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Summary: A
wayward juvenile delinquent, with
with the support of a sadistic friend, begins taking
advantage of families grieving the loss of a loved one to a murderous end. Frank Black puts
himself in the troubled boy's frame of mind to find answers as
Catherine looks elsewhere, into the boy's tortured family life.
Season One on DVD
Full Transcript Available
Quote:
"This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks for a
sign, and yet no sign shall be given to it..." —Luke 11:29
Synopsis:
At a Seattle cemetery, James Dickerson, a handsome 20-year-old,
lurks outside the chapel during a college football player's funeral. After
the mourners leave, James approaches the deceased's mother and sister.
Calling himself "Ray Bell," he gains their trust by pretending to be a
friend from college. He hugs the boy's grieving mother, savoring the hug
in an unsettling way. That night, the mother visits the open grave one
last time, when suddenly hands reach out of the grave, and drag the terrified
woman inside.
Her corpse is discovered
the next day. Bletcher asks Catherine, in her capacity as a Victim Services
Department counselor, to talk to the victim's husband. He is angry and
refuses to cooperate with the police because they won't let him see his
wife's body. Bletcher reveals the reason to Catherine: the body is shockingly
mutilated.
At the crime scene, Frank is able to feel the rage of the
killer. He senses the rage is not directed toward the victim but toward someone
else. Perhaps her late son? Frank interviews the family at the chapel. His
obvious sympathy reaches them. They realize the stranger calling himself Ray
Bell is most likely the killer. Frank discovers that the dead boy's football
team pin is missing from the body.
Inside his spartan,
institutional bedroom, James wears the missing pin, as Connor, older and
tougher, bursts in and berates him for blowing curfew. Connor tells James
he won't cover for him any more, and orders him to stay inside. After Connor
leaves, James circles an obituary in the paper.
After finding the name Ray Bell in the same newspaper as the
football player's obituary, Frank realizes James must have attended other
funerals before, befriending mourners and taking souvenirs. Last night he
crossed the line into murderous violence, possibly for the first time. Next time
will be easier for him.
James attends another funeral, and he convinces one of the
mourners, Tina, that he was a childhood friend of the deceased. He takes her to
the lake shore, where he pretends to share memories so convincing that Tina
breaks down in tears. He hugs her, savoring the moment beyond all reason.
Sensing something is wrong, Tina pulls away. Reacting to her alarm, James
apologizes and leaves her. Soon afterward, while grieving alone, Tina is
viciously attacked.
Tina's mutilated
body is discovered in the lake. When they find a message carved on her
abdomen ("Stop Looking"), Frank realizes there must be a message on the
first body too. He asks Peter Watts to look for it. Frank finds Tina's
barrette, and Watts is able to lift fingerprints that identify James Dickerson:
a recently paroled convict with a sealed juvenile crime record, now living
in a group home. When the police surround the house, Connor — the trustee — secretly
helps James escape.
They search James' room and discover his secret stash: a
journal and pen, newspaper obituaries, and small souvenirs he's taken from
funerals. Catherine analyzes James as a classic lost child. In and out of foster
homes, abused and neglected, James raised himself. Going to funerals is his
attempt to connect with the world, to find emotional contact and family.
Previous foster families described James as a loving kid. What pushed him over
the edge to violence?
Meanwhile, James
hides out at Skorpion Salvage, a junkyard patrolled by vicious dogs. Connor
brings James food and comforts him when he denies murdering anybody. Connor's
feelings for James obviously go beyond mere friendship.
Frank notices that
the "S" carved on the first victim's stomach is the same stylized design
as the "S" on the Skorpion Salvage giveaway pen found in James' stash.
He realizes James must be hiding at the junkyard. But when Frank and the
police move in, the dogs viciously maul James and Connor escapes.
Catherine interviews
Mrs. Dechant, James' birth mother. Now a typical suburban housewife, she
gave James up for adoption as an unwed teenager. James showed up abruptly
three years ago, wanting to be part of her life, but she rejected him.
Catherine begs for her help, and Mrs. Dechant reluctantly agrees to see
him.
When Mrs. Dechant
visits James in jail, he greedily hugs her: his effort to find meaning
in the world by grabbing another human being and never letting go. Mrs.
Dechant bolts from the room, unable to go through with what they ask. James
is a stranger to her, and is the state's problem. Connor watches the whole
thing.
