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Summary:
Frank Black, for the third time in his life, finds himself receiving a series of disturbing Polaroid photographs. This time, however,
the paranoia they inspire could prove critical for the digitally enhanced photos depict the victim of a
drowning accident and the face in the Polaroids is Frank's own. Is a
ruthless demon seeking to push him over the edge into madness? Frank's
painful childhood memories and the FBI's concerns regarding his sanity
make it all the more difficult for him to confront the evil attempting to ruin
him.
Season Three on DVD
Synopsis:
Children gather at Frank’s house to help celebrate
Jordan’s birthday. As Jordan blows out the candles, Frank
experiences a series of internal visions, including one in
which he is trapped underwater, gasping for air. Moments
later, a deliveryman brings a package to the house. Inside
are Polaroid photographs.
FBI agents gather inside the conference
room to hear about the case. Among them is Special Agent Del Boxer, who
listens with suspicion as Frank recounts his past experiences with receiving
Polaroid photographs. He tells the group that the technique was the M.O.
of a killer who is now dead. Three years earlier, he began receiving the
photos yet again, but the sender is believed to be deceased as well. In
the past, the photos have been of his family. This time, he is the subject
of the photographer’s lens. Boxer points out that the stills, which depict
a drowned Frank floating in a body of water, have all been doctored with
the aid of a computer. He also believes that Frank knows more than he is
revealing.
Frank tells Emma that he is hiding
something from his fellow agents. He describes how, as children, he and
his brothers went swimming with some friends. One of the friends played
a trick on Frank by yanking him under the water. One of Frank’s brothers
retaliated by doing the same to one of the boys. Unfortunately, the boy
didn’t resurface. The boy’s body was eventually dragged onto shore, but
firemen were unable to revive him. Frank has never been able to put the
incident out of his mind. That night, Frank experiences a nightmare in
which the stalker attacks him with a knife. When Frank awakens, he moves
towards Jordan’s bedroom to see if she is all right. Suddenly, an intruder
appears. Using a Polaroid camera, the man blinds Frank with a flash. Frank
then tumbles down the stairs.
Frank places Jordan in the care of
her grandparents until the intruder is apprehended. However, he is unable
to provide investigators a description of the intruder. This, coupled with
a lack of physical evidence, leads Boxer to conclude that Frank concocted
the entire story, perhaps as part of a nervous breakdown.
Frank pays Father Yahger a visit at St.
Timothy’s. Yahger is familiar with Catherine through her dealings with
the church. Frank tells the priest he feels the presence of evil. Frank confirms
that he has reconciled Catherine’s passing. But when Yahger asks him if
he has reconciled his own, Frank is again struck by the internal
images. Frank is left speechless, as the thought had never occurred to
him.
When Frank returns to his office, a
mail clerk hands him an envelope. Frank immediately instructs everyone,
with the exception of the clerk, to evacuate the building. He explains
that anyone who came in contact with the envelope may have been exposed
to a mass contagion. The incident turns out to be a false alarm, as the
envelope contains a piece of mail that had been forwarded from Frank’s
old address. A short time later, Frank announces that he is leaving the
FBI.
Frank realizes that someone has had
access to his therapist’s files. He pays the therapist a visit, and tells
her that for the first time, he is experiencing how a victim feels instead
of how a killer thinks. The therapist encourages Frank to seek out those
he trusts — and to let them help. Frank takes the therapist’s advice and
telephones Emma, who is at St. Timothy’s church. Frank makes arrangements
to meet Emma there. Meanwhile, Agent Boxer pays Frank’s therapist a visit.
Boxer states that the therapist’s science and understanding are powerless
against Frank’s fear. He then produces one of Frank’s kitchen knives and
raises it into the air. Moments later, Boxer morphs into Mabius.
When Emma emerges from the church,
she sees a form off in the distance, standing in a graveyard, someone who
resembles Frank. The figure suddenly runs off, and Emma gives chase. The
figure disappears, and as Emma looks about, she sees a freshly-dug grave.
Someone suddenly pushes her forward, and she topples into the hole, landing
in a casket. When Frank arrives at the church, he experiences an internal
vision, and sees Emmas being buried alive. He instructs the priest to call
paramedics to the scene. Frank and his fellow agents pull an unconscious
Emma from the casket. Emma eventually regains consciousness. McClaren and
Boxer question Frank about how he knew of Emma’s dilemma. Frank cannot
explain how he knew. And when Frank’s therapist turns up dead, Frank can
only assure the pair that he is not the killer.
Emma telephones Frank about the incident
at the graveyard. Frank still cannot explain how he knew of her whereabouts.
