El Mundo Gira – Season 4, Ep 11

SCULLY: Well, I’m a medical doctor. If you show me the body I can examine it myself.

CORONER: It’s in the fridge. (nods her head to the side)

SCULLY: (referring to the body being autopsied) I don’t think he’s going anywhere.

 
 
 
Season 4, Episode 11: “El Mundo Gira”

“El Mundo Gira” is another episode with a monster from a particular culture. This time, it’s the chupacabra, or the goatsucker, which, if you’re clueless as to what this thing does/looks like before this episode begins, you’ll find you’re pretty much in the same boat when it’s finished. If you grew up hearing stories about the chupacabra, well, this episode is probably really funny.

“El Mundo Gira’s” closest relative, at least in my mind, is Season 3’s “Hell Money.” Both episodes feature immigrants from another country having to go to extremes to survive in the US. Both focus on familial drama to up the tension and the stakes. And both, at least for me, aren’t that bad.

However, like “Hell Money” (and plenty of other X-Files episodes, for that matter), “El Mundo Gira” doesn’t exactly portray the culture featured very accurately. It’s meant to play out like a Mexican soap opera, which is exactly what John Shiban, the writer, was going for. I can see what they were trying to do, but the execution just doesn’t work that well because The X-Files and soap operas just don’t go together that well, and John Shiban clearly has never written a Mexican soap opera before.

Here’s the problem with culturally themed episodes: we live in a different world than we did in the 90’s. Had “El Mundo Gira” been made today, you can bet your bags of sunflower seeds it would have been picked apart endlessly by Twitter, Tumblr, and critics galore. Probably not without reason. After all, this episode was not written by someone who has firsthand knowledge of the experiences of Mexican immigrants. If I were a Mexican immigrant – and I’m definitely not – I might even find myself insulted by how this episode uses stereotypes and folk legends to mask real-world problems.

But does it really? I remembered “El Mundo Gira” before this rewatch, and it wasn’t because of the chupacabra or Scully muttering lyrics from West Side Story, it was because of this whole idea Shiban tries to drive home about nobody caring. This comes as an exchange of dialogue several times throughout the episode, and it serves as the episode’s closing line, the last thought Shiban wants to leave us with and what I can only assume was the major idea he wanted to get across. And, truth be told, I kind of like that. Even with the ridiculous plot and the crazier-than-I remembered ending, this episode, while it may not know what it’s talking about, does care what it’s talking about. “El Mundo Gira” is cheesy, over-the-top and inaccurate, but I truly feel it has its little misinformed heart in the right place. And, like “Hell Money,” I’d much rather defend this one than not.

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Final Score

Final score for “El Mundo Gira” is 7/10. I’m starting to realize that scores are tricky things. Because I’ve been participating in the #XFRewatch hosted by X-Files News, I’ve been reposting a lot of my old reviews and cringing at some of the scores I gave. There are many instances in which I almost beat myself on the head for giving certain episodes a low score, like “Deep Throat” and “Little Green Men,” two episodes that deserve way more than what they got. I think it’s partially because I was new to reviewing, and partially because I wasn’t quite solid on what “6/10” means. At the time, I may have felt like the episode was a “6/10,” which as far as I’m concerned means good – not great, but not terrible. Others, though, might interpret “6/10” to be poor, or mediocre. So, giving “El Mundo Gira” a 7/10 might be more than it deserves, but it feels right. That’s the best way I know how to explain it.

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Notable Nuggets, and News!

•  More Scully murmuring West Side Story lyrics, please.
• The ending of this episode is waaaaaaay more insane than I remembered. I think it might have tipped the boat for me, actually. If it wasn’t for that last line which ties everything up so nicely, this episode might have sunk to a “Teliko” level.
• Speaking of which, this episode is much, much better than “Teliko.”

And now – some exciting news!

If you follow me on Twitter, you might notice that I tweet about The X-Files a lot. In fact, that’s pretty much all I tweet about. But I don’t do it alone. Because of wonderful sites like X-Files News, many an X-Phile has been brought together to participate in the X-Files Global Rewatch, a truly noble undertaking by X-Files fans around the globe to watch every episode of the series, plus the two movies, before the revival in January.

Every day, X-Files News has livetweet sessions scheduled at certain times. These sessions are hosted by the X-Files News Twitter account or often by guest hosts, such as the ever-awesome TV Mouse and the host of #XFScienceSundays, @JossaDosBichos (PS – follow them!).

I am super beyond excited to announce that I will be hosting two upcoming livetweet sessions, for the Season 2 and 3 episodes “Duane Barry” and “The Walk.” You can either follow both my Twitter account and X-Files News, as well as enjoy some other tweets from all the beautiful and brilliant X-Philes that participate in all of these rewatches. The times, hashtags, and other important info are all on the X-Files News website, so please don’t hesitate to check it out!

Hope to see your awesome tweets! And really, how cool is it that this revival is bringing us even closer together as a fandom? Even if it turns out to be less-than-stellar, this whole thing will be worth it just because of that.

Let’s get ready for the #XFilesRevival!

Paper Hearts – Season 4, Ep 10

SCULLY: Oh, God…

(She stands.)

You’re going to see the inside of your cell instead. You’re going to rot there.

#DFWS (Don’t F*ck With Scully)

 
 
 
Season 4, Episode 10: “Paper Hearts”

“Paper Hearts” is the first episode to explore a question that hasn’t been asked yet: what if something else happened to Samantha Mulder? What if she wasn’t abducted by aliens?

What with all the mythology involving Samantha, particularly in Season 2, there became a division between the girl Samantha Mulder and the plot device Samantha Mulder, with the latter largely overtaking the former. Not since Season 1’s “Conduit” do we really get a chance to focus on Mulder’s feelings concerning Samantha, and by the time Season 2 hits we start to attach Samantha Mulder’s name with the mythology. Think “Samantha Mulder,” and you immediately think clones, aliens, UFOs, the Cigarette Smoking Man. You do not think about a man who has spent his entire life trying to fix a tragedy that has broken him and his family apart.

