SparklesBitch

A thread to discuss the fabulous Stella Gibson herself! .....bringing this discussion over from another board, regarding Stella's support of women on the show, and Rose in particular when they talked about her relationship with Spector: Agreed. I liked the way the did it. To show Stella being sympathetic and empathetic, they gave her a real reason to be emotionally invested instead of just relying on the whole fellow woman thing. I got teary at the video too....that was hard to watch. Yeah, I don't understand that point of view, either. I don't think she has any romantic feelings for him at all. I think she's disgusted by him and also fascinated by him in a way. That discussion she had over drinks with Reed about how she used to interview killers made it clear that she's interested in learning what makes them tick. I don't think she's used to being bested by a criminal, and he's outwitted her. I think that frustrates her, makes her angry, makes her want to get him and put him away that much more. In sort of a strange way, I think it makes sense for her to be taken with him, not romantically at all, but out of pure curiosity and the thrill of the chase. I mean, really, he's the one guy on the show who isn't a disappointing mess. He's at least challenging her in some way. I think Stella is a woman that needs that in life, to keep her interested. I think her running to him at the end of the episode was purely out of wanting to save him so that he could face the music....dying without being prosecuted for anything is a fate too good for Spector. Preach! Yep, I totally agree with this. I'd like to see her let her guard down with someone she trusts just a bit so we can see underneath a little, but I don't need there to be any sort of love story. Yes! I like too, that Stella is older than most of your typical female leads are when a show starts. She's established in her career,, she's confident and she's comfortable in her skin. That's huge. I feel like every little bit we learn about her is a treat because the show isn't focused on her personal life or her having big, dramatic reactions to her case of the week. The show is about a team trying to catch this murderer and therefore what we learn about Stella as a person is mostly from watching her react to the crimes and the man committing them and how she works with those around her.

I thought the whole meeting was to hammer the point home for the audience that, just in case you weren't sure, yes, Scully is safe because of her alien DNA. That and to plant the seed of the idea that she could try to make a vaccine using her own DNA. I mean, granted, we should have already guessed that by that point, but subtlety hasn't always been CC's strong suit.

Indeed they do! That confused me too. I'm not a doctor either, but I figure if he can talk, he can breathe, and if he can do those things, why can't he smoke through it? That aside, I really liked this! I was on the edge of my seat through most of it and the end came way before I was ready. Agent Einstein came off a lot better in this one, I thought. I think she approached the situation as any rational scientist would. I really enjoyed them doing all the science. Pouring a gel! Talking about genes! Discussing primers and chromosomes and coding! I mean, sure, it was far-fetched, but I liked it. It made my scientist's heart happy. You need William's stem cells? Sure, okay. I'll follow you to the ends of the earth, Scully. =) I was weirdly proud of Mulder's improved fighting abilities and also of Scully finally addressing the nurse by her name. Also, even though I was never really that fond of Monica, I liked her in this. I thought it was incredibly human to make the kind of deal she did. Who wouldn't save their own skin if given the chance? William is totally piloting the spaceship, right? Hopefully he'll let Mulder take it out for a spin. Haha! Truth. Then again, Scully is everyone's weakness. Mulder's.Frohike's. CSM's. Mine. =)

Oh my lord, that's hilarious!! I giggled like an idiot through the whole thing and now my cats are looking at me funny....=)

I'm sorry! Got a little carried away.

