This episode is what people have in mind when they characterize "Millennium" as "serial killer of the week." "Sacrament" lacks the intensity and creativity of the previous few episodes, instead going for a conventional, by-the-numbers (by "Millennium" standards) narrative.
Here, Frank Black's sister-in-law is kidnapped and Frank will stop at nothing to find her. The sister-in-law is a cipher who exists only so Frank can rescue her.
Frank's younger brother exists only to provide a foil to Frank: he's less intense and unfamiliar with the seamier side of life. It's reiterated that Frank's primary concern is shielding his loved ones from the darkness in the world: he protected his brother when they were children, and continues to protect him in the episode by concealing some of his darker suspicions about the kidnapper. In a moment of despair, the brother tells him that his quest to protect everyone is doomed to fail.
But all these are points the show has made before in more interesting ways, especially in the pilot. So no new ground is broken.
The plot is rather scattered: at first Bletcher furiously tells Frank to leave the case alone, but is back to asking him for help later in the episode. We're led to believe the sister-in-law's dead, but in a twist, she's found alive. We're led to believe the killer is one character, but it turns out to be someone who was onscreen for all of five seconds.
Frank has demonic visions, but they're not tied meaningfully into the plot and seem to be there only because it's what's expected on "Millennium."
The only new idea the episode plays with is suggesting Jordan Black has inherited her father's intuitive abilities, as she seems to mysteriously know what is happening to her aunt, and falls inexplicably ill during the case--only to abruptly recover when her aunt is rescued.
Put this episode in the "not very memorable" column.
Here, Frank Black's sister-in-law is kidnapped and Frank will stop at nothing to find her. The sister-in-law is a cipher who exists only so Frank can rescue her.
Frank's younger brother exists only to provide a foil to Frank: he's less intense and unfamiliar with the seamier side of life. It's reiterated that Frank's primary concern is shielding his loved ones from the darkness in the world: he protected his brother when they were children, and continues to protect him in the episode by concealing some of his darker suspicions about the kidnapper. In a moment of despair, the brother tells him that his quest to protect everyone is doomed to fail.
But all these are points the show has made before in more interesting ways, especially in the pilot. So no new ground is broken.
The plot is rather scattered: at first Bletcher furiously tells Frank to leave the case alone, but is back to asking him for help later in the episode. We're led to believe the sister-in-law's dead, but in a twist, she's found alive. We're led to believe the killer is one character, but it turns out to be someone who was onscreen for all of five seconds.
Frank has demonic visions, but they're not tied meaningfully into the plot and seem to be there only because it's what's expected on "Millennium."
The only new idea the episode plays with is suggesting Jordan Black has inherited her father's intuitive abilities, as she seems to mysteriously know what is happening to her aunt, and falls inexplicably ill during the case--only to abruptly recover when her aunt is rescued.
Put this episode in the "not very memorable" column.