MovieChat Forums > Millennium (1996) Discussion > Just watched Season 3 finale, WOWWW (Spo...

Just watched Season 3 finale, WOWWW (Spoilers)

posted 15 years ago by DingusStudley
8 replies | jump to latest

AMMMMMAAAZZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHOA!

I HATED how season 3 started. First part of the season(ESPECIALLY the opening two-parter) was WRETCHED! I've already ranted about that, so I'll quickly move on here. But I was worried season 3 would be a complete wash, it was shaping up to be an insult to the previous amazing seasons. Fortunately, things really started shaping up towards the end of 3, and the two part finale was incredible, I may like it better then the epic season 2 ending.

I know there's an X files episode that gives more closure, but I thought this ended things pretty well on its own. You got Jordan and Frank driving off into the sunset. You got a good person just having joined Millennium, will Hollis be brainwashed and compromised like Peter, will she go nuts, will she end up like Frank and try to fight them?

It sucks we didn't get a season 4, or 5, or so on. Cuz this show still had SOOO much left. Still, leaving things up in the air isn't TOO bad. It's still satisfying, has a hopeful ending, Frank talking about how the future is in our hands. Also feels like Millennium can't go unexposed for too much longer, its newest member already knows its a shady organization up to no good, if not outright evil. And if Peter of all people can FINALLY start to see the light, then things have to be unraveling. That's the feeling I got at least.

Anyways, LOVED the ending, LOVED these final two episodes, felt like something out of season 1. Just incredible stuff.

Overrall, season 3 wasn't that bad. It definitely had far more duds then any other season, and the first part of the season was just nightmarishly horrid. But it picked up and turned itself around, start resembling the previous two season, gave us quite a few tremendous episodes, including a great ending. I still don't care for how they handled Millennium group. Don't like them turning it straight up evil, no question, no complexity, group = BAD. Even worse was how they handled the change, something my previous season 3 rant was about.

I think the worst thing about it prob is that it simply doesn't make sense why Millennium would be evil. Are their efforts to hunt down serial killers just a smokescreen so no one will notice what they're really about? We never get any explanation for why they do what they do. They release deadly viruses, murder innocent people, terrorize people who have proven they can fight evil, yet Peter somehow still claims they're out to stop the end of mankind(ha). ALL signs point to the group actively trying to promote evil, if not outright bring about the end. But why? And how could they attain such power/influence and go unchecked with all the bad stuff they're doin? Surely there's more people like Frank out there who suspect things, maybe they all got assassinated? And how did the wise old man from season 2 not know what was going on right under his nose, surely he wasn't deep down evil too!? Or did they mean for his death to open the doors for evil to poison the group? They ended up making the group even more mysterious, and shady, and weird then it was in season 2.

I started ranting again haha, sorry. Main point this thread was supposed to have was that season 3 ended up not sucking, saved itself with some tremendous episodes, and had a great finish. Could have been FARRR better, needed to have explained some things regarding the group/peter/etc. But despite that, it ended up being great.

[–] SilentDues 15 years ago

Very good to see you enjoyed the end of the series! Yes, the final two episodes are fantastic, especially the revelation that Peter wasn't as 'in on' certain Group activities as we have otherwise thought. And yeah, he definitely allowed himself to get trapped in that "gray" area of right and wrong, but ultimately he was a somewhat-good man whom loved his family dearly, cared about how the world ended up, and genuinely strived to protect Frank. At worse, Peter was a mislead soul who was brainwashed into seeing how "important" the 'greater good' of the Group's had to be attained, at least until Frank finally woke him up. This may even be why Frank spared him, because despite everything and despite the fact that the Group would kill Watts anyway, Frank realized Peter still thought of him as his best friend.

Also Dingus, I really recommend you checking out the X-Files episode "Millennium". In the context of The X-Files, outside of a certain kiss, it's basically a complete stand-alone, so you don't need any prior knowledge of that show to check it out. It won't offer closure to everything (Peter's fate, what becomes of Hollis), though it also will give just enough concrete resolve IMHO. It may come off as a tad rushed and quirky, mainly since this coda had to all be done in the space of one episode in another television series, but I think you'll get at least some added satisfaction out of it. Before going back to rewatch the series, again, my recommendation is that ya' watch this at least once; unless we ever get a theatrical feature, this is all we have for a continuing/concluding story to Frank Black, even if it's mostly a nod to his character.

If you have the season sets of Millennium, then you oughta be able to find the Season 7 X-Files ep, "Millennium", in the Extras section of Season 3's last disc. Let us know what ya' think!

Any Buffyverse comic that's post-"Not Fade Away" is non-canon, my PoV says.