Moments later, Frank hears someone inside the house. Frank follows the
killer, who disappears into the bathroom. The room, however, turns out
to be empty. Suddenly, the bathroom door swings shut, and Frank finds himself
trapped inside. The faucets begin gushing water, and the room begins to
flood. Emma enters Frank’s home, where she comes upon an identical version
of herself. The second Emma points a gun at herself and fires, committing
suicide. The bathroom door strains and creaks from the pressure of the
building water. It gives way, saving Frank at the last moment. Frank opens
his eyes, as if reborn. Moments later, he realizes that everything — the
bathroom, the floor, and his clothes — are dry. Emma, meanwhile, discovers
that her second self has vanished. Frank finds Emma and holds her. |
Photographs:
- Jordan blows out her birthday candles
- Frank expresses concern over the threats
- The suspicious Special Agent Del Boxer
- One of the manipulated Polaroids of Frank
- A young Frank witnesses a drowning
- Footage of Frank's therapy sessions
- McClaren deals with a quarantine
- A look at Frank's visions of his attacker
- Frank turns to Father Yahger for guidance
- Emma Hollis confronts Agent Boxer
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Abyss Rating:
(3/5)
Media Review:
"Weathered, stoic, and almost
defiantly confident, there is very little about Henriksen that is
vaguely defined. As his performances range from intimate nuance to
broad-stroked melodrama and back again, he's able to infuse all facets
of his acting with a delicious stamp of authority. He owns
every element of his on-screen personae... And as Chris Carter places
Frank Black square in the middle of bigger-than-life good vs. evil
scenarios, Henriksen is able to bring his unique brand of acting to
new heights." —Mike Restaino,
DVD File
Trivia:
"Seven and One" is the final
Millennium episode to be written by series creator Chris Carter,
one of only seven episodes he would script throughout the show's
three-year history.
Carter once explained that writing
episodes for the show's third season was a difficult process, even for
a seasoned writer and producer.
"Man, I've worked hard on Millennium
this year," Carter commented prior to this episode's first airing. "I've written and rewritten several shows. It's not like it
was in the first year, but I've certainly paid a lot more attention to
it this year than last. There are some really good episodes coming up.
Really scary episodes. I took the lessons from the things [Morgan and
Wong] did but moved the show in a new direction."
In "Seven and One," Frank Black is
dismissed from the Federal Bureau of Investigation by Assistant
Director McClaren after initiating an unnecessary quarantine. In the
following episodes, however, Frank is back at the Bureau investigating
crimes alongside Emma Hollis and other agents. This apparent
discrepancy in the show's continuity has yet to be explained.
This episode seemingly complicates our
understanding of Frank Black's family line by specifically stating,
for the first time, that he had more than one brother. This would seem
to contradict an obituary clearly stating that Helen Black was
survived by two sons, Frank and Thomas,
seen on-screen in "Midnight of the
Century." The only episode to present one of Frank's brothers in the
flesh is "Sacrament," the first season episode featuring
Philip Anglim as Thomas Black.
Guest star Dean Norris, "Seven and One's"
infuriating Agent Del Boxer, is a well-recognized character actor who
has been seen on television in such shows as The X-Files,
NYPD Blue, Murder One, 24, and CSI and on the
big screen in such films as Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The
One and The Cell.
Director Peter Markle
— who has worked behind the camera on such
television shows as Homicide: Life on the Street, The
X-Files, ER, Strange World, and CSI
—
had directed only one episode of
Millennium prior to "Seven and One," the first season episode "Maranatha."
Death Toll:
1
Title:
The episode's
numerical title references both Jordan Black's eighth birthday and the
religious prophecy concerning an eight-year cycle that Frank Black
discovers while doing research on the internet, a cycle of seven and
one years prophesizing an end to peace in the year 1999.
Soundtrack:
"Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" by the
Backstreet Boys
Starring:
Lance Henriksen as Frank Black
Klea Scott as Emma Hollis
Stephen E. Miller as Andy McClaren
Guest Starring:
Dean Norris as Del Boxer
Norman Armour as Father Yeager
Maxine Miller as Justine Miller
Ken Pogue as Tom Miller
Bob Wilde as Mabius
Mike Dopud as the Clerk
Brad Loree as the Suited Man
Andrew Francis as Frank's Brother
Conor Topley as the Older Kid
Production
Credits:
Production #6C19
Music by Mark Snow
Production Designer Mark Freeborn
Director of Photography Robert McLachlan
Associate Producer Jon-Michael Preece
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 Chip Johannessen
Executive Producer Chris Carter
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