Dod Kalm

I love this episode :) I'm glad whenever they can find a reason to put M & S on a boat!

Also, hello, is that a two-dollar bill?? Long time no see! Aw, LOL, our money was so much cooler when our bills had birds on them. Now they have, like, kids playing hockey and other lame junk. Hey, when did we switch over to toonies anyway? And hey, how do we spell toonies anyway? Twonies? Twoonies? These all look retarded.

I love that M & S both come up with excellent theories to explain what is causing the rapid aging on the ship. Both theories are probably more interesting than the truth. Mulder believes it's a wrinkle in time related to the Bermuda triangle. Scully believes it's hyper-active free radicals caused by a meteorite charging the sea.



When it turns out to be something in the water, I don't think that 'something' is ever actually explained... Oh well!

Mulder gets Scully to meet him in Maryland because he urgently wants her to take a look at a patient who has seemingly aged by about fifty years. Mulder leaves her there to fend for herself of course, which is tricky when she encounters a catty psycho-territorial doctor.



When they meet back at the office, Mulder has been doing his homework, cross-checking other X-Files and comes to a conclusion.

S: Are you suggesting that the Philadelphia Experiment used alien technology?
M: Less than nine months after the alleged crash of a UFO in Roswell, New Mexico, the USS Eldridge did more than just hide from radar screens, it disappeared altogether from the Philadelphia Navy Yard only to reappear minutes later, hundreds of miles away, in Norfolk Virginia.
S: That's not possible, Mulder, not without defying all laws of time and space.
M: Those physicists may have been trying to manipulate wormholes on Earth.
S: Wormholes?



Mulder has booked only himself on a flight, probably assuming there is no way Scully would be willing to fly all the way to Norway to chase wormholes. An intrigued Scully surprises him; she wants to find out what happened to the aged patient.

They try to find a fisherman to take them to the spot marked on Mulder's map, by searching the only place where you could find one- the pub.



They have zero luck until they find an American who is less superstitious about the location. He explains about a metorite that crashed there, but locals believe it was an evil god.

Mulder is sea sick the whole way. You can tell Scully is trying really hard not to give him a hard time about it :p

S: Feeling any better?
M: Uhhh ... You're lucky you inherited your father's legs.
S: What?
M: His sea legs. (they both have a small laugh)



When they finally arrive, they find a ship that is rusting and corroding away. The date on it is 1991; very creepy! Inside are two people: one is a perfectly healthy Norwegian whaler (who for that fact alone should be shot on the spot), and one who is actually being mummified alive, like the entire rest of the crew. Same thing happens to me when I eat too many sunflower seeds. Which, incidentally, I am doing right now.

So the issue is not time speeding up, but the sea water mummifying people to death. Only the recycled toilet water is safe to drink (eew). That, and the bottle of Jack Daniels the captain has been drinking, which is why he's outlived his crew.

As for the other guy; clearly he's dangerous. His team of whalers steals the ship they came in on, leaving them all stranded.

TRONDHEIM: It's just like these dogs to slit each others throats.

In case there are others, they decide it's best if somebody stays awake to keep watch. Mulder takes the first shift and seems very tired and relieved when the timer goes off on his watch, indicating his shift is over. He touches Scully lightly on her head to wake her.

S: Mmmm. I just fell asleep.
M: (sweetly) You want a few more minutes?
S: No. I'm up.



!!! Woah! Scully looks up and they are both in shock a what they see!



M: Scully ...!!
S: Mulder, what happened to you?

Theories are discussed. The only time we see either of them get short with each other is here (S: Mulder, what do you know about free radicals? M: Is this a quiz?), but I am fairly certain this can be written off as fear about suddenly finding yourself to be rapidly aging! Because I know I would be seriously afraid!

However, they never get panicky. They remain as calm and level about this as possible. It's a puzzle; though a scary one because their lives are really on the line here. What they do instead is pull together and look out for one another.

When M & S finally realize its the grey water system (the pipes are the only ones that aren't corroded), Trondheim has already figured it out. The whaler told him about it, then was shot (die whaler!) for his trouble. Continuing to demonstrate his noble character, Trondheim tries to convince Scully that they shouldn't share the water with Mulder. He's in much worse shape than they are, but Scully responds by suggesting they double Mulder's ration instead.



Like some kind of wounded puppy they are discussing of putting down, Mulder listens sadly from across the room. He looks so helpless, but Scully won't stand for it. At the same time, though, she knows the safe water is not helping, and that his kidneys are failing. But Scully stays by his side, and writes in her journal.

TRONDHEIM: You don't have to be a doctor to see that he isn't gonna make it.



