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Scully discovers a leper colony that may have something to do with the secret experiments. Perhaps the government was hiding their failed hybrids among the lepers; perhaps they were experimenting on the lepers themselves; perhaps there were aliens among them.

Scully is also led astray by the big elder conspirator, believing everything he says about the abductions being hoaxes instantly, despite.. you know.. actually building evidence alongside Mulder for the last couple of years...

She says she found what she was looking for. But when she says she was 'looking for proof', when what she really means 'an excuse not to believe in aliens'.

Disappointing to Mulder to say the least, especially after he's spent the whole episode running around a train alternately chasing and being chased by a murderous NSA agent trying to hide evidence of the alien aboard the train. Alien that may be a leper. Not sure.

It won't really matter in a minute anyway because there is  bomb on the train and Mulder is locked in the train car with it. Mulder steals the NSA agent's phone and Scully tries to help him guess the code to get out.

Mulder makes his panic face.

Fortunately for everyone, the train car is the same one that's in Mulder's alien autopsy video- suddenly it's worth the $29.95 Mulder paid for it. Just as fortunately, Mulder's worn out pause button is still operational enough for Scully to decipher the code to unlock the door.

M: Scully, let me tell you, you haven't seen America till you've seen it from a train. 

As usual when Mulder is away, Scully heads to his place. She watches the autopsy video, tapes an X to the window, digs around for Senator Matheson's number and probably helps herself to whatever is in the fridge. 

:P

Naturally the NSA guy allows Mulder to get the door unlocked then decks him, knocking him out cold. Mulder gets some pretty serious juice flowing. 

Scully hears this and freaks.

NSA guy deserves it when X arrives just in time and shoots the SOB. Carrying Mulder, they clear the train before it explodes. Barely.

When M & Sreturn to work, it's still quite tense. They have conflicting accounts and they give each other the 'I know what I saw' speech.

The scene ends with a frustrated impasse. Nobody wins.

Nisei

I tend to judge a season by it's mytharc episodes first, and it's stand-alones second. This two-parter is sort of uninteresting for me, especially compared to the ones that we've had so far. It's not without it's entertainment value, and certainly it moves the story forward.. sort of. In a sense. It's just not as exciting for me, and there is definitely little material for this particular blog's theme :P

Scully enters their office with some hesitation when she finds Mulder with his feet up, watching a video. Lucky for her, it's only an alien autopsy. Or unlucky, I guess her loonie toon partner thinks it's a lead.

S: You spent money for this?

M: Twenty-nine ninety-five, plus shipping.

S: Mulder, this is even hokier than the one they aired on the Fox network. You can't even see what they're operating on! 

The episode loses me when they start wondering out loud about why the men operating on the 'alien' are wearing gas masks (they already know alien blood is toxic!) In factI have a problem with this whole bit of dialogue:

S: Well, technically, I don't know why they would be wearing gas masks.

M: Well, maybe it's this green substance they seem to be extracting from the subject. Can you identify that?

S: Olive oil? Snake oil? I suppose you think it's alien blood.

M: It's widely held that aliens don't have blood, Scully. 

What.. ? But...? They both have had exposure to alien blood! And they both already know it's green! And toxic to humans! It burns! Why are they even having this conversation??

Maybe Scully means she 'technically' doesn't know why they are wearing gas masks, because she 'technically' is supposed to be the skeptic, even though there's really no reason to be... until later in this arc. 

And when they go their separate ways here, they really go their separate ways.

I do like Scully being introduced to an entire group of women who were abducted along with her. The idea of group abductions that we see repeated throughout the series is really interesting to me because a) abductions are traditionally a solo activity therefore it's easier for everyone else to call the abductee 'crazy', and b) I enjoy the support that comes from a group, even though Scully isn't ready to receive it yet, or even accept what happened. All of them remember her; she claims not to remember them, but I don't believe her. You can tell she remembers something, but she is still in full denial.

However, they produce vials containing metallic implants just like the one extracted from Scully's own neck.

