A Room With No View

[Raven Wolf]

I can see good points made by both of you. This is one of the marks of good story telling, and good digestion of it. Everyone gets out of it what speaks to them individually. I don't really think any of you are "wrong". I think everyone has gotten the part of the story that was meant for them. This is the mark of a great modern day Myth. Inspiring discussion, reflection, and sometimes even personal life changes.

[Guest coolspringsj]

I can't get that creepy elevator muzak that Lucy plays over and over out of my head

[ethsnafu]

Welcome coolspringsj!

My you forever grace this board with your presence it's damn good to have you here!

I am certainly no music archivist and had never heard 'Love Is Blue' until this very episode, though my parents remember those hazy flower-powered days when it languished at the top of the charts. I have to admit that since becoming a card carrying Millennium-psycho I own this song in so many formats that a psychiatrist would be confounded but outside of the Millenniumsphere it is a superb 'choon', erotic in some ways though Lucy's silver-screen-vampness could have alot to do with my association. I even admit to knowing all the words and yup folks it has words.

If I was ever voted 'most likely to succeed' and imprisoned in Lucy's kitsch-Colditz and fed apple pancakes then I have to admit that I would probably love the repetitive twinkling of this tune.

All together now..."Blue, blue, my world is blue. Blue is my world since I'm without you"

Edited December 6, 2007 by ethsnafu

[Guest SouthernCelt]

There's a relatively long thread about the song "Love is Blue" somewhere in the archives if any of you want to read about the song and it's "real world" origins. Ahhhh...the late 60s...things were a lot different back then.

[HighPlainsDrifter]

i was gonna open up a thread regarding "A Room With No View" but since i saw this one i thought i would add some of my ideas here. First thing i find this episode maybe one of the most important episodes regarding the Lucy Butler mythos. This is where we find out that Lucy at one point was mortal, a common ordinary girl. I also felt this was one of the creepiest also. When Howard Gordon turned around and saw the Gehenna Devil, scared the snot out of me. I guess they where also using Howard Gordon as a name to honor their X-File friend

[Guest byron lomax]

Some really fascinating posts here. I agree with the poster above about Howard Gordon's scene - for me, that was definitely one of Millennium's "jumpiest" moments.

Along with being one of the best episodes, this was instrumental in making me a fan of the series as a whole. I became a fan of season two (as I've said in my introduction post), but if it weren't for "A Room with No View" it may simply have stayed that way, since each season of Millennium is different. I had missed out on a few episodes in Season one, and having seen a lot of the middle-of-the-road serial killer eps from the midway point of S1, I didn't have much interest in seeing any more of it. This was until it became clear Frank and the Group had a history with Lucy Butler, and one I wanted to know more about - and thus leading to the discovery of "Lamentation" and its follow-up. The fact that Butler would return in S3 at some point is probably what kept me watching after the disappointment of early S3 as well.

[Guest Laurent.]

Yeah... Lucy Butler knows how to make you beg for more...

This may be the wrong thread, but what was your opinion of Antipas?

[Guest byron lomax]

Yeah... Lucy Butler knows how to make you beg for more...

This may be the wrong thread, but what was your opinion of Antipas?

"Antipas" is an excellent addition to Lucy Butler's episodes; Redmond puts in an incredible performance and her interactions with Frank mark a development on their first meeting in "Lamentation". The decision to focus on Lucy's "maternal instincts" (to whatever end they wish to achieve) and the references to her past really stregthen her character, which of course makes her even scarier.

However, there are reasons why I rate it below her other episodes. One of the things that made "Lamentation" so powerful was that every evil that Frank had battled previously was comparatively mundane - indeed, that applies up to the point Lucy revealed her true nature to Bob Bletcher. It made her supernatural nature all the more chilling, because it was placed in a very cold and believable world. Of course, more supernatural stories were to follow, but "Somehow Satan" aside, these were of a very ambiguous nature; for the most part, the ghosts, demons and angels hid in the shadows, or in the guise of ordinary human beings. Their true nature, along with their intentions, was open to interpretation from the viewer.

My problem with "Antipas" (and parts of "Saturn Dreaming of Mercury") was that it broke from this approach and dove straight into horror-movie cliche. The episode bears a lot of resemblance to "The Omen", and effective as it is, it doesn't really feel like the believable Millennium world anymore. The senator and his wife, as supporting characters, are not terribly interesting; unlike Dr. Ephraim Fabricant and Landon Bryce, they come across as rather wooden and soap opera-ish, and only seem to be there to carry the story along.

That said, the episode is still excellent - and the "evil lawyer" is a hoot.

[Guest paranoid eyes]

Overall I liked this episode. It was consistent for a legion episode, I could understand what was Lucy trying to achieve and why she chose her victims the way she did, the dialogue was excellent and SJR performance saved Lucy's character from becoming nothing more than a man's fantasy (sorry guys ) about a hot, gothic chick in power. I think maybe it would be more interesting without the dog bites. After so many episodes with physical suffering, this one could only show words and music as torture devices but the contrast between Lucy's actions-hitting the guys, exposing them to dog bites-and her words- I love you, I made your favorite meal – really renders it.

However there are certain things I don't get.

-What was the connection between the career adviser and Lucy Butler? She said that she sold her sole to the devil but I though that it was only a metaphor for becoming part of the very system which enabled her to fulfill her dreams. Yet she seemed to knew Lucy and know where she is. How come?

-Would Lucy's method really work? I heard that mental torture like than can work "miracles" for a short period of time, for example if you have to brake a terrorist to get necessary information and if someone goes mad or commits suicide than the effects are permanent but Lucy only wanted to the boys to abandon their high goals, the need to speak their minds and simply lead a normal life. Would those few weeks (moths?) spend on the farm really fixed it for ever. Sure she is a powerful demon and all but it seemed to me that she doesn't have a special influence on the free will. She is a great manipulator who has to obey rules of human psychology.

-O.k. this is more an Antipas question than a RWAW question (spoilers) but it really struck me after seeing the end that Lucy actually decides to revel her criminal actions. I don't see a reason why would Landon and the other kids not testify against her. Logically she should appear in season 3 as a wanted criminal yet she is a nanny with nothing suspicious in her personal history. Is this some plot hole or a demonstration of Satan's power meant to scare Frank? A woman can be trialed for the murder of her child, write love letters to serial killer who is murdered in a mysterious way, be wanted for abduction and in a few months no one remembers any of this.

Edited December 6, 2008 by paranoid eyes

[Guest Black's Babe]

everytime I see Lucy Butler, Aunt Nell from Smallville comes to mind.

Room had it's moments, but i wasn't that entralled with it.