WRITTEN BY
Chris Carter
DIRECTED BY
David Nutter
AIRED ON
October 25, 1996
RUNTIME
0 minute
STARRING
VIEWS
423
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2024-08-28 11:37:40
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SUMMARY
Former FBI profiler Frank Black moves with his family to Seattle to escape the violence of his past, only to be drawn back into it when a series of gruesome murders echo his earlier cases. Working with the mysterious Millennium Group, Frank uses his unique ability to see into the minds of killers to track down a sadistic serial killer who believes he's the embodiment of the apocalypse.
STORY
The pilot episode of *Millennium* introduces viewers to the dark and complex world of Frank Black, a former FBI profiler with a unique ability to understand the minds of serial killers. This episode sets the stage for the series, blending psychological thriller elements with supernatural undertones as it explores themes of evil, obsession, and the search for justice.
The episode opens with a chilling scene of a brutal murder in a remote area. The victim is a young woman found with disturbing signs of ritualistic violence, which immediately suggests that the crime is part of a larger, more sinister pattern. The FBI is called in to investigate, and the case quickly becomes a high-profile investigation due to its shocking nature and the lack of clear motives or suspects.
Frank Black, the protagonist, is introduced as a retired FBI profiler who has left behind his career in law enforcement due to the emotional toll of his work. Frank has a rare and troubling ability: he can mentally reconstruct the crimes of serial killers, seeing the world through their eyes and understanding their motivations in a way that is both insightful and disturbing. Despite his retirement, he is approached by the FBI to assist with the investigation into the recent murder.
Frank is reluctant to return to his old life, but he is drawn back into the fray by the severity of the case and the promise of uncovering the truth behind the ritualistic killings. As he begins to investigate, Frank is joined by a former colleague, Peter Watts, who now works with the Millennium Group, a secretive organization focused on predicting and preventing future crimes.
The investigation reveals that the murder is part of a pattern involving other ritualistic killings, suggesting that the killer is following a specific, twisted agenda. Frank's expertise in understanding the psychology of killers becomes crucial as he works to decipher the symbolic messages left at each crime scene and piece together the killer's motives.
Throughout the episode, Frank’s personal struggles and psychological trauma are explored, highlighting the toll that his abilities have taken on his life and relationships. His interactions with his wife, Catherine, and their daughter, Jordan, reveal the strain that his work has placed on his family and the challenges of reconciling his professional life with his personal responsibilities.
The climax of the pilot episode builds to a tense confrontation with the killer, who is revealed to be a deeply disturbed individual driven by a perverse sense of justice and ritualistic beliefs. Frank must use his unique abilities to outwit the killer and prevent further violence, ultimately leading to a dramatic and intense resolution.
The episode concludes with Frank returning to his family, reflecting on the case and the dark path he has chosen. The pilot sets the tone for the series, establishing the central themes of psychological horror, the nature of evil, and the personal cost of Frank’s abilities. It introduces viewers to the complex world of *Millennium*, where the search for justice often intersects with the darkest aspects of human nature.
The pilot episode of *Millennium* effectively establishes the series' dark, atmospheric tone and sets up the intricate, psychological storytelling that will define the show. Through its exploration of evil, trauma, and the human condition, it lays the groundwork for the ongoing narrative and character development that will unfold throughout the series.
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QUOTES
Walter White: I can't be the bad guy.
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REVIEWS
way ahead of its time
Written by
Gruic on 2018-04-16
★
★
★
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★
The pilot of MillenniuM was a revolution, but too ahead of its time. The prime time television was not ready for this.
20 years later, this episode is still a masterpiece. That means that it is a timeless classic. So a 10.
No doubt.
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Darkest show ever
Written by
DuaneB on 2018-06-15
★
★
★
★
★
This opening, pilot episode is the most dark I've ever seen.
Chris Cart offers us here a true visual tour de force and creepy scenario.
The characters are so well studied, elaborated. Of course we fall in love with Lance Henricksen's charism.
