Millennium - Complete Season 2  (1998)

Rating: NR

Distributor: Fox Home Entertainment

Release Date: January 4, 2005
Review posted: February 1, 2005

Reviewed by Dennis Landmann

SYNOPSIS

Retired serial-profiler Frank Black (Lance Henrikson) has the uncanny ability to see into the minds of criminals. Since leaving the FBI he has worked with the Millennium Group, a clandestine team of ex-law enforcement experts battling the evil that is steadily growing as the new millennium draws near. But when his wife (Megan Gallagher) is kidnapped, Frank learns that there are secrets the group has kept from him, including friend and Millennium member Peter Watts (Terry O'Quinn). Already suspicious of the group's real motives, a startling and deadly division within the group itself finally convinces Frank to quit. But as Frank tries to save his friends and co-workers from the impending danger, he's horrified to discover that it may be too late to save anyone.

CRITIQUE

"Wow" is the word I used to describe my reaction to the first season of Millennium. I was impressed by its dark subject matter and how the character of Frank Black existed in a world (set in Seattle, Washington) that seemed plagued by murderers, psychopaths, and plain evil. Season 1 set up the idea of an apocalyptic future and the fight between good and evil. It was effectively creepy and suspenseful even though the stories consisted routinely of the "serial killer of the week" type, yet this didn't bother me.

When I got Season 2 to review I thought I was going to see the same type of suspense and stories involving Frank having to solve or assist a hideous crime, or battling evil. But no, the quality of the stories and the dark subject matter were somewhat neglected as Chris Carter turned the show over to fellow X-Files scribes James Wong and Glen Morgan (Willard) for the second season. Wong and Morgan developed a few interesting scripts during the season but their decision to make the Millennium Group an evil organization turned me off to some degree.

Plus, Frank's relationship with his wife and daughter turns out for the worse after he kills the Polaroid Man. His friendship with Peter Watts is tested several times during the season, and he also tries to decide whether joining Millennium will benefit him or not. In short, Frank Black becomes a changed man after his wife decides to move out, making him grow more weary of his ability to see inside the minds of the killers and his will to keep doing his job. Lance Henriksen handles the changing face of Frank pretty well, however.

Moreover, Season 2 introduces several religious elements to the plot as well as the forthcoming prophecy. For example, The Right Hand of St. Sebastian finds Frank and Peter in Germany searching for a holy relic that may uncover secrets of the Group, but they find some dangerous opposition in their search which means there's more going on than Frank can know. The twist at the end of this episode is not bad, and overall this is one of my favorites from the season, however that's not saying as much as you might think.

Some other good episodes include Sense and Antisense, Frank assists in a search for a person who may have contracted a deadly disease and later learns something sinister, 19:19, Frank and Peter work with police in a race against time to find a busload of missing children after they were kidnapped, Goodbye, Charlie, Frank and new associate Lara Means (Kristen Cloke) investigate a man (Tucker Smallwood) who performs mercy killings, and The Mikado, Frank and Peter investigate a live killing on the Internet leading them to a serial killer from the past. Luminary is actually pretty good, it involves Frank searching for a missing boy in Alaska.

Monster is actually decent, and A Room With No View is interesting because Frank believes Bletcher's killer has surfaced again kidnapping a boy (but again there's no closure, perhaps in Season 3 the killer will be caught). The two-part story Owls and Roosters is quite mysterious and overall enjoyable but mostly drives forward the power struggle that's going on between Millennium Group and a third group (made up of Nazis, always the reliable villains), plus there's a nod to Taxi Driver at the end of the first episode.

Last season didn't have actual clunkers, but this time there's two episodes that are just crap (it can't just be me): Jose Chung's Doomsday Defense and Somehow, Satan Got Behind Me. A Single Blade of Grass has some interesting elements, but overall is kind of silly and oddly out there. Beware of the Dog is not a bad episode, but just a bit out there (although it sets up the Old Man character). The Curse of Frank Black is a Halloween episode where strange things happen, and indeed it is strange, perhaps too much so.

