Millennium (The X-Files)

The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files.

As a result, Mulder and Scully have to ask the help of criminal profiler Frank Black (Lance Henriksen), a man who has former experience with the shadowy group, for assistance.

Frank Black (Lance Henriksen), 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.

[5] 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.

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.

Subsequently, Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) are called in to examine Crouch's empty grave.

A briefing is held by Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi), who notes that Crouch is one of four former agents whose graves have been exhumed; all four men had committed suicide.

When he 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.

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.

"[9] For these reasons, Lance Henriksen, who portrayed Frank Black, was unhappy with the finished product, believing it to be a lackluster ending for the Millennium story.

[19] After the cancellation of Millennium, Carter called up Henriksen and asked if he would be interested in appearing in an episode of The X-Files that would wrap up the show's arc.

[22] The Millennium Ball scene was digitally created because the episode was filmed in October, two months before the event was scheduled to take place.

Special effects producer Bill Millar was tasked with digitally adding the number "2000" into archival footage of the 1998 New Year's Eve show, hosted by Dick Clark.

[24] These were the words that were believed to have been said by Jesus when he raised Lazarus of Bethany from the dead; biblical scholars have noted that the verse was also intended as a foreshadow of his resurrection.

However, Amy Donaldson, in her book We Want to Believe, notes that the verse is used for the wrong reasons in "Millennium"; the necromancer is able to successfully raise the dead by reciting the line, but only their bodies, resulting in mindless zombies.

[24] The episode also deals with the Book of Revelation, particularly verse 1:18, "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys to Hell and of death".

[25] This is further proved when the four Millennium Group members return as zombies; they have achieved life after death, but only physically—not spiritually—by "abusing Jesus's words to take their fate into their own hands".

Ted Cox of the Daily Herald called the entry "creepy" and "visually captivating", particularly praising the installment's "use of light and dark symbolism".

"[30] Rosell ultimately concluded that the reason the episode was a success was due to Mulder and Scully's kiss, a moment he called "inevitable" although he did note that "many think [it] really signaled the beginning of the end.

"[30] Tom Kessenich, in his book Examinations: An Unauthorized Look at Seasons 6–9 of the X-Files gave the episode a positive review and called it "highly entertaining" and "cause for celebration".

Drake commended Lance Henriksen's performance, saying that "not only provides continuity with Millennium, but adds a new dimension as Frank tries to leave the wreckage of his professional life behind".

Despite this, he enjoyed Johnson's role as the villain, calling him "interesting", and he wrote that the scene with Mulder and Black in the cellar was "kind of cool" because of the "creepy zombie sequences".

"[34] Furthermore, Shearman and Pearson argued the episode was "a terrible X-File" because, instead of featuring Mulder and Scully solving a mystery, the plot revolved around the two saving the world from Armageddon, which caused "the thin credibility upon which hangs the series [to snap].

[35] Vitaris noted that, despite the teaser and first act being "promising enough", the episode "slides downhill rapidly with a storyline that crosses the border into ludicrous.

[19] David Blar from DVD Talk called the episode "shocking" because of Mulder and Scully's kiss, asking, "why they didn't lock lips sooner"?

"[35] Allan Johnson from the Chicago Tribune noted that "in a way, it's too bad Sunday's episode of Fox's The X-Files is getting more attention for what happens near the end than it does for its plot.