Millennium 3ABC17: “Bardo Thodol”
The Millennial Abyss | Episodes | Season Three
“Bardo Thodol” (3ABC17)
Written by Virginia Stock & Chip Johannessen
Directed by Thomas J. Wright
Edited by James Coblentz
Aired April 23, 1999
Summary
Eerie discoveries haunt Frank Black and Emma Hollis on a case involving Buddhist mysticism, Millennium Group secrets, and incredible advances in biotechnology.
Synopsis
Mabius and an Enforcer embark on a mission to find a man named Dr. Steven Takahashi in the Little Tokyo section of Washington, D.C. Clutching a red lacquer bowl, Takahashi flees his hotel room and takes refuge inside a Buddhist temple. He collapses on the floor, his hand disfigured and swollen. He begs a monk to help save him from his pursuers.
As Jordan observes, Frank inserts a Japanese anime CD-ROM into the drive of his computer. To his surprise, the CD displays not only Frank’s name, but a message pertaining to the apocalypse. Meanwhile, Emma participates in the raid of a Japanese cargo boat carrying a shipment of bootleg designer handbags. A black metal case containing five small human hands packed in ice is discovered on board. Also discovered is a red lacquer bowl.
Frank brings the mysterious CD to an FBI technician. He discovers a virus on the CD, one "addressed" to Frank. A short time later, the FBI conducts a briefing on the discovery of the five human hands. Frank takes a special interest in two Kanji characters visible on the back of the Japanese cargo boat. A Japanese agent translates the writing, which reads, "an apocalypse of our own creation."
McClaren informs Emma that the tip about the cargo boat was originally believed to have originated with an undercover FBI agent. But it turns out that someone else within the Bureau sent the information. As a result, McClaren instructs Emma to keep Frank out of the loop about a crucial piece of information: the cells within the five small human hands are growing. Meanwhile, back at the Buddhist temple, an unbound ceremonial book containing sacred text is placed next to Takahashi’s bed. Printed on the cover are the same kanji characters seen on the side of the Japanese cargo boat.
Watts stops by Emma’s office, where he takes note of the red lacquer bowl. Emma give Watts a frosty reception. Meanwhile, Frank drives back to the ship, where he discovers the bodies of the captain and crew members. He also discovers a fragment broken from the rim of a red lacquer bowl. Later, he informs Emma that the killings are the work of the Millennium Group. Someone from the group boarded the vessel to search for something, something the FBI missed when it confiscated the hands.
Fingerprints taken from the severed hands are run through a computer. One of the prints matches Takahashi. Later, Emma realizes that Watts stole the red lacquered bowl.
Frank visits a Japanese bowl shop. He inquires about a plaque containing the same characters seen on the boat. The shopkeeper tells him the writing came from the Buddhist temple. Frank travels to the temple, where he encounters Takahashi, whose disfigurement has grown. Takahashi recognizes Frank, as he was once a member of the Group.
A tip from an FBI technician leads Emma to Takahashi’s last known place of employment: a company called Emergen. Emma sneaks inside a restricted area, where she gains access to a black metal case, identical to the one found aboard the Japanese cargo ship. Meanwhile, Mabius approaches the owner of the Japanese bowl shop. He inquires about a specific kind of red lacquer bowl. The question prompts the shopkeeper to close his hand round a red lacquer chip. Mabius notes this and impales the man’s hand on a dagger. The shopkeeper howls in pain and slowly opens his hand, revealing the chip.
Emma opens the black case and discovers a half a dozen umbilical cords within. She contacts McClaren by phone and requests a search warrant. McClaren sets off to meet Emma at the facility. But before he arrives at the scene, a van enters the research facility and disappears into a cargo bay area. Emma climbs over a fence to investigate further.
Mabius makes his way to the Buddhist temple. Finding the doors locked, he accesses the building through a heating vent. Meanwhile, as Frank listens, the monk reads from the ceremonial book, preparing Takahashi for death.
While sneaking through the research facility, Emma encounters several men. She draws her gun and identifies herself as an FBI agent. At that moment, McClaren approaches. Emma realizes the men are not assassins, but unarmed security guards.
Mabius climbs out of the heating duct and makes his way toward Takahashi’s room. But Takahashi dies before Mabius can reach him. Mabius places a gun to Frank’s head. He then picks up Takahashi’s chipped bowl and leaves.
Emma tells McClaren that she witnessed men loading more black cases in the cargo bay. But McClaren informs her that the company performs medical testing for an HMO. A short time later, Emma encounters Watts walking through the facility. She states that she found the facility without Frank’s assistance, something the Group apparently didn’t think she was capable of doing.
On a snowy hilltop, Frank holds a red lacquer bowl, which is filled with uncooked grain. He tosses the grain on Takahashi’s shrouded head. He then watches as a monk burns a casket containing Takahashi’s body. Later Emma tells Frank that, for one moment, she saw the Millennium Group for who they are. Frank tells her that so, too, did Takahashi.
Starring
Lance Henriksen as Frank Black
Terry O'Quinn as Peter Watts
Klea Scott as Emma Hollis
Stephen E. Miller as Andy McClaren
Guest Starring
Tzi Ma as Dr. Steven Takashi
James Hong as the Monk
Judith Maxie as Franklin
Trevor White as Doug Scaife
Bob Wilde as Mabius
Daniel Bacon as the Bio Tech
Jefferson Dylan as the Harbor Cop
Hiro Kanagawa as the Shopkeeper
Barry W. Levy as the ND Passenger
Patrick McManus as the Agent
Sean Millington as the Guard
Kevan Ohtsji as the Hotel Clerk
Anees Peterman as the Receptionist
Production Credits
Production #6ABC17
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 Chris Carter
Soundtrack
"Prayer" (1994) by Huun-Huur-Tu
Location
Book Excerpt
“the Bardo Thodol stresses our human ways of knowing things. In particular, the passages concern what Carl Jung once termed a “spiritual way of knowing” and a focus on the human consciousness in three important stages: before death, during death, and in the process of rebirth. Those three stages of human consciousness suddenly struck me as vital in a total understanding of Millennium.”
—John Kenneth Muir
Back to Frank Black
REVIEWS
"This multi-layered tale, I believe, visually and thematically encodes an important way of interpreting or 'seeing' Millennium... This episode—for all its delicious opacity—is a critical one in analyzing the series' big picture. On the surface, the episode concerns strange science, but beneath that narrative there is a thematic obsession with the Tibetan Book of the Dead that reveals something critical about Frank’s journey and how, as viewers, can experience it."
—John Kenneth Muir
Reflections on Film and Television
“Bardo Thodol” print ad.