One of my favorite moments was so small. Also, yeah, short seasons. I'm all for short seasons. They force the story to be tight, whereas long seasons are allowed to ramble. So even though I wish I had dozens of episodes of The Fall to watch, I'll happily take the few they give us. Just hurry up about it! Sexy motorcycle indeed! Speaking of Reed, the actress who plays her, Archie Panjabi, was also on The Good Wife for a few seasons. I'm trying to make my way through that now specifically to watch her. The character she plays in that show, Kalinda Sharma, is totally badass and wears a lot of leather. She's incredibly hot. But anyway, topic. I liked how Stella As for bailing on Olson (thanks, forgot his name!), yes, she misread him badly! She shut it down as quickly and decisively as she could though, which I thought was great. I think that Stella is intrigued by people who surprise/impress her. That's what makes a person worth her time. So far we haven't seen a man on the show do that. They've all been unimpressive for one reason or another or needy or something. I think that's why she's not giving them any time of day.....they haven't "earned it". If anything, the men on this show have done nothing but disappoint/disgust her....the ones that she's been personally entangled with, anyway. Yes, that little moment with the cleavage was nicely done! See, Hollywood? Things can be done subtly and work very, very well! You're right, the little moments are perfection. I wish they would hurry too! My logical side knows that quality takes time, but my impatient side wants it now! =) That being said, I'm very much enjoying how each episode feels lovingly crafted. You can just tell by watching how much work everyone is putting into it to make it as good as they possibly can. No wonder GA is having such a great time on this project! Lastly....not going to lie, if Stella is going to fall for someone, I agree, it needs to be Reed. Otherwise, I'd like her single! =) Oh! Thought of something else! Speaking of busting her ass to save these women, I really enjoy that she obviously cares very much about solving the cases and saving whichever women haven't been killed yet, but one of my most favorite things about this show is that she's not getting over-the-top personally involved like very other female detective/cop seems to do on TV right now. It's refreshing and new.

Oh, I totally got that your experience was different! I think I rambled badly instead of making any kind of actual point. I tend to do that! =) There is a definite difference between speculation and purposefully asking intrusive questions. The first, I agree, is pretty harmless, and I think that's where the majority of fans are, if they wonder about the relationship between DD and GA at all. The second thing, the intrusive questions, I was trying to compare more to the incessant media/Twitter obsession with their relationship. I feel like they get asked about their relationship in more interviews than is completely necessary, and scary fans on Twitter always seem to be wanting to know if they're sleeping together or writing those real person fanfic things. That's the stuff I think is disrespectful, and more like what I dealt with, though mine was on a smaller scale. As an aside, your job sounds fascinating. What a cool career path to choose! YES! Jim's all scandalized that she would draw that comparison at all, but it's spot on enough to be fair, As for Scully vs. Stella, you said it better than I ever could. I completely agree. As for the show itself, I am continually amazed by how good the writing is. I'm wondering if there's something to said for having fewer longer episodes in a season of a show rather than having so many shorter ones. It seems to give the characters more room to be fleshed out and the storylines to be tighter. You're right too, that the acting is superb and the pacing is perfect...there's just so little to complain about. Next to most American shows, it's like heaven. Also, totally agree about the feminism. I love that they don't feel the need to bash us over the head with it. It's there and it's subtle, yet obvious and brilliant and Stella doesn't apologize for being who she is. I've decided that I don't want Stella to fall in love either, but like you, I think that Stella could fall in love, but I think there's a story there. Maybe she's a little jaded, for one reason or another. Maybe she likes being alone. I too, would think that the endless one night stand thing could wear a person down, but maybe that's what she needs? I don't know, but I'd like to find out. Stella kind of strikes me as the sort of person who doesn't get easily invested in people, but once she does, there's nothing you can do about the fact that she cares about you. I am glad though, like you said, that Stella doesn't seem to be hiding some deep, dark personal trauma. That's been done on so many shows already. We don't need to see that again. I'd actually prefer it if she just wasn't a person who needs or wants a long term relationship. That said, it doesn't stop me from reading Stella/Reed fanfic. ;) As for my career path, thanks! I'm rather happy with where I ended up, although it was sort of by accident! =)

