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"Behind the Script of Revelation" by Dan Owen
And so it ends. Could the story begun in "Swords..." be satisfactorily explained and concluded? That was the greatest challenge for this episode - simply making sure we answered most of the questions Millennium raised in 3 years of television and 6 months of our virtual season. It wasn't going to be easy. I remember pulling my hair out regarding some of the subplots begun in "Swords...", but I think "Revelation" does a fantastic job of settling some themes once and for all.
"Revelation" begins on an unsettling note, with the world seemingly barren and empty following the supposed nuclear explosion that concluded part 1. Of course, this turns out to be a sly joke, as we're actually watching a nuclear bomb test in 1945 at the Trinity Test site. You didn't really think part 2 would continue the story in a post-apocalyptic desert world. Did you?
The footage for the Trinity segment of the teaser is almost entirely culled from actual footage (the homestead, the pig pen, etc). In fact, the homestead has featured in the opening theme of Millennium since season 1. I also thought the use of pigs was strangely relevant - given their links with Lucy Butler and Legion in "The Judge" and VS4's "Anthropophagi."
We soon find Frank coping with the news he has epilepsy, which caused the "malfunction" of his Gift - resulting in the fake-vision of a nuclear attack. I thought it was a strong possibility that the "brainstorm" of an epileptic seizure would radically alter Frank's perception of events; causing his ability to "play up." But it's also very interesting that Jordan did see a glow from inside the livingroom - meaning she shares some kind of psychic link to her father. This was a facet of their relationship I wish we'd have explored earlier.
Frank's epilepsy was also a new string to the character's bow that we perhaps should have introduced a little earlier. It adds a new slant to the character - with him having to face his growing frailty and perhaps the downside to his Gift. Is the epilepsy a natural side-effect to his ability? Have the forces of darkness succeeded in warping his Gift? Or is it actually maturing into something more powerful? In hindsight, this is another new angle to Frank Black that I wish we'd spent more time explaining... it could very easily have led to a more character-based episode if this wasn't the finale.
"Revelation" represents another "high research" episode. I have a particular fondness for episodes that take something from the real-world and elaborates on it as a storytelling device. In this episode I had to research epilepsy, but also the S.A.D.M. devices, backpack nukes, Ogmios, and the toxic Ricin. I just think it adds a lot of weight to episodes if there's some tangible depth and reality to proceedings. It would be very easy to simply paste over the specifics of epilepsy, or create a fictional toxin, but I always find that a cop-out.
A particularly fun series of events in "Revelation" that I enjoyed writing were the Old Man scenes in the Bucksnort forest. It's only natural that writing comes easier when you already have faces and locations to work for - and I always thought the setting around Bucksnort (seen in season 2's "Beware Of The Dog") was a great horror tradition. Dark woods... a lonesome old man... snarling dogs... gas-lamps... howls... walking stick... log cabin... you can imagine it even now. It's a lot easier to stage action sequences around places already in your mind, so I really liked writing the Old Man's escape sequence.
Similarly, the flashback scenes to Italy - as we watch the First Old Man usher in the end of the first millennium - was also great to write. Flashbacks that lend weight to modern-day events have always been a favoured plot-device of mine... and Millennium was always particularly good at doing this (be it in "Matryoshka" or "Midnight Of The Century").
Making a belated return in "Swords..." but returning properly in "Revelation" was Alexander Le Saux. Originally, a guest character in "The First Prophet", I'd always imagined he'd make a return in a further Owls/Roosters episode... and, in a sense, he does. His role here is to finally reveal some secrets Frank could never quite squeeze out of Peter Watts, and to lead Frank on the final stages of his adventure.
In a sense, Le Saux is a "guide" character - akin to Gandalph in "Lord Of The Rings" or, er, Obi Wan Kenobi. A traditional character-type that works well for this story. Given Le Saux's eventual fate, you can almost imagine him totally defining his character-type once age settles in and he grows the obligatory "wise beard" and lives in the log cabin.
Ogmios and the various connotations associated with the Antichrist are drawn directly from actual sources. The paragraph Frank reads in the book about Ogmios was also supposed to have a double-meaning. He reads: "Ogmios drew behind him a band of men, attached to him by thin gold chains linking their ears to the tip of his tongue." Now, I don't know about you, but I took that to mean Ogmios using cell-phones to talk to his underground movement. And of course, Le Saux is forever using telephones to coordinate his people...
The same scene also has Frank discovering that Ogmios knows he must stand down and allow the "Great Genius" to lead the world into a greater harmony once the Antichrist has been vanquished. Personally, in my own imaginings, I'd somehow like to think Jordan is the Genius. Just how good is her schoolwork...?
As stated earlier, a big aspect of this episode was to make the past of Millennium appear logical and weave some kind of sense into its myriad plots and "takes" on the show. This is best exemplified with Le Saux's discussion with Frank - where he manages to make sense out of remote viewing, the hallucination-inducing white noise tapes, and Lara Means' madness all within the space of one conversation! He also makes the stem-cell research aspect to the show crystal clear during the tense "heated debate" with The Elder at the airport.
