Second Sight: "522666"

“522666” (22 November 1996)

Writers: Glen Morgan & James Wong
Director: David Nutter
Editor: Chris Willingham, A.C.E.

Quote: “When I got the call I got so scared. I heard you that night, Frank, on the phone. Dr. Bowman says you have a mild concussion. But it’s not your body healing that worries me. It’s your spirit.” --Catherine Black


Overview: It’s well known that Glen Morgan and James Wong were less than enthused about the way in which Frank Black’s visions were occasionally utilized--as a sort of miracle plot device--during Millennium’s first season. Perhaps because of this, “522666,” the duo’s second episode for the series, eschews that sometimes gimmicky reliance on the hero’s visionary powers. Take a glance at our usual tally below and you’ll note that this episode features the fewest visions yet from our dauntless forensic profiler. That’s not to say that this story about a self-obsessed serial bomber is absent of the highly-stylized, dream-like sequences we’ve come to expect. For every mental show reel missed by Frank we are granted a further glance from the perspective of Raymond Dees. Not since “Pilot,” also directed by David Nutter, has an episode so extensively relied upon hallucinations presented from the point of view of the killer. Dees is forever anticipating or reliving the explosions he perceives as glorious art. The visuals in these sequences are undeniably upsetting, especially with references to incidents such as the Centennial Olympic Park bombing being bandied about. They serve to remind us of the great sacrifice that Frank Black accepts by willingly subjecting himself to the experience of such horror in the pursuit of villains like Raymond Dees.

One of the few visions that Frank Black does witness during the episode stands out as entirely unique. Lying in a hospital bed after being caught by the blast wave of an explosion, he experiences a sort of nightmare presented in the same cinematic fashion as his investigative insights. This sequence is different from what we are accustomed to, however, for mixed in with images of the victims of the recent bombings are the screaming faces of both Catherine and Jordan. Because of his impenetrable demeanor and tireless perseverance, it is sometimes easy to mistake Frank Black for a man who lives without fear. The startling nightmare he experiences while hospitalized in “522666,” coupled with the commentary that follows from his caring wife, serves as one of those subtle yet poignant moments in Millennium that remind us all that Frank fights on in spite of his fear, a consuming fear that is forever gnawing away at his psyche. By internalizing Frank’s visions for the first time, by using his mysterious gift for introspective purposes, Morgan and Wong once again manage to offer us a fresh perspective on our hero and his abilities. Here and in future installments, they continue to seek innovative uses for the dreams and visions of Millennium.

Connections: Frank’s introspective vision is reminiscent of the family-focused, fear-fueled nightmare experienced by Jordan in “Dead Letters,” also written by Glen Morgan and James Wong. Bomber Raymond Dees was recently profiled in Adam Chamberlain’s What the Killer Sees.

Trances in Total: 3 (0:11)

Gore Score: 1/10

Spotnitz podcast re-release (available on iPhone AND Android Apps!)

Back To Frank Black's chat to Frank Spotnitz is one of our earlier podcasts and one of our bests - thanks to Franks honesty and openness to those fundamental Millennium questions.


This is a re-release, but we are recording at exclusive interview this weekend with some big podcast plans for the future! Watch this space! Some good stuff to come!

This is available on our Iphone App and for the FIRST time, it is available on the Android application platform - the small fee incurred for these apps goes directly towards running the campaign. Occasional features and downloads are part of the service! In this podcast there is a bonus commentary from myself on this episode exclusive to app users!

If you don't have an app you can get hold of this episode by:

Downloading directly here!

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Available on iTunes: search for "BacktoFrankBlack" or "Millennium Group Sessions" and click subscribe!

Back to Frank Black Charity Auction Week One Now Live!

Well, folks, the Back to Frank Black charity auction is now underway! The eBay auction page takes you to an overview of the first five items, which are as follows:

1. A Millennium Season Three baseball cap autographed by Klea Scott
2. Lance Henriksen's autographed script from The Pit and the Pendulum
3. Lance Henriksen's autographed script from Gunfighter's Moon complete with his own notes and comments
4. Lance Henriksen's autographed script from The Color of Night, again complete with his own notes and comments from filming
5. An 11" x 14" autographed photo of Lance Henriksen as "Chains" from the film Stone Cold

These are all unique items exclusive to the charity auction and bidding for them will be open for the next seven days. There will be further items also available in the coming weeks, details of which will be released in the coming days. And of course it's all in aid of a great cause: Children of the Night. So get bidding for your once in a lifetime chance to own some memorabilia from the distinguished alumni of Millennium!

Back to Frank Black Charity Auction begins today!

To give a little background to this charity appeal, please watch the video below by the Back to Frank Black staff. The statistics are, quite frankly, startling.

The links to the actual auction will be posted here later today. Auctions will go live at 12:00pm PST. We hope we can count on your support!

Re-Release: Mark Snow Interview

Back To Frank Black are proud to re-release another of their personal favourites - the Mark Snow interview! This interview took place end of summer 2009. Feels like yesterday. We hope you enjoy this chance to revisit - or perhaps, visit for the first time - this super opportunity to listen to the great composer himself!


This is available on our Iphone App - the small fee incurred for this app goes directly towards running the campaign. Occasional features and downloads are part of the service!

Otherwise..

Download directly here!

Or..



Available on iTunes: search for "BacktoFrankBlack" or "Millennium Group Sessions" and click subscribe!

