User reviews

I don't think I've ever fully gotten over the cancellation of Millennium. Re-watching the old episodes on the FX channel, you can really see how well written most of the episodes were and the characters were all memorable and likeable. Right up until the very last season, where I personally feel the writers ruined the series. The two episodes, the cliffhanger before the last season, were incredibly well done, I'd even say masterpieces, titled "The Four Horsemen" and "The Time is Now". But they missed the point when they came back the next season. We were expecting to see the series go in the direction of Frank and his daughter trying to survive a holocaust and instead they copped out. We could have had an amazing survival story there. What a shame. But, I highly recommend watching the reruns of this series if you can. It really was so much better than the X Files. And it will forever be sorely missed. The character of Frank Black did guest star on an X File episode after Millennium was cancelled and I'm still hoping for at least one more appearance. It's so hard to let a good character go forever.

When Millennium first aired on television, I was 12 years old and a huge fan of The X-files. I didn't pay much attention to the series, I guess, because in a way, the series was different from The X-files. Recently I re-watched most of the episodes on cable TV for the first time in 10 years, and it caught my attention in a way that it hadn't before.

I can say that I re-discovered Millennium. It is undoubtedly a wonderful show, comparable to The X-files. The writing is superb, especially on season 2,my favorite season, the acting is great, the characters are totally likable, Mark Snow's score is wonderful as always. I think James Wong and Glen Morgan did a terrific job on season 2, with memorable episodes, such as: "The beginning and the end", "Monster", "The curse of Frank Black", "Midnight of the century", "The time is now", among others. And season 3 also has it's memorable episodes, such as: "Borrowed time" and "Antipas".

I think it's sad the show only lasted 3 seasons, in my opinion The X-files should have ended earlier, maybe on season 7, but Millennium had the potential to go on, I believe the series ended prematurely. Chris Carter created a masterpiece with The X-files, and he did it again with Millennium, creating another unique series on the history of TV, and a classic, no question about that.

Very few people understood what Millennium was about, but for its fans, it remains a very stirring drama. A lot of critics misrepresent Millennium as some kind of gloomy police drama, when the cases that Frank Black investigated during the course of season one were merely vehicles in which to explore the grayer shades of humanity.

Only about half of the twenty-two episodes during the first season were concerned with just serial killers--far less than critics like to think. Look closer and you'll see that episodes like the pilot, "Gehenna," "The Judge" and "Sacrament" had supernatural/apocalyptic elements to them, which make them far less mundane than some might initially think. ("Gehenna" even had visuals of a winged beast, or Legion as the fans dubbed him, descending from the sky.)

Regarding those other, say, eight or ten serial killer episodes, Millennium addressed the big questions: What made these men? What can society do to stop them? You won't hear the investigators on CSI or Law & Order ask these questions, unless in a glib, sarcastic way. Those programs are all about police procedure. To me, *that's* depressing. When Frank looked 'into the minds of killers,' he was trying to understand them, sometimes even sympathize with them. These killers weren't evil people. They were tragic people that did evil things--most were victims themselves. Millennium gave human faces to ghastly perpetrators.

The latter season one episodes stray from the serial killer motifs. "Force Majeure" involves a man in an iron lung who preaches about a planetary alignment that will have cataclysmic consequences. "Walkabout" sheds light on Frank's past when he participates in a clinical trial for an experimental drug that might suppress his 'gift.' "Maranatha" takes Frank to the Russian district of New York in pursuit of Yaponchik, who may be the Antichrist. And then there's the stunning "Lamentation"/"Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions" two-parter, in which devils and angels aren't merely a concept, but physically exist alongside Frank and his colleagues!

Millennium also isn't relentlessly gory or downbeat. Look at the endings of "The Well Worn Lock," "Powers," or especially "The Wild and the Innocent"--still one of the most uplifting hours of television I've seen to this day. A lot of the show's early work is about criminals taking responsibility, victims learning to heal, and how Frank, and his family and friends, come to an understanding about Why Bad Things Happen. Don't be so dark, critics. Millennium--seriously!--is not.

