Season 3: Episode 12: "The Sound of Snow"

Written by Patrick Harbinson

Directed by Paul Shapiro

Airdate: February 5, 1999

Guest Stars: Jessica Tuck (Alice Severin); Trevor White (Doug Scaife)

"The Sound of Snow" provides some closure to the end of Season 2, which ended with the apocalyptic Marburg virus taking the life of Catherine Black. The story centers on cassette tapes containing white noise that causes listeners to die suddenly. Of added interest, the episode is a reunion of sorts with Megan Gallagher reprising her role as Catherine and Stephen James Land returns Det. Bob Geibelhouse of the Seattle PD.

A young woman is driving and listens to her tape player playing white noise and has visions of a drowning boy in the ice and then gets hit by a car. A designer listens to a tape as his apartment catches fire spontaneously. Frank also receives tapes and has visions of Catherine. He's eventually led back to his old house in Seattle, now painted blue. Including "Dark End of the Street" performed by James Carr was a nice touch. The current owner has a tape that was sent to Frank, which lead him back into the place where Catherine died.

We learn from Geibelhouse the Marburg outbreak only killed 80 people and there was a media induced panic as it began to spread. Frank still carries survivor's guilt. In the woods he "reunites" with Catherine in a dream state induced by the White Noise, where they confess their love for each other. Frank is found in the woods and revived. The tapes are traced to a recording studio that's connected with the Millennium Group, prompting to Frank to wonder if they sent the tapes to him. 

Themes of healing and hope in the aftermath of trauma punctuate season three Millennium, a throughline in "Omerta" and "Borrowed Time." "The Sound of Snow" allows Frank - and the audience - some belated solace in the aftermath of the previous season. The acting, direction, and pacing are as usual first-rate. 

Season 3: Episode 11: "Collateral Damage"

Written by Michael R. Perry

Directed by Thomas J. Wright

Airdate: January 22, 1999

Guest Stars: Art Bell (himself); Jacinda Barrett (Taylor Watts) James Marsters (Eric Swan)

Millennium revisits the riff between Frank Black and Peter Watts, when Frank is pulled into a frantic investigation to locate Peter's kidnapped daughter Taylor (Jacinda Barrett). The episode continues to reveal the Millennium Group as secretive and nefarious, tying them to the Gulf War syndrome and use of biological agents on American personnel. 

College students hanging out at the bowling alley are accosted by a group of men and Taylor is taken hostage. She awakes in a terrifying examination room and is put through psychological torment by her abductor Eric Swan (James Marsters). Meanwhile the FBI rushes to investigate the kidnapping, which is given special attention since Watts once worked for the bureau. At the same time, the Group is also doing a parallel investigation of their own. Frank reluctantly agrees to help Peter despite their frayed friendship. 

They connect the abductor to frequent calls he made to Coast to Coast AM then hosted by Art Bell about the government cover-up after the Gulf War. Bell appears as himself, prompting Swan to call in, allowing the call to be traced. Taylor is rescued, just before she broke her restraints and killed Swan with a deadly neck blow. Watts admits the Group was behind the use of biological weapons on American troops. In the final scene, Taylor questions her father at family dinner on whether Swan was correct and gets no answer.

"Collateral Damage" is a fast-paced and suspenseful episode. All the characters are under a time crunch, and bring the right intensity to the performances, especially Barrett and Masters who both went on to long careers in acting. Featuring Art Bell and his late-night radio show suggested the government paid close attention to Coast to Coast, or at least the show was influencing the fringes of pop culture. Bell confesses to Frank his audience will see him as the enemy since he works for the government. There's an irony there since the radio show under Bell's successor George Noory became a MAGA propaganda outlet. 

Which leads to deeper questions about the legacy of TV shows like Millennium and The X-Files. Did they foster a conspiratorial worldview on its audience? Granted, the "paranoid style" has always been a part of the American parlance. Pop Culture of the 1990s leaned into the kitschy side of pop culture with TV Specials like Alien Autopsy, yet the mythos of Millennium suggested secret societies were manipulating history.   

The notion makes for great fiction with world weary protagonists (Frank Black) trying to unravel the mystery. Developing critical thinking skills is a must for unraveling mysteries (and fostering democracy) and making sense of the unknown, a mass populace lacking in these skills will unknowingly fall prey to bad conspiracy thinking. In that sense, Millennium was a smart TV series that never talked down to its audience. It raised great questions and it was never afraid of ambiguity. We need smarter shows like Millennium today! 

Season 3: Episode 10: "Borrowed Time"

Written by Chip Johannessen

Directed by Dwight Little

Airdate: January 15, 1999

Guest Star: Eric Mabius (Samiel)

"Borrowed Time" has a strong emotional core at the center of its story, namely, the bond between Frank and Jordan, but struggles with clarity. The two plot threads involve a young man named Samiel who appears to be an angel of death, tracking down people who survived near death experiences. 

The cold open suggests a link to a train wreck and near-death survivors. Frank and Agent Hollis discover two strange deaths where the victim appeared to drown despite being on dryland. Meanwhile, Jordan becomes seriously ill with a fever similar to one she had before. Frank becomes aware of Samiel's proximity to the recent deaths and spots him spying on Jordan's hospital room. When Samiel's taken in for questioning, Frank reacts violently towards him, certain Samiel is trying to harm Jordan. In a twist of fate, as Jordan is crashing, we go back to the train wreck and witness Samiel drown. Then Jordan is miraculously saved. She tells Frank she spoke to Catherine, and they were happy. 

Henricksen provides some of his most emotional acting in the series to date, pleading with God to save Jordan and the lengths he will go to protect her. As a spiritual thriller, the episode hints at intriguing ideas that simply needed more development, specifically the concepts of cheating death and living on borrowed time. 

These ideas of fate are a major part of Western literature, starting with the Bible all the way to the age of existentialism. Dostoyevsky famously was hours away from execution until his sentence was commuted, how does going from a state of certain death to a future of limitless potential change us? In Star Trek II, to paraphrase Captain Kirk, the way approach death is just as important as how we approach life. Shatner even wrote a song on the theme "You'll Have Time." It's even a throughline in Millennium, expressed through Frank's admiration for Bobby Darin, who lived his life with a heart ailment knowing he would die young. 

If only the episode had tapped more into the existential edges of the script. Placing Jordan in peril made for high drama but also muddled the themes. Taking Jordan away from Frank would be an awful act of cruelty, and that's where the episode directs the audience. More focus on the idea of "borrowed time" would raise even more profound philosophical issues with an emotional core, minus putting Frank through an emotional ringer.