Millennium (TV Series) Wide Open (1997) User Reviews

Tragedy brings tragedy.

[CursedChico · 8/10 · 19 January 2021]

Tragedy brings tragedy.

The killers until now were people who had lived tough times. In this episode, too.

Frank again was in danger. He is fearless.

Safety and Security

[injury-65447 · 9/10 · 7 June 2020]

This is a solid episode.

The premise is simple and effective. A creeper who openly inspects family homes in order to hide himself away so he can emerge from the shadows later on to terrorise the family. He's like a literal boogeyman hiding under your bed.

It's a good idea for a grounded episode as it's very easy to imagine this kind of method actually being successful. It doesn't take a lot to picture yourself being caught up in a horror like this.

Little girl - traumatised by what she's seen. The episode presents an interesting dilemma in regards to when it's appropriate to attempt to forcefully extract crucial information from a victim. One who is impressionable and could face serious psychological damage if made to relive the horrific experiences. An added factor that I thought was clever was the idea that the killer actually wants the little girl to be forced to relive the horror - I hadn't considered this angle and it makes him even more sinister and calculating.

The world has changed. Approaching the end of the Millennium, Frank and Catherine discuss the nature of things and conclude that it's not possible to return to more innocent times. Things have moved on, to a darker, sicker time and all one can do is try to shield themselves from the world's horrors. However, The illusion of safety and security is a big theme of the episode. This fits in well with the series as a whole which often gives a feeling of unstoppable evil encroaching upon a world that is powerless to protect itself.

Catherine Black is once again given a practical role due to the involvement of a traumatised child victim.

The opener is one of the best of the series thus far.

Alright.

[bombersflyup · 5/10 · 22 August 2019]

Wide Open is an okay episode, the whole family involved. The message is that people aren't born violent psychopaths, they're exposed to such behavior at an impressionable age. The killer wants the child to experience what he had. Lacks insight and quality dialogue, since we don't actually see anything. Wish they wouldn't make these detectives so stupid, talking on comms no more than three metres away, then following and looking at him out in the open.

murky misfire

[quinoble · 5/10 · 26 August 2020]

In a 22-episode season of TV, there are going to be a few episodes that just don't work, where the writers' inspiration runs out but they still need to get something in the can. This is one of those.

Lot of half-baked ideas thrown into this episode that aren't developed. The result feels very generic.

Catherine Black plays a larger role for the third straight episode, and unlike the previous two, which were excellent, she doesn't do anything interesting here.

The writers spend a lot of time building up conflict between her and Bletcher, with Frank Black caught in the middle: Bletcher wants to interview a little girl who witnessed her parents' murder, Catherine says no because it would exacerbate her trauma; Frank is on the fence about it. Before this conflict really comes to a head, it's completely sidestepped.

Biggest problem is the killer's psychology remains unclear. So far the best episodes of "Millennium" are about Black gradually coming to understand what the criminal is after and to place himself in his/her shoes. For this to work, the criminal's psychology has to be compelling.

Here the killer's motivation is simply muddled. Because the killer doesn't work, the episode doesn't work.

As usual, Lance Henriksen is riveting and the production values are top-notch, but otherwise there's nothing much to recommend this episode.