|
Millennium
For three years, the Fox network featured the struggles of a
unique and remarkable hero in Chris Carter's Millennium.
Living in a dark world of deplorable crime and unspeakable
horrors, Frank Black found himself regularly facing the evils
of both human nature and the occult. A legendary
forensic profiler gifted with the ability to immerse himself
within the minds of the killers he sought, Frank Black allied
himself with both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the
enigmatic Millennium Group, working with virtuous men and
women driven to face this world's evils defiantly. Frank
found trusted partners within the likes of Peter Watts, Lara
Means, and Emma Hollis, talented professional criminal
investigators dedicated to protecting innocent lives.
Frank's only solace from the undeniable pain of his work came
from the family he desperate tried to keep
dissociated from it. Catherine and Jordan, his
wife and young daughter, proved to be the core of Frank's
being and his continuing source of hope.
Frank stood determined against the building force of evil that
accompanied the countdown to the new millennium, a
bright hero against the darkest of backdrops, a strong and
solemn man who knew all too well that the end is always near
and the only thing needed for evil to triumph is for good
people to do nothing.
Millennium,
unquestionably the darkest network television drama of the
twentieth century, had no rivals when it came to dramatic
storytelling. Both the consistently high production
values of the show and its powerful subject matter made this
series truly unique in the annals of television history. Frank
Black's battle against darkness, week after week, stunned
viewers on both intellectual and emotional levels. Never
before have episodic stories been so imbued with honesty,
emotion, exploration and experimentation. Millennium
was, week after week, successful on nearly every level of
production.
Vastly superior to its
predecessor, The X-Files, this series had no peers. Perhaps
too different, too visceral and painfully honest at times, the
public seemingly shunned the series leaving only a cult
following to invest their hearts and minds in the characters
and mythology.
Season One
Chris Carter, pressured by the
Fox network to create a companion piece to his popular hit
series The X-Files, pitched his pilot for
Millennium early in 1996. Carter was eager to
explore the other side of the horror genre. Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully had spent several years fighting
extraterrestrials and monsters, exploring a world of
supernatural horrors. Thus, Carter created Frank
Black, a behavioral profiler who hunted more terrifying
monsters, human monsters. Hyped to the extreme for
months in advance, Millennium premiered on Fox with the
highest ratings of any premiere the network had shown in its
history.
Unfortunately, in the following
weeks those numbers would continue to decline. Millennium proved far too dark
and disturbing for the average American television viewer. The first season spent twenty-two episodes exploring the
darkest depths of the human soul and the most sickening
portions of the human mind. The show took on a "Serial Killer
of the Week" format as it examined our society's violent
crime with storytelling that was both honest and terrifyingly
forward. It has been said that on more than one occasion Fox
network employees were nightmare-ridden after viewing uncut
episodes of the series.
Each week Frank Black joined
Peter Watts and the Millennium Group, a powerful organization
of crime consultants, in assisting Lieutenant Detective Robert
Bletcher of the Seattle Police Department in an effort to put an end to the
latest killing spree. The body count was high and the
series spared no detail. Viewers were able to watch the
complex criminal investigation process with stunning realism
and attention to details both practical and poignant.
At home, Frank lived in a
gleaming, symbolic yellow house with his beautiful wife, Catherine, and
his innocent young daughter, Jordan. Frank Black proved
that he would go to any lengths to protect his family and
home from the horrors of the outside world. As
the season moved forward, however, it became horribly clear
that evil is a powerful force that can't simply be
investigated, captured, and locked away.
Season Two
When writers Glen Morgan and
James Wong jointly took over the Executive Producer role for
Millennium's second season quite a few changes were
planned and subsequently enforced. Morgan and Wong
quickly made efforts to deviate from the Serial Killer
of the Week pattern, they complicated the yet unexplored
history of the mysterious Millennium Group, they introduced a
sense of humor to the series, and they brought religion and
spirituality more prominently into the scripts.
Morgan and Wong's second season
was immediately accused of subconsciously aping The X-Files,
of deviating from Chris Carter's original vision for the
series. Although these claims are not entirely
unfounded, the show's new direction proved to be more of a
blessing than a curse.
As the second season wore on,
fans found themselves growing more attached to the revitalized
Millennium while, at the same time, the diverse episode
themes attracted new audience members. The show, week by
week, became dramatically more complex and bravely more
artistic. Millennium was continually reinventing
itself. Glen Morgan and James Wong held nothing back as
their scripts delved unabashedly into a world of demons,
angels, dreams, visions, mythology, science, and the human
spirit. Glen's brother, Darin Morgan, brought the show
its first stand-out comedy episodes and it was clear that
Millennium definitely had more than one facet to its
complex nature.
Knowing the second season would
be their, and possibly the show's, last, Morgan and Wong
created a stunning two-part finale, a brilliant piece of
television art that brought the show's world to a dramatic
end.
Season Three
Morgan and Wong's destruction
of the Millennium world at the close of the second
season proved to be a difficult creative challenge for writer Chip Johannessen when he took over the Executive Producer role once
the show was renewed for a third season. How could the
creative staff continue a series in which most of the major
characters and all of the show's powerful plot threads had apparently
been put to rest? The answer, of course, was to reinvent
the series once again.
Downplaying the disasters seen
at the end of the second season, Frank and Jordan Black packed
their bags and left what had gone before behind them. The show followed Frank to Washington, D.C. as he re-enlisted
with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Peter Watts
and the Millennium Group became chilling and unpredictable
enemies as a variety of young new characters were introduced
as Frank's allies, including Agents Emma Hollis and Barry
Baldwin.
The third season of
Millennium was plagued by network attempts to tweak the
show into what they hoped would be a more appealing drama
series. Writing assistants were assigned to examine and
alter the show's scripts, writer/producer Michael Duggan was
temporarily appointed to an Executive Producer position he
didn't truly fit, episodes lost their dismal tone, and the
season began with a shaky start. Just as with the second
season, some loyal fans began to worry.
Fortunately, it didn't take
long for the cast and crew to meet and triumph over these challenges,
and the results were commendable. Millennium's third season would go on to provide some of
the show's most intelligent, bizarre, artistic, and intriguing
stories.
None of this, tragically, was
enough to save the series from the harsh demands of the
network television industry. In May of 1999, just months
before the dawn of the new millennium, the series was
cancelled and aired its final episode. Frank Black's
journey had come to an end.
All in all, Millennium grew over the course of three
years to become one of the most powerful and unique drama
series of all time. Frank Black's investigations were
continually being shaped by a group of brilliant writers and
producers, a talented crew, and an unforgettable cast of
characters. The show truly deserves a spot in the annals
of television history and will always remain prominent in the
hearts and minds of its loyal fans.
|