What “Paper Hearts” does is bring Samantha Mulder back to earth, by placing her in a scenario that has nothing to do with aliens, abduction, or a conspiracy. Just like in “Irresistible,” the horror in “Paper Hearts” is very human.

But so, too, is the hero. “Paper Hearts” is one of my very favorite episodes for Mulder’s character, because it shows just how good of a person he is. It’s very tempting, I think, to write Mulder off as a quirky, obsessive weirdo who can sometimes reach stupefying levels of asshole (see “Revelations”), but “Paper Hearts” reminds us that he has incredible integrity. Just look at how he says “It’s somebody, though,” after learning that the girl’s body isn’t Samantha’s. Mulder understands the humanity behind the deaths, especially in this case. Every paper heart for Mulder is a representation of the pain that he knows too well. But Mulder is also incredibly sympathetic and mindful. I tend to disagree with Skinner a little when he accuses Mulder’s personal feelings clouding his judgment. They may cloud his practical judgment surrounding Roche, but they sure as hell don’t cloud his desire to put the victims to rest, Samantha or no Samantha.

Speaking of John Lee Roche, how awesome is Tom Noonan in this role? Compare Roche to the likes of Donnie Pfaster (“Irresistible”) and Robert Patrick Modell (“Pusher”),  and again you get a very different sort of horrible person than we’ve seen before. We have the same lack of remorse, but the thing about Roche that always got me was how normal he seemed, apart from the whole murdering 8-10 year-old girls thing. Just like Mulder, I can easily see him as a salesman, and that’s terrifying on a different level than Pfaster or Modell. Not necessarily more scary, but in a different way.

There are so many things I love about this episode, and to name them all would take a review longer than most of you are probably willing to read. What I will talk about is a little detail I didn’t notice until this recent rewatch. When Mulder and Scully are talking to Addie Sparks’s father, he says this:

FRANK SPARKS: No. I used to think… that missing was worse than dead because…You never knew what happened. Now that I know… I’m glad my wife’s not here. She got luckier.

I never thought about how central that idea was to this episode until I watched it this time. Mulder’s search for his sister, particularly in the context of the mythology, always operates under the assumption that his sister is missing, not dead. But here is a case in which Samantha is subconsciously inserted, placed right into a scenario where she is almost certainly dead. Mulder’s talk with Scully (which is so deeply layered that I can’t discuss everything, kill me) illustrates this conflict. How does he really want to find Samantha? Missing or dead?

Mulder seems to think that at the end of the day, the aliens, conspiracy, the truth, nothing is as important as finding out what happened to Samantha. Even if it turns out that Roche killed her. Even if aliens aren’t involved at all. But what Mulder learns in “Paper Hearts” is that Samantha is something that can and will occasionally have to be sacrificed. Whether it’s to save the life of a little girl, or for Scully’s sake, or even for his own sake, Samantha – the person, not the plot device – will only be put to rest if Mulder takes care of the people in his life first.

And that’s a beautiful message we all can take something from, don’t you think?

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Final Score

Final score for “Paper Hearts” is 10/10. No, but really. This episode is pretty close to perfect. From David Duchovny’s really-should-have-won-an-Emmy performance to Scully’s gentle yet fiery concern to Mark Snow’s phenomenal theme to Vince Gilligan’s elegantly simple writing, this episode just has it all. It’s actually my favorite episode from Season 4, and it is one of the very best Mulder-centric episodes. It’s just…well, it’s just what I say for most Vince Gilligan penned X-Files episodes. It’s just damn good television.

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Notable Nuggets

• God, there are too many. Where to start?
• I didn’t talk about her much in the review, but how beautiful and awesome is Scully in this episode? She’s the only person in this episode who seems to scare Roche a little. I mean, just look at this DFWS stare.

• Vince Gilligan obviously loved the “A dream is an answer to a question we haven’t figured out how to ask” line from “Aubrey.” He uses it three times in this episode if I’m not mistaken.
• If I had to make one itty bitty complaint about this episode, it’s that I wish they had identified the last heart. It would have tied in the whole “missing or dead” theme better, as well as give more weight to Mulder’s “It is somebody, though,” line. Since, I’ll just say it, the last heart isn’t Samantha, it will never be brought up again and in the context of the show that girl, whoever she is, has never been put to rest. Sad.
• Mark Snow, you genius.

Terma – Season 4, Ep 9

SCULLY: But what’s in Canada?

MULDER: Where would you put this rock if you didn’t want it to be found?

SCULLY: Back in the ground.

Well, I can’t argue with the conspirators here. If I didn’t want something to be found, I’d put it back in the ground in Canada too.

 
 
 
Season 4, Episode 9: “Terma”

Usually (and I do mean usually) the second part of a mythology two-parter is the stronger.  I’m not so sure that’s the case for “Terma.” We certainly do have a very memorable scene at the end with Mulder’s return, and Mulder’s escape from the Russian death camp isn’t exactly forgettable. But in terms of completing this story, “Terma” raises a lot more questions than it does answers. Which, of course, is the nature of The X-Files, I understand, but here it doesn’t feel quite right.

It doesn’t help that this episode begins with one of the most uselessly dark and dare I say manipulative openings in X-Files history. I seem to be the only person who remembers this scene enough to be bothered by it, but something about it feels very wrong to me. In case you didn’t pick up on it, this episode opens with somebody’s aunt going through euthanasia, or assisted suicide, which is a very serious subject that should be treated with kid gloves if at all. What we get out of this scene is nothing more than another demonstration of the black cancer. I would have been fine with that, had they not made such a show of the euthanasia, with the aunt telling the niece that she’s tired of the pain and the niece tragically asking if her aunt is gone. Take that out of this episode and view it on its own, and you’ve got a very sad, very serious and potentially moving story about euthanasia and the questions it raises. Which, obviously, is not the purpose of this episode – but therein lies my point. Why use a subject so serious and then do nothing with it except end it in a horribly twisted way? It just doesn’t make sense to me.

