Reviewed: Beware of the Dog
Contributor: Erin (Raven Wolf)
....Ahhh, the absence of quotes at the beginnings of season 2 episodes. I miss that...............Aaaanyway.....
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The sweet old song "Close to You" has never been the same after this episode, as it innocently flows in the background of the horror of the elderly couple's murder by "devil dogs" in the first scene of this fine episode. The now-familiar, warped picture that is painted in Millennium, with the combination of innocence and horror, returns like an old friend as the second season revs up. As the episode progresses, we see that the beautiful world that Frank had created for his family seems now to be crumbling, even as he scrambles to hold it together. At the same time, The Millennium Group is tightening its grip on Frank, sucking him deeper and deeper into its dark underbelly. Here, we begin to learn a little more about the group, as the theme of Millennium begins to change. What was once simply a group of ex-law-enforcement officers and FBI agents doing consulting work has become something much deeper, much older, and much more powerful. We also meet the enigmatic Old Man, one of the most memorable and important of all characters, and we never even knew his name! The stage seems to be well set now in the second season.
The gothic quality of this episode was intoxicating. Haunting music at just the right times, silence at just the right times, and a bizarre mystery unfurling throughout the entire story. Also, there was an important message to this episode, beginning what I saw as the theme of season 2. If season 1 was the "serial killer of the week" series....then season 2 was the "mysterious spiritual message of the week" series. In this, the message about balance in the world, the natural order of things, and of man's tendency to bury their heads in the sand and turn a deaf ear, only looking out for #1, was loud and clear. The terror of the dogs was symbolic of the crime in our everyday world. The townspeople, huddling in their homes, afraid to go out, but refusing to do anything to change or better their situations, locking themselves up out of sheer stubbornness was such a perfect portrayal of society it was almost funny!
This message was shown best in The Old Man's views on the situation.
"When I looked for good, and evil came unto me. When I waited for the light, then came darkness."
This beautifully worded line paints a perfect picture of what Millennium is all about. People simply cannot handle the brutality of reality, and desperately seek peace, like it's some unobtainable goal, rather than something to be worked towards.
"Serial killers, spree killers, mass-murderers. It's all just society, genetics, inevitability. You have no idea about True Evil."
"We must respect evil, and we must make evil respect us."
Here again, the message to one and all to Get Up Off Your Couches and Be the Change You Want to See in the World!
Then, Millenniums view on society again......
"Their fear shrinks the world to the size of nothing but their own lives. It blinds them to anything beyond their own houses. All they think is "Why me?" "Please, just leave me alone!" All they hope is that it'll go away. But it won't go away. That's why people like you are sent here...."
This message is to all of us. It is our responsibility to make the world a better place. That's why people like YOU are sent here!
"Beware of the Dog" was, to me, a fitting send off into the theme of the second season....What I call the "Change the World", "Therapy on a Friday Night" season. Millennium has lost none of its grit, its character, its horror, or its class, and it has gained a spiritual quality that is rarely seen in today's entertainment industry, and is even more rarely done as well as Millennium.
