Millennium 3ABC06: “Skull and Bones”
The Millennial Abyss | Episodes | Season Three
“Skull and Bones” (3ABC06)
Written by Chip Johannessen & Ken Horton
Directed by Paul Shapiro
Edited by Peter B. Ellis
Aired November 6, 1998
Summary
The discovery of skeletal remains secretly buried at a construction site leads Frank Black and Emma Hollis to suspect the conspiratorial maneuverings of the Millennium Group.
Synopsis
In Arlington, Virginia, a man named Ed sits on a park bench, quietly recording thoughts in a leather spine journal. As Ed looks up, he experiences visions of a human skull and skeletal hand. Meanwhile, in Fingus, Maine, construction site workers uncover a skeleton hand and a human skull buried beneath the dirt.
Watts arrives at the site, where he meets with Sheriff Walden. Walden suspects that the unidentified remains came from another area, as everyone living in his small county are accounted for. Shortly thereafter, Agents Baldwin and Hollis arrive at the scene. Baldwin is surprised to see Watts at the site. Watts explains that he and his team happened to be working another case nearby when he received a call regarding the discovery.
Back at Quantico, McClaren tells Frank that, fifteen years earlier, he received a strange letter after a woman named Cynthia Paggett disappeared. The note described in great detail how Paggett was murdered. But police never found a body. Over the course of the year, McClaren received five more letters, each describing the murder of another victim who vanished into thin air. The last two words of the author's latest note read: "Fingus, Maine."
Emma discovers a bullet hole in one of the skulls pulled from the construction site. She also discovers a ceramic plug covering another hole in the skull. Emma realizes that the victim had undergone surgery. She also realizes that such a procedure would be very uncommon, and hopes to identify the victim through the use of medical records.
In the first note McClaren received, the author pinpointed the exact location of Cynthia Paggett's murder. Frank travels to that location, but the old address turns out to be a parking lot. Frank notices someone watching him from an apartment window nearby. When Frank enters the structure, Ed attempts to make a getaway. Frank orders the man to stop. Just as suddenly, Ed freezes, a crazy expression on his face. Later, Frank discovers a hidden door inside Ed's apartment. The door leads to a library containing leather spine journals, each one bearing the name of a different victim.
Using computer technology, measurements taken from the skull are used to reconstruct the victim's face. The image matches Paggett's photograph. McClaren phones the site with word that a suspect has been taken into custody. He tells the agents that there are six victims in all. The agents believe that the case is reaching a conclusion.
Meanwhile, Frank finishes researching Ed's journals-thirty-six in all. The spine of the final volume reads: "Cheryl Andrews, M.D." Frank tells Ed that he once worked with Andrews, who disappeared the previous year. Ed, however, is very vague about what happened to her. McClaren interrupts the conversation when he drops by the apartment. Frank tells him that Ed witnessed the first murder from his apartment window. He then reveals that there are many bodies yet to be found each victim a successful professional.
Frank telephones Emma Hollis. He tells her that Peter Watts is at the dig to find Cheryl Andrews' remains and keep their discovery a secret. He accuses the Millennium Group of killing Andrews. Armed with the new information, Emma unearths more bones.
Ed tells Frank that the lives of all of the victims were detailed in newspaper accounts. In the case of Cheryl Andrews, she had made a trip to Germany to report on a bizarre discovery she had made while performing an autopsy. But Andrews was arrested by customs officials. Records indicate she was deported, but Ed believes she was murdered. Emma phones Frank with information. She tells him that a "Homer B. Pettey" authorized Andrews' release from a German prison. Later, Watts tells Emma that Andrews died in her home town of Omaha ten months earlier. Watts hands Emma a newspaper clipping of Andrews' obituary. Emma travels to the town library in Fingus, Maine. She finds an identical obituary on microfilm. She then notices a series of freestanding educational panels, each with a different heading. One of the panels lists the names of property owners affected by a new freeway. One of those names is "Homer B. Pettey."
Frank tells McClaren that Ed linked together forty-three disappearances simply by reading lots and lots of newspapers and magazines. As a result of the murder he witnessed, Ed read obsessively and built connections about everyone he came across. Over the course of fifteen years, he developed a special gift. But if Ed ever came forward, Frank believes the Millennium Group would have him killed. Frank urges McClaren to release Ed, believing he will be safer on his own. Later, Frank drives Ed back to his apartment. When Frank and Ed arrive at the apartment building, Frank notices a suspicious white van parked out front. When Frank enters the apartment, Mabius attacks him. A battle ensues, and Mabius falls out a window, crashing onto the van below. The van roars to life, and Ed makes a getaway.
Emma travels to the home of Homer B. Pettey. Inside, she discovers frightening-looking tools. She realizes the dwelling was used for killing the victims. Watts confronts Emma, assuring her that she has arrived at the wrong conclusion. Shortly thereafter, as Watts and Emma observe, a bulldozer ploughs through the house. Watts maintains that forty-three "threats" to the United State-forces that could have easily torn the country apart-are gone. Emma glares at Watts and walks away.
Starring
Lance Henriksen as Frank Black
Terry O'Quinn as Peter Watts
Klea Scott as Emma Hollis
Peter Outerbridge as Barry Baldwin
Stephen E. Miller as Andy McClaren
Guest Starring
CCH Pounder as Cheryl Andrews
Arye Gross as Ed
Bob Wilde as Mabius
Mitchell Kosterman as Sheriff Walden
Jason Diablo as the D.O.T. Foreman
Barbara Dyke as the Librarian
Rob Freeman as the Customs Officer
Keir MacPherson as the Technician
Rob Morton as the D.O.T. Driver
Production Credits
Production #6C06
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
"Love Hurts" (1974) by Nazareth
Awards
American Society of Cinematographers Award: Robert McLachlan, Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography (Nominee)
Location
Book Excerpt
“This is an instance in which it would be easy to simply assume that the show was aiming for a disturbing juxtaposition of sound and image, but it is likely not so simple. The Millennium Group, which ultimately seeks out Hollis as a member, seems to be sending her an early message here: ‘love hurts’… We have heard this message before: certain lives need to be sacrificed for the greater good.”
—Joe Tangari
Back to Frank Black
REVIEWS
“‘Skull and Bones’ casts a different light on the villainous betrayal of Millennium Group member Cheryl Andrews (CCH Pounder), effectively leveling the good guy/bad guy dichotomies that the second season reveled in with comic-bookish abandon.”
—Keith Uhlich
Slant Magazine
“The world of Millennium is fictional, and yet this episode adds much to the series mythology and makes it all feel frighteningly real... This episode is powerful because it makes us wonder if Frank is destined, like Ed, to lose his mind and spend his days alone, isolated, and broken…while the Millennium Group continues to bury its enemies in unmarked mass graves.”
—John Kenneth Muir
Reflections on Film and Television
“Skull and Bones” print ad.