But, putting that aside, is “Terma” a good episode? Well, it’s certainly not the best episode we’ll ever get, mythology or otherwise, but like “Tunguska” it’s definitely not bad. It’s entertaining, it’s exciting, and full of characters like Krycek and the Well-Manicured Man. It’s actually a lot more important to the mythology than I ever realized, feeding into storylines that won’t resurface until the end of Season 6. And it undeniably has an amazing scene at the end, where Mulder returns to the courtroom and we see that look on Scully’s face, like a million Christmases have come early. So no, it’s not bad at all.

Still, though, there’s something about it that bugs me, and it’s this: “Terma” may move a little too quickly for the episode to ever really settle, at least until the end. As soon as Mulder escapes from the Russian camp, the action continues until the very end. Mulder is left no time to really contemplate what happened to him in the camp, and, perhaps most confusingly, discuss it with Scully. Because of this, I completely forgot the how important the whole Mulder-being-exposed-to-black-cancer thing was, even though that was the cliffhanger of “Tunguska.”

Also – blink and you’ll miss it – very few, myself included, seem to pick up on the fact that Krycek was the one who hired the badass old Russian assassin. I certainly didn’t realize that until this last rewatch, which was maybe the fourth or fifth time I’ve seen this episode. All it does, really, is put Krycek in an even more confusing position (and it makes him a really, really good liar and someone who is really good at taking chances – like thank goodness speaking Russian convinced Mulder to take him to Russia, right?). I’m pretty sure Krycek didn’t plan to have his arm cut off, after all. If this all was a plan from the beginning, he probably needs to plan better.

Still, though, I do love the last few scenes, beginning from when Mulder makes his surprise entrance to the end of the episode. I love whenever Scully’s the one to rescue Mulder, and the scene with the oil rig explosion is expert work from the king of all explosion directors, Rob Bowman. And, like I said, while the details of this episode’s mythology can become hard to remember, the visuals aren’t (probably in great part because of Bowman).

And, of course, we have a great few scenes with everyone’s favorite bad Brit, the Well-Manicured Man, whose frustration with CSM is almost too good not to love. If CSM is the ultimate nemesis, then Well-Manicured Man is the bossy older brother always telling him when he’s screwed up. It’s also interesting to see how quickly Well-Manicured Man’s attitude towards CSM’s methods changes when Dr. Bonita What’s-Her-Face gets killed.

So, while I can’t say it’s exactly the best The X-Files has to offer, it’s still a great ride, and we all need some Indiana Jones-esque action from time to time, even if we do lose a bit of clarity in the plot. And, like I said, “Tunguska” and “Terma” are deceptively important, so if you can recall details from these two a few seasons from now, you’ll be in good shape.

And Scully makes this face, so I can’t complain too much.

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Final Score

Final score for “Terma” is 7/10. Really, in my brain, “Tunguska” and “Terma” are the same episode. Not the best, but definitely still good. If not a bit confusing. But you can’t deny the good moments.

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Notable Nuggets

• Scully looks beautiful even when jailed.
• Does anyone find it odd that Scully doesn’t even question Mulder when he says “I can put my arms around you – both of them”? Shouldn’t that have gotten at least a Scully eyebrow?
• I love that last scene. It’s creepy and mirrors the scene at the beginning, kind of like a visual bookend. Also, I really wish we could see more of the badass old Russian assassin, but unfortunately this is his only appearance.

And some news!

For those of you that follow me on Twitter – or even if you don’t – I’ll be participating in the Global Rewatch hosted by the wonderful people over at X-Files News, and livetweeting as much as I can as they go episode by episode. I won’t be able to do all of them, but I have been able to do most. I also have some exciting news concerning this rewatch that I won’t announce just yet, but stay tuned!

Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man – Season 4, Ep 7

FRANCIS: Cigarette?

(He holds out a pack of Morley’s.)

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: No, thank you, sir. I never touch them.

 
 
 

Season 4, Episode 7: “Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man”

So, if you follow me on Twitter, you might have noticed that my most recent tweets mainly consist of this:

                       https://twitter.com/knifeink/status/608454549330927616

                       https://twitter.com/knifeink/status/608427834047131648

                       https://twitter.com/knifeink/status/608427953085648896

                      https://twitter.com/knifeink/status/608428054352924672

So…yeah. All that is because of the X-Files Revival, which may end up causing multiple deaths before it even airs. And I’ll probably be one of them.

With that said, it’s probably a good thing that today’s episode isn’t about Mulder and Scully, because if it was, I might not be able to come up with anything to say besides blahblahdsnbchwjefbwdblahwjrhebrfdhxnszmablah, which is fangirl for “my brain is unable to process thoughts right now, please give me a sedative.”

So, let’s turn to the subject of today’s episode: fiction.

Oh, you thought I was going to talk about the Cigarette Smoking Man, didn’t you? Well, I am. But I’m also going to talk about the power of fiction – its power to control, confuse, comfort, and condemn. Alliterated for your reading pleasure.

This story about CSM is wrapped in fiction. We don’t know how much of it is actually true. We don’t even know who’s presenting the narrative, if it’s Frohike or CSM’s own memories. My bet is it’s Frohike, or at least that makes the best sense in keeping with this episode’s theme of fiction. But we don’t actually know for sure.

What we see is CSM from his days as a young man. We hear a little of his backstory, that his father was a traitor and that he grew up an orphan. We also hear that he was chosen to assassinate JFK because his father, though a traitor, was an “extraordinary man” and the shadowy officers/military believed CSM may have inherited some of that extraordinary quality. This was a little tough to swallow if you ask me – it’s not really sound reasoning and they don’t go into any more detail about why CSM was chosen beyond that, which I think only strengthens the argument that this is Frohike presenting the narrative, not CSM. But people inheriting legacies from their fathers will be a theme in upcoming seasons, so stay tuned.

Thus CSM begins his journey of lying, manipulating, killing, and covering up the truth. I don’t think “Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man” necessarily does a good job of providing CSM with any solid motivations for doing what he does, but I also don’t think that’s the point of the episode. The point is to provide us with an example of a character who is so utterly wrapped up in the fiction he has helped create – or the lie, as Mulder would say – that he has no identity of his own anymore.

