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"I had the strength of your beliefs."
There are a few episodes in X-Files history that really helped define and stretch the show. "One Breath" is one of those episodes. Just as "Humbug" proved that the X-Files could do comedy, "One Breath" allowed the show to be more than just "scary" - it proved that it could be an emotional, personal drama with impact as well. Not that it wasn't scary. The first time I saw the headstone in the teaser for "Dana Katherine Scully" was, for me, one of the show's most frightening moments. So, still this episode was about what scares us - in this instance writers Morgan and Wong examined one of the most frightening things about being human - the death of someone you love.
"One Breath" has one of my very favorite teasers as it captures the tones of the episode from the start - it is in parts mystical, painful, and shocking. This Mrs. Scully narrated story is a glimpse into a past event that shaped the Scully we know today. It describes a tomboy fraught with guilt from taking a life and a mother's pain at her own helplessness. There is a real beauty in the way this sequence is presented with no voices except the narration and the other sounds - the shots, the steps, the sobs - echoing over the lovely music.
This was an absolute standout episode for acting. David Duchovny puts in one of his very best performances of the series. He has several great moments as Mulder's many emotions are played close to the surface. I especially liked the way he snapped in the beginning at her return with the impassioned "I will do anything" attitude. His guilt, fear, anger, love, and grief are all on display and when Mulder returns to his ruined apartment after trying to express to a comatose Scully the depth of his feeling the audience collapses with him in emotion. I've also got to make mention of that intense, sweaty, angry, and edgy scene with Steven Williams. Watching Steven Williams again just makes me yearn for the days when Mulder's informants had a powerful presence. I'll take Williams growling "You're my tool" over a lispy "bee husbandry" any day. His "I used to be you" is more chilling than a hundred maliciously snuffed out cigarettes.
Actually, from a supporting standpoint everyone was wonderful. Sheila Larken has a talent for silently radiating emotion through her eyes and proves once again what an addition she makes to every show she is featured in. I really liked Melinda McGraw in her all too short stint as Melissa Scully on this series. She does a great job of making us believe, despite their differences, that these stubborn Scully women are sisters. Melissa Scully was the one character on the show who really knew how to read and challenge both Mulder and Scully into expressing their feelings or exploring inward. Tom Braidwood was sweet as Frohike all dressed up (but still with a vest on) to call on his beloved. William B. Davis gave us one of the first peeks inside the Cigarette Smoking Man when he beats Mulder despite having a gun at his head. Mitch Pileggi also gives one of his best performances as he explains to Mulder via a painful story from his past just why he supports Mulder's work. However, Don Davis as Mr. Scully steals this episode for me. There have been a lot of "philosophical dead guy" speeches in the history of this show, but none have ever come close to the beautifully written and performed soliloquy he gives to his dying daughter. Everything about this scene is emotionally perfect from the way the camera slowly swoops over Scully swathed in a virginal white to Mark Snow's perfect score to Davis' heartfelt performance which, to this day, despite the fact I have seen this episode more times than I can count, still has the power to make me tear up. It's one of my very favorite moments of the entire series.
This was a standout episode technically as well. John Bartley's cinematography - from the hazy lake shots, to the darkened bowels of the hospital, to the brightness at Scully's recovery all reflected the mood. I'm especially fond of his use of shadows during the confrontation with X and the shot towards the end where Mulder sits half in darkness and half in light when the call about Scully comes through. The effect of moving from the depths of Mulder's despair to Scully awaking as the forest slowly turns into a hospital room, bird chirps changing to mechanical beeps is a highly effective moment of sensation for the viewer.
All in all, one of the best episodes of the X-Files - an emotional look at the depth of the partnership between two people who, oddly enough, seem to be utterly incapable of really expressing their feelings for each other. The hospital reunion scene says so much more in subtext than it ever approaches in words. Well done. A great launching pad for giving Scully a place in the mythology.
-In another Porno!Mulder moment he takes a break from gazing at the case file complete with the Bondage!Scully photo by listlessly watching an X-rated film and fast forwarding to the "good" parts. I'm not even going to speculate on what the hell that means ...
-I really got a kick out of the way they had Scully wired up good. I'm still trying to figure out why they had her eyelids taped shut at one point or why they had diodes connected to her earlobes - what kind or reading do you get from that?
-This episode features the very first "X" in the window, inadvertently creating a new online sport where upon hundreds of newbies could repeatedly ask what it meant. Not that it did Mulder any good - no visitor and not even a tape in the newspaper.
-It's a good thing Mulder shouts "Hey!" to that guy in the overcoat who is *walking* away with Scully's blood - it warned him that he was being pursued.
-What was with that pitiful search for change Mulder feigns - he should have just said "no" as it was obvious he didn't even try to look. Like his breast pocket is going to be full of quarters.
-Frank's Fashion Spot: While I can't say I liked that big old ornate coat that Scully was wearing in the boat, I did like the way they shifted colors on the hospital gowns - the blue when she was dying giving way to the lighter yellow to accompany the streaming light that filled the room of her recovery.
-Besides giving Scully a "reason to live" with his gift of "Superstars of the Superbowls" just what other video delights did he bring her - there is clearly another tape in the bag. The possibilities are frightening.
-While we never really find out exactly what happened to Scully, the effect of the tests on her was quite amazing. Not only was she left with "branched DNA" she was sporting breasts twice their normal size - it seems her stomach wasn't the only thing that got inflated. Sorta made me nervous for a second when Melissa tells Mulder "You can feel her".
-We get a healthy dose of Psychic!Scully this episode as she sends messages to her sister, hears the voice of her father, and even experiences her guardian angel. I've always wondered what it was that Scully wanted to give Nurse Owens at the end.
-Those Scully gals are all psychic. "I've been told not to call you Fox" is a perfect opening line for Melissa. Though one has to wonder why Mrs. Scully seems to have issues with Missy's perception powers even though she herself seems to harbor them. Perhaps its the new age edge that gets to the Catholic mom.
-Well you probably never thought you'd here it from me, but I'm pleased to say this is the only episode I've ever seen Gillian Anderson "sleep" through.
-There's a weird date on Scully's chart that takes a ride home in Frohike's pants. It says 01/01/94 at the top.
-Morgan and Wong take a bit of a potshot at the internet crowd with their comment about nitpicking. I have no idea what they are talking about ...
-This episode was also another example of how everyone gets to call him Fox *but* Scully.
-It was funny to watch Skinner try to stand up to CancerMan with that no smoking sign - if he was really serious though he probably should remove the ashtrays from his office.
-Someone really had Mulder's number this episode. When Melissa comes to visit his door reads "4" instead of "42".
Autumn
"Not Fox, Mulder."