Millennium 1996

One of my favorite series. It was created by "The X-Files" creator Chris Carter, but actually I found this series to have a better overall writing quality and a superior atmosphere of dread as it was hugely influenced by the cinematography and grittiness of "Se7en". The lead hero, rubberfaced Lance Henriksen, do the best performance in his life as he plays a man who can see what the killer sees and put himself in their mindset but also manages to be a gentle family father and loving husband. There is also a possible approaching apocalypse that he has to stop which get more explored as the series go. While the first season consist mostly of stand-alone dark serial killer stories by the second season we get to learn that there are darker forces that motivate the killers to do their killing and that there is a greater battle between good and bad. Add on top of this the best score Mark Snow has ever done and great guest actors and this is a must-see. At least for me. Only the ending is a little underwhelming and the reunion at "The X-Files" was even more so as that episode felt half-finished and lacked the heart that this show had.

It's a show from the 90s about this slightly psychic detective-esque character called Frank Black who is a psychological profiler. I say esque because in the show there is the "Millenium Group" which Frank works with that is a consulting agency for law enforcement. In season 2 the idea of this group is a lot more grander and more conspiracies are involved about it's origins and goals.

Being a show from the 90s and being created by the guy who made The X-Files, the first season is dark and gritty, the cinematography bleak and lifeless and bloody. The main character Frank Black hunts serial killers most episodes, and season 1 has more in common with criminal minds than The X-Files. Frank tackles the cases as a psychological profiler, with his psychic gift that allows him to see flashes into the mind of the killer.

It's a very interesting show. And in contrast to a lot of today's shows where the intelligent or detective main character is autistic or a loner, Frank Black has a family, and he has to juggle them with the darkness he has to venture into. He's an interesting character and he's not young either, so he carries a certain experience to the stories.

Season 2 changed tone a lot with the aforementioned conspiracies, with a lot of the episode stories being conspiracy focused and less on serial killers.

The show also introduced some religious and astrological mythology, so it's not all standalone episodes. Some of the mythological arc episodes are interesting, delving into the nature of the bible and of evil, and what's also interesting is the millennium group's connection to all this, and there is a prophecy that something huge will happen in the year 2000, so the show was building towards that, until it got cancelled in 1999 after 3 seasons. Ironic.

But in reality, a lot of the religious and astrological mythology episodes just aren't that good. They aren't well written enough to make sense individually and part of a grander arc, so a lot of them come off as not that good or convoluted. Luckily most of the show is comprised of good standalone episodes.

Millennium is a good show, but it could have been brilliant. Unfortunately due to having a different showrunner every season, the mess in mythology and contrasting visions for the show are apparent.

Season 3 is even worse because the new showrunner changed to another new showrunner midway through. It's just a mess. Frank gets paired with a partner in season 3 but it just doesn't work that well. They don't have the chemistry as a duo like Mulder and Scully.

Sometimes when you watch a show and it loses it's way, and you kind of keep half-heartedly watching until the end that, when you reach the end or you're near it, you start to miss the show. You miss what it once was, what it could have been, and even what it is. I started to feel that near the end of this show. I'm going to miss Frank Black. I'm going to miss the serial killers. I'm going to miss the conspiracies. I'm going to miss Millennium.

After this show be sure to watch the crossover/epilogue episode of Millennium in The X-Files season 7 episode 4.