Weekly Update...

This week's episode: Millennium

This X-Files/ Millennium crossover episode begins on December 21, 1999 in Tallahassee, Florida. A woman grieving the loss of her dead husband stands next to his coffin. She idly wonders out loud why he didn't leave a note, suggesting that he had committed suicide.  A man comes to her, introducing himself as Mr. Johnson, a man who had previously worked with her husband and extending his condolences. Mr. Johnson leaves her as another man joins her to lead her away. Not a few minutes later, Mr. Johnson approaches the coffin, again.  He begins to remove his clothing as he repeats the same phrase over and over again, "I am the resurrection of the life. He that beleiveth in me, though he were dead yet shall he live and who so ever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." As he chants this, he begins taking off the clothes of the dead body. How sick is that?  Anyway, once he removes the clothes, he activates a cell phone and places it into the coffin.  The scene switches to Mr. Johnson sitting in a car in a cemetery in the midst of a violent rain storm. Out of the silence, his cell phone begins to ring. As if this wasn't freaky enough, he takes a shovel and walks toward a grave. We continue to hear the phone ringing.  

The next scene starts on December 30, 1999. Agent Dana Scully pulls up to the crime scene in the cemetery and begins walking toward a grave. She is stopped by an angered and seemingly nervous man who works at the funeral parlor. The man told her heatedly that the man who was buried was dead when he was buried. This seems to surprise our ever-skeptical agent. Scully approaches an open grave where we are greeted with the incredibly sexy Agent Fox Mulder. She asks him if he was spreading the rumors that the man from the funeral parlor confronted her with and gets the adorable response of, "Merry Christmas, by the way." She smiles, thanks him, and he tells her that the Local Police were spreading those rumors. Mulder explains that the prints from the coffin and the headstone match that of the dead man who was in the coffin. They agree that there must have been someone helping to shovel the man out and Mulder notices a circle of blood. We now see Mr. Johnson repeating the same quote as he drives toward Georgia.

Mulder, Scully, Skinner and three other, previously not seen in The X-Files sitting around a conference table in Skinner's office, discussing the case. We now learn that the dead man's name is Raymond Crouch, he was 52, and had spent 21 years with the FBI. Mulder mentions his theory being necromancy, or the summoning of the dead to perform ritualistic tasks. Scully's face appears to be expressing a mix of embarrassment and disbelief, but she never interrupts. Mulder further explains that the necromancer would remove the clothing from the dead as if to form a kind of bond between himself and the recently dead. Skinner dismisses the rest of the agents, but of coarse, asks Mulder and Scully the stay. We all know they are the best! He then shows them more information that he has about the case. he says that Crouch was a member of the Millennium group, whose symbol is know as an auraboros. If you all didn't notice, that symbol was the exact same symbol that Scully had tattooed on her lower back in "Never Again".  Coincidence?? I think not! Scully's face shows a slight bit of the painful memory. Back to the cult, though. We see that the Millennium group represents the belief that the end or the world would come at the coming millennium. Skinner shows them pictures from three other grave desecration sites that occurred all within the past 6 months. He also points out that they were all former FBI agents and all recent suicides. He also tells them to work on the case as discreetly as possible.

Mulder and Scully's investigation begins at the Hartwell Psychiatric Hospital in Woodbridge, Virginia. Mulder explains to Scully that Frank Black, the man they are going to see, checked himself into the hospital for a 30-day observation. He was also known as the best criminal profiler that Quanico had ever produced. ,Mulder continues telling her that Black used to consult for the Millennium group, but pulled out for fear of his reputation and career. When they approach Black, Mulder shows him pictures of all of the suicides. Black recognizes them and identifies them as member of the Millennium group. Mulder, we all know is very intelligent. He tries to get Black to help them by asking if he wants them stopped, knowing full well that Black wants that. Black retorts but saying that the game is at 1st and 18 and he just wants to watch the game in peace. Mulder points out that the game is at 3rd and 10, and he walks away with Scully.  

The scene switches to a cop who stops to help Mr. Johnson with his flat tire. The cop notices a bad smell and then realizes that it's coming from the back of the truck. The cop starts to warn Mr. Johnson as he checks out the truck. Mr. Johnson surrounds himself with a circle of salt and began chanting that same phrase. After seeing Crouch's body, the cop turns back to Mr. Johnson. Much to the discomfort of my stomach, Crouch's decaying body attacks the cop from behind.

