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!