MovieChat Forums > Millennium (1996) Discussion > My Problem with Season 3

My Problem with Season 3


I have only watched a couple episodes of Season 3, and thus far, I think it could have been alot better. My problem is that they dropped several concepts from Season 2 and got rid of significant characters in favor of new ones. I think if they kept Frank focused on revealing the existence of the Millenium Group, with the series following his struggles in bringing their existence to light, which he could have done as part of the FBI, instead it seems like they make the Millenium group an after thought with Terry O'Quinn in only a few episodes, I also wish they kept Lara Means, I think the Producer of Season 3 tried to erase what was established in Season 2. I also think that they tried to establish a 1st season X-Files feeling with the introduction of Emma Hollis, To me Season 3 feels like the 1st season of the X-Files, which I think Chris Carter tried to recreate as a result of slumping ratings, I have not seen that many episodes of Season 3 and hope that it gets better.

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Season 3 wasn't perfect. It was a do-over of the series. Carter was dissatisfied with the direction of Season 2. He allowed two exec producers he worked with on The X-Files to take over Millennium while he concentrated on The X-Files which was enjoying popularity and he also worked on the X-Files movie during that time. Those exec producers took MM in a different direction than Carter wanted.

Season 1 was a noir series with deep, disturbing psychological elements as well as some supernatural. It was made to look like a tv version of Silence of the Lambs. It was considered daring tv at the time and was being called the darkest show on network television history.

Executive producers Wong and Morgan took Season 2 and bowed to the complaints of viewers who complained about the darkness and seriousness of the first season. They made it more humorous and added subplots about Lara Means visions of angels so it would draw in the some of the same audience who like Touched By an Angel. The episodes about the Group made the show seem more like something you'd watch on a fantasy channel with all the fantasy plots and secret handshakes and decoder spy rings. I lost interest quickly and went back to watching The X-Files which I had originally lost interest in when MM came on. To this day, there are only about six or seven eps from Season 2 that I will watch and those most of those eps are the ones that show a similarity to the first season (Pest House, The Mikado, The Time is Now, The Four Horsemen and a couple others). Otherwise, I found the season mostly boring or uninteresting.

Season 3 was a welcoming back for Carter who tried to salvage what was left of the show and bring it back to it's original form. But he couldn't do that without abandoning the accumulated fans of S2. Obviously he tried to create something new and familiar at the same time by adding a female partner for Frank. It seemed to work for the X-Files so why not? But Frank and Emma took on more of a teacher/student relationship rather than a love interest. Frank Black is not a romantic so it didn't make sense to make a similar scenario since the show never had any real sexual chemistry even when Catherine and Frank were still together. And Frank is the kind of man who would have grieved his wife forever rather than entertain flirtation even in S2. It was never that kind of show. But that was the good and bad of it. The show could have benefited from some sexual tension but light-hearted disposable flirtation isn't exactly something you'd expect to see a serious profiler indulging in. With all of those evil thoughts swimming around in his mind, he's not exactly going to be a romantic. And that's a big part of what killed the show.

Also Profiler, a show with a similar theme debuted at the same time and was siphoning away viewers which was on NBC and lasted four or five seasons. And since it was a network show, despite the stereotype of a serious profiler show, it stayed with the tried and true formulas of gaining viewers like creating consistent relationships and sexual tension. You never saw that on MM. Characters came and went even during S1. All those characters that had guest shots as members of The Group or assisting law enforcement? . Few of them returned. Cheryl Andrews and The Old Man you get to see a few times. A few others pop up in less visible roles. Otherwise, you get alot of one shot characters. Ironically, that's one thing S2 did right. They had quite a few characters return throughout the season. And they did try to hint at a little uncomfortable sexual tension between Frank and Lara Means.

Keep watching. Season 3 is still good.

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"Season 3 was a welcoming back for Carter who tried to salvage what was left of the show and bring it back to it's original form."

He didn't do this though.

It almost feels like Carter disliked the direction of both season 2 AND season 1. Season 3 has a vastly different feel and direction from both of em. Very odd what Carter chose to do with the show.

"The show could have benefited from some sexual tension but light-hearted disposable flirtation isn't exactly something you'd expect to see a serious profiler indulging in. With all of those evil thoughts swimming around in his mind, he's not exactly going to be a romantic. And that's a big part of what killed the show. "

I think most Millennium fans would agree that the show was better off dead then going down this route.

"Also Profiler, a show with a similar theme debuted at the same time and was siphoning away viewers which was on NBC and lasted four or five seasons."

Which is mindboggling considering how generic and HORRENDOUS that crapass show is. It's complete and total trash. The bad taste plagued masses will eat up the most vile garbage imaginable.

Great point about not building characters from season to season. It's a damn shame they couldn't maintain and expand the brilliance of season 1

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"It almost feels like Carter disliked the direction of both season 2 AND season 1. Season 3 has a vastly different feel and direction from both of em. Very odd what Carter chose to do with the show. "

I think he wanted to go back to the original direction but the network preferred not to go back there either because of the darker subject matter that some complained about or because S2 developed a good cult following, But Carter hated S2. I think in S3, it was Carter trying to find a compromise between the network and himself. So maybe he was thinking in terms of an X-Files direction since that show had become so successful and would better appease the network. I'm just grasping at straws but Im sure he was against the idea of continuing in the unrealistic direction S2 was going but just couldn't go back to his original intent without totally alienating the new fans and the network.


