There was a time when we had Ninja Turtles without Michael Bay. Thee had only been dubbed Unforgiven twice. Star Trek was flying high and we were first learning the truth was out there. Yes, I'm talking about that glorious time called the 90s. Sometimes when I get nostalgic, I'll listen to some 90s tunes and let it transport me back in time. Ugh, I'm on the school bus. Ugh, I'm doing homework. Okay, maybe not so glorious, but there was definitely some good television back then, though the networks sure knew how to screw up good sci-fi. Even though The X-Files got a (too long) pass, many others wouldn't be so lucky. Sliders, Earth 2, Space Above and Beyond, MillenniuM and many more were struck down too soon, many of which before they had a proper ending. But some in the sci-fi graveyard have developed quite the fandom and demands for a proper conclusion/continuation. Enter 2015. There's a lot of revival talk happening this year and it's awesome. Twin Peaks is set to return. The X-Files isn't far behind. And now, MillenniuM is coming back in comic book form, written by The X-Files season 10 writer Joe Harris. There have been campaigns to get this show back for years. Spearheading the campaign is the Back to Frank Black website, which is a great resource full of podcast interviews (w/ Chris Carter, Morgan, Wong, Spotnitz, and more), news updates, and other cool stuff. This may not be the return everyone was hoping for, but for a show like this, it's still pretty incredible. I revisited MillenniuM last year and it was a revelation. In the 90s, I was a teen. I didn't analyze what a show had to say about the human condition. I just wanted to be entertained by stories about conspiracies or aliens. I wanted fun zombie shows. Now I see that I may have missed a lot of meaning and depth. This was a show about something. The only thing I remembered with any certainty, other than small snippets from every season, was my parents telling me that I couldn't watch it anymore, which I ignored (sorry). So, let's go back to the 90s and fully explore what this show was all about and understand why its fandom is still going strong today.
What Is MillenniuM about?
The show is about the study of evil in our world as we enter (well, entered) the new millennium. It's not just a procedural show. It goes much deeper than that. This is a show that asks the questions about where evil comes from. In the first season, the show mainly dealt with the psychological forces of evil, but with a little bit of supernatural thrown in. In the second episode, Frank Black (the brilliant Lance Henrikson) asks his wife Catherine if evil is just something in this world or if there's something behind the scenes that's moving it along. This opens the door for the spiritual forces of evil to begin to be explored. In fact, by the end of the first season, Frank has (perhaps) met the entire unholy trinity.
Season One: Into Darkness
In the pilot, Frank explains that his intuition has become so strong that he can see what a killer sees. It's not psychic, he literally "becomes evil" so he can understand a killer. In some of the episodes later on, you feel like the writers use his "gift" as more of a psychic thing, but in these first few episodes this is what it is. Chris Carter said he wanted to make a TV show like Se7en, but with a twist. I say that here and in most of the first season, he succeeded. Look, I love The X-Files just as much as the next person, but I really feel like Carter wrote some of his best scripts here, in particular the pilot and the second episode. It's here you meet Peter Watts (Terry O'Quinn), Frank's contact with the Millennium group, to which he is a consultant. Their relationship becomes much more complex in the years to come. As I said before, the show begins to set up an arc that begins to explore the supernatural dimensions of evil. In one episode you have the possible awakening of the Anti-Christ. Sadly, this is never followed up. Then there's an episode involving an evil woman who may or may not be Legion. Another episode you see an angel strike down a demon with a lightening bolt! Some of this is left ambiguous so as to not be too religion-specific, but the blue print for a biblical-based oncoming storm seems pretty clear. The season one finale puts all this aside, though, as we finally get to deal with an recurring nemesis/stalker. It's a brilliant and surprising close.
Season Two: The season of division
Fans either love it or hate it. Chris Carter had a full plate here, with season five of The X-Files and a movie in pre-production. The reigns were handed over to Glen Morgan and Garrett Wong (Space: Above and Beyond, Final Destination). Morgan and Wong sat down and made a clear plan for the whole season. Carter, for all his strengths, did not really plan out his shows' continuity in advance. Just look at how The X-Files changed and evolved. So Morgan/Wong took the beginnings of a supernatural evil that was presented in season one and ran with it. What you have now is a story not about serial killers and their psychology, but about greater powers that are waging war and the Millennium group being a factor in that war, having a special knowledge about things you didn't know about before. Those that wanted the show to be more grounded in the evil that people do hated this. But to say that this more cosmic battle of good and evil was unprecedented is wrong. I think what some people had more issues with is how the group changed. Lance himself hated it. Carter hated it. They based the Millennium group on The Academy Group, a real investigative agency comprised of former FBI Agents. Morgan/Wong changed them into a sort of secret society. Whether you like it or not, this is the most discussed and dissected season of the show...
The premiere episode, The Beginning and The End, kicks off the season in a rather surprising way. After the show's resolution, Catherine has Frank move out! Some fans didn't understand why she made him leave, but I get it. Frank said in the pilot that he could become evil, or "the thing we fear most". Well, he became the thing Catherine feared most in this episode, even though it was to protect his family. It's also important to note that Frank was in a mental institution for a while (before season one) because the evil things that he saw drove him crazy. Catherine knows that he could snap again. In her mind, who's to say he doesn't start to put on that evil more often? And it's all because of his involvement with the group. So, until he can really sort this out and leave the group, he needs to go away. I don't think it was too quick. There had already been a murder in their house last year. The evil is a part of both their lives. And she hates them for it.
