Morgan & Wong's Millennium

[Guest StevenmTaylor]

I seem to be in a minority, in that I like all three seasons equally and see each as a natural progression of the previous. I think S3 would be better remembered if there had been a S4 to finish things off properly, in fact my only gripe is with the opening two parter which is not only disapointing in itself but also seeks to weaken the impact of The Time is Now. To me the final series should have opened with a two-part version of TEOTWAWKI, incorparating the sub-plot about Frank's grief for Catherine and his return to the FBI and a more protracted climax with the survivalists (which isn't to say that the episode's not excellent already). Personally, the appeal of Millennium was always it's unpredictability, just as it seemed to be settling into formula it would pull the rug from under your feet and it continued to do this until right the very end, with Frank and Jordan driving off into an uncertain future.

Cheers,

Steve

[Guest se7en]

.....I'M MORE OR LESS WITH YOUR LINE OF THINKING!

~se7en

[Guest ModernDayMoriarty]

It is a fairly unavoidable fact that Season Two Millennium is vastly different from both the other Seasons. Now, whether you like this or not, consider it bad for continuity reasons etc, that is the case. It was always going to happen - the show had different people at the helm and many of the S1 writers had left. Morgan and Wong were unhappy with S1 and thought they had a better idea for the show's direction that would help to improve its standing. Up until S2 Millennium I had quite a deal of respect for M+W (and still do to a certain extent). As consulting and executive producers on the X-Files they were working through all the times that I considered to be that show's best. But they would leave after half a series not once but twice and the quality sharply declined after their departure both times. My favourite XF Season (1) was the only one to include M+W input right the way through. To get back to MLM, Morgan and Wong leave again halfway through Season One and for me the Season suffers after their departure until Chris Carter's inspired 'Lamentation'.

So why don't I like Season Two Millennium then? After I saw 'The Beginning and the End' I had several thoughts in the few seconds before the credits came up. I thought 'That seemed very different', 'I wasn't expecting that' but also 'I didn't really enjoy that too much'. Now I later came to appreciate the episode more but the big surprise for me was that the credits then listed M+W as executive producers. I was overjoyed, all disapointment with the episode gone in an instant. The Season was sure to be a sucess with two of my favourite writers on the case. But after 'Beware of the Dog' (another episode I later came to admire), I was less sure. It was VERY different in tone and style and I missed the old MLM feel, the doom and the darkness. What were they doing I wondered?

After careful review and some extensive thinking I have come to the conclusion that S2 isn't irredeemable and neither could S3 have been as good as it was without it. I still object to a great deal of S2, but the core ideas were not bad ones -they simply were not picked on enough and the quality of writers was too variable. It has been said that only M+W could adequatley have written a S3 but I don't really agree with that. I do however think that only they really 'got' what S2 was supposed to look like. It was their vision and the other writers seemed to have a really hard time accomodating this. The idea of Frank's wife leaving him, him being left vulnerable to the Group, the slow crawl to the apocalypse, the superioty complx of the Group - none of these were terrible ideas. I am a noted opponent of the Group being an evil controlling force but if done well (as in much of S3) I wouldn't mind so much. No idea is bad if it works. And some of S2 and S3 showed that it could work but not enough (in S2) for my liking. Only Morgan and Wong seemed to engage with this idea at all, only they seemed to have any idea of what the MLM Group was and only they really engaged with the struggle of Frank Black to accept his split from his wife and face his inner darkness.

It just seems like Morgan and Wong are writing from a different script than the other writers for most of S2. M+W can usually be relied on for quality and their episodes have an unmistakeable sheen of quality TV about them even if (as with me) you didn't really care much for many of the ideas on show. Broadly speaking and ignoring the last two parter which I hate, their episodes deconstruct MLM and reconstruct it in a believeable and ocassionally interesting way. They are certainly not flawless as I have said many times (I am very sceptical of Lara Mean's and Brian Roedecker's characters and I continue to regard 'Monster' as one of the worst episodes in MLM). Also, I think the decision to pretty much ignore Legion and abandon much of the darker stories was a mistake. But they do some effective work on Peter Watt's character and their presentation of the Group is often fascinating. Symbolism is one of their strongpoints and it is much in evidence to varibale degrees of effectiness. Mostly though, their episodes are interesting in symbolic terms and posess potent imagery that makes them out as good attempts to recreate the show in their own image so to speak. I am violently opposed to the shift from S1 to S2 but I can appreciate their work to do this and if S1 had not existed then I would have had an easier time accepting this as the ideas are, as I said, not usually without merit. They simply don't fit the mould established by S1 which I loved so much. I think that with more discipline from M+W, less reliance on imagery and symbolism (as it quickly gets sickly) and more focus on addressing abandoned S1 plotlines and themes (like the darkness, fear and dread that was so absent to really give the edge that S2 lacked) it would have been improved. They relied too much on the other (some very inexperienced) writers to see where they were coming from and it didn't work. In the end they leave 'The Beginning and the End', 'Beware of the Dog' and 'The Curse of Frank Black' as testimonials to how good it could have been. But equally they leave 'Monster', 'Siren' and 'The Time is Now' as examples of how their vision was flawed.

