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"What are you saying you believe now?"
"I don't know. I don't know what happened. I don't know what
to believe. I just know I have to find out now."
I used to think, not all that long ago, that the mythology arc episodes were the heart and soul of The X-Files - I looked forward to these with great anticipation. However, as the mythology has progressed it has started to become a baffling, sometimes exciting, jumble of information - some critical, some not - that takes great pains to not tell us too much. So, instead, I now turn to the best "monster of the week" episodes for the great character insights and life of the show. Thankfully, when Vince Gilligan is the writer of one of these episodes I am never disappointed. If only they'd let him get his hands on the mythology, which he does to some extent here, I think it would be gang busters.
What makes a great monster of the week episode? For me it has always boiled down to one thing - involving Our Heroes personally - this little secret is something Vince Gilligan has always known (even "Soft Light" had some interesting character moments for Scully). When he writes an episode it is never "just a case" - there are always emotional underpinnings. I just wish that he'd share this revelation with the rest of the writing staff. While I'm singing the praises of Mr. Gilligan I have to say something about his commitment to continuity (esp. in light of some of the awkward moments this season). Vince was obviously a big fan of the show before he joined the writing staff and his attention to details we learned in earlier episodes is admirable. This episode is chock full of such tie-ins: references to Mulder's earlier profiling days, his old mentor Reggie Purdue, the ankle holster, finally an acknowledgment of Mrs. Noname Mulder's stroke, and my personal favorite - having Scully remember his line about dreams from "Aubrey". Instead of leaving us thinking that this episode was sort of like "Aubrey" in ways, he references the earlier case and uses it to help bring home the episode's theme of dreams and nightmares.
"A dream is an answer to a question we haven't learned how to ask." The dream theme was pervasive throughout the show - we open the teaser with one and end with Mulder afraid to sleep. What's Mulder's biggest dream? Finding his sister, and in a way that is also his biggest nightmare because if he finds her body he loses hope. As Mr. Sparks points out: dead is worse than missing no matter how hard it is not knowing what happened. The dream revisit to the "Little Green Men" abduction scene was a definite highlight as Mulder dutifully recited the words and actions as if he were trapped in a play that he had to see end. I'm sure that the whole idea that the scenario examined here may have been really what happened to Samantha has crossed everyone's mind before (and is no doubt close to what Scully actually believes happened). What a great juxtaposition between the two possibilities made realistic by one of the creepiest perps we've had on the show in a long time. Sometimes real people are much much scarier than "monsters".
Of course another wonderful thing about a Vince Gilligan story is the way he writes Mulder and Scully and their interaction with each other - and you can tell Anderson and Duchovny like this aspect of his writing too by the way they sink their teeth into his scripts. Even when the characters argue or debate it is done with such a familiarity that it never makes them really feel at odds with each other. There is a comfortable affection and ease of interaction that surrounds Mulder and Scully here with great work by both our leads on the acting front. While clearly another Mulder showcase, Anderson isn't just left with Scully twisting in the wind. Her empathy and protectiveness shining so brightly mirrors the audience's as Duchovny puts Mulder's heart on his sleeve and shows us so much honesty through his eyes.
Scully is tuned into the big ramifications of this case from the beginning and she approaches this very cautiously to avoid the missteps she has made before in episodes like "Conduit" or "Oubliette". Instead she gently prods "Are you up for that?" She doesn't answer the "big abduction question" with words, but we (and Mulder) really already knew the answer to that one. What matters is not whether or not she believes aliens took Mulder's sister, but the fact that she stands by him always. The interview scenes drive this home as she gages Mulder's reactions and gets that pursed lip cranky face she makes when she really hates a perp. The whispered "Oh God" as she ends the last interview fearing for Mulder was really wonderful. Director Bowman, who always fills his episodes with interesting shots, uses the window and Mulder's reflection to great effect in the scene that follows as we see the impact of the interview on all three players.
Mitch Pileggi goes way hard nosed with Skinner this week (and rightfully so) to the point of basically ordering Scully to keep Mulder on a leash (obviously not something she relishes), chastising her for not reporting on Mulder (even though Mulder seems to think at first that she "told on" him), and later in a great Scully/Skinner scene nipping her angry and protective proclamation about the uniqueness of the situation in the bud with "you let me down".
The ending leaves us questioning, and I mean that in the best way. It wasn't frustrating though. It was odd to actually want Samantha to have been abducted by aliens. What was the truth? How did Roche know all those things down to the vacuum cleaner type and yet fail Mulder's last test? Was there really a "nexus" or did he possess some sort of mind control the likes of which we have seen in "Pusher" or "Sleepless"? Or was Scully's hypothesis correct in that he found the information out some other way? These are questions I don't mind being left with. There is still hope at the end when Scully at her most caring (using that look and her whisper voice) tells Mulder "I do know you". However, I'd have to say the best "relationship/character" type moment in this episode was not the tender moment at the end, but that moment in which Scully overcomes her own arguments as Mulder pleads "Help me Scully" and joins his desperate dig in the dirt for the truth.
Mr. Gilligan get to work. I for one can't wait until your next script.
-I thought that Mark Snow's score for this episode was wonderful - he always seems to be inspired by the really good episodes. The playful "red light" theme with its tinkles, plucking, and percussion that turned ominous was great.
-Actually, the whole red light effect was really cool with the slip into words - simple yet very effective - it had a very interesting way of drawing you into the teaser.
-Fashion spotlight: While I certainly did not care for that odd zippered suit jacket that Scully was sporting they made up for it with the form fitting wine suit. Plus, we got Mulder in a T-shirt and jeans - and more importantly his glasses.
-Remind me to never let Mulder examine my car for evidence - I can do without his style of "detailing".
-So David Duchovny finally got his wish to have Mulder do a little basketball shooting. This was actually a nice moment with the great shot and then the sneering reply: "Trust a child molester?"
-Mulder's violent streak continues. Bad Mulder. Boy, oh boy though Agent Scully was not happy with him when she pretty much spits out "I did".
-In the on again, off again world of Skinner's wedding ring it is on again this week.
-At first I thought there was something alien in Mulder's fish tank - imagine the surprise to realize that there were actually FISH in it for the first time I can remember since Scully forgot to feed them in "Little Green Men".
-So, is this like a really weepy season so far or what? Could be called "The Season Where I Cried" at this point. We've had Mulder all teary in "Herrenvolk", "The Field Where I Died", and now this - plus Scully teary eyed in "Unruhe". Looks like a rough year for our friends.
-So do you think that Mulder will ever learn that NOTHING GOOD HAPPENS WHEN I DITCH SCULLY? Probably not. Boy, it was a real smart idea to take a serial murderer into custody alone when emotionally vulnerable, wasn't it? Pretty brutal too the way Skinner blamed Scully for letting him ditch her. Geez, does the girl need to hook QueeQueg's old leash to his tie?
-There was not one but two references to UFOs in Colorado on Mulder's wall - makes me think I need to be spending more time watching the skies.
Autumn
"It was nothing but a dream."