The episode is rife with symbolism, the most famous being the box of chocolates monologue, which is a blatant stab at Forrest Gump and is wonderful all the same. But my personal favorite symbol of the entire episode is CSM’s trademark, the cigarettes themselves. CSM refuses a cigarette in the beginning because he has not yet created the lie. His first cigarette comes from Oswald, the man that CSM set up, the murderer he created – his first lie. The cigarettes literally originate from a lie.

Am I reading too much into it? Nah. Because that’s what this episode is about. For all we know, the entire episode is fiction and fiction is sometimes loaded with symbolism and metaphors. We are seeing a representation of CSM, not CSM himself. What we do know is that according to this story, CSM, for all the lying and killing, has a soft side too. He gives ties to his co-conspirators and writes thriller stories. He has a love for reading. He makes pouty monologues and gives chocolate to hobos.

What does this say about CSM? When he writes his fiction stories, he is expressing the only part of him which he feels has any inkling of identity, his love of fiction and storytelling (recall him reading a book before his first assignment). If CSM had it his way, he might do away with all the lies, sit down, and write the story that is the truest version of himself. And he tries. But every time he does, it is rejected. And the one time it isn’t rejected, it is changed, into something almost unrecognizable: truth becoming lies. Comfort becoming condemnation. Fiction becoming so obscured it becomes something else. The only true part of CSM’s nature being taken away from him.

Perhaps that is why CSM decides not to kill Frohike. As he says, he can do it whenever he wants, but perhaps doing so would deprive him of the ounce of truth CSM has left – the story he actually wrote, in which he had the means to kill but did not do so. “I can kill you whenever I please…but not today.”

Does this make CSM a hero? Hell no. Does it make him an anti-hero? I wouldn’t even go there. But it does make him someone that, at least presented here, is incredibly sympathetic and relatable. None of us killed JFK, but we’ve all felt at one point or another inherently fictional – wrapped up in a narrative we did not create, trying desperately to reveal that part of ourselves which is true and authentic. And poor CSM is so deep in the lies and the fiction that he cannot escape. So, in the end, he does what he’s always done: flicks the lighter, lights the cigarette, and carries on with hiding the truth.

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Final Score

Final score for “Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man” is 8/10 stars. I’ll admit I hadn’t seen this episode in a while, and watching it again was an interesting experience. It doesn’t provide as much insight into CSM as I had thought it did, especially because of the whole the-entire-story-may-not-even-be-true thing. It’s a great episode on its own, but I’m not sure how well the CSM portrayed here fits into the rest of the series. He certainly will never be this sympathetic again.

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Notable Nuggets

• This episode is absolutely gorgeous. This was James Wong’s directorial debut, and boy what a debut it was. He got an Emmy nod for it and it’s no wonder; absolutely breathtaking direction. Also shoutout to the cinematographer, Jon Joffin, who deserves all the awards.
• Of course Mulder’s first word was “JFK.”
• Can we also give all the awards to Chris Owens? He is so underrated and I think it’s a shame he doesn’t get brought up as much as many of the other recurring guest stars. He plays a wide variety of roles on this show, and he’s great in all of them.
• Also, the magazine in which CSM’s story is published has an article called “Where in the Hell is Darin Morgan?” Just sayin’.

Sanguinarium – Season 4, Ep 6

SCULLY: So this man committed these murders in order to make himself beautiful?

MULDER: Everybody wants to be beautiful, Scully.

Uh…no offense to anyone, I mean, you are beautiful no matter what they say, but was this the best Dr. Franklyn could do? This is the face he ritually killed people for?

 
 
 
Season 4, Episode 6: “Sanguinarium”

So, for the past two weeks I’ve been battling a very inconvenient little stomach bug, which might be the most legitimate excuse I’ve given for not putting a review up in a while since the day I started this blog. Considering the episode, that is. “Sanguinarium” is not an episode you want to watch on an upset stomach.

I have a friend who watched every episode of The X-Files on Netflix except for this one. When she saw the description, she skipped it. Not because it’s necessarily the scariest or even the most disturbing episode the show has ever done (because it’s not), but because she did not like the idea of horrible things going wrong in hospitals, which I think is a very real fear that many people have. After all, when you put your body – sometimes your life – entirely in the hands of someone else, it’s terrifying to think that something could go wrong.

The X-Files is careful not to delve too deep into this fear. For example, it makes this hospital one for plastic surgeries and not critical illnesses or something like that. This makes the doctors a little less complex than they might be if, say, they were trying to remove a tumor. Also, the whole black magic/witchcraft thing à la “Die Hand Die Verletzt” (S2 E14) further removes the audience from the reality of the fear itself. The fear is still there, but it’s shrouded in blood, blood, and more blood. This episode relishes in grossness and isn’t afraid to be more about that than anything else.

There is certainly a place for that in a show like The X-Files, and while it may not be able to go full blood-guts-slasher horror film on us, I’ll admit that sometimes it’s ok to turn your brain off and wince for 45 minutes. If you’re into that kind of stuff. If you’re not, then you might want to skip this one, because there really isn’t much else to it. Does it offer a commentary on plastic surgery or the patient’s trust in their doctor? No. Does it explore society’s pressures on people to look a certain way? No. Does it give us a different, non-cliched portrayal of witchcraft? Hell no. Is it something you can shout eeew at and feel queasy watching? Yep.

Enjoy your blood and gore.

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Final Score

Final score for “Sanguinarium” is 6/10. By all accounts, an average episode with an average score. But still, points for grossness.

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Notable Nuggets, Nitpicks, and News

• I admit I really do love the scene where Mulder looks at himself in the mirror, assessing his own imperfections. It’s my favorite part of the episode because it shows that guys can be obsessive about their appearances too, and it makes way more sense to have Mulder be that person instead of Scully, given their personalities.
• Speaking of Mulder and Scully, though, they’re really not very good investigators in this episode. It takes them a while to finally catch on.
• NEWS! It appears that (and I emphasize the word “appears” because there’s been no official announcement) that the author of my all-time favorite X-Files blog, Musings of an X-Phile, is making a return. If that is the case, then I might as well quit here and now. Ok, not really, but in all seriousness her reviews make mine look like every kind of trash ever. And I’m ok with that. 🙂

The Field Where I Died – Season 4, Ep 5

MULDER: I, too, have spent a life the sages’ way and tread once more familiar paths. Perchance I perished in an arrogant self-reliance an age ago… and in that act, a prayer for one more chance went up so earnest, so… instinct with better light let in by death that life was blotted out not so completely… but scattered wrecks enough of it to remain dim memories… as now… when seems once more… the goal in sight again.