At the crime scene where the cop was attacked, we see that his mouth is stapled shut and packed with salt. Mulder pulls out a piece of paper and begins to read it. When he is done, another cop says that it is from the book of Revelation, chapter 1, verse 18. Immediately, Mulder remembers what Black said about the football game and goes to see him again. Black explains that he stopped all of his work and admitted himself because he wants his daughter back. At this point, since I'm so slow, I was grateful for the explanation. Black explains that the book of Revelation deals with the battle between good and evil and the end of the physical world. He also says that the Millennium group believe the time was upon us, but that man had to bring about the end of the world. They believed that it was their job and it was supposed to happen. They were to die and bring back from hell the four horsemen of the apocalypse, war, pestilence, famine, and death. This would bring about the end and could only happen at the dawn of a new millennium. He then explained to Mulder and Scully a complete and specific profile of the necromancer that they were looking for. He said that he was a white male, 45-50, who basically appeared to be a normal guy. However, he lived alone and secluded and worked around death because it comforted him. I'm sorry, but this part particularly made me cringe! As Mulder and Scully leave, Mulder asks her to be sure that they don't remove the staples from the cop's mouth. This, to me was a shippy moment! If you notice the way he asks her, he is very sweet and he doesn't force his beliefs on her. All her says is to humor him.

Of coarse, the scene skips to a pathologist who is about to examine the cop's body at the Rice County morgue at 10:32 am. What does she do? Gee, let's think. As she hears the phone ring, she ignores it and opens the mouth to begin ridding it of the salt. We can hear Scully's warning on the answering machine, but the pathologist apparently cannot. When she hears the message, it is too late. She is attacked by the cop. When Scully arrives, she looks around but hears no one.  She then takes out her gun, and begins to search. She comes across the pathologist, dying on the floor. Scully then sees why. The dead cop, with the staples removed, comes to attack Scully. I don't know about you, but my heart literally stopped when I saw that. I was flipping.  I knew she couldn't die, but still!  Skinner arrives and at this point, we still don't know Scully's condition (needless to say, I still can't breathe!). He approaches a body covered on the floor, but then we see Scully approach him (okay, I can breath again). She explains that the *dead* cop attacked her, but for some reason the necromancer was there and he saved her. Mulder, looking for necromancer's whereabouts, approaches a house with a large gate. I'd just like to add that he looked particularly sexy in those sun glasses! He realizes that this is Mr. Johnson's house because he finds a large, empty bag of salt. Again, Mulder displays that sexy boyish agility that we all love, but climbing the fence.

Mr. Johnson drives down the road, singing some religious song. Mulder notices that he is a taxidermist, which would match Black's profile.  Mulder then moves into the basement, where the resurrected agents are being kept. We then see that Mr. Johnson arrive home, and closes Mulder in the basement. In an attempt at defense, Mulder shoots at the agents, but the weapon, just like Scully's seems to have no effect unless aimed at the head. At 9:17, Scully goes to Black for help finding Mulder. We see poor, vulnerable Mulder with a hurt arm, surrounded by the sound of the agents growling. Mr. Johnson is met by Black and we see that they truly do know each other. Black is told that he can be the fourth, since Mulder killed one. Black pretends to agree, but then pulls the gun on Mr. Johnson. Black ties him up and goes into the basement to find Mulder. He lights flares the see in the dark. He them kills another one of the agents *again* and goes to Mulder. The screen then shows Scully at the gate to the house. Mulder shoots the 3rd agent, but he runs out of bullets as the 4th approaches. Who else comes to his rescue, but Scully as she shoots the agent in the head from behind.

The next scene shows Scully in a hospital waiting room with Frank Black, the television tuned to Times Square and the events happening right before the ball drops. She explains that Mr. Johnson is in psychiatric care and that his daughter is here. Mulder arrives through another door with his arm in a sling. Scully's face seems to show her joy that Mulder is all right. Black decides to leave with his daughter as the ball is beginning to drop. He and his daughter go, leaving Mulder and Scully alone in the waiting room, watching the television.  At midnight, Times Square is alive with people celebrating. The screen they are watching shows a couple kissing (Ironically enough the woman had red hair and the man had dark brown. Hm, another coincidence?? I think not!) Seeing this, Mulder looks at Scully with a look of longing, but also a bit on uncertainty. He finally decided what he really wants to do and leans in. Scully turns just at that moment, and his lips touch hers. Scully's eyes slowly close as the stay there, only slightly pushing closer. Mulder pulls away gently, and Scully's eyes flutter open. They gaze at each other with a look that could only be described as longing and love. His lips as smiling and hers slowly form a broad smile. She tilts her head almost in question, as she gazes at him. His smile widens as he says, "The world didn't end."  Scully simply responds with, "No, it didn't." He eyes, then, look in front of her, and this action seems to make Mulder uncomfortable. He straightens his face and wishes Scully a happy new year. However, we see Scully's face now and she's still smiling! She wishes it back to him and they walk out of the hospital, Mulder's good arm around her shoulder.

This episode, in my opinion, was excellent. Despite the fact that it takes me a bit to understand what's going on, I thought it was not only one of the shippiest episodes, but also one of the most well thought out and mythological.

~Holly S. (StarbuckDD@aol.com)