#5: Connections

Reading Log:
Millennium (1996) Season 1, Episode 3-13 , (Dead Letters - Force Majeure)

Plot Summary:
Each of these episodes follows a similar format. Frank and the Millennium Group get called in by local PD to investigate some unsolvable case, usually with biblical or historical symbolism. The theme of evil as a semi-sentient yet disembodied entity continues to prevail. Each episode is more or less self-contained in its plot, so I will not list them all here. One season-wide plot element involves a stalker who appears to be stalking Frank's wife. This causes great anxiety for Frank when he is away from their home, and there is often a sense of high tension whenever Frank's family is alone. The series continues to show examples of the theme of things not being what they appear to be; and everything seems increasingly symbolic. There is definitely the air of the archetypal (almost stereotypical) post-modern apocalypse / good versus evil story.

Tie-ins with other Carter work:
Millennium and The X-Files are in many ways very thematically different. Millennium highlights and sharply contrasts good and evil, even beyond what is comfortable for the viewer at times. But The X-Files blurs the line between good and evil; again, oftentimes at the viewer's discomfort. In Millennium, we become more aware of evil and how it is embodied in individuals and their actions. The devil incarnate is everywhere, and we wonder if Frank is Jesus resurrected. In The X-Files, characters like Walter Skinner and the Cigarette Smoking Man blur even our preconceived notions of good and evil. It puts forth the idea that people are not inherently good or evil, and that everyone can exhibit elements of both. This makes the protagonists in The X-Files more relatable to the Everyman, and makes the villains seem more conquerable.

The X-Files series-long incarnation of this type of good/evil shapeshifter is of course the Well Manicured Man. A member of the Conspiracy and friend of Mulder's father, for most of the series we are unsure about his true loyalties. When he gives Mulder the Vaccine before committing suicide in the movie, his true values are perhaps revealed. Throughout the series, Skinner is also often seeming to switch sides. Skinner is a very flawed and relatable character who embodies elements of both good and evil.