Translation: Blah blah blah blah, blah blah, pretentiousness, blah blah blah, deep deep deepness, blah blah pretty language, blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah, blah, blah blah.

Author’s Edit: GAHHHHHHHH. My sincerest apologies to Robert Browning, whose poem this is. I swear I did try to look up this opening monologue because I suspected it came from something else, but for some reason Google was messing with me that day and it only gave me links to this episode. My point nevertheless stands – using a poem for pretentious purposes does not make those purposes any less pretentious – but as for the poem itself, which you can find here, I’m sure it’s very nice. (I didn’t read it. It’s very very long.)

 
 
 
Season 4, Episode 5: “The Field Where I Died”

You guys know I love this show, right? I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t. And believe me, there’s nothing I’d like better to do than to praise the hell out of the show in light of the very wonderful news that’s just been released. Wouldn’t that have been fun?

But no. Things didn’t turn out that way, apparently. As a reviewer – sloppy and amateur as I am – I do not give Get Out Of Jail Free Cards. Not even for Mulder and Scully. Not even after an X-Files greenlight.

Jeez, what bad timing.

So…yeah. I really hate this episode. I can’t think of an episode since Season 2’s “3” that I dislike more. With “The Field Where I Died,” it’s a bit more personal, since it’s a lot better than “3” technically – hell, just going by the production quality alone, the episode’s really good. Maybe I should just watch it on mute. But “The Field Where I Died” has an element to it that makes me squirm in frustration, and that’s this: it’s unbearably pretentious.

If you couldn’t tell from the Quote Box, I can’t stand dialogue like that. I love Morgan & Wong (well, most of the time), but I swear to God they somehow wrote an episode designed to personally piss me off. Maybe it doesn’t get to everybody, but this is the sort of stuff that drives me up a wall.

That’s not the only reason I dislike this episode, though. You see, Morgan & Wong, despite all of their cleverness and brilliance with episodes like “Beyond the Sea” and “Home,” really should have stuck to monsters and developing Scully rather than touching on Mulder and Scully’s relationship. Because if you didn’t think that’s what they were doing, think again. And, if you think this episode is all about that Mulder/Scully relationship that I’ve been rambling on about, think again again.

It may not be so obvious to a first-time viewer, but once you get to “Never Again” – a little later in the season – you’ll start to see where Morgan & Wong stand on this whole Mulder-and-Scully thing. Morgan & Wong are perhaps the most powerful NoRoMos that have ever been associated with The X-Files. It was only due to the fact that Chris Carter had control over the overarching storyline that Mulder and Scully weren’t split apart and then slowly brought back together over the course of a season. And before you laugh at me for my conjecture, I’m not conjecturing. That was really one of their plans.

As Salome says in Musings of an X-Phile, it was incredibly important “that Chris Carter hold tightly to the reins of his own creation.” It’ll be more clear why in “Never Again.”

Which, come to think of it, may be part of the problem for me. I never liked “The Field Where I Died,” but after seeing “Never Again,” it went into a whole other category of dislike. Because, once you know Morgan & Wong’s intentions, it’s really, really hard what to make of an exchange like this:

MULDER: Dana, if, um… early in the four years we’ve been working together… an event occurred that suggested or somebody told you that… we’d been friends together in other lifetimes… always… wouldn’t it have changed some of the ways we looked at one another?

SCULLY: Even if I knew for certain, I wouldn’t change a day.

Many people see this as romantic. I don’t. Especially since Morgan & Wong go to such great lengths to put Scully in the role of friend as they explore Mulder’s past lives. They make her a man. They make Melissa Mulder’s wife. These things are set up to be compared, and they are set up to make you look at the characters differently.

Which is fine. I don’t have a problem with a different take on the Mulder and Scully relationship. I can respect NoRoMos, even if I don’t and probably won’t ever understand them. But I do wish that Morgan & Wong had made their point in a way that was less pretentious, less forced, and less muddy.

Because in the end, that’s the biggest problem with “The Field Where I Died.” It tries to set up the Mulder and Scully relationship differently, but it never ends up doing that. Aside from that one conversation, Mulder and Scully never discuss, or appear to contemplate what the other means to them. If The X-Files is all about a relationship unspoken, a relationship with an assumed nature (that of the romantic), you cannot say “oh, they’re just friends” and not explain why. Tell me, Morgan & Wong. Why aren’t Mulder and Scully in love with each other?

And then there’s the other part of this episode, the cult suicide. That’s heavy, heavy, heavy stuff, and while the episode is appropriately somber, I almost wish the main focus had been on that. You’re so confused about what to feel sad for – Mulder’s emotions regarding Melissa, or the cult suicide. Certainly you can feel sad about both. But what does the episode feel sad for?

To top it all off, this episode just isn’t an enjoyable watch. It’s kind of dull, actually. The cinematography is beautiful and David Duchovny gives a great performance, but other than that, the episode is honestly quite boring.

Boring, pretentious, forced, and useless. Oh, Morgan & Wong. You’re killing me here.

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Final Score

Final score for “The Field Where I Died” is 1/10. I’m sorry, guys, I really am. This makes me feel dirty, actually. But I really do hate this episode. I can’t stand it.

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Notable Nuggets (There aren’t Any, But I’ve got good news instead)

• So, how about that greenlight, huh? Are you spasming every waking moment of your life like I am? I cannot tell you what that news did for my week. I was having the crappiest of all weeks and then suddenly all my problems went away. Well, they didn’t, but it feels like they did.
• There aren’t a whole lot of details concerning the new series, but what we do know is this: Darin Morgan is coming back, it’s being shot in Vancouver, Darin Morgan is coming back, Darin Morgan is coming back, production should start this summer, William B. Davis (CSM) is returning, Darin Morgan is coming back, Darin Morgan is coming back, and Darin Morgan is coming back.
• Darin Morgan is coming back.

