2X01 - Little Green Men [REVISITED]

Summary

Mulder's having a crisis with the X-Files closed. He and Scully are separated, and his skills are being wasted on surveillance duty. So who can blame him if he goes off to something more intriguingly alien?? Even if it's all the way to Puerto Rico. An interestingly open-ended episode, all in all. We get our first "real" (?) look at the Samantha abduction. (I say "real" because this version of the incident seems to be the one that's taken as canon hereafter... along with this version of Samantha.) We see Scully "making herself at home" in Mulder's apartment, explaining it away to the agents who show up by saying that she feeds his fish in his absence. In the end result, did we achieve contact in this hour? Are the aliens coming, or have they been here all along? In typical X-Files fashion, the answer could be anything.

"I still have you..."

I thought I would like this one even more, but it didn't happen for me on this subsequent viewing. While several of the individual scenes from this one were very memorable, the part involving "contact" did not strike a chord in me. It was somewhat uninspiring, a bit "so what?" in the uncovering of it. Despite Mulder's initial lead from Senator Matheson, Jorge's testimony and ultimate demise, I wasn't really sold on what was happening. And in the end, for Mulder not to have so much as a squeak on that tape is just demoralizing. (Mind you, I never could figure out why he didn't just tuck those printouts into his backpack and leave with it.)

Picayune Peculiarities

Observations while I was watching... it's interesting how a place in Arecibo, Puerto Rico would need to remind people of where they were by having its location plastered all over its signs. (I counted two of them.) Scully is the grand master of guessing passwords... two episodes in a row! I loved how Scully explained to the two tailing agents that she comes to feed Mulder's fish, then does the whole "oops I spilled fish food" show to retrieve her printout, but then leaves without feeding the fish. And how about those agents at the airport? What if Scully had purchased a ticket for some place a little less Caribbean?

Best or Worst Moment

I liked the "reunion" scene between Mulder and Scully after he returns to his surveillance tapes. After having seen what he can't be sure that he's seen, he consoles himself with the fact that he's still got his work (such as it is). Then, in a rather matter-of-fact fashion, he adds that he's still got Scully. Taken in context with the earlier "Deep Throat"-inspired meeting, it was touching.

I agree with Mulder on the parking charges (circa 1994, of course)... especially since Scully walks out on him after what, three minutes?

Original Rating: * * *
Revised Rating: * * *