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"To possess it is to possess the answer to all things."
I spent most of this week vaguely annoyed with the X-Files. I was annoyed that we did not find out about the truth about season eight until the last minute. I was annoyed then about the prospect of the show continuing without Duchovny. I was then annoyed about Duchovny doing only half the episodes. I had thought that the time was right for the show to end. The mythology was fractured. The Samantha thing had been resolved. CancerMan was dying. Mulder wasn't even going to be around. I was rolling my eyes at the prospect of season eight. Then came "Requiem." I'm no longer annoyed.
"Requiem" did a number of major things in the X-Files universe. It provided a neat bookend to the first seven years of this story. It opened up doors "which lead to other doors" and it allows the show, and more importantly the mythology, to "move forward, put the past behind." More amazingly it did something I thought was impossible at this stage in the game: it surprised me and made me interested in the eighth season.
First of all, I loved the tie in to the pilot. The whole "deja-vu all over again" aspect to it felt like such a homecoming. From the startled looks on Mulder and Scully's faces when they first heard Billy Miles' voice to Detective Miles' car freaking out to that delightful idea of having them stumble upon that same orange X on the road (apparently they don't repave as often in Oregon as they do here in Colorado) it was fun. It gave us a chance to see just how much Mulder and Scully had changed. It just seemed right. Unfortunately it also gave us the chance to see that seven years had not improved Sarah Koskoff's acting much - her Theresa was just as annoying this time around with her odd breathy phrasing. Thankfully, we were able to find out that Zachary Ansley was able to do more than a turnip impersonation as Deputy Billy Miles.
Second, I think they did the right thing as far as the other characters were concerned. Only the Lone Gunmen got shortchanged on this one, their appearance being not much more than filler. The new consortium has been set up in which the two primary players can't even trust each other. Krycek is in place to be the real wildcard going forward. Hopefully Nicholas Lea will be more available next season to spice things up since Laurie Holden's Marita doesn't even seem to have her sultry lisp anymore. What a great turn of events to have them pushing the ailing CancerMan down the stairs. I believe him dead now for all the reasons I did not think he was in "Redux 2". He's outlived his usefulness to the show. I think William B. Davis has done a great job with the part (and boy did they make him look terrible this week), but they've played all his cards. They've had him father small nations. We've seen him suck a cigarette in every way possible. It's time to start new. There's a new game in town. Carter also managed to give Mitch Pileggi more to work with than usual. His portrayal of Skinner's commitment to Scully to refuse to walk the line anymore was touching and also works well moving forward into a Mulderless first half of next season.
Frankly I'm still stunned at how well the Mulder/Scully relationship was handled in this episode. It seems that this year Carter finally realized it is not necessary to have them resort to sniping at each other during mytharc installments. Thank God. There was almost an invincible air about them at the start. While the auditor callously questioned them about expenses and focus while brushing aside such things as Samantha's death and Scully's personal violations they regrouped, smiled and decide to "go waste some money." The complete trust they share was manifested in fabulous small ways. I especially liked the fact that as soon as Scully felt bad she immediately went to Mulder and admitted it. No more of that "I'm fine" stuff. She wanted comfort and he readily gave it. The moment when Scully spies everyone in Mulder's office could have been a "Wetwired" moment, but instead she joins in though she clearly is uncomfortable with the situation. In the end she knows she cannot go with him, but won't let him go alone and sends him off armed with an important part of her in her cross and Skinner.
Writer Chris Carter did a very adept job of handling an episode jam packed with themes, transitions and information. There were so many new beginnings - in personal revelations and in major plot points. It was about moving forward. Throughout the episode we see Scully talking about being barren, asking not once but twice if another character was married, and holding a baby, making the ending and her feelings about her pregnancy click perfectly into place. This season has also seen Scully moving steadily along the path of believer in alien phenomena - something she can't deny anymore. "Requiem" does a good job of setting our skeptic up as the reluctant believer who must search for her missing partner (now in more ways than one) as she moves forward. I thought it was a wonderful moment to have Scully staring at the "I Want to Believe" poster as she waits for Mulder to return.
