Millennium

**Millennium** is the fourth episode of the seventh season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network in the United States on November 28, 1999. It was written by Vince Gilligan and Frank Spotnitz and directed by Thomas J. Wright. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Millennium" earned a Nielsen household rating of 9.1, and was watched by 15.09 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mixed reviews from television critics; some felt that the episode's plot was creepy and engaging, while others felt that it was not a decent conclusion for the Millennium television series.

## Plot

Frank Black, the protagonist of the series Millennium, is a freelance forensic profiler and former FBI agent who possesses the unique ability to see the world through the eyes of serial killers and murderers. For the first two seasons of the show, Black worked for a mysterious consulting firm known as the Millennium Group. He lived in Seattle with his wife Catherine and daughter Jordan. During the first season, Black and the Group largely focused on various criminals. However, during the second and third seasons, Black began coming into conflict with the Group, which appeared to contain demonic elements and was focused on the fulfillment of apocalyptic biblical prophecy at the start of the new millennium. During the third season, Frank returned to Washington to work with the FBI following the death of his wife at the hands of the Group. In the third season finale, Black realized that the Group was preparing to come after him, and took Jordan from school as they fled Washington.

In Tallahassee, Florida, on December 21, 1999, a memorial service is held for a former FBI agent named Raymond Crouch. His widow is approached by a mysterious man, Mark Johnson, who claims to have worked with her husband. After the other mourners have left, Johnson returns to the funeral parlor, dons the corpse's clothes, and places a cell phone in the coffin. One week later, Johnson is monitoring Crouch's grave when his phone rings; he walks towards the grave with a shovel. Subsequently, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are called in to examine Crouch's empty grave. They notice damage done to the interior of the casket; Scully theorizes that the scene was staged. A briefing is held by Walter Skinner, who notes that Crouch is one of four former agents whose graves have been exhumed; all four men had committed suicide. Because of the presence of goat's blood encircling the grave, Mulder states that the crime was an act of necromancy. After the briefing, Skinner takes the agents aside and asks them to investigate Crouch's possible ties to the Millennium Group, which is now dissolved.

Mulder and Scully go to a mental institution in Woodbridge, Virginia, to visit Frank Black. Black is initially reluctant to help them, as he believes that any further involvement with or even activity regarding the Group may hinder his custody battle for his daughter Jordan. When Black finally agrees to assist, he explains that the four former members of the Group believe they can bring about the end of the world by killing themselves before the dawn of the millennium, acting as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Meanwhile, Johnson is changing a tire on his truck when a deputy comes upon him. Discovering Crouch's body in the back, the deputy attempts to arrest Johnson, but is attacked and killed by a suddenly reanimated Crouch.

Acting on information from Black, Mulder concentrates on trying to find Johnson, while Scully is attacked in the morgue by the dead deputy; Johnson saves her by shooting the deputy before disappearing. The two agents put all their effort in to finding Johnson before it is too late. Mulder breaks into Johnson's house but is locked in his basement and attacked by the four corpses of the FBI agents; he manages to shoot and kill one of them. Frank shows up; after tying up Johnson, Frank shoots two of the zombies in the head. As his gun runs out of bullets and death seems imminent, Scully arrives and shoots the final zombie, saving both men. Frank returns to the hospital, arranging to have himself discharged. Scully informs Frank that he has a visitor and brings in Jordan. Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve is on television; Frank and Jordan leave just before the countdown begins. As the clock strikes zero and the crowd begins to sing "Auld Lang Syne" on screen, Mulder and Scully kiss to ring in the new year.