He's not wrong. Since Scully won't come around, he decides to lock himself in the sewage processing hold and back flushes all of the water. M & S are officially effed. Frantic now, Scully rushes through the ship's kitchen and the crew's private quarters looking for anything that could be considered even kind of drinkable.

When she returns, Mulder is reading her journal, and he tells her that it was good she kept a record of what's happened on the ship. Scully seems reluctant to relay her bad news when Mulder is obviously trying so hard to stay positive. She presents her.. uhm... jar of gross stuff. Survival makes you do funny things doesn't it?

S: It's sardine juice, half a dozen lemons and uh, the water from a snow globe. (Mulder licks his lips) It's not Evian, but ...

They both insist the other drink it. Probably about 75% wanting very badly for the other to survive and 25% not wanting to have to drink that slop themselves.

M: You go ahead and drink it.
S: No, Mulder!
M: It's the only logical choice, Scully. You're a woman. Your life expectancy is greater, and your body retains more water in fatty tissues.
S: That's more reason for you to drink it.
M: You have a much greater chance of surviving until help comes.
S: Don't do this, Mulder.
M: (smiling a little)Don't be so stubborn, Scully. You know I'm right.
S: (maybe he is right) Well, there isn't much liquid to make a difference anyway.
M: (insistent and hopeful)There might be.
(He pushes the jar across the table toward her. Scully looks at him, then the jar, then downward for a moment.)
S: (firmly, finally) No.

God knows how long they may have kept that up if the ship's hull hadn't corroded through, knocking the jar off the table! You know, this whole season has been about one trying to save the other. Now when they are both trying to save each other, and it seems like an either-or situation, it leaves them at an impasse.

Proving that karma is both A) a bitch, and B) totally fair, this hull corrosion floods the room Trondheim is in and he drowns.



The scene where M & S face the inevitable is very touching to me, and I love watching it. Poor Mulder is wrapped up in a blanket, trembling. He makes a joke because what else can you do in this situation? But also, for probably the first time ever, he complains about the injustice of their life-threatening situation. In all of the ones he's faced before this, there has seemed like a way out; a way for them to be saved some how. This seems so much more final- no one can battle old age.

Perhaps it's made worse by how long and drawn out the process is. No one is holding a gun to their heads, they are just sitting with each other waiting for death to happen.

M: I always thought when I got older I'd maybe take a cruise somewhere. This isn't exactly what I had in mind. The service on this ship is terrible, Scully (she smiles at him, then he changes his tone). It's not fair. It's not our time. We still have work to do.

Scully becomes serious now too. She puts down her pen and turns toward him,. Faced with certain death, she finally opens up to him about her recent experiences with the other side.

S: Mulder ... When they found me, after the doctors and even my family had given up, I experienced something that I never told you about. Even now it's hard to find the words. But there's one thing I'm certain of. As certain as I am of this life, we have nothing to fear when it's over.



Her words may have comforted him, or it may have helped him accept what must happen next.

M: I'm so tired.
S: You should sleep.

She strokes his forehead and closes his eyes for him in one very touching display of tenderness. Mulder loses consciousness, and all Scully can do is wait with him. She ends her journal with a beautiful tale of the end of the world.

S: (v/o)I found a children's book of Norse legends. From what I can tell, the pictures show the end of the world - not in a sudden firestorm of damnation as the Bible teaches us, but in a slow covering blanket of snow. First the moon and the stars will be lost in a dense white fog, then the rivers and the lakes and the sea will freeze over. And finally a wolf named Skoll will open his jaws and eat the sun, sending the world into an everlasting night. I think I hear the wolf at the door.

She sounds so resigned, but also very calm. Scully has tried to give as much comfort as possible. Now, there is nothing more for her to do but lay her head to rest next to Mulder's. As far as either of them know, this is the end of their lives.



Lucky for them they are found, though I'm not sure how. Mulder mentioned he wasn't going to tell Skinner about it at the beginning of the episode. Typical X-files lucky rescue, I guess.

In the hospital, Scully wakes first. She groggily manages to listen to the doctor bring her up to speed, but when Scully is finally awake enough to speak, she shoots up in a fright asking where Mulder is.



She looks over to the bed next to her where Mulder is laying. Scully watches him as the doctor explains that the notes in her journal helped save him.

S: Whatever caused this is still out there. I have to talk to a naval liaison. We have to salvage the ship in order to study the salt ...
DR: Agent Scully, the ship was taking on water. It sank less than an hour after you were rescued.



AGH! Textbook X-Files open-ended conclusion! All evidence destroyed, but they will always have their memories :P