Gillian Anderson did a wonderful job of making me excited for next year. It is no secret that I am a big fan of her acting and this was no exception. I love it when Scully's face says one thing while her mouth says another and if that auditor had any perception at all he should have heard loud and clear what a complete and utter prick he was. I was very impressed with David Duchovny this episode. The way he watched Scully holding the baby really touched me in a way I did not expect. Plus the two of them during that scene on the bed were at their absolute best. It was tender and loving and moving. There was no hesitation, only affection. It was gratifying to see Mulder set aside his personal goals and realize completely that the stakes are just too high and that she deserves a better life. They both do. I've joked with friends this season that Duchovny and Anderson have grown tired of the "are they or aren't they" game and decided to play Mulder and Scully the way the relationship should be. They've done a fabulous job of showing us this deepening relationship all season long and this was the icing on the cake.
Being the season finale, I know that the effects crew was down to the wire on this one. I thought they did a fabulous job with it big and small. From the spaceship to the watch spinning backwards everything was well done. The force field effects were entertaining in a really weird way, and they took a lot of care so we could see it was really Gillian Anderson during her big shake and not a wrong haired prancy body double. I kept thinking we were lucky Scully didn't get a concussion from that (or in retrospect lose the baby). Kim Manners did some of his best work on the show giving a beautiful balance between intimacy and spectacle. I thought the visuals of the red laser beams and of the group of people standing bathed in the circle of white light were visually stunning. Along with the able work of editor Heather MacDougall things moved quickly but never seemed rushed.
Inot to let them totally off the hook, there were some things that did confuse me from a mytharc stand point. Thankfully not nearly as much as most times. This one seemed to make a lot of sense. However, I don't quite understand why all the people who had the terrible eye thing happen to them were suddenly healed for the trip. Unless the Bounty Hunter was abducting them, shoving them in the light, and then healing them. Why was this spaceship so important to CancerMan really? How come it gets to be they key to everything this week? Why wasn't Detective Miles clawing at his eyes too when exposed to the alien goo even though we saw his red-eyed body later? How come the baby wasn't effected? Was that because it was the product of two abductees? How is Mulder able to make his usual amazing leap to deciding that the abductees won't be coming back? Why was the bounty hunter "cleaning up" 7 year old abductions anyway and "eliminating proof of all the tests"? How come all the other abductees had that anomalous brain activity thing and all Scully got was a chip in her neck? Why didn't Mulder need to be abducted to get it? That was one powerful rubbing they found last year. Did the force knock Scully back so Gillian Anderson could carry the show next year? Oh well, I guess it wouldn't really be mytharc if everything made sense.
Amazingly enough I suppose that there will still be people out there in denial about the whole baby thing. Gillian Anderson has always been very specific in her acting choices. The last two minutes of this episode was some of her best work. The smiles through the tears told us that Scully is not confused who got her pregnant, just how she was able to get pregnant when she thought herself barren. If she thought she'd been violated again or the father was a mystery she would not have been happy about it. How did she get pregnant? Well, I've got a couple of theories the first of which is CancerMan somehow gave her the ability back while she was knocked out in "En Ami" the second being that maybe Mulder has some special abilities he did not know about after his little "Sixth Extinction" experience. Either way with both parents now having an immunity to the alien virus it could be one special baby. Perhaps it could even take its turn being the key to everything on the X-Files one week.