Unruhe – Season 4, Ep 4

SCULLY: It might be significant as a word.

MULDER: That’s what I’ve been thinking. Apparently in German, it means trouble or strife.

SCULLY: “Unrest.”

MULDER: You took German in high school, Scully?

SCULLY: College.

Has anyone noticed that Vince Gilligan likes giving our characters traits that never come up again? Like, apparently Mulder is colorblind (“Wetwired”) and Scully can speak German. Well, better add it to the list of things this woman can do, right next to rewriting Einstein and being able to identify Bach by a 4 second MIDI clip.

 
 
 
Season 4, Episode 4: “Unruhe”

Vince Gilligan is a great writer. There, I said it. I know you guys have all been waiting for the groundbreaking statements I was bound to make since the day this blog started, and there you go. Truly, an original insight.

Breaking Bad fans have The X-Files to thank for much of that show, but The X-Files also owes a lot to Gilligan. He helped fill the void left by Darin Morgan, and in some ways surpassed it – not necessarily surpassed Morgan, but expanded what The X-Files could do, both with its humor and its MOTW. Gilligan wrote some of his best work for Season 4, keeping the show from succumbing completely to the whims of (Glen) Morgan & Wong, who for some reason tried to unravel many key aspects of the series…but we’ll get to them later (just you wait, Morgan & Wong. Just you wait).

Vince Gilligan writes episodes that, like Season 3’s “Pusher,” just seem to understand what makes television work – the kind of episodes that I like to call “just damn good television.” That’s both a description and a reaction. Every time I watch an episode like “Pusher,” I think to myself, this is just damn good television. It’s not “Beyond the Sea,” it’s not Darin Morgan, but it’s damn good.

I feel the same way about “Unruhe.” While it might not be the most philosophical or even most original thing ever done on The X-Files, but damn is it good. It’s intense, it’s suspenseful, and it’s original.

Gilligan has a thing for photography – he’ll be using it again it later episodes – but up to this point the last photography-centered episode we had was “Oubliette,” which, if you recall, was 45 minutes of pure unpleasantness. “Unruhe” is really the shining gem of early Season 4 (well, apart from “Home”) and I daresay the season would have been very lost without it, more so than people realize. In fact, “Unruhe” is a big contender for most underrated episode of the early seasons, kind of like another really good Gilligan episode, “Wetwired.” Do I see a pattern emerging here?

If “Unruhe” has one weak spot, though – and maybe this is the reason people don’t remember it as well – it’s that the villain isn’t really that compelling, nor is Scully’s confrontation with him. Comparatively. It’s still very good, but it’s certainly not “Irresistible” or “Pusher” levels of interesting. Gerry Schnauz isn’t as scary as Donnie Pfaster nor is he as charismatic as Robert Patrick Modell. Oh, he’s still scary, but maybe not as memorable as those two.

It’s okay, though, because the photography element of the episode is really interesting and really original. Gilligan clearly has a love for photography and he uses it masterfully here. It forces the horror and suspense of the episode to be conveyed in an unmoving picture rather than the action; the creepy, ominous fingers around the screaming faces of the various women gives me chills every time. I also love that Mulder just misses Scully in this episode, running after the van that’s taking her away and screaming “SCULLAY!”

What else can I say? It’s Vince Gilligan. He’s the man. Go watch this episode and enjoy yourself. Enjoy yourself as much as you can before you’re subjected to the likes of Morgan & Wong.

Just you wait, Morgan & Wong.

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 Final Score

 

Final score for “Unruhe” is 9/10. While I think they could have fleshed out the villain’s backstory a little more to make him more interesting, that’s honestly the only criticism I have. Really underrated episode, a great watch. I expect nothing less from Vince Gilligan.

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Notable Nuggets

• I always felt so bad for the old photography guy at the beginning. I don’t know why.
• Scully probably knows what duct tape tastes like by now (her mouth was also duct taped in “Our Town”).
• This episode really wouldn’t work today, in the Age of Photoshop. I’m glad it was written when it was.

Home – Season 4, Ep 2

SCULLY: Mulder, if you had to do without a cell phone for two minutes, you’d lapse into catatonic schizophrenia.

Scully? Marry me.

 
 
 
Season 4, Episode 2: “Home”

“Home” is one of the most iconic episodes of The X-Files. It ranks up there with “Squeeze,” “The Host,” and “The Post-Modern Prometheus” as one of the most famous episodes the series ever produced. Watching it, it’s easy to see why.

I mostly try to look at each episode outside of its “historical” context – you know, since I wasn’t there and all – but “Home” is one of those episodes that might get a few eyebrows raised today, but certainly wouldn’t be as shocking as it was in 1996. The thing is, though, that “Home,” while it does contain disturbing material, is also one of the most self-aware episodes of the series. And not self-aware in the “Jose Chung” sense (though there are shadows of Darin Morgan to be found), but self-aware in the way it handles its atmosphere and tone. This is my favorite aspect of the episode, and why I think it holds up so well today.

You see, there’s a reason “Home” is still incredibly beloved. If it was all shock value, then the episode wouldn’t be impressive nowadays. But it’s more than disturbing, it’s…funny. And scary. And legitimately intriguing.

I’m not going to give a plot summary – even some non X-Philes are familiar with this episode – so instead I’m going to focus on what my favorite parts of the episode are.

“Home” isn’t anywhere near the most well-written or thought-provoking episodes, but it is one of the cleverest. The way it paints this picture-perfect little town before ruining the town’s perfect picture is brilliant. The use of the song “Wonderful! Wonderful!” always has me laughing, and to this day I can’t hear the song in a grocery store or wherever without a demonic grin forming on my face. This episode is half-horror, half-joke. It’s almost a parody of itself.

Mulder and Scully have the best banter they’ve had in a while, as well as a few moments to sit back and reflect. In “Home” we hear of Mulder’s admiration for the quiet life, of Scully’s desire to one day be a mother. We see Andy Taylor trying desperately to cling to the unchanging quietness of his home while the FBI come and investigate murder. The sad thing about Andy Taylor is that he’s trying to preserve something that was already corrupted. Not that he could have known about the Peacocks, but by ignoring them, he’s also blinded himself to the horrors he’s tried so hard to keep away. And yep, it ends up getting him in the end.