What the Killer Sees: Steven Kiley

Killer: Steven Kiley (Tucker Smallwood)

Episode: “Goodbye Charlie” (9 January 1998)

Writer: Richard Whitley

Director: Ken Fink

Quote: “It is difficult to fit him into the psychological profile of a serial killer. His killings are organised yet he crosses gender lines. Doesn't fit. He believes his acts are altruistic yet his victims are bound. This is a matter of control... Under the guise of helping other people to die, he actually holds their lives in his hands. Now he has been diagnosed, terminally. He doesn't even have control over his own body... We had control over him today. In order to relieve that anxiety, that helplessness, he'll have to help others - his way.” --Frank Black

Profile: If Frank Black struggled to profile Steven Kiley, then there’s little hope for me! Nevertheless, the nature and method of the killings perpetrated by Kiley are interesting to consider, as well as highlighting the morality of assisted suicide. And this is to say nothing of Kiley’s true nature, hints of a more supernatural aspect that come hand in hand with a first foray for this column into the wonders of Season Two.

As Frank notes, Kiley is a highly organised killer. Being “organised” in this context refers to a level of sophistication, planning and competence in evidence at a murder scene. The dichotomy originated in the terms “organised non-social” and “disorganised asocial” as long ago as 1980, whilst the term psychopathic is applied to the organised killer in modern investigative terminology and the disorganised killer characterised as psychotic. Documented in 1985 by the FBI, this system is now commonly used as a relatively straightforward investigative approach to a crime scene. The organised killer typically targets a stranger and then exerts a high level control over his victim, as evidenced here by the way Kiley recruits his victims from his role at the Crisis Center and the use of restraints when administering them with a deadly dose of potassium chloride. He is more likely to be intelligent and successful too, as evidenced again by Kiley’s former career as Ellsworth Beedle before borrowing the moniker by which we come to know him from the drama series Marcus Welby, MD.

Another notable aspect of Kiley’s killings is the placement of a walnut in the mouth of the victim before death. This is symbolic of the gift of prophecy in Greek mythology, the implied meaning being that Kiley foresees the fate that would await his victims if he did not act to “save” them. Again, this implies a sense of forward planning and preparation common to the organised serial killer.

The whole notion of a health professional turning killer is of course particularly chilling, and represents a real dereliction of duty towards those who entrust their health into such hands. It is not, however, without precedent. Jack Kevorkian is probably the most well-known US pathologist to have been convicted of murder having been tried on multiple counts due to his defiant position on assisted suicide. In the UK, Harold Shipman is the only doctor every to have been found guilty of murdering his patients, with over two hundred suspected kills making him one of the most prolific serial killers of all time. Notably he also crossed gender lines, like Kiley, although most of his victims were elderly women. Whilst the only UK doctor to be convicted in this way, again his behaviour is not without precedent, as exemplified by the cases of John Bodkin Adams, Leonard Arthur and Thomas Lodwig.

Some of these cases raise the moral issue of assisted suicide, as is central to the case of Steven Kiley. Frank surmises that Kiley’s psychopathological behaviour is rooted in an epiphany he experienced as a hospital doctor, acting instinctively to save the life of a gravely ill woman who he came to realise did not wish to live at all. From thereon he acts “to save lives by taking them”, with his crossing of gender lines explained by his primary concern being with “the quality of a human life”. Whilst the moral maze of assisted suicide is a debate too involved for this column, what is clear from Kiley’s methodology is that he at best manipulates his victims into their fate and so denies them a true choice regarding it. This premeditated and involved approach is, then, surely murder. As with so many serial killers, and in particular those that fit the organised profile, it becomes about power and control over the life of another.

Kills: 10

Investigation: The investigation into Steven Kiley is as unorthodox as his methodology. The Millennium Group tasks Frank and Lara Means with investigating Kiley’s killings, posing the question to Lara Means, “Should we assist to arrest this subject? Or assist to protect?” Together Frank and Lara track down Kiley by first having the motel at which the previous killings have taken place staked out, although when he returns a staff member acting as his accomplice raises the alarm so he can escape.

Undeterred, they follow the trail by considering how he sources the materials for his suicide machine (an abandoned hospital that turns out to be where he previously worked and began his career as a killer) and how he locates his victims (the Crisis Center), before finally honing in on Kiley by a process of elimination and tracking him to the hospital where he now works as a nurse. Due to a lack of evidence, however, they have to release him. Tragically this leads to a further five deaths, as Kiley releases the anxiety of his interrogation by staging a multiple killing at the house of his former accomplice, who turns out to also be his assessor. Kiley leaves a note stating that this was not his choice.

Returning to the question posed to them by The Millennium Group in assigning them to the case and in light of the killer’s image appearing in the painting on which the note was posted, Frank re-interprets the quandary as questioning if Kiley was from heaven or from hell, leaving us to wonder yet more deeply as to his true nature.

First Snow

Back to Frank Black would like to extend a very special Happy Thanksgiving to one and all out there. That said, I am actually writing from my home in London, all but untouched by the celebrations in the USA, whilst here in parts of the UK today we had our first snow of the winter, somewhat earlier than usual.

Which neatly (sort-of) leads me into a very special treat for you all. Brittany Tiplady - our very own Jordan Black - has starred in a wonderful short film available on YouTube. Entitled First Snow, it was filmed, edited and directed by Danielle Dobson and tells the story of a girl who falls asleep whilst reading a book and finds herself in a wintry dream world.

On the very first viewing I found this beautifully shot, captivating and haunting. As well as being reminded of a Northern Exposure episode with which it shares its title (another show about which I am passionate, although I'll save that for another day and another blog) I couldn't help but be reminded of Frank's visions of Catherine in The Sound of Snow. Above all, though, it made me all the more excited at the prospect of Brittany and Lance Henriksen getting the chance to revisit and update their superbly realised father-daughter relationship on-screen together.

Still, enough from me. So without further ado, enjoy the film and please do leave feedback for Brittany and/or Danielle to let them know how much you enjoyed it.