BAHNSEN: Yes, unsolved cases. I file them under “x.” (Goes to file cabinet..)
DALES: Why don’t you file them under “u” for “unsolved”?
BAHNSEN: That’s what I did until I ran out of room. Plenty of room in the “X”s.
This is ridiculous but somehow believable, don’t you think?
Season 5, Episode 15: “Travelers”
Let’s get one thing cleared up before we start: even though this show is focused on Mulder and Scully, the absence of one of the agents in an episode does not automatically make the episode useless or unwatchable. In other words, “There’s no Scully in it” is not a good enough reason to skip. In the words of Gandalf, you shall not pass.
Disgusting, horrible spider thing emerging from a guy’s mouth to devour people? That’s a good reason.
Everyone has things they find gross. For some, it’s the exploding pustules from “F. Emasculata,” for others, it’s the giant flukeworm in “The Host.” Everyone has that one episode that makes their stomach churn and their skin crawl. This is mine.
Oh, boy, is it mine.
And I know what you’re going to say. I’ve heard all the things. Yes, I’m aware that the spider thing looks like a gooey leather bag with legs. I don’t care. I still can’t watch any of those spider scenes without cringing and feeling a little bit sick. I can’t stomach this episode any more than a lactose intolerant person can stomach milk. I’m allergic to it, you might say.
It might also be the idea of the spider thing that scares me so much. If I could somehow take the fear away and just look at the effects, I probably wouldn’t be frightened at all. But the effects plant the idea of a giant parasitic spider that emerges from a person’s mouth to devour people in my brain, and my brain responds with a resounding “Oh hell no.” If I didn’t have to write this review, there’s a good chance I never would have watched this episode again.
To be honest, before rewatching it I didn’t remember much beyond the spider thing. Oh, I remembered Mulder’s bad haircut and mysterious ring, and Arthur Dales, but other than that, nothing. And I wish I could tell you that I’ve now permanently stored the rest of the episode into my memory banks, but I’m really not sure it made it all in there. By the time the next review comes, I will likely have forgotten most of “Travelers” again, and not the parts I’d like to forget the most. So, before we say goodbye to this episode forever, let’s give it a proper look.
The entire existence of this episode is a bit awkward. It’s placed after “The Red and the Black” as if to give the audience a break from the big emotional journey, which is nice, but perhaps a tad bit unnecessary. It is slightly interesting, I suppose, to see the origins of the X-Files, but so little time is spent on them that I have to wonder if this episode just wasn’t an excuse to do a period piece about the Red Scare. Which, I’d like to say, I’m not opposed to in principle, not at all. I like a good historical piece as much as anyone, and who doesn’t like seeing FBI agents in suspenders and fedoras? However, apart from the fact that the country was openly paranoid about communists, I don’t feel like this episode takes advantage of the time period enough. What do the characters discover at the end? The government is lyiiiing. Gee, what a revelation.
It’s set in the 195os, which we know because the characters use words like “commies” and men in fedoras brood in bars and smoke a lot. If I’d wanted to watch a Humphrey Bogart movie The Maltese Falcon would be playing right now (and yes I know that film is set in the 1940s, shut up).
Arthur Dales isn’t a bad character, but he’s not really given enough to work with. He doesn’t have a lot of agency in this story, and they really could have plopped anybody with a reasonably secure moral compass in his place. A young Bill Mulder makes an appearance, which unfortunately doesn’t reveal much we didn’t already know: he worked for the State Department, and although he’s involved in shady activities Bill’s not all bad.
I think maybe the episode could have benefitted had it been a little more humorous or tongue-in-cheek, sort of like an X-Files version of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. I’m not saying I needed Toon Town or anything, but maybe some of that film-noir humor, a jazzy soundtrack, more interesting characters.
And none of those horrible spider things. Yeesh.
Final Score
Final score for “Travelers” is 6/10. While not awful or anything, I struggle to see what it really offers. Besides nightmares for days.
Notable Nuggets
If I’m to be honest – and I have no intention of ever being otherwise – there is probably no fandom dispute I care less about than the supposed wedding ring. And that’s all I have to say about that.
The guy they got to play Hoover actually really looks like him.
The women in the office knew about the X-Files first – nice little touch.
Why does this show always make cats a sign of bad news? 😦
MULDER: What I’ve seen, I’ve seen because I wanted to believe. I … if you look too hard, you can go mad, but if you continue to look, you become liberated. And you become awake, as if from a dream, realizing that … that the lies are there simply to protect what they’re advertising: a government which knows its greatest strength is not in defense, but in attack. It’s strongly held by believers in UFO phenomena that there is military complicity or involvement in abductions, but what if there is no complicity? What if there is simply just the military, seeking to develop an arsenal against which there is no defense: biological warfare, which justifies – in their eyes – making an ass out of the nation with stories of little green men – a conspiracy wrapped in a plot inside a government agenda.
Dude, his ass would be fired. What’s that line again? “If it looks bad, it’s bad for the FBI”? Were they really letting Mulder run around and speak at UFO conferences? Sit down, puppy. Don’t chew the FBI’s furniture.
Season 5, Episode 13: “Patient X”
As we head into the next mythology episodes of Season 5, you might notice that you actually recognize the people, events, and players in this chunk of the story, even while being introduced to new ones. That’s because the mytharc in Season 5 is quite fluid, or as fluid as the mythology could probably get by this point.
Since we haven’t had a mythology episode since “Redux II,” it makes sense that Mulder is still in a state of doubt, at least as far as aliens are concerned. When we first see him, he’s at a conference discussing the abduction claims of a woman named “Patient X,” whose real name is Cassandra Spender and who claims to have been abducted by aliens multiple times.
Unlike other abductees we’ve encountered, though, Cassandra doesn’t mind being abducted. In fact, she says that the aliens have a lot to teach us puny humans. In other words, Cassandra Spender is the exact wrong person to come along at this point in Mulder’s life, in his period of self-doubt.
Because, ultimately, that’s really what this is. It’s self-doubt more than anything else. Even though he’s quick to believe in extreme possibilities, it’s been clear for a few seasons now that Mulder recognizes the value of good, hard evidence – something he no doubt picked up from Scully. Mulder’s continued belief in UFOs was always based on his sister’s abduction. But his spiritual crisis from “Gethsemane” hasn’t exactly resolved itself. Mulder’s disbelief is in himself. He doesn’t trust those memories of his sister’s abduction anymore.
