Borrowed Time

[Guest Pencil Machine Operator]

Hello,

Iv'e only seen S3 once, but my first impressions were that this was the first truly Great episode in season 3. Not a poor moment in it as far as I remember.

BUT, I think this episode typifies why I cant 'connect' with season3 as much as the others. Frank is different, not due to bad writing, but because of what he's been through. Truth is, and it pains me to say it, I don't really like Frank in (most of) season3. Perhaps its the Law&Order Micheal Duggan influence, but throughout the season Frank is an arrogant tough-guy(from what I remember, he's always cutting people off in conversation in s3), with occasional none-too-subtle signs of weakness and desperation (at Jordan's hospital bed, pleading to God). He's a stereotypical man-on-a-mission.

Again, this is not due to bad writing; most people would be the same way (so perhaps it's very good writing!). But ultimately Season3 is something I 'appreciate' rather than 'love': because I was more interested in the ambiguous "who IS he?" aspect of Frank, and in season 3 I feel he is perhaps too... obvious (sorry!).

subjective as always,

PMO

[Guest ModernDayMoriarty]

Well, I consider Season Three a triumph of writing but I do agree that it takes a while before it starts 'hitting those highs'. I think the portrayal of Frank is excellent in this Season and does exactly what Season 2 should have done. S1 always said that without Catherine and Jordan to come home to, Frank would not be able to cope, yet S2 shows him coping just fine really. As I have stated before, 'The Curse of Frank Black' is the only episode where we see the emotional cost to Frank really. Season Three is much better, showing Frank as a truly changed man which his old friends such as Andy Maclaren and Gibelhaus(?) pick up on. He is driven with a burning desire to destroy the Millennium Group and atone for the failures of his life (letting Catherine die, allowing Lucy Butler to kill Bletch and then escape capture twice etc). The key episodes of the Season (and again I must STRONGLY disagree that 'The Innocents and to a lesser extent 'Exegesis' are bad episodes), all point to the redemption of Frank from this state. At the same time though, Season Three is about the corruption of Emma Hollis and people frustratingly ignore this because she is new and they don't know her. By the end of the Season Hollis is a fine character and a very tragic one for how things turn out for her. The episodes you NEED to see to watch these things happenning are in my opinion (and I don't have space or time now to do huge reviews of them all but I'll try and show what I think of them:

The Innocents, Exegesis.

We See Frank's desolation at Catherine's loss and learn of his second breakdown. We see the pressure from seeing Jordan mourning (in her way) for her mother and Catherine's father, for Frank to find the Millennium Group and make them pay. We see how different Frank is, how argumentative he can be, sometimes apparently crazed with his insistence on MLM Group activities and his alienation from others. Of crucial importance is the sacrifice made by the surviving woman not to mention the Group; she will not play their game any longer. Frank however vows that he won't let them win, i.e he is now their sworn enemy as the confrontation with Watts outside the school also shows. The first glimipses of the theme of redemption are seen at the end of 'Exegesis' but Frank apparently cannot see it yet; who will see a new future? The future isn't set, someone with a vision of a better future could come and make it happen. Frank doesn't have to destroy himself with grief and throw himself at the Millennium Group; there is another path.

Closure.

A much maligned episode but a good one in my opinion. I suspect much of the resentment comes from the utterly unlikeable Van Horn. That is the point really though; too often MLM villains are these romantised, tortured killers who had no choice but to kill. Van Horn is simply a loathsome man with no sense of morality that we could understand. It is crucial to the development of Hollis as she must realise that evil is out there, not just pressures of society. Her sister died for no real reason and it is this chaos, this evil that the Group is battling against. The Group will later give her a focus for her anger at the pointlessness of her sister's death and demonstrate it's power by saving her father from a similar pointless death. Also, we see more of Frank's new personality as he is very callous really in his dismissal of Hollis hopes to find reason behind this tragedy. It perfectly conveys the two different sides that will change so much as the Season progresses - Frank regains a sense of hope and peace and Hollis slides into despair at the apparent monstrosity of the Group, her father's wearing illness, the constant jibes from Baldwin (that build on her fears from this episode that she isn't good at her job).

