Millennium (1996-1999)

An Overview : It seems like supernatural/serial killer type television series are a dime a dozen these days, but go back 10 years and our choices were nowhere near as varied. Of course we had the X-Files, that huge smash hit series which spawned a thousand rip offs and kept viewers captivated with the antics of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, but there really was little of note.

Then, in 1996, Millennium hit our screens.

Starring the ever watchable Lance Henriksen as retired serial profiler Frank Black, this was a much darker series altogether. Frank had retired from a long career in the FBI profiling serial killers, but his unique talent for getting inside the mind of killers and visualizing the crimes and atrocities of the world had brought him to the attentions of the shadowy Millennium Group.

This Millennium Group was a huge network of ex law enforcement agents and so on whose avowed purpose was to battle the growing forces of evil as the new millennium approached. Working with established law enforcement agencies they would assist in the capture of the most depraved psychopaths going. Sounds noble enough, but as the series developed we start to see a much more sinister side to the Millennium Group, a dark, pseudo religious element that would lead them, and Frank Black, down all kinds of evil, winding paths. Perhaps the real evil of this lay within the Millennium Group itself, the crusaders for good who had become corrupted by blind fervour and the power which they wielded.

From within the Millennium Group Frank assists on all kinds of police investigations involving serial killers, religious lunatics, and supernatural elements. Many episodes hint at a greater evil behind the growing violence among man, a theme which is developed as the series progresses. Later episodes see Frank disillusioned with the group, and leaving, but once you are in, there is really only ever one way out - the grave. The Millennium Group never lets go.

Over the 66 episodes we see Lance Henriksen, who is always a pleasure on screen, deliver what it, in my opininion, his finest hours, as he struggles against family tragedy, a daughter who may just possess his gift/curse of insight, and as a man who has his world and all that he holds dear shattered. There's betrayal at every turn, everybody has an agenda, and in the labyrinthine machinations which are the plots of the Millennium Group Frank may just find himself going from rising star to pariah, to enemy, to victim.

Other notable regular cast members worthy of a mention are Brittany Tiplady as Franks young daughter Jordan, Megan Gallagher as Franks wift Catherine, Bill Smitrovitch as police lieutenant Bob Bletcher, and Terry O'Quinn as Peter Watts, Franks 'friend' and fellow member of the Millennium group who is privy to far more of its secrets.

Unfortunately, despite the brilliance of the series - I'd still rate this as the greatest series of it's kind, way better than newer attempts to create similar - it was not a ratings success. Plagued by low viewing figures, it enjoyed only 3 short seasons, for a total of 66 episodes, coming to an end ironically enough in 1999, just before the new millennium dawned. Perhaps now that the series is finally achieving its rightful cult status Fox will commission another series to tie up all of the many loose ends that we were left with.

As a moment in television history though it will live forever among fans. This is one of those series that was excellently done, brilliantly acted and plotted, and filled with hidden depths aplenty. It never failed to throw up something new or deliver a brutal kidney punch of a surprise. Supernatural/Serial profiler series may be all over our screens now, but this remains one of the earliest and undoubtedly the best.

Episode Guide

(Warning, contains spoilers)

Season 1 : 21 episodes

Pilot : Frank Black, a retired FBI agent with a gift for apocalyptic visions and getting inside the minds of killers, hunts for a serial killer fulfilling old prophecies.

Gehenna : Frank investigates a religious cult and its crazed leader who are burning their victims alive and scattering the ashes in a San Francisco park.

Dead Letters: An obsessed member of the Millennium group joins Frank in the hunt for a serial killer.

The Judge: A judge attempts to mete out his own form of bloody punishment on those he believes have escaped justice in the legal system.

5-2-2-6-6-6: A mad bomber is letting off devices in public places and taunting the police with cryptic phone calls.

Kingdom Come: Frank hunts a serial killer who is killing priests in brutal medieval type rituals.

Blood Relatives: A serial killer is selecting his victims from among people mourning the death of their loved ones.

The Well Worn Lock: Franks wife Catherine helps a woman who had been sexually abused by her father over several decades.

Wide Open: A young girl whose parents were brutally murdered becomes the last hope in the desperate search for a serial killer.

The Wild and the Innocent: A young couple go on a brutal cross country murder spree.

Weeds: Someone is kidnapping rich teenagers and forcing them to drink blood.

Loin Like a Hunting Flame: A man drugs unsuspecting couples and films them acting out his sexual fantasies before killing them.

Force Majeure: Identical twins are committing suicide and the Millennium group is called in to investigate. Their work takes them to a strange, reclusive cult and genetic research.

The Thin White Line: Two apparently unrelated murders are linked to a serial killer currently in prison.

Sacrament: A killer abducts Franks sister in law.

Covenant: A sheriff has murdered his entire family and Frank is called in to psychologically profile him.

Walkabout: A mysterious drug trial results in a death and in Frank suffering almost complete amnesia.

Lamentation: Frank helps the FBI in the hunt for an escaped serial killer.

Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions: Frank is drawn into investigating a man who confesses to killing Bob Bletcher, and meets a mysterious attorney who may be more than human.

Broken World: Frank hunts a man who is mutilating horses.

Maranatha: A man involved in the Chernobyl explosion, and who is believed by many Russians to be the Antichrist, wreaks murder and mayhem.

Paper Dove: Frank attempts to clear a man who might have been mistakenly convicted for murder.

Season 2 : 23 Episodes

The Beginning and the End: Frank hunts for the man who kidnapped Catherine.

Beware of the Dog: A small town is being terrorized by a pack of vicious dogs.

Sense and Antisense: Franks hunts a man who is infected with a deadly and contagious virus.

Monster: Frank investigates a day care owner accused of child abuse only to find himself also accused.

A Single Blade of Grass: The body of a recently murdered man is discovered in ancient ruins.

The Curse of Frank Black: It's Halloween, and ghosts from the past return to haunt Frank.

19:19: Frank and Peter Watts hunt for a bus full of missing school children.

The Hand of Saint Sebastian: Frank and Peter seek a holy relic in Germany.

Jose Chung's Doomsday Defence: When a college professor is murdered student Jose Chung does some profiling of his own.

Midnight of the Century: Christmas is upon us, and Franks daughter Jordan is having visions of her dead grandmother.

Goodybye Charlie: Euthanasia abounds as a former doctor is helping the sick to die.

Luminary: A man is missing in the Alaskan wilderness and Frank must help find him.

The Mikado: The internet becomes a tool for a serial killer to broadcast footage of his crimes.

The Pest House: The inmates of an asylum become prime suspects in a series of ghostly murders.

Owls: Internal turmoil strikes the Millennium group when fragments of the cross from Christs crucifixion are found.

Roosters: Split into 2 factions, internal war plagues the Millennium group. Meanwhile, another force is set to enter the power struggle.

Siren: Several deaths aboard a ship are linked to a mysterious Asian woman.

In Arcadia Ego: A female serial killer and her lover go on the run from prison.

Anamnensis: Catherine and Lara investigate 5 girls who claim to have seen a vision of the virgin Mary.

A Room With No View: Franks visions lead him to suspect that Bob Bletchers killer is responsible for the disappearance of a teenage boy.

Somehow Satan got Behind Me: An odd ep as 4 devils gather in a coffee shop to discuss their past crimes and pestilences that they have inflicted upon mortals.

The Fourth Horseman: A deadly disease is killing people. Could it be man made and are the Millenium group involved. Frank and Peter are quarantined, and Frank is becoming ever more suspicious of the Millennium group.

The Time is Now: Frank learns more as the deadly virus sweeps across the land. Personal tragedy is about to hit the Black family.

Season 3 : 22 episodes

The Innocents: Frank investigates a plane crash that he believes is related to the viral outbreak which killed his wife.

Exegesis: Frank and Emma are puzzled by an old woman with seemingly incredible psychic powers.

Teotwawki: A gunman opens fire on high school students.

Closure: Emma hunts a killer who seems to murder without motive.

...Thirteen Years Later: The cast and crew of a movie based on one of Franks old cases are stalked by a killer.

Skull and Bones: Frank investigates the riddle of corpses found in a mass grave.

Through a Glass Darkly: A convicted child abuser is released from prison.

Human Essence: Frank investigates claims that a rogue batch of heroin is quite literally turning addicts into monsters.

Omerta: Set in Vermont, Frank encounters a mobster who appears to have returned from beyond the grave.

Borrowed Time: Jordan, Franks daughter, falls gravely ill and it may be linked to similar occurences with other people.

Collateral Damage: A gulf war veteran kidnaps Peter Watts in an attempt to expose the Millennium Groups involvement with biological experiments there.

The Sound of Snow: Frank receives a seemingly blank audio tape that is linked to the bizarre deaths of two people.

Antipas: Lucy Butler, an evil nemesis of Franks who has appeared in several episodes, may be linked to the murder of a federal prosecutor.

Matryoshka: Frank investigates the apparent suicide of a former FBI agent and discovers links to a 1945 nuclear weapons program.

Forcing the End: A pregnant woman is kidnapped by a group of religious fanatics.

Saturn Dreaming of Mercury: A new family moves into Franks neighbourhood and Jordan starts suffering bizarre visions about them.

Darwins Eye: A killer who likes decapitating people has escaped from a mental institution.

Bardo Thodol: 5 severed hands and a mysterious red bowl turn up aboard a cargo ship.

Seven and One: Someone is trying to kill Frank Black, but the authorities think he may be in the throes of a nervous breakdown.

Nostalgia: Frank and Emma investigate the murders of several young women.

Via Dolorosa: A serial killer is murdering people in the same way as someone who was sent to the electric chair. Peter Watts resurfaces with an offer of help - at a price.

Goodbye to All That: Franks pursuit of the serial killer continues.

Millennium (X-Files episode): Scully and Mulder seek out Frank Black to assist when people start turning into the walking dead.