Millennium (The X-Files)
Encyclopedia
"Millennium" is the fourth episode of the seventh season of The X-Files
. It is a crossover
with the show Millennium
. It is also the episode in which Agents Fox Mulder
and Dana Scully
share their first kiss of the series after developing a relationship throughout the previous six seasons.
, on December 21, 1999, a memorial service is held for a former FBI
agent named Brandon Crouch. His widow is approached by a mysterious man who claims to have worked with her husband. After the other mourners have left, the man returns to the funeral parlor, dons the corpse's clothes, and places a cell phone in the coffin. One week later, the man is monitoring Crouch's grave when his phone rings; he walks towards the grave with a shovel
.
Fox Mulder
and Dana Scully
are called in to examine Crouch's empty grave. They notice damage done to the interior of the casket. Scully theorizes that the scene was staged. A briefing is held by Walter Skinner
, who notes that Crouch is one of four former FBI agents whose graves have been exhumed; all four men had committed suicide. Because of the presence of goat's blood encircling the grave, Mulder states that the crime was an act of necromancy
. After the briefing, Skinner takes the agents aside and asks them to investigate Crouch's possible ties to the Millennium Group
, a disbanded organization of former FBI agents focused on the fulfillment of biblical prophecy at the start of the new millennium.
Mulder and Scully go to a mental institution in Woodbridge, Virginia
to visit criminal profiler Frank Black
, a former member of the Millennium Group. Black is initially reluctant to help the agents, as he believes that any further involvement with the Millennium Group may hinder his custody battle for his daughter, Jordan. But he agrees to help in their investigation, explaining that the members of the Millennium Group believe they can bring about the end of the world by killing themselves before the dawn of the new Millennium. Acting on information from Frank, Mulder concentrates on trying to find Johnson, when Scully is attacked in the morgue by the dead deputy. The two agents put all their effort in to finding Johnson before it is too late.
The plot progresses as the agents search for Mr. Johnson, uncovering information about a bizarre string of zombified corpses
rising from the dead searching for victims. Mulder later tracks down Mr. Johnson's house, and is trapped by Johnson in his basement with a group of corpses capable of rising and attacking Mulder. Mulder is saved when Frank shows up with his loaded revolver to take out the zombies by 'aiming for the head'. As the gun runs out of bullets, and death seems imminent for Mulder and Frank, Scully busts in saving both their lives.
The epilogue shows Frank in the hospital
with Scully and Mulder. Scully informs Frank that he has a visitor and brings in his daughter Jordan. Meanwhile, Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve
is on a television in the background, as the countdown begins. Frank decides to leave, and Mulder and Scully are left watching the final countdown. As the clock strikes zero, and the crowd begins to sing 'Auld Lang Syne' on screen, Mulder and Scully are swept in a brief moment of intimacy and they kiss to ring in the new year.
series story arc
and features the last appearances of Frank
and Jordan Black. When Walter Skinner
hands Fox Mulder
and Dana Scully
the Millennium Group's
symbol, it is an Ouroboros. This is the second crossover with the canceled Millennium
show, although the previous crossover involved a minor character, author Jose Chung (from "Jose Chung's From Outer Space
"), appearing in the Millennium episode "José Chung's Doomsday Defense
", both episodes written by Darin Morgan
.
When Mulder says to shoot the zombie
s in the head as doing so seems to stop them, his exact line of dialogue is an homage to the original Night of the Living Dead
.
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
. It is a crossover
Fictional crossover
A fictional crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings, or universes into the context of a single story. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders, or because of unauthorized efforts by fans, or even amid common...
with the show Millennium
Millennium (TV series)
Millennium is an American television series created by Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files. Millennium aired on the Fox Network from 1996 to 1999. The series was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, though most episodes were ostensibly set in or around Seattle, Washington...
. It is also the episode in which Agents Fox Mulder
Fox Mulder
FBI Special Agent Fox William Mulder is a fictional character and protagonist in the American Fox television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, two science fiction shows about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence. Mulder's peers consider his theories on...
and Dana Scully
Dana Scully
FBI Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series The X-Files , played by Gillian Anderson. She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series...
share their first kiss of the series after developing a relationship throughout the previous six seasons.
Plot
In Tallahassee, FloridaTallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee is the capital of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, and is the 128th largest city in the United States. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2010, the population recorded by...
, on December 21, 1999, a memorial service is held for a former FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
agent named Brandon Crouch. His widow is approached by a mysterious man who claims to have worked with her husband. After the other mourners have left, the man returns to the funeral parlor, dons the corpse's clothes, and places a cell phone in the coffin. One week later, the man is monitoring Crouch's grave when his phone rings; he walks towards the grave with a shovel
Shovel
A shovel is a tool for digging, lifting, and moving bulk materials, such as soil, coal, gravel, snow, sand, or ore. Shovels are extremely common tools that are used extensively in agriculture, construction, and gardening....
.
Fox Mulder
Fox Mulder
FBI Special Agent Fox William Mulder is a fictional character and protagonist in the American Fox television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, two science fiction shows about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence. Mulder's peers consider his theories on...
and Dana Scully
Dana Scully
FBI Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series The X-Files , played by Gillian Anderson. She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series...
are called in to examine Crouch's empty grave. They notice damage done to the interior of the casket. Scully theorizes that the scene was staged. A briefing is held by Walter Skinner
Walter Skinner
FBI Assistant Director Walter Sergei Skinner is a fictional character in the American FOX television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, two science fiction shows about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence...
