MILLENNIUM Virtual Season Four Episode review
by 4Q2
Submitted 2-7-00

"Hollow Scars" #414
Original "Air" date: 10-29-99
Writer: Gavin Hunter


In Brief:
It's Devil's Night in Maryland.  Frank is haunted by visions of evil.
Ryan is... well, haunted by visions of, er, evil.  And Helen Black is,
well... ya see a trend formin' here?  It's a spooky Halloween episode for
the VS (and no guest appearance by KISS, sorry).


Overall Impression:
Gavin Hunter's second outing for the VS is a mixed bag of stuff for the MM
fans.  You have the obligatory Lucy Butler nugget of story, a reference to
a classic episode from the first season, and a bit of a peek into Ryan's
past.  Now that being said, a lot of it worked, and a lot of it didn't.
Let's venture further, shall we?


Details: 
Seeing Gav's name at the helm of this one brought with it a feeling of
anticipation.  It had been a awhile since my read of "Sala Del La Morto,"
but I still remembered that awed feeling of the first read.  It was dark,
damned spooky, and heavy on the issues that would make any god-fearing
folk take note.  I expected more of the same here, and got a bit of what I
was hoping for.  It was definitely dark, and pretty spooky (I'll tell you
what made my skin absolutely *crawl* later), but some elements had trouble
amblin' through 4Q2's noggin here without being stopped at the gate for a
strip-search.  So with that...

The Treats.  Well, damn... we got a Creepy House with creaking doors,
rumbling thunder storms, mysterious hooded figures emerging fromn the
shadows, and ghoulishly realistic nightmares.  All of these elements added
a very welcome degree of charm to this, the VS's first (and sadly, the
*only*) Halloween episode.  The atmosphere set up here was very effective,
but I did have a hard time distinguishing which parts were supposed to be
fun, and which were supposed to be shocking.  I did think of the balance
that the first "Scream" movie touted, mixing its horror with a bit of
humor.  However here, the humor was kept on a leash, as opposed to the
last Halloween outing for Frank Black ("Thirteen Years Later").

First, the teaser was more than effectively creepy, ending in a scene that
did give me a bit of the willies.  But what *really" gave me the
mondo-creepos was the very final scene, as we pan in closer to a piece of
wood bearing the mark of Lucifer in the ruins of the destroyed Creepy
House.  The giggling and chanting of the little girl's voice just made it
all the more unnerving.  Nice job, Gav.  I did have some difficulty
getting to sleep to be honest with you.

And while we are on the subject of said Creepy House, I want to be perhaps
the first to praise the scene where Annie "Lucy Butler" Martin is
entertaining guests.  Now Lucy has become a character in the MM canon that
is not to be used lightly.  I see there was a bit of fan outcry here after
this sroty was "aired," but I saw this scene from a very different
perspective, and it struck me as a very "Morgan and Wong" moment, not to
be taken quite so seriously, but also providing a valuable piece of the
puzzle.  Here's we get an entertaining (at best) explaination of Lucy's
fascination with Frank.  Okay, so it was a bit hokey, but the sense of fun
here wasn't lost on me.

And besides... Lucy returned with a vengeance in the next episode
"Anthropophagi."  I was fine with the whole thing.

The Tricks.  Well, I wanted to keep within the Halloween spirit here...
these are more nitpicks if anything else.  What's the story on Ryan?  Now,
we know he was an ex-cop... but where?  First I hear Los Angeles, now he's
on the force in Baltimore?  I missed that somewhere along the line.  When
he referred to his days "back on the force" I immediately thought this
spooky old house was back in LA when it became 'flashback time'. Has it
ever been established before "Hollow Scars" that Frosty was a Baltimore
cop?  If someone can point out where, I'll withdraw this nitpick.
Otherwise, it's much too convenient a plot twist.

On the subject of Ryan, he seemed *extremely* out of character here.  I
can understand a man's having deep dark memories of tramatic events,
torture, and being nearly killed.  However, Ryan has struck me (as his
character develops) as a man who had conquered his demons to a much more
certain degree than portrayed here.  He was an ex-candidate, and
specialized in shocking, religiously-motivated killings.  I just couldn't
see him being quite as scared as he was to go back into the Creepy
House... and if it *did* petrify him so much, why did he offer to *take*
Frank there to begin with.  Frank should have had to do a shitload of
filibustering to get him to do it.

And poor Det. Hagerdy.  I gotta say I do wonder if we were supposed to
feel loss over this guy's getting offed.  Using the same tactic as was
used on Bob Bletcher seemed very very forced and uninspired.  If dramatic
punch was the goal here, may have been better to see RYAN killed in this
fashion.  It certainly would have gotten my attention.  The sad fact is I
never grew any sort of attachment to Owen Hagerdy.  He was a very little
known character and killing him the way Bletch was served no purpose for
me.


A final nitpick...
Having the former police captian and Leader of the Bad Guys with the name
"Asendorf" was a tremendous distraction for me.  Sorry, Matt.  No offense.
I ended up doing a search and replace to keep reading with my suspension
of disbelief intact.


Oh, and one final treat...

4Q2's Award for Best Parenthetical in a Television Script:
PIZZA GUY (sounding as if he has been doing a little bit more than just
delivering tonight)
"Aw man, I'm really going to get it now, man..." 

And I'd like to nominate Tommy Chong for this role as well.


Did The Opening Quote Seem Relevant To The Story?  (Did 4Q2 get it?):
From what I could gather after a glass or two of Parrot Bay and Coke, it
seemed to echo "Asendorf's" determination to rid the world of hollow scars
and increasing the ranks of his lil' ol' cult there.


TV Episode(s) that it most reminded me of:
"Sacrament," "Powers, Principalities, Thrones, and Dominions,"
"Lamentation," "Antipas"


Score: 7.5 (out of 10)
Fun little thang, but leaving me with a very "Scooby-Doo" taste in my
mouth and doing stuff with its characters that seemed very superficial and
convenient.  Creepy ending though.

NEXT IN THE PIPELINE: Luuu-cy, you got some 'splainin' to do!  She's back,
and she brought food (eww!).  My review of "Anthropophagi" and my vow of
vegetarianism.  Onward!

-4Q2, the Freshmaker