Because it was flawed in my opinion. They simply didn't have the discipline to make a complete and cohenrent S2 on their own. They fell into the trap they accused S1 of. Where S1 was too dark, S2 wasn't dark enough. They put too much of what they thought we should want, rather than what we actually wanted. They are to be commended for trying so hard to come up with a running story but simply ignoring S1 for the most part (and even rewriting aspects of it such as with the Poloroid Stalker) was a mistake. S1 of the X-Files is a good example of how Morgan and Wong can enhance a series when there are others around to make up the difference. With Chris Carter's unique pessimism and Howard Gordon's view of humanity's dark side, XF S1 would have been inundated with M+W's dreamy adventures. That would not have done because the season would have lacked an edge but they added to it by being a change from all the horror. MLM S2 sadly demonstrates that either they were too powerful as Executive Producers to be stopped or that the other writers simply didn't have the means to act as a proper foil to them. To examine them:

Erin Maher and Kay Reindl are particular objects of my disatisfaction here - I never really liked any of their episodes as they seemed like M+W-lite fodder. They were the same kind of dreamy, spirtual episodes but without the quality. They were inexperienced writers and seemed to be so overawed by M+W that they tried to emulate them rather than finding their own voice. As it is they merely contributed M+Wesque episodes that were not as good as real M+W episodes. Darin Morgan still has no place on any 1013 show in my opinion. His slices of dark humour (vastly overrated in my opinion and variable in quality to the extreme) would only have been very useful if the rest of the season had been as dark as S1. I found them to be a bizarre choice and of no real consequence to the greater show - these slots should have been filled with episodes of more moment. As it was they were simply a waste of time that showed that DM was good at what he did, it just wasn't very appropriate for the shows he worked on. The other big player of the Season is Chip Johanessen and if you didn't pick it up here, S3 would show exactly how little he cared for M+W's MLM. His episodes (with the exception of certain elements of 'Luminary') show an almost total disregard for the tone of the Season. His episodes pay lip service to the themes of the Season and seem more grounded in reality than what others were doing. He still has the hankering for the 'Human element' as showed by the tragic mental cases in 'Sense and Antisense', the women in 'In Arcadia Ego' and the young man in 'Luminary'. I think Johenessen really struggled to accomodate M+W in this season and S3 only underscores exactly how differently he thought Millennium should be done.

So that's it really. Whilst I don't really like S2, I think it could have been good and included several intriguing ideas. But a weak supporting team of writers (Johanessen aside) dilute this by not giving M+W the criticism they should have received. M+W write too many of the episodes and are allowed too free a hand by their staff who don't imprint a decent enough set of supporting materials to curb M+W's excesses. Ultimately, I agree with Seven that CC must take some responsibility for not keeping a tighter leash on M+W and I feel that with one more really talented (and prolific because Michael Perry was certainly talented but did only one episode in S2) writer to join Johanessen, the season could have been much better.

[Guest Gary]

I pretty much agree with all of that, ModernDayMoriarty! :grin2:

[Guest A Stranger]

It does seem that Morgan and Wong have a tendancy to create their own ongoning storylines without being on the same page as the other writers. In The X-Files season one, Morgan and Wong seem to be creating a backstory in the mytholgy that was all together dropped by the time Carter was forced to start creating his own in wake of Gillian Anderson's pregancay. In season one Deep Throat gives us a very good idea of the human involvement with aliens in "E.B.E." They seem to be hostile, killing them or stealing their ships and occupants. That very much contradicts the mytholgy we know now. Deep Throat's history and alien involvement could easily be a lie but a very similar situation pops up in season four with "Musings..." which would suggest that M&W are still operating on their own ideas because Carter doesn't tell them to stop. Mainly, becuase he doesn't have a story yet that will lead to contradictions.

Morgan and Wong began to create a backstory for the Smoking Man in "One Breath," Carter didn't even have the intentions of having the character speak let alone create motivations for the character. CSM's story and motivations he revelas to Mulder in "One Breath," which seem very genuine since he has a gun at his face, completly contradicts what is later relvealed about him.

I don't think it's really anyone's fault but that simply neither writer/writing duo had some elaborate plan all mapped out that way many X-Files fans seem to think. I think it's pretty obvious that Carter assumed control over what the mythology would be after Morgan and Wong left. X-Files was known for not having what many other show have, a "character bible" which tells the other writers who the characters are and what their historys are. Carter often creates a lot of mystery and often other writers will take a hold of that an create a completly new character out of an existing one. This is what happened to Peter in "The Beginning and the End." We had no idea who he was, he was just a character or symbol that Carter created and since there there were no real paramiters on whoe Peter is in season one, Morgan and Wong made one. Thiis seemed to happen a lot in both MM and XF, which I think, shows the radically different approahces.

