Millennium: Seasons 1-3 Review

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(More customer reviews)MILLENNIUM is at first a product of the time, a manifestation of the 1990's fear of what Y2K could bring. It's easy to look back now in hindsight and dismiss millennial tension, but there were a great number of people who had serious thoughts of what could happen and looked for answers. It's also easy to dismiss its innovative mature and sombre tone when it has been copied to lesser effect in the last five or six years with other procedural shows like CSI and COLD CASE.
Chris Carter concieved MILLENNIUM to be like the feature films SILENCE OF THE LAMBS or SEVEN but on a weekly format. No aliens or govermental conspiracies like his X-FILES, but a psychological exploration of the nature of evil, of one man's ability to see into the thought processes of the worst of humanity. Frank Black's gift was not psychic in nature but an accute understanding of the heart of darkness: "I become capability. I become the horror -- what we know we can become only in our heart of darkness. It's my gift. It's my curse. That's why I retired."
Lance Henrikson plays ex-FBI agent Frank Black perfectly, a man who was driven to a nervous breakdown when he realized he could no longer keep his family safe from the evil he was helping to fight. He only returns to work with the help of the Millennium Group and the support of his wife, who realises he can't just sit back and wait for a happy ending. Their symbolic yellow house becomes not just a sanctuary but a fragile treasure in Franks mind, one that is threatened as his investigations continue. Evil takes a personal interest in him, tempting him to join it, and we see the toll his resistence to that evil has on his life.
The psychological aspect is what I believe Chris Carter was more interested in, however when Season two began and X-Files script writers/producers Morgan and Wong took over, they changed the focus away from that aspect and more on the supernatural, conspiratorial and mythological nature of the Millennium Group itself. Over that one season the Group turned from a noble company of ex-law enforcement agents (like the real life Academy Group) into a fractured quasi-religious cult, founded at the time of Christ's crucifixtion, with an agenda to not just wait for an apocalypse but to pre-empt it. At the end of the second season, after some exceptional pieces of work, the writers introduced a deadly ebola-type virus, supposedly manufactured by the group itself, that apparently wipes out half the world. At the end of that season, the world has ended, and the writers effectively changed the concept of the show.
Season three, back now in the hands of Chris Carter, starts off without making any real reference to the virus outbreak, with Frank back at the FBI, until a few episodes in when it's revealed it was only a media panic over a few isolated cases rather than the real apocalypse. The SOUND OF SNOW is particulary a heart-wrenching episode where Frank finally deals with his wifes death. Try as they might, despite some exceptional work, the show never recovers from the loss of the Catherine Black character, the loss of the symbolism of the yellow house, or the change of Millennium Group to religious conspiracy cult. After the Group begin to execute those members deemed too dangerous to their agenda, Frank goes on the run with his daughter Jordan.
These DVD's are still a must buy for any fan of dramatic storytelling, because even the worst episodes are better than 90% of current tv. If you like CSI, 24 and all of the other procedural shows, you'll like this. They're excellently put together with commentaries and documentaries, which especially give you a palpable sense of the frustration felt by the actors and Chris Carter of how great the show could have been if allowed to grow at its own pace. Regardless of any faults, MILLENNIUM is a special show, the level of acting and production elevating it over any inconsistancies of series narrative. It has inspired fans to create a continuation of the show in two professionally scripted Virtual Seasons (VS4 and VS5), with a third (VS6) being written this year (2010), and an ever growing movement in the Back to Frank Black campaign, to take the show to the big screen.
As Lance Henrikson says in the documentary, about missed opportunities, MILLENNIUM still haunts him.
So will this, but for all the right reasons.

