Jump to content

My problem with Season 3

Rate this topic


Guest pugmom

Recommended Posts

Guest Bad Boy Dazza

I totally agree about going from the intense "end of the world" finale of season 2 to the "back to the burbs" first ep of season 3.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
Guest I Made This

Thanks. I really like the "behind the scenes" stuff, with the understanding that it may not be the full story. I assume that the information may be in pieces or vague to avoid mudslingging and "slamming" on the part of the other producers. I really like Chip's stuff on the show and, not to say that the first 7 episodes or so were bad, but what came after were really good.

:rock2:

I was actually surprised that they brought on someone like Michael Duggan to showrun the series when he had no experience on it. With Johannessen you had someone who had been working on the show since the first episode (past the pilot) and who 'got' the show instantly. He wrote some great episodes that first year and then again in season two. It's got to be said, once the first eight episodes are out of the way, season three really settles down and delivers some outstanding television. Something Borrowed, Collateral Damage, Sound of Snow, Saturn Dreaming of Mercury, Nostalgia and the two part finale are all superb. Just watching those episodes makes me wonder what a Johannessen produced fourth season would have been like because I genuinely believe the show was settled by the end of season three and may have found some clear direction to go in from season four onwards.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One thing I heard in a few interviews with Frank Spotnitz, that in hindsight I find incredibly frustrating, was that they were just starting to realize at that time that the cable television markets were having a negative effect on the network television viewing. More simply, the decreased ratings of season 3 of Millennium, which led to its cancelation, may have been due to a more general transfer of viewship from network television to cable television, not just the shows ratings. Spotnitz had mentioned that Harsh Realm may suffered from this misinterpretation even moreso than Millennium did.

I remember feeling like I was in anticipation mode for too long with the first half of season 3 regarding Catherine's death. But even with that in mind, Chip wrote Exogesis and Skull and Bones, the first of which definitely had a good season 2 feel to it. It was just that the season to season story arc that was a little weak. But then again, Morgan and Wong, as well as the rest of the crew, thought the show would end with season 2 and were surprised to get a third. So Morgan and Wong putting a "stinger" ending on the show much like they did with Space: Above & Beyond, is not all that unrealistic, it just makes it challenging to "write" out of that corner/ending. TEOTWAWKI is still one of my favorite episodes. Actually, The Innocents, Exogesis, and TEOTWAWKI are all up on the high side of my favorites list. The may have gone a little too evil with the Millennium Group in Skul and Bones, but I find that episode to be quite creepy. As promised, they mixed the tones of the stories to give homage to both earlier seasons. I think putting "The Sound of Snow" earlier in season 3 would have helped the overall storylne, but I can look back now and still like it as it stands.

rock2.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest I Made This

One thing I heard in a few interviews with Frank Spotnitz, that in hindsight I find incredibly frustrating, was that they were just starting to realize at that time that the cable television markets were having a negative effect on the network television viewing. More simply, the decreased ratings of season 3 of Millennium, which led to its cancelation, may have been due to a more general transfer of viewship from network television to cable television, not just the shows ratings. Spotnitz had mentioned that Harsh Realm may suffered from this misinterpretation even moreso than Millennium did.

I remember feeling like I was in anticipation mode for too long with the first half of season 3 regarding Catherine's death. But even with that in mind, Chip wrote Exogesis and Skull and Bones, the first of which definitely had a good season 2 feel to it. It was just that the season to season story arc that was a little weak. But then again, Morgan and Wong, as well as the rest of the crew, thought the show would end with season 2 and were surprised to get a third. So Morgan and Wong putting a "stinger" ending on the show much like they did with Space: Above & Beyond, is not all that unrealistic, it just makes it challenging to "write" out of that corner/ending. TEOTWAWKI is still one of my favorite episodes. Actually, The Innocents, Exogesis, and TEOTWAWKI are all up on the high side of my favorites list. The may have gone a little too evil with the Millennium Group in Skul and Bones, but I find that episode to be quite creepy. As promised, they mixed the tones of the stories to give homage to both earlier seasons. I think putting "The Sound of Snow" earlier in season 3 would have helped the overall storylne, but I can look back now and still like it as it stands.

