Summary
After a six month wait, I call it good. Were this to be delivered in the middle of the season, I may have had a different opinion. Still, I thought it was better than Biogenesis and a lot less confusing with fewer players. Kritschgau's character was put to effective and interesting use. Even evil Diana had her intriguing moments. (Funny enough, it was the single Mulder/Scully scene that didn't really do it for me. GA did a good job, but expressive dialogue it really wasn't. I have major issues with Scully merely saying "Hold on" when in reality, she has no reason to think that Mulder won't die. He's said "I love you" for less.) Oh, and this one ought to satisfy the segment of fans out there who like to see the "poor Mulder is suffering" stuff. Speaking of our G-Man, nice to see that he retains his sense of humour regardless of his personal situation. I think that's an aspect of Mulder that a lot of people miss when they write about the character in magazine articles... he's actually not dour and borderline depressive.
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| Kind of a violent way to give a message to your boss |
This is, of course, a mythology ep, but where does it fit in with what we know of it thus far? Even during this repeat viewing — when I am more in tune with the mythology and where it's going — it's hard to say if it fits anywhere or adds anything. My problem with this ep is that while I buy the theory that we may in fact be the "spawn" of alien life, I don't buy the way it's presented here with the tie-in to the Christian bible and — not to be exclusive — the holy books of just about every other religion out there. There's only so much predetermination that I can accept from a scientific and pragmatic point of view. This two episode arc only seems to put forward the idea that "God is an alien". At this point, it doesn't expand upon the show's main theme that aliens who once deposited their life force on this planet are plotting to take it over and then some. (Quite honestly, I didn't even know if we were talking about the same aliens until the next episode when it appears that the "successful hybrid" theory is back in play.)
Anyhoo, when we first encounter Scully, she is reciting a typical CC monologue (i.e., speaking in a way no one would really speak), paying tribute to her partner's "beautiful mind", claiming that she will stay put as long as Mulder is "beset" by this "haunting illness". Meanwhile, truth be told, she really has no idea whether he is dead or alive since she seems to be out in the middle of almost nowhere with no communications. (And Skinner claims not to know where she is when Mulder asks for her.) After doing some decoding and finding out things that may or may not be useful, and after being held prisoner by a crazy Dr. Barnes, she finally sees one too many ghosts and decides to go home. (Yes, that's really what happened!) I never did understand why she found it necessary to fly out to Africa in search of something she doesn't believe in, despite what she says about "in the source of every illness lies its cure". Did she hope to make a real rubbing to show Mulder that would reverse the effect of the supposedly fake one?
Meanwhile, our favourite G-Man finds a way to get the answer that he needs, despite being held in five point restraints. His newfound powers apparently make his brain work in super-duper overdrive, but he is cooled down sufficiently (with the help of an understandably bitter Michael Kritschgau) to come to the conclusion that he is now the answer to his own question... or something like that.
The thing is, it makes no sense, the belief that "this" — whatever's in Mulder — is the key to everything in the X-Files, or, as Scully puts it, the key to every question that's ever been asked. (Really?) I think the show's creators, over the past couple of seasons, have fallen in love with the phrase so much that they really believe there's such a concept. But the fact is, Gibson, Cassandra, and now Mulder are no more the key to the X-Files than the Flukeman. They are each an X-File, to be sure, but let's not forget that 80% of what we see on The X-Files is essentially a glossy version of Unsolved Mysteries, without any alien involvement or hint of the government conspiracy that surrounds it.
How does what's going on in Mulder right now explain telekinesis beyond the grave, "thoughtographs", or soul-jumping, just to name a few?
Best or Worst Moment
I've always thought that CC should stay away from the religious stuff.... I didn't care for the mixed metaphors of boiling seas, swarming locusts, blood as water and the mysterious reappearing "ghost" in the midst of this ball-breaking activity of decoding the stuff on the face of the spaceship. And yes, even though my nitpicker's hat was hanging in the closet, I couldn't help but groan when I saw Scully matching this odd little symbol to the letter "E"...
Original Rating: * * *
Revised Rating: * * *
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