I’m so, so glad they continued this crisis of faith in Mulder. It would have been easy for them to sweep it under the rug with the cancer arc, but they didn’t. People don’t watch their other halves almost die from cancer and not come out a little spiritually shaken. And it’s not like Mulder’s basic believer role has changed much; he’s still chasing monsters, after all. But he has lost something in himself.
Speaking of losing things, we’re introduced to a new character, Agent Jeffrey Spender, who keeps losing his mother. If Jeffrey looks familiar, it’s because you’ve seen him before. Well, you haven’t seen him, but you’ve seen Chris Owens play young CSM many times. Also the Great Mutato in “Post-Modern Prometheus.” Chris Owens is hella talented, y’all.
I don’t know if it was a conscious decision to cast Chris Owens as Jeffrey Spender, but in any case, it leaves little room to wonder about Jeffrey’s parentage. We know his mother’s Cassandra Spender, so who’s the daddy? I’ll give you three guesses. You should only need one.
I know I said I wouldn’t spoil anything, so I won’t, but if you didn’t figure out who Jeffrey’s daddy is by the end of the episode, try not to pee your pants at the beginning of the next one.
We’ll be discussing poor little blueberry muffin boy Jeffrey Spender a lot more in coming mythology episodes, so stay tuned.
What else? Am I missing anything? Nope? All right, let’s move on.
Hold up.
STANDBY FOR DISCUSSION OF *THAT* SCENE (YOU KNOW THE ONE)
YOU KNOW, THIS ONE
THE ONE WITH LIKE, LIP CONTACT AND STUFF
Whew, did it just get warmer in here?
So, yeah. This scene. It’s hot. I don’t care what anyone says, this scene is sexy. Partly because Nick Lea and Laurie Holden just sell it, partly because the parties involved are attractive, partly because Marita Covarrubias and Alex Krycek strangely work, even if Marita’s about as charismatic as a ceiling fan.
I don’t know what else to say about this scene except that it shocked me the first time I watched it, and it also frustrated me. Now we know the show’s creators know what making out is, so what’s your excuse, Mulder and Scully? Maybe this scene is meant to show us what we think we’ve been missing in Mulder and Scully but really haven’t. It does seem like Krycek and Marita’s relationship is purely sexual, and that’s in stark contrast to Mulder and Scully.
Seriously, though. HAWT. The end.
FINAL SCORE
Final score for “Patient X” is 7/10. Although it does do a good job of continuing Mulder’s arc from the last mythology episodes, I wouldn’t call this a favorite or anything. It’s a little bit slow it places and it so frequently jumps from character to character that it can get confusing, especially when you’re trying to figure out who’s against Mulder and who’s just a confused little blueberry muffin that doesn’t know what the hell’s going on. Most of the interesting stuff happens in the next episode, anyway, so not all is lost.
NOTABLE NUGGETS (AND NITPICKS)
I can seriously think of no reason Mulder would attend that conference in the beginning except that the episode needed some nice exposition.
I really like how Chris Owens pulls off the fresh, inexperienced but also clear-headed and determined Jeffrey Spender in this episode. It’s a nice balance of character traits, and really pulls us into this character’s conflict. Whether you like Jeffrey or don’t like him, you feel him, and that really helps us get into the story, especially in Part 2.
This exchange:
MULDER: One more anal-probing, gyro-pyro levitating-ecoplasm alien anti-matter story, and I’m gonna take out my gun and shoot somebody.
SCULLY: Well … I guess I’m done here. You seem to have invalidated your own work. Have a nice life.
AND FINALLY….A NOTE
Hey, guys!
I’m so sorry I’ve been gone. I really and truly did not intend to have a four month gap in between any of these reviews, but there you have it. Sometimes life gets in the way, and I don’t want to half-ass these. That’s not fair to you or to the show.
Essentially, I had a very, very busy semester in college, with lots of essays that I had to turn in for actual grades and things like that. Also, the recent X-Files Revival drained me mentally and emotionally. And spiritually. And in all the other ways people can be drained.
I suppose I decided I needed a break from X-Files after the Revival, and lo and behold, a break turned into a busy, busy, busy semester. But the semester’s over, the essays have been written, and I’m ready to tackle some episodes again. Thanks for reading as always, and catch me on Twitter if you want to chat!
MULDER: Jason Nichols. Although common sense may rule out the possibility of time travel, the laws of quantum physics certainly do not. In case you forgot, that’s from your graduate thesis. (smiling at her) You were a lot more open-minded when you were a youngster.
Mulder read and memorized Scully’s thesis.
Help.
Season 4, Episode 19: “Synchrony”
“Synchrony” might be the most nonchalant take on a time travel story that exists. Maybe “nonchalant” isn’t quite the right word, but for whatever reason, this episode is very, very underwhelming. Remembering it even exists is a task for me sometimes. It doesn’t help that it comes in the last half of Season 4, where emotions are already running high.
That’s not to say the episode is bad, but it might be a good example of a topic that maybe The X-Files isn’t quite equipped to handle. Don’t get me wrong, The X-Files is an extremely versatile show that can be about almost anything, but it still has to exist within the context of the world the show is set in. This isn’t Star Trek, and we aren’t on the Enterprise. Time travel is an enormous topic, and even if you want to approach it scientifically, as this episode does, it’s still, well, enormous.
The biggest problem with “Synchrony” is that it’s so self-contained the huge implications of the events that take place feel underwhelmingly small. The episode is actually quite enjoyable (which surprised the hell out of me when I rewatched it), but it’s so…well, little that, try as I might, I’ll probably forget about it once the end of the season rolls around. For an episode so self-contained, we’re facing big problems here like people freezing to death, burning to death, time travel, and oh yeah, the impending doom of the planet. There’s just an awkward mismatch there. It’s like if the state of Delaware started screaming that the world was going to end in the next five days. Big message, little voice.
Time travel stories are always extra susceptible to flaws in logic, and this episode is no exception. For example: if the creation of this rapid freezing agent is what enabled people to be able to travel back in time, then why on earth would Old Jason use that very agent to kill? Why not use arsenic or bleach or even a gun? We are also given about .5% details concerning the world Old Jason has come from, except that it’s chaotic, without history, etc. Wouldn’t Jason be the very worst person to send back in time, since he has personal feelings for Lisa and all that? Also, how does Old Jason know it wasn’t his intervention that actually caused the future?
