FRANK BLACK RETURNS IN X FILES 2

[Guest ZeusFaber]

Maybe I could just note at this point that the episode was never intended in any way to either close the arc of Millennium or touch on its mythology. It wasn't constructed as a big, final conclusion to the series, nor was it promoted as such from what I can remember. I understand that many fans don't like it, which is certainly their right, but perhaps it just ought to be kept in mind that the idea wasn't to give us a Millennium episode by any other name, and therefore it might be just a tad unfair to judge it as such. To share some thoughts from Vince Gilligan, John Shiban and from Frank Spotnitz:

VG: "From the beginning, the intension was not so much to wrap up Millennium, but to answer the question of what would happen if Frank Black came into Mulder and Scully's world."

JS: "We realized that the story needed to be an X-File and that any Millennium ending we came up with had to come second. We needed to do what we always do, which is to follow Mulder and Scully through their case."

FS: "Our first responsibility was to the The X-Files's audience. We couldn't bring anything over from Millennium that would confuse them."

Source: Mark Shapiro, The Official Guide to The X-Files Volume 6: all things (New York: HarperCollins, 2001), pp. 54-55.

[Libby]

Just a thought: It would have been difficult to not do an XF episode around the time of the millennium and not reference it at all, and probably once that was realised it would have been a natural thing to also reference the show. I do think they were facing an impossible situation, since many XF fans didn't watch MM, so how were they to integrate Frank and Jordan into an XF episode? I'm not creative, so I'd have difficulty thinking of a story that was both X-file-ish and Millenniumistic.

I'm sure I read something that Lance said about the zombies, and not being particularly happy about the plot. I did like the interaction between Mulder, Scully and Frank - I think the characters worked together very well.

[Guest Heath328]

I did like the interaction between Mulder, Scully and Frank - I think the characters worked together very well.

Amen. It's this kind of interaction that could work well again in a film, even if Frank only appears for five minutes.

When the crossover episode aired, it was in November 1999 on a Sunday. That day, FX broadcasted a huge "Millennium" marathon to coincide with the event. The last episode to air at 8 p.m., right before "The X-Files" aired on Fox, was "Goodbye to All That."

Interspersed with the run of the "Millennium" marathon were bits of interviews with Lance Henriksen, etc.

From watching how all of this was played (and not from being an 1013 insider), the fan could assume there was some big closure about to occur, even if we were going to watch an "X-Files" episode.

Maybe some of us -- me -- assumed too much. My assumptions probably won't withstand cross-examination if you put me on the stand and lawyer me, but I expected more from "Millennium" in the show without sacrificing anything of "The X-Files." Given the show's two mythology arcs, it wouldn't have been terribly difficult to incorporate a bit more. It certainly would have beaten the dreadful "super-soldier" arc in the last season of "The X-Files."

That said, I did love the interaction between the agents and Frank. I loved the fact that Frank got to be Frank, and was treated with respect by Mulder and Scully. I love the fact that we got to see Brittany Tiplady as Jordan one more time.

Edited December 12, 2007 by Heath328

[Guest ZeusFaber]

When the crossover episode aired, it was in November 1999 on a Sunday. That day, FX broadcasted a huge "Millennium" marathon to coincide with the event. The last episode to air at 8 p.m., right before "The X-Files" aired on Fox, was "Goodbye to All That."

Interspersed with the run of the "Millennium" marathon were bits of interviews with Lance Henriksen, etc.

From watching how all of this was played (and not from being an 1013 insider), the fan could assume there was some big closure about to occur, even if we were going to watch an "X-Files" episode.

Thanks for sharing that information. Not being a US citizen, I don't have these experiences of how the first domestic broadcast of such episodes were linked in with other promotional events. It does seem that FOX, in deciding to air such a marathon on their cable outlet, may well have generated false expectations in their drive to capture as maximum an audience as possible. A shame that the network chose to do that, since it kind of goes against what the writers were trying to do. Ah well, ce la vie.

I expected more from "Millennium" in the show without sacrificing anything of "The X-Files." Given the show's two mythology arcs, it wouldn't have been terribly difficult to incorporate a bit more. It certainly would have beaten the dreadful "super-soldier" arc in the last season of "The X-Files."

