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Summary:
Frank Black and Peter Watts begin the hunt for two escapees from a
women's prison who used brutal force to gain their freedom. Certain
evidence leads the two Millennium Group investigators to believe that
one of the women is pregnant and that she is running under the
belief that this is an immaculate conception. It's up to Frank to find
the escapees before the thoughtless and blunt state police do, and to
prevent what could be a disastrous child birth.
Season Two on DVD
Synopsis:
Inside Garrison Women's
Prison, Juliet "Sonny" Palmer, and her cellmate/lover,
Janette Viti, a pretty 24-year-old, overpower a guard, steal
his uniform, and make their way to a security booth. There
the couple surprise another guard and force him to remove
his uniform. As the guard does so, he reaches for his ankle
holster and, in a flash, shoots Janette. Sonny grabs a
nightstick and subjects the guard to a brutal beating. When
she stops, she realizes Janette is unharmed. The bullet,
they realize, flattened itself on the shield attached to
Janette's stolen uniform. Examining the spent slug, the pair
notice what looks like the silhouette of a human face. The
women move on.
Frank meets with Warden Kellard
at the prison. Kellard labels Sonny a serial killer, as she beat her
stepfather to death with a pipe, used an andiron on her husband, and
has now clubbed a guard to death. Frank examines a map of the
surrounding area. He accurately predicts that the fugitives will ditch
their getaway vehicle. But Frank is puzzled as to why Sonny chose to
escape, as she is eligible for parole in four month's time.
Sonny and Janette overpower a
motorist, Chris Taylor, and take command of his vehicle. The pair
stop at a remote house for purposes unknown. They are disappointed
that no one is home and leave the scene with Taylor still tied-up in
the back seat.
Frank studies Sonny's case
file. He concludes that Sonny crosses over into violence only to
protect others, noting that her stepfather was abusing her younger
sister, and that she miscarried the same night she murdered her
husband, indicating domestic violence. Frank also concludes that
Sonny escaped as a means of protecting something else as yet
unknown. That night, Sonny and Janette get a room at a motel. As
Janette examines herself in a mirror, we see that she is, in fact,
quite pregnant. A motel maid discovers Chris Taylor bound and gagged
in the women's room. He tells Frank, Watts and Kellard about
Janette's pregnancy — a revelation that catches the men by surprise.
Frank concludes that one of the prison guards is the father. He
zeroes in on Ernie Shiffer, an African-American man. Shiffer admits
he raped Janette in the infirmary while she was under sedation.
Janette and Sonny make their
way to a clinic. A sonogram reveals trouble, but before a
practitioner can voice her concern, Sonny learns that the guard she
bludgeoned died from his injuries. The pair leave the clinic. Watts
tells Frank that the nurse spotted a total placenta previa — meaning
Janette could bleed to death if she delivers outside a hospital.
Frank eventually zeroes in on the mysterious house the women visited
earlier. When he arrives at the scene, a car driven by Sonny bears
down on him. The car swerves at the last moment, missing Frank.
Shortly thereafter, Janette experiences contractions.
Frank learns that Sonny once
worked at a train yard in town. Believing the couple might attempt
to flee by train, he makes his way to the yard. There he pinpoints
the train the women would most likely use for their getaway. But
Sonny gets the drop on Frank and takes him prisoner. Frank tells her
he knows the identity of the man who raped Janette. This sends Sonny
into a rage. He also informs her of Janette's medical condition.
Sonny tells Frank that the child is a "miracle baby" — God's child.
Inside the boxcar, Janette's
contractions continue — as does her bleeding. Watts accompanies a
SWAT team to the train yard, and the boxcar is surrounded by armed
men. When Sonny uses Frank's cell phone to demand a doctor, Watts
patches through the nurse from the clinic. The nurse tells Janette
she is aware that she was raped by the prison guard. When Janette
reacts, Sonny snatches away the phone and demands immediate medical
attention. Two police officers don paramedic uniforms and approach
the boxcar. But Frank intervenes, warning Sonny to search their
medical kits and not make an easy target for snipers. Realizing
Frank is on her side, Sonny cuts through the tape that binds his
hands.
Frank helps deliver Janette's
child, which turns out to have pale skin, indicating Shiffer is not,
in fact, the father. As Janette bleeds to death, she tells Sonny how
much she loves her. A short time later, as Sonny exits the boxcar,
she deliberately draws fire by pulling her hand from her pocket, as
if reaching for a gun. Sonny slumps to the ground and dies.
Frank returns to the home where
Janette and Sonny had traveled. There he meets with John and
Jennifer Bayton, a middle-aged African-American couple. The pair
explain that they had been praying for Janette and Sonny, whom they
describe as forgotten people who most want God's hand. A nurse exits
Frank's car and steps forward with the baby. Mrs. Bayton takes the
child and rocks it gently. Meanwhile, Frank examines the silhouetted
face on the spent bullet. It matches a laser etching of Mary, the
Mother of God, sitting on an easel in the couple's home.
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Photographs:
- Juliet Palmer and Janette Viti hide out
- Peter stands with an Idaho SWAT team
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Prison Warden Kellard
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A captive Frank sits besides Janette
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Frank holds Janette's newborn child
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Sonny abducts Frank at gunpoint
Abyss Rating:
(4/5)
Media Review:
"While
it may seem easy to add 'In Arcadia Ego' to the tiny list of failed
installments of this show, at least this narrative had the good graces
to keep the storyline linked to the theological, not the sentimental.
There are some very good things about the episode (the acting is fine,
some of the information we learn is disturbing), but everything boils
down to the miracle of birth and the purity of children. For a show
that has spent relatively little time focused on such foundations, it
requires a lot from the audience to buy into the entire ‘Immaculate
Conception’ resolution. 'In Arcadia Ego' is not Millennium at
its most memorable, but it does represent a decent attempt at keeping
the wee ones in the apocalyptic picture." —Bill Gibron, DVD Talk
Trivia:
Actress
Missy Cridder, the guest star who portrays
Janette Viti in this episode, would go on to star in Glen Morgan and
James Wong's short-lived paranormal drama series The Others.
She has also guest starred on such shows as Murder One,
Strange World, and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
Guest star Ed Lauter, appearing in "In
Arcadia Ego" as Warden Kellard, is a prolific actor who has appeared
in over one hundred films and has guest starred on television shows
past and present including Hawaii Five-O, Charlie's Angels,
The A-Team, Law & Order, ER, and The X-Files.
Death Toll:
3
Title:
"In Arcadia Ego" roughly
translates to "I am in Arcadia." The phrase references Arcadia, a
region of ancient Greece in the
Peloponnesus famed for the idyllic, pastoral lifestyle enjoyed by its
inhabitants. The episode shares its title with many famous works of art, most
notably "Et In Arcadia Ego," a painting by French artist
Nicolas Poussin that emphasizes the idea that worldly happiness and
contentment are fleeting for mortals.
Starring:
Lance Henriksen as Frank Black
Terry O'Quinn as Peter Watts
Guest Starring:
Missy Cridder as Janette Viti
Mary-Pat Green as Juliet "Sonny" Palmer
Ed Lauter as Warden Kellard
Ronald Selmour as Ernie Shiffer
Frances Flanagan as the Nurse
Dean McKenzie as John Bayton
Wanda Wilson as Jennifer Bayton
Steve Oatway as Chris Taylor
David Jean-Thomas as Captain Stephens
R. Nelson Brown as Guard #1
Sean Campbell as Guard #2
Production
Credits:
Production #5C18
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
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