End Game

Picking right back up... Scully is on the phone with Mulder, but is also in her hotel room with 'Mulder'. He's finally got a hold of her and all he gets is a distant 'No, sorry'; he must be having a serious WTF? moment here. Scully told him she thought she was in danger; now he knows it and hauls ass to the motel.



How exactly does she know the one in her room isn't the real Mulder? Hard to say. Maybe you can just tell. Maybe she has scary good instincts. Either way, she pulls a gun on ABH dressed as Mulder, but he throttles her and throws her through a table!



The real Mulder arrives with Samantha, and it's shades of Duane Barry all over again. Mulder seems too shocked to believe it. He becomes panicked again; he's already lost her this way once. He even becomes short with his 'sister', especially when she tries to calm him.



Samantha: I know this is hard for you, Fox...
M: No, it's not hard. It's unbelievable.

Samantha is sure Scully is unharmed; ABH is only trying to get to her. She also describes to Mulder the story behind what is happening with the clones. I'll let her explain:

Samantha: The men you've been seeking are the progeny of two original visitors, clones who have been attempting to establish a colony here since the late 1940's.
M: A colony?
Samantha: Loosely. The community, by necessity, is dispersed. There are clones identical to my parents living in virtually every part of the country... It's their belief that our stewardship of the planet is being forsaken, and that by default, they'll someday become the natural heirs... Through hybridization, they've been working to erase that aspect which has forced the community to scatter... their identical natures.
M: All the clones worked in abortion clinics, why?
Samantha: Access to fetal tissue. Though the biologies are incompatible, they finally found a way to combine human DNA with alien DNA... The experiments weren't sanctioned. It was considered a dilution of their species, a pollution of their race. So a bounty hunter was dispatched to destroy them and terminate the colony.

There you have it. Mulder doesn't necessarily believe her. He finds her sudden appearance in his life to be far too suspicious. Not to mention, now that Scully's been taken again, he's more likely to lash out against everything and everybody, and even less likely to trust people.



Suddenly Skinner shows up. Mulder and Samantha suspect it may not actually be him, so she hides behind the door with a sharp tool while Mulder turns the lights off. Fortunately, it's not ABH- Mulder begins to explain things but the phone rings.



A pulverized Scully is on the other line with instructions from her captor; he wants to make a trade. Scully has no idea who she is being traded for, and Mulder doesn't tell her. They only have an hour before they have to meet. That's not much time to arrange for help, but luckily Skinner is ready for action.

Their intention of course, is not to make a trade, but to take ABH out with a sniper- base of the neck, the only way to kill him. They must be very precise.




That's not what happens. The trade is made; a frightened Scully heads for Mulder's car and sinks below the dashboard. I can imagine she's had quite enough of this life-threatening shit.

Samantha tries to fight back with her neck-piercing tool, but isn't strong enough. What's more, the sniper loses his shot; he fires anyway, sending both ABH and Samantha over the edge of the bridge.

Mulder cries out her name, and Scully finally realizes who she was just traded for. This is no small thing. Mulder has been searching for his sister for his entire adult life; she has been his motivation for everything. And he just traded her for his partner. Unthinkable.



The next morning, Samantha still hasn't been found. Mulder talks as if he's hopeful, but even he knows he's deluding himself. Scully, recently discharged from the hospital is full of questions.

S: Mulder, why didn't you tell me on the phone that it was her?
M: I couldn't tell you.
S: Why not?
M: Cause you'd never let me go through with it.

You've got that right. Scully then wonders if he's sure that was his sister, and Mulder becomes incredibly angry. Even though he himself was doubting her last night, he needs to believe this really was Samantha. Scully reminds him that back at the hotel, ABH looked exactly like him, but wasn't. They can no longer be certain that anyone is who they say they are.

S: Well, then who is this man and what does he...
M: (without hesitation, no room for argument) He's an alien.
S: (pauses) Is that what you're going to tell Skinner?
M: I already told Skinner, that was the easy part. Now I've got to tell my father.



