Irresistible

What an episode. You know, I forgot how extremely shippy this one is, because for once I think the case itself overshadows the relationship component. Donnie Pfaster is recognized to be one of the creepiest villains in X-Files history, and with good reason. There is nothing supernatural about him, he's just a freak.



A death fetishist, who no longer is content to rob body parts from the dead, but begins to kill in order to collect his mementos. His bedroom is decorated with funeral wreaths! And his overall demeanor is so... frightening.

However, Scully doesn't even know any of this about him yet; so why is she so disturbed from the beginning?




You may or may not have noticed that ever since Scully has been returned, nearly all of the cases involve female victims that Scully is extremely sympathetic towards. In Firewalker, it was Jesse O'Neil, who fell in love with her thesis adviser, followed him into a volcano only to be shunned by him, and then met her horrible death (while cuffed to Scully). In Excelsis Dei, it was the rape victim than nobody believed, but whose case Scully was determined to solve. In Aubrey, Scully empathized with BJ's difficult situation of being pregnant with her married coworker's child and then watched her transformation into a monster.

Scully's sympathy has been in over-drive. In this episode she takes it one leap further by actually picturing herself as the victim being butchered.



Combine that with the very real butchering that she experienced but is unwilling to confront. Scully has in no way dealt with her abduction, in fact she has tried to bury it and seems to pretend it never happened. She would prefer her life to just get back to normal.

This case has made it impossible for her to do that.



M & S are called in to investigate a desecrated body that the local authorities attribute to aliens, believing the crime to resemble cattle mutilations. Mulder knows from the start aliens have nothing to do with it, but failed to let his partner in on this secret. What he didn't expect, but clearly picks up on right away, is that this kind of mutilation is particularly disturbing to Scully.

Like a gentleman, Mulder opens Scully's car door for her. He may feel sorry for making Scully uncomfortable, or he may be up to something.



S: You knew it wasn't UFO related from the start?
M: I had suspected as much.
S: Mulder, we flew three hours to get here. Our plane doesn't leave until tomorrow night. If you suspected, why -
M: (pulls two tickets from his pocket) Vikings versus Redskins, in the Metrodome. Forty yard line, Scully. You and me.



:D ......!!!! Did he just ask her on a date...? He wants to take her to a football game...!? That is twenty different kinds of wonderful. You know... football isn't most womens' idea of a good time. Until they go. I love when my husband takes me to Stamps games. I'm going to go ahead and say I'm sure Mulder could find a way to make sure Scully had a good time too.

If they got to go, that is. Sadly another body turns up and makes them miss their date. Hard to tell who's more disappointed, Mulder or myself.



When Scully takes a look at the crime scene photos, she sees herself and is spooked enough to leave the room. Mulder finds her sitting outside the door looking frightened. He lets her know he's canceling their flight home.



More eating and working.

Meanwhile, Pfaster is getting scarier. He kills a prostitute in order to chop off her hair and fingers. One of the scariest scenes of all time is when he invites this hooker over for a freezing cold bath. 'Is you hair treated?' His slow, measured tone gives me chills. When a phone call interrupts the bath, the prostitute notices the funeral wreaths around his bead and realizes too late that her life is in danger. Truly frightening scene.



Then Pfaster hits the jackpot by being hired as a delivery man; the mother of the family cheerfully lets him know they have three daughters and they always keep their back door unlocked. He finds a ball of hair in their garbage and smells it. He also starts staking out a victim in a comparative religion class he's taking.

Scully must perform an autopsy on the prostitute whether she is comfortable enough or not. It's an excellent scene highlighting her trouble with this case; the image feels a level removed because of the voice over we hear from Scully. It helps to show her attempt at detaching herself from the case, and likely her attempt the remain calm as she is about to further disfigure the body with her autopsy. A group of men wait for her as she enters the room. She hesitates; she almost seems to be on trial for her weakness.



In her voice over, Scully says something that I find interesting.

S: It may be an irony only understood by those of us who conduct these examinations... that death, like life itself, is a drama with a beginning, middle and end.



That night Scully dreams of herself in the autopsy bay. Mulder's phone call wakes her; they have made an arrest.

They picked up some random guy who hit a hooker. Interestingly, Pfaster has already been picked up for accosting his classmate. Needless to say, no one makes the connection- why would they? But I love that they have already caught him, then he's released because his classmate decides not to press charges after all.



When they leave, Scully takes Mulder aside to confide in him about her discomfort with the case... sort of. In her cryptic kind of way.

S: Mulder, can I have a minute with you?
M: Yeah.
S: I think I might better drive this investigation if I focused on the evidence.



M: What are you suggesting?
S: That I take the body back to Washington. I'd like to run it through the fingerprint lab there. You know those guys, they can pull a print -
M: (seeing right through her) If you're having trouble with this case, Scully, I want you to tell me.
S: I'm not having trouble, Mulder.
M: I'd understand, Scully. This isn't exactly easy to stomach.



