of Lee Green. Lou explains that Z'Oiseau has her hooked on Vide Noir. Vernon then asks Lou about the nature of the drug and if she has tried it. After some tension, Lou opens up and explains her history and how she first encountered Z'Oiseau while she was performing a set. He charmed her in Khmer, told her about his club and hired her on the spot. She then expresses regret that he used her, wishing she had never helped him or even met him.

Despite the *Daily Trail* report that Lou was found dead in a parked car with her boyfriend in an apparent drug overdose, which some called a double suicide, they were actually murdered - black brained by Z'Oiseau's men.

Tubbs Tarbell keeps a memorial to her in the studio. However, in episode 424 Tarbell receives a mysterious phone call that he says sounds like Lou. The caller requests "Oh Tubbs, play me something I can feel. Play me something that cuts straight to my heart. Play me something I can sway to. Play me something sad." The same caller dials in later and asks "Oh Tubbs, where am I?” and Tarbell is visibly shaken.

## Music

### *Live at George’s Place*

*-Album went Pine*
Label: Whispering Pines Studio
Catalog Number: WP-0021
Format: Vinyl, 12", 33 ⅓ RPM, Album
Country: US
Genre: Lounge, Jazz
* "The Silence of the Moon"

### Unspecified album

* "Love Like Ghosts"
* "Meet Me in the Woods (w/ Claude Fox)"
* "The Night We Met"

### Cover versions

From Lord Huron's *Strange Trails*:
* "Love Like Ghosts"
* "Meet Me in the Woods (feat. Jessica Maros) "
* "The Night We Met (feat. Jessica Maros)"

## Memorabilia

A necklace Lou wears was listed for sale in Des Moines in 2021.

## Questions and fan theories

* Who is the man in the window of George's Place and is he romantically involved with Frankie Lou?
	+ Could this be Z'Oiseau? In the Vide Noir film, Lou says he was charming and tried to pick her up in Khmer. She also says he used her. Given this, it seems likely that Lou and Z'Oiseau were romantically involved for a time, that she helped him establish his Vide Noir drug empire in some way, and that she discovered later that he didn't love her but merely needed her connections and knowledge. Then when she moved on to another romantic interest and out of his control, he had them killed. If this is the case, Z'Oiseau is the likely subject of both "Love Like Ghosts" and "The Night We Met".
* Is drug use related to "Meet Me in the Woods"? The song describes an experience of going to a dark place that changes you forever. The singer's sense of time seems unreliable: "how long baby have I been away? Oh, it feels like ages, though you say it's only days." A noted effect of Vide Noir is to obliterate the boundaries of space and time.
* Is Frankie walking along the Winthrop train in "The World Ender" music video and on the train during the crash? Why is she there?
* How is she contacting Tubbs Tarbell if she died of an overdose?

## Gallery

Memorial to Frankie Lou in Whispering Pines StudiosFrankie Lou in Tarbell's photo album
## Sources:

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 *Long Lost* vinyl cover details
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 NPR interview
3. ↑ IMDB cast and crew
4. ↑ Interview with Flood Magazine