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. 

Season 3: Episode 9: "Omerta"

 

Written by Michael R. Perry

Directed by Paul Shapiro

Airdate: December 18, 1998

Guest Star: Jon Polito (Eddie Scarpino Giannini)

"Omerta" stands as one of the strangest episodes of the series (in a good way). It's like a hybrid of Miller's Crossing and a Hallmark Christmas movie. You read me right.

The episode begins with Mafioso Eddie (Polito) about to be executed by his buddies in the woods playing out like a scene from The Sopranos. There's a hint of mysticism in the scene, which will come into play later. 

Meanwhile, Frank and Jordan are Christmas shopping. Frank notices Jordan eyeing other Moms with their kids and they have a talk about the loss of Catherine - something the season's spent little time addressing. They decide to spend the holiday in Vermont for a change of scenery. As expected, strange things are already afoot when a half-naked man is wandering around muttering to himself. The local authorities reach out to Frank for help. Even on Xmas vacation he cannot escape from work!

The man relates a story of being attacked by a wolf in the woods, believing his wounds to be mortal. Then he woke up in a cave with two beautiful women are nursing him back to health through "feminine energy." Hollis joins Frank to investigate the strange case. In their investigation of the woods, they find Eddie alive despite the fact he was shot several times. Eddie is brought in and confesses to his crimes as a contract killer, but his whereabout for the past nine years are a mystery. 

Two women are also discovered living in the woods, Rose and Lhasa. They cannot speak and appear to have healing powers. Eddie confesses Rose and Lhasa saved his life and he's apparently been living in the cave with them. The women also bond with Jordan and comfort her about losing Catherine. The FBI hopes to use Eddie as a witness, but his old cronies come back to town and end up shooting Lhasa. She survives and the doctors arrange to have her moved to a specialist for surgery. As they are leaving in the ambulance, Eddie is driving and there's an explosion. The episode ends with three of them reunited at a cabin.

There are many urban legends of women with special powers who live apart from society in the forest. The episode never spells out the mystery of Rose and Lhasa, but I suppose it's unnecessary since our collective unconscious will grasp it. I like how the episode focused on Frank and Jordan, adding a theme of healing and understanding the season desperately needed. Polito brought a humanistic dimension to the episode in a memorable guest shot. Also, the Pagan themes intertwined with this Christmas tale gave the episode something unique for television - then and now.  

Season 3: Episode 8: "Human Essence"

Written by Michael Duggan

Directed by Thomas J. Wright

Airdate: December 11, 1998

"Human Essence" begins with Hollis being asked to clear her desk after testing positive for a drug test. Frank supports her and objects to the bureau not giving her a chance to explain, but he's taken aback when the drug test was for heroin. 

The cold open revealed a flop house hotel in Vancouver where addicts are becoming something inhuman with deformed faces and glowing eyes. Hollis learns her half-sister Tamara, a struggling addict, was at the den and sent her a sample of the tainted drug, accounting for the positive test. Hollis travels to Vancouver to help her sister and find the truth the behind the dangerous drug on the streets. She confronts dealers who physically attack her. 

Frank soon arrives and discovers links pointing to the Asian drug trade. The heroin has been poisoned and Frank finds connections linking the US Army to the experiments. He confronts his supervisor McClaren (Stephen E. Miller) about complicity between drug experimentation and the U.S. government. 

Although subject matter feels more like the X-Files, the pacing and action scenes are all well executed. 

Season 3: Episode 7: "Through a Glass Darkly"

Written by Patrick Harbinson

Directed by Thomas J. Wright

Airdate: November 13, 1998

Guest Star: Tom McCleister (Max Brunelli)

"Through a Glass Darkly" returns to familiar territory for Millennium, a modern variation of a Grimm's Fairy Tale. The story deals with a man being released on parole 20 years after being convicted of murdering a child. When Brunelli, a born again Christian, returns to his hometown outside of Portland it brings fear and confusion. When he's spotted in the woods interacting with a young girl who disappeared, he's once again the prime suspect. 

Frank Black and Agent Hollis begin investigating and question whether Brunelli is responsible. To avoid a direct spoiler, it turns out there's a hidden evil in the town living in plain sight. Like a fairy tale, most of the key action in the episode takes places in the woods or in houses. It's also a tale of how those of status can take advantage of those who lack it, the privileged passing on their sins to low status people. 

As a self contained episode, "Through a Glass Darkly" brings suspense and even hope in the face of bleak subject matter. At the same time, it does feel like an outtake from the first season. Nothing in the episode, except a scene with Jordan having a nightmare, does much to advance the mythos of the series or to develop the characters. But the twist is clever and believable. 

Season 3: Episode 6: "Skull and Bones"

Written by Chip Johannessen and Ken Horton

Directed by Paul Shapiro

Airdate: November 6, 1998

"Skull and Bones" resolves as a tale of the Millennium Group's sinister machinations. Ironically, the episode inverts a claim made by the Group in the "Pilot" episode that there might be connections between all crimes, as if some dark force is pulling the strings.