Skull and Bones.

A significant episode in many ways but the most important to this argument is that it is the first episode where Emma and Watts meet up properly to discuss the Group and Frank without Frank around. This is where the seduction starts; the Group are involved in a great deal of horrific acts but they have focus and a goal, they have the stability that Emma needs. The persuasiveness of Watts, despite what Emma is seeing of their murders, even at this early stage appears to have made some purchase. (She doesn't gun him down or try to arrest him for example). Also, her curisosity and need to find out what the Group are up to are of great interest; we as viewers think 'Great, Frank has an ally now against the Group' but Watts is able to make great use of that later. There is the implication that she is Frank's sidekick, that she is making up her mind based on what he thinks rather than using her own mind. Her need to prove that SHE sees what they are and SHE can stand up and stop them becomes a main focus as this slowly forces Emma and Frank apart. Watts can see that her ambition and lack of direction when not pursuing the Group will be her downfall.

Of course, to truly appreciate the points in 'Skull and Bones' you have to watch the rest of the Season to see how it develops ('Thardo Bardol' is a good example as well as 'Goodbye to all That'). Frank's new direction kicks in around 'Borrowed Time' I would imagine (haven't seen it) but certainly in 'The Sound of Snow'. It then builds in 'Thardo Bardol', 'Seven and One' and 'Via Dolorosa/Goodbye to all That'. Episodes like 'Antipas' (for all its failings) and 'Saturn Dreaming of Mercury' are also good for showing how Frank lets go of his need to destroy Legion and how he finds his way back to the light by concentrating on what is really important - looking after Jordan and friends like Hollis.

I can't stress enough how much I like Season Three and it is actually quickly becoming my favourite Season. The big problem is that the middle and end of the Season are far, far superior to the start (The Innocents aside). I do like some of the early episodes but really Johanessen, Spotnitz etc seemed to be finding their feet on how they were intending to proceed after Season Two. When they find their voice however, Season Three swings into action in electrifying fashion. If you have watched Seasons 1-4 of the X-Files, you can see a similar thing happens there as with Millennium S3 - the majority of the killer episodes are pushed into one end of the Season. Seasons 2-4 of the XF started well and devolved as the Season continued (all three Seasons have shown all the good and necessary episodes by the mid point with only a few good episodes each after). But Season One of the XF is exactly like S3 MLM in that it has the great episodes at the middle to end of the Season. Not a good way to go about things because people will either have lost interest or won't be willing to give it a chance after that. I implore people who haven't really watched Season Three to give it another go - it really is superb. I know there is a groundswell of support for S2 here, but I honestly think if MLM had been like this from S2 onwards it would have fared far better. It has better consistency, better writing and a very clear sense of direction that S2 lacked (Frank doesn't return to the yellow house as was promised in 'The Beginning and the End's' opener and in 'Beware of the Dog' - and by Morgan and Wong themselves!, the Group throw away their own calender of the end times by bringing on armageddon seemingly at a whim one day, Legion is all but ignored for the majority of the Season, the list goes on and on).

Season Three starts with Frank in darkness and despair and ends with him seeing light and feeling hope, Emma Hollis traces a clear path from wanting to help in her desperation to make sense of life to her tragic downfall at the hands of Group, Peter Watts is much better as the man who really believes in the Group but has to balance that with the knowledge that he is commiting questionable acts. PMO, I apologise for hi-jacking this thread with my portable soap box but someone has to fly the flag for S3.

Sea-son Three!, Sea-son Three!, Sea-son Three!

[Guest A Stranger]

ModernDayMinority: Great post! You're giving Se7en a run for his money as the main S3 crusader!

And PeniclMachineOperator: I actaully found Frank to be at his best in S3 and when I found some of the plotlines off-putting, it was Frank that really kept me interested. I really got the feeling that Frank was just constantly bombarded from every angle. The Group, Legion, murders and coming home to his daughter with pychic (using that term lightly) ablities, with no Catherine.

In S3 Frank was a man who had been throuh hell and back and had the knowledge which he tired to give to Emma. The idea of Frank being expierenced knowledable was really lost in S2 as he got caught up in the Group and became just a pawn awaitng their "knowledge."