I could actually go on with questions like these for another paragraph, but to do so would be unnecessary and, I admit, unfair. I don’t want to give the impression that I dislike this episode – because I don’t, not at all. It’s nothing special, but I’d watch it over “Teliko” or “The Field Where I Died” any day. Mulder and Scully play pretty typical roles here – Mulder is way ahead of everyone else, as usual, and Doctor Scully does doctor stuff. They’re not really the focus of the story at all in this episode (you’ll notice that Scully’s cancer is nowhere to be seen).
There’s no reason to dismiss this episode as bad or even mediocre. But it is almost aggressively underwhelming, which I realize is oxymoronic. But so, too, is the episode itself. Such a wee little episode about such an enormous topic.
Final Score
Final score for “Synchrony” is 6/10. Probably deserves a 6.5, but 6 is an underwhelming score for an underwhelming episode. Plus, I’m too lazy to make 6.5 stars.
Notable Nuggets
Mulder quotes Scully’s thesis from memory not once, but twice. He just needs to propose already.
Mark Snow’s score for this episode is hauntingly beautiful. Too much so.
Apparently, Scully thinks that phrases like “frozen fudgecicle” (from “Roland”) and “icicle” are appropriate medical terms.
This gift that you gave me for my birthday. You never got to tell me why you gave it to me or what it means… but I think I know. I think that you appreciate that there are extraordinary men and women and… extraordinary moments when history leaps forward on the backs of these individuals… that what can be imagined can be achieved… that you must dare to dream… but that there’s no substitute for perseverance and hard work… and teamwork… because no one gets there alone… and that, while we commemorate the… the greatness of these events and the individuals who achieve them, we cannot forget the sacrifice of those who make these achievements and leaps possible.
And you can bet that I’m printing out copies of this speech and distributing it among all my coworkers in retail before holiday season hits.
Season 4, Episode 18: “Max”
SCREW THIS EPISODE. SCREW IT AND THE ONE BEFORE IT. LET IT ROT AND DIE AND SUFFER WHILE ROTTING AND DYING.
UGHHHHHH.
Okay, okay, okay. For those of you that didn’t pick up on the ending of my last review, in which I said that there was absolutely nothing in this mythology duo that pissed me off, I hope you picked up on my sarcasm. If you didn’t, by the way, there was sarcasm.
I should also clarify. I don’t actually hate these two. I mean, they’re good. But they have one of the most soul-crushingly painful character deaths in the entire series, and it kills me every time I watch it.
Pendrell. 😦
Oh, you can laugh. You can sneer. You can roll your eyes and say, “Come on, Knife Ink, really?” Yes, really. Pendrell was a perfect little ginger gerbil and he didn’t deserve to die. Certainly not in this cruel, horrible, much-too-quick way.
More than that, Pendrell is me. And Pendrell is you. Send your judgment to the garbage disposal. There is not one person on the planet who is familiar with Scully and doesn’t have a crush on her. His fierce and adorable enthusiasm is something I have seen in every X-Phile I’ve ever met. His death was cruel and rotten and unfair. Shame on you, Chris Carter. SHAME.
Sigh. Now that we’re over that massively awful bridge, we have the rest of the episode to discuss.
Unlike some mythology episodes, this one picks up immediately where we left off, to the second. “Tempus Fugit” and “Max” are really the same episode, spliced into two. That sounds obvious, but there are some mythology two-parters where one half is definitely stronger than the other. I don’t really get that with these because it doesn’t feel like two halves, it feels like one long episode. I could probably use my crappy video editing software to take out the opening credits of “Max” and put the two together and it would work fine.
Now that I think about it, maybe the reason these two don’t have a tremendous impact on the mythology is because, well, the sinister force here is unclear. It’s either aliens or the military, something like that, but there’s no CSM, no Syndicate, and no informants. It’s just Mulder and Scully following the trail left behind by Max Fenig.
Oh – and Scully still has cancer. Just in case you forgot. I confess I really like the way they handle the cancer after “Memento Mori.” It isn’t this big emotional thing for Mulder and Scully every episode. We’re still allowed to have our typical X-Files investigations and even our major laughs, as we’ll soon see. But the cancer isn’t absent, either. It doesn’t show up at convenient dramatic moments – well, it does, but it’s always a little out of place and random. And I like that. In real life that’s exactly how it would be. You see the nosebleed, and your heart pangs with the painful reminder that your redheaded angel of science is dying. It comes when you don’t expect it to. I wish, though, that they’d been a little more creative with reminding us Scully has cancer than by just giving her the Random Nosebleed of Doom, which is basically the only symptom we’ll ever see Scully suffer. However, for the most part I like how it’s handled.
The mythology part of this episode returns to the early season formula of Mulder vs. the military. You know, I’ve just got to ask: with so many people in the military participating in this giant cover-up, zipping up little gray alien corpses in bags and everything, how is it possible that not a single person in the military has managed a big-time screw up? Like, how do they cover up everything so well? I know this episode is supposed to be about the one time the military actually did mess up, but I could never get my head around the fact that Mulder and Scully could turn up no better evidence than whatever they had at the end of this episode. There was no rambunctious little private who couldn’t keep his mouth shut about aliens to his girlfriend? Nobody’s dog found an alien body before the army came rushing in? These are nitpicks, but for what it’s worth I think Mulder and Scully would have wondered the same thing. Oh well. Let’s wrap this up.
We end with a very touching speech from Scully, which really is the highlight of these two episodes and gives them a much-needed quiet, contemplative moment. This speech is about hard work, sacrifice, and makes a nice motivational poster. I don’t mean that in a bad way necessarily.
I’m still a bit bitter.
Final Score
Final score for “Max” is 8/10, just like “Tempus Fugit.” Because they really are the same episode. Although I was majorly tempted to drop a star because of Pendrell. You jerks.
Notable Nuggets/Nitpicks
What even is Pendrell’s first name? *rushes to Google* Apparently, it’s Sean. Now we know.
Anybody catch that part where Scully turns around as Mulder’s undressing? I mean, really? He didn’t even take off his underwear. You already put him to bed in “Anasazi.”
Max’s videos are sweet, and reminded me of how much I liked him as a character. It reminded Mulder and Scully, too, which is even sweeter.
MIKE MILLAR: And if any of the capable men and women find… Doctor Spock’s phaser or some green alien goo, we’ll be sure to give youall the credit.