I guess, along the same topic, my problem with the evil Group, evil Peter, and many of the other radical format changes of season three was they violated so many of the concrete foundations that were set in season two. Yes, M&W did some re-formating in season two but as I stated above; in season one there were not as many of the concrete foundations. There was much mystery put in about the Group and their involvement. We were led to believe that we should be suspisous of them (it's even in the synopsis for the DVD!).

The Polariod Stalker was probably the biggest re-writing job but at the same time who was the Polariod Stalker in season one? A guy who is stalking Frank who weres all black? Again with the limited info.

I think a big part of the fans upheavel over the format change between 2/3 and not over 1/2 is becuase of that concrete foundation. We were told what the Group was, when they formed, and what their motivations were in season two but that was taken back in many ways in season three, especially "Matryoshka!"

Okay, I'm done with this essay.

[Guest Second Coming]

I just have to say that I like what Morgan and Wong brought to Millennium. I like Season 2 the best. It got away from the Serial Killer of the week format and interjected need mythology into the series. And I don't understand how everyone slams them for the religious stuff. Because in season one and most of millennium started out quoting a Bible verse or biblical subjects. Not all but a good 90-95%. I just wish the Owls and Roosters thing would have been followed up on instead of Frank and Emma turning into a semi-mulder and scully.

[Guest chrisnu]

My opinion in short:

Season 1 needed a few less murder-based episodes. Seasons 2 & 3 needed a few more. M&W may have made some mistakes (most notably the S2 finale), but no one writer on the show was perfect.

While the S3 Group did have an entirely different method of operating than the S2 Group, they both exercised the same Machiavellian philosophy and extreme control of information. It was a shame that Peter Watts' role was greatly reduced in S3, however.

M&W's work on Season 4 of TXF did show they did not do their homework on the show since they left mid-season 2. There are many contradictions to previous plot developments and character in their episodes. One of my favorite episodes is "Musings Of A Cigarette-Smoking Man", but I couldn't believe my eyes when I read that it was supposed to be taken as fact on M&W's website. The number of continuity errors was astounding. Taken as fiction, it's still a good character study on CSM.

Edited April 24, 2004 by chrisnu

[Guest se7en]

......SORRY BUT THE SO CALLED-SERIAL KILLER OF THE WEEK FORMAT,BESIDES BEING EXCEEDINGLY RIDICULOUS,IS NOTHING BUT A MYTH,AT LEAST FOR ME AND OTHERS,AND WAS FIRST MISLABELED AS SUCH BY A SHORTSIGHTED "JOURNALIST/REVIWER" FROM TV-GUIDE. ..."most" fans of S1 continue to find that descriptor pitiful,almost as pitiful as "ONLY M&W COULD HAVE DONE A S3!".... ......pleeeeease! ...I respect anyone's opinion but when that lame reason is trotted out it is painfully obvious,to "me" and in "my" opinion,that it is likely said because the person has not really bothered,or chosen,to NOT invest himself/herself in the unbeleivable amount of complexities in the season. they seem too busy trying to find even more "deeper" meanings-(AHEM!)-to M&W's S2.

...no,i'm not specifically aiming this at anyone above here but it is generaly how i view "most" people who trot out the most ridiculous phrase/label perhaps ever given to the shear work of art that is S1-(and S3 for that matter)-"DUH SERIAL KILLER OF DUH WEEK FORMAT". LOL!

i'D SAY AND CONTRIBUTE EVER SO MUCH MORE BUT THEN I'D END UP WITH NOTHING TO WRITE WHEN IT REALLY COUNTS.......FOR THE GUIDE!

~CHEERS ALL,

se7en

[Guest chrisnu]

Yipe! Now, I said murder-based episodes, alright? I certainly didn't to demean anything. I'm as big a fan of S1 as anybody, and I know that the S1 episodes deal with more than serial killers.

Edited April 24, 2004 by chrisnu

[Guest A Stranger]

I'm a big fan of the dark crime episodes (not SKIOTW ) But I don't think the criticism is all that unwarnted in season one. After watching "Maranatha," "Broken World" just came off as a filler to me. I think the problem is that Frank investigating some whacko killer pales in significance to the Anti-Christ! Season two delt mainly with those bigger issues and it did seem kind of strange for Frank to be that worried about one killer with all this crazy MM Group end of the world prophesy stuff going on.

But Se7en, I do agree that in the media the show began over-simplified mainly becuase I think many people were expecting something more "X-File-ish." I remember reading a TV Guide review for the Pilot saying something like MM would be better if Frank has a few aliens to hang around...