Brief summary: A man performing medieval tortures on men of the cloth attracts the attention of Frank and Group member Ardis Cohen, who both begin to question their own faiths.

Rogue's Review: Its initial broadcast delayed because of the death of a Chicago religious leader and the story content of this episode, "Kingdom Come" tells the unhappy story of Galen Calloway (Michael Zelniker), a killer who metes out medieval justice against men of the cloth – the episode opens with the horrifying immolation of a Tacoma priest. Frank and Group member Ardis Cohen (veteran actress Lindsey Crouse), an old Bureau partner of Frank's, team to investigate the callous murder, which has similarities to a case they worked on together in their FBI days.

"Kingdom Come" exhibits one of the rare moments of real humor this season, when Ardis glibly compares golf to medieval torture, and in the Rogue's Eye, it's the infrequency of humor in MILLENNIUM that helped make it work so well on occasion – there's little to chuckle about in Frank Black's world, and rightly so. Unfortunately, Crouse, whose credits include playing a Bureau investigator in the thriller DANGEROUS HOURS among other excellent roles (HOUSE OF GAMES, THE ARRIVAL), comes off as very wooden in the episode – a surprise, considering her abilities. Given Frank's laconic and brooding demeanor, one thinks Ardis would have been played a little differently.

A worse character glitch comes from Catherine who – despite being a social worker and supposedly adept at honest discourse with abuse victims and children – flat-out lies to Jordan when the girl asks whether her parents will die someday! (Frank too evades the question, but his brief scene with Jordan, discussing the concepts of death, is touching and real, due in large part to Brittany Tiplady's sweet innocence and unaffected screenwork.) Certainly an arguable flaw... it can never be easy to explain death to a little one.

As in "522666," Frank once again pulls a Mike Atkins, rushing in where angels fear to tread. Unlike the mad-bomber episode, however, this instance seems a bit more justifiable, because Frank takes on Galen Calloway in order to save the lives of a church full of hostages. But one wonders from the outcome why the SWAT team on the scene didn't act earlier, preventing our impetuous hero from putting his life on the line yet again.

It's hard to pin down what is lacking in "Kingdom Come," for it contains numerous chills and an engaging plot. Once more, small leaps in logic and dunderheaded behavior from certain characters (the woman who cheerfully allows a complete stranger into her home, unaware that he's there to do more than just catch up on old times!) trip up the reality of the episode, owing mainly to the need to tell a tight story in the brief space of 44 minutes. But it remains among the series' better offerings. [Rating: 7/10]

"You try to kill your faith with the tools of your own belief because of your pain, because you think God's forsaken you. You think that you can get rid of your pain by slaughtering the faith that's inside you." -- Frank Black