Darkness Falls

I just love this episode; it's one of my go-to episodes, and it might be my favourite of the season! There is a difference between having an episode take place in a forest, and making it about the forest. And it's close enough to home, I can't help but think of it as "my" forest ;)

I'm a bit of a hippie, so I can't help loving this one, but it is very even handed. Both extremes are shown to have a legitimate reason for doing what they are doing; it's just that they are both breaking the law. The eco-terrorists are obviously taking things too far, but the corporation is cutting down protected old growth trees. The forest ranger is totally moderate; he's behind the eco guys in principle, but is against their method. I crave more of this in TV.

There isn't really a significantly shippy part of this ep that I can point to, it just sneaks in everywhere. Sometimes UST isn't about obvious things.

Sometimes it's about how Mulder just keeps staring at her the whole time...



Sometimes it's about flirting in the office.



It looks like Scully is beginning to really enjoy these slide shows. Maybe she is starting to catch on that they are his way of flirting with her. Or at least that's what I think, every time I see one.

Sometimes the X-Files forces you to fill in the blanks; there are always all kinds of things that happen, and we never see them on screen! So I can't help but think about Mulder going to the trouble of making the slides, what his thought process is, what he's going to tell Scully, since she is the only one he's making them for. "I know, I will put a blank slide after the group shot to make a point about them vanishing!"

I just think it's cute. Then there is the actual flirting during the slide show:

M: Thirty loggers working a clear-cutting contract in Washington State.
Rugged, manly men in the full bloom of their manhood.
S: Right, but what am I looking for?
M: Anything strange, unexplainable, unlikely... a boyfriend?




M:I had to pull a few strings to make sure we got the case.
S: For an ecoterrorism case? Do I dare ask why?
M: In 1934, long before anyone even knew what an ecoterrorist was, a W.P.A. crew vanished from that same area without a trace. Not one of those men was ever found or heard from again.
S: (smiling and kind of making fun of him) And you suspect what? Bigfoot?
M: (also smiling; boy they smile a lot) Not likely. That’s a lot of flannel to be choking down even for Bigfoot.



M:Come on, Scully, it’ll be a nice trip to the forest.

I think this line is significant, and not just because of his guilt-trip line at the end of the episode. He's not trying to convince her because it's really important to him, or even to tie up the loose ends of an ancient X-File case. He tried to convince her by telling her they are going to have a good time.




Looks like they are going to have a really good time because Mulder finds "party favours". LMAO! I love the look on Mulder's face when he sniffs the big bag of pot. Colour him intrigued!

To Scully in Deep Throat: "Oooh, if you were that stoned what?" Time to find out? Too bad I don't think Scully would be into that. I don't even smoke pot but I think it would be really hot if they got high on this trip.

Lol, anyway...

Oh shut it, it's BC! Get over it!

This episode reminds me a lot of Ice for a few reasons, and that is probably why I like it so much. They are trapped in an isolated location, where they investigate deaths caused by a creature released by accident. In this case little green wood mites that feed on body fluids. They were released from an old growth tree by the loggers. Spinney, the ecoterrorist thinks this is poetic. Also poetic is when his own monkey wrenching destroys their tires just as they are about to make it out of the woods alive. "Talk about shooting yourself in your own foot", the ranger quips.



Scully is transfixed by Mulder's hands as he gives his big theory. There is a great discussion in the group about Mt St Helens, and the eruptions' effect on the environment.

M:There’s actually this lake where they’ve discovered a kind of amoeba that can literally suck a man’s brains out.
S: Oh, a brain-sucking amoeba.
SPINNEY: No, it’s true. Spirit Lake. And there’s documented cases of swimmers being infected.

Just like Ice, this episode has a really strong supporting cast (something you can't always say about the MOTW eps). I think each of them were just bang on.

And like in Ice, the tension runs high. Mulder really screws up when he lets Spinney leave with the last of the gasoline, naively believing him when he promises to come back for them in the morning.

MOORE: Did you stop to think that the man who gave you his word has made an art out of sabotage?

Scully confronts him, and they fight, but she can't stay made at him. But she does hold him responsible for coming up with a survival strategy.



Mulder goes about making their cabin as bug proof as possible. Their generator keeps rolling all night, but they discover the bugs are already inside; they are all over everything, even Scully. I don't think we've seen Scully lose her cool like that before or since, flailing around screaming for Mulder to get them off of her. He does his very best to calm her down.



The sun rises just as the generator cuts out. They run for their abandoned jeep with an extra tire, but it's no good. The bugs get them all.

The episode ends with a scene we don't often see; the agents in a quarantine hospital. Mulder is up and about, but just barely. Scully's much worse, and he's feeling pretty damned guilty about it.

M: I told her it would be a nice trip to the forest