Index to all seasons | Abbey Home Page
"I need anything they can get me about what sets this organism off. An idea. A notion. A wild guess."
As far as the X-Files goes, if the goal is to have me on the edge of my seat and interested in what happens next, "Medusa" succeeded. I enjoyed watching, I enjoyed trying to figure out what was going on, I enjoyed how the tension played on the screen and I enjoyed the character subtext. I think that this was one of the better produced episodes this season. Not bad considering the monster this week was tiny fluorescent killer jellyfish. Oooo, scary. With that type of monster, the onus lies on the characters and their interaction and responses to the crisis to make the episode float, and that is what gave "Medusa" its strength.
I have to give kudos to director Richard Compton since this is the second time he's taken what was an average script and made it into a spooky and atmospheric episode. This one was exquisitely shot from a heightened tension perspective. The juxtaposition between what was actually happening in the tunnels and Scully's camera view gave it a nervous nature. I also like the way that Compton and Director of Photography Bill Roe lit so much of the tunnel scenes with the big beamed flashlights. Made me think of the good old days there for a bit.
Since we needed to have a bad guy in this one, and glow in the dark jellyfish just don't have that certain malevolence to them, writer Frank Spotnitz went the dash of conspiracy route by making the transit police in this one a bunch of shady and surly "morons" as Scully so succinctly put it. We're supposed to wonder about a cover up based on the wrapped bodies found in the tunnels, but frankly all this made me wonder is why they invited the FBI in the first place if they had something like that to hide. Unless now Scully, like Mulder of past, just puts herself smack dab in the middle of any "equivocal death" that happened the night before. Since I found it a bit cliche', the evil Deputy Chief angle was only saved for me only by the performance of Ken Jenkins who took what he was given and ran with it. Plus, he had spooky eyes and he called Scully "irrational" which as we all know is a seriously low blow.
This was an interesting episode for Gillian Anderson. I had feared that she would not be used in it much since it was Doggett who was going to go down into the tunnels, but I enjoyed the way they decided to incorporate Scully into this story. What worked the best for me was the way Anderson played Scully's guilt at not going herself. Scully was back to the shifty eyed way she gets when she's not being truthful. Without there being one line to substantiate it, we all knew that Scully chose to stay up top to protect her baby from danger after seeing that the CDC was still involved. Her guilt at the deceit stayed with her the whole episode every time Doggett was in danger (as in her flustered nature when the biologist comes in looking for the man in charge). It was especially obvious at the end when she could not take any credit for the investigation even though she did figure out what was going on and technically she made the right call in trying to control things outside the tunnels. Her problem was she made the right call for different reasons and she knew it. I thought that whole subtext was a very nice touch to the episode and the kind of subtext I wish we'd seen more of this season.
One of the things I've always enjoyed about Scully is that she's one of those people that if she doesn't know something will flat out tell you she doesn't rather than pretending that she does. I felt her frustration as everyone was looking to her for the answers and she was trying desperately to come up with them. I also like the look that crossed Scully's face when she came back into the control room and noticed that Doggett was knocked over and not responding. Oopsie. The one complaint I have about her performance this week was that during her heated confrontations with Karras I could certainly hear the thunder in her voice, but I couldn't see where it was coming from her emotionally. This is something Ms. Anderson usually telegraphs adeptly. I missed the depth I usually see in Scully's anger so that while I certainly heard it, I did not feel it in the manner that I've become accustomed.
Robert Patrick does well in "Medusa." We're getting to see more of a sense of this character in the little moments. He handles the confusion Doggett is feeling over Scully's decision to stay up top and her behavior at the episode's conclusion well. We know Doggett knows something is up even though he tells Bianco she made the "right call" and it is that wall that is keeping a distance between Scully and Doggett as partners. I liked the way he defers to Scully's expertise noting he is the "tag along" and "good shot" she is "the boss" with "all the experience" when it comes to the X-Files. It's a respect she does not get from the other characters in this episode, and Lt. Bianco even tries to undermine it with Doggett. I really liked the moment where we hear him questioning Scully and it is obvious Scully has overheard the entire conversation when she simply asks Doggett if everything is all right down there. I also enjoyed the way Patrick played the last scene from his cranky nurse calling, to getting caught by "the boss" trying to escape, to that backing up thing he did lest he give Scully a free show. It amused me.
So this was one of the better monster of the week episodes this season (not that it's a huge accomplishment), but as usual I have a few, oh, you know, plot related questions since that is really the focus of the show, right? So, first of all what the hell did the teaser have to do with anything else that happened? We get a guy in a suit near no water merely riding on a train, not really sweating that we can see and he combusts in a huge blaze. How was he infected? He wasn't rooting around glow in the dark puddles. If you just get this from riding a train and sweating everyone from the last rush hour ride should have it. Plus, this guy's face did not even glow in the dark like everyone else's who was infected. Everyone after Officer TeaserBait even had some time before they totally went up in smoke, but this guy was gone in a big flash. I never really bought the whole race against the clock angle since it just seemed stupid to me - I mean I really don't think people are going to complain about finding another way home if the alternative is having your skin eaten off, but maybe that's just me. I would have also preferred that the ultimate cause of the attacks wasn't telegraphed so repeatedly with all the references to sweating and heat. It got to be overkill after a while. I was also curious why the CDC doctor felt the need to ask Scully what they were going to be treated for. Shouldn't she have a little expertise in that area as well? What was the contrived mute boy there for except to provide Scully with a clue so the leap didn't seem as huge as we've seen before? I could go on, but I'm tired.
