Millennium Episode Review of Sacrament by Erin (Raven Wolf)

Reviewed: Sacrament

Contributor: Erin (Raven Wolf)

"He said to me in a dreadful voice that I had indeed escaped his clutches, but that he would capture me still." (St. Teresa of Avila)

We are introduced not only to Frank's brother Tom in this episode, but we also get our first glimpse into Jordan's budding ability. We also get a taste of the kind of intolerance that Frank has suffered in his life, because of his ability. He is tortured with knowing such great evil, and wanting to shield the ones he loves from it, meanwhile meeting with constant conflict from those people, who do not wish to be kept "in the dark". We saw a glimpse into this dynamic of Frank's life in the Pilot episode, and saw it later in "Lamentation". Here, he encounters the conflict not with Catherine, but with his brother, and we get a taste of what Frank grew up with.

I felt this was episode went straight to the soul...The soul of each of the characters, and at the same time, the souls of the viewers. Again, we see an example of there being a tortured soul behind every murderer. We learn to feel sorry for the young man that is accused of taking Tom's wife. We could also feel the anguish of Tom....waiting, and feeling totally powerless to do anything but wait. And also we could see the frustration of Frank, caught in the middle, between Tom's desperation for answers, and Bob Bletcher's ordering him not to get involved.

This was an exciting and tense episode, filled with conflict and suspense. I felt the most well done scene was where Tom confronts his wife's kidnapper, at his front door, Frank's gun at the man's chest. I still get chills every time I see that, and when Bob comes in to try to intervene. Tears come to my eyes, as the camera angle changes, and you see the scene from a more far-off perspective, as Tom slowly kneels to the ground, crying, with Bob at his side. Also, there was the most horrific scene, where Helen was finally discovered, sealed up in the wall of the man's house. And, finally, there was the horror of realizing that the true devil of that episode was actually the father, who had been abusing and using his son all his life. This whole story-line twist falls under the "monsters are created, not born" category.

All of the subtle, family based drama, as well as the well thought-out horrific element of "Sacrament" makes this an episode that I find easy to watch again and again.