Though James had
contended his innocence up to this point, after his mother rejects him,
James confesses. But Frank is dissatisfied. As he and Catherine drive away,
he realizes the truth in a flash. Connor wants James all to himself.
"Stop Looking" is his warning to James. Stop looking for love from anyone
else. And Mrs. Dechant will be Connor's next victim.
Unaware that Connor
lurks nearby, Mrs. Dechant is attacked while she is preparing a bath. Frank
enters the house and makes his way to the upstairs bathroom after seeing
water dripping from the ceiling. He gets there just in time to interrupt
Connor. Mrs. Dechant is wounded but alive. Connor tries to garrote Frank,
but Frank manages to knock Connor backwards into the bathtub and hold him
underwater until he loses his strength to fight.
Connor is arrested and charged with the crimes, as
James, cleared of any crimes and recovering from his wounds, starts picking out
obituaries. |
Photographs:
- Frank finds lilies at the bottom of a grave
- Frank and Bletcher gaze into a grave
- The troubled James Dickerson
- James scans recent obituaries
- Frank reads a support group poster
- A mutilation conveys a clear message
Abyss Rating:
(3/5)
Media Reviews:
"In a series that has never made a bad episode, this stands out better
than most. 'Blood Relatives' is a solid story centering around a
dark, but perfectly thought out, plot and boasting excellent
performances... In the best Millennium tradition, things are
never quite what they seem, and the overriding feeling at the end is
of sadness and hopelessness." —Andy Lane, Dreamwatch
"A
recent Millennium, which dealt with a troubled youth who just
couldn't resist the funerals of strangers, seemed to back off from the
show's usual apocalyptic piffle and concentrate on two things that,
until then, had been of minimal concern: story and characters. It was
a marked improvement."
—Associated Press
"Batting two for two, Millennium
hits another home run by marrying an original premise to a creepy
causality to create an installment that is as shocking as it is
sentimental. With elements reminiscent of Cracker’s 'Best Boys'
— troubled teen looking for love
from the mother who abandoned him
— we get a great set of villains, a
nice bit of police work by Bletch and the boys, and even the
incorporation of Catherine into Frank’s line of work. She counsels the
families affected by the uninvited mourner and more than holds her own
against the Seattle PD and her husband’s hush-hush organization. With
a nice open ending and a very atmospheric, moody tone, this episode
really excels." —Bill Gibron, DVD Talk
Trivia:
"Blood Relatives" was the first
Millennium script to be written by Chip Johannessen. The
screenwriter would go on to become one of the series' most noteworthy
staff writers, penning a total of 13 Millennium episodes. Johannessen would also adopt the role of Executive Producer during the
show's third season.
Both of this episode's primary guest
stars should be known to science fiction television aficionados. Actor Sean Six starred, under heavy make-up, in the cult classic
Alien Nation and its various telefilm follow-ups. Likewise,
John Fleck has since come to hold a significant recurring role, under
heavy make-up, on Star Trek: Enterprise.
Death Toll:
2
Title:
The
episode's title is a play on words referencing the murder victims
targeted throughout the episode, each a blood relative of an
individual recently deceased. It also emphasizes the fact that
James Dickerson, unable to draw support of any kind from his own blood
relations, was in constant search of a suitable replacement for his
lost familial connections.
Starring:
Lance Henriksen as Frank Black
Megan Gallagher as Catherine Black
Bill Smitrovich as Lt. Bob Bletcher
Guest Starring:
John Fleck as Connor
Sean Six as James Dickerson
Brian Markinson as Detective Teeple
Stephen James Lang as Detective Giebelhouse
Lynda Boyd as Mrs. Dechant
Nicole Parker as Greer Cort
Diana Stevan as Mrs. Cort
Bob Morrisey as Mr. Cort
Deanna Milligan as Tina
Production
Credits:
Production #4C06
Music by Mark Snow
Production Designer Sheila Haley
Director of Photography Robert McLachlan
Associate Producer Jon-Michael Preece
Consulting Producer Ted Mann
Consulting Producer James Wong
Consulting Producer Glen Morgan
Co-Producer Ken Dennis
Co-Producer Chip Johannessen
Co-Producer Frank Spotnitz
Co-Executive Producer Jorge Zamacona
Co-Executive Producer Ken Horton
Co-Executive Producer John Peter Kousakis
Executive Producer Chris Carter
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