[Guest Pencil Machine Operator]

For sure, Frank is consistant and well written throughout the season (it's what kept me watching through all the derivative plotlines). All I'm saying (and I suppose it's not something worth saying really), is that while I 'appreciate' the quality of the characterisation, I, personally, am not interested in that character type;

I watched TEOTWAWKI yesterday, and you can see the (logical) changes in Frank's character: the way he says to Baldwin "..that's very weak deduction." Personally I think he's being smug (as is Baldwin), and I just don't like him.

Personally, I preferred the conflicted, curious, meditative Frank of Season2.

MDM,

yeah, I really hated Closure, but not because of Van Horn; he was an intriguing character, and yes, a welcome change to the typical season 1 guys.

What I didn't like was that damned lazy my-sister-was-killed-when-I-was-young story. It's like the writers are pointing and saying "Hey, look, she's kinda like Mulder; Don't just sit there staring! EMPATHISE!!!" Please... there's better characterisation in life-insurance adverts.

Yes, the overall arc of season3 is well thought-out (traced out by Frank's ever greying hair); but for me (and you, it seems), it resulted in a load of poor episodes pre-Borrowed Time.

My thoughts on the arc is that it traces Frank's eventual acceptance of Catherine's death (and in turn, Season2!): illustrated perfectly by Franks hair. This is probably why I don't like the first half of s3, because it represses all knowledge of s2 (but I completely understand that it serves a higher purpose).

To conclude ("finally!"), I dont think it's fair to deem any season of Millennium "bad" television (I'm not accusing anyone); I think it all depends on what angle you're coming from, really. Debate only becomes tiresome when people start laying claim to "objectivity".

[Guest Gary]

I totally agree - after Borrowed Time, S3 was superb. Actually, if you look at my list of standout S3 episodes in another thread here, you'll notice that the episodes I've listed do not include any before Borrowed Time!

[Guest PROVO_SIX]

I was sooo dissapointed with S3. Even when I got the se7en DVD set I was ripping through all of them in sequence like a great book. Again, as I did during the original viewings, I struggle with the characters and content of S3. I didn't care for the Hollis/Frank relationship -- it felt forced on me. I didn't care for the FBI setting -- Frank became a sell-out to some degree. He was running from MM group and his family life was crap. Frank was a beaten man in S3. The Frank/Peter and Frank/Lara chemistry was all gone. Sorry, S2 was my favorite, followed by S1 a close second.

[Guest Pencil Machine Operator]

Even when I got the se7en DVD set I was ripping through all of them in sequence

                      like a great book.

Yeah, exactly how I did it, aswell. For a while there I thought I was going to get sucked into the TV or something. "just one more episode..."

It's an addiction; there should be legislation; actually no there shouldn't!

[Raven Wolf]

I agree with what MDM said about The Innocents, Exegesis. That was when I realy "got into" S3. And, for the most part, I didn't think Frank was too out-of-caracter in Season 3. He was slowly falling apart, after loosing Catherine, and that flowed perfectly. The only time I saw him as "Un-Frank Like" was in "Human Essance", but, then, Dave has a WHOLE LIST of reasons from me about that!

[Guest Pencil Machine Operator]

Iv'e rewatched some s3 eps, and think that I've overstated my case somewhat. There are a couple of scenes in a couple of eps, where Frank is uncharacteristically brash, but those scenes are far outweighed by the ones in which he is the same old Frank.

Thats all,

PMO

[Guest Max Fenig]

I didn't care for the FBI setting -- Frank became a sell-out to some degree.  He was running from MM group and his family life was crap.  Frank was a beaten man in S3.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

...thus, the genius of S3.

"Borrowed Time" is my all-time favorite episode, no contest, although I loved "Omerta" and would consider that to be the start of S3's run. The first eight episodes... not bad, but nothing great. Too X-Filesy. But starting at, in MLMDVDspeak, Disc 3, it turns into a whole different beast. Absolute creative brilliance, and whether it worked or not, it took the risks. Except maybe "Forcing the End", meh.

Edited September 12, 2005 by Max Fenig