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Millennium is a grim, suspenseful television series, produced by Chris Carter the creator of The X-Files, and set during the run-up to the new millennium. The series aired from 1996 to 1999.

The series featured actor Lance Henriksen as investigator Frank Black. Black, a freelance forensic profiler, had the unique ability to "put himself in the mind of a killer" and see the world from the perspective of serial killers and murderers, though he was not a psychic. Frank Black may or may not be based on real life FBI agent John E. Douglas, but the similarities shared by the two are striking.

The series was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Some episodes of Millennium were released on VHS, some packaged with X-Files episodes, and all three seasons have since become available on DVD. There were also two novels based on episodes of the series - The Frenchman (based on the Pilot episode) by Elizabeth Hand and Gehenna by Lewis Gannett.

Origins

Chris Carter's original idea for Millennium was a series that would present a more mature point of view of the world from the perspective of a law enforcement officer than offered in his companion series The X-Files. To this end, the character of Frank Black was envisaged to be portrayed by an older actor than David Duchovny. Carter wrote the role for Lance Henriksen and pushed studio executives at 20th Century Fox to approve Henriksen's casting. Carter also pursued Henriksen personally and finally persuaded the actor to take the role of Frank Black by leaving a copy of the pilot script outside of his hotel room. Henriksen signed up on the strength of the writing.

Carter pitched Millennium to Fox as Seven set in Seattle. The mise en scène of a dark, rain-soaked city and a world-weary detective's hunt for a religiously-inspired serial killer have clear parallels with the pilot episode. The pilot served to introduce the Black family, consisting of Frank, wife Catherine (Megan Gallagher) and daughter Jordan (Brittany Tiplady). The family was depicted returning to Seattle where Frank was born and raised because Frank wanted to protect his family from the evil with which his job as a criminal profiler with the FBI brought him in to daily contact. The end of the episode saw Frank receiving a series of Polaroid photographs of his wife and daughter in an envelope with no return address, setting up a stalking thread that would be resolved in the second season. It is often misconstrued that Frank is "psychic", but Chris Carter has reiterated in commentaries on the Millennium Season One DVD that Frank simply had "a gift", which Frank also stated was "a curse." Nonetheless, his daughter Jordan later turned out to have inherited her father's "gift", suggesting that Frank's abilities are not entirely derived from the knowledge and experience he gained from his work as an FBI profiler. In the pilot, Frank has accurate visions of a murder victim's death just from looking at the victim's corpse wrapped inside a bodybag, which strongly contradicts Carter's assertion that Frank is not psychic.

The Millennium Group's symbol is the Ouroboros.

The Millennium Group

Frank's initial encounter with the Millennium Group came in the person of Peter Watts, played by Terry O'Quinn. The Group was depicted in this and other season one episodes as being an association of former law-enforcement professionals who were called in to consult on crimes by law-enforcement agencies. The Group recognised that Frank had a unique gift for profiling, as he was able to see into the mind of the perpetrator and deduce motive and psychological make-up from crime scene evidence. Frank's gift was presented on-screen as a series of rough-cut cine-film inserts shot from the perpetrator's point-of-view. When Frank began to understand the mind of the perpetrator, he also began to see the world as if through the eyes of the killer. The debate about whether Frank was actually seeing these visions or that they were a visual shorthand and storytelling device by the producers was resolved in the second season, where Frank confirmed that he sees the visions. This was later carried on with a storyline involving Jordan Black, who was also able to see visions, showing that Frank's gift had continued down the Black family line, one that he inherited from his mother.

The Millennium Group was presented as being a complex multi-facted entity in the second season. Carter had left the day-to-day production in the hands of Glen Morgan and James Wong, a writer/producer team who had previously worked on The X-Files and Above and Beyond. Morgan and Wong took the underlying religious themes of the first season and made them explicit in the origin and nature of the Group. It was divided into two opposing factions, the Owls and the Roosters. The Owls believed in a secular Millennium, where Mankind could be guided through the potential disasters of 2000 and prepared for an astronomical event that was due to occur in the 2060's. The Roosters believed in the Biblical End Time foretold in the Revelation of St. John the Divine. They believed that Mankind could not avoid the destruction that was due at the dawn of the Millennium. Instead, they sought to control the End Time through the release of a modified Marburg virus to which they had an antidote that was given to selected members. The Roosters' plan was implied as negotiating themselves in to a position of control and influence through the status of their members and acquisition of controlled knowledge and religious artifacts such as a piece of the True Cross and the Hand of Saint Sebastian. The motives of Frank's patron, Peter Watts, were also called into question, as it was later shown that he had received protection for his family from the viral contagion but had not helped to protect Catherine and Jordan Black.