Season two of Millennium is nothing short of brilliant, but the foundation is laid here. Strong scripts, talented actors, exceptional production values, and timeless themes (the tolls of work on family life, humanity's struggle with evil, temptations of the Devil, faith and religion, corruptions in governments and organizations) make all three seasons of Millennium a MUST BUY. Don't let mistaken critics, or lackluster DVD sets (a show this rich needs more commentary!), dissuade you from owning one of the best shows of the 90's, nay, of all time.

The TV series Millennium is a highly intelligent and thought-provoking show about the nature of evil and how it manifests in consensus reality.

Spanning over three distinctive Seasons, Millennium dared to shock us with graphic imagery of serial killings, torture, mutilation, supernatural appearances and destruction. Yes, Millennium is dark and brooding from its initial start but the viewer should be aware that there is indeed light and hope embodied in each and every episode. This is often depicted metaphorically as a "yellow house" or simply being close to those that understand. It was this important element that kept Millennium from becoming a total gut-wrenching and depressing show.

Each episode of Millennium feels like a mini-movie thanks to the outstanding production qualities ascribed to the show. The characters in Millennium, especially Frank Black, were people one could really relate to - even so for the perpetrators themselves to some extent since many of them were simply misguided souls that were led astray by negative forces.

Millennium itself is really nothing like the X-Files and any comparison between the two can't really be made. Millennium is a far more realistic and frightening show than the X-Files and doesn't have that "amateurish" feel which made the X-Files a bit tongue-in-cheek at times.

Millennium pioneered the "flashback" technique which showed glimpses of a killers thoughts as the main protagonist comes within the vicinity of a murder scene. Shows like CSI: Name Your City & Cold Case etc completely ripoff ideas such as this but fail in the delivery. These new crime shows are nowhere near as good as Millennium since they are designed to appeal to the bubble-gum and MTV generation. The ones with 5-sec attention spans and an eye for pretty people with no substance.

One final thing to say. The main character in Millennium - Frank Black, as played by Lance Henriksen, would have to be one of the greatest heroes in any TV show. I mean this from a true "hero" perspective - someone that is selfless and believes that the needs of society as a whole should be served first over one's individual agenda. Frank Black was this and more. A man who had been through hell and back yet never gave up despite insurmountable opposition and suffering.

Ever since the pilot I knew this would be something special. Seeing Lance Henriksen in his own TV show was a dream come true. He was always a favorite and is my own personal favorite actor of all time. The Man with the Golden Voice. This show was too heavy for the era it came out. All the crap TV want to be's like profiler, CSI, closer, etc... what garbage. Even law and order took the two opening notes from millennium (wonder if Chris carter figured that out!). I have all the episodes and watch them constantly. I hate how the great shows get sent away then they come up with new crap (and crap it is) that isn't near as good and fails in every way. Millennium was the darkest and most intriguing show with the most intense character (henriksen) i've ever seen on TV. I wish people would take note of the crap they watch. I say go out and get what every crime show today has copied off of and will never be able to duplicate: Millennium. This Is Who We Are

I've been a fan of Lance for a long time, but since HBO came along I haven't seen many network series, so I missed this one. I would love to have Lance in my next film, so I've started watching it on the Chiller channel and it's great! This is CSI before CSI. Actually it's like Manhunter the series... Which as I've watched CSI, I've realized that's basically what it is. The lighting and tone of the shows is very similar as are the two leads. Lance's Frank Black is very reminiscent of William Peterson in Manhunter then of course CSI, but Millennium came before CSI.

Seems like this one was just a little too ahead of its time… Great show! They should definitely make a film!

All I see and read on here are extremelly positive reviews for Millennium. I don't know if they wrote those in the nineties or now but I watched the first five or six episodes in 2020 and I'm really not impressed at all by it. I did like The X-Files when I was young and that's why I gave this show a shot. You can see Chris Carter's stamp on this one, the same sound or music tunes, the same one episode, one solution concept, that worked for The X-Files, not for Millennium. I don't even feel like growing into the show, I'm just going to give up on it, as for that there are dozens of better shows made in this decade. Maybe in the nineties I would have liked it but compared to the excellent shows we have now this feels weak and I'm not going to waste my time on it.

