| |
| |
| |
"Frank Black Rides Again" by David Swinney
Few were surprised last spring when FOX quietly allowed Millennium, Chris Carter's follow-up to The X-Files to expire. Given credibility (and a large initial audience) by the success of its older sibling, the series was much too dark to catch on over the long-haul. Ever diminishing ratings in the face of two failed attempts to make the show more palatable to mainstream audiences led to its apparent demise.
But in the last couple of weeks has come word from two different fronts that Millennium and its gifted protagonist, Frank Black, have not yet been put to their eternal electronic rest.
The Millennium Compendium
Salon's September 9 issue includes a feature piece which details the efforts of eleven fans who are keeping the series alive - online - at least until the end of this year through the Millennium Compendium fan site.
Dan Owen, a 20-year-old salesman at an office furniture company is the executive producer of the Millennium season on the Compendium site. Owen and the site's other executive producer, 18-year-old Matt Asendorf, oversee the production of polished scripts that must adhere to virtual budgets, just as if the episodes were going to be produced in the real world. All of the writers are volunteers who were recruited based on the Owen and Asendorf's assessment of their fan fiction work.
The fan site's virtual fourth season will include 22 teleplays, culminating in the finale in late December. "Personally, I always considered the goal for Millennium was to provide an epic introduction to the real millennium through the eyes of Frank Black," says Owen. "So, we're aiming to release the virtual season finale on Dec. 24, 1999. The virtual season seemed the best going-away present we could give the show's memory -- to make sure it reached 2000 in some form."
And according to Salon, the work is impressive. "What people can expect is a faithful continuation of the show, which has picked up where season three's finale left off, and has definitely not sacrificed too much continuity," says Owen. "Basically, we restructured the show to appeal to fans' favorite elements."
Chris Carter Takes on the Millennium
While FOX has had no public comment on the Millennium Compendium, Chris Carter is apparently taking steps to provide some closure for the series. Unconfirmed rumors abound on the Internet that this final season of The X-Files will include a crossover episode in which Mulder and Scully will finally meet Frank Black.
In Millennium's second season, it was established that all these characters live in the same fictional universe. Frank interacted with the writer Jose Chung, who had been involved with Mulder and Scully in the classic "Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'" episode of The X-Files.
In all likelihood, the script hasn't been written yet, but this is what some folks are hearing from their sources about the outline of this episode: "The rumored plot focuses on Mulder and Scully investigating some weird crime or incident that, at first, seems to be tied into the series' own mytharc. But the two agents learn of a mysterious millennium cult made up of former and present FBI agents that is really behind it. Frank Black is consulted by them, and our intrepid agents see the arrival of the new millennium through his eyes -- literally or figuratively, I don't know. There's a major plot point about these cult members and their families convening together in some forest, 'sacred ground' area in some kind of creepy Y2K survivalist and Jonestown means. It will be a bona fide X-Files episode concerning the new millennium set against New Year's Eve but all the guest stars and characters will be from Millennium."
If the reports are correct, look for this special X-Files episode in late December 1999.
click here to read the original version, printed September 20th 1999
| |
| |