Agreed. I still love Scully more than any other character GA has played (it's hard to win against nostalgia), but I find Stella endlessly fascinating for all the reasons you mentioned. I can't wait to watch her and learn more about her in season 3. I can definitely understand why GA has called The Fall her favorite project she's ever worked on, and I love that in interviews you can tell she's having such a blast playing her. One thing I really like about Stella is that she doesn't take crap from people, but she also doesn't pretend she's never wrong. She's fair, yet firm. She's obviously compassionate, but doesn't need to be that woman who falls apart just to show us she cares. I like that (unlike Scully) she gets to have sex! There are a few scenes in particular I really enjoy for one reason or another, but there's one where Stella and Reed Smith are at the bar having a drink and Stella is telling Reed about the years she spent interviewing murderers....and I love just sitting back and watching Stella's mind work as she's describing what it was like and what she learned from the experience. Good stuff. I could fangirl over Stella forever. =) Oh lord, Stella's fabulous wardrobe! There are a few TV characters whose wardrobes I covet (Kate Beckett's gorgeous coat collection, anyone?), and she's definitely one of them. They've nailed making Stella look both feminine AND professional while still, for the most part, keeping her clothes appropriate for the sort of job she's doing. Also, as someone who went to school for forensics and ended up doing cleanroom/lab work/other sciencey things, can I just say that I appreciate their willingness to put their actors and actresses in shapeless cleanroom-like jumpsuits when the situation calls for it? I was blown away the first time I saw that.....heck, after having such low expectations of crime scene accuracy from American TV, I was thrilled when Stella bothered to tie her hair back! Agreed 100%! I mean, I'm enjoying the Twitter flirtation between DD and GA as much as the next person, and am getting as much of a kick out of their joint interviews now as I did in years past, but yeah, the whole are they/aren't they thing just makes me uncomfortable for all those reasons. Not going to lie, they're definitely being incredibly cute lately, and I can't fault fans for wondering if there is something more going on between them than they are letting onto. They seem more comfortable with each other currently than they used to be (judging by interviews), and because of the nature of the requirements this time through, are able to be all relaxed and have fun with the revival now that they aren't contracted to 20 some episodes a season for X amount of years and seem to be past whatever ugliness went down between them years ago. That being said, they are real people with their own lives, who, like you said, don't belong to us, and it rubs me the wrong way when idle wondering turns into constant speculation, and (for some scary Twitter fans) flat out obsession. This might be my own issues talking because I have a personal space bubble about half a mile thick and am intensely private, but the idea of thousands of people constantly speculating about MY private life makes me shudder. I've sort of lived it too....I had a temp job a few years back where once the middle aged women in the lab found out I was a lesbian, all the questions started. Things like was your father absent? Was your mother overbearing? How exactly do lesbians have sex? Who's the "woman" and who's the "man"? So, like....what do you do in bed? Do you, like.....use toys? I was a temp, so I had no protection and I needed the job, so I had no choice but to be as gracious as I could so that I didn't upset them and get fired. It's not exactly what the celebrities go through, but to have to be nice while people demand to know all about your sex life? Yeah, no thanks. It was hell. They don't owe fans or the press any information as to the nature of their relationship. I think people forget that about celebrities. They're people just like anyone else who just happen to have jobs that put them in the public eye a lot more often than the rest of us. Frankly, I don't blame either one of them for getting annoyed and/or flustered by the constant questions.

Right?! I don't normally feel nearly as protective of Mulder as I do of Scully, but Agent Einstein tearing him down like she did got under my skin. This show never would have worked if Scully had treated him like that. She's always been skeptical, but she's never so cruelly outright dismissive of him. Ugh. Not only was Einstein dismissive of Mulder, but in the scene with MIller in the airport, she starts in on Scully's whole career path. I wanted to smack her. Agreed. I thought it showed growth in him, that he was willing to open himself up to understanding religious belief better. I waver between agnostic and atheist myself, but I've always been fascinated by religious belief, so it never made sense to me that out of everything he so willingly believed in, it was Scully's religious belief he was such a jerk about. I'm one of these weird fans that liked the religious episodes because I think they were relatable in a way.....and also because they were Scully-centric and Gillian always knocked them out of the park. =) Anyway, on this episode: Despite it being heavy handed, i actually liked the plot line. Einstein and Miller were okay for now, but I won't watch if they become the new face of the show. Plus, Einstein needs to chill a little bit and breathe. I pretty much loved Mulder's line dancing, Skinner's less than delicate bedside manor (I've missed his snarky self!) and the hand holding scene complete with The Lumineers playing in the background. it really is the perfect song for them. Also, while they were on the porch, it struck me that Scully was openly gazing at Mulder with such a look of complete adoration that it made me tingly inside. These two, man. =) I got a kick out of Scully's "I've waited 23 years to say that!" line, too. Truth. It's like it's all coming full circle. I'm super excited for the finale! =) Hee! They did and I loved it! I can't think of anything more perfect.