Beyond the horrific incest story that made the episode so famous (and controversial), what I love most about this episode is really the aesthetic stuff: the lighting, the cinematography, the music, just how well they craft the tone. The tone throughout “Home” is that of cheery horror, and that’s so, so hard to do. It’s almost perfect.

But while I do like this episode a lot, I will admit that I feel a certain distance between myself and “Home.” Not because I think it isn’t good, or even that it’s overrated, but just because I feel like people take it waaaay too seriously. It’s a joke. It’s supposed to be a joke. It’s one of the most well-told, scary, horrifying jokes ever, but it’s still a joke.

But hey, it’s a joke that still makes me laugh (and grimace), so what do I know.

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Final Score

Final score for “Home” is 9/10. While I don’t think it’s the best episode ever, as some seem to think, its brilliance is undeniable. Watch it for yourself – it definitely holds up.

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Notable Nuggets

• Mulder and Scully in this episode are just fantastic. This is definitely the best Morgan & Wong script in Season 4, that’s for damn sure.
• Does anyone else think the Peacocks look like Klingons?
• Maybe it’s cute to some people that Mulder says to Scully “start cranking out the little uber-Scullys,” but for whatever reason, I always found it a little…awkward.

Herrenvolk – Season 4, Ep 1

(CANADIAN) REPAIRMAN: A bee just stung me, eh?

Did we mention that the opening of this episode is set in Alberta, Canada? Because it’s set in Alberta, Canada. Just in case you weren’t sure, we made certain to have the repairman say the most clichéd Canadian thing possible. Just so you know that this is indeed not the United States of America.

Eh?

 
 
 
Season 4, Episode 1: “Herrenvolk”

After the strange opening scene of “Herrenvolk,” we jump right in where we left off. I think “Talitha Cumi” might have benefitted a little more if they had gone a little further into the opening events of “Herrenvolk” – maybe end “Talitha Cumi” with Scully in the car with the bounty hunter, which I think would have been a much better cliffhanger. It’s a very well shot scene, as the audience is also unaware of the bounty hunter’s presence at first, and it would have made for a great deal of suspense as a season closer. But I digress.

Usually – I don’t want to say always, but usually – the second part of a mythology two-parter is the stronger. That’s certainly the case with “Herrenvolk,” which gives Mulder a much-needed focus. Season 3 was very Scully-centric, which I don’t have a problem with, but it’s about time the writers gave Mulder some more trouble, to balance out Scully’s losses. Season 4 will have many, many great moments for Mulder’s character, and I feel that’s much due to the tone set in “Herrenvolk,” which sees Mulder at the most vulnerable he’s been in a long, long time, since “Ascension” and “One Breath” (Season 2).

“Herrenvolk” doesn’t really stick out in my mind as a particularly landmark episode – in fact, as far as the mythology goes, it’s rather uneventful – but it is an emotional one, and more than any other episode it sets the stage for the upcoming film, Fight the Future, which chronologically takes place two years later. It’s not necessarily that Fight the Future is about any of the events that take place in “Herrenvolk,” but many key settings and plot devices are actually very similar. So “Herrenvolk” ties in with the upcoming mythology very well, as we’ll eventually see.

In terms of the episode itself, I can’t say I’m particularly attached to it, but after giving it another watch, I found that there’s a lot to be enjoyed in it. First of all, the episode is engaging, much more so than “Talitha Cumi.” There’s a high-speed chase at the beginning of the episode and the action is tense and gripping throughout the whole thing. However, the episode is given many moments to sit back and breathe, making it extremely well-paced. There are even some great lines, such as Scully when she says “Nothing happens in contradiction to nature – only in contradiction to what we know of it. And that’s a place to start. That’s where the hope is.” Scully, the wise philosopher.

The big thing that happens in this episode is the shooting of Mr. X, whose days as an informant, I’m sorry to say, are over. Actually, his days on the planet are over, too. Unfortunately Mr. X will be replaced with a less-than-worthy replacement. Yes, it’s the woman at the end, in case you didn’t catch that. No, she’s not terrible, but she’ll never be as intriguing or mysterious (or badass) as Mr. X.

Honestly, my biggest complaint about Mr. X is that I wanted more of him. He was mysterious, yes, but I felt like he could have been used more and I wanted his character to be better explored. He’s a fascinating figure, and unfortunately they just didn’t go anywhere with him, at least not as much as I would have hoped.

So…in conclusion, I think this episode’s great. Much, much better than I remembered it, which is always nice. And it does feature quite a bit of Mulder’s puppy dog face, which I will provide below as this review’s Notable Nuggets. You’re welcome.

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Final Score

Final score for “Herrenvolk” is 8/10. While it may not be the most memorable of season openers, it’s a good episode, much better than I remembered it. It’s well written, it’s well paced, it’s well acted, it’s just…well. A great start to Season 4, and a much-needed change of focus to Mulder.

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Notable Nuggets (Or, the Many Faces of the Mulder-Puppy)

Poor puppy.

 

 

Final Thoughts on Season 3

Season 3 is one of the most beloved seasons of The X-Files, for many reasons. For one thing, it was during Season 3 that the show really became a hit. Secondly, it was the era of Darin Morgan, and that’s amazing on its own. And of course we had other outstanding non-Darin Morgan episodes, like “Pusher,” “Revelations,” and “Wetwired.”

But for me, Season 3 is the season that’s still getting there – though it’s really getting there. Let’s take a look at different aspects of Season 3, shall we?

The Writing

This is the aspect of Season 3 that many fans considered to be the show’s biggest and most notable improvement, and there’s really no doubt about that. Not only were we graced with Darin Morgan, we had stunning contributions from Vince Gilligan and Kim Newton (who wrote “Revelations”).