What will come of this bombshell of an ending? Who knows. I'm sure there will be plenty of speculation this summer. Frankly, I doubt Chris Carter even knows at this point. Yes, it is a difficult scenario. Yes, it has the potential to go to hell in a handbasket. But, it also has the potential to create a big old angst ball of a season eight. I won't decide that X-Files will make the same mistakes as other shows before I know what they will do. I refuse to speculate ahead of time that 1013 will handle this wrong. I'll wait and see. Are they up to the task? Gillian certainly seems up to the challenge judging from her wonderful and layered performance. Hopefully Duchovny will return rested and ready and as good as he was here. If Carter plans and writes effectively this could be as great an arc as the original Scully abduction. Boys. Don't let us down. You have the chance to end this show right. You've given us a spectacular finale. It was exciting, riveting, well made, full of twists, and made everyone in the group I was watching with gasp. It was like old times. Make the resolution worthy. Please.
-To all the people who wrote to me after my "all things" review to tell me I was nuts about my assertion that Mulder and Scully slept together I have one word: NEENER. I feel better now, thank you.
-I can take a lot of angst, but if they somehow take this baby away from Scully after having her go through everything she has it ain't going to be pretty.
-Note to Chris Carter: If you pulled your little "Gethsemane"/"Redux" trick on Gillian again and told her one thing to get her to play that pregnancy revelation the perfect way she did and change your mind in next season's opener I hope she smacks the snot out of you. Twice.
-So the code for a crash and burn in Bellefleur is "10-13"? Hmmm. Let me try that one out: Roger that we've got a 10-13 called "Fight Club" here. Requesting immediate backup.
-Just how bad a spaceship driver is the bounty hunter? This is at least the second time he's smashed his ship. I'm starting to think he was driving in "Fallen Angel" and "E.B.E" as well with his track record. That must've been his rebel twin that did the 10-13 in "The Red and the Black" as well.
-So do we never find out about Marita's amazing recovery? She sure looked a hell of a lot better than last time we saw her and even had a swagger in her step.
-Mulder certainly found a good way to get rid of that kid: send him off to find a glass of water when they are in the middle of nowhere in the forest. My guess is he was gone for quite a while fulfilling that task.
-Our Little Sailor: "What the hell is going on Mulder?"
-All I could think when Detective Miles stepped in the green goo was how fast that stuff eats through shoes. I think "Colony" scarred me that way.
-So CancerMan lives in the Watergate Apartments too? Did he just take over Diana's old place after he had her offed?
-Scully really must be tired if she was getting ready for bed at 8:07pm. Well, the girl does like her sleep as we know.
-Given what we saw in this episode, it seemed to me that Mulder's suggestion of room sharing probably was a good one for cost cutting purposes.
-I'm sure there were more than a few people disappointed out there that when they finally got a shower scene with Krycek all you saw was his head and the tops of his shoulders.
-Seeing as though Gillian is going to be holding down the show for the first half of next season do you think we could possibly get Scully a nameplate on the door? Or Gillian listed first in the credits while Duchovny is gone?
-Frank's Fashion Spot: Today we will focus on an all important accessory. In fact the most important accessory Scully owns: her cross - which was hanging around Mulder's neck when he was sucked up into space. Wonderful idea subtly executed. Bravo. As a personal aside, I don't think I'm going to be justified in complaining about untucked blouses for a while now, so I'll put that complaint to rest. At least until there is a baby. I did notice that Scully was up to her old black bra/white shirt trick though.
-Having the little sign in the front yard saying "Garden Tours 5 cents" was just a little too over the top on the cutesy scale for my taste. Which is saying a lot since hearing Scully sing "once upon a time there was a little baby" and play with that duck didn't phase me at all.
-Ah Mulder and his propensity for sticking his fingers in everything did not fail to disappoint. This time he even sticks his whole hand in a force field. Oopsie, one way ticket to Reticulum.
-There is an upside to all this pregnancy stuff. Not only is there the distinct potential for finally getting to see Ma Scully again, wouldn't you like to witness the conversation between Scully and dear old Brother Bill when she tells him somehow Mulder knocked her up and now he's been abducted by aliens?
Autumn
"I've seen things that I cannot deny."