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Retired serial-profiler Frank Black has an uncanny and often
unsettling ability to see into the twisted minds of serial
killers. Black knows his "gift" can still be used to help
protect and save others. For that reason he joined the mysterious
Millennium Group, a team of underground ex-law enforcement
experts dedicated to fighting against the ever-growing forces
of evil and darkness in the world. However, he has managed
to track the death of his wife back to the group, whom seem
to be acting against humanities interests. Frank pulls away
from the group, but can anyone ever really leave them?...
Chris
Carter takes hold of the reigns once again (after leaving
them in other hands for season two) for the third season of
Millennium. Oddly enough, this season starts to worm
it's way back to the X-Files style format. There is
a heavier emphasis on paranormal episodes (most notably the
episodes Omerta and Saturn Dreaming of Mercury)
and the Millennium Group starts to take more of a back seat.
While the Group's activities are occasionally mentioned, there
seem to be fewer episodes that fully connected with them (Skull
and Bones being the most obvious one).
As
season three begins, Frank is putting his life back together
after the Marburg virus has done its worse. He eases himself
back into work and finds himself with a partner, Special Agent
Emma Hollis (played wonderfully by the very beautiful Klea
Scott).
My
personal favourite episodes in this series are ...Thirteen
Years Later and Saturn
Dreaming of Mercury.
...Thirteen
Years Later is a very clever take on the old horror B-movies.
Frank
is called in to investigate a murder on a film set of a movie
that is being made based on a case he investigate 15 years
previously. There are some great tongue-in-cheek moments including
Frank sitting through numerous horror movies and working out
how it all ends in a few seconds. This episode also features
glam rock band Kiss
- all of whom also appear throughout the episode as other
characters.
Saturn
Dreaming of Mercury has Frank's
daughter, Jordan, acquire a new imaginary friend. As harmless
as Frank at first thinks this is, he is soon called into the
school when Jordan bites a new boy in her class. This episode
is the only episode that has been carried by Jordan (Brittany
Tiplady). If her acting was not up to the challenge, this
whole episode would not have worked. However, Tiplady is a
fantastic child actress and her scenes are incredibly convincing.
This was also the only episode that made me jump - there is
a particularly nasty graphic sequence where a monster appears
and rips someone's (I won't spoil it for you) face off. The
end of this episode also ties in with events at it's opening,
which is really satisfying.
Other
enjoyable episodes include:
Skull
and Bones, the Millennium Group are hiding a pretty
worrying secret.
Through
a Glass, Darkly an episode about a convicted Pedophile.
I doubt I'm spoiling anything here, but you know when the
story shows a Pedophile in a good light from the start,
that he's probably innocent.
Omerta,
this seasons Christmas episode. When a gangster is shot
in the woods, he is soon brought back to life by two women
who live there. This certainly feels more like an X-Files
episode than a Millennium one, but it works really
well.
The
Sound of Snow,
which has white noise, included on cassette recordings,
giving those listening to them hallucinations which force
them to kill themselves. This episode has a moving conclusion
as Frank appears to be able to get in touch with his wife.
This episode also has a really nerve shattering scene where
a truck hits a car.
Lucy
Butler makes another return in Antipas. Although to
be frank (no pun intended) I think she outstayed her welcome
last season.
Sadly
this season doesn't get to tie up any of the loose ends due
to the fact that no one knew whether another series was in
the offing when production closed on season three.
Notable
guest stars this season include Stargate SG-1's Captain
Carter (Amanda Tapping) in Borrowed Time and Colonel
Maybourne (Tom McBeath) in Omerta; Buffy the Vampire
Slayer's Spike (James Marsters) in Collateral Damage
and Drusilla (Juliet Landau) in Forcing the End; and
Roswell's Michael Guerin (Brendan Fehr) appears again
as a victim who is killed off in the first five minutes.
Extras
include The X-Files's Millennium episode from
season seven, Endgame: The Making of Millennium season
three, and Between the Lines (another short featurette
looking at the real life inspiration for Millennium,
the Academy Group.
The
X-Files episode is interesting, although it doesn't really
add anything to the Frank Black story, and it certainly doesn't
give closure to Millennium - well, apart from the fact
that the world doesn't end on New Year's Eve 1999.
The
Making of featurette is interesting. Chris Carter didn't
sound as though he was impressed by the direction that the
show had taken in the second season and he talked as though
he had come back to help steer it back on course. Lance Henrikson
makes a number of interesting observations on the decision
to make the Millennium Group the bad guys in this season.
A move he states is silly and changed this season for the
worse.
If
you already own seasons one and two then you'll already be
thinking of buying this. It's a good, solid season but it
really is a shame that Frank had to bow out just when everything
was starting to build.
Ray
Thomspson
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