BillQS

While part of me would like to own the Yellow House, I don't know that I would be going down to the basement at night!

Well the chance of a return of Millennium is a thousand times more likely now that there was a return of the X Files!

Interesting multi-year thread here. I still stand by my roughly 2 year old post that Dannielle is part of "Legion" and this is my rationale. I don't think it is helpful to lump just any supernatural-seeming evil entity directly into "Legion." It's too simplistic. I see Legion as entities that have a personal vendetta or temptation for Frank Black. Danielle accuses Frank Black of molestation. She (or whatever is manipulating her) is able to create a bloody mouth for Jordan to add corroborating evidence to ensnare Frank. This I would categorize as the work of an evil entity who has antipathy toward Frank Black so i would include her in the amorphous definition of "Legion."

It wasn't a dream. We can see from the episodes where she appears that LB can bend/destroy the laws of nature so she really was there in the form of a succubus in an attempt to have intercourse with him. But as mentioned above, the hard forensic evidence was not there so that would mean it most likely was not consumated. The marks were a "gift" from Lucy to Frank.

I just ran across this Season 5 episode as I was viewing my XFiles DVD's again. Very scary! BTW, am I the only one who actually enjoyed the second X Files movie? I really enjoyed it... especially Scully's interactions with the former priest.

There's no definite explanation about exactly what Lucy Butler is, or what in fact Legion is as a matter of fact. The Legion reference IIRC was spoken of by The Judge in that episode when he stated to Frank that they would meet again but that he might have a different appearance. Legion has been coined by the fan community to describe either a) all the manifestations of evil that Frank must fight, or b) more specifically a particular type of recurring evil that seems supernatural and has some affinity with other antagonists that appear throughout the show. It woud be a mistake I would think, to look at Legion as a single entity. There are certain manifestations of Legion that seem to be a recurrence of the same entity, for example The Judge and then later the lawyer, Al Pepper, but other entities such as Lucy Butler, and the Siren seem to be different entities, entirely.

One of the things about Millennium, especially in Season 2 is that many episodes have a "religious" flavor, although little of what is depicted is actual Catholic Doctrine or Dogma. If anything, as has been said above, the stories lean into a Dan Brown kind of flavor, using religious iconography as a backdrop for telling a thriller. I think the depiction of the Russian immigrant community in Maranatha from Season 1 is very interesting, especially in the way it explores some areas of Eastern Orthodoxy which being Westerners we don't see much of.

You know The Wild and the Innocent is not one my favorite episodes either. It played sorta like Thelma and Louise meet Natural Born Killers.

I think at the very ultimate end of Season 3 it's revealed that Peter was definitely one of the good guys. He provides the information to save Frank and Jordan, and we see that most likely he paid for his aid to them with his life. I think one could go as far as saying that Peter's motive (not really ever fully revealed to Frank) was to protect Frank and Jordan from the ascendant dark side the Millennium Group had taken. All that being said, I do wish we could have seen more of the "old school" partnering of Peter and Frank that made the first two seasons of the show so enjoyable.

I think Millennium was definitely ahead of its time. Particularly Season 1 presages the rise of the forensic criminal procedurals that now get mega-ratings! It is definitely a show that makes you think, and doesn't mind dropping dark, scary and unrefined bits of reality at the viewer.

I wasn't espousing my own view of good and evil when I stated that in some ways it seemed The Old Man was above good and evil. I was referring to the way he lectured Frank on the importance of balance in the Beware of the Dogs episode. It was an imbalance that caused the dogs to attack, the dogs are definitely evil in the show, and the Old Man's answer is essentially that the only way to defeat evil in that instance is to cure the imbalance. That's why I see The Old Man as espousing something akin to a yin/yang Buddhist view of the good and evil question. (My own beliefs are basically traditionally Anglican and don't really apply to my discussion of Millennium.) As for using "illuminaton and ignorance" as a better term than good and evil, I think it doesn't totally mesh with the metaphysics of Millennium. Evil is a palpable force in Millennium. It's one of the few things that carry all the way through all 3 seasons of the show. The "bad-guys" almost always know that what they are doing is evil, as a matter of fact many of them derive great joy from causing evil. I do think "illumination" does play an important part in Millennium, especially in Season 2, but I don't have the time right now to delve into how I think that applies.

I agree with almost everything that has been said above, although 522666 was dissected waayyy too much for me... I would have to add to the disturbing images the whole scene where Lara goes insane in the hotel room done to Patti Smith's song Horses. It's brilliant, scary, chilling all at once to watch someone lose grasp on reality.

I find it difficult to believe that Bill Smitrovich, Terry O'Quinn or Lance Henriksen would have let any personal tensions make it out on set. All three are veteran character actors who have made a living by constant working. I've heard the same rumors about Bill and Lance, but not about Terry and Lance. Regardless, I think Bletcher's death was perfect for the show and really nailed the horror of that episode. The whole episode and indeed the rest of Season 1 is about loss of sanctuary and ineffectual power. No more protective yellow house, no ability to fight back effectively against overwhelming and supernatural evil, no way to keep safe the people that Frank held dear. It carries all the way through to the end of Season 1, capping with the kidnapping of Catherine.

I think The Old Man was beyond the day to day running of the Millennium Group. You have to remember as Earthnut stated above, there was a civil war in the Group itself, plus the interference of outside groups and the insidious grasp of Legion. The Old Man didn't prevent the killing of people by the Dogs, either. In an odd sense, he was above good and evil and believed in balance.

I know exactly what Darin Morgan was trying to do, and he executed it exactly as he intended... but I think pushing through on the script was a mistaken judgment on Glen's part. Things that significantly depart from a show's (human) essence can only be appreciated when a show has been on for a significant period of time. Midway through the sophomore year of a cult favorite yet to attract a large mainstream audience, and that had just had a major sea-change at the beginning of the season hasn't yet defined itself enough to justify playing with its conventions. It's like Joss Whedon said about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, " You can't just put on the air an episode like "The Body" (the episode where Buffy's mother dies and every excruciating real-life detail is experienced). It has to be earned." The comic send-ups were more successful on the X Files, I believe, because it was a more established show and people knew what the conventions were that were being played with. The die-hards like you and I knew the conventions being played with, but imagine you'd just got a buddy to catch Millennium by telling him about this dour, serious, super-profiler Frank Black and the way he doggedly pursues dark truths, only to have your friend catch Jose Chung and wonder what was up with this show about a bunch of adults wearing silly-looking knee britches and guest-starring Charles Nelson Riley?