The Rogue's Eye View
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M I L L E N N I U M
107. THE WELL-WORN LOCK

Written by Chris Carter
Directed by Ralph Hemecker
Original Air Date: December 20, 1996


Brief summary: A young woman comes forward with the truth about her father--a pillar of the community--who has been sexually abusing his children for twenty-some years. Unfortunately, no one is willing to get involved in the case except Catherine.

Rogue's Review: Megan Gallagher shines in this disturbing episode, which follows Catherine's work with Connie Bangs, an adult survivor of incest (Michelle Joyner). Connie has been sexually abused by her manipulative father (veteran actor Paul Dooley, breaking his usual nice-dad stereotype in a big way) for more than two decades, and Catherine faces not only the wrath of the powerful businessman she is accusing, but the pressures of a community and a legal system unwilling or unable to bring his sickness to a halt.

One of the unique traits of MILLENNIUM is its ability to communicate deep concepts, (usually) without preaching or soapboxing. "Am I going too far?" Catherine asks Frank helplessly at one point, to which he replies: "We live in a world where too many people won't go far enough... I don't know how or why it got this way, but the world has become so complicated that to involved yourself in someone else's problems is to invite them needlessly upon yourself." Hard to imagine many actors delivering such a speech without coming off phony or forced, and it's a credit to Lance Henriksen that the speech works, as well as to writers willing to trust such grandiose, overt dialogue to any actor.

Catherine decides to go as far as it takes, and the episode is refreshingly upbeat in that it depicts the breaking of this cycle of abuse, through the courage of Connie Bangs and the unfailing support of one outsider willing to get involved.

It's so refreshing to see Henriksen's character take a back seat to Gallagher's in this outing. Once more, the familial aspect of MILLENNIUM resonates in a way it all too often had the chance to do in Season One, given the subject matter of most episodes (which often left Catherine brooding over freshly made coffee, and doing little else of importance to the character or the story). Here, Catherine and Bletch square off once more, in a memorable scene in which Frank allows his wife to fight her own battle, staying on the sidelines and comforting his distressed little girl. Episodes like "The Well-Worn Lock" denote a real solidarity in the Blacks' approach to conflict, a unity and deep love that is moving and believable. It is unfortunate that every episode didn't handle this element so wonderfully. [Rating: 8/10]

"I know the story, all right. How it starts. How he... confuses you and makes you think you're the special one because you're too young to know what he's doing. Because you think it's just Daddy and he loves you." -- Ruth Bangs


reviews by Rick Smith (1996 - present) and website by Matt Asendorf (2004)
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