Season 3: Episode 8: "Human Essence"

Written by Michael Duggan

Directed by Thomas J. Wright

Airdate: December 11, 1998

"Human Essence" begins with Hollis being asked to clear her desk after testing positive for a drug test. Frank supports her and objects to the bureau not giving her a chance to explain, but he's taken aback when the drug test was for heroin. 

The cold open revealed a flop house hotel in Vancouver where addicts are becoming something inhuman with deformed faces and glowing eyes. Hollis learns her half-sister Tamara, a struggling addict, was at the den and sent her a sample of the tainted drug, accounting for the positive test. Hollis travels to Vancouver to help her sister and find the truth the behind the dangerous drug on the streets. She confronts dealers who physically attack her. 

Frank soon arrives and discovers links pointing to the Asian drug trade. The heroin has been poisoned and Frank finds connections linking the US Army to the experiments. He confronts his supervisor McClaren (Stephen E. Miller) about complicity between drug experimentation and the U.S. government. 

Although subject matter feels more like the X-Files, the pacing and action scenes are all well executed. 

Season 3: Episode 7: "Through a Glass Darkly"

Written by Patrick Harbinson

Directed by Thomas J. Wright

Airdate: November 13, 1998

Guest Star: Tom McCleister (Max Brunelli)

"Through a Glass Darkly" returns to familiar territory for Millennium, a modern variation of a Grimm's Fairy Tale. The story deals with a man being released on parole 20 years after being convicted of murdering a child. When Brunelli, a born again Christian, returns to his hometown outside of Portland it brings fear and confusion. When he's spotted in the woods interacting with a young girl who disappeared, he's once again the prime suspect. 

Frank Black and Agent Hollis begin investigating and question whether Brunelli is responsible. To avoid a direct spoiler, it turns out there's a hidden evil in the town living in plain sight. Like a fairy tale, most of the key action in the episode takes places in the woods or in houses. It's also a tale of how those of status can take advantage of those who lack it, the privileged passing on their sins to low status people. 

As a self contained episode, "Through a Glass Darkly" brings suspense and even hope in the face of bleak subject matter. At the same time, it does feel like an outtake from the first season. Nothing in the episode, except a scene with Jordan having a nightmare, does much to advance the mythos of the series or to develop the characters. But the twist is clever and believable. 

Season 3: Episode 6: "Skull and Bones"

Written by Chip Johannessen and Ken Horton

Directed by Paul Shapiro

Airdate: November 6, 1998

"Skull and Bones" resolves as a tale of the Millennium Group's sinister machinations. Ironically, the episode inverts a claim made by the Group in the "Pilot" episode that there might be connections between all crimes, as if some dark force is pulling the strings.

After six bodies are found beneath a highway overpass in Maine, Baldwin and Hollis are sent to investigate the grisly discovery. Meanwhile, Peter Watts shows up representing the Group's interest in the site. Meanwhile, Frank learns about a series of murders that are connected by letters received by the FBI, one of the letters mentioned the town in Maine where the overpass discovery was made. Forensic investigation of the skulls also reveals evidence of bizarre surgery being performed. Meanwhile, a man named "Ed" who introduced in the prologue has been keeping detailed records and making connections of many murders over the past 15 years. 

The crux of the episode comes to down to the Millennium Group's role in all these murders, many of them scientists and other researchers who've made troubling discoveries. In the big reveal, Peter reveals the group is behind the killings to protect the stability of society. The Group is killing people considered dangerous so there is indeed a pattern to the crimes, and Watts justifies them! Watts is trying to drive a wedge between her and Frank, grooming her for a possible future position with the Group. In the most memorable scene, Hollis discovers the house where some of the murders took place as "Love Hurts" by Nazareth plays on the diegetic soundtrack (a message?).

"Skull and Bones" is an elliptical episode that's both intriguing and frustrating. It's quite a jarring shift to learn the Group is revealed to be an organization fearful of knowledge and is willing to kill innocent people. CCH Pounder (Cheryl Andrews) returns in flashbacks, as we learn of her fate. Frank is mostly on the periphery to the story, setting up a showdown between him and Watts.

