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Synopsis of Millennium episode "The Time Is Now"

Presented below is the original published synopsis of The Time Is Now, from Chris Carter's Millennium TV series. It was originally published on the original Fox Millennium website.

 

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The Time Is Now


Season:

2

MLM Code:

#MLM-223

Production Code:

5C23

Original Airdate:

1998-05-15



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Episode Profile | Transcript | Credit List | Original Fox Photos |  Episode Images

Written by Glen Morgan & James Wong
Directed by Thomas J. Wright
Edited by James Coblentz


In this continuation of the previous episode... Jordan, Frank and Catherine bury the dead parakeet, prompting more questions from Jordan regarding God and the hereafter. Later, a Millennium team clad in biohazard suits sweeps into the Davis home, where earlier an entire family was wiped out by the mysterious virus. Outside the house, in the backyard, are a dozen dead birds of various species.

Catherine, Frank and Jordan return to the yellow house. Frank realizes that, with all of the unhappiness associated with the structure, such as the deaths of Bletcher and the Old Man, it is time to find a new home. A short time later, Frank receives paperwork in the mail, indicating his father left him a cabin in a remote wooded area. Frank tells Catherine about Watts' prediction that there would be an earthquake. Although he distrusts the Group's power and control, Frank cannot walk away until he knows what the future entails.

Richard Gilbert meets Frank in a parking lot. When Frank reveals he has decided to stay with the Group, Richard warns against it, as even now, they are being spied upon by Group members. Gilbert drives off in his car, and shortly thereafter, Mr. Lott steps from the shadows. He reveals that the Group is uninterested in any single individual life, but feels its responsibility lies with the whole of mankind.

The next morning, Frank discovers that Richard lost control of his automobile as he drove away from their meeting. Frank examines the automobile, searching for evidence that it was tampered with. Watts informs him that the Group is not at fault, its attention focused on something far more important. He reveals that he broke into the Group's database, and has learned that the mysterious virus was discovered by the Soviets years earlier in the jungles of Africa. It was then genetically enhanced, creating a biological weapon of astonishing toxicity. When the Soviet Union fell, the virus was inadvertently exposed to the environment, and carried aloft by birds. In 1986, a Wisconsin farmer and his entire flock of hens died from exposure, but like the Spanish flu of 1918, it mysteriously went away. The boy who died by the lake the previous week had somehow contracted the disease. Watts believes the Group developed a vaccine to the virus back in 1986, but produced only enough to inoculate its own members (both Frank and Watts received the vaccine during their quarantine period). Frank instructs Watts to find Lara Means and meet him back at his house, as he knows of a location where they can live until the crisis passes.

When Watts arrives at the cottage where Lara is staying, Blaylock and another Group member intercept him. During the ensuing struggle, a gunshot rings out. Frank receives a phone call, and listens to the sound of the struggle, followed by the sound of a car pulling away in the distance. With help from Giebelhouse, Frank traces the call to the cottage.

Lara experiences powerful visions of the apocalypse. For a moment, she considers taking her own life. Instead, she writes something on an envelope. Frank breaks down the door and races inside. In a nearly psychotic state, Lara raises her gun and opens fire, narrowly missing Frank. Paramedics rush inside and help restrain Lara. As she is wheeled away, Frank takes the envelope, which contains a syringe filled with a vaccine to the virus.

Frank telephones Catherine and instructs her to begin gathering provisions. He then drives to the psychiatric hospital, where he speaks with Lara. He asks her about Watts' fate, but she can only stare back with lifeless eyes. Frank thanks Lara for the vaccine, then drives his family to the remote cabin.

Frank tells Catherine that during the years of the Black Plague, people gathered their families and retreated to the mountains, allowing them to survive the outbreak. Later, as Jordan sleeps, Catherine listens to a news broadcast, which details the symptoms of the virus. Catherine asks Frank to kill her if she should become infected. Frank counters it would be impossible for him to do so, arguing that if he got sick, he would go off into the woods to die. He then produces the syringe containing the vaccine. He explains that he has already been inoculated, and the syringe contains enough vaccine for one person. Catherine immediately insists that Jordan be given the shot.

Later that night, Catherine wakes experiencing symptoms of the virus. She quietly walks out of the cabin and heads towards the woods. Finding blood on Catherine's pillow, Frank watches the darkened forest. The next morning, Frank's hair has gone completely gray. As he holds his daughter in his arms, he experiences internal blasts of static, interspersed with apocalyptic distress calls in many languages. And it is in the cabin that Frank and Jordan remain... alone... and uncertain.