As season two progresses, you learn more about some of the group's goals, but they still remain a mystery. Frank, alongside new character Lara Means, are both considered candidates for official membership in the group. Lara believes that their early work with the group were 'tests'. The more Frank learns about them, however, the more he doesn't want any part of what they are now. Lara eventually becomes a member, but it drives her insane. The season climaxes in a two-part tour-de-force that sees a viral outbreak unleashed in the world, which Peter thinks is the fourth horseman of the apocalypse. These two episodes are the most tightly-paced, theatrical-quality episodes of the entire run of the show. Morgan and Wong should be proud of what they accomplished here. The season ends in one of the most chilling and dreadful shots you will ever see. You will never think of the song "In the Year 2525" the same way again. It's probably one of the best cliffhanger endings of all time (outside The Best of Both Worlds). Essentially, the world is doomed...which begs the question how on earth you resolve such a cliffhanger. Morgan and Wong have said in separate podcast interviews that they did indeed have several "outs" for this ending. But alas, it wasn't meant to be. Chris Carter took back the show and gave these guys the boot, not even bothering to ask what they intended to do...
Season Three: Back to Formula
Even though we no longer have Morgan and Wong, Chris Carter is back, as is Frank Sponitz. The very talented Chip Johenssen is promoted to show runner (after a brief stint by Michael Duggan) and some good writers from the last season are still around. On paper, this still looks great. The problem is that it looks like they chose to retcon a little with the season finale in order to accomplish their new goals for this year. It wasn't bad, but disrespecting the continuity of the show is disrespecting your loyal fans. Even when they had the opportunity to address certain things, to tie events together, they didn't. Most people debate whether season one is better than season two, but most agree that season three is the least of them. Which isn't to say it's no good. It, in fact, became very good. But when you stumble out of the gate after such a great finale, it's not surprising that viewership started to decline, though the ratings still were decent enough by season's end.
We begin with a bang. A plane crash. A bunch of people with freaky eyes. A house explodes. Are you not entertained? Yeah okay, but what about that dreadful final shot of season two?? Where's the payoff? Carter and the gang couldn't think of anything I guess, so they set this episode several months later. The world is apparently fine now. Nothing is totally reversed, it's just altered. Actually, I take that back, they do revert Frank's hair, but that was a decision by Fox because they didn't want a gray-haired lead. Genius. People had a problem when season two changed the Millennium group, but Morgan and Wong at least had enough respect for past episodes to acknowledge this and make a gradual change. In the season three premiere, they make the changes, but they don't acknowledge the past. They do it later, but not now. It feels like a different show. This writing team should know better...
It sounds like I'm going to bad-mouth the entire season, but that's not true. In fact, once Duggan departs (after penning the worst script of the show), the season gets quite good. I'd say just about every episode is essential viewing in the second half. In the midst of this solid run, the episode "The Sound of Snow" finally deals with the discrepancies between season two's mythology and season three. This episode, or segments of it, should have started the season. The other episodes in this run have a lot of emotional, thrilling and frightening moments, including the continuation of the Lucy Butler/Legion arc that's been going on since the first season. As for the ending itself, the show gets a huge two-part conclusion, but it's one of those Network-mandated "make it work as both a season and series finale" since renewal was up in the air. It always was for this show. Fortunately, the conclusion mostly works. There are still questions, yes, including some shocking implications about the group, but Frank and Jordan's final words about the battle of good and evil sum things up perfectly as they drive into the sunset. The X-Files crossover episode "Millennium" didn't do much to close any of these remaining threads. It seemed like just an excuse to have a zombie episode. A.D. Skinner says the group disbanded, but I don't believe that. Some say that Chip Johanssen's X-Files script "Orisin", which aired a few weeks later, is more of a proper MillenniuM episode than the crossover, which is actually very true.
Every season is different, but the one consistency in it all is Frank Black; a hero against dark forces both physical and incorporeal. He's always brilliantly written and perfectly performed. One thing is certain: the world could sure use Frank today. And now we get that chance finally. As a show, MillenniuM is probably one of the best. It's good, intelligent stuff that makes you think. It's surprisingly pro-faith at times (depending on how you interpret things) and was very bold for it's time. When I watch a show like Sleepy Hollow, I ask myself: What is this saying about evil or sin? Is it exploring the human condition or does it want to be just a fun zombie show? I mean, sure it's fast-paced, exciting stuff and it does the whole fish-out-of-water thing very well. It's simply a different show for a different time, whether it's better or worse is yet to be determined. All I know is that I enjoyed the heck out of re-watching this old show. It's fun to go back and see what you forgot and also to find new meaning in it. We may not have flying cars yet, but we do have the best of the 90s coming back. I'll take a new X-Files over Jaws 19 any day. And it's also nice to be blogging about sci-fi again.
See you again in 25 years. (Just kidding, hopefully sooner than that.)
EDIT: For some reason Blogsy published this on "March 2014"...which is wrong. I posted this 01/26/2015.
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