Millennium
As its title implies, the third Alien Nation made-for-TV movie catches the familiar cast of characters at the end of the millennium. That is, it catches the cast at the end of the year 1999, which, as is correctly observed several times throughout the movie, was actually one full year before the end of the millennium, as the new millennium began in 2001, not 2000. This observation seems only relevant to Newcomers, though, as many humans seem convinced that the year 2000, whether it is the first of the new millennium or not, signals the end of civilization.
In the midst of a general panic among the population of Los Angeles, Detectives Sikes and Francisco find themselves investigating a series of mysterious and seemingly unconnected deaths. When some further research reveals that the victims have two commonalities (money and a lost loved one), Sikes and Francisco suspect a fraud, possibly involving a missing Tenctonese spiritual relic used to aid seekers in finding enlightenment. In addition to stopping those perpetrating the fraud, the detective duo has to find Buck, who had been acting a bit strangely before disappearing altogether. (If they’re lucky, maybe they can even bring down the perpetrators and find Buck in time to celebrate the New Year … or witness the end of civilization, whichever might happen when the clock strikes midnight. You’ll have to watch to find out.)
As expected, Millennium delivers more than just action, though, providing the trademark Alien Nation balance of science fiction and social commentary. Unfortunately, this third made-for-TV movie signals the series’ decline, as both the intricacy of the stories and the impact of the social commentary in the final three movies are inferior to those of the first two. Compared to Dark Horizon and Body and Soul, Millennium has a much weaker story, with more predictable sequences of events, fewer plot twists, less complexity within and less intertwining among storylines, and less exciting action in general.
In some ways, the movie seems to get bogged down in its social commentary, which is simultaneously more specifically targeted but less clearly focused than in the previous movies. It may simply be that the social issues broached in this movie haven’t maintained their relevance, but, regardless of the reason, the commentary of the third movie just isn’t as poignant as that of the first two. For example, its predecessors addressed still-relevant issues like bigotry, tolerance, and sexuality, while this movie addresses issues like cults and mass suicides related to the approaching millennial transition and the presumed end of civilization, issues that have lost their relevance since the movie’s original airdate in 1996.
Even when the movie addresses still-relevant social issues like drug use, materialism, and technology, the treatment isn’t thorough enough to make up for other weaknesses. For example, although a fictional drug is mentioned several times as a possible cause of irrational behavior, there is no further exploration of the many-faceted issue of drug use. Likewise, although some of the commentary implies an over-dependence on computers and technology within modern society while other aspects of the movie highlight the addictive nature of materialism and consumerism as ingrained components of contemporary society, the two issues, although significant, get lost among the varied list of issues broached.
Probably the most poignant issue addressed is the yearning of youth to find meaning and purpose in life. Using Buck’s philosophical search for enlightenment, the movie addresses not only the sometimes impatient but still vital struggle of youth to find their place in life but also provides multiple perspectives of the issue, including the difficulty parents often have when trying to help their children with this search for identity. Even this commentary, though, is muddled by the creators’ over-ambitious efforts to address too many social issues within the same story.
Alien Nation is at its best when providing multi-faceted explorations of social issues in addition to presenting moderately intriguing stories. Unfortunately, in Millennium, the action is less exciting than that of other Alien Nation movies, the story is less complex, and the commentary is too sporadic to thoroughly address still-relevant issues, making it the weakest movie in the set.