2X18 - Fearful Symmetry

Summary

This one had a great teaser sequence. In fact, among the excellent teaser sequences that TXF offers up on a consistent basis, this one stands out in my memory. It's an invisible elephant, after all — how much better can it get? Unfortunately, the episode doesn't quite measure up, despite an honest attempt. I appreciate the conservation theme (regardless of whether or not aliens are involved) but to paraphrase Scully, the militant types attracted to such causes tend to piss me off with their tactics. Which is to say that the black and white thinking of people like Kyle Lang tend to alienate people who might otherwise be supportive of their principles.

Wasn't this just the coolest shot ever?

I liked this episode more during this revisitation than I did when I originally saw it. Circumstances that crop up in real life news sometimes affect how we view TV shows. I was actually impressed by how TXF managed to wrap the whole controversy over zoos and animals held in captivity into an alien abduction story, such as it was (since nothing was resolved at the end).

And it wasn’t out of the realm of believability, TXF-wise. The bits about previously unsuccessful pregnancies combined with the sudden pregnancies of these affected animals made for some interesting intrigue. Luckily, we end up with one animal that we can "talk to": Sophie the gorilla. (I obviously hadn’t seen this ep since seeing DD’s Return to Me, because here I was so vividly reminded of the secondary plot thread involving a gorilla from that movie whereas I wasn’t reminded of this ep while watching the movie. Did that make sense?) But what exactly did she mean when she signed “man save man”?

The financial circumstances of the zoo were a bit more difficult to buy, particularly as everything went down so quickly. ("The animals are being shipped out to other zoos starting Monday"? That soon? Sounds like someone had their minds made up about this place long before any "incidents" happened.)

I admit to be being a bit torn over the opposing sides in this episode. Yes, in theory, all animals should run free, but are humans expected to turn the other cheek no matter what the circumstances? When we perform a rescue and change the life of an animal in the process, should/would we doom it by letting it back into the wild? Should we never again investigate the boundaries of intelligence of certain animals by studying them up close?

Picayune Peculiarities

Exaggerate much? When Mr. Lang made the comparison that the elephant’s container is similar to "you or I living in a pickle barrel", I had to scoff. Yes, the pen is small, but I wouldn’t be able to get up and move around inside a pickle barrel. Militant types of any stripe are a turn-off and those who insist on taking a stand by manipulating facts and emotions are so much worse.

Best or Worst Moment

Ooh — Mulder being left in the room to be battered by Sophie was frightening to watch. Honorary runner-up moment was the teleconference call to Frohike and Byers where the former announces that he's been working out for Agent Scully's benefit: "I'm buff."

Original Rating: * *
Revised Rating: * *