text: owls ( millennium ) " owls " is the fifteenth episode of the second season of the american crime - thriller television series millennium . it originally aired on the fox network on march 6 , 1998 . the episode was written by glen morgan and james wong , and directed by thomas j. wright . " owls " featured guest appearances by kristen cloke , r. g. armstrong and kimberly patton . millennium group offender profilers frank black ( lance henriksen ) and peter watts ( terry o 'quinn ) become embroiled in a growing schism within the group , prompted by the discovery of the true cross . " owls " is a two - part episode , with the story continued in " roosters " . " owls " was inspired by the earlier second season episode " the hand of st. sebastian " , with morgan wishing to introduce secular beliefs within the millennium group . the episode has received positive responses from critics , and was viewed by approximately 5 . 5 percent of the available audience in its initial broadcast . plot in damascus , syria , a team of men excavate a piece of petrified wood — the true cross . they are interrupted by the arrival of two armed assailants ; one of the excavators , le fur , clutches the wood as a shield , and the attackers ' guns jam when they attempt to fire on him . however , when le fur attempts to smuggle the wood out of the country , he is killed by a bomb at the airport and the cross is taken by a man named helmut gunsche . gunsche later calls his employer , rudolf axmann , to inform him of the theft ; axmann 's cufflinks bear a germanic rune . in seattle , washington , catherine black ( megan gallagher ) meets clear knight ( kimberly patton ) , an executive at international . knight offers black a position as a counselor for the fledgling company , which she accepts . millennium group member peter watts ( terry o 'quinn ) meets several other group members to discuss the competing factions within the group — the roosters believe that the coming millennium will trigger a theological apocalypse , while the owls believe the end of the world will be a secular , material disaster . the discovery and theft of the true cross threatens to tip the internecine conflict in the favor of the owls , leaving them in control of the group ; the assembled members are roosters and wish to stop this . meanwhile , lara means ( kristen cloke ) , another group member , sees a vision of an angel . she begins researching her visions , and is scouted by a mr. johnston , who asks her to work with the owl faction . meanwhile , catherine 's husband frank black ( lance henriksen ) returns home to find watts in the house . watts explains that black 's modem has been bugged ; the two argue heatedly and black declares he is done with the group . watts and means discuss the theft of the cross ; watts explains that it is fabled to grant its possessor invulnerability , and that the nazis had attempted to find it to turn the tide of the second world war . means believes that the owls would not have stolen it , as they would not wish to risk sparking a civil war within the group . elsewhere , catherine leaves work at one evening , and finds that her car will not start . she is met by knight , who invites the black family to her home ; it is seen that she wears the same germanic rune cufflinks as axmann . johnston is driving along a quiet road , when his car is overtaken by gunsche . gunsche forces johnston off the road , strangles him to death , and places a piece of wood — meant to resemble the cross — inside johnston 's car , before setting him and the car ablaze . the remains are later examined by watts and means ; they cannot determine if the wood is the cross or not . however , watts finds johnston 's partially burnt diary , and reads an entry about his contacting means . suspecting betrayal , he expels means from the group immediately . meanwhile , black realizes that a painting he has seen in knight 's office was a watercolor by adolf hitler . he then notices two men watching his house from a car . he approaches and holds them at gunpoint , and they identify themselves as group members ; however , one of them discreetly draws his own pistol . production " owls " was written by frequent collaborators glen morgan and james wong . it was the twelfth episode to have been written by the pair , who had penned several across the first and second seasons of the series . the pair had also taken the roles of co - executive producers for the season . " owls " was directed by thomas j. wright ; wright had directed eleven episodes previously and would helm a further fourteen 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 " owls " , and the concluding two - part episode " roosters " , 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 " . guest star kimberly patton had worked with morgan and wong on several occasions prior to this episode , appearing in " blood " , an episode of the x - files they had written , as well as acting in space : above and beyond , the pair 's short - lived science fiction series . broadcast and reception " owls " was first broadcast on the fox network on march 6 , 1998 . the episode earned a nielsen rating of 5 . 5 during its original broadcast , meaning that 5 . 5 percent of households in the united states viewed the episode . this represented approximately 5 . 39 million households , and left the episode the seventy - ninth most - viewed broadcast that week . the a.v. club 's todd vanderwerff rated the episode an " a " , finding it " exhilarating " despite its seemingly nonsensical plot . however , vanderwerff felt that the episode moved at a constant and entertaining pace , and that it and " roosters " never felt stretched out longer than they should have been . bill gibron , writing for dvd talk , rated the episode 5 out of 5 , writing that it " poses amazing questions while precisely and purposefully offering up the answers " . gibron felt that the episode was a perfect summation of the themes which had been hinted at in the earlier episode " beware of the dog " , and would set the tone for the season . robert shearman and lars pearson , in their book wanting to believe : a critical guide to the x - files , millennium & the lone gunmen , rated " owls " three - and - a - half stars out of five . shearman felt the episode was entertaining and fun , but that its plot was confusing and cluttered . however , he felt that the episode served as a better version of " the hand of st. sebastian " , with the slower pace of a two - part episode allowing for greater " gravitas " to be given to the storyline .