John Gardner’s final 007 novel, Cold aka Cold Fall, his sixteenth, feels a little bit more like the James Bond we know, a balance between Ian Fleming’s literary creation, and his cinematic iteration. Far more enjoyable than his adaptation of GoldenEye, the novel is split into two parts, taking place before, and then after, his…
Tag: 1996
The X-Files (1996/1997) – Paper Hearts, and El Mundo Gira
Vince Gilligan pens Paper Hearts, one of the best episodes of season four according to stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. It first aired on 15 December, 1996, and earned composer Mark Snow an Emmy nomination. Mulder (Duchovny) has been having very vivid dreams, dreams that lead him to the unmarked grave of a little…
Millennium (1996) – Blood Relatives, and The Well-Worn Lock
Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) investigates a series of brutal murders that have a tie-in with a pretender who attempts to connect to people at funerals. Written by Chip Johanessen, Blood Relatives first aired on 6 December, 1996. James Dickerson (Sean Six) attends funerals, pretending to be a friend of the deceased in order to be…
The X-Files (1996) – Tunguska, and Terma
Frank Spotnitz and series creator Chris Carter bring Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) deeper into the mythology arc with Tunguska, which debuted on 24 November, 1996. That duplicitous rat, Krycek (Nicholas Lea) resurfaces, having been freed from the missile silo by an extremist far right group which found him on a salvaging haul….
Millennium (1996) – 5-2-2-6-6-6, and Kingdom Come
Writers James Wong and Glen Morgan pit Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) and the Millennium Group against a serial bomber in 5-2-2-6-6-6 (which entered into a phone pad spells K-A-B-O-O-M), which first aired on 22 November, 1996. Raymond Dees (Joe Chrest) is a bomber, there is sexual transference involved, as well as the desire to be…
The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) – Renny Harlin
The Long Kiss Goodnight should be better than it is. It’s got quite the pedigree. Director Renny Harlin had given us Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, and a solid entry in the Nightmare on Elm Street series with The Dream Master. There’s a score by Alan Silvestri, a script by Shane Black (who is damned reliable…
The X-Files (1996) – Sanguinarium, and Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man
Valerie Mayhew and Vivian Mayhew pen Sanguinarium,an episode that combines witchcraft and dark magics against the backdrop of a cosmetic surgery clinic. First airing on 10 November, 1996, this episode sees agents Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) called in to investigate a violent death during a run of the mill plastic surgery operation,…
Millennium (1996) – Dead Letters, and The Judge
Glen Morgan and James Wong pen Dead Letters, an episode that doesn’t deal with any arcs of the season, but gives us a look at the procedure and the strain of hunting a serial killer. Dead Letters first aired on 8 November, 1996, and sees Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) teaming up with a profiler that…
The X-Files (1996) – Unruhe, and The Field Where I Died
Vince Gilligan who would go on to create Breaking Bad, penned this episode, that gets Scully (Gillian Anderson) abducted (again, number five!) and was the first episode to be broadcast on a Sunday night after the series had it’s move there from Friday nights, where it had been a staple for three years. It was…
Millennium (1996) – Pilot, and Gehenna
On 25 October, 1996, the creator of The X-Files, Chris Carter (who brings along Mark Snow to deliver the score) introduced us to Frank Black, played by the incredible Lance Henriksen in Millennium, and despite the fact pilot episodes always have a lot to set up, this one gets all the pieces on the board…
The Mind Reels 