, who notes that Crouch is one of four former FBI agents whose graves have been exhumed; all four men had committed suicide. Because of the presence of goat's blood encircling the grave, Mulder states that the crime was an act of necromancy
Necromancy
Necromancy is a claimed form of magic that involves communication with the deceased, either by summoning their spirit in the form of an apparition or raising them bodily, for the purpose of divination, imparting the ability to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge...
. After the briefing, Skinner takes the agents aside and asks them to investigate Crouch's possible ties to the Millennium Group
Millennium Group
The Millennium Group is a fictional secret society and "criminal investigative consulting firm" featured in the television series Millennium...
, a disbanded organization of former FBI agents focused on the fulfillment of biblical prophecy at the start of the new millennium.
Mulder and Scully go to a mental institution in Woodbridge, Virginia
Woodbridge, Virginia
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 31,941 people, 10,687 households, and 7,769 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 3,047.8 people per square mile . There were 11,026 housing units at an average density of 1,052.1/sq mi...
to visit criminal profiler Frank Black
Frank Black (Millennium)
Frank Black is a fictional character in the American Fox television shows Millennium and The X-Files, two series concerned with crime, conspiracies, and supernatural phenomena. Black was a renowned, highly skilled criminal investigator with the FBI who had the gift to put himself into the killer's...
, a former member of the Millennium Group. Black is initially reluctant to help the agents, as he believes that any further involvement with the Millennium Group may hinder his custody battle for his daughter, Jordan. But he agrees to help in their investigation, explaining that the members of the Millennium Group believe they can bring about the end of the world by killing themselves before the dawn of the new Millennium. Acting on information from Frank, Mulder concentrates on trying to find Johnson, when Scully is attacked in the morgue by the dead deputy. The two agents put all their effort in to finding Johnson before it is too late.
The plot progresses as the agents search for Mr. Johnson, uncovering information about a bizarre string of zombified corpses
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
rising from the dead searching for victims. Mulder later tracks down Mr. Johnson's house, and is trapped by Johnson in his basement with a group of corpses capable of rising and attacking Mulder. Mulder is saved when Frank shows up with his loaded revolver to take out the zombies by 'aiming for the head'. As the gun runs out of bullets, and death seems imminent for Mulder and Frank, Scully busts in saving both their lives.
The epilogue shows Frank in the hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
with Scully and Mulder. Scully informs Frank that he has a visitor and brings in his daughter Jordan. Meanwhile, Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest is a television program that airs every New Year's Eve on ABC. It has been hosted by Dick Clark since its first airing on Sunday, December 31, 1972. Ryan Seacrest has been the program's co-host since the December 31, 2005 telecast...
is on a television in the background, as the countdown begins. Frank decides to leave, and Mulder and Scully are left watching the final countdown. As the clock strikes zero, and the crowd begins to sing 'Auld Lang Syne' on screen, Mulder and Scully are swept in a brief moment of intimacy and they kiss to ring in the new year.
Production
The episode is often cited as bringing closure to the MillenniumMillennium (TV series)
Millennium is an American television series created by Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files. Millennium aired on the Fox Network from 1996 to 1999. The series was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, though most episodes were ostensibly set in or around Seattle, Washington...
series story arc
Story arc
A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...
and features the last appearances of Frank
Frank Black (Millennium)
Frank Black is a fictional character in the American Fox television shows Millennium and The X-Files, two series concerned with crime, conspiracies, and supernatural phenomena. Black was a renowned, highly skilled criminal investigator with the FBI who had the gift to put himself into the killer's...
and Jordan Black. When Walter Skinner
Walter Skinner
FBI Assistant Director Walter Sergei Skinner is a fictional character in the American FOX television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, two science fiction shows about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence...
hands Fox Mulder
Fox Mulder
FBI Special Agent Fox William Mulder is a fictional character and protagonist in the American Fox television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, two science fiction shows about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence. Mulder's peers consider his theories on...
and Dana Scully
Dana Scully
FBI Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series The X-Files , played by Gillian Anderson. She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series...
the Millennium Group's
Millennium Group
The Millennium Group is a fictional secret society and "criminal investigative consulting firm" featured in the television series Millennium...
symbol, it is an Ouroboros. This is the second crossover with the canceled Millennium
Millennium
A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years —from the Latin phrase , thousand, and , year—often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system....
show, although the previous crossover involved a minor character, author Jose Chung (from "Jose Chung's From Outer Space
Jose Chung's From Outer Space
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space" is the 20th episode of the third season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode first aired in the United States on April 12, 1996, on FOX. It was written by Darin Morgan and directed by Rob Bowman...
"), appearing in the Millennium episode "José Chung's Doomsday Defense
Jose Chung's Doomsday Defense
"Jose Chung's Doomsday Defense" is the ninth episode of the second season of Fox's Millennium. Controversial writer Jose Chung comes to the aid of criminal profiler Frank Black and the Millennium Group when a bizarre religious group known as Selfosophy "Jose Chung's Doomsday Defense" is the ninth...
", both episodes written by Darin Morgan
Darin Morgan
Darin Morgan is an American screenwriter best known for several offbeat, darkly humorous episodes of the television series The X-Files and Millennium. His teleplay for the X-Files episode "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" won a 1996 Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing for a Drama...
.
When Mulder says to shoot the zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
s in the head as doing so seems to stop them, his exact line of dialogue is an homage to the original Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead is a 1968 American independent black-and-white zombie film and cult film directed by George A. Romero, starring Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea and Karl Hardman. It premiered on October 1, 1968, and was completed on a USD$114,000 budget. After decades of cinematic re-releases, it...
.
Reception
The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 9.1 with an 13 share. It was viewed by 9,173,000 households.External links
- Millennium at TV.comTV.comTV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...