It's almost hard to watch the scene where Mulder tells his father. Mulder is so emotional and his father is so harsh. Of course he's furious! As if their relationship wasn't tenuous enough- I'd probably never speak to Mulder again if it were me. Not just losing Samantha but trading her on purpose for a work associate? Can you imagine?

Bill Mulder: Do you realize what losing her again is going to do to your mother?



Such a serious guilt trip, though, as if Mulder wasn't feeling bad enough as is. Mulder cries and apologizes over and over. Bill Mulder hands his son an envelope, saying it was from Samantha. 'in case we get separated, meet here'.

"Here" is the clinic where her clones are. Before Mulder passe through the gates, however, he gets a call from Scully. Mulder explains the letter and tells her he believes Samantha is alive. Watch him go from hopeful to being totally crushed as Scully tells him otherwise; they just pulled her body from the river.



He's not sure what to do next. He tells Scully he'll be right over, but instead he chooses to check out this clinic while he's there. Maybe she'll be in there after all.

As it turns out, she's in there several times over.



There are many copies. And they have a plan.

Mulder is shocked to find the truth, but even more so, he is so furious. How could they use him like this? Play with his emotions, and make him believe his sister had come back to him? For this unforgivable sin, he basically tells them to go to hell.



He refuses to protect them. In a last ditch effort to get his help, they tell him the real Samantha is still alive and they know where is is. How else would they know so much about her? The truth, we'll find, is that they were lying to him. Samantha died when she was still a girl (but we won't know for sure until the seventh season).

So ABH finds them and kills them. He leaves Mulder alive, but sets the clinic on fire.

This makes Mulder more determined than ever to figure out just what exactly is going on here. I'm not sure how he contacts X, but Mulder interrupts his night out.

M: How was the opera?
X: Wonderful, I've never slept better.



LOL

M: I need to know what you know.
X: Okay. They're all dead.
M: No. One of them is alive, the one who was sent to kill them. Where is he?
X: A nuclear submarine located his craft in the Beaufort Sea five days ago. They were ordered to destroy it but they were disabled. An attack fleet left port from Anchorage this morning to make sure this man does not leave.

That's enough for Mulder. Off he goes.

Meanwhile, Scully finds out why alien blood is toxic to humans;

GARDNER: Apparently. When the body's exposed to it, it triggers a massive production of red blood cells. Now, take a look at this. We took a second culture and were able to control it's growth.
S: What did you do to it?
GARDNER: All we did was lower the temperature by five degrees Fahrenheit.
S: So the virus is inhibited by cold.

Keep that in the back of your mind for future eps; I'm definitely curious about continuity on that one (Fight the Future, I'm looking at you!)

Scully goes over to Mulder's apartment to bring him up to date on what she knows. She notices two newspapers stacked by his door, obviously surprised to see that Mulder has already been gone for at least two days and she didn't even know it! She thought Mulder was just taking some time off because of his sister's apparent death.

When she goes inside to figure out what's going on, she finds a message for her.



M: Scully, when you get this message, I will be too far away for you to stop me, but where I'm going I cannot allow you to follow. I won't let you jeopardize your life and your career for reasons purely personal to me. You were right, Scully... you said a line has to be drawn somewhere. I'm drawing it for you here. I'll contact you when I can.

She can't believe what she is reading! Mulder has gone off to do something that he clearly believes could endanger his life. And she's not invited. Scully finally knows what it's like to be on the other end; the determined to rescue, somewhat panicky end.

Fearing for Mulder, she goes to Skinner for help; she knows he's connected to people that she simply is not. She meekly enters his office when his assistant is away from her desk. She tells him Mulder is gone, and asks if he can help her find him... through unofficial channels.



Skinner considers this for a moment. This is tricky, because agreeing would mean admitting his dubious connections. Of course he will help her, because he cares about both of them, but just as in One Breath, he needs to make it look like he has nothing to do with it. More than that, he needs to save face at the office- who knows might be listening!

Skinner: He's risked my position, your life.
S:(emphatically) Agent Mulder has saved my life!

Scully always defends him. Feeling a little discouraged, Scully heads back to Mulder's apartment. She finds the masking tape X on the window, with a lamp propped up beside it. Easily putting two and two together, she turns on the lamp, and then falls asleep on Mulder's couch waiting for a mysterious informant to arrive.