When the group brings her to see Betsy in the hospital, dying of some untreatable cancer, they warn Scully that this is happening to all of them. They are all slowly filling with tumors that will slowly kill them, Scully included. I can't believe it takes them until season four to follow up with this (so maybe they refer to it sooner, I'll just have to pay attention).

What none of them know is what triggers the onset of this cancer is actually the removal of the implant. And technically we don't know that yet either, so shhh.

Meanwhile Mulder runs around a Japanese ship looking for.. I forget. Evidence. I think he saw a UFO somewhere.

When he comes home he finds his door unlocked and Skinner sitting on his couch. His apartment has been trashed, and really, at this point if I were him I'd be considering a change of address because this happens waaay too often.

Mulder pays Senator Matheson a visit; hey long time no see!

M: What am I onto here?

MATHESON: Monsters begetting monsters. 

Matheson gives Mulder a list of Japanese scientists ( Axis of Evil strikes again) that have been murdered; a breadcrumb trail that he can follow to the revelation that experiments are being done on abductees... by mere men. Japanese men in collaboration with the Germans that we met last time.

So... does that mean aliens don't exist? The abductions are just hoaxes to cover up the truth- human experimentation?

Well, no. I don't buy it; not that part. Even if you take the aliens out of the actual abduction, the purpose is still to create alien-human hybrids, create a vaccine for the alien virus we technically don't know about yet, and prevent colonization.

What I find interesting is the evidence of this secret collaboration between the US government and countries it was at war with.

Mulder and Scully compare notes, catch each other up on where they Scully is less concerned about Mulder's aliens than she is about the possibility that she's developing cancer. Mulder thinks she shouldn't worry about it too much until they find out exactly what the chip is.

Well that was bad advice, pure and simple wasn't it? I think Mulder's too distracted by his lead. The rift that began this season begins to widen, and will continue to widen until.. I dunno.. the end of the next mytharc ep!

Scully needs more proof. Mulder gets on a train to Vancouver, following a possible ET. 

Scully rewatches Mulder's video, this time remembering some of her abduction experience, and recognizes one of the doctors as someone who operated on her. That's enough, so goes home.

That's where X finds her; he warns her to keep Mulder off of that train, possibly because they are going to kill him, or possibly because X's loyalties are still with the conspiracy and he's protecting precious evidence.

Either way, it's too late and Mulder..... drops his cellphone from the train!!!!! NO!

Oubliette

An out of character episode to say the least; to me they both seem so bizarre. Scully is portrayed almost as a bad guy, complete with a scene where bad-guys-are-coming music pays as Mulder looks out the window to see Scully pulling up with the police. Scully totally deserves the bad-guy treatment in this one though, because she's not only unsympathetic and callous, but openly.. catty? When Lucy is in a rush to leave the hospital room after discussing her kidnapping experience, Scully tactlessly mutters to Mulder"I guess she’s not too big on confined spaces." WTF is that about?

Or, because not everyone aspires to be a bipolar drug-addicted waitress;

M: It’s amazing she’s gotten anywhere in life.

S: Well, by most yardsticks, she hasn’t, Mulder.

And Mulder becomes scarily and inappropriately obsessed with the victim, even crying when they find her dead. Just what is going on here?


I'd love to lay blame on an inexperienced (with the X-Files, anyway) writer who just doesn't really know the characters, but that's a boring answer. Tension is high in this episode, and not in a good way; let's pretend we can put it into context.

I think Mulder hasn't dealt  with his father's death yet. At the end of that arc, we see a united partnership, but in the episodes since, we don't see a lot of cohesion really. Ultimately, I believe in certain ways Scully must (even if unconsciously) blame Mulder for her sister's death, and likewise Mulder must blame Scully for giving up the digital tape that contained all of the secrets and all of the answers to the questions he's been asking for his entire life.


