Millennium 3ABC05: “Thirteen Years Later”
The Millennial Abyss | Episodes | Season Three
“…Thirteen Years Later” (3ABC05)
Written by Michael R. Perry
Directed by Thomas J. Wright
Edited by James Coblentz
Aired October 30, 1998
Summary
Bizarre murders disrupt the filming of a movie based on a grisly case from Frank Black's past as he and Emma Hollis visit the set—and encounter the rock band KISS.
Epigraph
“Never believe anything you see on Halloween.”
Synopsis
Inside an F.B.I. classroom, a lecturer addresses a roomful of attentive agents. Though we do not see the speaker's face, we hear Frank Black's voice describing a horrific murder case, one that happened during the week just before Halloween.
In flashback, Frank and Emma are summoned to a motel in Trinity, South Carolina. The pair meets with Sheriff Fritz Neuenschwander, who walks them through a murder scene. The sheriff explains that two individuals, actress Marta Danbury and director Lew Carroll, were both viciously murdered inside their room. Both were in town filming a small B-movie on a nearby soundstage.
Shortly thereafter, Frank, Emma and the sheriff travel to the soundstage, where they observe several actors and a film crew shooting a picture which, it turns out, is based on a murder case Frank investigated thirteen years earlier. Frank is offended when he realizes that most of the factual evidence in the case is being completely ignored in favor of sensationalism. Frank and Emma interview the principles, as many had a motive for the killings.
Among them is producer Kenny Neiderman, who had been sleeping with Marta Danbury; Rowdy Beeman, who suddenly rose to the rank of director upon Lew Carroll's demise; actress Ruby Dahl, whose role was drastically expanded to compensate for Danbury; Sir Douglas Latham, an aging British stage actor; Sara Cryer, the film's unit publicist; John and Don, the film's screenwriters, who were displeased with Carroll's take on their screenplay; flirtatious star Ramona Tangent; and Mark Bianco, a method actor who portrays Frank Black in the film. Also included on the suspect list is Hugo Winston, whose fiancie was murdered by the killer thirteen years earlier. Hugo declares that the production desecrates the name of the deceased.
Most of the crew members gather to watch the filming of a scene in which Ruby Dahl goes skinny-dipping in a pool. Once the scene is photographed, the crew assembles around folding tables where a caterer distributes sandwiches. As the director bites into his sandwich, he realizes that the "meat" is, in fact, a human finger. Rowdy recognizes a ring on the severed digit, and proclaims that producer Niederman has been killed.
Despite protests from an irate cast and crew, the sheriff closes down the shoot. Meanwhile, Emma speculates that the murderer may be using classic horror films as the inspiration for the manner in which he kills. The pair conclude that the suspect may strike at the motel where the crew is staying. A figure lures them upon the roof of the building, where they discover body of publicist Sara Cryer dangling upside down from a rope, a death that mirrors killings seen in the films Halloween and Friday the 13th. Meanwhile, one of the film's extras, a man named Hector, confesses to the crimes. Frank destroys his credibility. Nonetheless, the mayor proclaims that production may resume.
Frank and Emma realize that horror films were playing on television on the nights of all the murders. The pair consult a television listing and discover that the film Motel Hell is being broadcast that evening. They race to the soundstage, where it is discovered that several members of the crew had their vocal cords severed, a la Motel Hell. Frank also discovers Hugo Winston, his body hanging by the neck, a butcher knife nearby.
Frank finds it difficult to believe that Hugo is the killer. Emma consults the television listings, but because it is Halloween, the airwaves are filled with movie marathons, making it impossible to predict how the killer will strike next. Emma stays at the hotel to watch television, hoping for some insight into how the murderer thinks. Meanwhile, Frank drives back to the soundstage, where the crew films a climactic scene set at a nightclub. He scrutinizes his surroundings as movie extras dressed in Halloween costumes mill about the sound stage. Suddenly, Sheriff Neuenschwander's corpse crashes down from the rafters. Pandemonium breaks out, and during the confusion, Frank realizes that in most B-movies, the leading lady dies last. But Ramona is spotted nearby, safe and sound. Frank realizes the killer will target Emma.