rock2.gif

Nice write up. The thing with season three is that those six episodes or so past the two part premiere seem to spend a lot of time ignoring the events of season two. They deal with them, and somewhat rewrite them, in the first two, but it's like once that's out of the way the show is trying to just get back to being a straight ahead crime show with a somewhat supernatural twist. It seems that once Duggan is gone and Johannessen is in sole charge that the series, in an effort to move forward, decides to deal head on with the events of The TIme is Now. Omerta deals with Frank and Jordan contemplating Christmas without Catherine, Something Borrowed about Catherine's sacrifice, Collateral Damage with the impact the outbreak and The Sound of Snow with the loss of Catherine herself, complete with blank filling flashbacks. It's interesting that of the first eight episodes, two of which are Johannessen scripted and one of them, slap bang in the middle of a bunch of serial killer stories is the one that deals head on with the group, their motivations and their new status as villains of the show.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I know it's not a popular view but I really am enjoying S3--mostly because Catherine is gone. I'm not sure why but Catherine always annoyed me somehow--possibly because I don't feel that her love for Frank was unconditional--there seemed to be strings attached. When she wanted to separate because Frank killed the man who harmed her, it was the last straw for me. Frank needed her--and she wasn't there because she was afraid of what he'd become by killing--never taking into account that he became that person to save her. It's probably not fair as I don't know the backstory to Frank and Catherine, other than what we are privy to as viewers, but I just feel that Frank is better off without her.

I like Emma and I like the premise that the group is evil but almost untouchable because all law enforcement trusts them and no one really trusts Frank. We know that he's the good guy because we're on the inside--but the outside world thinks he's a little off. I think just the fact of his gift makes most people wonder about him--add to that his bouts with mental illness in the past and it's a rocky road. He really is a tragic hero in every sense of the word.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Good Season 3 snapshot, Kat. As tough as marital separation can be, it gave more intensity to season 2. 1013 shows tend to not have a secondary subplots (ala most Star Trek), probably because they do not need to service 8 or 9 main characters, so having this as a semi-subplot-arc added to the show for me. Unfortunately Catherine sometimes came across as too angry and distant compared to season 1, but enough to make us just slightly think that Frank may not be quite as heroic as I want him to be. Frank was putting himself in physically dangerous situations in a lot of episodes in season 1, but season 2 the dangerousness became more surreal and intense. I can see where Catherine would draw the line, given Frank's "unfilmed" history of unstable moments. I got the idea that Frank could do what he did in season 1 because he had his family and that he may have gone the way of James Horn without them. Now we have him having to go at things more alone than I would have thought when my brain was back in season 1. We even have "Through the Glass" where Frank ended up being totally wrong about Max Brunelli, when he usually knows when people have been falsely accused (Paper Dove, Covenant, Blood Relatives). Season 3 seemed to have a different kind of growth and maturity for Frank with episodes including Through the glass, Sound of Snow, Bardo Thodol, and Seven and One.

I find that the three seasons do fit together reasonably well, as different as they are.

rock2.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Catherine didn't exactly keep Frank sane as I think it was McClaren who said it. Catherine kept Frank balanced, and in so doing, he was in more control of his ability. Catherine wasn't stupid, and she could see spiritually, but she was also well grounded in reality and common sense. She never lost sight of the fact that no matter what was happening, we are human living in a human world. This was clearly seen in Anamnesis in trying to get everyone to see that they were dealing with young girls, not some spiritual beings or freaks, no matter what gift or vision they had been given.

I personally loved and appreciated Catherine, and it's a shame that she wasn't liked because people couldn't see her importance and what a strong woman she was. When they separated after her abduction, it's wasn't because of Frank, it was because SHE wanted the Polaroid Man killed, not captured. I honestly don't think watching her husband kill him was as devastating as wanting someone killed. I feel she was possibly ashamed of it and had a hard time dealing with how SHE had changed from the incident, and needed time to adjust and heal. Catherine always looked for the good, the positive, that joyful side of life, therefore wanting a yellow house, and why she was so good as a clinical social worker. She was always there for anyone in need with a ray of hope.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
Guest Bad Boy Dazza

I know it's not a popular view but I really am enjoying S3--mostly because Catherine is gone. I'm not sure why but Catherine always annoyed me somehow--possibly because I don't feel that her love for Frank was unconditional--there seemed to be strings attached. When she wanted to separate because Frank killed the man who harmed her, it was the last straw for me. Frank needed her--and she wasn't there because she was afraid of what he'd become by killing--never taking into account that he became that person to save her.

You captured my feelings perfectly.

When they separated after her abduction, it's wasn't because of Frank, it was because SHE wanted the Polaroid Man killed, not captured. I honestly don't think watching her husband kill him was as devastating as wanting someone killed. I feel she was possibly ashamed of it and had a hard time dealing with how SHE had changed from the incident, and needed time to adjust and heal.

I didn't read that myself. But I will be open to it when I eventually do a re-watch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using our website you consent to our Terms of Use of service and Guidelines. These are available at all times via the menu and footer including our Privacy Policy policy.