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Bonus Features: Season 1: Disc 1: **Millenium Season 1 Episodes (Disc 1) *Pilot with Commentary by Creator/Writer/Executive Producer Chris Carter *Gehenna with Commentary by Director David Nutter *Dead Letters Disc 2: **Millenium Season 1 episodes (Disc 2) *Kingdom Come *Blood RelativesDisc 3: **Millenium Season 1 episodes (Disc 3) **Wide Open *The Wild and the Innocent *Weeds *Loin Like a Hunting FlameDisc 4: **Millenium Season 1 episodes (Disc 4) *Force Majeure *The Thin White Line *Sacrament *CovenantDisc 5: **Millenium Season 1 episodes (Disc 5) *Walkabout *Lamentation *Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions *Broken WorldDisc 6: **Millenium Season 1 episodes (Disc 6) *Maranatha *Paper DoveSeason 2: Disc 7: **Millenium Season 2 episodes (Disc 1) *The Beginning and the End *Beware of the Dog *Sense and Antisense *MonsterDisc 8: **Millenium Season 2 episodes (Disc 2) *A Single Blade of Grass *The Curse of Frank Black *The Hand of Saint Sebastian *The Hand of Saint Sebastian Commentary by Tom WrightDisc 9: **Millenium Season 2 episodes (Disc 3) *Jose Chungâ??s Doomsday Defense *Midnight of the Century (Holiday) *Goodbye Charlie *LuminaryDisc 10: **Millenium Season 2 episodes (Disc 4) *The Mikado *The Pest House *Owls *Roosters *The Mikado Commentary by Michael R. PerryDisc 11: **Millenium Season 2 episodes (Disc 5) *Siren *In Arcadia *Ego *Anamnesis *A Room with No ViewDisc 12: **Millenium Season 2 episodes (Disc 6) *Somehow *Satan Got Behind Me *The Fourth Horseman *The Time is Now**The Turn of the Tide: Making of Season 2 **Academy Group: VictimologySeason 3: Disc 13: **Millenium Season 3 episodes (Disc 1) *The Innocents (Commentary by Lance Henrickson and Klea Scott) *Exegesis *Teotwawki *ClosureDisc 14: **Millenium Season 3 episodes (Disc 2) *...Thirteen Years Later (KISS) *Skull and Bones *Through A Glass, Darkly *Human EssenceDisc 15: **Millenium Season 3 episodes (Disc 3) *Omerta *Borrowed Time *Collateral Damage (Commentary by Tom Wright) *The Sound of SnowDisc 16: **Millenium Season 3 episodes (Disc 4) *Anitpas *Matryoshka *Forcing the End *Saturn Dreaming of MercuryDisc 17: **Millenium Season 3 episodes (Disc 5) *Darwin's Eyes *Bardo Thodol *Seven and One *NostalgiaDisc 18: **Millenium Season 3 episodes (Disc 6) *Via Dolorosa *Goodbye To All That *X-Files "Millennium" episode from Season 7**End Game: The Making of Millennium Season 3 & Between the Lines

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Millennium - The Complete Second Season (1996) Review

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(More customer reviews)When Glen Morgan and James Wong jointly took over the Executive Producer role for Millennium's second season quite a few changes were planned and subsequently enforced. Morgan and Wong made efforts to deviate from the Serial Killer of the Week pattern, they complicated the yet unexplored history of the mysterious Millennium Group, they introduced a sense of humor to the series, and they brought religion and spirituality more prominently into the scripts.
Morgan and Wong's second season was immediately accused of subconsciously aping The X-Files, of deviating from Chris Carter's original vision for the series. Although these claims are not entirely unfounded, the show's new direction proved to be more of a blessing than a curse. As the second season continued fans found themselves growing more attached to the revitalized Millennium while, at the same time, the diverse episode themes attracted new audience members. The show, episode by episode, became dramatically more complex and bravely more artistic.
Millennium was a series that was continually reinventing itself. It's one of the keys to the strength of the show's drama and to the power of its continuing relevance. Glen Morgan and James Wong held nothing back as their scripts delved unabashedly into a world dominated by demons, angels, dreams, visions, mythology, science, and the triumphant if sometimes troubling human spirit. It is in the episodes of Millennium's second season that the series reached its peak and these discs contain some of Frank Black's most thrilling and unforgettable adventures. (Among them is "The Curse of Frank Black," arguably the most impressive episode the show ever produced.) Even in the twenty-first century this is as good as it gets and there's nothing else like it in the annals of television history.

