#MLM-118 Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions
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Episode Summary
Despite the fact that Frank feels he is unable to continue with his work on an emotional level, Peter Watts insists that he investigate a series of strange satanic slayings that may hold an unexpected link to the mysterious death of Bob Bletcher. While working on the case, the Millennium Group becomes caught in a battle between the human representations of demons and angels here on earth.
Main Crew
Written by Ted Mann & Harold Rosenthal
Directed by Thomas J. Wright
Edited by George R. Potter
Main Cast
Brittany Tiplady as Jordan Black
Lance Henriksen as Frank Black
Megan Gallagher as Catherine Black
Stephen James Lang as Det. Bob Giebelhouse
Terry O'Quinn as Peter Watts
Bill Smitrovich as Lt. Bob Bletcher
Guest Stars
Richard Cox as Alistair Pepper
Robin Gammell as Mike Atkins
Rodney Eastman as Sammael
Sarah-Jane Redmond as Lucy Butler
Supporting Cast
Alf Humphreys as Damon Rummer
Allan Franz as Medical Examiner Anderson
Bonnie Hay as A.D.A. Mills
Dean P. Gibson as Phil Brice
Guy Fauchon as Martin
Judith Maxie as Judge Myers
Robert Moloney as Uniformed Cop Adams
Uncredited Cast
Gerry Nairn as Lyon
Marya Delver as Nanny Annie
Terry King as Mike
View full credits
Quotation/Proverb
Paranoia is just a kind of awareness, and awareness is just a form of love. - Charles Manson
Seasonal Episode Tagline
wait... worry... who cares?
Synopsis
Attorney Al Pepper walks through a supermarket parking lot carrying a bag of groceries. A teenager, Sammael, addresses Pepper and extends an open palm. Frank exits the supermarket and sees the two men. Suddenly, a bolt of light emanates from Sam's palm, knocking Pepper to the ground. Frank runs towards the scene, passing through panicking shoppers. When he arrives at Pepper's side, he discovers a handgun lying at Sam's feet.
As the story unfolds in flashback, Peter Watts investigates the death of Eddy Pressman, whose body was discovered inside a suburban house. The corpse is surrounded by occult symbolism, but the markings are incoherent and disorganized. Watts telephones Frank for advice. Frank, still shaken by the death of Bob Bletcher, is reluctant to continue his work. When the conversation ends, Watts notices Sammael peering into the house's second story window. When Watts approaches the window, the teenager is nowhere in sight.
Catherine convinces Frank that he must return to the Millennium Group. Later, Watts shows Frank a photograph taken outside the entrance to the building where the murder occurred. Standing amongst the crowd is Sammael, the only face looking directly into the camera. Meanwhile, police take a man named Martin into custody after he slashes the throat of a nanny. Frank senses that, somehow, the suspect is connected to Bletcher's death.
Despite the overwhelming evidence facing Martin, Frank begins to suspect that police may have arrested the wrong man. One night, Frank experiences a nightmare in which Bletcher, his throat slit, attempts to speak to him. When Frank awakens, he tells Catherine he may have lost faith in his ability to see into the minds of serial killers.
Mike Atkins, Frank's mentor, is called into the case by someone impersonating Frank's voice on the telephone.
All of the evidence against Martin begins to unravel: witnesses are unable to pick him out of a police lineup, a murder weapon disappears, and a lab is unable to detect blood stains on his jacket. Frank is approached by Martin's attorney, Al Pepper (the man seen in the opening teaser). Pepper proposes a business partnership--an offer Frank quickly rejects. Later, as he stands before Judge Myers, Martin claims it was he who killed Bob Bletcher.
Frank concludes that Eddy Pressman was ritualistically slaughtered to attract the involvement of the Millennium Group.
Martin's case is transferred to Seattle. Alone in a jail cell, Martin runs a razor blade across an artery. A medical examiner determines that the wound is superficial and that Martin died of an aneurysm. Frank, however, suspects Pepper's involvement.
Someone summons Frank and Watts to Atkins' hotel room. Inside, the men discover Atkins' body, a sacrificial knife protruding from his chest. The perpetrator runs down a fire escape and makes his way to a nearby supermarket. Frank gives chase, following the unidentified man into the store. Frank spots Pepper pushing a cart at the other end of a grocery aisle. As Pepper pushes the cart, Frank parallels his movement. When Pepper's cart again comes into view, it is being pushed by Martin. As the cart appears again, it is being pushed by Lucy Butler (see previous episode).
Pepper makes his way into the market's parking lot, where he is approached and killed by Sammael (as seen in the teaser). Afterward, Sammael tells Frank that Pepper "suffered the consequence of his own error," and that any benefit to the Black family was purely incidental. Frank concludes that Sammael is part of a larger mystery.
Background Information and References
There is no background information or references relating to this episode of Millennium.
Episode Trivia
The only proper names for angels provided by Scripture are Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. Other angelic names can be gleaned from various apocryphal sources, however. With a name literally translating to "poison angel," Sammael is known primarily as the angel of death, characterized in some instances as a figure representing "the severity of God."
The episode takes its title from Sammael's powerful invocation, which reference four of the nine orders of angels identified by Scripture: Seraphims, Cherubims, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, Powers, Virtues, Archangels, and Angels.
Credit: Brian Dixon, The Millennial Abyss
Original Fox Promotional Episode Stills
View the 3 available original 1996 Fox Millennium Episode Guide images for this episode of Millennium here.
Mortality Count:
5 Deaths
(Comprised of 5 murders + 0 kills in self defence + 0 justifiable homicides + 0 suicides.)
N.B. Where relevant, unquantifiable groups of victims (such as multiple casualties as a result of a plane crash) are represented by a group count of 1 due to the impracticalities with listing so many unidentified persons.
Violence Markers
- Alistair Pepper was responsible for the murder of Martin during this episode of Millennium (Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions).
- Alistair Pepper was responsible for the murder of Mike Atkins during this episode of Millennium (Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions).
- Martin was responsible for the murder of Baby Sitter during this episode of Millennium (Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions).
- Martin was responsible for the murder of Eddy Pressman during this episode of Millennium (Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions).
- Sammael was responsible for the murder of Alistair Pepper during this episode of Millennium (Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions).
(View Millennium's Violence - Deaths, Killers, Victims and Criminality Analysis)
