|
Summary:
When a meeting between Frank Black and his Millennium Group superiors
leads to outraged outbursts and an angry exchange of verbal blows, Frank decides that he's
going to pursue the investigation of a teenager who's gone missing in
the Alaskan wilderness despite their explicit objections.
Season Two on DVD
Synopsis:
Frank meets with the
Millennium Group's members. During the tense inquisition,
the question turns to Frank's family and his stabbing of a
suspect the Group was in the process of investigating. Frank
grows enraged and leaves the room. Later, Frank, Catherine
and Jordan attend a lecture at a planetarium. Catherine
introduces Frank to the Glasers, a couple whose son, Alex,
disappeared in the Alaskan wilderness. As Frank and the
Glasers talk, Catherine takes an interest in an astrologer's
account of the stars and the millennium.
Frank accompanies the Glasers to
their home. There he observes Alex's bedroom and his many belongings.
The Glasers explain that they paid for Alex's trip to Alaska as a high
school graduation present. Frank then makes his way to the bedroom of
Alex's younger brother, Ian, where the boy busies himself with a
refractor telescope. After Frank receives an internal "hit" from the
telescope, he tells the Glasers he will be traveling to Alaska to find
their son.
Watts tells Frank that the
Group has cut off its assistance meaning Frank will be on his own.
Undaunted, Frank flies to Stebbins, Alaska, where he meets with
Sheriff Bowman. The Sheriff tells Frank that the wealthy Alex made
enemies of the locals by buying expensive gifts for townspeople's
wives. Bowman also recounts how he saved Alex during a barroom
brawl. Shortly thereafter, a body washes up in a fisherman's net.
The Sheriff and a local doctor examine the badly decomposed corpse.
The Sheriff concludes the body is that of Alex Glaser, but Frank
disagrees. Frank then retrieves a sprig of cedar from the victim's
crushed face. Later, Frank has difficulty accessing his desktop
computer through his laptop. He asks Catherine to drive to his
apartment in an attempt to straighten out the problem. With
Catherine's assistance, Frank determines that Alex made a five
hundred dollar credit card purchase at a general store in Stebbins.
Shortly thereafter, Watts and his men burst into Frank's apartment
and begin dismantling his computer equipment.
Frank learns from a clerk at
the general store that Alex, using the pseudonym "Alex Ventoux,"
purchased a telescope, which he had the clerk deliver to the second
grade class of a local elementary school. Frank realizes that Alex
was jettisoning all of his material possessions in an attempt to
make peace with the world and begin a new life. Using a calculator
and charts mapping seasonal currents and drifts, Frank determines
the location where the body fell into the river. He charters a
seaplane to fly him up the coast. The pilot tells Frank that he will
leave at four thirty sharp with or without him.
Frank begins the arduous trek
up the river bank. He eventually comes upon the exact location where
the body fell into the river, and spots a smashed emergency radio
transmitter, a towering cedar, and Alex's diary, nearby. Frank also
hears a voice in his head the voice of Alex. He tells Frank that he
broke his leg and will never make it back home. Meanwhile, when
Frank fails to return at the designated time, the pilot flies away,
leaving behind a survival pack.
Frank heads towards a bluff
when he notices the night sky pulsating with light. Above him, an
atmospheric disturbance sets the area aglow. He then hears the voice
of Alex Glaser. Turning, he sees Alex propped against a rock, his
leg broken, emaciated. Frank promises Alex he will not let him die.
He constructs a makeshift stretcher from the surrounding brush and
drags the injured boy through the wilderness. As he traverses a
treacherous path, Frank loses his footing. Alex plunges into the
river, and Frank leaps in to save him. During the struggle, Alex
collides with a boulder and loses consciousness. Frank picks Alex up
in his arms and makes his way to the seaplane, where Sheriff Bowman,
Watts, and a rescue party await.
Alex is flown to a hospital for
treatment. But when Frank stops by for a visit, he is told by a
nurse that Alex has disappeared. Later, as Mr. and Mrs. Glaser
listen, Frank reads aloud Alex's final passage from his diary. In
it, Alex makes mention of a past life, and signs the entry "Alex
Ventoux." Frank explains that, five hundred years earlier, a man
named Petrarch climbed a mountain just to see the view, ushering in
the beginning of the Renaissance. The name of the mountain Petrarch
climbed, Frank states, was Ventoux. Later, Catherine gives Frank a
letter from the Millennium Group stating that he "passed the first
election."