But it is of course Darin Morgan that really rules this Season. He did what very, very few writers are able to do, give an entire TV show a sophistication and personality in four episodes (though his first episode was in Season 2). The cleverness of his writing, the philosophy imbedded into humor, just the stunning originality of his work left a mark on the The X-Files that lasted in the minds of the audience and the creators long after he left the show. The other writers, particularly Vince Gilligan, stepped up to the plate after Darin Morgan left to keep the show’s quirky humor and personality going, which they did wonderfully. But none were quite like Darin Morgan.

It’s interesting to speculate whether or not Darin Morgan should have stayed longer than he did. Of course I would have welcomed another episode with open arms – to quote The Fault in Our Stars, I’d read his grocery lists – but it’s difficult to see where Darin Morgan would have taken the show after “Jose Chung.” Once you put the show into a philosophical and humorous perspective like that, what else can you do?

I’m not saying it’s a good thing Darin Morgan left when he did, but it might not have been a bad thing, either. Darin Morgan did, after all, give us plenty to talk about and laugh about and write about with just four episodes. Honestly, if he’d written another one I might actually have to write a novel.

The Acting

David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are amazing in their roles, as always, but this is the season Gillian really began to show off her chops, and she had some tough material to conquer. From Scully’s spiritual exploration in “Revelations” to her anger over her sister’s death in “Piper Maru” to her casual home life in “War of the Coprophages” to her badass G-woman persona in “Jose Chung” to going crazy in “Wetwired,” Scully’s character has been all over the map and Gillian Anderson proved herself more than worthy of the job.

But the acting that really stands out in Season 3, for me, are its guest stars. Peter Boyle won an Emmy for his performance in “Clyde Bruckman,” Robert Wisden gave a brilliant performance as Robert Patrick Modell in “Pusher,” and of course, the entire cast of “Jose Chung” was simply amazing. Season 3’s guest stars have been on fire.

The Aesthetics

I didn’t talk about it that much in my reviews, but the overall production quality of the show is rapidly rising in quality. The cinematography alone is such a gargantuan improvement from Seasons 1 and 2 that it’s honestly incredible. The scene in “War of the Coprophages” where the roach crawls across the screen is brilliant, “Revelations” is beautifully shot, the scene where Robert Patrick Modell grabs Mulder’s headset in “Pusher” never fails to make me flinch, the lighting and atmosphere of “The List” are great (even though the episode itself sucks), “Jose Chung” has camera work as comedic as its writing. Just like the show itself, the production quality is getting better all the time.

The music, too, is great this season. My favorite Mark Snow work was always in the later seasons – with a few exceptions, like Season 1’s “Roland” – but after giving these episodes another watch I discovered that he matches certain moods and scenes perfectly, and damn does he know how to end an episode. The ending music for “Jose Chung” is a great part of why that last scene is so effective.

The Characters

Scully is really the one who goes into major development mode this season. Just as Season 2 was really Mulder’s time to change and face challenges with Scully’s abduction and whatnot, this season Scully is the one facing her inner demons, which take many forms. I’ve already talked at length about Scully’s growth and change in my reviews.

The question is, of course, where do we go from here? It’s nice to put all the development focus on Scully for a while, but soon we have to bring Mulder back into the forefront, and one of Season 3’s major flaws is that, honestly, there isn’t enough Mulder. Oh, he’s there, but his demons, temporarily, at least, have left. Season 3 doesn’t even have a Samantha episode. The closest we get is “Oubliette.”

Skinner also gets his chance to shine, especially in “Paper Clip” and “Avatar,” but the way the other characters respond to him, particularly Mulder and Scully, is still, in my humble opinion, not fair. Poor Skinner. He does a lot for them this season and ends up getting kicked in the face in one episode and nearly convicted for murder in the other. And yet we’ve still got Scully pointing a gun at him and shouting “son of a bitch.” 😦

The writers are eventually going to have to bring back balance to the force, if you will, and Season 4 will mark a notable shift in character focus – and, along with that, the inevitable topic of our next section:

The Ship

Don’t act surprised. You knew I was getting to this.

Season 3, for all its outstanding qualities, is majorly lacking in one area, more so than I think people realize. To be frank: Mulder and Scully aren’t really that close this season.

Compare and contrast. In Season 2 we had Scully’s abduction, which brought along with it lots of turmoil for Mulder and Scully, Mulder in particular. In Season 2, we had the “Irresistible” hug, Mulder crying, post-rescue hair brushes, Scully putting a sick Mulder to bed, etc. In Season 3 we have Mulder and Scully fighting, Mulder making snide comments at Scully’s expense, and honestly nothing terribly intimate until the ever-famous Conversation on the Rock, which is so famous it got its own acronym: COTR.

If there’s one thing about COTR that frustrates me, it’s that Shippers take this one little moment and turn it into a “milestone” in the development of the Ship, which may be so but still isn’t enough to excuse the rest of the season. And, since I’ve already discussed it in my “Quagmire” review, I’m not going to dwell on it any longer. Just be aware, my fellow Shippers, that Season 3 is, at least in terms of the ship, barely off the dock (just like Mulder and Scully in “Quagmire,” come to think of it). In other words: the best is yet to come.

Well, you know what time it is. Let’s bid a fond farewell to Season 3 with the…

Episode Awards

Oh yeah, Jack Black was in that: “D.P.O.”

Underrated: “Hell Money”/”Wetwired”

You Know You Laughed: “Syzygy”

Best Character Exploration: “Revelations”

Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series: “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose”

Funniest: “Jose Chung’s ‘From Outer Space'”

Saddest: “Jose Chung’s ‘From Outer Space'”

The Fact that I Am Able to Call and Episode Funny and Sad is Brilliant:

“Jose Chung’s ‘From Outer Space'”

The Plot Thickens: “Piper Maru”/”Apocrypha”

The Dud: “Teso Dos Bichos”

Just Damn Good Television: “Pusher”

This Is Gross: “War of the Coprophages”

Too Adorable: “Quagmire”

 

Best Standalone (that Darin Morgan didn’t write): “Pusher”

Best Mythology: “Piper Maru”/”Apocrypha”

Best Overall: “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose”

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Final Score for Season 3

7.29 stars

See you all in Season 4!