I am woefully behind on this show since the powers that be at Fox decided to air the X-Files revival opposite this on Monday nights.....and Dana Scully was my first love (of 23 years!), so she and Mulder won. I'm making an effort to catch up now, though.....and wow, was there a lot happening in this episode! I didn't really care much about any of the kids' storylines at all, so all I'm going to say is why the hell didn't Stef and Lena check out that lady who wanted to give Callie all that money to be part of Fost and Found?? Especially Stef! She's a cop, and a paranoid one at that. Geez. Also, I like AJ a lot. Much like Jude, the kid tugs my cold, dead heartstrings in a way that the rest of them just don't. His likening Callie to Peter Parker not wanting to be Spiderman after he got bit cracked me up. Why oh why did he have to get on that bus with his brother??? Loving that Stef's mom is a regular part of the show now....whenever I was getting bored, she perked me right back up. Love her, she's such a breath of fresh air. Even though I've always liked Monte, I won't pretend that I can even begin to defend what she did. However, to even expect her to resign from the school over it? Seriously? Come on now. This is someone's job we're talking about. Glad they "let her" stay. Small moment I liked was Lena getting to play bad cop with Jesus for once. Her "what the hell is going on?" raised voice had me grinning at my computer, all amused. I wish she would have stuck to her guns about his going back to Anchor Beach. Last but certainly not least, Stef's cancer. No thanks, no thanks, no thanks! That scene was beautifully, perfectly played by all three actresses and damn near shattered my heart, but I don't want her to be sick. I'm going to tentatively hang around and see how it plays out, but I don't know. Ugh. The fact that it's stage zero gives me hope, though I've never heard of that before. Random wondering.....has Brandon ever so casually called Lena "mom" like that before? Maybe I just never noticed, but it made me smile.

I really liked this one! Bess bringing out her claws, she and Russell and their love/hate relationship and plenty of family scenes. I really enjoyed the guest cast in this one, especially the key note speaker and the FBI agent. I did think it was weird that Henry was allowed back in to help, but I enjoyed his "oh, shit" face a whole lot. Maybe he'll develop super powers from all the radiation! Also, totally agree with everyone who loved the scenes with Jay's baby. So cute, and I loved that Henry scooped her up right away and ran off with her....and the baby's fingers in his mouth when he rejoined the scene. There's something about men and babies that's completely adorable. =) The only thing that annoyed me was Henry being all high and mighty with Allison over the bullying thing. I mean, it's obviously wrong, and yes she should have said something to stop it, but that's a lot to put on a teenage kid. I liked that when he talked to her about it he admitted that he's not always perfect either (shock of the century!!), but something bugged me about the way he broached the subject.

They really did! I just finished this season in my rewatch, and it's been even more enjoyable because one of my favorite coworkers started watching the show for the very first time recently. Her boyfriend found it first and then when I started talking about the revival, she started watching from the beginning with him. She'll text me as she's watching in real time and I love that they're both so into it. She's loving the relationship between Mulder and Scully, and after watching Lazarus, with Mulder telling the guys searching for Willis "this one's important to me, so let's do this right," the text I got was "OMG MULDER LOVES SCULLY!!!!" It's been a blast getting to see someone's first experience with the show. She told me she thinks she'll be having nightmares about Eugene Victor Tooms for weeks. =) But anyway, all things considered, I really like the first season. There were some snoozers like Space and Shapes, but I love so many more of them (Ice, Darkness Falls, Beyond the Sea, Eve, Squeeze and Tooms, the Pilot, E.B.E) that I'm willing to forgive the occasional clunker. DD and GA's incredible chemistry was obvious from the very beginning, and I definitely think the show would have ended up canceled without it. For all of CC's many blunders, he really nailed it when he insisted on casting GA. One thing that always, always bothers me though....as a trained scientist, I have a really hard time with the microbiologist in The Erlenmeyer Flask explaining to Scully (THE MEDICAL DOCTOR) the basic structure of DNA. I know that it was the mid 90s and most people watching TV wouldn't know a base pair if it bit them in the face, and also that they needed to explain it somehow, but they really needed to find another way. Scully, of all people, should have been all "yes, I know this, get to the good stuff, lady"....but instead she acts like she's never heard any of it before. It makes me cringe every time I see the episode, which admittedly isn't often, but still. /end of crazypants rant Also, it took me a while to figure out where else I'd seen the guy who played Roland before until I realized it was Željko Ivanek, who is currently playing POTUS's Chief of Staff on the excellent Madam Secretary right now. He's amazing!