The photography remind us the X files, but much more in dramatic intensity. This show, and maybe this episode in particular, is really not for kids, even teenager. Or if it has been, it is sure than the teenager we were would understand it completly in different way in nowadays.
The final scene is just horrible and put this show very far beyond many x files epiode in the darkness. But it is nevertheless a pleasur to watch. The progression, the investigation... all is well done!
10/10
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Plunge into the darkness at the end of the millennium
Written by
Pike on 2024-08-16
★
★
★
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★
Back in time. The year is 1996. We're in the second half of the 90s, and American producer and screenwriter Chris Carter is on a roll. His series “The X-Files”, currently in its fourth season, is in full swing, not only on the Fox network, but also across the globe, including in France, where M6 is taking advantage of this success to air the series over and over again in prime time, despite episodes that are often violent or simply gory.With success opening all doors, Carter was offered the chance to produce a second series. This would be “MillenniuM”, a series that is still too little known today, but which definitely deserves a closer look.
THE MONSTERS AROUND US
For this new series, Chris Carter draws heavily on the films “Silence of the Lambs” and “Seven”, as well as the “X-Files” episode “Irresistible”, which featured a serial killer without the paranormal element expected in that series. Chris Carter explains the genesis of the series: “The original idea for MillenniuM developed slowly. Fox was looking for a new series, and I'd done an episode of X-Files that I really liked. It was about a serial killer, without the paranormal dimension. There was a supernatural element, but it wasn't paranormal. It made me think of the monsters that surround us, the people who queue up with us at the supermarket, who we meet at the post office. We don't know anything about them.
FRANK BLACK
Chris Carter continues: “I had the idea for the Frank Black character, and it took shape slowly, but I was under a lot of pressure. I was doing research in Seattle for this project. I knew the series would be set in Seattle, but I didn't know what it would be, even though I'd told the network and the studio otherwise,” he says with a smile. Carter wants to tell “the story of a former FBI agent and (use) the idea of prophecies, Nostradamus. I wanted to use apocalyptic millenarian poetry. We added that to the idea of this character, a man who wants to stop everything but can't. That was all part of the project. Those were all the elements of the project. It didn't require a lot of research. I wanted one murder story a week, but I wanted cohesion. Something that would be like a premonition of the end of the millennium, the idea that something would happen. I wanted to exploit these murder stories with a millenarian twist.”
Carter uses one of the hallmarks of the X-Files: a story line that goes beyond the simple weekly episode. In his favorite series, his main character, FBI agent Fox Mulder, investigated monsters of all kinds, but also had an interest that went beyond these stories: his sister had been kidnapped. As the episodes progressed, a whole mythology would be built up, making the series greater than the mere sum of its episodes.
THE MILLENNIUM GROUP
Here, Carter uses the fear of the end of the millennium. True, purists will say that the end of the millennium will arrive on December 31, 2000 and not December 31, 1999, but apart from this anecdote, it's undeniable that at the dawn of a new millennium, a certain fear takes hold, propagated in particular by the fear of the famous “Y2K bug”, with certain computer experts explaining that many computers are not programmed to handle four-digit years and that, consequently, computers will stop working as of January 1, 2000.
Chris Carter decided to set up a group of former police officers. Entitled the Millennium Group, this group will regularly collaborate with police departments to apply their knowledge and resources.
The group will be led by Terry O'Quinn, the actor most famous for his role as John Locke in the Lost series. Still sporting his fine moustache at the time, he will star opposite Lance Henriksen in the title role. Lance is best known for his role as the cyborg in Ridley Scott's Alien, and his face bears his character's tortured features. He will play the role of the profiler to perfection.
NOT A PSYCHIC
But don't make the mistake of thinking that “MillenniuM” is a paranormal series. Frank Black is an atypical profiler, but he's not a soothsayer, and certainly not a psychic. The flashes he perceives are the fruit of his experience and exacting sensitivity. As series co-producer Frank Spotnitz confirms: “At least for me, and I think for Chris, we never wanted to get into the supernatural. It was more about showing the extreme sensitivity of some people and the monstrosity of others.”