|
Photographs:
- Frank roams the Alaskan wilderness
- Peter arrives by pontoon plane in Alaska
-
Frank observes the Aurora Borealis
-
Rescuers take Alex from Frank's arms
- Frank stays behind as the team departs
- Frank discovers
an injured Alex Glaser
- Peter examines Frank's unused supplies
- Catherine and Peter argue over Frank
Abyss Rating:
(4/5)
Media Review:
"Although
it may chiefly be remembered for its stunning scenery, there is
certainly more to this transcendental episode than meets the eye. We
finally get to learn a little more about the Millennium Group, and its
selection procedure. Catherine and Jordan are back, and there are
finally some signs of a reconciliation, with Catherine beginning to
come to terms with Frank's work — and his Ladies of the Night
CD ROM! — with the help of Barbara Watts. At Luminary's core
there's a strong central mystery, which Wright spices up with some
unusual narrative techniques. Johannessen's script is sharp, with
exactly the right measure of mysticism and spirituality. Watch very
closely and you'll see that the credit card number that Catherine taps
into Frank's 'Plastic' program isn't exactly the same as the one Frank
reads out to her, and isn't the one on the receipt from Monroes!"
—Anthony Tomlinson, Shivers
"Frankly, this is one of the best episodes
ever of Millennium, a true benchmark in the series.
Pitting Frank against the Group, Peter against Frank and drawing
Catherine back in to battle for her man are just some of the amazing
elements surrounding what is a very powerful and moving mission. This
is really more the story of Frank’s personal quest for balance and
answers than the case of a missing teenager. From the incredibly
well-written script to the heartbreaking ending, it’s a shame that the
series didn’t follow this pattern more often. 'Luminary' proved that
the mythology and the methodology of crime solving could go hand in
hand and combine into something truly transcendent." —Bill Gibron, DVD Talk
Trivia:
Chip Johannessen's script for this
episode was inspired by the real life
experiences of Chris McCandless.
Like Alex Glaser, the disillusioned McCandless abandoned all of his
worldly possessions and a promising academic future to take a new name
and immerse himself in the Alaskan wilderness.
McCandless' search for enlightenment was
chronicled in the acclaimed Into
The Wild by Jon Krakauer. Into The Wild, like this
episode's story, is accompanied by journal entries written by the
young man during his journey. Ultimately, mounting perils and
misfortune caused McCandless to die of starvation on August 18,
1992.
Johannessen explains that his motivation
in writing "Luminary" was to separate Frank Black from the Millennium
Group, even as Frank is being considered for a more integral role in
the shadowy organization.
"I wanted to write a story where Frank
chose to stand up to the Millennium Group and do something he felt was
personally important, based just on his instinct and his vision.
Although the Millennium Group was clearly pleased with him in the end,
it wasn't a task they set for him and yet it was the right thing for
him to do, and they were wise enough to see that."
Following a common theme throughout the
second season,
Johannessen sought to depict the show's
hero struggling with his own fallibility in a literal and metaphorical
wilderness.
"I wanted Frank to get out in the woods,
having followed his inner voices, and have this moment where he
realizes that the kid is dead and that he had been completely wrong to
go on the search. It should be one of those moments in your life where
you just feel lost. And then he'd realize the kid was still alive and
that he was called there for a reason."
Mark Snow, the talented musician who
provided the underscore music for every episode of Millennium,
composed a particularly striking soundtrack to accompany Frank's quest
into the wilderness. Snow, when listing some of his favorite
Millennium episodes for the Abyss, gave special mention to this
episode. "The show 'Luminary' was a favorite of mine for the music."
The Journal of Alex Ventoux
Death Toll:
1
Title:
While a luminary can be any
celestial event or body that provides
light, such as this episode's aurora borealis, a luminary can also be
an individual that serves to inspire others.
Starring:
Lance Henriksen as Frank Black
Megan Gallgher as Catherine Black
Brittany Tiplady as Jordan Black
Terry O'Quinn as Peter Watts
Guest Starring:
Tobias Mehler as Alex Glaser
Rob Freeman as Mr. Glaser
Tamsin Kelsey as Mrs. Glaser
Brion James as Sheriff Bowman
Judith Maxie as Finley
Gardiner Millar as Group Member
John Moore as the Lecturer
Jessica Schreier as Barbara Watts
Matthew Walker as the Inquisitor
Bart Anderson as the Clerk
Hagan Beggs as the Doctor
Robin Collins as the Fisherman
Bernie Coulson as the Pilot
Marke Driesschen as the Weatherman
Production
Credits:
Production #5C12
Music by Mark Snow
Production Designer Mark Freeborn
Director of Photography Robert McLachlan
Associate Producer Jon-Michael Preece
Consulting Producer Chip Johannessen
Consulting Producers Darin Morgan
Co-Producer Robert Moresco
Co-Producer Paul Rabwin
Producer Thomas J. Wright
Co-Executive Producer Ken Horton
Co-Executive Producer John Peter Kousakis
Executive Producer Glen Morgan
Executive Producer James Wong
Executive Producer Chris Carter
|