Singers or rock bands will release an album. It may be their first and sometimes that album can be very successful selling copies by the bucketful and then when it comes to their follow up they disappoint. Sometimes the quality of that second album is higher than the first, but the case is the mainstream are either disappointed, or not interested. So it is with Chris Carter's Millennium, the second series he made after the mammoth success of his breakthrough series The X Files. Whereas The X Files is about how their is light at the end of that dark journey you may journey, Millennium was always about the opposite and thus the tone of the show was set and it may have led to the disappointing ratings and a sudden cancellation after three seasons. This is a shame as this was undeniably one of the finest television dramas ever created, giving us one of the best central performances in a television drama series and giving us sixty odd episodes of thought provoking if very disturbing drama.

Whereas The X Files gave the audience a quirky set of characters in the shape of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, Millennium gave us the dark, secluded and world weary Frank Black, a man who investigated cases of serial killer using a unique, almost clairvoyant like ability to see what the killer was able to see. This set up was fantastic and like The X Files paved the way for over twenty mini movies a season. The stories were frequently clever and very well told and the main performance from Lancer Henriksen, the most underrated actor if there ever was one, was a sight to watch. The series was frequently disturbing, offering some of the most graphic images on mainstream network American television, the stories were hard hitting (incest and child molestation was dealt with at one point) and even the dip into X Files-esque waters worked as the paranormal element usually had something to do with the end of the world thus sometimes facilitating an explanation as to why so many bad things were happening in the world all of a sudden.

The thing was viewers were not prepared for this in light of The X Files. While both shows had the same creator and the same writers and directors, there was no break from the inherent darkness of Millennium. The X Files would counter balance the conspiracy and horror stories with episodes of light humor and whimsical comedy, but here there was not. Even the odd comedy episode had darker elements. A cross over with The X Files would see the character of Jose Chung appear. He was dead at the end of the episode he appeared in. It was story developments like these that let one know that this was not show of optimism and hope, even if the title sequence tried to tell us that. Nope, Millennium was dark, hideous and violent, but it was still a great show that was never given much of a chance. The critics outside of horror and science fiction circles didn't like it and audiences found it too much, but there was denying that this was a superb show.

Like The X Files the visual level and production values were superb and the moody Vancouver locations worked a charm, whilst there was rarely ever a bad episode. Here's hoping time will catch up with this fantastic show and that maybe some day an audience will appreciate it fully.

This was by far one of my favorite shows in the late nineties. From the pilot which is one of he best ever made, as shows struggle to get their feet under them, this one came out blasting. I bought the DVD's last week and even thirteen years later, this show is still rocking. The story lines, the people, the themes, etc. were and still awesome. It went up against Profiler which was awesome in its own right. Chris Carter really put an awesome show together and even though it fizzled and ended after three years, it was still awesome. I wish Fox had put as much effort in this show as The X-files, it would have lasted longer. Lance Henrickson was great as Frank Black. Some of the episodes were very thought provoking, one of my favorites is the "Judge". Also, the one dealing with the Zodiac killer is a classic and should go down in the books as "Rocking". If you have not given this show a shot, DO IT!

I've recently purchased all 3 seasons. I am a huge horror/thriller fan, and this series has it all. It is legitimately scary, This show is great. Lance Henricksen plays his character to a T. The show has a lot of supernatural and religious connotations which only serve to drive the story forward. There are so many aspects of this show that can only be described as wonderful. I haven't been this pleased with a show in a long while. My sister actually told me about this show when it was on television and I had ignored her. My mistake !!! At least by buying the DVD's I won't miss one episode !!! The character development is top notch, as you come to care about them, even some of the conflicted killers. If you can pick Millennium one up I highly recommend them. You won't be disappointed.

I have only seen Series 1 of this series, but I must say that this is an excellent series. What is interesting about 'Millennium' is that it is set in the same time and space as the 'X-Files'. This is due to the Millennium Episode that is featured in X-Files Season 7 where the character Frank Black helps Mulder and Scully solve a case involving undead individuals who were members of the millennium group coming back to life.

But in the Millennium series, Frank Black helps the FBI investigate Serial Killers and Cult groups in a different location in America while Mulder and Scully who are FBI Agents investigate Paranormal and Horror etc in other locations.