He races to the motel, where Mark Bianco, armed with a chainsaw, is on the loose. Emma manages to dislodge the device from Bianco's hands. Bianco produces a gun and takes aim at Frank. The pair circle on another, guns drawn. Bianco explains that, as the consummate professional actor, he wanted to be Frank to see what the killer saw. Frank manages to get off a shot, and a wounded Bianco falls to the ground.
Back at the F.B.I. classroom, the lecturer concludes his story. But we see that the speaker is not Frank Black. It is Mark Bianco. And his audience is not comprised of F.B.I. agents, but of fellow inmates inside an insane asylum.
Starring
Lance Henriksen as Frank Black
Klea Scott as Emma Hollis
Guest Starring
Gene Simmons as Himself/Hector Leachman
Paul Stanley as Himself/Lew Carroll
Peter Criss as Himself/Trinity Cop #2
Ace Frehley as Himself/Trinity Cop #1
Jeff Yagher as Mark Bianco
Stefan Arngrim as Hugo Winston
Matthew Walker as Sir Douglas Latham
Morgan Brayton as the Assistant Director
Crystal Cass as Mary O'Flanagan
Cavan Cunningham as John Wang
Andre Danyliu as Mayor Dooley
Guy Fauchon as Movie Sheriff
Dana Grahame as Sarah Cryer\
Ted Kozma as Kenny Neiderman
Kate Luyben as Marta Danbury
Jim Pirri as Rowdy Beeman
Tanja Reichert as Ruby Dahl
Donnelley Rhodes as Sheriff Neuenschwander
Edmond Kato Wong as Don Morton
Production Credits
Production #6C05
Music by Mark Snow
Production Designer Mark Freeborn
Director of Photography Robert McLachlan
Associate Producer Jon-Michael Preece
Co-Producer Robert Moresco
Co-Producer Paul Rabwin
Producer Thomas J. Wright
Co-Executive Producer Ken Horton
Co-Executive Producer John Peter Kousakis
Executive Producer Chip Johannessen
Executive Producer Michael Duggan
Executive Producer Chris Carter
Soundtrack
"Psycho Circus" (1998) by KISS
Location
Book Excerpt
“How the hell are we going to do this?! It was a huge script... Besides being crazy and full of people getting their throats cut at every corner, it was just a lot of tongue-in-cheek stuff too... The scene where Lance and Klea are watching movies and they’ve got popcorn, when we were doing that scene we had a really great time and they were right into it. It was like sitting in your living room, of course, but it was a total kick. It was just crazy.”
—Thomas J. Wright
Back to Frank Black
REVIEWS
“[‘Thirteen Years Later,’] which included cameos by the rock band KISS, the shower scene from Psycho, and Jorge Luis Borges' short-story collection Labyrinths, was wacky, but at its core was a good murder plot as solidly constructed as an old episode of Columbo.”
—Ken Tucker
Entertainment Weekly
“‘Thirteen Years Later' is the third season's comic mission statement, an installment featuring murder, mayhem, and the rock band KISS that, much like the show's circular snake symbol, eats its own tail to the point of existential absurdity.”
—Keith Uhlich
Slant Magazine
“In some ways, ‘Thirteen Years Later’ feels like an atypical, out-of-step installment of the very serious Millennium. But digging a little deeper, one detects how the episode's crazy killer echoes the modus operandi of previous serial killers seen on the program, only with a horror movie twist. And more so, the self-reflexive, post-modern message—epitomized by the presence of that book, Labyrinths—reveals much about the episode’s intelligent approach... Two severed thumbs up?”
—John Kenneth Muir
Reflections on Film and Television
“Thirteen Years Later” print ad.