Ha! I've had this same exact conversation with a friend of mine while we were watching it. The opening scene to the very first episode in particular, she's just stunningly gorgeous even in her pajamas with minimal makeup (by TV standards, anyway) on.

Right?! Poor Scully. Her closed eyes and small head shake in the courtroom never fail to make me giggle. And Mulder is just all "go big or go home" about it....it's admirable, really. He knew he'd look insane and because it was the truth, he didn't care. That's dedication, right there. See also this bit: M: "If he can't be tied to the most recent evidence, you'll have to go back to the earlier murders to prove it was him." S: "That was 30 or 60 years ago." M: "There's no statute of limitations on murder." Oh, Mulder! And he's so sincere, too! Like, yeah, they were a while ago, but we know it was him, so what's the problem? And Scully has to be the voice of reason because she was just chewed out, and it's so quintessentially X-Files that it makes me grin like an idiot. If that wasn't enough, this is the episode where we get Scully saying she wouldn't put herself on the line for anyone but him, and then the fantastic "if there's an iced tea in that bag, it could be love." I adore the look on his face when Scully says "It must be fate, Mulder. Root beer." And then he can't help but to mention the sports talk radio show to her. Oh, these two. Swoon! I love them way, way more than is probably healthy. =) It's been so long since I'd seen this one that I'd nearly forgotten about early!Skinner. This early "to trust or not trust" him stuff was great. Regarding keeping Tooms in prison, I totally agree. Aside from Mulder's testimony, they had proof. If nothing else, the fingerprints matched if you elongated them, he had genetic abnormalities (as per Scully at the end of Squeeze) and the biggest piece for me from a normal investigative standpoint was that he had the trophies. They were physical proof of involvement of some kind. Even if Tooms really had never been charged with anything, as they kept saying in the hearing, that should have been enough to hold him, you'd think. Also, why wasn't his attack on Scully considered attempted murder? I don't really understand that either. Also...that face, though. Tooms still freaks me out. He's so creepy!

I love this episode as well, for many reasons, but one of my favorites is: "And you suspect what? Bigfoot?" Ah, Scully. And people wonder why I've been your devoted fangirl for 23 years. =) I remember being nervous about bugs in general after seeing this episode the first time as a kid. It's still one of my favorites, though. That cocoon is definitely amazing and it was really satisfying to watch that Steve guy bite it. This episode has always appealed to me because it felt like something that could actually happen...nature being mysterious and dangerous enough to kill you and all that. It also has that edge of your seat thing going for it. Very well done.

