MILLENNIUM Virtual Season Four Episode review
by 4Q2
Submitted 1-16-00

"Tribulation" #412
Original "Air" date: 10/01/99
Writer: Dan Owen


In Brief: 
The investigation of "Project Blueflame" continues, revealing to Frank and
Ryan the existence of The Board and their plans for the Millennium
Group... and the world.


Overall Impression:
Excellent continuation of one of the more intriguing Millennium plot
threads.  However, one of the cases where the setup is just a touch more
exciting than the conclusion.


Details: 
Well, the folks at the VS grabbed the ball from 1013 Prod. and went
running.  GOAL, baby!  I recently revisited "The Innocents/Exegesis" from
Season Three to get myself back into the frame of mind needed to fully
appreciate the multifaceted "Rature/Tribulation."  Once again Dan Owen
roves he is the Darin Morgan of the VS by giving us a bit of religious
prophecy paranoia rolled up with a bit of an X-Files type psychic-friends
story into a tidy little burrito that's quite good eating.

I have to admit to being a tad more impressed with "Rapture," from the
incredibly well-written disappearing act aboard the plane to the
shockingly brazen attempt on the Elder's life.

Well, I was really seriously hoping that the Board would be successful in
capping off the Elder.  Not the due to the fact that (at this point) he is
the leader of the malevolent MM Group, but it would have been an even
greater shock, and would up stakes in this private war between the Group
and The Board.  Things are a gettin' good though.

I must also continue to give kudos to Mr. Owen for taking the
nearly-impossible-to-comprehend "Innocents/Exegesis" mess and making
something very gripping and readable out of it.  Back when I had first
read "Gestalt," the first fear I had was that the Virtual Season would
suffer from Unfollowed Plot Thread Syndrome, a disease that has also
struck all incarnations of Star Trek, looks likely to strike The X-Files,
and of course all the televised seasons of MM.  I feared The Board would
be just the flash in the pan for the season and was pleasantly proven
wrong.  And the added bonus here was the unresolved plot of "The
Innocents" was salvaged here.

Another nice development was the entire concept of "bilocation," the
ability of some of the "remote viewers" to be two places at once.  I also
bristled at the MM Group's interest in Subject 718, and his ability to not
only view but interact with events of the past.  I did wonder, at the time
of my first reading, if there would be a valid reason provided for the
inability of the viewers to see past 2000, but it seems the only reason
provided is because it's... well 2000.  Kind of a weak point there. 

Now, as write this review, the beloved VS has come and gone with the
posting of the absolutely wonderful "Swords of Armageddon/Revelation" two
part conclusion.  It was posted shortly thereafter that a "lost episode"
existed in some form that concerned the murder of Ryan's live-in love
Cindy.  I'm convinced that said episode may have been intended to "air"
sometime, if not immediately, after "Tribulation."  Indeed, as I read of
the conversation between Epstein and the "Mysterious Figure" as they spoke
of investigating Ryan's residence, I figured we had seen the first and
last of Cindy.  In the Millennium spirit of taking risks in its
storytelling, I felt this should have happened (especially seeing now that
the character was never going to be seen again anyway).  Not just to tell
a convincing story of evil forces racing to shape the end of the Century,
but to at least put Ryan on an equal level with Frank.  In this case, a
man with his own tragedy.  May have made for a interesting character study
later for Ryan Frost.


4Q2's Nitpick Central:
718's frantic, and frightened demeanor upon his first meeting with Frank
and Ryan was making me shift in my seat.  I was wondering, for a man who
was so desperate to leave, and so desperate to spill the beans on
Blueflame to Frank, why he yammered to him so much through the passenger
window of the red Jeep.  Frank clearly recognized the urgent nature of the
exchange.  A simple "get in" would have been sufficient.  The details of
his confinement at the Society of Theosophical Science could have been
discussed on the way to Ryan's place.


4Q2's Goose-Bump Moment:
Frank discovers the "eye" drawn on every page of one of Jordan's books.
Creepy.

The meeting of Swanson and Graves.

Elder: (chuckles menacingly) What makes you think you can just walk away?
Graves: What makes *you* think I'm even here?

Very cool.


Did The Opening Quote Seem Relevant To The Story? (Did 4Q2 get it?):
By "endure," I take it to mean the biblical passage refers to faith, and
shall be enraptured to Heaven.  


TV Episode(s) that it most reminded me of:
(Again) "The Innocents," "Exegesis"


Score: 9.5 (out of 10)
Nice story all around, but the beginning and ending of "Rapture" was hard
to top in degrees of dramatic content.  Still, Dan is the man!

NEXT IN THE PIPELINE: The loosely-linked follow-up to "Shophetim."  4Q2
reviews "Iso Bet Din."  Onward!

-4Q2, male prostitute