Roosters (Millennium)

Plot

Continuing from "Owls", Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) approaches the car that has been surveilling his home. The occupants claim to be fellow members of the Millennium Group, but soon begin shooting; Black takes cover and returns fire, shooting one of the men before the car escapes. The car is later found abandoned.

Meanwhile, Lara Means (Kristen Cloke) is examining evidence relating to Johnston's murder; she discovers that Peter Watts (Terry O'Quinn) had suppressed infrared post-mortem photographs. Learning of this, the Elder (Philip Baker Hall)—a high-ranking Group official—demands an explanation; Watts divulges that the murdered man had been conspiring to pit conflicting faction within the Group against each other. Watts had found evidence in one of the photographs which may have influenced such a schism and wished to keep it hidden until its significance could be known. The Elder agrees, and similarly decides to hold off on testing which would reveal if an artefact in Johnston's possession was an authentic piece of the True Cross.

Black's wife Catherine (Megan Gallagher) is approached at her new job by a colleague, who reveals that the company is part of the Odessa network. Meanwhile, Black visits Catherine's boss Clear Knight (Kimberly Patton), experiencing visions of Nazi Germany after seeing a watercolour painting in her office. Later that night Black is visited by Means and the Old Man (R. G. Armstrong), another high-ranking Group member. They explain to Black that the Group has, throughout history, been privy to scientific discoveries of which the public has no knowledge. Johnstone had theorised the existence of a tear in the universe which would reach Earth in several decades; his death may be connected to this theory. The Old Man also explains that the Group has been infiltrated in the hopes of splintering it, by members of the Odessa network—a faction founded by fugitive Nazis which had previously been known for its anti-communist work and has now turned its focus to the Millennium Group.

When Catherine finds her colleague dead, she flees from the company premises and finds her husband, who has deduced that her job offer was simply a way for Odessa to reach him. Elsewhere, an Odessa agent murders the Old Man in Frank's home; the loss serves to reunite Watts, Means and Black, who contrive a plan to strike back at Odessa. As the Elder conducts a funeral for the Old Man, a carbomb kills his assassin, while Odessa's Paraguayan headquarters is destroyed and Knight's company is raided and closed. The Elder finishes his rites and returns home, opening a package delivered from the Middle East; inside is the fragment of the True Cross.

Production

"Roosters" was written by frequent collaborators Glen Morgan and James Wong, who also served as co-executive producers for the second season. It was the thirteenth episode to have been written by the pair, who had penned several across the first and second seasons of the series. "Roosters" was directed by Thomas J. Wright; Wright had directed twelve episodes previously and would helm a further thirteen over the series' run. Wright would also go on to direct "Millennium", the series' crossover episode with its sister show The X-Files.

Morgan has noted that the plot for "Roosters", and the previous instalment "Owls", grew out of the internecine conflict seen within the Millennium Group in "The Hand of St. Sebastian", an earlier second season episode he had penned with Wong. Morgan had wanted to introduce secular elements to the series' focus on eschatology, after the theological focus of the earlier episode; he began focussing on ideas such as biological warfare as a possible way of depicting the end of the world—an idea which would later play out in the two-part episodes concluding the second season, "The Time Is Now" and "The Fourth Horseman". Millennium's composer Mark Snow spoke positively about the series' producers for their decision to use operatic music in this episode, rather than relying on "hip-hop or rock and roll" as prior episodes had done.

Broadcast and reception

"Roosters" was first broadcast on the Fox network on March 13, 1998. The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 5.4 during its original broadcast, meaning that 5.4 percent of households in the United States viewed the episode. This represented approximately 5.29 million households.

The A.V. Club's Zack Handlen gave the episode an "A−", finding that it "lacks the wild momentum of "Owls"". However, Handlen felt that, mostly as a result of its characters and the performances given, the episode served as a satisfying conclusion to the story arc. Handlen particularly highlighted O'Quinn's performance, reflecting positively on his increased importance in the series and noting that "portrayal of an acolyte struggling with the demands and doubts of his faith does as much for Millennium as Henriksen's work". Bill Gibron, writing for DVD Talk, rated "Roosters" 5 out of 5, calling both it and "Owls" a "dense, deceptive set of shows" which focus on the personal and ideological conflicts between their characters. Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated the episode one-and-a-half stars out of five, calling it "dull and flabby". Shearman felt that the plot failed to capitalise on what had been set up by "Owls", offering more exposition than resolution. However, he highlighted the work of Thomas J. Wright, finding that those scenes which allowed for more action were directed well.