tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post8001729705472911036..comments2024-03-27T10:27:59.266-04:00Comments on John Kenneth Muir's Reflections on Cult Movies and Classic TV: CULT TV FLASHBACK #119: Millennium: "Seven and One" (1999)John Kenneth Muirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-79900959971554409942010-09-18T13:08:10.155-04:002010-09-18T13:08:10.155-04:00I want to share with you a little something.
What...I want to share with you a little something.<br /><br />What would happen if you took MacGyver and Millennium?<br /><br />Check this link and find out:<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TErKhzO3Lt8<br /><br />Enjoy!<br />Cheers from Iceland!<br />- JósefJósef Karlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07786186551265658132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-25214289708031230932010-09-15T20:25:20.774-04:002010-09-15T20:25:20.774-04:00Also, Frank is older than his brother. And here is...Also, Frank is older than his brother. And here is his brother helping Frank.Jósef Karlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07786186551265658132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-43052027526790091202010-09-15T19:16:43.174-04:002010-09-15T19:16:43.174-04:00Hi everyone, some really great comments here! Than...Hi everyone, some really great comments here! Thank you all so much for writing in to share your thoughts on Millennium.<br /><br />TS Hendrik: I loved Carnivale too; and you're right about it having a similar dark vibe -- a feeling of palpable but amorphous evil. I really need to watch that show again.<br /><br />TL: I totally agree with you that the third season is underrated. I never understood the seemingly wide-spread hostility towards it, frankly. I wanted to write about the third season because I have written on the subject of the first two seasons before, and felt that "The time is now," to coin a phrase. <br /><br />James: You know, your comment gets my imagination fired up. I never guessed that Mabius may have infiltrated the group; or was working against the group to subvert it. But this is a fascinating, valid idea; and another facet of the show's deep ambiguity to consider. Excellent! <br />That would make sense...that after "The Time Is Now" evil has found purchase in the Millennium Group. Very, very cool.<br /><br />I also agree with you that "Seven and One" is about Evil's attempt to get to Frank; to either co-opt him or destroy him.<br /><br />Sci-Fi Fanatic: I think you'll love Millennium; great show, filled with wonderfully ambiguous and imaginative tales. TNG Season One is tough going, so I don't envy you that marathon. Did you finish Farscape? I have all four seasons of Farscape coming down the pike soon...<br /><br />Josef: Thank you for the kind words about the blog...I'm glad you're enjoying it; and it's a pleasure to have you here. I think you also make valid points...the Group could have been co-opted by a small faction in the X-Files episode. I agree with you that we have not seen the last stand of the Millennium Group (isn't the 2060s the time of the cosmic even that's supposed to shatter the Earth, or something?)<br /><br />I thought it was the bully, the guy who attempted to drown Frank, who died in "Seven and One," not Frank's brother. I may be wrong, but that's how interpreted it. Need to check it out!<br /><br />Will, I loved your comment, particularly your razor-sharp analysis of the Chris Carter mystique: <br /><br />"...the 'idea' of terror is so much more powerful then terror itself. Jump scares make you flinch but the effect wears off after a few seconds whereas the ANTICIPATION of the jump scare (or the lack there of) is what causes the fear. Same with atmosphere. . .sometimes it's what's BEHIND the corner rather then what's in front of you..."<br /><br />I love that; and I love how Chris Carter gets it (and Frank Spotnitz too -- that guy can really, really write a horror show; that's for sure...).<br /><br />And you must be a mind-reader today too. Later this week, I'm offering up what I hope will be a rehabilitation for Signs, I film I like, and which -- yep -- has a weak ending (but which I would argue doesn't destroy all the rest of the film's good work...).<br /><br />Thank you all so much for so many great comments!<br /><br />best,<br />JKMJohn Kenneth Muirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-47192863192712878142010-09-15T15:10:15.614-04:002010-09-15T15:10:15.614-04:00Hey JKM (plug phrase full of praise here)