With this being such a seriously tumultuous period, Mulder never was able to make sense of his dad's death. Perhaps this Lucy is not only a symbol of Mulder sister, as Scully insists-for which Mulder snaps at her; "And not everything I do, say, think, and feel goes back to my sister. You, of all people should realize that sometimes motivations for behavior can be more complex and mysterious than tracing them back to one single childhood experience. 

Maybe Lucy is also a target for these feelings Mulder has about his father; how he absolutely refuses that either of them are capable of doing anything wrong, even when Lucy is a suspect, and even when his father is ready to confess some horrible secret to him.


Mulder comes up with the lamest, least likely (but true somehow??) excuse for Lucy's shirt being covered in the victim's blood...

AGENT EUBANKS: How did she get the blood on her?

M: She may have bled it.

AGENT EUBANKS: She bled Amy Jacobs’ blood?

M: Yes. It may explain why there was so little of it on the carpet in Amy’s bedroom. 

(That also might explain why you don't have any friends anymore...) 

S: I hate to say this, Mulder, but I think you just ran out of credibility.


So he gets emotional about the case, and when it's all finally over, the whole thing falls apart, and all of his pent up despair comes pouring out. Catharsis- the end.

A handful of gems:

M: Whether she knew it or not, she was repeating the exact words spoken by Amy’s abductor the exact same time 20 miles across town.

S: Well, that’s spooky.

M: That’s my name, isn’t it?

And Firefly's Jewel Staite (who is so young here!!) as the victim! 

The Walk

An interesting idea; a soldier who loses all of his limbs and projects himself in order to take revenge on the people he blames. The deaths are kind of cool; and they hold nothing back, even when he buries his boss's kid in the sandbox while he's playing with army men.

As far as the case goes, I think it's a fairly strong episode. With a villain that is totally unsympathetic.

I love M & S passing notes while they are interviewing the victim. I love how slightly unprofessional it is, and how Scully in particular doesn't really care. Like she's saying 'ok Mulder; pass! Onto the next unexplained phenomena please...' She writes something about him being a classic crackpot or whatever ;)

Followed by the classic Scully "I'm only pretending to be interested in what you are saying" face.

M & S have to put up with an army chick who feels like she needs to be over aggressive in order to make it in this man's world; she gives them the runaround about military protocol. Scully never responds well to chicks like this, and I think Mulder kind of digs it. Heh.

DRAPER: I don't know that he's available.

S: Ask him to make himself available. Tell him that its our protocol. In the mean time, we'd like to finish up with Lt. Col. Stans...

Scully: 1, Army Brat: 0

Later, revenge is exacted on the same woman in the swimming pool.

Score is still Scully: 1, Brat: 0. Game over. Can't win if you're in a body bag.

For once the investigate proceeds like an investigation rather than Mulder looking for evidence to back up his crazy idea. I mean, he still has the crazy idea, but they focus on the evidence; running fingerprints, listening to eerie voice message tapes...

Mulder has even been walking around with an x-ray dental plate in order to pick up unusual radioactivity from astral projections of the suspect. Neat!

Eventually they catch him in the act of projecting; at first they think he's having a seizure, but Mulder knows right away what's going on.

Mulder saves the general... the end! Which is fine; I actually think it's his turn anyway.

2Shy

This was my screen name on the first X-Files chat room I ever used (that statement is as dated as the episode itself!). I thought I was being really clever but no one got it. I got a lot of "Oh don't be shy we're all nice!".

I totally wanted them to call me on being a fat-sucking vampire.

Alas.

This episode is actually almost too gross for me. Partly because of the gross dissolved fatty tissue effects and partly because I have a real issue with creeps online. Imagine the kind of damage this guy could do on Facebook. 

The most entertaining part of 2Shy is the dated technology (obviously). The villain and his victims are cringe-worthy in the way they can't really socialize. Speaking of cringing; that sexist detective is killing me.