End of the series

The final season showed Frank returning to Washington and to profiling work at the FBI. Frank is joined by a young, black female partner, Emma Hollis. The Millennium Group is shown at a distance as Frank is alienated from Peter Watts. The episode "Skull and Bones" depicted a mass grave in the path of a new freeway that contained the bodies of former members of the Group. Later in the season, in the episode "Seven and One", the demonic entity fans have dubbed Legion assumes the form of one of the Group's security men. The implication is that the Group have become corrupted by the very evil it was intended to fight against. Despite Frank's warnings and the evidence of her own eyes, Emma makes a commitment at a moment of personal weakness that sees her isolated from all non-Group assistance and Frank is last seen escaping from Washington having taken Jordan from school.

Episode 7#05 of The X-Files, entitled "Millennium", saw Lance Henriksen and Brittany Tiplady (in a cameo appearance) reprise their roles as Frank and Jordan alongside Mulder and Scully in a tale of necromancy and zombification of former Millennium Group members on the cusp of 1999/2000.

Characters

Millennium 05.jpg murdering a new victim in The Mikado]] Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) -- (seasons 1-3) A criminal profiler with an expert ability to see into the mindset of evildoers. Frank has seen the worst humanity has to offer and has suffered two mental breakdowns because of it.

Catherine Black (Megan Gallagher) -- (seasons 1-3) Frank's wife. As a social worker, Catherine is no stranger to the darker side of humanity. Though she was initially supportive of her husband's work, she eventually came to resent the Millennium Group for their secrecy. She dies after contracting a modified Marburg Virus.

Jordan Black (Brittany Tiplady) -- (seasons 1-3) Frank and Catherine's daughter who has inherited her father's gift.

Peter Watts (Terry O'Quinn) -- (seasons 1-3) Initially Frank's partner and good friend. A full fledged member of the Millennium Group, Peter realizes too late that the group has spun out of control due to the demonic influence(s) of "Legion". Initially seen as one of Frank's enemies in season 3 - Frank holds the group, and by extension Peter, responsible for the death of his wife in the rather melodramatic last episode of season 2 - it is revealed later in season 3 that he has, in fact, been protecting Frank and Jordan from the group, which now had designs on Frank's daughter as well due to the early maturity of her own "gift".

Agent Emma Hollis (Klea Scott) -- (season 3) Emma is a young FBI agent who becomes Frank's protege after he returns to Washington. She struggles to understand the criminal mind, as her sister was murdered by a man with no motive. Emma had to also deal with her father's bout with Alzheimer's disease which coerced her into cooperating with the Millennium Group.

Lara Means (Kristen Cloke) -- (season 2) A Millennium Group member who shares visions similar to Frank's, but in the forms of angels, which were bringers of warning of imminent danger. She works with Frank on several cases. She is eventually inducted into the Millennium Group but goes insane due to the secrets they reveal to her.

Dr. Cheryl Andrews (C.C.H. Pounder) -- (seasons 1-3) The Group's brilliant medical and forensic advisor in season one. In subsequent seasons she is portrayed as either betraying or betrayed (and killed) by the Group. Her body is placed in a mass grave under a highway construction site.

Lt. Robert Bletcher (Bill Smitrovich) -- (season 1) A homicide detective for the Seattle police. Best friend of Frank's and often enlisted him to consult on cases. He is murdered by Lucy Butler and hung from a rafter in Frank's basement.

Det. Bob Giebelhouse (Stephen J. Lang) -- (seasons 1-3) Seattle detective with and a cynical view of humanity and a penchant for gallows humor. Initially Bletcher's partner, he becomes the head of Homicide in Season 2.

Det. Teeple (Brian Markinson) --(season 1) Seattle detective, and Giebelhouse's relatively silent partner.

Assistant Director Andy McClaren (Stephen E. Miller) -- (season 3) An FBI Assistant Director who worked with Frank when he was an agent. He makes contact with Frank during season 3.

Special Agent Barry Baldwin (Peter Outerbridge) -- (season 3) An FBI agent who works on the Critical Incidents Response team. Approaches every case with a smarmy, ex-captain of the football team bravado. He is killed by an explosion while attempting to search a suspects apartment.

Lucy Butler (Sarah-Jane Redmond) -- (seasons 1-3) The first and most dangerous of Frank's supernatural opponents, Lucy is described as "The Devil's liege" by a terrified serial killer. She can change shape, and has superhuman strength. It is unclear whether or not Lucy Butler is just another manifestation of Legion, a question made more complicated by the fact that the writers of the show don't seem to have originally intended to suggest there was a being named Legion behind the evil Frank was confronting each week, and the concept seems to have been spackled into the show's self-contradicting mythology by online fans seeking a pattern. It was only in season three that the writers, probably reacting to online speculation, began to consciously deal with Legion. The demonic and uncatchable Lucy bears little resemblance to earlier human menaces Frank came up against, who have been said to be part of Legion. What is clear is that she is a malevolent supernatural being, quite possibly The Devil, or something even worse. Once she made her appearance, it became impossible to argue that the supernatural was not part of the Millennium universe.

Brian Roedecker (Allan Zinyk) -- (season 2) Computer specialist for the Millennium Group. Roedecker had a quirky sense of humor and was a big science fiction fan. He was fired from the Group when they started to become more cultic.

