Summary
Seems almost harsh, but this one did nothing for me. Can't identify with the teen angst, when, as Mulder put it, "He's a hard kid to love." I read somewhere where someone said that the X-Files hasn't been very good at portraying teenagers; I'd have to agree with that. The whole "father as tree" thing was x-file-ish, I suppose, but it didn't intrigue me in the midst of all these people that I really didn't care about. In the end, it's always going to be the characters that hold you to any type of show, be it TV or film. This is proven by our fascination with Mulder and Scully. If I don't like the characters, I lose interest in what happens to them. It's like the fact that I should have felt sympathy for Karin because she was a "victim", but I didn't. I suppose I don't necessarily subscribe to the theory that victims should be excused for everything that they do based on the fact that they are victims. It does a great disservice to those who overcome and survive.
Isn't this a lovely shot? |
So along those lines (and to highlight the so-called high points of this one, since I came away still feeling nothing for these people), may I present to you some snippets of memorable dialogue that I had forgotten:
1) S: They said it rained 400 inches in a day. M: Now that sounds like an exaggeration, don't you think? (The nod to the difficulties that DD had re: a joke about Vancouver's rainy tendencies.)
2) S: You asked me for answers... those are the best ones that I've got. (A good explanation for most things on TXF, I guess.)
3) M: Hey Scully, is this boyish demonstration of agility turning you on at all? (Mulder climbing a tree in a suit and trench coat.)
Otherwise, I was struck by the beauty of the overhanging trees in that orchard, which I have since found out is called Hazelgrove Farms, near Ft. Langley. There is a sequence where M&S are walking underneath the canopy created by the trees that would have made a good screensaver back in the day.
Best or Worst Moment
For an ep that I didn't find very much redeeming matter in, there was a significant and poignant quote/moment that I caught on a subsequent viewing recently. Mulder says of Bobby's psych diagnosis, "That could be me." It's one of the rare times that the show has had Mulder make a concrete comment about what sort of childhood he may have had. (However, just as in the case with Bobby, I don't happen to believe that Mulder was physically abused by his father. It would have been an undeniably difficult period of growing up with Bill Mulder's apparent propensity to drink himself out of his problems, but I don't belong to that "Mulder was abused by his dad" camp.)
Original Rating: *
Revised Rating: *
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