When he does, X steps into the door frame without looking. When he realizes Scully is the one standing there, he pretends he's got the wrong apartment. Scully all but loses it on him, as he continues to pretend not to know anything. Scully, not knowing what else to do, really, goes back into Mulder's apartment. X takes the elevator back downstairs.

But Skinner is waiting for him, like the intimidating horror movie villain he should be.

Battle of the Badasses ensues!! Answering the age old question; "Why doesn't Skinner just beat the information out of him?"



Damn I love this show. Skinner gets his info. He appears at Mulder's door all bloody and tells Scully everything she needs to know in order to rescue Mulder.

Which is great, because by now, Mulder could do with some serious rescuing. He's found ABH, but I bet he wishes he hadn't because he's getting pummeled. He begs ABH to tell him where his real sister is. Not that ABH would know, so he messes with Mulder and tells him "She's alive. Can you die now?"



Mulder manages to shoot ABH in the neck, but it wasn't in the right spot, so Mulder is blinded by the toxic blood and thrown out. That's how he managed to be in the condition we first saw him in, when this whole mess started.

Scully managed to track him down, and now is responsible for reviving him. The hospital crew is skeptical to say the least, but eventually Scully cons them into going along with it. She is frantic to save him, and totally gutted to see him this way.

She administers the defibrillator paddles, which to me almost seems like an act of violence to a person's body. What a scary thing to do, but totally necessary. Scully yells orders at the hospital crew but the doctors is seriously unconvinced this is going to work, even suggesting they give up.

DOCTOR: This patient's not even in...
S: (emotional but determined as hell) He's going to make it.



Scully runs her fingers through Mulder's hair. She's just going to will him to live. After blood transfusions and anti-virals, Mulder improve a bit. He lays unconscious for days, and Scully sits and sits waiting for him to wake up.



She doesn't even change. She probably didn't even pack, just got on a plane as fast as she could.

She seems to remain fearful until Mulder finally wakes up; then she positively glows.



S: Hey! How're you feeling?
M: (barely able to whisper) Like I got a bad case of freezer burn.
S: (just teasing) Thanks for ditching me.
M: (wide eyed and genuine) I... I'm sorry, I... I couldn't let you risk your life on this.
S: Did you find what you were looking for?
M: No. No. But I... I found something I thought I'd lost. (Scully tilts her head 'what?') Faith to keep looking.

Scully smiles at this.

< / End Game >

Colony

This episode seems to exist solely to set up the next one, so in that way, it's not nearly as much fun to watch as End Game. This might be part of the reason why I have a hard time separating the two in my head. It may also have to do with the flashback format of the episode, or simply the fact that I have never watched one without the other. For this reason, I actually delayed my watching End Game for about a week so I can mull this one over!

We actually learn a lot of interesting things. Like I said, maybe not as entertaining as the next, but certainly more informative.

We learn that Mulder's parents are divorced; something not even hinted at prior to this ep. We actually get to meet both of them for the first time.

We learn that the government's cloning experiments that have been alluded to a few times in the past have born fruit as it were; not only the Samantha clone but her 'parents'.

A grown Samantha becomes involved with the Mulder family because she believes they (her brother in particular) can save her from:



Alien Bounty Hunter! Kick ass! I love ABH. He's going around the country killing off the Doctor and Samantha clones that have built a loose colony in several states. Oh, PS, he can shape shift and look like whoever he wants.


Colony opens with a frightened, frantic, but determined Scully bursting into a hospital where a scary looking Mulder is just flatlining. We have no idea what Mulder has just been through, but his voice over alludes to it.




M: What happened to me out on the ice has justified every belief. If I should die now, it would be with the certainty that my faith has been righteous... that there is intelligent life in the universe other than our own. That they are here among us. And that they have begun to colonize.



Oooh great opener! Didn't that grab your attention?

The rest of the episode begins two weeks earlier. Mulder's been tipped off (presumably by a Samantha?) about related deaths of three identical abortion doctors. Seems like the work of pro-lifers, but if so, why would someone think Mulder cares?

