Millennium 4C02: “Dead Letters”
The Millennial Abyss | Episodes | Season One
“Dead Letters” (4C02)
Written by Glen Morgan & James Wong
Directed by Thomas J. Wright
Edited by Chris Willingham, A.C.E.
Aired November 8, 1996
Summary
On a serial murder case in Portland, Oregon, Frank Black is uneasily teamed with a troubled Millennium Group candidate who proves ill-suited to handle the horrors of the case.
Epigraph
“For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me. And what I dreaded has happened to me, I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, for trouble comes.”
Synopsis
Awakened by a nightmare, Jordan runs to the man who will protect her always: her father. Moments later, Frank is called to the horrific scene of a real-life nightmare, when a woman's dismembered body is discovered in a Portland, Oregon animal shelter. Despite the lack of physical evidence, Frank is certain that the killer has left a hidden message and that he will kill again.
Penseyres asks Frank to team up with Jim Horn, a Portland detective they're considering as a member of the Group. Competent, experienced, and dedicated, Jim would seem a perfect choice. But a recent marital separation has left him edgy and distracted, and he openly doubts Frank's insights about the killer. Frank is aware of Jim's talents, but also sees the fine emotional line he's balancing on.
The killer disposes of his next victim in the UPS Dead Letter Office. Frank discovers a message painstakingly etched on a human hair: the words "Hair Today...Gone Tomorrow." Now he's beginning to understand the killer's psyche. The murders are the killer's bloody way of making his mark on a world that he feels has reduced him to nothing.
Jim's stress escalates under the pressure. He can't keep the violence outside anymore. Every case is personal. Every victim could be someone he loves and every killer is a monster. Frank understands; he's been there. But he fears that Jim's loss of control may compromise their investigation.
The killer strikes again, this time a nurse. However in addition to leaving behind another message that reads "Nothing ventured, nothing gained," the killer also leaves behind the lens from his glasses which were broken at the scene. Knowing that the killer is mocking them with the latest message, Frank takes advantage of the killer's arrogance. They release to the press that the killer is of lower intelligence, having misspelled ventured "ventered" in his latest message. They anticipate this will provoke the killer into making a bold appearance at the memorial service for the latest victim.
The closer they get to the killer, the closer Jim gets to the edge. When the trap is sprung, Jim savagely attacks an innocent man mistaken for the killer. While the man they nabbed wasn't the killer, they find evidence the killer did make an appearance - a cross with the word "ventured" etched on it is found at the memorial.
After scanning surveillance tapes of those present at the memorial, pictures of suspects fitting the profile are distributed throughout the neighboring area and to optometrists nearby. This results in two leads: the killer's car—a battered orange van he uses as a mobile slaughterhouse—is identified, and an optician clearly recognizes one of the suspects as a customer. Frank and Jim question the optician, a woman named Janice. Realizing the killer has chosen her as the next victim, Frank lays another trap, using her as bait.
With the pressure building, Jim becomes more unsettled. He sees the van and the killer everywhere. As they're waiting for the killer to take the bait, Jim admits to himself and Frank he can't function. He takes off only to stage a flat tire in an alley that is the killer's only path to the trap they have set. The killer arrives as expected.
Jim snaps, and the cops arrive just in time to keep Jim from beating the killer to death. Jim's actions nearly cost them the entire case against the killer by rendering the van and it's contents inadmissible. Fortunately there is enough evidence of the murders in the killer's home to prosecute. In the aftermath, a subdued Jim asks Frank how he can stay sane amid such dreadful violence. When Frank cradles Jordan in his arms, the answer is obvious.
Starring
Lance Henriksen as Frank Black
Megan Gallagher as Catherine Black
Brittany Tiplady as Jordan Black
Guest Starring
James Morrison as Jim Horn
Chris Ellis as Jim Pensyres
Ron Halder as the Killer
Garvin Cross as Patient
Anthony Harrison as Det. Jenkins
Lisa Vultaggio as Janice Sterling
Rob Morton as Lewis
Maria Louisa Figura as Cindy Horn
Cooper Olson as T.C. Horn
Michelle Hart as Marjorie Holden
Fulvio Cecere as Security Guard
Andrew Laurenson as the Clown
Allison Warren as Officer Sarah Stevens
Ken Shimizu as C.S.T. Member
Production Credits
Production #4C02
Music by Mark Snow
Production Designer Sheila Haley
Director of Photography Robert McLachlan
Associate Producer Jon-Michael Preece
Consulting Producer Ted Mann
Consulting Producer James Wong
Consulting Producer Glen Morgan
Co-Producer Ken Dennis
Co-Producer Chip Johannessen
Co-Producer Frank Spotnitz
Co-Executive Producer Jorge Zamacona
Co-Executive Producer Ken Horton
Co-Executive Producer John Peter Kousakis
Executive Producer Chris Carter
Location
Book Excerpt
“We went to a crazy place in Culver City in L.A. called the Museum of Jurassic Technology. We were just walking around, and I found the ‘Dead Letters’ idea there. The really tiny images that the serial killer was leaving behind were inspired by an exhibit where there was an artist who was carving on a grain of rice, and he was also writing messages, either a sentence or a short poem. We thought that was really cool, and that was how that particular killer was leaving his imprint.”
—James Wong
Back to Frank Black
REVIEWS
“Millennium, produced by The X-Files creator Chris Carter and one of the most eagerly awaited debuts of the fall season, suffers from delivering its point too aggressively. The show is constantly contrasting the bleak offices and dark labs in which Black works to hunt the deranged cult leaders and sexual serial killers who are his prey, with the image of his blindingly yellow Seattle home, framed always by a blue sky that is eerie in its brilliance... Meet Frank Black, Everypatriarch, on a mission to keep ugliness from tainting his family. And it is a mission he doesn't take lightly.”
—Ginia Bellafante
Time
“Henriksen continues to bring his character to life with a low-key performance, flavored this time with a shade of worry and a certain sense of frustration, knowing that the only person who can pull Horn back from the brink is Horn himself. As solid as the performances are, though, they would be nothing without the script. Wong and Morgan have created a literate screenplay which not only offers a fascinating character study, but also deals with breakdown metaphorically. Not only is Horn representative of the devils that haunt Frank, but the killer they track shares certain psychological/emotional underpinnings with Horn, albeit carried to fatal extremes. The end result is not only a great episode, but also a crucial step in Black's emotional journey.”
—John Bachen
Xposé
“Dead Letters” print ad.
“Dead Letters” print ad.