"Medusa" is successful for the tense human interaction for which it has a lot to thank in the supporting performances - although I thought Vyto Ruginis was a bit over the top as Bianco, I really enjoyed Penny Johnson as Dr. Lyle and Brent Sexton and Melnick. It was also successful as far as being able to effectively use a great setting with interesting camera work to serve the story well. What I'm waiting for is the day when I don't have to point out a bunch of plot holes every single episode. Is that so much to ask?
-Date Stamp Rant: You know, don't even get me started with the ridiculous time frame this year. We get two references this week. One Doggett saying it is "the middle of winter" and another about getting home in time to catch "Survivor 2" which puts this episode in February. Which means Doggett's definition of working with someone "a short time" is nine months. And since last week Doggett told us Mulder disappeared last May puts Scully now an amazing ten months pregnant and still not showing. She's even more special than I ever thought she was. I guess when one studies the mytharc and even wrote last week's episode like Spotsy does it's easy to forget these silly little things like how long someone is missing or pregnant from week to week. Frank honey? Have you killed so many brain cells you can't remember your own script the week before now? Dude that is harsh. Maybe you should write these things down. Oh, you did. Please tell the fans how they should pay more attention and they'd understand the mytharc better again some time. We really enjoy that. It carries so much weight coming from you and that brilliant memory of yours.
-You know with Scully being this pregnant and still not showing I think it's not an alien we have to worry about Scully delivering - it's a hamster. Well, at least she can just buy a nice wheel instead of a crib that way.
-In-joke of the episode: The officer who dies at the start tells us he has a fare jumper and "possible 1013." Why the Boston transit cops are running this high tech probe for fare jumpers in the middle of the night is not explained. Maybe in this episode "possible 1013" stands for the plot taking jumps as well.
-Retread alert: Brent Sexton who played our sweaty pal Melnick was also a gravedigger in this season's "Patience." And here I thought Los Angeles had a bigger acting pool than Vancouver.
-With all the work the set dressers seem to have gone to creating Boston subway maps, etc. I can only guess that the reason they did not call the trains there the "T" rather than the "M" was it is some sort of requirement for filming in the Los Angeles subway system. I'm sure it saved them some bucks being able to use the Los Angeles Rail Operations Control Center (http://www.mta.net/Onlocation/hotlist/ENTRPRS.HTM) rather than having to create that from scratch, and it certainly made for a cool set.
-Frank's Fashion Spot: First of all, how wrong is it that Doggett gets to wear more outfits in this episode than Scully? Wow, they really have a thing for the turtlenecks this year don't they? She looks good in them, sure, and they are infinitely preferable to that ill fitting blue blouse, but would it be too much to ask for one of those nice little button up season four sweaters now? I thought so. I see last season's leather jacket is back as well which is fine since it's a nice look on her when we aren't noticing it is a tad too small. One last thing, while I understand why Scully stayed up top, I can't quite reconcile my self with the fact I may have seen the last of Swat!Scully. How I miss her.
-Anyone else find it amusing that Doggett says Scully was coming in "like a songbird"? That certainly proves he does not know her that well. I can now guarantee she hasn't been singing along to the radio in the car when he's around.
-Why was that tunnel already decommissioned if they just made this line five years ago according to Melnick?
-Apparently "F. Emasculata" didn't teach Scully much as the first thing she asks Doggett to do is uncover the bodies. Yeah, that worked real well last time Scully.
-I certainly hope that headset Doggett was on had a volume control as it had to hurt otherwise with the way Scully must have been screaming in his ear as she chewed out Karras up top.
-Our Little Sailor: She's back and she's mad. She's even throwing things. "Come in damn it!" It did make the biologist's line "Is this a bad time?" pretty funny.
-I believe this is the first time that we hear Scully refer to Doggett as her partner, and she does it more than once. What I wish is that they would stop this Agent Doggett, Agent Scully stuff. It would not kill me to hear first names and that would still give it an appropriate separation from the last name only territory that the writers seem to be trying desperately to avoid.
-Manly Man Meter: This is a deceptive episode to judge - I mean Doggett is knocked over not once, but twice. However, he doesn't take the offered hand the first time the wind is knocked out of him and gets up all by his manly self. Still, big points for being man enough to admit that Scully was the boss and keeping going even after he was infected and could "spark up" instead of just letting Scully send a team down to snatch him up. Plus there was that ultra-manly way he stood in front of the train until the last minute. And he looked good in Kevlar, which is always good for a few points. And he got to be sweaty. And a manly pain in the ass at the hospital. I think this calls for a sweaty swaggering swelling 9. So close. So very close.
-One last note: The very first time I ever posted online about the X-Files was to comment on how bad "Fearful Symmetry" was. It has always been among my least favorite episodes. It was on FX the other night and I watched it and enjoyed it for everything this season is missing. I think Scully said it best: "Doesn't that make you sad? It makes me sad."
Autumn
"No. Yes. I mean I'm she. Can I help you?"