Millennium Group

Having begun life as a Christian sect at the end of the 1st century AD, the Group grew into a far-reaching network which, as the 3rd millennium approached, presented itself as a private investigative firm liaising with law enforcement organizations.

Millennium's creator Chris Carter had come to know members of the Academy Group through contacts he had made with the Federal Bureau of Investigation while researching his earlier television series The X-Files.

[9] Describing his initial inception of the Group, Carter has stated "they believe that all this random violence we see these days, there may actually be some order in the chaos [...] These guys think that, if they care enough, that they can stem the tide of this thing".

[10] In the series' second season, new executive producers Glen Morgan and James Wong began to explore a new direction for the Group, moving away from its investigative function and giving a more religious focus.

[16] Keith Uhlich, writing for Slant magazine, felt that the "reinvention of the Millennium Group from a criminal consulting firm to an ancient, protective sect" did not fit with Carter's typical character development, which focussed on individuals and the careers that "define their existence".

Club's Zack Handlen felt that the third season's focus on a villainous Group reduced them to "yet another cabal with seemingly limitless influence and power",[18] describing them as "just another one of Carter’s beloved shadowy conspiracies".