DOCTOR Spock? I can’t tell if the writers were trying to make this character sound stupid or if this was a legitimate mistake. I hope with all my being it’s the former, because every Trekkie cell in my brain is groaning right now.
Season 4, Episode 17: “Tempus Fugit”
The mythology strikes again! Our next two episodes, “Tempus Fugit” and “Max,” are more of the traditional mytharc episodes. We don’t have the deep character exploration of “Memento Mori” in these, it’s back to things flying through the night, Mulder sneaking into places he shouldn’t, shootings, Skinner, UFOs, etc. Let’s get this party started.
Literally. We start out with Mulder very sweetly celebrating Scully’s birthday, although for me this part always leaves me feeling a bit sour because, well, Mulder’s finally celebrating Scully’s birthday (at least on screen) but Scully also has cancer and is quite probably dying. So it’s a mixed bag of emotions. Sweet scene, but I do wish Mulder and Scully could be sweet without necessarily facing disaster all the time.
The birthday celebration is soon interrupted by the plot, which comes in the form of a woman claiming to be Max Fenig’s sister. Max Fenig – the name ring a bell? Yep, he was that wacky geek Mulder and Scully met back in Season 1’s “Fallen Angel.”
I can’t speak for everyone, but I love Max as a character, and on my first watch of this episode I knew who he was immediately even though I hadn’t seen him for over three seasons. I think that’s a testament to how great his character is. It also makes these two episodes a little more melancholy than we’re used to, because (spoiler alert) Max is dead. He’s not coming back.
I always thought this was a rather unfortunate way to handle Max’s character in these episodes. We do feel the pain of Max’s absence, to be sure, and he’s a strong enough character that his death is able to leave an impact on the viewer. But I wonder what watching these episodes was like when they first aired. At that point, the last time the audience would have seen Max Fenig (assuming they’d even watched from the beginning) would be four years before. It’s easy enough for someone watching now to remember Max, as viewers today have all the episodes and are likely binge-watching, so the time between seasons is condensed. I remembered Max, but I didn’t have to wait four years.
Because of this, the effectiveness of Max’s death will probably vary depending on whom you ask, and I personally would love to know everyone’s thoughts on this – so comment below if you have any input!
But, back to the episode. Yeah, this one’s really good, guys. I wasn’t sure until I rewatched it, but there are a lot of really touching little moments that make this episode (or this pair of episodes, I should say) pretty golden in my book. They’re not really very special or tremendously important as far as the mythology goes, but there’s a lot in them that’s very well done.
For instance, I love the scene where Mulder looks at Max’s dead body. You can see how much it pains him that Max is gone. The camera then pans to a family standing around their dead family member and sobbing. This might be a bit of a stretch, but knowing how Mulder cared for Max, I like to think that this family is vocalizing the sadness Mulder feels. In a way, Mulder has lost a part of his family, a comrade that shared his beliefs about aliens, that lived his theories of aliens and abductions, that paid attention to his writing and had the same drive to find out the truth. Mulder hasn’t just lost a friend, he’s lost an ally.
And I also love Scully’s lack of energy. This is the first episode since “Memento Mori” that directly involves the cancer, and we find that it’s a thorn in our side. Scully’s tired, constantly hugging herself in the cold, and her entire demeanor seems fatigued. I like to think this was absolutely intentional, and it makes sense. It makes us sad and worried for her, as we should be.
So – I like this one, guys. And I like the following episode, “Max,” too. They are much better than I remembered and possibly the best mythology episodes of Season 4 besides “Memento Mori.” Solid, well written, well-acted. Good stuff. Nothing in here to make me mad, piss me off, or scream Chris Carter’s name in a violent fury. Absolutely nothing at all. Nope. Not one little thing.
Final Score
Final score for “Tempus Fugit” is 8/10. It’s a good episode – memorable, entertaining, and quite touching in some spots. And like I said, there’s absolutely nothing infuriating about it. Right?
Notable Nuggets (and Nitpicks)
There are actually a lot of notable nuggets in this one. I’d like to start off by pointing out that Mulder reaches illegal heights of adorable in this one, especially during the birthday scene, and David Duchovny needs to be arrested because of it.
Also Mulder SCUBA DIVES. This begs the question: do you think Mulder and Scully have ever gone snorkeling together?
I find it confusing that Scully feel she has to explain Mulder’s cryptic statements to the military officers with “We’ve been traveling a long way.” At this point does she still care if people are confused by Mulder’s many oddities? I don’t think so.
The part where Mulder pulls out his business card from Max’s body is so touching, it almost makes me choke up. And I know what you’re thinking: “Knife Ink, how do you almost choke up?” And I have no idea. But I’m trying not to admit emotions. 😉
MULDER: Well, don’t you think it’s odd, Scully, that she’d have a blind spot that she wouldn’t, uh, that she wouldn’t have noticed before? (to security guard) Thanks.
SCULLY: Well, not necessarily. Uh, the processes of the brain fill in and the visual cortex compensates conceptually.
MULDER: Well, that might account for Teager’s vanishing.
Okay, I’m not entirely sure I understand this, but if this is the case, shouldn’t Mulder and Scully’s eyes started bleeding too? I mean they encountered Teager in much the same way Renee Davenport did. How come their eyes made it out okay?
Season 4, Episode 16: “Unrequited”
If you’ve been keeping up with this blog for a while, you might have realized by now that I’m not fond of military episodes. They just don’t hold that much interest for me. They tend to be political but in a watered-down manner, because this is network television and they can’t make any grandiose political statements. Nearly all of the military-themed episodes are about the exact same thing: a former soldier takes revenge on either his fellow soldiers or superior officers for horrible crimes they committed, usually during the Vietnam War. Think “Sleepless,”“The Walk,” or, though it technically isn’t a military episode but has nearly identical themes, “The List.” Many of the ideas in these episodes are practically interchangeable and the only thing that really differs is the paranormal ability.
Even the paranormal ability isn’t all that different, actually. Is there really any fundamental difference between Nathaniel Teager’s invisibility in “Unrequited” and Rappo’s astral projection in “The Walk”? What is the character distinction between Augustus Cole in “Sleepless” and Neech in “The List”? I often have trouble distinguishing these episodes from one another in my mind, and although that’s partially because I don’t really watch them often, it’s also because they’re very much the same.