[–] DingusStudley 15 years ago

"At worse, Peter was a mislead soul who was brainwashed into seeing how "important" the 'greater good' of the Group's had to be attained, at least until Frank finally woke him up. "

I think this is accurate. He really doesn't seem to be straightup evil. But he clearly has been led to buy into EVERYTHING the group says. The problem is that it's just nearly impossible to believe that Peter seriously thought he was still on the good side, still working to save the world, when he and the group are releasing a deadly virus and murdering innocent people. How could that possibly be a positive thing in any way? It just doesn't make sense. They REALLY needed to have explained things, found a way to make his motivations believable.

I saw that x-files episode a long time ago. Didn't it involve a guy bringing people back from the dead and making them kill for him? Something like that? I remember it being pretty out there. Then Mulder and Skully interview Frank in a mental institution. Anybody know where I could watch it online? I don't have millennium on dvd, watched it on chiller network.

"It won't offer closure to everything (Peter's fate"

Pretty sure we got closure on that in the finale of Millennium. SPOILERS -he died

[–] SilentDues 15 years ago

I can't find the "Millennium" coda of X-Files anywhere, the best I could manage is a torrent file for that series (which I could PM your way, unsure if I'm allowed to post it in these parts). I know Sci-Fi still airs the show very late at night, like 2 AM, though dunno if they're close to said episode or not. If you'd like, I can just give you a complete bio of the episode.

Any Buffyverse comic that's post-"Not Fade Away" is non-canon, my PoV says.

[–] Wolverine37 15 years ago

The X-Files episode is bad for an XF episode and worse for a Millennium episode (mostly because it's slapsticky, which XF could pull off but Millennium was inept at). There is no closure, there isn't even lip service paid to continuity. If you hated the whole "viral infection killed 70 people" cop out, wait till you see how minor a force the Millennium Group is in the X-Files world.

[–] waspfan33 15 years ago

IT DOESNT MATTER WHAT YOU THINK...

its like i just posted a few mins ago.i think the group did solve crimes as a way of researching the enemy so to speak.like they solved a crime here,released a virus here to justify hey u need us look what happens here on earth,they keep people guessing,rub out people who know they are basically manipulating certain things to make them selves needed.to make it simple,its like if the brinks company pays a thug to rob your house,hang the guy out to dry for the cops,then call u and ask u if you need a home security system.yes people rob houses,but theyre making it seem like wow u really need us look what just happenned to you,and here we are to help you.like frank says its about control and fear.indoctrinate people into their cause by taking the bad and making it seem worse to justify their existence and make u feel u need them to help you and all of mankind.

spectre can

suck it.

[–] thefastflash 14 years ago

I thought it was one of the best series finale's ever, far superior to the X-Files. I was 10 when I started watching Millennium (during season 2) and got hooked to all the symbolism and mysticism behind the group. I remember being 12 and watching the finale, alone in my house, and that last few minutes when Frank is talking to Jordan about his vision of the future - freaking amazing. I always look back at that because I felt it really changed my life, my perspective on religion and my own future. IDK if it really did, but I remember that moment so vividly and how nervously introspective I felt. Love Millennium, one of the greatest shows of all time.

[–] AaronCapenBanner 13 years ago

I just finished watching the series again and agree with your post,but would add that one thing that bothered me was how season 3 so poorly handled the fate of Lara Means.What happened to her? Last we see her,she is sedated in the hospital,then absent for the entire season,and not even mentioned! Why? I liked this character,and this disrespect of her mad me mad.
I thought that the season started to turn around with 'The Sound Of Snow'(best teaser in the series!) though why they waited until episode 12 to explain the cliffhanger is bizarre.
I'm not so sure that Peter Watts was dead,since you never see the face,and there was only one body.(Where was the rest of the family?) I could see Peter ambushing that assassin,then making his escape,at least that's what I like to think happened. So glad Peter was redeemed at the end.
The last episode had the perfect title,'Goodbye To All That' which made me think they could also have said 'Thank God It's Over!'

[–] DingusStudley 13 years ago

"For season three, which aired in 1998, Carter took back control of the series, with Morgan and Wong leaving to follow their own cinematic careers. Carter admitted that he took it in a different direction from that of Morgan and Wong and, as a part of this, he attempted to take the show back to its "roots" from the first season. Reacting to criticism that the series had become confusing, and out of touch with audiences, the show's production team hoped to make "the stories a little more accessible", moving the action from Seattle to Washington DC"

Kristen Clooke was married to Morgan. Perhaps that's why they pretty much canceled her out(or maybe she refused to participate in the show after her hubby's departure).

That stuff above always gets me. Season 3 was sooooo much more confusing then season 2. And it doesn't start to feel like season 1 until the end, for the most part, roots my ass. Carter did such a horrible job if that was his actual intention.