Agreed. I think the emotional state that Mulder is in is very real considering everything he's been through, and I also think that DD is knocking it out of the park. I'm amused by the accusations of "boredom" given that according to interviews, he was excited to get this revival off the ground. Heck, he even talked GA into doing it. That doesn't sound like a man bored to tears by the project to me. I don't have much to add other than a giant WORD to this whole post. I've never been very fond of the whole William storyline.....I have a hard time making myself care about him, to be honest, but like it or not, he's a giant part of what drives both Mulder and Scully now, and it HAS to be that way. It wouldn't be realistic if they weren't thinking about him and worrying about him on a regular basis. The current of melancholy that's just under the surface of everything makes a lot of sense, in my opinion. I just really hope, for the sake of both Mulder and Scully, that William has been a regular, much loved, happy-go-lucky kid this whole time. That's probably not very realistic on this show, but a girl can dream. Like you said, I'm also fascinated by how they both manage to get up and go on with life every day after suffering such personal trauma and loss on a regular basis. That's why I think Mulder being depressed makes so much sense. If he can't pursue his quest for The Truth, he has nothing to keep him moving. I've been watching season 1 recently and was reminded of Deep Throat and Mulder standing by a shark tank during one of their clandestine meetings and Deep Throat talks about how if the shark stops swimming, it'll die and then tells Mulder to not stop swimming. I feel like that's what happened. He and Scully went on the run, he stayed hidden because he was a wanted man, and he just.....stopped swimming. I feel like now he's fighting his way back to the surface and Scully seems to be enjoying that a lot. He's happier and more like the Mulder of yore, just older and more jaded and worn down by life. It makes sense to me. Just my opinion of course, but I'm digging all of it, especially the way DD and GA are playing it. Exactly. =) Hee! Yep. I've definitely had my fill of something being "the key to everything!!!" as well. Hello fellow shallow friend! It's certainly nice to have company down here in the gutter! =)

You're not weird. Either that, or we're both weird, because I feel exactly the same way. I cannot, under any circumstance, deal with them using just their first names. I'm aware that this is my problem. =) Even hearing Scully refer to herself as Dana with her family members takes me out of the moment until my brain connects on "oh, right....she has a first name and logically that's what they call her. Duh, self." Oh, the infamous FBI ball! I remember those well. Also, the author would inevitably work in the lyrics to Bonnie Raitt's Something to Talk About, because that song, like, fit them so well, you guys. As for the 50 Shades of Grey type fanfic, I think you're probably right, judging by all the super kinky 50 Shades-esque Castle fanfic i keep seeing everywhere.

Warm fuzzies indeed! =) This article captures exactly how I feel about the revival. I'm so happy that the show is back and so grateful that everyone involved in the project loved these characters enough to revisit them. I'm determined to enjoy it while it lasts and not be insanely critical about every little thing. It's not that I think that every fan has to like all the choices that were made about what we're seeing in these episodes, but I do think that some people were all set to be overly critical from the beginning. I'm loving the ride that we're on and will be sad when there's no more new X-Files to look forward to.

Ugh. Why do people do that??? Creepy!!

I'm with the person who said somewhere (this thread or another one) that they should move the whole production to the UK (she lives in London, right?) to shoot around GA's schedule/ family life for once. They moved the whole show to LA for DD once upon a time, after all. Of course, I have no idea if that's even possible or what the logistics of that would be, but if they want her to sign badly enough, maybe they could swing it for six episodes....=)

On the topic of DD's acting, I feel like it's only fair to point out that in the hands of another actor, Mulder could have easily turned out to be a totally one note, unsympathetic, insane crackpot. I think DD humanized him. Mulder can definitely be a single minded jackass when he wants to be, but he is also incredibly smart and gifted, and an excellent investigator. He's earnest and genuine and a mostly thoughtful human being, someone you can find yourself easily rooting for. There's a playfulness and a kindness buried underneath all that singular passion, and I think that would have been easy to lose in less capable hands. I feel like with another actor playing our favorite guy, he wouldn't have turned out to be quite so beloved a character for so many years.

I never thought of it that way. I've never known anyone who was adopted or anyone who gave up a child, and the idea of a child thinking they were disposed of when that wasn't at all the intent makes my heart hurt. I liked that too! He is, and I love him for it. That's a large part of why I love this revival so much. They've grown and changed, both together and individually and their relationship is more mature, comfortable and strong. They might not always get along or see everything the same way or like each other very much. Hell, Scully isn't even living with him anymore, but that hasn't changed the fact that they are each the most important person in each others' lives. They don't have to try to hide the love that's there. Scully doesn't have to be so reserved with her emotions. There's no point. They know each other inside and out and are still deeply in love. I think CC gets that, but more importantly, GA and DD get that and nobody has to tell us, they just show us in everything they do on screen together, and they're nailing it. Yep, yep, yep. =) I like this explanation a lot, actually. I think it works with what we know about faith in the Scully family. Very interesting.