Season 3: Episode 5 " . . . 13 Years Later"

Directed by Michael R. Perry

Written by Thomas J. Wright

Air Date: October 30, 1998

". . . 13 Years Later" is a heavily meta episode, a welcome change from the stark tone thus far in season three, sending up slashers even Millennium itself as a TV series. It's both riffing on Scream and the tropes of '80s horror. KISS also appears.

The episode begins with the framing device of Frank lecturing at the FBI Academy about a famous case he worked on known as the Dale Barker murders.

Later, Frank and Agent Hollis are called to investigate the murder of the director and cast member during a film production based on the Barker case. The cold open is an homage to Psycho as the film's director and starlet are murdered. 

Going further in the "meta" element, Frank discovers the lead character in the movie is based on a "Hollywood" version of himself. Frank is further annoyed when the actor starts to question Frank about his work methods. Offended that a b-movie level horror movie is being made about a case that's haunted him, Frank maintains his composure and continues the investigation. 

The episode follows a traditional slasher structure with characters being killed off. After a publicist is found murdered, Hollis begins to connect the murders to horror movies airing on television on those nights. An aficionado of horror, Hollis schools Frank on how to deconstruct slasher movies. In a scene of dry humor, Frank profiles Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees (although one would think Frank would've known those movies since in an earlier episode, he was familiar with Silent Night, Deadly Night movies). 

Frank assigns Hollis to watch the Horror Movie Marathons airing on Halloween night, as he stays on the set to look out for clues as a KISS concert is being filmed. When no crimes occur, Frank concludes the local crazy who confessed to the crime is the culprit, but it turns out the actor playing Frank is revealed to be the killer when he attempts to kill Hollis. It's revealed the character giving the lecture at the beginning was the actor playing Frank, who is now incarcerated. 

Mythmaking is a major theme in the episode. Hollis even references "the Frenchman" from the Pilot episode of Millennium. It's also an intriguing artifact from the late 90s with Hollis studying TV Guides, and foreshadowed the mass commodification of true crime for mass entertainment.

By all accounts, it was a difficult episode to shoot, but Michael R. Perry's sharp script of films references and in-jokes make it an intriguing curiosity in the series canon.  

Season 3: Episode 4: "Closure"

Directed by Daniel Sackheim

Written by Larry Andries

Air Date: October 23, 1998

Guest Stars: Garrett Dillahunt (Rick Van Horne); Michael Sunczyk (Peter); Shelley Owens (Joni)

"Closure" is a bruising episode of Millennium, as Emma and Frank pursue a group of thrill killers wreaking havoc across the Northwest. In fact, "Closure" may be the most violent entry in the series in terms of carnage. The climatic shootout is like something in a Michael Mann movie and was inspired by the 1997 North Hollywood shootout

The episode also reveals some of Emma's backstory and that she witnessed her sister getting shot by a criminal when she was a child. Frank takes on more of a mentor role. Perplexed by Emma's interest in a group of petty criminals, he discovers her drive towards law enforcement goes back to childhood.

Larry Andries script also focuses on the criminals, who's crime spree resembles Bonnie and Clyde or the Starkweather killings. Rick Van Horne is a former military man who has snapped, while partner Michael is simply along for the ride, there's also a homoerotic undertone to their relationship. When they pick up bartender Joni, the sexual charge is more explicit. When they terrorize a hiker, it recalls Natural Born Killers. To the script's credit, it does manage to humanize the perpetrators despite their repugnant actions.

A memorable standalone episode that allowed Klea Scott to take the lead, "Closure" beckoned new possibilities for the third season.

Season 3: Episode 3: "TEOTWAWKI"

Directed by Thomas J. Wright

Written by Chris Carter & Adam Spotnitz

Air Date: October 16, 1998

Guest Stars: Peter Outerbridge (Agent Baldwin); Jeremy Guilbaut (Brant Carmody); Stephen James Lang (Det. Giebelhouse)

An acronym for "The End of the World as We Know It", 'TEOTWAWKI" is an especially unnerving episode to watch in the 2020s. While the episode hinges on the Y2K anxiety of the late 90s, the cold open depicts a school shooting (doubtful it would air today), while the plot is about suburban paranoia.

