"'The Time Is Now" is the twenty-third episode of the
second season of the
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...
-
thriller television series ''
Millennium
A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...
''. It premiered on the
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
network on May 15, 1998. The episode was written by
Glen Morgan
Glen Morgan (born July 12, 1961) is an American television producer, writer and director. He is best known for co-writing episodes of the Fox science fiction supernatural drama series ''The X-Files'' with his partner, James Wong. He served as ...
and
James Wong, and directed by
Thomas J. Wright
Thomas J. Wright is an American television director, film director, artist, and set designer. Wright has directed episodes of ''Smallville'', ''One Tree Hill'', ''Firefly'', and many other programs. He also worked extensively on Chris Carter's ' ...
. "The Time Is Now" featured guest appearances by
Kristen Cloke
Kristen Ann Cloke is an American actress. She appeared in '' Space: Above and Beyond'', and has acted in several small parts of other TV series. She is known for her role as Valerie Lewton in ''Final Destination'' and as Leigh Colvin in the slas ...
and
Glenn Morshower
Glenn Morshower is an American character actor. He is best known for playing United States Secret Service, Secret Service Agent Aaron Pierce (24 character), Aaron Pierce in ''24 (TV series), 24'' and Colonel (later General) Sharp Morshower in the ...
.
In this episode,
Millennium Group
The Millennium Group is a fictional secret society featured in the crime thriller television series ''Millennium,'' and briefly on ''The X-Files.'' Having begun life as a Christian sect at the end of the 1st century AD, the Group grew into a f ...
profiler
Frank Black
Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV (born April 6, 1965) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis. Fo ...
(
Lance Henriksen
Lance Henriksen (born May 5, 1940) is an American actor. He is known for his works in various science fiction, action and horror films, such as that of Bishop in the ''Alien'' film franchise, and Frank Black in Fox television series ''Millennium ...
) confronts the onset of an apocalyptic viral outbreak, dealing with the duplicity of the Group's foreknowledge of, and preparation for, such an event.
The episode's script went through several variations, taking shape after series creator
Chris Carter suggested killing off the character of Catherine Black (
Megan Gallagher). The episode has earned positive responses from critics, and was seen by approximately 4.8 million households during its initial broadcast.
Plot
Continuing from "
The Fourth Horseman", several
Millennium Group
The Millennium Group is a fictional secret society featured in the crime thriller television series ''Millennium,'' and briefly on ''The X-Files.'' Having begun life as a Christian sect at the end of the 1st century AD, the Group grew into a f ...
members in biohazard suits sanitize and clear out a house in
El Cajon, California
El Cajon ( , ; Spanish: El Cajón, meaning "the box") is a city in San Diego County, California, United States, east of downtown San Diego. The city takes its name from Rancho El Cajón, which was in turn named for the box-like shape of the va ...
, where a family succumbed to the viral outbreak; outside, dozens of bird corpses litter the ground.
Group member
Frank Black
Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV (born April 6, 1965) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis. Fo ...
(
Lance Henriksen
Lance Henriksen (born May 5, 1940) is an American actor. He is known for his works in various science fiction, action and horror films, such as that of Bishop in the ''Alien'' film franchise, and Frank Black in Fox television series ''Millennium ...
) returns to the yellow house with his wife Catherine (
Megan Gallagher) and daughter Jordan (
Brittany Tiplady
Brittany Alexandra Tiplady (born January 21, 1991) is a Canadian actress best known for her role as Jordan Black in the television series ''Millennium
A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes ...
). Black realizes the family home holds painful memories and decides to move away; the mail contains a deed from his late father, who had left him a cabin in the woods. However, he has decided to remain with the Group, as despite his belief they are dangerous he feels a responsibility to utilize their resources and ability to predict future events for good; Catherine, though understanding, is upset. Later, Black meets with Richard Gilbert (
Glenn Morshower
Glenn Morshower is an American character actor. He is best known for playing United States Secret Service, Secret Service Agent Aaron Pierce (24 character), Aaron Pierce in ''24 (TV series), 24'' and Colonel (later General) Sharp Morshower in the ...
), who is trying to convince Black to join his private security firm. Despite accepting his offer previously, Black now declines. Gilbert warns him their lives may be threatened by the Group's activities. After he leaves, several Group members appear, telling Black they are focused more on humanity as a collective than saving the lives of individual people. The next day, Black learns that Gilbert has died in a car accident; although he believes the vehicle was tampered with, there is no evidence.
Peter Watts (
Terry O'Quinn
Terrance Quinn (born July 15, 1952), known professionally as Terry O'Quinn, is an American actor. He played John Locke on the TV series ''Lost'', the title role in '' The Stepfather'' and ''Stepfather II'', and Peter Watts in ''Millennium'', w ...
) tells Black that he broke into the Group network after being locked out. He recovered information about the Marburg Virus, which was discovered by bio-weapons scientists in the former
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
and has been living dormant in bird species since the end of the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
; it may now be making a resurgence in the United States after a previous minor outbreak in 1986. Watts reveals that a vaccine has been developed by the Group, but only in sufficient quantities for its members; Watts and Black were unknowingly vaccinated while in quarantine after coming in contact with an infected corpse. Black asks Watts to locate Lara Means (
Kristen Cloke
Kristen Ann Cloke is an American actress. She appeared in '' Space: Above and Beyond'', and has acted in several small parts of other TV series. She is known for her role as Valerie Lewton in ''Final Destination'' and as Leigh Colvin in the slas ...