Luckily, “Unrequited” is the last of this type we’ll be seeing for a good while, if I’m not mistaken. But even with that in mind, the trope here has more than overstayed its welcome. Although “Unrequited” manages to break away from the usual X-Files mold by giving us an unusual beginning and rewinding the episode back, as well as have Mulder and Scully handle the case a little differently in a sort of FBI operation style, other than that, the episode is quite boring, and there’s not much for me to talk about. I’m sure all you dedicated Philes will go through every episode on your rewatch, but to the casual viewer, I’d say skip this one.
Final Score
Final score for “Unrequited” is 3/10. There’s really not much in this episode that’s very good, to be honest. Even the script is lackluster. I had a really hard time finding a quote for the quote box and it was tough deciding what to even talk about. Fortunately we’re done with this type of episode, to my knowledge.
Notable Nuggets (sort of)
Marita Covarrubias reappears to remind us that she, in fact, exists.
I do like how Skinner straddles the fence in this episode. As usual, it’s not clear how much he buys into Mulder’s theories, but he does a good job of not leaning heavily toward either side.
Um….what to say for a third one….nice job Mark Snow?
SCULLY: That Luria is back from the dead? That he’s risen from his grave?
BJUNES: What kind of Jew trick is this?
MULDER: A Jew pulled it off 2000 years ago.
Season 4, Episode 15: “Kaddish”
“Kaddish” had a tough act to follow, and maybe it’s because it comes directly after “Memento Mori” that it isn’t remembered well. Which is a shame, because “Kaddish” is an incredibly well-done episode in almost every way. The story is touching, the acting is great, the music is beautiful and the direction superb. If there was ever an episode that deserves to join the Under-Appreciated Club, it’s this one.
Maybe the reason people don’t remember “Kaddish” is because this time around, the focus isn’t on Mulder and Scully but instead the guest characters. Mulder and Scully are at front and center but the story itself centers on the tragic love between the deceased Isaac Luria and his widow Ariel, as well as the continued persecution of Jews. (By the way, If you’re one of those people that thinks Anti-Semitism doesn’t exist anymore you might want to stop reading this.)
There are many things about this episode I could praise, but for me the best part, the episode’s heart, if you will, is the exchange between Ariel and Mulder and Scully as she explains her father’s ring. It’s a beautiful, sad, painfully real moment. You really feel the pain, joy, and sorrow of this family who has suffered tremendous oppression. The rest of the case, Mulder and Scully’s purpose for being there in the first place, fades into the background as we hear of this ring and what it means to the family. You can see how invested both Mulder and Scully are in Ariel’s story. Mulder especially looks like he’s about to cry.
The camerawork in this episode is nothing short of spectacular. It’s some of the best work of the fourth season. The angles, the lighting, the eerie golden glow, it all serves to add to this deeply sorrowful tone they’re going for. The way the camera travels through shots as if we the audience were walking along with Mulder and Scully is something different and also gives us unique monster attacks from the golem.
I suppose if I had to make one complaint, it’s that, spectacular camerawork aside, the monster itself could have been more compelling. I like the twist that Ariel was the one that conjured the golem but the golem itself isn’t all that scary. Still, it’s a minor complaint.
I don’t really know what else to say about this one – I just think it’s really good. Definitely deserves another watch if you haven’t seen it in a while.
Final Score
Final score for “Kaddish” is 9/10. I docked a point for an underwhelming monster, but I think this episode is extremely well done.
Notable Nuggets
That “a Jew pulled it off 2000 years ago” line is one of my all time favorite Mulder moments. It reminds me of the part in “Fresh Bones” where Mulder completely owns the military dude. It’s such an amazing comeback.
O Cancer, where art thou? “Kaddish” was shot three episodes before “Memento Mori,” so if we’re still operating on “Never Again” logic Scully doesn’t actually have cancer in this one. It’s up to you, though.
The entire last scene where Ariel says goodbye is beautiful. Just beautiful.
SCULLY: No they are not. One woman isn’t. There’s Penny Northern.
This is the one line in the episode I just don’t buy. Even if Penny Northern is alive, she’s the only one left and she’s dying and it’s pretty clear Mulder has a better grasp of what is going on than Scully does. But I still think Scully would have seen that too and I’m not really sure what compelled her to say that. Oh well. Onto the episode.
Season 4, Episode 14: “Memento Mori”
I made the joke on Twitter that my review of “Memento Mori” could be done entirely through Emojis: 😭😭😭😭. That’s not completely fair. “Memento Mori,” though it is practically designed to bring on the waterworks, is actually a very hopeful episode with a rather uplifting climax. “Memento Mori” is all about finding a foundation in the face of disaster, the will to keep on trekking when it seems everything’s done for. It’s a tremendously moving story and a mythology episode at that.
But, I’m getting ahead of myself. First things first: Scully has cancer. We are at the beginning of an arc that has been known to rob good, sane people of their working feelings, so first time viewers consider this your fair warning.
Although the shocking news was ingeniously delivered at the end of “Leonard Betts,” if you’ve been keeping up with the mythology you’ll realize that it’s actually not so shocking after all. Remember that pair of episodes back in Season 3, “Nisei” and “731”? Remember how I said they were deceptively important? First-time viewers may find it difficult to keep up with all the mythology storylines and long-time fans may dismiss the mythology as being convoluted, but this is one of those instances I think was actually plotted very well. We have the cause of the cancer in Season 2 (Scully’s abduction), the implant is discovered at the beginning of Season 3, and the effects of the implant are hinted at in “Nisei.” Scully’s cancer is not something that was pulled out of Chris Carter’s butt – or if it was, it’s not like it doesn’t have solid ties to the rest of the storyline.
“Memento Mori,” however, aims to be a very different sort of mythology episode than we’ve seen in the past. It really serves to be a deep character study more than works to further the plot (although it does plenty of that too). Here we have a struggle that is firmly Scully’s, an episode where she deals with her pain head-on and in her own voice. Unlike her near-death experience in “One Breath,” which was mainly Mulder’s episode, this is Scully’s battle to fight. She’ll do it with Mulder by her side, of course, but this episode belongs to Scully.
I think it was very smart of Chris Carter to tackle this storyline this way. We watch in dread the slower, more contemplative scenes where Scully’s health declines, when she writes to Mulder in her journal (kill me), and talks to her mother and brother. At the same time we have the faster paced suspenseful scenes with Mulder and the Lone Gunmen, which take on the more familiar mythology structure. It’s an incredibly balanced episode that doesn’t scream what it needs to say but seems to approach everything just right. Not too hot, not too cold. Amazing, considering this episode had four writers. FOUR WRITERS. THAT’S CRAZY.