I do have a different viewpoint to you there, I must say. I think such a task of incorporating both show's mythology in the space of a single episode would have been a much harder task than you describe, and would have been next to impossible to make a success of. I also disagree with your assessment of some of the X-Files arcs mentioned above, but I shan't go into that here.

That said, I did love the interaction between the agents and Frank. I loved the fact that Frank got to be Frank, and was treated with respect by Mulder and Scully. I love the fact that we got to see Brittany Tiplady as Jordan one more time.

On that we do agree, and I think those things you list there are the only goals it ever set out to achieve.

[ethsnafu]

May I also add my thanks to Zeus' with regards to the info you provided Heath!!

Like Zeus I miss out on all the good stuff by being British, all my favourite shows come from the US and all little extras that enrich your viewing experience are lost by the time it hits our shores.

Maybe I should emigrate, anyone got a spare bed lol.

Edited December 12, 2007 by ethsnafu

[ethsnafu]

Maybe I could just note at this point that the episode was never intended in any way to either close the arc of Millennium or touch on its mytholog

It would seem that you are incorrect in your assertion, either that or Chris Carter lied to Lance to secure his cooperation. And, more importantly, Heath it seems you maybe right. It appears that this episode was pitched to Lance with the notion that it would afford some closure on the 'Millennium' mytharc. The mighty man himself speaks...

"I gotta tell you, man, the way I got pitched this by Chris Carter, the reason I went on The X-Files, he said to me, 'This is gonna be closure for Millennium,' and I went, 'Oh God, great, Chris, I can't wait to read the script.' So the day I got to the set to do the show, I get the script and I'm facing zombies. Now what has that got to do with the closing of Millennium? Absolutely nothing! And I thought, 'That's closure for Millennium, all right. Yeah, right.'

"I thought, 'They're gonna give dignity to Millennium and here comes a show on The X-Files to give it dignity and it became zombies! I went, 'Oh s***, I'm going down in flames!'" He bursts out laughing again. "I have to laugh about it, man. But you get sold the bill of goods. If somebody says to you, 'This is a tribute to something', you're gonna want to believe it, and so you go, 'Oh good, okay.' And then when you get there and it's in a taste and style that you're not interested in, it's pretty funny. Now it's hysterical!"

Edited December 13, 2007 by ethsnafu

[Guest Heath328]

And I just want to apologize to you guys for assuming something. I live in the U.S., and I forget that you didn't have the same access to what occurred here on network TV when "Millennium" was originally being broadcast.

It's wonderful to know there are "Millennium" fans throughout the world, not just here in the States!

[Guest ZeusFaber]

It would seem that you are incorrect in your assertion, either that or Chris Carter lied to Lance to secure his cooperation.

Perhaps we ought to bear in mind that Chris Carter did not write this particular episode, and that one man's idea of "providing closure" can be quite different to another's. There is providing closure to Frank Black and Jordan, which I think it did, and providing closure to Millennium's complex mythology, which I don't think those who sat down to write the script had any intension of doing, nor could have had any hope of doing in 43 minutes of The X-Files even if they wanted to.

The episode's writers, Vince Gilligan and Frank Spotnitz, clearly state that this was not their goal. Maybe Lance Henriksen was led toward certain expectation that changed during the development process, maybe, but I don't think the audience ever had lofty expectations thrust upon them by the producers.

[ethsnafu]

After reading your thoughts more attentively I concur that you are probably right.

As I am more a Millenniumist than a Phile I am sure those of us with a vested interest probably expected more from an episode that only had a mandate to deliver an X-Files episode to an X-Files audience. As you note Millennium had far too many complex strands to coherently weave together in the confines of another show with its own mythology to attend to.

I guess we shall never know what the 'Palm Trees' were all about...

[Guest Heath328]

I think Ethsnafu is correct -- what constitutes true "closure" for "Millennium" is ultimately left to individual interpretation.

For some of the 1013 crew, closure only meant "final appearance in network TV."

Fortunately, many talented fans have responded and resurrected the characters through the virtual seasons and through some stellar fan fiction. A while back, my wife, who loves "Star Trek" even more than I do, noted the vast similarities between that show and "Millennium." Ran for three years in network TV, always had a small but loyal cult following, the material always transcended its original medium (TV) ...

Maybe, just maybe, we'll one day see a leap to the big screen a la "Star Trek."

(Of course, the hope is that the leap will be more "Wrath of Khan" than "ST V.")