ABH has placed a 'have you seen this man?' ad in several newspapers, following these tips in order to systematically take out the clones. His northerly pattern leads Mulder to believe he could predict this still-unknown killer's movement, though Scully is less sure of this whole thing.

S: Well, nothing about it makes sense. We've got three deaths of identical victims, no bodies, a virtual non-suspect...
M: Sounds just like an X-File.




They access the ad's answered messages and find a Dr in Syracuse they believe they have to protect. A local agent goes to investigate, but he's too late; he witnesses ABH killing the Dr. ABH takes on the agent's appearance as the Dr dissolves into a pile of green alien goo. The real agent has been stuffed into ABH's trunk.

Mulder is understandably surprised when he is reamed out by Skinner for causing this agent's death. To the best of his knowledge, this agent was fine!

Skinner: Did anyone authorize this investigation, Agent Mulder?
M: No, sir.
Skinner: Do you have paperwork on this case?
M: No, sir. I'd assumed we had an understanding with respect to the X-Files.
Skinner: I'm sure it doesn't surprise you, Agent Mulder, that the people I have to answer to aren't quite so understanding. Particularly when one of their field agents is found dead.
M: What?



I find Skinner's relationship to the X-Files to be just as interesting (for me) as the complicated relationship between M & S. On the one hand, Skinner has aligned himself with his agents, even giving them special privileges due to the 'special' nature of their cases. But at the same time, not only has he been compromised by CSM and his associates, but there is still the real-life matter of him not having control over the agents under him. Because of this, even Skinner is in some serious trouble from his superiors.

So he kind of.. explodes. Meanwhile, Scully is still at home checking her e-mail. She hasn't made it into work yet, but knew that Mulder was there. She calls him to say she received an e-mail about another clone, this one in Washington.

A supposed CIA agent intercepts them at Scully's place. He tells them a half truth about the clones, but claims they are part of a Russian cloning project, and their placement in abortion clinics is so they can strike in the event of a war, contaminating blood supplies, sabotaging pharmaceutical factories... essentially destroy the country's immune system. Compelling story. He also believes he knows where the Washington clone lives, and decides to take them there.



I am not entirely clear on why ABH is bringing M & S along. Perhaps he believed he was caught? He clearly didn't need their help or anything.

Anyway, they find the doctor, but their pursuit ends in a chase. The chase ends with Mulder being hit by a car! Jesus! Scully checks on Mulder, who insists she go on, but she's already fallen behind ABH, who has found the perfect opportunity to kill the clone. He melts... and Scully steps in him. Don't know why, but I find that particularly gross!

The next morning at work Mulder appears to be fine.

S: How are you feeling?
M: Like I should've used the crosswalk.

If you can joke, you are fine, right? :p Scully suggests they drop the case.

M: Scully, if what our friend from the C.I.A. says is true, this could blow the lid off one of the biggest national security conspiracies ever.
S: Our friend from the C.I.A. is about as unbelievable as his story... as is everything about this case. I mean, whatever happened to "trust no one," Mulder?
M: Oh, I changed it to "trust everyone." I didn't tell you?



Uhm, that line actually kills me! I find it hilarious. Scully starts to voice all of the concerns that I as a viewer, have as well. Why would this CIA guy need their help? Couldn't he be responsible for the other agent's death? They actually get into a heated argument about 'drawing lines', but it only lasts a minute. They don't want to fight.

Scully changes the topic by showing Mulder her shoes. No, seriously...




S: I have to show you something. (Maybe a little angry)I got these a week ago.

S: I stepped in something last night that ate clean through the sole. Now, maybe I'm being paranoid, but it was in the exact spot where this man Chapel said the doctor escaped.

Mulder pokes his pencil through the hole in the shoe. It wasn't particularly suggestive, but you can be damned sure I found a screen cap that was :P



They both look at each other like they know they may be on to something after all. I can't remember how much exposure Scully has had to aliens' melty deaths, can you? Did she see any of it in Erlenmeyer Flask? Probably not.. anyway, Mulder suggests Scully round up an autopsy bay. What for?

