Revelations

I tend not to pay too much attention to the religious role-reversal episodes where Scully plays the believer, and Mulder the skeptic. But I tried watching it differently this time and one thing stands out to me so much that I just have to address it right off the bat here:

This boy is William.

I mean, I don't believe for a second that CC & co planned it that way, or alluded to it or anything. It's just a feeling. Part of it is the whole Scully-as-Holy-Mother thing this episode has going on, as she's very protective and maternal towards the kid. It's also Kevin's saviour-child quality, but what really clinches it for me is the final bit of dialogue when he and Scully are saying goodbye.

S: Maybe I'll see you again sometime.

K: (confidently, as if he already knows for sure) You will.

Well.. that wasn't a convincing argument on my part, I know. Like I said, it's a feeling. It's hard to explain a feeling.

Nothing says that just because Scully rescues the boy now, that he can't die later and be reborn in William. Maybe he's arrived here early to establish some kind of karma or connection with Scully before he comes back as her son; Baby Space Jesus.

But if Scully believes he is the genuine article, and we are meant to believe William is the genuine article, just play ball with me ok?

It makes this episode so much more interesting that way.

More interesting bits; also sounding a bit like they are describing WIlliam.

OWEN: (aka Homer Simpson, according to Mulder :P) I was only asked to protect the boy.

M: By who? Who asked you to protect him?

OWEN: God.

M: God! That's quite a long distance call, isn't it?

OWEN: You don't understand, unless someone protects Kevin ...

M: It's the end of the world as we know it, right?

When Owen is murdered, Scully conducts the autopsy; she swears he smells like flowers.

S: (slightly strained voice) ...Mulder, would you do me a favor? Would you smell Mr. Jarvis?

M: (stares at her silently for a sec)...You want me to smell him? (does so)

S: Mulder, this man's body is in no way decomposing normally. In catechism, we learned of instances like this - so-called "incorruptibles", whose bodies wouldn't decay and who emitted a smell of flowers.

Scully is clearly afraid to share this idea with her partner; you can almost watch her brace herself for his inevitable dismissal of it. He even goes so far as to say "you're serious?", really only returning all of the "your serious?"s that he's heard from her over the years. In this case however, it almost feels more like a personal attack on her belief- perhaps because religion is such a personal thing.

Scully is unsure of herself but tries to hold her ground. In the end, Mulder leaves, telling her that her autopsy findings will confirm how silly her idea is. He leaves, and she is wounded by his unwillingness to even entertain the idea that Owen is some sort of holy man, emitting a floral aroma... Upset that he shot down her idea without even pretending to have an open mind about it.

Look how hurt she is! She is struggling to keep her composure.

As if to balance that out, when they meet next, Scully asks what he turned up; Mulder response "it's what you turned up", generously giving her credit for their retrieval finger prints from the burn marks on Owen's neck.

When Kevin's mother is killed by the same man, Scully appoints herself as the protector of the boy. She tells him that there is a doctor at the shelter, but she doesn't think it's the best idea to let him out of her sight.

KEVIN: Do I have to go back there?

S: No (considering her options) ... No, you don't. Why don't you duck back inside.

M: Is he ready to go (to the shelter)?

S: I want to keep him with us, Mulder, until Gates is apprehended. (Mulder stares at her; he's very concerned) Look, I know about getting personally involved and I'm not.

 Mulder becomes quite concerned for her; he knows this is affecting her more than most cases. Maybe they all sense some kind of destiny involvement, particularly where Scully's protection of Kevin is concerned. They bring the boy back to their hotel.

M:(sitting on the bed- pouty... maybe a little sultry?) You never draw my bath. 

Jealous?

Kevin is abducted from the hotel room, and they return to his father to find clues in order to find him. Mulder finally confronts Scully about her involvement in this case.

M: You think it's you, don't you? You think you're the one who's been chosen to protect Kevin.

S: I don't know (meaning yes, obviously). Look, if I'm wrong, I'll meet you out at the airport. OK?

She's not wrong about where he's been taken, and I don't think she's wrong about being 'chosen' to protect Kevin, either. She rescues him. They part. And Scully is so affected by his final words to her, I think because they ring true in a... I dunno.. cosmic kind of way. They will meet again.

Mulder enters the room when Kevin leaves, and helps Scully with her coat; it's like this sweet and comforting gesture is to say 'maybe you were partly right'- or maybe it's simply 'I know you're having a hard time'.

The final scene is Scully's confessional; her first in six years.

PRIEST: Have you come to confess?

S: No, um, there's a man that I work with - a friend - and usually I'm able to discuss these things with him ... but not this. Father, do you believe in miracles?

PRIEST: Of course, I see them every day ... the rising sun, the birth of a child ...  

SCULLY: No, I'm talking about events that defy explanation. Things that ... I believe helped me to save a young boy's life. But now I wonder if I saw them at all. If I didn't just imagine them.

PRIEST: Why do you doubt yourself?

SCULLY: Because my partner didn't see them. He didn't ... he didn't believe them. And usually he ... he believes without question.

PRIEST: Maybe they weren't meant for him to see. Maybe they were only meant for you. 

A lot just happened there. The priest suggests, and maybe confirms in Scully's mind the possibility that she was specially chosen by a higher power for a particular job, in this case, the motherly role of protecting a boy.

Also, Scully's doubt. She is no longer sure that her experiences on this case were legit; perhaps she was imagining them or connecting certain dots only because her Catholic upbringing made her predisposed for such things. Not only that, but her normally open minded and even gullible partner did not believe, and in fact, did not hesitate to dismiss her supernatural ideas in this case.

She pretty much said in as many words "Mulder will believe anything. So if even he can't believe this, maybe it it too unbelievable to be true". It causes her to doubt herself. This can be a problem for a lot of people who get too wrapped up with someone. They run the risk of being defined by the person they are with; even when they are defining themselves.