1X11 - Fire [REVISITED]

Summary

So what was this, Chris Carter showing his evil side early in the series?? Did we really buy the love story between Phoebe Green and a young Fox Mulder? (I like Amanda Pays, but I didn't see much chemistry between the two of them.) The only thing that seemed believable was the part about Mulder getting in over his head — Inspector Green did not show many signs of ever having been an innocent, if you know what I mean. The x-file in the background was sorta interesting, if not entirely original. I couldn't truly tell what motivated the firestarter dude, but he was creepy enough in his madness. The real weakness of this episode was the "tidy" way in which the events played out... a bit contrived, in my opinion.

Mulder and the original Man Killer

Husband starts on fire. Wife stands far away and screams. On my worst days with my hubby, I would still be running over to try to help, but that would make the teaser just slightly less dramatic. Again, what is it that drives this guy? Despite Scully turning into "profiler extraordinaire" during this ep as Mulder anticipated having his "hands full", we never did get a good answer as to what this person's issues were. (He seemed like he could get women if he wanted and had no social awkwardness that we could ascertain. Did he just want women of nobility?) And what was up with all the paintings in the Cape Cod house that looked like Marsden's wife? (Or were they actually of her? I wasn't certain by their dialogue.) And why the change in m.o.? Didn't he prefer just to burn the men that were in his way? This time, he targeted the kids but didn't finish the job and then seemed to want to take down Mulder along with the house. Huh? Why?

Another "why" is why the need for Mulder's fear of fire? Most of us fear fire just because. Did we need a highly unlikely story of Mulder — as a child, no less — staying in a friend's burned out house overnight to keep out looters? How bad of a neighbourhood was this and did this friend not have parents?

Finally, ten years is not enough for Mulder to stop holding a grudge when it comes to being treated poorly by a woman. (I used this finding for my own fic when it came to dealing with Diana Fowley. Since both women were created by CC, I think they have a lot in common.) Mulder's photographic memory no doubt has an image of Phoebe in someone else's arms long before she ended up in the arms of Lord Marsden. But really, how unimaginative is that?

Picayune Peculiarities

I found the timing at the end to be confusing. Mulder leaves his hotel room to drive up to the Cape when he realizes Lively may be waiting to strike. I imagine it's really rather late at this point in the evening... or is it the next morning already, given that Scully said "You were really out" to Mulder? The thing is, Mulder gets to the house (it's no more than three hours away and possibly closer to an hour and a half, and given that it's Mulder and given the perceived danger, he would not have stopped anywhere first) and pops in to see Phoebe snuggling up to Marsden while the wife and kids are out taking a walk? What time of the day is this? When they showed Scully waiting for her fax in the previous scene, her watch read 4:22... am or pm? She can't reach Mulder by cell so she drives up to the Cape, arriving not long after he does. They all went back to the Cape very quickly, did they not? But if the family is so spooked that they need to fly back to England ASAP, why are some of them out walking when they should be packing? Everything unfolds (or collapses, you might say) in short order right after this — including the arrival of night by the time Mr. Firemaker is dancing on the front lawn — so on a subsequent viewing, not only does the ending seem contrived, it barely makes sense.

Best or Worst Moment

Dana Scully is a jealous person; we learn this early in the series. And yes, she probably has reason to be jealous of this leggy man-eater who has a past with her sexy partner. But she's not very appealing when she's jealous, so I'm picking the closing scene as my best moment... Mulder and Scully back to normal once more. (Yes, I'm relegating the famous "BSB scene" to my memorable Mulder moments discussion.)

What was with all of that unease in Mulder's hotel room between him and Phoebe? One moment they're kissing and dancing and planning on putting out fires of a different kind and the next it's like, I'll be leaving in a few days and I may or may not leave you hanging again. Was he really that upset that she wasn't the one administering to his needs? It was weird. On the other hand, I really liked the interaction between him and Scully before and after this odd exchange.

Original Rating: * *
Revised Rating: * *