M: I came across something I think you'll appreciate. Whoever killed that field agent in Syracuse was so clever, no clear cause of death can be established.

You know, I enjoy the phasing Mulder chose to go with on that one. I enjoy the idea of Mulder reviewing notes and discovering a interesting tidbit that makes him think 'I have to tell Scully about this. She will appreciate this'.

S: Well, Skinner's going to want to know why you didn't file your report. What're you going to say?
M: Just the truth. I got hit by a car.



Valid excuse I'd say. Skinner is no longer interested in Mulder's report, instead he looks... concerned. Instead, he tells Mulder that his father's been trying to reach him with a family emergency.

That's always a frightening thing to hear because it could mean anything. In this case, however, Mulder could have never seen it coming.

When he arrives at his father's place, Mr Mulder is sitting on the porch smoking a cigarette, looking for all the world like CSM.



I'd be shocked to find out this was an accident; I think they are trying to make us vaguely aware from the beginning that Mr Mulder is not exactly who he appears to be. He and Mulder share a tense handshake. It's clear they aren't exactly friends. Mulder's entire family situation seems very strained. I can't help but wonder if it's because Mr Mulder knows he's not really his father...

Mrs Mulder is inside talking to... Samantha. Mulder is completely blown away. Mr Mulder seems distant from the entire thing. Like he already knows it's not really her, but can't bear to cause any more pain. I was really touched by the scene where Mulder tucks his mother in; they both seem so fragile.



Everybody stays up all night talking, but it's not until morning that Mulder asks Samantha about what happened to her since her abduction. She had no memory of her previous life, only her life with her adopted parents, who she confesses right away are these alien clones that are being killed.



Scully, meanwhile, has tracked down an address and has to go to Edmonton.



OK, not really :) There she finds evidence of the cloning experiment and later discovers she's been followed home from it. Here begins a frustrating game of phone tag; Scully desperately wanting to tell Mulder about what she found and let him know she thinks she's in danger. Mulder is trying desperately to warn her that she might be in danger, because his long lost sister told him so!

Scully decides to play it safe and stay at a motel near the Edmonton location. She gets on a bus and unwisely leaves a message with Mulder giving him the details of where she is staying. She doesn't think she's been followed, but she just didn't recognize ABH, so he tracks her down easily.

He appears at her door disguised as Mulder... but the phone rings and it's also Mulder! What is Scully to make of this?



She understands instantly that she is in danger. Again.

Fresh Bones

Mulder's manner in this ep is very subtly protective. It's not surprising because this really isn't Scully's luckiest season, is it? I think he's behaving as if anyone they meet in their investigations could turn out to be dangerous because so far, that has been completely true. Nothing overt, just the way he acts around her. Frequently putting his arm around her, putting himself between her and others; Chester when he harasses her, Bauvais when he tries to intimidate her, the graveyard dog.



Buying Chester's lucky charm for protection counts as well ;)

M: You should always carry protection.

Scully will need it when she once again falls victim to the villain of the episode, this time what appears to be a Haitian refugee practicing voodoo in order to take revenge on the soldiers holding him. But as the Colonel says, it's a pretty bad situation for everybody at the camp.

COLONEL WHARTON: We're soldiers. We're not prison guards. And we're being asked to police a hostile population of foreigners without the resources to feed or house them. There are bound to be some conflicts.



The viewer would be forgiven for seeing things from his point of view too. Too bad he turns out to be the villain himself!

This episode contains a few scenes with very creepy imagery. I love the body in the morgue that has been replaced with a dog's corpse.



I love the barbed wire wrapped around the steering wheel, which Scully pricks her hand on. (Scully is driving??)



I love how it festers and becomes completely disgusting, and she scratches at it more and more until she finally watches a hand peel itself out of her wound!



She saves herself by grabbing the charm whose magical powers she earlier compared to that of a pair of fuzzy dice.

