User Reviews

Finally an episode where Frank Black takes a backseat! This one is totally his wife's episode.

Catherine finally takes main spotlight and Frank takes a supporting role! Even his former colleague, Bob 'Bletch' Bletcher, has a bigger role than Frank! I was very impressed with this one.

I just hated to see Catherine in the background basically doing nothing but worry about Frank and babysitting Jordan in previous episodes.

I was also quite surprised with the casting of one of my favorite character actors, Paul Dooley, playing against type and doing a great and believable job in a very difficult and disturbing role as a child molester!

I also liked the chemistry that Bob Bletcher and Catherine had working together as a team with Frank basically in the role of a background character! Priceless! A very well done episode indeed!

The Well-Worn Lock is strong at times, considering Frank's barely in it. I said Frank's wife's a non-person and last episode she was involved and now she's the lead character. (spooky) I wouldn't say she took the spotlight, I still think she's a non-person. Michelle Joyner as the daughter really takes that light here and later in the X-Files episode "Chimera," both episodes lack some of the regular character roles that give the shows their success though. Which isn't in any way her doing, she's a good actress. The mother's one cold-hearted witch, even after he used her as a lie. Doesn't want the checks to stop rolling in or to be shun by her friends I guess.

An episode without any murders

Normally i would give 9 / 10 but because mother did not take any punishment, i gave 8 / 10. Because mother is guilty of abusement. It is systematic.

Even, father could go out of prison in the end. Barely, he was given punishment.

It is sad someone should push to give punishments to the guilties in such cases. This time it was catherine. The main role in this episode was hers.

This is an atypical "Millennium" episode. No apocalyptic supernatural elements, no serial killer--and almost no Frank Black. But it's a riveting and moving story.

Here the Blacks' usual roles are flipped: Catherine takes center stage, with Frank as the supportive spouse. Catherine demonstrates her courage and dedication to her own vocation of social work, risking her career and putting herself in physical danger to help a traumatized young woman seek justice for years of sexual abuse at the hands of her politically-connected, wealthy father. Not only is Catherine up against local politicians, who don't want to embarrass a pillar of the community; she also must deal with the woman's mother, who wants to maintain the facade of a perfect family at all costs.

This episode treats difficult subjects--child molestation, incest, and the willingness of family and community to deny unspeakable crimes--with courage, honesty, and compassion, and without doing so in the sensationalistic or exploitative way that so many police procedurals do. The conclusion is cathartic and satisfying; with Catherine's help and encouragement, the young woman finds the strength to testify against her father in court, and justice is served.

So many crime shows focus luridly on the criminal; here the focus is rightly on the survivor's story, and her long, difficult journey towards healing and closure.

Once again "Millennium" shows why remains a cut above the rest, more than two decades after it aired.