In the early days, the series played with the viewer by constantly walking a fine line. However, as the years went by, some of the writers took the easy way out and wallowed in an abusive use of the paranormal and the character's gift, even though the pilot was very clear.
S01E01 - THE PILOT
Written by Chris Carter, directed by David Nutter
Broadcast with great fanfare on October 25, 1996, the pilot episode was preceded by a major advertising campaign by Fox, eager to build on the success of its flagship series, X-Files.
So, from the very first episode, the die is cast. Chris Carter plunges us into the darkness and confirms what is now becoming his trademark. He had already accustomed us to murders of all kinds in the “X-Files”, and here he plunges even further into horror.
Indeed, the series' darkness is apparent right from the opening: the images are black, the subjects macabre. In this first episode, a serial killer cuts off his victims' heads, immolates them and, most horrifying of all, sews their eyes and mouths shut before burying them alive. Yes, there's no laughing in MillenniuM, and that's the appeal - unhealthy? that's another debate for another day.
Of course, one can't help but draw comparisons with “X-Files”. Mulder and Scully formed a duo that could be described as “pop”, for want of a better expression. Here - and this is the strength, but also the problem, of the series - there's nothing pop, nothing catchy. It's hard to get excited about Frank Black. Played with an absolute, ferocious calm, the main character is tortured and, unlike Fox Mulder, doesn't have a youngster's look. Youngsters won't be putting up posters of Frank Black in their pre-teen bedrooms. Carter explains, through his new character, that horror is in all of us. In this respect, the series is groundbreaking, coming as it does before the cable series that would push the boundaries, usually out of sheer commercial appeal. Indeed, at the time, “MillenniuM” was broadcast on one of the main channels in the United States, and it seemed unacceptable for the broadcaster to allow scenes of people being buried alive. But at the time, Fox was enjoying phenomenal success with “X-Files”, which gave the leading producer of the moment some leeway. When you're successful, you can limit concessions.
With its substantial budget, the pilot is simply excellent. Directed by the brilliant David Nutter (“Frontiers of Reality”, “Game of Thrones”), the episode has a cinematic dimension that makes me think the pilot could easily have been made into an excellent film. Mark Snow's soundtrack brings an excellent, atmospheric quality to the whole episode - the composer usually offers a lot of music for a single episode, compared to other series of the moment. One of the reasons why the music of the first season of X-files was so masterful was that Mark Snow's music, set against images of monsters and UFOs, was highly nostalgic, with its repetitive use of slow, high-pitched piano notes. Here, Mark Snow pulls off another tour de force, with a quirky soundtrack too. This is evidenced by the most striking sequence of the episode - and of the series - when Frank Black and his friend Bletch discover the living body of a person buried alive. Instead of a naturally somber soundtrack, Snow offers a score that is both sad and defeatist, in the image of Frank Black as a mature, tortured character, and this time uses the violin.
The use of a synthesizer instead of a real violin is regrettable, but by this time, the orchestras of the 70s series had been replaced by the synthesizer, for obvious reasons of cost.Finally, less important, but the series, through these elements as well as a strong musical theme, definitely finds a form with the beginnings of sequences starting with a still image.
The only question that remains, when watching the episode, is this: are we faced with a television concept that allows for the repetition of scenarios within the same framework? Certainly, there are three elements: the main character's visions - an ethereal aspect that reminds us of many “X-Files” episodes - as well as the secret group Frank Black seems to be working for and, finally, the threats Frank Black receives through polaroids sent to his home. The contrasts between the darkness of the outside world and Frank's sunny home environment are striking.
The time has come to launch the series for a full season of 22 episodes.
TRANSCRIPT
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2024-08-28 11:37:40 -
Pike:
Added the story.
