MILLENNIUM Virtual Season Four Episode review 
by 4Q2 
Submitted 2-9-00

"Anthropophagi" #415
Original "Air" date: 11/05/99 
Writer: Dan Owen


In Brief:
While investigating a cannibalistic murder, Frank pursues his nemesis Lucy
Butler as she masterminds the abduction of a doctor to assist in the birth
of her child.


Overall Impression:
A welcome follow-up to the terrifyingly *evil* televised episode
"Antipas." Lucy's malevolence is captured SPOT-ON by Dan Owen.  Bravo!


Details:
Okay, kids... try and wrap your brain around this sentence: I wish I
didn't like this episode so damn much.

Why?  Because it makes for boring reviews.  Let's face it folks, there is
something to be said for reading something scathing and blisteringly
unkind.  A negative review is always just that much more interesting a
read than some glowingly adoring drool-fest.

Not that I wanted this to be terrible, but hell Dan!  Couldn't you have
thrown in just a *bit* more imperfections here?  In order for me to make
an interesting review, I need conflict and/or contradictions... I need
dubious circumstances... "out of character" moments...

Now I just sound like I'm brown nosing Dan again, but this episode was
just too damn good!  The characters were all represented true to their
established natures, Frank was as sharp, professionally calm and focused
as we have come to expect, and Lucy... well, there was no denying that she
was back to raise hell.

Ever since Lucy Butler floated like choking, deadly smoke into Frank's
hotel room last year, we've all been hooked on the unignorable brunette
from hell.  Millennium's one and only recurring villain (unless you count
the often-slient Mabius) always brought with her the seductive evil that
made this show's sparks.

The sparks live on here in "Anthropophagi," a hour or so of enthralling
dialog, disturbing revelation, equally disturbing foreshadowing, and a
game of utter manipulation that would make the Phantom Menace jot down a
few notes.  This one's a classic and for the purposes of my review was a
joy to read for the second time.

Mr. Owen even managed to get impressively close to a possible date of
conception for Lucy's baby, using only a *tiny* newspaper press date from
the "Antipas" episode (I know because I scanned that episode myself.  No
other evidence of a date appears in the whole hour).

The engineering of the Doctor's abduction, the obvious-yet-not clues laid
down for Frank to follow, the early seduction and eventual redemption of
Zech Cobb.  Folks, this wasn't just a great episode of MM, it was expert
storytelling.

And for once, I am proud of myself for recognizing a biblical quote
without Frank having to explain it to me.  Zech's proclamation that "I am
many" jumped out at me as a quote from Legion.  Although I was at a loss
when it came to which book it was from.  Mark 5:9... the clue left in Mark
Proctor's skull was a stroke of macabre genius.

Well, there you have it... and this is why I wish I didn't like the
episode so much.  I can only gush so much over something before running a
risk of boring myself and any readers who stumble this way.  Had there
been a few more things to pick apart, this review might be longer.

But I did manage to find a *few* things...


4Q2's Nitpick Central:
Is it me, or is Frank getting a little bit more squeamish in his old age?
His reactions to the coroner's confirmation of cannibalistic evidence is
only one of many occasions where something grisly has gotten a reaction of
some sort.  The grimacing and cringing is something I just don't see this
guy doing, especially after a career investigated the worst evils
imaginable.  A similar reaction to *pornography* occurs in the next
episode, "The Dawn of Nothing."

I'd like to know from *what* the security camera footage that Frank and
Kilner were scrutinizing was shot from.  I don't know many public parks
out here in California that are set up for surveillance.  Could it
possibly have been from an ATM across the street?  A gas station?


Inside Joke of the Millennium:
BALTIMORE GENERAL HOSPITAL
A late-shift RECEPTIONIST is reading a copy of 'Details' behind her desk.

I bet I know which issue, too.


The Mystery Revealed!
JORDAN: "I used to have a dog, but it got run over." 

Well, I *did* wonder whatever happened to him.


Did The Opening Quote Seem Relevant To The Story?  (Did 4Q2 get it?):
Hehehehehe!  I just want to know who said the thing now.


TV Episode(s) that it most reminded me of:
"Antipas," "Antipas," "Antipas!!!"


Score: 10 (out of 10)
Lucy Butler will be missed.  Thanks to Mr. Owen for not only bringing our
favorite demoness back one final time, but for giving her a story worthy
of her treacherous nature.

NEXT IN THE PIPELINE: My reviews of the electrifying "The Dawn Of Nothing"
and the moving "Where Shadows Fall" are already archived on the "Archived
Episodes" page for your dancing pleasure.  I'll be jumping ahead with
another brand new review: "The Third Eye."

-Dr. 4Q2, Host of TV's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?"