I remember October 27, 1996 well. It was a Sunday, only a couple days after Millennium premiered on October 24 and took over The X-Files’ old timeslot. Sixteen-year-old me loved having not one, but two shows from Chris Carter each week. I even managed to get my parents into both shows and they weren’t really interested in the paranormal. At all.
During Millennium’s first episode, Lance Henrikson’s character states, “I see what the killer sees. I put myself in his head. I become the thing we fear the most. I become capability. I become the horror we know we can only become in our heart of darkness. It’s my gift. It’s my curse. That’s why I retired.” This is what made this show watchable that first season. Chris Carter had a knack for giving us law enforcement rooted in imperfection. He moved his family and retired to keep them safe, and yet, he still receives photographs of his wife and child from an unknown stalker. Someone still has it out for this man.
The pilot episode features victims of a serial killer who are buried alive with their eyes and mouths sewn shut. Finding one of these victims alive shows the humanity within the main character but it’s also his curse. It also has shades of David Fincher’s Seven which came out in 1995.
As I rewatched the pilot episode of Millennium, I can see how shows like CSI and Fringe were able to put law enforcement on television the way that they did. Millennium and The X-Files took law enforcement tropes and added paranormal aspects and cult mentality for something that was truly original for the era. It paved the way for other shows to do cases that were stranger than fiction while still maintaining their mainstream appeal to the masses. I’m thinking of the short lived NBC drama Hannibal starring Mads Mikkelson. Three seasons of stylish horror not seen much on network television and I wish we had more of it.
Back in ’96, I was still thinking about that premiere when Sunday rolled around, and about the previous X-Files episode, Home. After Home received such widespread backlash, The X-Files aired two episodes during which the cases Mulder and Scully investigated were, by comparison, far more toned down in regards to violence. Teliko and Unruhe featured mysterious deaths at the hands of serial killers that put both Mulder and Scully in mortal danger in turn. There series was often like that. In one episode, Mulder would need to save Scully and then an episode or two later, Scully would return the favor. By season 4, there was no doubt that these two agents would always have each other’s back.
Teliko
This episode was meant to speak on topics of xenophobia and racism, though these themes received little to no attention as the episode was considered to be a bit derivative of previous cases during which killers needed to extract something from a human body to survive but would leave victims dead. Here, the killer has no pituitary gland which controls metabolism and works closely with the thyroid and adrenal glands. When this killer extracts what he needs from his victims, it drains their skin pigmentation which leaves them looking like an albino. The makeup effects took hours to put on since the killer was Black and making him look like an albino proved difficult.
The airplane set they built for this episode was also used for the two part episode later in this season when Max (season one character) returns to the show. I didn’t know this until I was researching this season before rewatch, so that was a fun tidbit to see unfold
This episode also features Laurie Holden as Marita Covarrubias who was introduces in episode 1 of this season. She is an ally to Mulder and Scully and a replacement for Mr. X who died at the end of season 3. I personally love the addition of this character for she adds some femininity to a show dominated by male characters show always try to control Scully. Covarrubias’ dialogue leaves something to be desired through for she often just repeats what she is told in conversation as a question. It gets repetitive fast, but it is part of her personality and speech pattern so in that respect, props to the writers for keeping that consistent.
Actor Carl Lumbly also guest stars in this episode as a social worker. Most recently he has appeared in Captain America: Brave New World, Doctor Sleep, and The Life of Chuck, but has also starred in Battlestar Gallactica during a prolific career across television and movies. Fun Fact: he was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (my current city) to Jamaican immigrant parents. He went to South High School (near my neighborhood).
Unruhe
As a photographer myself, there is a special place in my heart for shows and movies that use the technology in different ways. The trope of cameras picking up someone’s future death isn’t new, so it isn’t surprising that The X-Files would use these tropes for a case. The agents chase a killer who kidnaps women and lobotomizes them. Their only clues are distorted photographs of the victims left at the scene.
The investigation eventually leads to Gerry Schnauz (Pruitt Taylor Vince) who worked as a sheet rock installer at two previous crime scenes. When he realizes she is on to him, he tries to run by he is on stilts. It’s one of the most bizarre chases on the show, but in the best of ways. Scully ends up being on the verge of being one of the man’s victims, but Mulder discovers a distorted photograph of Scully and is able to figure it out before she is lobotomized. Schnauz genuinely believed he was saving women which makes the episode a little more disturbing, but the episode does not really add anything to the photography tropes it tries to deal with.
Pruitt Taylor Vince has had a long career in both television and film. Most memorably for me, he was in several episodes of season 2 of The Walking Dead. If you’ll remember, he was the man who accidentally shot Carl which leads to the entire group living at the farm where Maggie, Herschel, and Beth were introduced to the series.
Neither of these two episodes are all that enthralling but add monster of the week X-Files to Mulder and Scully’s caseload. As I stated earlier, Scully must save Mulder from having his pituitary gland extracted and Mulder must save Scully from getting lobotomized, so these two episodes really exist to reinforce their relationship with each other. How much the support each other as agents and as friends. Going to come into play a lot when Leonard Betts arrives later in the season. IYKYK
Until next week, the truth is out there.