), another Group member, as he is concerned by several rambling phone messages he's received from her.
Watts arrives at a motel where Means is sequestered, but is attacked by other Group members and barely manages to escape, losing his cell phone in the process. Inside, Means is experiencing a prolonged and frightening hallucination as a result of her introduction to the Group. She trashes the room and briefly considers suicide, while sealing something in an envelope. Black, tracing Watts' phone, locates the motel, but when he enters she hallucinates that he is a demon and tries to shoot him. He wrestles the gun away and paramedics who accompanied him sedate her. Black discovers the envelope has his name on it and, visiting Means in an asylum, thanks her for being the only one who could truly understand his psychic powers and sympathize with him.
Black takes his family to his late father's woodland cabin, where he and Catherine discuss how they would handle infection. Catherine asks to be euthanized, while Black states he would wander off into the woods, thus sparing his family the sight of his death. He reveals that Means's envelope contains a single syringe loaded with the vaccine; Catherine immediately insists it be given to Jordan. Later, Catherine wakes up, experiencing symptoms of the virus. She quietly leaves the cabin and walks into the forest. The next morning, Black notices blood on Catherine's pillow and realizes what has happened. When Jordan awakens she finds her father comatose, his hair turned pure white. He cradles her listlessly as flashes of
video noise are seen, interspersed with radio transmissions depicting the collapse of society.
Production
"The Time Is Now" was written by frequent collaborators
Glen Morgan
Glen Morgan (born July 12, 1961) is an American television producer, writer and director. He is best known for co-writing episodes of the Fox science fiction supernatural drama series ''The X-Files'' with his partner, James Wong. He served as ...
and
James Wong. The duo would pen a total of fifteen episodes throughout the series' run.
The pair had also taken the roles of co-executive producers for the season.
[ ] "The Time Is Now" was directed by
Thomas J. Wright
Thomas J. Wright is an American television director, film director, artist, and set designer. Wright has directed episodes of ''Smallville'', ''One Tree Hill'', ''Firefly'', and many other programs. He also worked extensively on Chris Carter's ' ...
, who helmed a total of twenty-six episodes across all three seasons.
Wright would also go on to direct "
Millennium
A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...
", the series'
crossover
Crossover may refer to:
Entertainment
Albums and songs
* ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album)
* ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987
* ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album)
* ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album)
* ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...
episode with its
sister show
Sister shows, also known as companion series, are two or more television series which exist in the same fictional universe and which may have crossovers. They differ to a degree from spin-offs, in that they are established independently from one an ...
''
The X-Files
''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...
''.
The episode's script went through several different versions before a final plot was decided upon, as Morgan and Wong believed the series would not be renewed for a third season and wished to write a suitable ending. The decision to kill off the character of Catherine Black was based on a suggestion by
Chris Carter, the series' creator. Morgan and Wong discussed the idea with actress Megan Gallagher, who felt that it was an interesting decision to have Catherine give her life after seeing Frank Black sacrifice so much for their family throughout the previous episodes. The idea of depicting an apocalyptic scenario as being the result of a virus came from Morgan's research into possible end-of-the-world scenarios, and was influenced by the
outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in the United Kingdom.
Broadcast and reception
"The Time Is Now" was first broadcast on the
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
network on May 15, 1998. The episode earned a
Nielsen rating
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...
of 4.9 during its original broadcast, meaning that of households in the United States viewed the episode. This represented approximately households, and left the episode the seventy-second most-viewed broadcast that week.
"The Time Is Now" received positive reviews from critics. ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' Emily VanDerWerff rated the episode—along with the preceding episode "The Fourth Horseman—an "A". VanDerWerff felt that it "may be one of the four or five best cinematic depictions of the end of the world ever filmed", praising the uncommon approach of depicting the world ending, rather than just showing the aftermath.
Bill Gibron, writing for
DVD Talk
DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman.
History
Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...
, rated the episode 5 out of 5. Gibron felt that the two-part episodes were "a one-two punch that many dramatic series would die for", finding the conclusion to have been effectively hinted at throughout the season.
Robert Shearman
Robert Charles Shearman, sometimes credited as Rob Shearman, is an English television, radio, stage play and short story writer. He is known for his World Fantasy Award-winning short stories, as well as his work for ''Doctor Who'', and his asso ...
and
Lars Pearson
Lars Pearson (born 1973, in Iowa) is an American writer, high school teacher, editor, and journalist. He is the owner/publisher of Mad Norwegian Press, a publishing company specializing in reference guides to television shows including ''Buffy th ...
, in their book ''Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen'', rated "The Time Is Now" five stars out of five. Shearman felt that the episode would have been "the best end to the show imaginable", had the series not produced a third season. He considered the episode's writing and conclusion to have been a brave decision, potentially alienating its viewers but producing "a thrilling and unforgettable piece of television"; he also considered the season as a whole to be less consistent but more daring than the first season.
Notes
Footnotes
References
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Time Is Now, The
1998 American television episodes
Millennium (season 2) episodes
Television episodes about viral outbreaks