Doug Scaife (Trevor White) -- (season 3) This character replaces Roedecker. An FBI computer specialist, Scaife appears throughout season 3, becoming especially prominent during the final few episodes.

Mabius (Bob Wilde) -- (season 3) Seen working for the Millennium Group in season three in a variety of evil roles. In his final appearance it is implied that he is a mainfestation of Legion.

Polaroid Man (Doug Hutchison) -- (season 1-2) Though he only actually appears in a two-part episode, the pilot episode established that this mysterious figure had been stalking Frank for several years, by taking Polaroids of his family. All that was known about the Polaroid Man was that he served in the military, and that he was a former Millennium Group member.

Episodes

Season one

# Title Original U.S. airdate
1-1 Pilot October 25 1996
1-2 Gehenna November 1 1996
1-3 Dead Letters November 8 1996
1-4 The Judge November 15 1996
1-5 522666 November 22 1996
1-6 Kingdom Come November 29 1996
1-7 Blood Relatives December 6 1996
1-8 The Well-Worn Lock December 20 1996
1-9 Wide Open January 3 1997
1-10 The Wild and the Innocent January 10 1997
1-11 Weeds January 24 1997
1-12 Loin Like a Hunting Flame January 31 1997
1-13 Force Majeure February 7 1997
1-14 The Thin White Line February 14 1997
1-15 Sacrament February 21 1997
1-16 Covenant March 21 1997
1-17 Walkabout March 28 1997
1-18 Lamentation April 18 1997
1-19 Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions April 25 1997
1-20 Broken World May 2 1997
1-21 Maranatha May 9 1997
1-22 Paper Dove May 16 1997

Season two

Millennium 10.jpg) from the Seattle P.D. checks on Frank's family to see if they are safe (Gehenna)]]
# Title Original U.S. airdate
2-1 The Beginning and the End September 19 1997
2-2 Beware of the Dog September 26 1997
2-3 Sense and Antisense October 3 1997
2-4 Monster October 17 1997
2-5 A Single Blade of Grass October 24 1997
2-6 The Curse of Frank Black October 31 1997
2-7 19:19 November 7 1997
2-8 The Hand of St. Sebastian November 14 1997
2-9 Jose Chung's Doomsday Defense''' November 21 1997
2-10 Midnight of the Century December 19 1997
2-11 Goodbye, Charlie January 9 1998
2-12 Luminary January 23 1998
2-13 The Mikado February 6 1998
2-14 The Pest House February 27 1998
2-15 Owls March 6 1998
2-16 Roosters March 13 1998
2-17 Siren March 20 1998
2-18 In Arcadia Ego April 3 1998
2-19 Anamnesis April 17 1998
2-20 A Room With No View April 24 1998
2-21 Somehow, Satan Got Behind Me May 1 1998
2-22 The Fourth Horseman May 8 1998
2-23 The Time is Now May 15 1998

Season three

# Title Original U.S. airdate
3-1 The Innocents October 2 1998
3-2 Exegesis October 9 1998
3-3 TEOTWAWKI October 16 1998
3-4 Closure October 23 1998
3-5 …Thirteen Years Later October 30 1998
3-6 Skull and Bones November 6 1998
3-7 Through a Glass Darkly November 13 1998
3-8 Human Essence December 11 1998
3-9 Omerta December 18 1998
3-10 Borrowed Time January 15 1999
3-11 Collateral Damage January 22 1999
3-12 The Sound of Snow February 5 1999
3-13 Antipas February 12 1999
3-14 Matryoshka February 19 1999
3-15 Forcing the End March 19 1999
3-16 Saturn Dreaming of Mercury April 9 1999
3-17 Darwin's Eye April 16 1999
3-18 Bardo Thodol April 23 1999
3-19 Seven and One April 30 1999
3-20 Nostalgia May 7 1999
3-21 Via Dolorosa May 14 1999
3-22 Goodbye to All That May 21 1999

Awards

Won

  • 1996 People's Choice Award for Favorite New Television Drama Series
  • 1997 Canadian Society of Cinematographers Award for Best Cinematography in a Television Series (Robert McLachlan)
  • 1997 Genesis Award for Outstanding Communication of Animal-Rights in Dramatic Television Series ("Broken World")
  • 1998 Canadian Society of Cinematographers Award for Best Cinematography in a Television Series (Robert McLachlan)
  • 1998 Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Television Drama Series by a Young Actress (Brittany Tiplady)
  • 2000 Canadian Society of Cinematographers Award for Best Cinematography in a Television Series (Robert McLachlan, "Matryoshka")

Nominated

VHS / DVD

Some episodes were released on VHS and then - all three series on DVD.

External links

Science fiction television series | Drama television series | Fox network shows | 1990s TV shows in the United States | Fox Television Studios shows

Millennium (Fernsehserie) | Millennium (série télévisée) | Millennium (serie televisiva) | Millenium (serial) | Тысячелетие (телесериал) | Millennium (TV-serie)

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Millennium (TV series)".

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