"I think most Millennium fans would agree that the show was better off dead then going down this route. "

I'm not saying I'd be in favor of the standard network tv approach of adding sexual tension to a show like Millennium. But the reason most regular network tv series are successful is because of that kind of tension. Without Scully and Mulder's playful flirting, even when it was just platonic and innocuous, The X-Files never would have had the same kind of success and would have just become a cult favorite that might have lasted four seasons at most.


"Which is mindboggling considering how generic and HORRENDOUS that crapass show is. It's complete and total trash. The bad taste plagued masses will eat up the most vile garbage imaginable. "

Again, it's the sexual tension that drew in the audiences. And who said those audiences had any kind of taste? They like stories grabbed from the headlines and dramatized. That's all Profiler was and the rest was just some standard kinky serial killer garbage not even as remotely-creative as anything from the entire MillenniuM series. Those same people wouldn't be able to appreciate MM.

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Yes, keep watching season 3. One of the best episodes of the entire series - Darwin's Eye - is in season 3.

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It could and SHOULD have been a LOT better.

The biggest problem with it is how little sense it makes. It's bad enough they completely did away with the direction season 2 took(going as far as to blatantly change character histories and plot points), but what's worst is they replaced it with something VASTLY worse that made FARRRR less sense. If you're going to change something, you better do it for the better.

I also disliked the direction they took with making the group evil. And the WAY they chose to reveal this couldn't have been more lame. From teh first episode on the group holds no more mystery, the suspense and shadows surrounding them dissapear completely. They essentially tell us point blank, "hey the group is 100% evil, including peter." Good writing...


Funny you mention an X-Files feeling(although I don't understand why emma hollis makes you think of it). For me, it was the absurd, conspiracy crap surrounding shadowy, dark organization that drove x files comparison. Some of season 2 and most of season 3(season 3 especially) feels like a BAD x files episode.

Season 3 DOES get better though. The final chunk of episodes, last half if I'm feeling generous, thiings pick up BIG TIME. The season finale is AMAZING and includes some of the creepiest, most unforgettable imagery in teh shows history. It saves itself and ends well.

I'll never be able to comprehend what in the hell is happening in the opening 2 part episodes. Holy hell some of the most idiotically written, nonsensical television of all time.

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Did you ever wonder if CSM or anyone else in the Syndicate from "The X-Files" also belonged to the Millennium group? Perhaps they also tried to take it down or subvert it in some way? Just a thought.

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It certainly would have made for a FARRRRR better Millennium tie in episode on X-files then the horrible, not true to Millennium's routes at all, entry we got.

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I agree,though I did like the ending to that episode,which was at least fitting,though I wish they hadn't used that zombie plot,which seemed foolish.

If there ever is a third X-Files film,I hope they have Frank and Jordan Black join Mulder,Scully and Skinner,(even Doggett and Reyes are welcome) to fight the promised final alien invasion of 2012/2013.

Oh,and they have to include Peter Watts as well!

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Funny you mention an X-Files feeling(although I don't understand why emma hollis makes you think of it). For me, it was the absurd, conspiracy crap surrounding shadowy, dark organization that drove x files comparison. Some of season 2 and most of season 3(season 3 especially) feels like a BAD x files episode.

I have been watching season 3 for sometime, and the reason I bring up the X-Files feeling is due to the following reasons:
1. I have noticed Agent Hollis dresses like Agent Scully, and acts in the same manner as Scully, she must have gotten some of Gillian Andersons excess wardrobe that was not tailored right.

2. Frank Black, like Agent Mulder, is conducting his own side investigation on a shadowy organization that is bigger than himself and may encompass the FBI and other parts of the Government. For Frank the Millenium group is part of the FBI due to ex-agents who still have ties to the Organization and have influence in the government contracting process. For Mulder, the shadowy MJ-12 organization existed within the government. Both had influence over the Governmental System and what to investigate or who to monitor. Both organization most likely had insiders and conducted cover-ups and promoted ideals to achieve their overall goals.

3. Both Organizations had a council of individuals that influenced decision making based on their goals, at the expense of Government resources, and both were fronted by a Point Man, in X-Files, it was the CSM in Millenium it was fronted by Peter Watts.

4. Both CSM and Peter Watts meet their end in the series, with both organizations falling apart.

5. Frank is a single Father, Scully was a single Mother.

6. Both Frank and Mulder leave the FBI.

7. Both Frank and Mulder have supervisors who down play the conspiracies happening under their watch due to Government Pressure from above, or they simply do not believe their agents and move them towards other assignments or dismiss them.

Those are the comparisons I can think of, however being a Chris Carter show, I expect some similarities, however there are way to many at the moment and to me season 3 seems like a darker version of X-Files. If you make Mulder a Consultant and have him come back to the FBI working in a diminished state, you basically have Frank Black in Season 3. To me, it looks like Chris Carter took the X-Files and revamped it to make it fit the Millenium story arc.