Let’s start with that opening monologue. Ah, Chris, you and your purple prose. Well, in this case we can call it purple-ish prose, I guess. It’s absolutely dripping with cheese, but the whole thing becomes rather touching and squeal-worthy once you realize it’s being addressed to Mulder. And it ties in well with the rest of the episode, so I don’t find myself bothered by it too much. There will be worse opening monologues, believe me.
What I love – love – about this episode is how it sets the situation up as an X-File but slowly turns it into a personal matter for Scully. You feel a little like Skinner does when Scully says she wishes to treat this matter as an investigation rather than delve too deep into her personal feelings on the matter. I disagree wholeheartedly with the somewhat popular assessment of Scully as Ice Queen, but that’s not to say she’s exactly the most in-touch-with-her-feelings kind of person either. Whenever disasters strike Scully – we see this time and time again, from after her abduction to her sister’s death – she puts her back up against professionalism, work, and structure. She’s not one to wallow.
What “Memento Mori” does is force Scully to do some wallowing, and I think it’s good for her. She needs some time to assess what this is going to mean, to face her own fears, and to deal with the inevitable consequence of her illness. Mulder has to deal with it as well, but unlike Scully, he refuses to wallow (which is more in character for him). Instead, Mulder’s a man of action, searching desperately for an answer, a solution, anything that might change the inevitable. As soon as she sees Penny, Scully seems ready to give up as far as the investigation goes, perhaps because she wants to look for a cure medically rather than through the X-Files. Whatever her reasons are, Scully tries to approach her cancer as a case, and it doesn’t work.
Her stay in the hospital leaves her plenty of time for reflection, as do the talks with Penny and her family. She reflects with them and she reflects alone, as she writes in her journal. But she’s not completely reflecting alone. When she faces her death, writing in that journal, she’s not writing to God or to herself, she’s writing to Mulder. As if she knows exactly who her death will affect in the most tragic way.
She writes to Mulder in a way that might indicate she’s given up all hope of finding a cure. She’s going to die, and Mulder has to accept that. But he won’t, and when Scully finally comes face to face with Mulder, she’s reached a decision herself.
MULDER: When we find him. Scully something was done to you, something that you’re just beginning to remember. You can’t quite figure it out but it can be explained and it will be explained. And no matter what you think as a scientist or a doctor, there is a way, and you will find it, to save yourself.
SCULLY: Mulder I can’t kid myself. People live with cancer. They carry on, and so will I. You know I’ve got things to finish, to prove to myself, to my family, but for my own reasons. (they smile, then hug)
MULDER: Come on back. (pause) The truth will save you Scully. I think it’ll save both of us.
And that is why I think “Memento Mori” has resonated with so many people over the years. This isn’t just something Mulder and Scully have to face. Anyone who’s faced a terminal illness or experienced some other tragedy or disaster in their lives has the choice to give up on life or pursue it. No choice in these matters are right or wrong. Some may find it better to quietly prepare to leave life, if they know there’s nothing that can be done. Others choose to pursue life in a way that’s as normal as possible, to try and finish the things they started, illness be damned.
Everyone has their own way of coping with the hardships of life. “Memento Mori” at its core is about not having to face it alone. Whatever you believe you should do, there is someone there – whether it’s someone like Penny, or it’s your family, or God, or if it’s the Mulder in your life, whoever that is – they are there with you. And that’s where the hope lies.
Cue the hug. 💚
Final Score
Final score for “Memento Mori” is 10/10. As if I even need to explain why this episode is so good.
Notable Nuggets
Skinner and the Lone Gunmen make some fantastic appearances here. Their presence is always welcomed.
Unless you actually call a rock your home, you know that this is the episode that earned Gillian Anderson her Emmy. I don’t really think I need to explain that one either.
This is totally random, but memento mori means “remember you will die,” which I did not learn by Google search but actually already knew from A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Oh yeah, Sheila Larken is amazing in this episode. Kudos.
MULDER: Welcome back. You look a lot better than you did in the hospital. And congratulations for making an personal appearance in the X-Files for the second time.
Meanwhile, me:
Season 4, Episode 13: “Never Again”
Author’s note: My apologies for the length of the following review.
I think I’ve been reviewing “Never Again” from the moment I started this blog. Not consciously, but in a way, my own brain kept preparing me for it. There’s something about this episode that bothers me on such a deep and visceral level that I have been so far unable to express it in words. When I finished “Leonard Betts” and it finally came time to write the “Never Again” review, I wondered if I wasn’t operating on old feelings. After all, I hadn’t seen this one in a while.
So I gave “Never Again” another watch, and felt that old familiar feeling rising in the pit of my stomach. I squirmed uncomfortably in my chair. I glared at the screen. I cringed at certain lines of dialogue. At the same time, I felt my brain searching desperately for an answer to the question that’s plagued me since I first watched this episode: Why do I hate “Never Again” so much?
I’ve read review after review and seen endless comments on this episode from fans, Shippers and Noromos alike. From what I’ve been able to gather, there is no general consensus on this episode, except that no one seems to hate it quite as much as I do. Oh, some people hate it, but they hate it for reasons that I find trivial at best: Mulder and Scully fight, Scully almost has sex with another man, etc. None of those things, at least on the surface, are problems for me.
What startles me about this episode is actually how much people seem to like it. It would be one thing if it was an episode that generally got a “meh” from fans, but there are people who legitimately adore “Never Again” and critics have been more than kind to it. And so I, hanging my head in shame, came to the conclusion it must be me. Morgan & Wong had won, whatever game the three of us had been playing. They clearly had created something so great I was unable to see it. Any fault of theirs was a fault of mine.
Well, almost. I’m way too self-centered for that, apparently.
After reading and discussing and rewatching, I finally get why people like “Never Again.” I do. And upon this rewatch I also realized something else: lost in the discussion with myself of “why do I hate this episode” was the more important question: Is this episode any good? Is it necessary to the show as a whole? Could The X-Files have existed without it?
And…well, no. It couldn’t have.