Great r...Hey JKM (plug phrase full of praise here)<br /><br />Great review. Unlike TL, I have issues with Season 3 BUT I'm always down for looking at things from different points of view so I will gives this episode another view with your analysis in mind.<br /><br />You captured the Chris Carter mythology perfectly: the 'idea' of terror is so much more powerful then terror itself. Jump scares make you flinch but the effect wears off after a few seconds whereas the ANTICIPATION of the jump scare (or the lack there of) is what causes the fear. Same with atmosphere. . .sometimes it's what's BEHIND the corner rather then what's in front of you. Perfect example: Signs. Great movie UNTIL the retarded alien shows up and kills the entire atmosphere of the picture.<br /><br />My favorite issue in Millennium, and you mentioned it here, is the testing of Frank's psyche. The second and third seasons really put him in a psychological inferno.<br /><br />Great article (as always).Willhttp://secureimmaturity.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-81801689934236760372010-09-15T14:26:20.758-04:002010-09-15T14:26:20.758-04:00Wow, now I really do understand this episode much ...Wow, now I really do understand this episode much better but the silly error of having Frank's brother dying, rather than a childhood friend (which would have worked as well if not better). Now, Frank only had one brother. And his father never got himself another wife, that's how I see it when I watch Midnight of the Century. This continuity snafu does hurt the episode a little.<br /><br />But when talking about the X-Files episode Millennium, I never really saw it as the Millennium Group doing all that. I took it more of a small group of men who just snapped, not unlike Lara Means, and by a freak accident those Millennium Group members did rose from the dead. The Millennium Group was in hiding, there were no signs of them, so why should we think this was their last hand?<br /><br />Thanks for the blog, been enjoying many posts since I discovered this blog.<br /><br />Cheers from Iceland!<br />- JósefJósef Karlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07786186551265658132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-91792868524590320032010-09-15T13:58:34.572-04:002010-09-15T13:58:34.572-04:00Great stuff John. I'm sorry I don't have ...Great stuff John. I'm sorry I don't have much to offer here as I haven't seen the series. <br /><br />I'm awfully excited to do so and after reading this I truly look forward to a Lance immersion.<br /><br />I'm currently watching Star TRek: TNG Season One straight through and not overly impressed. I know it gets better.<br /><br />Can't wait for Millennium though and you offer yet another reason why. Re: first comment- Carnivale is also on my list.SFFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04256589316922398158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-11461542668394233532010-09-15T10:32:36.255-04:002010-09-15T10:32:36.255-04:00Interesting analysis. Been a while since I've ...Interesting analysis. Been a while since I've watched this episode, so some of my next points might be rather erroneous. From my point of view, and just as subjective, I always saw Mabius as an infiltrator of the Group; that what we saw here was Evil's attempt to either embrace or destroy Frank. <br /><br />In my head, I always wondered if the Group's attempt to create prophecy in The Time Is Now had left themselves open to Evil and that Evil was now among them, working for them and against them and on its own, as Evil in Millennium does. <br /><br />For me, The Time Is Now, neatly explains why the Group changes so radically in season 3, as a new "Order" rises from the ideological terror it committed.. and I've always wondered if Evil within the Group could have equally caused it to implode between Season 3 and "Millennium" (or whether Frank had a part in that - he seemed to know the Group pretty intimately in "Millennium").<br /><br />Interesting stuff - particularly how I've always been inclined to see Mabius as acting on his own, and you see him as perhaps part of a more orchestrated effort. Two very different angles. I wonder how Season 4 would have taken the Mabius arc..James McLeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05883672062720983648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-74659005613942654542010-09-15T08:58:35.148-04:002010-09-15T08:58:35.148-04:00Wow, what an in depth look at this very underrated...Wow, what an in depth look at this very underrated episode. In fact, I will say that Season 3 is completely underrated. I remember I had to watch Seven and One a couple of times to kind of get the idea of what the episode was about. Even today, when I watch it, there are still things I find that I missed before. Such a deep and intricate episode. Great review John!TL Foremanhttp://www.backtofrankblack.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-50070567018630290242010-09-15T02:27:03.709-04:002010-09-15T02:27:03.709-04:00I loved Millennium. I know what you're saying ...I loved Millennium. I know what you're saying about the unsettling feeling too. I had that same feeling watching Carnivàle.TS Hendrikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12965357024150434808noreply@blogger.com