Summary
Season Six finished on a high note in general IMHO, but this one just didn't deliver for me as a finale. I don't know if it simply wasn't well-executed or what, but although I am most definitely interested in the mystery of the artifact and what it means, the show just didn't leave me immediately needing to see the continuation. That said, I'm thinking that the best parts of this story will be in the Season Seven openers.
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| Another of my favourite shots from TXF |
Speaking of Scully, she goes from saying "almost any scientist would" (accept as plausible the theory that we — in essence — could be derived from alien microbes) near the beginning of the episode to "I will not accept that; it is just not possible" when speaking to Mulder on the phone about pretty much the same theory near the end of the episode. So what is her problem?
And speaking of problem, I wasn't quite clear on what Chuck meant about the whole "the rubbing is a fake" thing. Obviously the rubbing is quite clearly genuine — as in, it's a rubbing of something — and it's causing Mulder some really peculiar brain wave issues.
Meanwhile, Mulder's brain wave issues are only making him smarter. Despite the fact that the police went through Sandoz's apartment, they didn't find anything. (Either they weren't very thorough or Barnes didn't stuff his victim in the trash compactor until after their search.) Our agents arrive just in time for poor Merkmallen's remains to stink up the place, leading to a session in Skinner's office where Mulder gets really smart, accusing his boss of having someone else involved in the case. (Although his explanation about cosmic galactic radiation — usually called galactic cosmic radiation — being from outside of our solar system was somewhat erroneous... it can pretty much be found just beyond earth's magnetic field.)
The timeline of events then takes a wild turn as Mulder apparently agrees to Scully's suggestion that he go home and take some rest. But of course, all he seems to do is change into more comfortable clothes before heading off to American U. Scully, meanwhile, beams herself to Gallup, New Mexico in search of Albert Hosteen. Let's just say I am confused about the time frames here, as we are given no indication of how long it's been since Mulder and Scully parted ways after leaving Skinner's office. All I know is that the action cuts back and forth between Scully encountering Dr. Sandoz in New Mexico to Mulder becoming more and more debilitated as he wanders through the university building.
Things turn from bad to worse for Mulder (which is usually how TXF season finales go, in case you weren't paying attention), who is subsequently admitted to hospital after Diana Fowley fusses over him at home. And Skinner is actually sitting in the hallway looking like he's a worried father. He actually calls Scully "Dana" (has he ever done that?) when she finally shows up after having to take three flights to get back home. (No transporter available?) Cue civilized cat fight as Diana enters the room.
Long story short, Krycek is cleaning up all over the place and Dana Scully decides to take off to West Africa while the man she loves is literally losing his mind in a hospital psych unit.
Can we expect any of this to make sense come S7?
Picayune Peculiarities
It is really rather odd, but often times when I watch The X-Files, the suspension of disbelief thing snaps on the matter of building security. And what I mean by that is the lack of security in a building (like the Hoover Building) that should be ultra-secure. Really. And it's frankly annoying, because this results in most of the story going off the rails because I think, "that just wouldn't happen." Krycek — without any disguise or even a hint of attempting to blend in — just comes and goes as he pleases. (This is going off topic/off episode, but when I watched Milagro, I had to gloss over the improbable part about the charm being left under Mulder's office door. Not only do I not think that internal FBI communications personnel would merely slip an envelope under a door, I don't buy the explanation that "it was dropped off at reception" and that "they weren't able to get a good ID". No security cameras out there either?)
Best or Worst Moment
I try not to dwell on the potentially bad moments of an episode that I don't outright consider bad, but CC and the Boys really irked me with that "Diana peeling off her top" scene. Talk about a totally unnecessary moment. To me, that just smacked of plain manipulation, because the thing is, the viewers are already pretty pissed at the fact that she's there in his apartment at all. Rather than invoke the intended reaction — which I suppose was, hey look, Diana and Fox are going to get it on (which, given his condition at the time, would make dear Fox an even better lover than fanfic makes him out to be) — it simply made me think, "Oh, the writers are feeling the need to flex their muscles, are they?"
Original Rating: * *
Revised Rating: * *
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