This is one of those episodes that grows on me the more I watch it. Great for the insight into Mulder (although as many people have pointed out — bad for the awful portrayal of Dana Scully), highlighting once again his totally empathic nature. The circumstances were disturbing, even if you didn't want to believe in the link between Amy and Lucy. This was one of those rare cases where the X-File didn't have to be solved, so to speak; the facts were there to be interpreted as you wished. And if you're at all like Fox Mulder, you know that Lucy saved more than Amy with her "sacrifice". Overall, this episode was sensitively written and performed, if you ignore a couple of bad Scully moments.
 |
| "Mulder, stop!" - Really, Dr. Scully?? |
This one made me cry in a way that I don't think I did when I originally saw it, leading to the elevated rating. And I assume it must be because in the intervening years, we have heard so much about real life cases like this, where unspeakable things happen right under people's noses and perpetrators get away with it for decades. But adding to the sadness is the part where it is revealed that Wade is bipolar. We are experiencing a mental health crisis in our society where people who are mentally ill are still not getting the help that they need. I don't imagine that Wade's character was meant to garner any sympathy, but in the real world, he is also a victim.
Otherwise, it was DD's performance and Mulder's empathy that struck a chord with me in this one. I could imagine being Lucy and being hard as nails even as this strange thing was happening to me... and then I meet this person who, despite all the "evidence" and my attitude, keeps reaching out to me. And it didn't happen all at once, of course. The progression of Lucy learning to open up to Mulder was realistic and extremely well written. This is a person who distrusts the world and has been "spoiled" by a kidnapper over seventeen years ago. She owes no one anything. And yet, I think she took Mulder's statement to heart ("she has to make it and you have to help her") when she realized at the end that she could save Amy and — in the process — herself.
I liked how this episode brought out the very human side of both Mulder and Scully. As Mulder says, "not everything I do, say, think, and feel goes back to my sister" but one would have to admit that that experience probably gave him a leg up on this case. And Scully — in true human fashion — may sometimes be too quick to pin the "sister thing" on Mulder when he gets obsessive about a damsel in distress. But she should also know that Mulder's background in psychology probably provides him with at least a little bit of self-awareness.
Writer Charles Grant Craig, who apparently only worked on TXF for a short time during season three, deserves high praise for having put together this hour.
Best or Worst Moment
I'll go along with the crowd and say that I was totally appalled with how the good Doctor Scully urged Mulder to give up on his (i.e., not her) CPR attempt after a few seconds. I don't quite know what to make of how that was written. Maybe the compressed time of the final act made it appear more unrealistic than it was meant to be. After all, even though Mulder reacted semi-violently to her prompting, he did stop, indicating that maybe he had been trying for longer than we thought? Or am I reaching?
Original Rating: * * *
Revised Rating: * * * *
No comments:
Post a Comment