Millennium - Season 3 [DVD] [1996]

There is a very different feel to season 3. Completely set aside from the previous two seasons we see many new characters and few of the old. Terry O'Quinn's absence as Frank's 'partner' is strongly felt. The character of Frank Black is presented in a very different light, his words don't carry the same authority or pertinance as they had done previously. The Millennium group is on the outside and we have even less insight into their activities and purpose other than the fact that they are now evil. The episodes themselves are shot very well and strike on new themes and in new directions. The character of Agent Hollis is different and brings a very fresh feel to the show. Other new characters represent basic cop stereotypes. There are a couple of very good episodes and a dozen very watchable ones. The season starts to pick up momentum in the last third and we feel some anticipation, culminating in the season finale. And the rest is history. There is an X-files crossover episode included in the special features but it has little relevance to the Millennium series other than; Oh look, there's Frank Black in an episode of X-files. Not what the fans deserved as a series wrap up. The final episode of season 3 ends with dignity and wonder and allows the viewer to visualise their own perfect ending to the Frank Black saga.

Millennium lasted for only three seasons and left our television screens without delivering proper closure: fans could only imagine what a fourth season would bring (and did imagine it, in an online 'virtual' fourth season). That really highlights the loyal fan base the show acquired during its 3 year run.

In the final year, Frank Black returns to the FBI having discovered the true nature of the ('evil')Millennium group. With his wife Catherine now dead, Frank also faces parenthood alone and with few important answers to give his daughter Jordan.

The result of such a premise is a kind of 'throw-back' season, often feeling closer in tone and content to the brilliant season 1. That said, elements of last seasons complex mythology are still taken up (notably, "THE SOUND OF SNOW"). The change from season-to-season is once again very striking, as a new exectutive producer takes the helm.

Some of the most effective episodes this year come from writer Michael R. Perry, who delivers a series of entries that range quite strikingly in style: "13 YEARS LATER" is an effective attempt at Darin Morgan style comedy writing, while "COLLATERAL DAMAGE" and "NOSTALGIA" are dark and disturbing, but very entertaining stories. Klea Scott is convincing as newcomer Emma Hollis while Henriksen continues to perform like one of the best male actors ever seen in a TV Series. Jordan Black is also played well.

The season finalé - a low-key 'homage' to MANHUNTER - feels too much like a direct rip-off in some places to ever be considered truly original. But the final scenes of Frank and Jordan taking leave are some of the most affecting moments you'll see in any season of Millennium. Here's hoping for a movie.

The third season of the involving 'Millennium' deserves neither the censure of those disappointed by its failure to live up to the ambitions of Season 2 nor the exaggerated praise lavished on it by Carter purists. It's still a strong show, powerfully written and directed and brooding gloriously with understated menace. Still, it is hard not to be disappointed with this season as the show's conclusion, as none of the urgency remains from Season 2 and too many episodes feel like unnecessary filler.

Chris Carter returns after handing over matters to Morgan and Wong during Season 2 (in my opinion, the apogee of the show's entire run) and appears unsure how to proceed with continuing the apocalyptic story. And for me, that is what the show was always about. But, clumsily, Season 3 tries to recapture the serial-killer-of-the-week format from Season 1 while trying to balance Morgan and Wong's story arc from 2 and, in doing so, completely loses all sight of what it's trying to achieve. The internecine struggles within The Millennium Group are now more or less ignored in favour of presenting The Group as entirely evil. Peter Watts' defection back into The Group's fold is never convincingly explained (he betrayed them for Frank at the end of Season 2) and their motives are frustratingly prosaic. Largely, I just felt the scripts had all been done before in Season 1 (and better too) and Season 3 should have been the culmination of the Millennium 'war' if you like.

All that said, Season 3 is pretty good on its own and some of the episodes (such as the heartachingly beautiful 'The Sound of Snow') are among the best produced. I would recommend to 'Millennium' fans that they at least see this, as there's much to enjoy. It's just ultimately let down by a limp conclusion (forget the X-Files episode of 'Millennium' - it doesn't do this show justice) and nothing is satisfyingly answered throughout. Whatever the reasons for this, it is hard not to finish watching this unique slice of television without wanting something more.