Millennium, Season 1: 5-10

[lookingland]

Welcome to more yabbering about the TV series Millennium. I'm way behind in my reviews compared to where I am in watching the show, so I'll up the ante a little by commenting on six episodes instead of four.

Again, for more complete synopses and cool picts and whatnot, check out the Fourth Horseman Press Millennial Abyss.

Some continuing impressions: I forgot to mention how much I really like Mark Snow's soundtrack for this show. I actually think it's superior to the one he did for X-files, though it's clear they share some similarities. I think the chops he got from working on that previous show really pay off here. The music in the final season of X-files was his best (Doggett's theme in the episode about his son just kills me). I always fast-forwarded through the credits while watching X-files; here, I don't mind letting the music play.

Okay: the episodes ~

"52266"

Lot of really nice things in this one: a creepy perv bomber has some weird munchaussen need to help his victims. An oblique comment about something nasty in the trashcan reminds me the show is more than ten years old, but somehow the obliqueness makes it all the creepier! Love the conclusion on this one: it's just nicely written all around.

"Kingdom Come"

Carter didn't write this one, but his religious schizophrenia is showing in all its colors. The killer's motives are decent, but his methods are dumb. The finale mostly disintegrates under the weight of too much themeage. Oddly enough, though it's badly written, I still liked the episode overall. The hostage situation could have been less preachy and more effective, but apparently they were trying to cram a lot of junk in there. Some of it was good junk, but it gets obscured in all the baggage.

"Blood Relatives"

I loved the premise on this one: lonely kid goes to funerals and pretends to be a friend of the deceased, allowing him to cry and commiserate with total strangers (and therefore feel a connection). The kid's creepy relationship with the halfway house guy is understated, but wonderfully developed (the scene with the hamburger is great). There's no mystery here; it's obvious from the start who the killer is, but overall very entertaining and nicely original.

"The Well-Worn Lock"

Carter recycles a bad spec script for Law & Order here. The only reason I can see for the existance of this wretched episode is to try to make Catherine (Frank's wife) relevant to the series. Well, it fails miserably. This should have been a Lifetime Network miniseries or something and Paul Dooley as a child molester was just...well...gross. Bleh.

"Wide Open"

Another more or less straight-up police procedural, but this was one really well done. Mostly a parable about the illusion of safety, this had genuine chills as an open house visitor murders people after scoping their security systems. Best ending ever, I have to say. Totally gratifying take-down of the villain and fabulous closing quips about calling for am ambulance/can't remember the number. Loved it.

"The Wild and the Innocent"

This was so far, I think, my favorite episode, though again, it's straight police business for the most part. I didn't want this one to end (it seriously could have been a full length movie starring Harvey Keitel, I swear). Insane young couple treks across country trying to recover the "stolen" child of the woman (the baby was actually sold on the black market). Wonderful voice-over narrative from Heather McComb as Maddie Haskell. And just a wonderfully epic ending. Televsion sometimes does great stuff!

Final impressions for 5-10: I feel like we're losing the sense of anything supernatural going on at this point. I'm so far ahead that I know it's coming back, but at the moment, this season is not feeling altogether cohesive and I'm longing for an arc to get going (nothing crazy like X-files ~ nothing that confusing! Just something to tie stuff together a little more). The Millennium group is too shadowy at this point. I think it's too slow a burn if we're ten shows in and haven't been goosed a little ~ but then Frank's so cool, who cares, really?

More next week, though I am going out of town (briefly), so it may not be 'til Tuesday or Wednesday! Again, if you remember the series, I would love to hear your thoughts!

: D

Comments

[utter-scoundrel.livejournal.com]

I was not a fan of the Well-Worn Lock either. Should've warned you about it. Also Maranatha.

You probably already know by now, but season 1 is 99.9% supernatural and/or arc free. This all changes with season 2.

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

interestingly, i really liked Maranatha ~ i thought it had a nice Kaiser Sose quality about it and loved the Chernobyl connection. I also thought the casting in that episode was really great: so many amazing faces!

i'm about four episodes into season two and see how it's starting to ramp up ~ yay!

: D

[utter-scoundrel.livejournal.com]

Sorry. Got my episode titles mixed up. I meant Broken World.

Season 2! You've now met Rodecker and Lara Means...

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

oh, the horsie episode ~ yeah, that one was kinda blah. I liked that the horse got to take the guy out, but it wasn't too spectacular and the all the weird Equus sex stuff was kinda bizarre in a strangely uninteresting way.

: o p

re: means and roedecker: i've met them, yes. not sure yet what i think of them yet ~ hahahahaha ~

[lanyn.livejournal.com]

I can't remember why now, but I never watched this show when it was out. X-Files yes, Nowhere Man, yes, but this one I don't think I even caught the premiere. Weird, cuz it sounds right up my alley! Maybe it was playing on the wrong night of the week! LOL!

I think I might have to rent this and check it out. :-D

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

i don't really know why i didn't watch it at the time either ~ i think I was maxed out on tv. i really don't have much of an attention span beyond following one or maybe two shows.

it's definitely worth a look. the first season feels a bit uneven, but i've been told it picks up speed thereafter.

: D

[lanyn.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I could only watch one or two new shows a week myself before I felt like I'd lost all my own time, and I think I was watching Hercules and Xena during Millennium's time frame. LOL!