7ABX19 - Brand X

Summary

So, ex-Harsh Realm writers are now infiltrating... All in all this one was suitably icky. (When I saw that glass of bloody water, it brought back strong memories of Poltergeist II, even though the guys here had nothing on Craig T. Nelson who eventually had to cough up something roughly the size of a cow.) I appreciated the originality of the story itself, but the telling of it was decidedly "off". The pacing was odd; too slow at the beginning and then seemingly not enough time to give the ending a decent treatment. But can someone tell me why this guy Weaver was continually being given the Brand X cigarettes?? I mean, I didn't quite understand if all the company bigwigs knew the full implications of the effect of the smoke — although Voss certainly seemed to indicate that he knew by recoiling when Weaver threatened to light up in front of him. But if they knew, why did they keep giving them to this guy?? I don't buy the idea that it was to keep him from squealing because they already had that problem in a bigger and more credible way in the person of Scobie. Oh and I hated the last scene with the allusion to a Cigarette Smoking Mulder. How the hell much nicotine did they give him anyway and why wouldn't they foresee this nasty side effect?? Moreover, if he bought a pack coming in to work after two weeks on his own, what's to say that he hasn't been smoking up a storm during his recuperation? That was just silly. (And yes, it barely takes a grade five education to "get" the connection to the whole Darth Vader thing, but I don't even want to go there.)

Best or Worst Moment

The worst — prolonged — moment was seeing Skinner stand there with his gun on Weaver. The best moment otherwise was Mulder's return comment to the legal eagles regarding not violating the FBI's confidentiality. I think I've been encountering these same types of folks in my RL life recently.

Original Rating: * *