What the Killer Sees: Chris Carmody

In the previous edition of What the Killer Sees, school shooting spree killer Brant Carmody came under the psychological spotlight. Whilst his death seemed initially to be the suicide of a guilt-ridden killer, soon the sinister motives and misguided beliefs of those close to him revealed a yet more disturbing truth. In this instalment we delve back into the same gripping episode--as scripted by upcoming interviewees Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz--in order to profile none other than the teenager’s father…

Killer: Chris Carmody (Robert Wisden)

Episode: “TEOTWAWKI” (16 October 1998)

Writers: Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz

Director: Thomas J. Wright

Quote: “Is that what it takes to save the world? Killing your own flesh and blood? Saving the strong and letting the weak die?” --Frank Black

Profile: Few of Millennium’s antagonists quite fulfil the “End is Nigh” billboard-wearing, underground bunker-dwelling profile like Chris Carmody and his associates. It is a character we all know well enough: those fearing the end of days to such a deep extent that they would secretly hoard tinned food, weaponry, generators and the like to ensure that they and their loved ones survive the inevitable apocalypse to come. But what is the psychological profile of such a person?

Certainly Carmody cannot be equated with a full-scale cultist such as Ricardo Clement, but nevertheless his actions are founded within an unshakeable certainty in his beliefs. These beliefs are not based upon some religious faith in the End Times, however, but rather are cemented in a seemingly much more tangible threat that failures in technology on the turn of the millennium will trigger society’s collapse. What lies behind such an obsessional fear of the anarchy that would rise in its wake? An isolationist viewpoint and an inherent lack of trust in others for certain. But maybe there is something yet more fundamentally human that lies beneath such fears. Fear of the apocalypse can be seen to mirror the fear of our own mortality, with even the more outlandish doomsday scenarios standing as reminders of our own inescapable death. All things must die, everyone and everything is ultimately destined to be lost to us. It seems more than feasible that fears over “The End Of The World As We Know It” are a dramatic projection of those thoughts regarding our own mortality onto the world we live in. Carmody’s is a mind broken, lost to such thoughts.

The depth of Carmody’s convictions are surely most apparent in his willingness to murder his own son, seemingly in a misguided attempt to protect the rest of his family. On his capture, he openly states this as his over-riding motive in the knowledge that the shooting spree that Brant undertook at his school was motivated by his inability to deal with the looming threat of such a chaotic world. It seems Carmody is likely being truthful in this regard.

A variety of psychological states are known to cause parents to commit filicide. These range from mood disorders through to delusional thoughts and disorganised behavioural patterns. Superficially, Carmody appears to be much more calculated and conscious in the actions he takes, however given his underlying beliefs as outlined here we cannot rule out such thought patterns leading to the resolve that it is the right thing to do under the circumstances to take the life of his son. As Frank Black narrates in the closing scene of this episode, Carmody is an example of “the radical few, who obey no disciplines. Unencumbered by conscience, they prepare ruthlessly, pursuing their own preservation. If they survive, the rest of us perish.”


Kills: 1

Investigation: Having intuited that Brant Carmody was unlikely to have taken his own life, Frank Black leads the investigation down a new avenue of inquiry: to find his killer. A study of Brant’s computer identifies a threatening e-mail from someone identified only as “Skylark”, an alias that the FBI track back to Carlton King, the son of Gary King, one of Chris Carmody’s associates.

Ultimately this finding leads Emma Hollis and Frank Black to discover the group’s secret compound. After a tense stand-off, Gary King surrenders and Chris Carmody is taken into custody at his home, his family destroyed rather than protected by his actions.

Happy Birthday Brittany!

The image says it all really - Brittany puts another year under her belt, and I hope it's not too ungentlemanly to tell you all the fair lady's age - she's twenty today!

Ah twenty, I remember twenty... fifteen years ago. Full of hope... aspirations... visions of a perfect future, before reality tore them asunder like a wicked step-sister clawing at my dreams of going to the ball with my perfect glass slippers...

Hm, but I digress! Brittany, from myself, Troy, the crooks and cronies at Back to Frank Black as well as the fans who support us, we wish you a happy birthday full of hopes and aspirations for the perfect future!


If you missed Brittany speaking to us, here's the Christmas episode of the Millennium Group Sessions with Brittany, Megan and Lance chatting for the first time in many years!

Happy Together - Kristen's dad releases a book!

"No matter how much passion there is at the beginning of a relationship, for love to last it must be actively created. For thirty years, Dr. Bill Cloke, an innovative and successful couples’ therapist, has been helping couples create lasting connection, commitment, and intimacy by learning the essential relationship skills he now reveals in Happy Together." - happytogetherbook.com

Kristen Cloke, Millennium's Lara Means, has always been kind with her support for what we do here, and we'd like to take this opportunity to support a project close to her own heart.

Dr. Bill Cloke, Kristen's father, has just released a book that looks to help everyone maximise their potential in relationships. Happy Together puts the years of experience Dr. Cloke has as a relationship therapist for 30 years onto paper. Given that I doubt many of us have perfected our relationships (please don't take a good, hard look at my own track record), a little guidance from those with objective experience can never be a bad thing!

If you have a moment, take a look at the book's website. Campaigns are about people working together towards a common cause, supporting each other. As Kristen and Glen have been such a pillar to us, as a community of like minded people, I'd like to hope we can offer the same in return!

Happytogetherbook.com - is available from Barnes and Noble and Borders, as well as a plethora of online outlets. You can read excerpts from the book on the website, including some of the first chapter. Whether we like it or not, Love is always important and for most of us (okay, me at the very least) a foggy mystery. Perhaps Dr. Cloke can help bring some clarity!

“Happy Together explains why love, like happiness, is an inside job. Dr. Bill Cloke gives great insights into how to create a loving relationship that lasts.”
—Marci Shimoff, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Happy for No Reason

Lance's "Aliens" Script Makes $3,700 for Charity Auction

The fourth round of the Back to Frank Black charity auction concluded last week and we are very pleased to be able to confirm that one of the prime lots -- Lance Henriksen's original script from Aliens, complete with his own notes from the production -- raised the huge sum of $3,700!

All money raised from the auction is being donated to the registered charity Children of the Night, a group that fights to get children out of prostitution, and so most importantly this money will help to make a very real difference for a very worthy cause. As Lance himself said on his Facebook page in respect of the sum the script raised, "This is going to save some lives."

Back to Frank Black have worked alongside some of the cast and crew of the television series Millennium to produce a range of unique and original items to be sold off in aid of Children of the Night. The whole team would like to thank them all for their contributions, as well as the work done by everyone who has helped to publicise this event and of course all those who have taken part in the bidding. The success of the auction is down to each and every one of you, and -- in particular the sum achieved by the Aliens script -- also signifies the ongoing level of interest in Lance Henriksen's celebrated career that is core to our continuing campaign to return Frank Black to our screens.