While aliens, demons, clones, and even ghosts were supernatural staples often seen onThe X-Files, there was one brand of monster that the show always struggled to crack: zombies. You don’t look back on the adventures of Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and immediately think of the undead, and that’s for good reason. However, there was one episode of the beloved sci-fi series that dove headfirst into zombie territory, an episode that doubled as an epilogue to the ill-fatedChris CarterseriesMillennium, complete withLance Henriksen’s Frank Black in tow. That’s right, if you guessed Season 7’s aptly titled “Millennium,” you hit the nail right on the head.
But to better understand how “Millennium” came to be a zombie-infested hour, one must revisit the show’s history in bringing the undead to life. Cloning aside,The X-Filesnever spent too much time attempting to do a zombie-themed episode, though it did briefly venture into that territory with Season 5’s “Folie à Deux” and references the voodoo ability to raise the dead in Season 2’s “Fresh Bones.” Chris Carter and his team didn’t seriously consider a straight-up undead hour until afterStephen King’s “Chinga” episodeduring the fifth season. Having been unsatisfied with his first foray intoThe X-Files,King evidently wanted to spearhead aNight of the Living Dead-inspired episode.
In fact, directorGeorge A. Romeroonce revealed onHomepage of the Deadthat, “[Stephen] King called out of the blue and asked me about it. And I got all excited and talked to Chris Carter, and then Steve had to bail out for other obligations, so we are hoping to get it up for next season.” Romero said this in October 1998, during the show’s sixth season, andthough King dropped out, the idea itself never completely died. One might even say it was resurrected. When it came time to plot outThe X-Files' seventh season, things were drastically changing with the series. The Syndicate mytharc had run its course, David Duchovny was about to leave the series, and Mulder and Scully’s romance was blossoming. So, with that in mind,“Millennium” became more than just a crossover withThe X-Files' ill-fated sister series; it wouldchange Mulder and Scully’s relationship forever— all while serving as aNight of the Living Dead-like zombie adventure.
“We knew the zombie angle was going to be tricky because so much had already been done with zombies,” Chris Carter notedinAll Things: The Official Guide to The X-Files, Vol. 6byMarc Shapiro. “I also knew that we wanted to verify that we made the inclusion of Frank Black in the show as interesting as possible…” While it may not have been what King or Romero originally envisioned — indeed, neither were involved with the final product, which was written byVince GilliganandFrank Spotnitzand directed byThomas J. Wright— but it clung tightly to the undead angle. It clung so tightly that they physically buried their zombie stunt performers in shallow graves, keeping them from suffocating by giving them snorkels until a take could commence. Sounds just like the type of guerrilla filmmaking techniques that Romero would’ve used for his own undead epic back in the ’60s…
“Millennium” Turns Zombie Into the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Although not widely regarded as one ofThe X-Files' finest hours, “Millennium” had the challenging task of delivering a traditional X-File while utilizing the established mythology of the recently axedMillennium. This works to varying degrees, and while the zombie angle is clearly more Mulder and Scully than Frank Black, the motivations of the Millennium Group ring true in a conspiratorial fashion that honors the sister series. AsNight of the Living Deadwas the first feature film to usher the zombie apocalypseinto the spotlight,so too does “Millennium” threaten to unleash a millennial apocalypse of biblical proportions, although the episode is sometimes a bit fuzzy on the specific details. But one detail that the episode doesn’t shy away from is that, in the Millennium Group’s mind, their four resurrected members are physical representations of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as revealed in the Book of Revelation, never mind that none come riding in on horseback.
These self-proclaimed Four Horsemen are brought to life by Mark Johnson (Holmes Osborne), a necromancer and member of the Group who is often found reciting from either the Gospel of John or Revelation itself. Still, the undead threat at large is quite a devilish one, even if it stands in contrast to the ending of the film that initially inspired the idea.“Millennium” offers a reversal of the way Romero’s original feature film concluded. WhileDuane Jones' Ben surviveshis encounter with the ghouls stalking rural Pennsylvania by hiding out in a cellar at the end ofNight of the Living Dead,The X-Filesdoes the exact opposite. Instead, the villainous Johnson leads Mulder into a basement where the four zombies are awaiting their role in the apocalypse, a role that would ultimately never come. Mulder is not safe here by taking shelter, but is in grave danger, having to fight to survive until he’s saved first by Frank and later by Scully, who kills the last of the remaining undead Millennium groupies. In the end, the end is avoided entirely.
‘The X-Files’ Never Brought Frank Black Back—but It Should Have
Admittedly, “Millennium” is an episode that sometimes struggles to find its feet. It wants to be a standard episode ofThe X-Files, butit also wants to honorMillennium. More than anything, there’s an underlying desire to reworkNight of the LivingDeadinto something apocalyptic, real, and frightening, tying into the impending turn of the century (the episode takes place just before New Year’s Eve, 1999, and aired on June 30, 2025). In many ways, “Millennium” struggles as a standalone episode because it aims to tie too much together, but it’s still a fun crossover that, for fans of both shows, will at least whet the appetite for more. It’s amazing that it tookThe X-Filesseven seasons to finally tackle a zombie-themed episode in earnest, and given the mixed results, it’s no wonder the show never really tried it again (unless you count Mulder’s Season 8 resurrection, that is). Of course,the biggest missed opportunity was that this was the last we ever saw of Frank Black.
For years, fans have been anxiously awaiting the return of Lance Henriksen as Frank Black. TheMillenniumstar never returned toThe X-Filesduring either the remainder of its original run or during the two revival seasons in the mid-2010s, nor was his own series ever granted a film continuation or miniseries wrap-up. AlthoughMillennium’s final episode, “Goodbye to All That,“is as good a series finale as we’ll ever get,Frank’sX-Filesreturn only reminds us of the potential of this character and his place battling the Millennium Group. Many years later, beforeThe X-Filesreturned to television,IDW published a series ofTheX-Files: Season 10comicsthat continued where the original series left off. Frank Black returned for a single story arc there, and the character eventually headlined his own comic book miniseries in 2015, one that heavily references the events of “Millennium.” If anyX-Filescharacter deserves a proper resurrection, it’s Frank Black, and hopefully one day we’ll see that become a reality in some form or another.
The X-Filesis available for streaming on Hulu in the U.S.
The X-Files