Not that anyone could blame her about being skeptical. Mulder's original theory even had me rolling my eyes a bit (until he clarified that he didn't mean actual back-from-the-dead zombies, just faked death)

M: What do you know about zombies?
S: Well, I hope you don't intend to tell Robin McAlpin that she married one.
M: In 1982, a Harvard ethnobotanist named Wade Davis did extensive field research in Haiti on the zombification phenomenon. He analyzed several samples of zombie powder prepared by voodoo priests and he found tetrodotoxin to be common to all of them.
S: But, Mulder, it’s a lethal poison.
M: But in small enough doses it can cause paralysis and depress cardiorespiratory activities to such a low level that the victim might appear clinically dead.

OK, so the victims weren't technically dead in the first place, they only appeared to be. I buy that. M & S begin to wonder if this means the other voodoo victims might have been buried alive as well.

They head to the grave yard where they meet with an almost unrecognizable Callum Keith Rennie! But grave robbers have beat them to the body; grave robbing being a popular activity with the voodoo crowd.



One of them is this kid Chester, though he appears to be primarily collecting frogs. (S: Maybe I should kiss a few and find out if one is Guttierez) They take him to lunch and question him.

S: How do you get out of the camp?
CHESTER: I go, and then I come back.

Very Zen answer LOL. Mulder seems to have a lot of time for kids in general, Chester is no exception.



CHESTER: Bauvais. His magic is the most strong. (shakes his empty French Fry carton) He even made my fries disappear!
M: Hey, Chester. I got magic, too, and I bet I can make your fries reappear. (hands him some cash)
CHESTER: Merci!

While Chester is ordering more fires, Mulder notices that they have been followed. A marine comes up to them and confesses the Colonel forces them to abuse the refugees, which is why the situation has become so violent. Chester uses this opportunity to make a run for it. M & S pursue him, but he vanishes into thin air.. or magically becomes a black cat.



I believe Mulder refrains from telling Scully about that one because.... well, come on!



Despite even Scully's obvious concern about the barbed wire in the steering, Scully tells Mulder not to worry about it. Mulder does anyway, and continues to worry about it throughout the episode.



Surprisingly, X decides to get involved in the case. He contacts Mulder by leaving him a playing card; the 10 of diamonds, a pun on the location where they are supposed to meet.



M: I was surprised to get your card. I had assumed our last contact... would be our last. Why are you here?

I have to ask the same thing... after all, we haven't seen X since One Breath, and they didn't exactly part on friendly terms. I'm still not clear on why he got involved here; he tells Mulder they are going to be called back to Washington and the whole refugee camp is going to 'disappear'. Helpful information, yes, and it's always good to see Black Throat, but... still...



Meanwhile, Scully is at the hotel, phoning around looking for Private Dunham. Evidently he's been AWOL, but Scully finds him when she goes looking for Mulder in his hotel room. His door is unlocked so she lets herself in. She finds bloody water is running out of the bathroom and becomes understandably frightened of what she might find behind the door. Lucky for her it's only the missing marine dead in the bathtub; Mulder then pops in with the 'killer'.

Actually, Private McAlpin is being set up; he doesn't remember anything, but is convinced to sign a confession. Truth is though, there are so many weird things going on in this ep, I just want to sit back and watch. I have totally forgotten that a crime is being committed or that we're supposed to care that they find out it's actually the Colonel who is responsible!



I'm more concerned about Scully's gross little flesh wound that is now causing her headaches (though she continues to tell Mulder she's fine :P)

S: I’m all right.
M: You don’t look all right.




Not that he has any reason to believe she's actually fine. If anything, he just becomes more concerned for her. When Mulder goes after the Colonel in the cemetery, Scully stays behind because if her pain. She now starts to hallucinate under the voodoo influence. The hand breaks through her wound, then starts choking her!



Mulder catching the Colonel in the middle of a voodoo ceremony over Bauvais's grave, so the Colonel stabs him by stabbing the ground!

Bauvais poisons the Colonel, making him appear to be dead; Colonel winds up being buried alive!

Scully runs to Mulder, who is still on the ground. Both are utterly bewildered by what just happened. Bauvais lays peacefully, dead in his coffin. Voodoo is weird shit.



After all of that excitement, the episode ends rather weakly with a 'Chester has been dead since the beginning' line. Oh well! Explain that one away Scully!