Millennium/Pilot

Pilot
Season 1, Episode 1
Airdate	October 25, 1996
Production Number	4C79
Written by	Chris Carter
Directed by	David Nutter
— N/A	1x02 → Gehenna
Millennium — Season One

Pilot is the first episode of the first season of Millennium.

Starring: Lance Henriksen (Frank Black), Megan Gallagher (Catherine Black)

Guest Starring: Bill Smitrovich (Lt. Bob Bletcher), Terry O'Quinn (Peter Watts), Paul Dillon (The Frenchman), Brittany Tiplady (Jordan Black), Stephen E. Miller (Detective Roger Kamm), Stephen J. Lang (Detective Bob Giebelhouse), Kate Luyben (Tuesday), April Telek (Calamity)

Co-Starring: Don MacKay (Jack Meredith), Mike Puttonen (Pathologist Massey), Jarred Blancard (Young Man at Ruby Tip)

Featuring: Jim Thorburn (Coffin Man), Kimm Wakefield (Young Woman), John Destry (Driver on Bridge), Liza Huget (Nurse), Jim Filippone (Chopper Pilot)

Uncredited: Fawnia Mondey (Stripper at Ruby Tip)

Plot Overview

Former FBI agent Frank Black returns to Seattle with his family. Working with a law enforcement consultant group called the Millennium Group, he is soon lured to case of a murdered stripper. Using his abilities to understand the killer, Frank finds he's taken more lives and works with his former police department to stop him.

Notes

Locations

• Downtown Seattle (February 2, 1996)

Music

• Alice Cooper & Rob Zombie - "In the Hands Of Death"

• Nine Inch Nails - "Head Like a Hole"

• Nine Inch Nails - "Piggy"

• Portishead - "Roads"

• White Zombie - "More Human Than Human"

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• A year after catching a killer named Ed Cuffle who sent Polaroids of his victims to the police, Frank received Polaroids of Catherine by an unknown person. Shortly after arriving in Seattle, Frank receives more Polaroids that make it clear the stalker has followed them to Seattle, but does not tell Catherine.

Characters

• Frank moves from Washington, D.C. to Seattle with his wife Catherine and daughter Jordan where they buy a yellow house.

• Frank explains that the anonymous Polaroids sent to him were the reason he quit the FBI. He felt unable to protect his family until he was approached by the Millennium Group, which consists of ex-law enforcement officers who he credits with helping understand his gift.

• Frank is introduced to Millennium Group member Peter Watts.

• Jordan suffers a seizure and hits her head and taken to the hospital by Catherine. It's unknown what caused it, but is speculated to be a bad flu reaction.

Trivia

The Show

• The premiere of Millennium drew over 17 million viewers, the highest ratings in the network's history for a debuting drama (at the time).

• The novelisation of this episode is titled The Frenchman.

Behind the Scenes

• The yellow house seen in this episode that serves as the Black's home is not the same that will be seen in subsequent episodes.

Goofs

• Frank claims there there's only been one incident of a black serial killer and that it's statistically improbable. This isn't actually true, as serial killers have spanned many ethnicities. In fact, by the time this episode aired, there had already been multiple African American serial killers that had been apprehended.

Quotes

• Frenchman: You'll have your part in the lake. The great plague in the maritime city. You'll have your part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone.

• Tuesday: This isn't an interrogation booth.

Frank: I'm not a cop.

• Bletcher: My guys want to know why you’re here, Frank. I still don’t know what to tell them.

Frank: I'm here because I have a wife and a kid and I want them to live in a place where they can feel safe.

• Bletcher: How do you do it, Frank?

Frank: Lucky guesser.

• Catherine: You think you're protecting me, but you make it worse, Frank. You can't shut the world out for me. You can't ask me to pretend that I don't know what you do.

Frank: Everyone pretends. We all make believe. These men I help catch - make us.

Catherine: We’re raising a daughter, Frank. The real world starts to seep in. You can’t stop it.

Frank: I want you to make-believe that I can.

• Bletcher: (wading through river water) Oh! Oh, oh, it’s a good thing I already got a family!

• Bletcher: Eighteen years, Frank. Eighteen years. I don't think I've ever seen anything as terrifying as what I saw tonight.

Frank: You ever see your kid lying on a bed in an emergency ward?

• Bletcher: This Millennium Group - they really believe all that stuff? Nostradamus and Revelations? The destruction of the world?

Frank: They believe we can’t just sit back and hope for a happy ending.