At a High School pep rally a shooter opens fire and kills four students. The FBI is called in to investigate with Agents Hollis and Baldwin taking the lead. When Detective Geibelhouse observes in the aftermath of the shooting, "What do we even call this?' One cannot fail to think of the Columbine Massacre, which was less than a year away, and like in the episode, both would happen at an affluent white suburban school. 

The gun is traced to Brant Carmody, a troubled student with a history of violence. When the FBI comes to question his wealthy parents, they hear gunshots and discover Brant was shot dead. Frank is called in at the request of Geibelhouse, who suspects Carmody was murdered. Meanwhile, a subplot follows a tech company preparing for Y2K, whose employees are convinced the world will descend into anarchy when everything shuts down.

Frank and Emma discover connections between the shooting and the company. A group of men are stockpiling supplies and convincing their families and terrifying their families about Y2K. As a result, Brant descended into nihilism, which was the motive for the shooting, and the reason his father killed him. A student with knowledge of the underground survivalists leads Emma and Frank to the Y2K compound and Frank convinces Brant's father to surrender.

J.G. Ballard wrote that the suburbs "dream of violence." The sentiment is an ongoing thread running through Millennium. Guns are also a recurring motif in the episode. It's one of the few instances when we see Frank firing a gun, at target practice because the bureau requires it. While the episode is by no means a public service statement for gun control, it can be read as a warning about the consequences of a heavily armed populace. Fathers are obsessed consumed being protectors, the anxiety is passed on to everyone around them, leading to violence.

The sense of catastrophism in the script also strikes a prophetic tone. While the year 2000 passed without incident, 9/11/01 and its aftermath supercharged the paranoia already set in place by Y2K. Frank observes to Emma that in the event of a technological failure, humanity and not ammunition will save us.

A standout episode for its insight on the American psyche by the late 1990s, and it eerie sense of where things were going: mass shootings becoming common, people living in false realities, and institutions serving the wealthy. Perhaps the episode said more than the creators ever knew or foresaw.

Season 3: Episode 2: "Exegesis"

Directed by Ralph Hemecker

Written by Chip Johannessen

Air Date: October 9, 1998

Guest Stars: Terry O'Quinn (Peter Watts) Doris Chicott (Elderly Woman)

"Exegesis" was the second part of Millennium's two-part premiere, offering an increasing number of plot twists and retcons to clear up lingering questions from the previous season. In saying that, "Exegesis" establishes the Millennium Group as the new villains, reintroducing Peter Watts, a former mentor, and confidante to Frank Black who's know his nemesis.

The plot machinations continue with the women who are indeed being targeted by the Group. Frank and Emma discover a connection linking the women to a "remote viewing" program from the 1970s, the government believing these women had the ability to project their consciousness to locations thousands of miles away. There is a history of the U.S. Government exploring such phenomena. Frank and Emma manage to track the "Elderly Woman" they observed remote viewing on an old tape to an abandoned silo, where they get into a shootout with group members and Frank almost gets crushed by an elevator. The woman reveals the end of the Cold War has led to an existential crisis, no longer having the power of the button has made the powers that be restless, hungry for more power. Frank decides to cover up the involvement of the Group in connection to the plane crash and the murders in his final report to protect himself.  

If anything, "Exegesis" induces a reevaluation of Peter Watts who was actually grooming Frank all along: providing emotional support, earning Frank's trust, preparing him to join the group. Frank is now in the position of having been deceived by a friend and colleague and will face consequences for going against the group. 

In a rarity, the episode ends with Frank's narration after he's purchased a birthday present for Jordan, "We can see the future in tantalizing glimpses that vanish as quickly as they appear . . Not that the future is, but that it is. Waiting for us. A reassuring thought."

Frank's notion reminds us why Millennium remains one of the great shows focused on existential and spiritual crisis, resonating even more this deep into the 21st Century.