He did and it totally showed in those moments. The man was smitten from very early on. =) So, I just finished E.B.E. in my rewatch and for some reason got to thinking, what do you suppose our favorite FBI partners talked about during those long car rides to and fro across the nation? In this episode Scully says something about their having followed a truck for hours, and it made me wonder. This was back before they really knew each other and before Scully wanted to get out of the damn car. So, what did they talk about? Did they tell jokes, share stories about their lives, or was it all "Scully that was seriously a UFO we passed just now" and "Mulder, you're crazy"? Maybe shared trauma and long car trips is the recipe for a relationship like Mulder and Scully's.

Wait....rapefic is a thing? I've read my share of fic for many a fandom, but I've yet to come across anything like that. Yikes. I don't remember what my first X-Files fanfic was.....I just remember a lot of Mulder and Scully getting married and having a plethora of babies fics that I waded through to get to the good stuff. Since the show started when I was 9 and we didn't have internet until I was at least 14, it took me a while to discover fanfic. The majority of the X-Files fic I read was in the last years of the show and after it was done, but man was there some great stuff. This is the only fandom for me where I wish the fic writers could write for the show because in a lot of ways, some of them have a better grasp on M&S and their relationship with each other over the years than CC does. There was some post-IWTB stuff that blew me out of the water. I wish I could find it again...maybe it was on AO3? I'll have to investigate that. One thing I never tire of is excellently written cancer-arc fic. I used to read nothing but that back in the day until I overdosed on Scully trauma, had to stop for a bit, then would go right back to it. I have to admit, somewhat sheepishly, that when I was a teenager I had a soft spot for the kind of fics where Charlie Scully made an grand appearance (much to "Dearest Dana's" out of character girlish delight) and was instantly on "team Mulder" while big brother Bill sulked in the shadows and Ma Scully tried in vain to make everyone get along. This usually happened at a family holiday dinner where Scully would ask Mulder to stay and he'd decline and Bill would glare and Ma Scully would somehow convince him. I'm smiling nostalgically just thinking about it. =)

So upon rewatching, I liked the scene at the end a lot more than I did the first time. Paying more attention to Mulder helped. =) I agree, he was definitely comforting her and helping the best way he knew how: by just letting her vent. It really was beautifully executed. There were only two flaws in that scene as I see it. The first was hearing her call him Fox. I just can't. I hate it when they use each others' first names. It doesn't feel nearly as genuine as their last names. Also, I still don't like Scully's last line about treating William like trash. I get what they were trying to do, the parallel they were trying to draw, but "treating William like trash"? No. she didn't discard him without thought, without care. She did the best she could at the time. Giving him up might have been boneheaded, but she genuinely thought it was in her child's best interests at the time. I can't fault that. I know guilt is guilt and logic be damned, but the trash thing is still too much for me. The way she cries though...good lord, I will never not feel for Scully. Dammit Gillian, causing me such heartbreak! We need some happy!Scully scenes so that we can hear her really laugh for once as part of the show. Also, I missed the first time just how sad Mulder looks after Scully demands they drive to back to Philly so she can work. After she grabs her bag and coat and books it down the hallway, he's left behind to just stare after her looking for all the world like his heart has been damn near shattered by just hurting for her. Every so often there are moments where I realize that for all my GA fangirling, I forget to fully appreciate DD. He really did a fabulous job in this episode as well. He was subtlety sympathetic and supportive and perfect. I can't get enough of Mulder and Scully at Ma Scully's bedside in particular. Mulder knows her so completely, and so he's able to gives her exactly what she needs. His "I'm here" made my heart smile. I hope we find out what the significance of Ma Scully's coin necklace is....I'm very curious about that. Not holding my breath for answers, but it would be nice. And back to GA fangirling....I feel a little dirty saying this, but I'm loving these partially unbuttoned dress shirts Scully's been wearing. It might be the wrong thread for this, but I do wish she'd wear a little less makeup as Scully. I feel as though I've been spoiled by the comparatively fresh faced look she's been rocking in The Fall.