MILLENNIUM Virtual Season Four Episode review
by 4Q2
Submitted 3/07/00

"The Swords of Armageddon" #421
Original "Air" date: 12/17/99
Writers: Dan Owen and Matt Asendorf


In Brief: 
As the dawn of 2000 approaches, the Anti-Christ moves to secure Armageddon
in Russia, and while Frank and Ryan investigate the execution of a Group
associate that may be linked to the apocalyptic plans, Emma is finally
offered full Group membership.


Overall Impression:
The feeling of anticipation is high from the legend card in the teaser.
"10:13 PM... 8 days remaining"...  Goose bumps.  The episode flowed like a
masterfully composed piece of music.  The ending left me begging for more.


Details: 
Frank, true to form, buttons up the ol' jacket again.  :) 

The trend of superior storytelling begun with "The Third Eye" continues
here in the first part of the series finale, and I can't think of two guys
I'd rather have at the helm here than Matt and Dan I think, for the first
time in the whole run of the VS, that I got the familiar feeling of the
first two seasons of the show from "Swords of Armageddon." The desperate
feeling of approaching darkness weighed heavy over this episode, while
giving a warm sense of having been here before.  The urgency of "The
Fourth Horseman/The Time Is Now" was here, while accompanying the
also-familiar feeling of Frank and Emma in better times.  I must admit,
while the tension between them in episodes like "Gestalt," and "Blood and
Water" was tasty, I was getting a bit weary of it and was hoping they'd
find a way to bury the hatchet.  And although Frank did have a new cohort
of sorts in Ryan, the fact that he was an original character that never
had a face kind of prevented him from totally melting into the scheme of
things.

Further on the subject of multiple characters, I want to point out one of
the major reasons that "Swords" is getting a perfect score this time
around.  The balance here had to be a very difficult one to maintain.
Here we are, in the final hours till 2000 (in the story anyway), and we
have most all of the major players in the MM Universe, all deserving of a
decent chunk of time.  Try juggling the responsibilites of giving them all
an acceptable number of lines and *really* making them a part of the grand
scheme *AND* telling an admirable story of the last hours before
Armageddon is to strike.  This is no small task, but Owen and Asendorf
sure friggin' made it look easy!  Have a beer on me, guys.  You earned it. 

And as we practically zipped through a Who's Who? of Millennium, we also
get a return visit of one of the more intriguing characters created
especially for the VS.  One of the things that made "The First Prophet" a
joy to read was the presence of the enigmatic Alexander Le Saux (A part
that Jean Reno was *born* to play).  I remember writing the review like it
was yesterday and commenting that this was a guy I'd love to see again,
but kept in mind that we almost didn't get an Avatar episode ("The Dawn Of
Nothing") due to the time constraints.  Therefore the chances were none so
good.  Well, ol' Alex is back, and I couldn't be happier about being
proven wrong.  And what's even more of a reward, his appearance isn't
trite or forced.  While his involvement here is shrouded in smoke, it will
be very believable by the time "Revelation" begins.

"The Swords of Armageddon" is a prime example of how to set up a great
story.  Now, unfortunately, I didn't make the decision to review these
episodes until around the time "Anthropophagi" first aired, so all my
reviews are happening with foreknowledge of what follows.  I do wish know
that I had decided to to this earlier, because writing about "Swords" is
hard to do without referring ahead to "Revelation." The set up for the
battle that is to come is intense, suspenseful, and quite simply
impossible to stop reading.  I actually just re-read it for the *fourth*
time for the purpose of review (having read it twice on a plane trip to
Austin for X-mas).

Chris Carter?  If you're out there, read this story.  Study it.  Pay
attention to the balance that has been achieved here, because the
conspiracy that is in motion here, the dark machinations, the veiled
instructions and reports, are what *used* to make your shows great.
You're not going to see Frank, Ryan and Emma going up against a homicidal
First Person Shooter gone wild, nor are the evil games happening here
going to be solved by shooting *three* zombies in the head in a basement
(all you nitpickers out there caught me on that one).  This is the
adventure that Frank, and the Millennium fans, deserved all along.  And
the best part is... there's a story *twice* the normal length to follow!!!

See you in a few days while I re-read "Revelation." :) 

Aaaaand we can't forget a visit to...


4Q2's Nitpick Corner: 
Okay, so Eileen Glendale goes to her sister's for Thanksgiving, leaving
her husband behind at home where he is executed.  And she doesn't return
from her sister's until *Christmas Day*?  I can only take my own relatives
for about a week, but a whole month?  That's a damn long visit!

And speaking of family, I get slapped for having my cell phone at the
dinner table (maybe one of the reasons I don't visit all that much).
Frank should too, especially if he's letting Ryan know that asking him to
consult on a murder on Christmas Day kinda irks him.

Millennium Group Voice-Passwords...

I dunno.  I thought that giving Emma a line from "Psycho" was cute, but I
got kind of stuck on the whole 'Famous Lines from Sci-Fi films' thing.  I
gotta wonder if Finley's Dickens password really means anything here.

And while I still have the chance, I'd like to throw a Famous Line out
there for contention, if I might: "You will never find the more wretched
hive of scum and villainy."  Thank you.  :) 


Did The Opening Quote Seem Relevant To The Story?  (Did 4Q2 get it?):
Uh... as an old employer of mine once told me: "The shit's coming down."
This quote says it all, baby.


TV Episode(s) that it most reminded me of:
"The Fourth Horseman," "The Time is Now"


Score: 10 (out of 10)
The Virtual Season shows no signs of running out of steam as we head for
the finish line.  I can't think of many televised programs that approached
their final show with such style.

NEXT IN THE PIPELINE: The finale (sniff!).  4Q2 whips a wet towel on that
Seventh Seal for a review of "Revelation."  Onward!

-4Q2, the Anti-Eisner