Like it or not, “Never Again” is a type of episode we deseperately needed: an episode that separates Mulder and Scully and gives one of the agents (in this case, Scully) a close look. We’re used to thinking of The X-Files as “Mulder and Scully,” but Morgan & Wong – rightly so, I think – wanted to look at just Scully. Who is Scully without Mulder? That’s the question they dare to ask in this episode, and I’m glad they do.
Their answer to that question is what I find less-than-stellar. I wholeheartedly agree that Scully’s life has been so wrapped up in Mulder’s quest that it’s beyond acceptable for her to question her place, her life, her situation. I understand her temptation to be rebellious. Hell, I don’t think I would have minded that much if Scully actually did have sex with Ed Jerse—after all, Mulder had sex with a vampire in “3” and as much as I like to pretend “3” doesn’t exist, that scene didn’t affect much in the way of Mulder and Scully’s relationship. And, Shipper though I may be, I think it’s ridiculous that Scully has to be abstinent at this point. She’s a grown woman and she and Mulder are not a couple. Oh, they are, but not sexually. They don’t own each other.
What I can’t really get behind is this idea that Mulder is an all-controlling force in Scully’s life that she just can’t walk away from. For one thing, that implies that Mulder is doing most of the work on the X-Files, with Scully merely tagging along, which we know isn’t true. For another, it’s, well, just not Mulder. Mulder can be a self-righteous jerkface (just look at “Revelations,”) but I can’t watch the scene in “One Breath” where a broken Mulder breaks down crying in his apartment and think that this man is completely selfish and has no cares for his partner at all. He certainly went through an immense guilty stage in “One Breath.” Also, I reiterate, Scully is a grown woman and she’s very practical. If Mulder truly was an all-controlling force in her life, she’d leave, wouldn’t she?
What Mulder doesn’t guage well, at least in Morgan & Wong’s point of view, is what Scully wants to get out of her career and her position on the X-Files. But, at the same time, neither does Scully. She does not know what she wants. And, good for her as some rebellion might be, is getting a tattoo and demanding a desk really the way to find out?
The desk. The desk metaphor really bugs me. Actually, the non-metaphor bugs me even more. Fine, Scully should have a desk. Don’t you think she would have asked for one? Has anyone ever gotten the impression before this episode that Scully was too afraid to ask for one? The same Scully who bravely delivered an angry speech to Skinner in “Piper Maru,” the same Scully who tells Mulder to stop in “Conduit” on their fourth case together, the same Scully who stayed with Mulder even after her abduction and Melissa’s death, this same Scully—was too under the control of Mulder to ask for a desk? Isn’t it also possible that up until now she saw the desk as a functional tool that had no value other than a place where papers and files are stored? Try as I might to see otherwise, the desk has always represented a problem that was never there in the first place. I’m sorry, I can’t buy it.
Another argument I’ve seen in defense of this episode is that it allows Scully to have flaws. I don’t buy that one either. If having sex (or almost having sex) with a stranger and getting a tattoo is a flaw, then it is a flaw that would only be attributed to a woman. I mean, if we’re being honest. Maybe Scully being a bit reckless is a flaw. But how many times has Mulder been reckless and his recklessness is passed off as necessity, to futher his investigations into the paranormal or find his sister?
Speaking of which, oh, dear god, is Mulder absolutely insufferable in this episode. Ignoring the scenes in Memphis, which are funny, I wouldn’t have blamed Scully one bit if she had shot him in the shoulder again, like she did in “Anasazi.” And no, I don’t think that’s completely in character for him. In fact, I think that’s in great part Morgan & Wong. They don’t seem to be big fans of Mulder. Some of the things he says to Scully physically hurt me while watching, because I just had my wisdom teeth removed and opening my mouth wide in shock was painful. Do they really think Mulder would act like this? While I agree that yes, Mulder can at times be self-absorbed, we see very clearly in “Paper Hearts” that he’s also a very intuitive, sympathetic character with a lot of heart and integrity. Not this bodering on sardonic asshole that Morgan & Wong have presented. Where’s the all-controlling, authoritative butthead in other episodes?
The truth of the matter is, there’s always going to be this awkward circular dance around Mulder and Scully in this show. There has to be. Their relationship transcends friendship and romance and is in many ways completely undefinable. It’s the greatest aspect of the series by far but can also be confusing. We, the audience, are meant to take for granted what Mulder and Scully mean to one another. This episode tries to question that notion, to have Scully question that notion, but to me all it does is make Mulder out to be a complete jackass and turns Scully’s side of the relationship into the receiving end of something, I don’t know, almost toxic. Is everything between them perfect? No, of course not, and Scully should take some time alone to figure out who she is and what she wants. As should Mulder. But what do they learn by the end? Just like “The Field Where I Died,” Morgan & Wong seem determined to give us a different take on Mulder and Scully while never really saying what they need to say. They bring up the questions that need to be brought up, but not the answers. Why? Because the answers just don’t fit in with the rest of the show. “Never Again” is, whether by design or by fluke, a necessary anomaly.
The rest of this episode, while beautifully filmed, I’ve also found a tad mediocre. Ed Jerse isn’t interesting for me, and Jodie Foster as an evil tattoo sounds like it should be the greatest thing in the world but sadly isn’t. For what it’s worth, I do love the tension in that last scene, pulled off masterfully by Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny and some damn good cinematography.
I’ve been told by a few Philes that their opinion of this episode changed when they grew older. To that, I can only say: we’ll have to wait and see. I first watched this episode when I was either 16 or 17. I’m nearly 20 now and although I feel like a completely different person now than I was then, I understand I have a lot of growing up to do, both as a person and as a viewer. Consider this review a letter to my future self. Future self, you may end up adoring this episode.
Right now, you can’t stand it.
Final Score
Final score for “Never Again” is 5/10. I really, really wanted to give this episode a 4, and my gut told me to give it a 3. But the episode is too beautifully shot to be anything less than a 4 and there are enough legitimate reasons for its existence to give it more than a 4, which is a score I reserve for episodes we could have done without. So rest easy, Morgan & Wong. We could have done without “The Field Where I Died,” but not without “Never Again.”
Notable Nuggets
They worked really hard to make sure this episode was different. You can see it in the cinematography, tone, music, writing, etc. If there’s one thing Morgan & Wong have always excelled at, it’s tone and atmosphere. Kudos.
