6X02 - Drive [REVISITED]

Summary

Am I being unnecessarily harsh or was I just PMS-ing for the first part of Season Six?? With profuse apologies to Mr. Gilligan (whose work I have enjoyed immensely over the years) this one just made me spout out one sarcastic remark after another as I watched it — absolute proof that I wasn't enjoying the show! It didn't help that M&S were apart for much of the action, but I think the biggest problem was that I just couldn't muster up any sympathy for the antagonist. I've felt more for "obvious" bad guys like Modell and even Roche than I could for Mr. Crump. Despite the fact that the actual X-File part of the episode held promise, it got lost in the whole pointless ordeal.

Well, he did say he had to pee... ;-)

Okay, so I must have been PMS-ing when I first saw this. Or rather (since I was actually never one to have PMS), I was so swept up in the series' mythology from The End through to the movie through to The Beginning and having it all be subpar, that I was just unsatisfied that we could then merrily roll into a MotW where Mulder and Scully have been reduced to... well, you know what they've been reduced to. In any case, fifteen years later, I give this one two bumps upwards.

And with maturity, I give Crump a "pass", based — ironically enough — on something that he himself said, that "a man can't help who he's born to". So he's obviously intolerant and not well educated. But he's also a little bit right in his observations. Doesn't make him a nice person, but as I get older, I want to make it a point not to get old and bitter. So with that in mind, it's a case of I don't agree with how you say it, but you make a valid point and we can just leave it at that. (I was in line waiting to pay for something a few days ago when the customer ahead of me — a man in his seventies — was venting at the cashier — a woman in her sixties — that he couldn't find a card that read "Merry Christmas" anymore. They started mutually complaining about how other cultures have forced their traditions on "us". While I found their conversation borderline offensive, I do think that society has become overly PC. Encouraging the use of something other than "Merry Christmas" as a greeting at this time of year has caused more problems than it has solved.)

The part that I still hated was the treatment of our agents by the FBI. I get that they have been reassigned and that as Scully tried to tell Mulder, you have to toe the line now in order to get back to where you want to be. But I've always thought that Mulder played the "whipping boy" role way too readily. Why don't you quit? Go get a paying job teaching and hang up your own "X-Files" sign on the side.

Picayune Peculiarities

Okay, I'll make this short: when and how did Mulder get the opportunity to write that long note to Scully?

Best or Worst Moment

The best part of this ep was the teaser, with its quasi-realistic "breaking news" look. It got my hopes up for a rip-roaring episode, but it didn't turn out that way for me. I must admit, I wasn't feeling good about Season Six after this one!

Original Rating: *
Revised Rating: * * *