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MILLENNIUM SEASON 2 - DVD Movie

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Millennium - The Complete First Season (1996) Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm a professor of English, focusing on mass media and popular culture, so I watch a lot of TV. Having said that, this is the best show I've ever had the pleasure of viewing. The directing, acting, music, tone, writing, and quality of the show is astounding.
I used to watch the show religiously when it was on, and I'd slowly watch my friends and family get turned off by it. The first season was too slow for some, the second too gory, the third, well, you'll have to wait and see. But people couldn't keep up with the harsh reality of Chris Carter's world. They all regret abandoning the show now that it's on DVD, and they've begun watching it again.
Yes, they quit watching because the show was hard. And yes, the show is hard. It makes you think. It makes you feel. It sets up characters, often to kill them off, and make you miss them. Why watch, then, you may ask? Well, when's the last time a show made you feel? Made you sad or angry or worried or made you simply get up and lock your door?
If you want more sappy crappy TV to slide down your throat like everything else in our fast food world, walk away and hit some sitcoms on the big three networks. If you can take a rather hardcore look at crime, demonogoly, and the end of the world, and if you can take actually feeling--emoting in our flood of apathetic televised garbage--then buy this DVD set right away.

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Retired serial-profiler Frank Black has moved his family to Seattle to escape the violence and horror he dealt with while working for the FBI in Washington, D.C. Although his uncanny and often unsettling ability to see into the twisted minds of serial killers has caused him much inner torment, Black knows his "gift" can still be used to help protect and save others. For that reason he has joined the mysterious Millennium Group, a team of underground ex-law enforcement experts dedicated to fighting against the ever-growing forces of evil and darkness in the world.

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Millennium - The Complete Third Season (1996) Review

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(More customer reviews)Well, it's about time that the 3rd season of this show came out! I've been waiting a long time to complete my Chris Carter collection! I'm not going to list a description of every episode, because I don't want to ruin everything for first-time viewers. ;-)
Millennium underwent some drastic changes over its 3-year run; the first season, the Millennium Group seemed to be a legitimate criminal consultant firm, with interesting abilitiesm now employing ex-FBI agent Frank Black, who wants to raise his daughter in a safer world with his wife Catherine. Season 1 also introduced one of the darkest (and most underutilized) villains in the series; Lucy Butler, who could possibly be the devil. In the second season, Frank was smack-dab in the middle of it, seperated from his family as the Group became larger, darker, and more terrifying as its true knowledge and dangerous capabilities became known, leading to a viral outbreak in Seattle, which killed 80 people, including Catherine. Frank also encountered Lucy Butler, though she evaded him once again.
In the 3rd season, Frank had left the Millennium Group and was back at the FBI, after recovering from the mental collapse he suffered from Catherine's death. He unofficially teamed up with Special Agent Emma Hollis, and they began attempting to bring Millennium to justice, which had become a distant, yet still dangerous villain. He also had one (maybe two; see Saturn Dreaming of Mercury and decide for yourself) more encounter with the evil Lucy Butler, who tried to tempt him into ruling the world with her (if that ain't the devil, what is?). We also got to see a lot more of his daughter Jordan in this season than the previous two, played by the gifted Brittany Tiplady, who I haven't seen in anything since a DELL computers commercial a few years back. The series ended with the apparent demise of Frank's onetime friend Peter Watts, and his taking his daughter and disappearing.
Although Millennium's finale was reasonably conclusive, fans of the series, and Chris Carter himself, weren't quite satisfied with it, and made an episode which crossed Millennium with the X-Files, which took place on the Millennium Eve, Dec. 31, 1999 (and for those who say the new Millennium began in 2001, I quote Mulder: No one likes a math geek, Scully.), in which Frank Black teamed up with Mulder and Scully to save the world from ending. It seems they did!
Millennium's 3rd season was the end of a great series, but I'm glad it ended where it did, instead of dragging through a 4th season which in all likelihood would've ruined it. Millennium had its full run, and ended successfully. Buy this season and complete the collection today! You won't be sorry!

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From X-Files Producer Chris Carter comes the final chapter of Millennium. With his unique ability to see into the minds of killers, profiler Frank Black left the FBI to join the Millennium Group, a covert team of ex-law enforcement experts battling the growing forces of evil in the world-or so he thought. For when a deadly viral outbreak swept across the country infecting thousands of people and killing his wife, Frank discovered it was all part of a secret plot engineered by the Group. Now, disillusioned and outraged, Frank returns to the FBI determined to expose the Millennium Group. But protecting his job and his daughter, who Frank fears shares his gift, is no easy task when there are group members who believe that if he is not on their side, there is no reason he should be allowed to keep using his gift against them.

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