S: I'm fine with it. Really. I just think we're a long way from catching this guy. If we could get a print, we'd have something to go on. Right now we're at a standstill.
M: (deciding to play ball, because Scully obviously needs to get away from this case)I think it's a good idea. (puts his hand on her shoulder) I just don't want you to think you have to hide anything from me, Scully. I've seen agents with twenty years in the field fall apart on cases like this.
S (quietly): I'm fine, Mulder. I can handle it.

Scully is finding it very important to put this brave act on for Mulder; she doesn't want him to know how much this case is bothering her, but he can tell quite easily. I don't think she's necessarily trying to hide it; just avoiding admitting it. All she wants is for Mulder to stop worrying bout her. She feels so weakened by her experiences and the cases, and Mulder making a big of it will only make it worse for her. Like his concern will undermine any strength that she can scrape together.

Back in DC, Scully admits defeat and seeks out her counselor.



S: You think you find a way to deal with these things. In med school, you develop a clinical detachment to death. In your FBI training, you are confronted with cases, the most terrible and violent cases. You think you can look into the face of pure evil. And then you find yourself paralysed by it.
KOSSEFF: Are you aware you've been talking about yourself in the second person?
S: No. Was I?
KOSSEFF: Do you know why?
S: Probably as another way of trying to detach myself from it.

I never saw Scully as someone who would need to see a shrink, but in her line of work it's also hard to imagine not needing one. Her counselor makes it sound like Scully has been seeking help before, as she has a record. It contains a note on her father's death (the mention of which makes it difficult for Scully to keep her composure), and it vaguely mentions her 'illness' and that her life was threatened. Perhaps the pressure of all of this has caused Scully to feel vulnerable?

KOSSEFF: Is it your partner? Is there a problem with trust -
S:(firmly) No. I trust him as much as anyone. I'd trust him with my life.
KOSSEFF: Can you talk to him about the way you're feeling?
S: No. (pauses) I know it sounds crazy, but I don't want him to know how much this is bothering me. I don't want him to think he has to protect me.

Something Mulder has certainly been trying to do since Scully's return. If Mulder treats her like she is weak, then she fears she really will become weak; how you are treated has so much to do with who you are.



S: I know the world is full of predators, just as it has always been. And I know it's my job to protect people from them. And I've counted on that fact to give me faith in my ability to do what I do...
I want that faith back... I need it back.

This session seems to be exactly what Scully needed. Sometimes getting it off your chest is the best thing you can do, and Scully has made a point of doing the opposite so far. She calls Mulder to let him know she's coming back tonight. Mulder's not sure that's a good idea yet.

M: Look, Scully. I know this is a pretty horrific case -
S: I'm okay with it, Mulder. (kind of joking- humour=defense) You can use my help.
M: (very tender, completely serious and wants her to know it)Always.



Don't know why; that really made me smile. Unfortunately instead of a happy reunion, Pfaster kidnaps Scully on her way from the airport. Mulder becomes worried when he thinks Scully is late, and even more so when he confirms that Scully was indeed on the flight. They find her rental car.

Mulder becomes quite angry when they can't find any witnesses.



MULDER: (beyond frustrated) People videotape police beatings on dark streets. They see Elvis in three cities across America every day. But no one saw a pretty woman being run off the road in her rental car.

A frightened Scully is being kept in Pfaster's closet until he's ready to... wash her hair. Is there anything more creepy than Donnie Pfaster asking her if her hair is 'normal or dry'?



Scully tries to make a run for it and does the best she can to defend herself with whatever she can find. They both end up falling down the stairs. Mulder arrives with a small army and rescues her just in time. She's dazed on the floor when he comes over to her and yells for paramedics.





S: I'm okay.
M: Just stay there, Scully.
S: I'm fine. Just help me get my wrists undone. (Mulder starts untying her) How did you find me?
M: His Mother used to own the house, willed it to the sisters. I played a hunch. A patrolman spotted the car out front.

Scully is partly trying to avoid looking Mulder in the eye, and partly keeping a watchful eye on Pfaster.



M: Why don't you sit down until someone can take a look at you.
S: (quietly and looking down, this time clearly avoiding his eyes) Mulder, I'm fine.



At that moment, Fox Mulder knows... he will never believe Scully when she says 'I'm fine', ever again.



Mulder looks at her, and touches her chin gently, tilts her face up to look at him. That's enough. Scully finally begins to cry. The fear from these last moments, the fear from the case, and from her unmentioned abduction- she finally lets go of all of it. She falls into him and Mulder holds her while she cries, looking a little overwhelmed at this unexpectedly strong show of emotion from his usually steely partner.



Scully releases her arms to wrap them around Mulder, and they stay holding each other that way for a long time. Mulder wants to protect her. Always. In this moment of weakness, Scully finally lets him.