Summary
What a disappointment this was, given the potential of the lead-in from Part 1. The creators should know by now not to stir up hype over something that isn't going to deliver the goods, and they really, really should have known that this episode was not going to deliver the goods. It certainly left us with a lot more questions than answers, but it also left me a lot less interested in this on-going mythology. It's one thing to have CC and Co. joke about "making it up as they go", it's another to have it appear as though that's exactly the case. And I'm not even going to dwell on the bad vibes between M&S - that's what Reparation is for!
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| Aftermath of the infamous shower |
First of all, what was with the laying down of the American flag at the end of the teaser during the flashback to 1973? Is CGB just giving up the USA to the aliens or is this an extreme example of so-called "American arrogance" in that he is giving up earth on behalf of all its people? To say that I have an issue with him doing that would be putting it mildly.
So would Mulder have fired that gun had the door-breaking not occurred? I mean, it was a great cliff-hanging device, but does it stand up to any scrutiny? The very idea of Cassandra escaping — did she call a taxi to get to Mulder's place or did she just run? — and being pursued by these CDC folks who, for some reason, can't quite catch up with her but are immediately in tune with where she's going in order to hose down our heroes, is just unlikely.
And I don't usually have harsh words for our favourite G-man, but had I been Scully, the second time he tried to shut me up in front of Fowley, I would have told him to "eff off".
So the "truth" comes out in this episode in the form of CSM — or CGB — telling Mulder the story in Fowley's Watergate apartment. At one point Mulder accuses him of being a liar, to which I muttered to myself, "he's not lying, it's just a very bad story that's impossible to believe." (And bless Mr. Davis for performing above and beyond with this material.) And that is indeed my assessment of the X-Files' mythology: it's a very bad story that often snaps my suspension of disbelief. Hearing CiggyButtFace tell it here is no less hilarious than Cassandra telling her story to Mulder in the last episode. Try as they might, CC/FS have little success in giving credence to what the Syndicate chose to do in the face of their alien threat.
"We sent them away because it was the right thing to do... We sent them away so they would come back to us" is the rationale behind their actions. Instead of not cooperating, these men thought it better to give away loved ones for many, many years — years that you just don't ever get back — in hopes that they can stall the development of a slave race of hybrids while trying (in secret) to develop a vaccine against the black oil and thereby, save humanity. (Do I finally have it in a nutshell?) Dammit, we did this to save you, why can't you understand?!
Didn't the fact that the aliens seemed to need their help with the hybrid program mean that they were not "all powerful" and perhaps could have been thwarted in some other way? Sorry, I'm not even going to debate that...
The only thing that made sense in this episode was Mulder saying that all of this was brought on by "men who thought they could sleep with the enemy". After all these years of watching this show, I still find it absolutely nutty that instead of fighting a planned alien invasion in a war or whatever it takes, these highly placed and presumably highly intelligent men decided to sacrifice members of their family to experiments and testing in the vague hope that they can "save" themselves.
And I'm still confused as to what the vaccine is supposed to do... make it so that a person can't be hybridized or just not able to be controlled by the black oil? (Or is that really one and the same thing?)
One last thing... for a containment and decontamination facility, Fort Marlene has lousy security.
One more last thing... why does the little alien embryo resemble a fully matured "grey" instead of a lizard that it first appears as? (Of course we know why... all part of that "making it up as we go along" method of story-telling.)
Best or Worst Moment
What's the worst moment in an episode loaded with painfully bad moments? What can I say? I was as frustrated as Kersh was at the end of this episode, when M&S gave their cryptic answers to the "big questions". Mulder's had answers for years? Truly? Here I thought that he's only been searching for answers. "All bets are off"? "Don't bet against him"? To paraphrase Det. Manners, what the bleep do you mean?!
Original Rating: * *
Revised Rating: * *
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