After six bodies are found beneath a highway overpass in Maine, Baldwin and Hollis are sent to investigate the grisly discovery. Meanwhile, Peter Watts shows up representing the Group's interest in the site. Meanwhile, Frank learns about a series of murders that are connected by letters received by the FBI, one of the letters mentioned the town in Maine where the overpass discovery was made. Forensic investigation of the skulls also reveals evidence of bizarre surgery being performed. Meanwhile, a man named "Ed" who introduced in the prologue has been keeping detailed records and making connections of many murders over the past 15 years. 

The crux of the episode comes to down to the Millennium Group's role in all these murders, many of them scientists and other researchers who've made troubling discoveries. In the big reveal, Peter reveals the group is behind the killings to protect the stability of society. The Group is killing people considered dangerous so there is indeed a pattern to the crimes, and Watts justifies them! Watts is trying to drive a wedge between her and Frank, grooming her for a possible future position with the Group. In the most memorable scene, Hollis discovers the house where some of the murders took place as "Love Hurts" by Nazareth plays on the diegetic soundtrack (a message?).

"Skull and Bones" is an elliptical episode that's both intriguing and frustrating. It's quite a jarring shift to learn the Group is revealed to be an organization fearful of knowledge and is willing to kill innocent people. CCH Pounder (Cheryl Andrews) returns in flashbacks, as we learn of her fate. Frank is mostly on the periphery to the story, setting up a showdown between him and Watts.

Season 3: Episode 5 " . . . 13 Years Later"

Directed by Michael R. Perry

Written by Thomas J. Wright

Air Date: October 30, 1998

". . . 13 Years Later" is a heavily meta episode, a welcome change from the stark tone thus far in season three, sending up slashers even Millennium itself as a TV series. It's both riffing on Scream and the tropes of '80s horror. KISS also appears.

The episode begins with the framing device of Frank lecturing at the FBI Academy about a famous case he worked on known as the Dale Barker murders.

Later, Frank and Agent Hollis are called to investigate the murder of the director and cast member during a film production based on the Barker case. The cold open is an homage to Psycho as the film's director and starlet are murdered. 

Going further in the "meta" element, Frank discovers the lead character in the movie is based on a "Hollywood" version of himself. Frank is further annoyed when the actor starts to question Frank about his work methods. Offended that a b-movie level horror movie is being made about a case that's haunted him, Frank maintains his composure and continues the investigation. 

The episode follows a traditional slasher structure with characters being killed off. After a publicist is found murdered, Hollis begins to connect the murders to horror movies airing on television on those nights. An aficionado of horror, Hollis schools Frank on how to deconstruct slasher movies. In a scene of dry humor, Frank profiles Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees (although one would think Frank would've known those movies since in an earlier episode, he was familiar with Silent Night, Deadly Night movies). 

Frank assigns Hollis to watch the Horror Movie Marathons airing on Halloween night, as he stays on the set to look out for clues as a KISS concert is being filmed. When no crimes occur, Frank concludes the local crazy who confessed to the crime is the culprit, but it turns out the actor playing Frank is revealed to be the killer when he attempts to kill Hollis. It's revealed the character giving the lecture at the beginning was the actor playing Frank, who is now incarcerated. 

Mythmaking is a major theme in the episode. Hollis even references "the Frenchman" from the Pilot episode of Millennium. It's also an intriguing artifact from the late 90s with Hollis studying TV Guides, and foreshadowed the mass commodification of true crime for mass entertainment.

By all accounts, it was a difficult episode to shoot, but Michael R. Perry's sharp script of films references and in-jokes make it an intriguing curiosity in the series canon.  

Season 3: Episode 4: "Closure"

Directed by Daniel Sackheim

Written by Larry Andries

Air Date: October 23, 1998

Guest Stars: Garrett Dillahunt (Rick Van Horne); Michael Sunczyk (Peter); Shelley Owens (Joni)

"Closure" is a bruising episode of Millennium, as Emma and Frank pursue a group of thrill killers wreaking havoc across the Northwest. In fact, "Closure" may be the most violent entry in the series in terms of carnage. The climatic shootout is like something in a Michael Mann movie and was inspired by the 1997 North Hollywood shootout

The episode also reveals some of Emma's backstory and that she witnessed her sister getting shot by a criminal when she was a child. Frank takes on more of a mentor role. Perplexed by Emma's interest in a group of petty criminals, he discovers her drive towards law enforcement goes back to childhood.

Larry Andries script also focuses on the criminals, who's crime spree resembles Bonnie and Clyde or the Starkweather killings. Rick Van Horne is a former military man who has snapped, while partner Michael is simply along for the ride, there's also a homoerotic undertone to their relationship. When they pick up bartender Joni, the sexual charge is more explicit. When they terrorize a hiker, it recalls Natural Born Killers. To the script's credit, it does manage to humanize the perpetrators despite their repugnant actions.

A memorable standalone episode that allowed Klea Scott to take the lead, "Closure" beckoned new possibilities for the third season.