C: Oh, it’s you.
S: It’s not a problem, is it?
C: No. Just that Dr. Kramer didn’t tell me that you were observing the autopsy.
S: (businesslike) I’m not observing. I’m performing it myself.
C: You’re a medical doctor?
S: You sound surprised.
C: I don’t know. I, uh, I guess maybe I am.
S: Why?
C: It’s nothing personal, Agent Scully. I’m just old-fashioned in certain regards.
S: Old-fashioned?
C: The truth is, I question the wisdom of assigning female law enforcement officers to certain types of cases.

S:  Like this one?
C: Whoever killed Lauren MacKalvey has a definite attitude toward women. So this has to be affecting your judgment. 

Scully wants to punch him and so do I.

The highlight for me is when Scully opens the drawer containing the body which sloshes around and all splashes over the floor when she opens it. 

They determine it's caused by a secretion that is similar to stomach acid, but stronger, which allows the perp to dissolve his prey for easy extraction of their.. fat. Gross

M: Okay, it’s not yet the finely detailed insanity that you’ve come to expect from me. It’s just a theory, but what if he’s not doing this out of a psychotic impulse but rather out of physical hunger? Maybe he needs to replenish this chemical deficiency in order to survive
S: From a dry skin sample you’re concluding what? That he’s some kind of fat-sucking vampire? 

Well, she said it.

A surprising strong point of this episode is the landlandy's blind daughter. Normally the 'blind' people they get are only so-so, but I definitely believe this girl. It sucks that her mom has a crush on a serial killer. It also sucks that she had to lose her mom in order to catch this guy, but I am glad she's responsible for his capture. I dunno, I'm just rooting for her.Terribly hard for her to walk into scary serial-killer's apartment and smell her mom's perfume then have him tell her she hasn't been by. But she's quite brave when relaying her account to Scully. Go her.


The other surprising strong point? Scully's attacked by Fat-Sucker; shades of Tooms again. You know who saves her? The timid, frightened would-be victim! She shoots him!

Someone just found her girl power! As it happens, girl power comes in the form of a little gun...

When he's finally locked up, left to peel away in fat-deprivation, Mulder and Scully both look at him like he should just man up and die already. So much hate.

The List

 

I guess this one doesn't do much for me- I keep getting it confused with the Walk, neither of which are really stand-out episodes for me. I like it when I watch it, but sometimes that's not quite enough, you know? That said, when I finally get around to watching it, it's always more clever than I give it credit for.

Prisoners are being killed off by a man who was recently executed, and rumour has it, they are all on a List. Scully is the really key character here, as the episode seems to focus on her fears and discomfort on death row. That's definitely the most interesting part, and it sort of feels like a throwback to Irresistible in that way.

Mulder seems to be picking up on that as well. Scully seems to be having a problem with the death row inmates.

Beyond that, their interaction in this episode is kind of cute.

M: Imagine if you could come back and take out five people who had caused you to suffer. Who would they be?

S: I only get five?

M:(pauses and looks up at her) I remembered your birthday this year, didn't I, Scully?

(see he's trying to make her feel better and it's working. That said, he most likely did not remember her birthday.)

M: The man was obsessed with reincarnation.

S: Being obsessed with it doesn't mean you can do it.

M: Well, unless he knew something we don't.

S: Like what? The secret password?

Also, you already know how I feel about slideshows ;)

I am also a fan of the Speranza character; he's like a fun cross between X and Ron "The Truth" Killings.

I enjoy stakeout scenes no matter what, but I particularly enjoy this little bit where they are staking out the inmate's wife; naturally she's seeing the warden himself.

S: A woman gets lonely ... sometimes she can't wait around for a man to be reincarnated.

Ultimately Scully is relieved when the whole thing is over. I don't blame her; the prison is creepy and it's run by creeps. And the maggots all over the dead bodies don't help anything. So it's perplexing to her when they are finished with their investigation and Mulder pulls the car over in the middle of nowhere. Mulder is still chewing the case over.

M: You know, it just doesn't make sense.

...

S: I thought we already went through this.

But Scully is so over this case

S: It's over, Mulder. Let's just go home.

In a moment Mulder relents and gets back in the car.

Pick your battles.