5X17 - All Souls [REVISITED]

Summary

Time for religious ScullyAngst again, which means that — in some people's eyes at least — it marks the return of insensitive Mulder. I thought I might find this one interesting from the teaser, but no, it didn't succeed at selling me a believable story. And it ended very abruptly, never mind quite unsatisfyingly. Somehow the concept of the "fight for all souls", the "Emily" thing, and the "four girls as fallen angels" just didn't mesh together very well. Despite the fact that Gillian did a wonderful job conjuring up all that angst, it didn't stir anything in me. If anything, it made me wonder once again how Scully can be so close-minded to the real paranormal things that she's seen in her job when she automatically buys into everything that smacks of religion. I mean, didn't even Father McCue imply that what she said she saw was a figment of her imagination from childhood memories? (Yes, I admit to being biased here by stuff that I've seen in later seasons, particularly in all things.)

"I think you should step away..."

I didn't dislike this one as much this time, so it gets an uptick in rating. I still stand by most of my previous observations, but I am now in a "calmer" place as I rewatch these, so I appreciated the story as a story while letting go of the irritations. (And make no mistake, those irritations are still many.) When Mulder says to Scully, "religion has masqueraded as the paranormal since the dawn of time to justify some of the most horrible acts in history" I couldn't help but "amen" to that. Open up any newspaper and it still goes on on a daily basis. Amen also to Mulder's subsequent comment that God may have His reasons, but "He seems to use a lot of psychotics to carry out His job orders."

What I found interesting in this episode was the idea that we all believe what we want to believe. That may sound overly simple, but what I mean is that we all have tendencies and leanings that predetermine what we ultimately believe when something occurs. Scully essentially ignores the opinions of two spiritual experts (for lack of a better term) — the priest that she confesses to and Father McCue — when they say that she is seeing things because she is still emotionally vulnerable. Scully instead believes, and not via any supporting evidence or any past precedent, that she was meant to have these visions for the purpose of "saving" the girls. Doing God's work, huh?

I must admit to being confused when Father McCue says to Scully towards the end of the episode that he understands that she has found the man responsible for the death of the girls... who is this man? Not Father Gregory? And not "Starkey as the Devil" apparently, since he was still wandering around free after this scene.

Best or Worst Moment

I'm going with the M&S moment at the police station when Scully finally confesses to Mulder that she saw Emily and therefore might be too close to the situation. Not often that she'll do that, and in this part of the fifth season (where I was one of the ones who felt that something was amiss between the two of them), it's all the more telling that she chooses to disclose this to him, particularly in light of how he's basically brushed off all her concerns throughout this episode.

Original Rating: * *
Revised Rating: * * *