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"Funny you mention an X-Files feeling(although I don't understand why emma hollis makes you think of it). For me, it was the absurd, conspiracy crap surrounding shadowy, dark organization that drove x files comparison. Some of season 2 and most of season 3(season 3 especially) feels like a BAD x files episode. "

Simply because I believe CC was trying to move in an X-Files-ish direction by adding a female agent though there was little-to-no sexual tension in the Black/Hollis relationship. It was more teacher/student but it was still a male/female partnership like XF that would possibly reel in some viewers looking for some 'shipper action. S2 definitely mirrored XF in the dark organization comparisons but especially when they made it clear that they weren't working in Frank's best interests.


"I have been watching season 3 for sometime, and the reason I bring up the X-Files feeling is due to the following reasons:
1. I have noticed Agent Hollis dresses like Agent Scully, and acts in the same manner as Scully, she must have gotten some of Gillian Andersons excess wardrobe that was not tailored right. "

Klea Scott is a good six inches taller than Anderson so I doubt she got Anderson's cast-offs rather they just decided that was how a cool female FBI agent dresses with the femme-cut trenchcoat and high-heeled boots.


"2. Frank Black, like Agent Mulder, is conducting his own side investigation on a shadowy organization that is bigger than himself and may encompass the FBI and other parts of the Government. For Frank the Millenium group is part of the FBI due to ex-agents who still have ties to the Organization and have influence in the government contracting process. For Mulder, the shadowy MJ-12 organization existed within the government. Both had influence over the Governmental System and what to investigate or who to monitor. Both organization most likely had insiders and conducted cover-ups and promoted ideals to achieve their overall goals."

I'm sure the parallel is more than coincidental but maybe because that's the subject matter the producers liked and there was a good audience response during the XF. The X-Files' mytharc is said to be one of the most popular themes of the show.



"3. Both Organizations had a council of individuals that influenced decision making based on their goals, at the expense of Government resources, and both were fronted by a Point Man, in X-Files, it was the CSM in Millenium it was fronted by Peter Watts."

"4. Both CSM and Peter Watts meet their end in the series, with both organizations falling apart."

I don't want to say anything to ruiin it for you if you haven't finished watching Season 3 but CSM and Watts are quite different though on the surface, both "appear" to be opponents of Mulder and Black, respectively. Watts however, is NOT the figurehead of The MillenniuM Group.



"5. Frank is a single Father, Scully was a single Mother."

You're reaching now. Scully's motherhood was anything but conventional compared to Frank's fathering and parenting his own child. I don't really see it as a comparison but coincidence especially since Scully is the secondary character on XF and most of the show is centered around Mulder.


"7. Both Frank and Mulder have supervisors who down play the conspiracies happening under their watch due to Government Pressure from above, or they simply do not believe their agents and move them towards other assignments or dismiss them. "

Again, I'm not sure if you've finished S3, so I won't comment about both assistant directors roles so as not to spoil it. But you'll see both McLaren and Skinner are nothing like each other. What I will say is that one's hands are tied when helping his agents and the other's isn't.

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The damage was done with S2. The years have proven that when you mess with a particular fomular, and focus on a specific arc, millennium group as a whole being the main focus for S2 after a few episodes into the series. This restricts the creativity you can bring to each episode, and the end result is shows like Millennium and Fringe getting cancelled.

Now I do really appreciate some of the arcs in S2, some fantastic concepts and overall great and wacky episodes, but compared to S1, it failed. S3 tried to salvage what was left, and the end result was never going to appease to all parties, fans of S2 were bound to be left out hanging to dry.

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You have hit the nail on the head about Millennium and why it faltered although one has to question the intelligence of Chris Carter starting a new series while he is in the middle of the X-Files long run and with a movie of the X-files on the go as well. Then after Millennium's first season he hands over his creation to other s(mainly Morgan and Wong) who I guess he trusts?? to keep the Millennium train rolling and they change the whole direction of the show once he is off with X-Files!
Now,correct me if I am wrong but when you develop these shows you as the creator write a bible so to speak that dictates exactly how every character,story line,location ,situation etc fits in with the over all direction,mood, theme you want the show to go in and thats what guides you in the development and production of your show.thereby keeping it inline with how you want it to seen and experienced by the viewing public.

So,
What do we conclude from this?;

Chris Carter wrote the first series on the fly and then said "crap I have too much on my plate so here Morgan and Wong you go ahead and write the second season and I will see you in the third season where I complain that my series has been hijacked(no names but who else could he mean?) and so the series changes direction ,people go WTF?? and people wander of to Profiler and other places leaving Millennium to wither and finally be buried in Carters X-Files crossover episode! You just have to wonder how much respect did they have for Chris Carter when they changed the direction and tone of his creation particularly when the show registered high rating in the first season.

In a nutshell it was Chris Carter's fault the show veered away from his original idea and fell in the ratings so by the time he came back his creation was on life support. because others had injured it,

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The problem with season 3 is season 2. End of story.

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