Where things start to fall apart for Millennium, and it was sad to witness, is with the two-part season finale, starting with The Fourth Horseman and concluding with The Time Is Now. Frank must save himself and his family as a breakout of a deadly virus affects the entire planet. The Millennium Group knows about it and gives a vaccine to Peter and Frank without them knowing, which really doesn't sit well with Frank as his wife and daughter may die - towards the very end they drive out to the woods and stay inside a cabin hoping to survive the breakout. The disappearance of Lara Means is explored in this two-parter, with Frank concerned about her well being. The sequence in which Lara goes crazy is too long, but most appalling is the fact that this sequence is fucking terrible and just plain stupid, it was very irritating. In short, I hated it, it totally distracted from the main story.

So yeah, the second season has some standout episodes but the overall tone is not as dark and mysterious as it was in the first season. And secondly I didn't like how the story of Frank Black and the Millennium Group was explored. I'm disappointed by Season 2 on some level but not completely, and therefore I will rate it a 7 which I think is fitting and generous enough.

The second season's 23 episodes break down like this:

Disc 1: The Beginning and the End, Beware of the Dog, Sense and Antisense, Monster

Disc 2: A Single Blade of Grass, The Curse of Frank Black, 19:19, The Hand of Saint Sebastian

Disc 3: Jose Chung's Doomsday Defense, Midnight of the Century, Goodbye Charlie, Luminary

Disc 4: The Mikado, The Pest House, Owls, Roosters

Disc 5: Siren, In Arcadia Ego, Anamnesis, A Room With No View

Disc 6: Somehow Satan Got Behind Me, The Fourth Horseman, The Time Is Now

THE VIDEO

Fox presents the second season of Millennium in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. There's nothing wrong with this presentation, in fact it looks quite chilly and dark as it should. There's grain here and there, as well as some dust, and some images are very dark. Dark tones and black levels look relatively good. Image quality is perfectly fine, no major flaws. I didn't notice any compression artifacts. The show's color palette is mostly dark, but brighter colors such as red and yellow come through quite nicely.

THE AUDIO

Fox presents Millennium in English 2.0 Dolby Surround. There's nothing going on with the rear speakers as all sound comes through the front speakers. In effect, dialogue sounds just fine, it's clear and easy to understand. I didn't hear any distortions or noise during the presentation. Sound effects and Mark Snow's creepy score come through well in this 2.0 track. Overall, there's not enough bass to the presentation, but the 2.0 track gets the job done.

THE EXTRAS

Except for two commentaries, the rest of the special features are located on disc six.

There are two audio commentaries: The Right Hand of St. Sebastian by director Thomas J. Wright, which is fairly technical but also includes Wright's thoughts about the season and some other interesting things, and The Mikado by writer Michael R. Perry, which is also a decent track with a few good tidbits here and there.

The Turn of the Tide: Making Season Two (50:00) is nearly not as good as the Season 1 documentary, because first of all James Wong and Glen Morgan decided to not even show up to be interviewed (but perhaps for good reasons, though I don't know). Also, actors Terry O'Quinn and Kristen Cloke are absent, too. However, there is a new interview with Chris Carter and some of the other crew, while Lance Henrikson's interview is dated from production of the second season. In terms of talking about the season, the documentary is mixed sounding overly positive as if to avoid certain issues that went on (or didn't go on). Overall, it's an OK documentary.

Academy Group: Victimology (15:00) features interviews with members of this group who discuss the practice of creating profiles. Some of the crime stories discussed are pretty harsh but they serve a purpose to explain the subject and inform. Not a bad featurette.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I'm a little hesitant to recommend the second season because it doesn't feel as intense and dark as the first season, instead it turns things around a little too much, which might or might not explain some of the weird/bad episodes. Overall it's kind of good though, so I'll give it a light recommendation.

VERDICT: RECOMMENDED

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