The Three Circles. Originally, these featured in "The First Prophet" as a set-up for our finale - which we thought would involve a probably asteroid/comet impact. Hence, three circles (Sun, Earth, Asteroid). By the time we got near to the finale, and the premise for our episode became a nuclear detonation, this was altered in favour of "three cylindars" on the back-pack nuke. A slight liberty, but not unfeasible. And a version of the original idea actually made up the final shot of the script (the Sun, Earth, Moon sequence before a supernova). So it covered both bases.
"Revelation" really kicks into top gear in the final third, with a lot of "chase" and "rescue" sequences finally culminating amidst the imminence of the New Year. Amongst these moments, another crucial piece of the Millennium puzzle is revealed to Frank when the Old Man tells him exactly how the Millennium Group came about - they were a splinter group from the believers of Jesus Christ's teachings.
The final moments of the episode end both an expected and unexpected way. I simply had to do a "countdown to the millennium" scene. Surely everyone wanted to see that actually in the show itself ever since it went on air? Sadly the show was cancelled, but perhaps you can imagine the flavour that scene would have had by reading "Revelation."
The unexpected happens when Frank arrives on the East Coast to greet Jordan. The Black family are united in a Beach House (which I forgot to clarify was a Yellow Beach House in the script - sorry!). Free from the hustle-and-bustle of the suburbs, and the strength-sapping dealings with the Group, Frank and Jordan can finally start living as a proper family again. A truly fresh start.
To the strain of Louis Armstrong's "We Have All The Time In The World" (which I recommend you listen to while reading for the full effect) they - for the first time - share a vision. A vision of the end of the world - in the very distant future. Perhaps as a reward for Frank's sacrifices from God? A way to totally put Frank's mind at rest regarding Armageddon and let him live out the remainder of his life with his daughter.
By the episode's end, I feel a lot was accomplished. Frank and Jordan can live out their days together in peace, Le Saux (now The Elder) can make sure the Group follows its proper path, the Old Man can retain his position, Emma can continue her FBI career with a clear conscience, and Ryan can perhaps marry Cindy and start a family.
Of course, some aspects of the series were not addressed - such as Legion. I think Legion has actually been explained enough, although never in direct terms. It was decided long before the finake, that the only supernatural element in "Revelation" would be the Antichrist, and so there was no last-minute explanation of Lucy Butler and the Legion Demon. It would have been too crowded to try and encapsulate every piece of Millennium's mytharc into our finale.
Overall, I think "Revelation" was the most exciting episode to read - mainly because of what it stood for and the fact it was the big "payoff" from years of "setup." But it also had an inherant rhythm and speed which helped the 100+ pages whizz by in the reading. I do think some elements should have been better explained, or perhaps dealt with in a different episode, such as Dr Glendale's death and The Board subway massacre.]
But, by and large, I think the set-pieces, character development and ballsy plot pasted over the discrepencies very well. Like all finished scripts done under tough deadline, "Revelation" would have been better with about a month of rewrites, but... for an almost 200 page script (including "Swords...") written in just over a month, it wasn't bad quality for the time allotted.
The most important thing - I think - was that it wasn't boring, it answered a lot of questions, tied up a lot of loose ends, and ended the series very fittingly. I certainly wouldn't have found too much fault if "Revelation" was Millennium real series finale. So, for me anyway, I think "Revelation" was a big success, and gathering from feedback we had at the time, the majority of our readers thought so too.
TRIVIA:
- Besides paralleling the premiere "Genesis" and having obvious connections to The Bible's apocalyptic final chapter, "Revelation" was also chosen for two other reasons: 1. It features the Antichrist, who plays a large part in the finale; 2. A constant throughout our finale was a series of eye-opening revelations pertaining mainly to Mabius, Le Saux and The Group.
- An early aborted sequence showed Mabius being born to Russian peasants in the 1940s; as a child with two adult teeth and a strange birthmark. They name him Yaponchik (the Antichrist in "Maranatha"). This was cut because of page restraints and the fear of clouding the episode with too many flashbacks, and limited to some dialogue from Le Saux.
- Another small cut occurs during the Elder/Mabius confrontation, with Mabius proving he is the Antichrist by stubbing out his cigarette on his birthmark (where he can feel no pain, according to legend).
- In an early draft, Frank's final chase to stop Mabius had him reveal that Le Saux is the Antichrist - the Prince Of Lies - but when Le Saux calls him "MISTER Black" and not "MONSIEUR Black", he realizes it's actually Mabius. Mabius then "morphs" into Yaponchik briefly, before punching Frank to the ground and running to the White Van.
- The final scene, Frank and Jordan's singular vision of the end of the world, mirrors the opening creation sequence of "Genesis." The denouement on the beach with Frank and Jordan was inspired by Lance Henriksen's own musings on the last scene of Millennium during an online chat. Henriksen said he'd like to see Frank die on a beach - and while we didn't go that far - it was instrumental in our thoughts for our own last scene.
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