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"And while we've chosen now our monolithic and benevolent Gods and found our certainties in science - believers all - we wait for a sign, a revelation. Our eyes turn skyward ready to accept the truly incredible. To find our destiny written in the stars. But how do we best look to see? With new eyes or old?"
In that grand Chris Carter tradition we are thwapped on the head by a voice over. Gee, just what could that mean... new eyes or old... What I really want to know is do you think it might be possible just once to have Agents Frick and Frack believe the same thing at the same time? I can just hear them jockeying for position. "I *always* have to be the skeptic except maybe once a year. You do it this week. Somebody has to. We just can't agree, can we?" Apparently not. Despite the fact that I found this episode to be interesting in that odd, exciting, and confusing way that has become the trademark of the mytharc the past few years, I found its take on Mulder to be disturbing. With the exception of the Scully subplot most of the episode seemed to be a slick looking whirlwind of scraps of miscellaneous information tossed about with abandon as we near the home stretch for the movie.
This episode was like doing math from the mytharc standpoint. It is starting to look like Carter and Spotnitz are going to try to throw the whole thing on its ear by making it that Scully was abducted by aliens after all. Ain't that a corker. I'll admit I never saw that coming. If it were the consortium that put the chip in her neck in the first place it certainly does not make sense to me that the Russian lemmings would have the same thing. Plus, once again, she is recognized by another abductee. Geez, Scully must have just been the life of the party during her little disappearance as everyone that met her there just adores her while she remembers nothing. In other highlights we find out that Marita even double crosses double crossers, that Krycek thinks he can rule the world with his evil oilien plan, that the Russians have a vaccine that works and we don't, that the consortium has learned that even though they thought the date was set it has been substantially moved up, that the Mighty Morphin Bounty Hunter has a twin whose face has closed up on him, that we may be gearing up for some sort of alien race civil war, and that the colonists apparently control the moves of the consortium to some extent.
So, in this installment it becomes even more apparent that Mulder fell for Kritschgau's tale hook, line, and sinker. Personally, I've never understood how this makes sense for his character, but that is the premise the show is now operating on - that Mulder thinks he has had his head up his "rear-end" for five years. Funny, I thought he needed to pull his head out of his ass this episode. It's much more believable to me to see Scully question her beliefs after her five years of experience than to have Mulder being so stridently reset in this manner. It's not that he is questioning his beliefs, which would make more sense, it is that he has issued a blanket rejection that I find so utterly unbelievable. At least he still has his vampires and conspiracy theories to keep him warm at night.
Mulder was at his most annoying in regards to Scully here. He basically badgers her on Skyland Mountain then turns and leaves and in one of his biggest all time insensitive moves (harkening back to his FAX days in "Nisei") picks up the phone and *ignores* Scully after she makes an obviously difficult and emotional assertion concerning her abduction. I bet she wishes she could take back "You've come a long way Mulder" after that. You certainly can't blame her for leaving - it made me want to hurl too. While Mulder flounders Scully is dealing with some very interesting issues and it is just the sort of stuff that Gillian Anderson excels at playing. She is the master of the internal struggle. Sometimes you get so much from her you don't even realize she doesn't have any lines in a scene. I think my favorite moment was when she told us everything we needed to know about what has been happening to Scully while deflecting a question with "That's not why I'm here." The scenes between Veronica Cartwright (Cassandra Spender) and Anderson were especially good, and I was surprised to find myself so impressed with Cartwright's work as in the past I have usually found myself annoyed with her acting choices.
It was these intriguing events surrounding Scully's abduction that saved "Patient X" for me. The cliffhanger, staged on that great looking bridge with a rather interesting bunch of characters, was one of those great stylish X-Files "Oh wow" moments.
-I know, I know the magical, mystical fingerprint constellation was Cassiopeia, but I think they should have drawn a big old lizard alien around it in the teaser. Just a theory I'm working on...
-What in the world were those parental advisories about? Though I can see how Marita kissing like that could be construed as obscene. It certainly scared me.
-Those UN special forces troops certainly are crackerjack. One doofus was running around holding his machine gun by the muzzle pointed at the guy next to him. Keep him away from scissors.
-But can she say "bee husbandry" in Russian? That's the only thing I want to know. Well, at least chances are looking good that Marita has the black cancer, and no vaccine beforehand. Oh. Too bad.
-Speaking of the Uniblonder, in "Herrenvolk" it is made clear that she is the *Assistant* to the SRSG, but here she is waltzing around that part of the Former Soviet Union that you always want to have when playing Risk claiming she is the SRSG. Continuity error or promotion? I have my ideas...
-Frank's Fashion Spot: If you must be compelled out of bed to gaze at the stars you might as well look good. Scully always has the nicest silk jammies. She obviously likes to treat herself.
-I find it curious while in the past almost all the abductees related to Scully's case were female almost all the names of the dead on Skyland Mountain were men.
-I just can't wait for the latest round of denials from RatBoy lovers about how he really didn't beat an innocent kid, infect him with oilien, and sew his face shut. Proof positive Krycek is evil - he was rutting up against Marita.
-I wonder what newspaper Cassandra read that went into such detail about the Duane Barry episode, right down to what Mulder believed.
-Boy those implants suck. Take them out you get brain cancer, leave them in you are lemming flambe'.
-Speaking of, it seems Scully's speech to Cassandra about better living through computer chips means she now falls on the side of the implant rather than faith as to what saved her.
-Now, we've got a name for that pointy alien weapon (the plam) does that mean we should call these new torching devices a "flam"?
-One of the names on the list of Skyland Mountain dead shares the same surname as Krycek when he was over in Russia - Arntzen.
-I knew we'd have a "Heaven's Gate" cult moment at some point on the show. I am curious as to why Agent Spender said all the people were in a cult but Mulder's random three were not. Cassandra's whole take on abduction as the path to spiritual enlightenment was interesting. The look on Scully's face when she said she wanted to go was priceless.
-So is Mulder a regular speaker on the spooky circuit? It seemed a little odd him showing up there when he no longer believes.
-I was glad to see they even used the same bit actors for the Tunguska gulag folks. That was a nice bit of continuity.
-I find it pretty funny that everyone seems convinced for some reason that Mulder is the only person who can do something to solve this big aliens and conspiracy mess. He hasn't been able to do anything for five years except lose evidence and get beat up over it so what is going to change now?
-"I'd like to build a reputation here, not be given one."
"I think I understand."
Oh really Mrs. Spooky?
Autumn
"Well, I guess I'm done here. You seem to have invalidated your
own work. Have a nice life."