But Millennium is a very dark series, much darker and disturbing than the X-Files with far more stronger and believable characters and far more stronger and believable story lines and really gripping music.

I strongly recommend this series to anyone who is a fan of the X-Files as you will not be disappointed.

Excellent.

Millennium is easily one of the best shows of the 90s, the fans still shout loud for a comeback and once you watch this series you can see why, it's dark but beautifully shot with a sense of dread and a sinister feeling running through which keeps you hooked, the acting is superb and it just keeps getting better episode by episode. You can feel the X- Files touch in this show but it always stands as its own creation.... Millennium is worth being in anyone's collection but with only three seasons it does leave you feeling like what could of been, but what we do have is a strangely haunting and dark show that just might make a comeback and if it does I for one will be extremely happy.

Now that all the three (3) season have been released on DVD, it's time to look into this Chris Carter show always overshadowed by The X-Files.

I always thought Millennium was always more realistic of the two. Sure, sometimes there was some paranormal stuff going on, but not in a way that in x-files. Millennium has more of a horror-thriller-like vibe, where The X-Files focuses on UFOs and extraterrestrial activity.

There IS a sort of a continuous storyline included, so i totally recommend getting at least the two first seasons, and watching as many episodes in a row as possible. Definitely darker, and more violent than the X-Files.

I am completely baffled by all the favourable reviews for Millennium. I started watching it because I love the X-Files and it's made by the same creators, but I don't know how the same people managed to mess up so badly. I completely understand why critics panned it and why it's mostly forgotten. It's not good television.

At its core, Millennium is little more than yet another police procedural drama, and a boring one at that. Almost nothing happens in any episode. The writing is awful and none of the main cast are fleshed out properly. I couldn't even tell you any of their names or anything about them besides Frank.

One thing that's good about the X-Files is how well it's aged. Despite being made in the 90s, it still stands up today, and in some episodes, you could even believe you are watching a modern show. The scripts are tight, well-written, and well-directed, with good pacing. Millennium is the exact opposite. Despite being made in the 90s, it feels like a show from the 70s. The production values are low, acting wooden, lighting bad, dialogue difficult to hear, and the scripts are just mindless drivel. The criminals are never fleshed out or their motives revealed.

In a typical episode of Millennium, barely anything happens for 40 minutes, there is no suspense, and you don't care what happens to anyone since the characters are hollow and nobody seems to have any real motivations for what they are doing. Then in the last 5 minutes, they find the killer and reveal nothing about him, or maybe they don't even find him, he just dies for some reason, and it's unresolved.

The actress playing Frank's wife cannot act very well. In every scene she tries to do brooding or worried looks, but ends up over-acting. It feels like watching a 70s soap opera, and I half expect to hear a studio audience.

I forced myself to watch this show because I like the X-Files, but I could not continue. It's a waste of time. I had hoped to at least reach season 2, because I heard that's when it has a change of tone and a story arc about a conspiracy, but I couldn't get through season 1.

Millennium is a mediocre, boring show in which very little happens. I would say it's a product of its time, but there were plenty of good shows from the 90s, it just seems that Millennium was made in the style of much older shows.

Millennium was a brilliant show shot around 1998-2000 starring Lance Hendrickson as Frank Black, a retired FBI serial killer profiler also involved with the Millennium Group.

The show intertwined these two aspects of Frank's background and wove an intense psychological and analytical dramatic approach to each episode that was connected from episode to episode.

The show was brilliantly written, expertly acted and pioneered all sorts of plot aspects that were years ahead of their time.

An amazing show.

It's a dam shame This was overshadowed by the XFiles.. This is such a brilliantly written show.. Yes the last season wasn't as good as the first but it was still awesome... This show stood on its own and in some eyes was better then the XFILES I personally loved both but this show was absolutely brilliant This show especially the first season is so dark it was at times eerily creepy.. I mean it's was an honor to watch it I can not stress this enough WATCH I T... You won't regret it if you love shows like the XFiles Medium and so on you'll absolutely love this Watch it you will be asking yourself why the hell haven't I watched this before