(WARNING: DO NOT READ THE FOLLOWING IF YOU’RE AVOIDING SPOILERS) Another thing I’d like to point out is the before cancer/after cancer debate. As you all know, it’s revealed that Scully has cancer in “Leonard Betts.” This episode was written before “Leonard Betts” but aired after because the studio felt it wasn’t a good episode to show after the Super Bowl. There has been debate as to whether or not this episode should be chronologically placed at the time of its writing or of its airing. For me, personally, Scully doesn’t act like she has a terminal illness in “Never Again” and I certainly don’t think she’d be worrying about having a desk if she knew about the cancer. That one, though, is completely open for interpretation.
I don’t want to make it sound like Jodie Foster playing an evil tattoo isn’t awesome. It is. But for some reason I don’t find it as awesome as it could have been. Still, it’s really cool that they got Jodie Foster, whose character in The Silence of the Lambs was a direct influence for Scully.
I sincerely hope that Morgan & Wong don’t hate me. I love you guys. I promise. ❤
SCULLY: Salamanders ore one thing, but no mammal possesses that kind of regenerative power. I mean, there isn’t a creature walking this earth that can regrow its head.
MULDER: Worms. You cut a worm in half, you get two.
SCULLY: Mulder, they’re worms.
Um, Scully…does the word “Flukeman” ring a bell? Is what Mulder’s saying really that hard to swallow?
Season 4, Episode 12: “Leonard Betts”
It’s no surprise that Fox wanted “Leonard Betts” to air after the Super Bowl instead of the following episode, “Never Again.” I like to think that decision has more to do with the strengths of this episode rather than the weaknesses of the next. Really, though, it makes perfect sense. “Leonard Betts” is an episode so quintessentially X-Files that you could show it to any newcomer and they’d be able to easily grasp the show’s characters, look, and feel. “Never Again,” whether you like it or hate it, would be a weird episode to show to potential newcomers.
It’s hard to find something to criticize about “Leonard Betts” because, in many respects, it’s stone-perfect. This episode was penned by three writers – Vince Gilligan, John Shiban, and Frank Spotnitz – and for some reason, this trio just seems to work (“Leonard Betts” won’t be their only success, that’s for sure). At the same time, you won’t see “Leonard Betts” on a lot of favorites lists, nor do I see it mentioned particularly often. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s unknown, but it’s certainly not held to the high esteem or has even achieved the fame of episodes like “Squeeze” and “Home,” though it’s just as freaky and disgusting. The community grade on the A.V. Club review is actually an A-, and even though that’s only out of 18 users, you get the feeling that this practically perfect MOTW episode is fondly remembered in the eyes of critics and, well, not remembered in the eyes of viewers.
And honestly, I can’t really come up with an explanation for that. The only thing I can think of is that the last five minutes of the episode are so iconic and famous that they completely overshadowed the rest of the story, at least in the minds of fans. Somehow, though, I have a hard time wrestling with that notion. It would be one thing if the rest of this episode wasn’t memorable, but…it is. I, for one, have never forgotten the image of Leonard Betts regrowing his head. It’s easily one of the grossest, most original sequences in all MOTW-dom. Nor is it easy to forget Mulder and Scully digging through a hospital dumpster and pulling out a severed head.
What makes “Leonard Betts” compelling as a story – we’ll address the last five minutes later – is how much we feel that Leonard Betts is actually a really good guy. He’s obviously a mutant and a murderer, but he doesn’t feel like one on the same level as Eugene Victor Tooms or Virgil Incanto from “2Shy.” Leonard Betts apologizes to each of his victims before he kills them, and he genuinely sounds sorry. More so than any other MOTW, “Leonard Betts” really focuses on the idea that this particular monster has a basic need that can’t be fulfilled in any other capacity. He regrets doing what he does, but he has to in order to survive. It’s a theme we’ll see done again, but maybe not quite as well.
Even with all that, I think what I like about “Leonard Betts” the most is just how engaging and entertaining it is (like I said, it’s no wonder the studio chose to air this one after the Super Bowl). It’s fun. It’s smart. It’s suspenseful. I can watch knowing full well what’s going to happen and I’m still on the edge of my seat when those last five minutes come around. Speaking of which, let’s talk about those.
I dare you to find a scene of any X-Files episode that is so perfectly paced. Everything – everything – is perfectly executed at just the right time. It’s kind of amazing, actually. It’s a testament not only to how strong The X-Files has become in its storytelling but also in its own atmosphere and production. Everybody involved with the making of this episode deserves a high ten.
As for the story, well, they drop a shocker on us that is so perfect in both its explosiveness and subtlety that I’m going to take you all on a journey through this scene.
First, we have Scully doing some kick-ass action, which is unbelievably cool, sexy, different, amazing, come up with your own adjective. Suddenly the action pauses. The episode holds its breath. Leonard Betts says his famous line – “I’m sorry, but you’ve got something I need,” and Gillian Anderson delivers another perfect performance with this one facial expression:
Look at the shock, confusion, realization, fear. All the emotions are there within a matter of seconds. It’s interesting because Scully’s moment of realization means that she fears what Leonard Betts is and she isn’t so dismissive of Mulder’s crazy theories after all. Scully realizes she might have cancer here, not when she has the nosebleed. It’s a wonderfully layered scene and I have watched it on repeat so many times. Even looking at that gif while I’m writing this is driving me crazy.
“Leonard Betts” may not be the episode you think of when you think The X-Files. Or maybe it is, I don’t know. But it is a perfect episode to show a newcomer. It’s one of the very best MOTWs, and it’s just a fantastic episode of television.
Final Score
Final score for “Leonard Betts” is 10/10. Strangely enough, I was actually looking for ways to give this episode a 9/10. That’s when I realized I was trying to make sure Season 4’s average score didn’t get too high – not because I don’t like this Season, but because I want the averages to reflect what I feel is the show’s rise in quality from Seasons 4 to 5. And that’s when I also realized that maybe averaging each season is a stupid thing to do. I’m considering getting rid of that altogether.
In any case, I couldn’t find any reason to not give this episode a perfect score. So, there you have it. 10/10.
Notable Nuggets (And Nitpicks)
Mulder and Scully stand in the snow holding umbrellas and I can barely handle it.
Mulder very inconsistently shows no fear of fire when the car explodes. “Fire” was a silly episode.
“John Gilnitz” is the combined name of this episode’s three writers, John Shiban, Vince Gilligan, and Frank Spotnitz. I completely forgot they actually gave a character this name. Hahaha. 🙂
The Review is Out There 