Discover more from Becky Tyler Art and Photography
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Becky Tyler Art and Photography 
I remember October 27, 1996 well. It was a Sunday, only a couple days after Millennium premiered on October 24 and took over The X-Files’ old timeslot. Sixteen-year-old me loved having not one, but two shows from Chris Carter each week. I even managed to get my parents into both shows and they weren’t really interested in the paranormal. At all.
During Millennium’s first episode, Lance Henrikson’s character states, “I see what the killer sees. I put myself in his head. I become the thing we fear the most. I become capability. I become the horror we know we can only become in our heart of darkness. It’s my gift. It’s my curse. That’s why I retired.” This is what made this show watchable that first season. Chris Carter had a knack for giving us law enforcement rooted in imperfection. He moved his family and retired to keep them safe, and yet, he still receives photographs of his wife and child from an unknown stalker. Someone still has it out for this man.
The pilot episode features victims of a serial killer who are buried alive with their eyes and mouths sewn shut. Finding one of these victims alive shows the humanity within the main character but it’s also his curse. It also has shades of David Fincher’s Seven which came out in 1995.
As I rewatched the pilot episode of Millennium, I can see how shows like CSI and Fringe were able to put law enforcement on television the way that they did. Millennium and The X-Files took law enforcement tropes and added paranormal aspects and cult mentality for something that was truly original for the era. It paved the way for other shows to do cases that were stranger than fiction while still maintaining their mainstream appeal to the masses. I’m thinking of the short lived NBC drama Hannibal starring Mads Mikkelson. Three seasons of stylish horror not seen much on network television and I wish we had more of it.
Back in ’96, I was still thinking about that premiere when Sunday rolled around, and about the previous X-Files episode, Home. After Home received such widespread backlash, The X-Files aired two episodes during which the cases Mulder and Scully investigated were, by comparison, far more toned down in regards to violence. Teliko and Unruhe featured mysterious deaths at the hands of serial killers that put both Mulder and Scully in mortal danger in turn. There series was often like that. In one episode, Mulder would need to save Scully and then an episode or two later, Scully would return the favor. By season 4, there was no doubt that these two agents would always have each other’s back.
Teliko
This episode was meant to speak on topics of xenophobia and racism, though these themes received little to no attention as the episode was considered to be a bit derivative of previous cases during which killers needed to extract something from a human body to survive but would leave victims dead. Here, the killer has no pituitary gland which controls metabolism and works closely with the thyroid and adrenal glands. When this killer extracts what he needs from his victims, it drains their skin pigmentation which leaves them looking like an albino. The makeup effects took hours to put on since the killer was Black and making him look like an albino proved difficult.
The airplane set they built for this episode was also used for the two part episode later in this season when Max (season one character) returns to the show. I didn’t know this until I was researching this season before rewatch, so that was a fun tidbit to see unfold
This episode also features Laurie Holden as Marita Covarrubias who was introduces in episode 1 of this season. She is an ally to Mulder and Scully and a replacement for Mr. X who died at the end of season 3. I personally love the addition of this character for she adds some femininity to a show dominated by male characters show always try to control Scully. Covarrubias’ dialogue leaves something to be desired through for she often just repeats what she is told in conversation as a question. It gets repetitive fast, but it is part of her personality and speech pattern so in that respect, props to the writers for keeping that consistent.
Actor Carl Lumbly also guest stars in this episode as a social worker. Most recently he has appeared in Captain America: Brave New World, Doctor Sleep, and The Life of Chuck, but has also starred in Battlestar Gallactica during a prolific career across television and movies. Fun Fact: he was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (my current city) to Jamaican immigrant parents. He went to South High School (near my neighborhood).
Unruhe
As a photographer myself, there is a special place in my heart for shows and movies that use the technology in different ways. The trope of cameras picking up someone’s future death isn’t new, so it isn’t surprising that The X-Files would use these tropes for a case. The agents chase a killer who kidnaps women and lobotomizes them. Their only clues are distorted photographs of the victims left at the scene.
The investigation eventually leads to Gerry Schnauz (Pruitt Taylor Vince) who worked as a sheet rock installer at two previous crime scenes. When he realizes she is on to him, he tries to run by he is on stilts. It’s one of the most bizarre chases on the show, but in the best of ways. Scully ends up being on the verge of being one of the man’s victims, but Mulder discovers a distorted photograph of Scully and is able to figure it out before she is lobotomized. Schnauz genuinely believed he was saving women which makes the episode a little more disturbing, but the episode does not really add anything to the photography tropes it tries to deal with.
Pruitt Taylor Vince has had a long career in both television and film. Most memorably for me, he was in several episodes of season 2 of The Walking Dead. If you’ll remember, he was the man who accidentally shot Carl which leads to the entire group living at the farm where Maggie, Herschel, and Beth were introduced to the series.
Neither of these two episodes are all that enthralling but add monster of the week X-Files to Mulder and Scully’s caseload. As I stated earlier, Scully must save Mulder from having his pituitary gland extracted and Mulder must save Scully from getting lobotomized, so these two episodes really exist to reinforce their relationship with each other. How much the support each other as agents and as friends. Going to come into play a lot when Leonard Betts arrives later in the season. IYKYK
Until next week, the truth is out there.
Discover more from Becky Tyler Art and Photography
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
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