S10.E05: Babylon

[baileythedog]

I read it as Mulder's open mind leading him to listen what "regular" people can't; Scully, as a already-believer, isn't tuned in the way Mulder has been (and all through the power of suggestion, not drugs, suggesting he was far more ready than even he consciously knew to "hear".) The trumpets are probably blowing all the time, waiting for more and more people to speak the same language, get ready to hear. Be "earwitnesses."

 

The trumpets are supposedly meant to signal the End Times.  Kind of frightening that Mulder hears this. Perhaps Scully doesn't hear it because her alien DNA gives her an immunity of the coming plague whereas Mulder isn't so lucky.

 

Edited February 17, 2016 by baileythedog

[Snookums]

The trumpets are supposedly meant to signal the End Times.  Kind of frightening that Mulder hears this. Perhaps Scully doesn't hear it because her alien DNA gives her an immunity of the coming plague whereas Mulder isn't so lucky.

 

 

Oh, absolutely, but the whole episode made me think we're supposed to rethink what the End Times are. I am desperately trying to recall a quote that goes something like "Don't ask when the Apocalypse is coming; it happens every day." Like most prophecies, Revelation may come true but in a manner totally/wildly unlike what centuries of interpretation have had us expecting.

 

If you read the Bible/Old Testament literally, the End Times began in Eden with the Fall of Man. So the trumpets may not be sounding as a signal for a string of big, discrete events like people are expecting. Agent Einstein may have been being sarcastic when she mentioned the "butterfly flapping its wings" cliche, but she may also have been inadvertently correct. The End Times will be a billion butterflies, flapping their wings in a pattern so intricate that only God can see it, and the signaling trumpets are playing through countless dimensions as a signal for anybody with an open mind, the way Mulder accidentally opened his.*

 

So anyway! Onto the episode itself! I could have done without the New Coke M&S, and Agent Einstein's abrasiveness didn't work within the context of the episode because it makes the idea of her assisting Mulder's truly asinine scheme way too hard a sell. I got very weary of "Do the Hokey Pokey and turn yourself around in and out of the terrorist's hospital room" very quickly; I honestly thought the two NSA agents were terrorists in disguise, that whole scene made no sense. And either you evacuate or you don't; that means that YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE PRESUMABLY HIGH VALUE COMATOSE TARGET WITH YOU if you're actually doing it!

 

As for Mulder's Niacin Party, I saw it as him thinking he was doing one thing and actually doing what he said he wanted to do while hoping fervently that it would never happen: open his mind enough to actually change his most fundamental self. The first layers of the trip are all parts of himself he knows about--he parties with the people he's loved and in some cases lost; his porn obsession comes to the fore, his suspicion that CSM is behind everything. These are all parts of himself he knows.

 

But the use of the PIeta to highlight the terrorist's humanity is NOT part of his MO. It's something he thinks of as other, as "Scully territory." He doesn't have to worry about faith or even think about it in personal terms because she does all the heavy lifting in that department. This is his brain/God/What Have You's method of grabbing him by the neck and saying You thought you could come this far but you're going further.

 

That's why he hears the trumpets at the end. Not because he's converted to an ideology but because the why of why faith exists suddenly is part of him. 

 

* this is in no way meant as a challenge or statement on religious faith, only a way as thinking about what was going on in the ep.

 

 

A poster earlier was talking about if the Lone Gunmen are dead or not; My theory:

they aren't and that's why they're in Mulder's trip. Everybody he sees in his vision is currently alive, even people he believes to be dead, like CSM. This was CC's way of tipping his hand to the audience.

Edited February 17, 2016 by Snookums

[TomServo]

Technically, she didn't because she gave him a placebo. 

 

I'm in the "she really gave him 'shrooms" camp.  When she got distracted by murder-nurse and lost control of the experiment, she used the Niacin story to cover her tracks.  Maybe she already had some on hand in case she got caught.  I mean, I've had Niacin flush before, but it definitely does not kick in that quickly after swallowing the pills.  

The reason I think it wasn't a placebo is because of the little speech she gave when she was wheeling Mulder through the hallway in the wheelchair.  There's no risk to her career if she genuinely tricked him with Niacin, so why mention it in a panic like that?  Also, when Mulder was in the hospital bed, she was using suggestive techniques to get (probably still high) Mulder and Skinner to buy into her Niacin con.

Einstein doesn't know how it worked because she is still a skeptic.  Everyone else doesn't know how it worked because they think he took Niacin instead of mushrooms.  Therefore, everyone involved thinks it worked through the power of suggestion, whether it actually did or not.  The fact that the mushrooms "worked" and caused everyone to pontificate unknowingly about the power of suggestion and the weight of word salads doesn't really matter because there is no explainable reason why taking mushrooms would actually allow you to get inside the head of another person no matter how peaceful and euphoric you feel.  There's no internal logic because there's no external logic!

 

She deduced that the only reason Scully would still be in the basement working on "science fiction" was because she was in love with Mulder.  While that may be partially true, she wasn't even remotely willing to consider that Scully was rigorously challenging herself scientifically by working on the X-Files; a job 23 years later she told Tad O'Malley was the most satisfying and rewarding of her life...Einstein immediately contacted Mulder as though to thwart or spite her partner's approach to the investigation. 

 

I interpreted that differently.  At first, I thought the whole scene with Einstein positing that the only reason Scully would keep working with Mulder was because she was in love with him was a bit of fan service.  As soon as Einstein saw Miller side-by-side with another pretty redhead and her first response was to immediately call Mulder and go along with his plan, I changed my mind.  Einstein is in love with Miller and that is why she keeps working with him even though she thinks his ideas are rubbish.  Because she is closed-minded, she can't imagine that it might be different for "also a medical doctor" Scully.  Also, she knows (or thinks she knows) that Scully is the not-crazy member of the X-Files investigative duo, so the assumption of a normal person with a standard colleague relationship would be that Scully was there to keep an eye on Miller and keep him from doing something stupid, not that Scully was there to help him do woo-woo.  If it were a professional difference of opinion, she would have waltzed in there and lectured them (again) about how much time they were wasting.  But because it was jealousy, she reacted by pairing off with Scully's "man" in retaliation.  See also: the bantery airport scene with her hair down where she spent her time propping up Miller's bruised ego.

 

I've decided that the X-Files universe has a Texas, Texas like we have a Singapore, Singapore.  Question: have you ever been to an airport that had "Welcome to Here!" written on the OUTSIDE of the building?  If you can read that, doesn't it mean you are about to leave Texas?

Edited February 17, 2016 by TomServo

[millennium]

Another piece of shit.   Apparently the X-Files "revival" is more of an X-Files parody.   Or the David Duchovny Comedy Hour.

 

I shut it off at the 18:30 mark.   

 

This is not the X-Files I loved for nine years.  

 

I'm not looking for laughs, or shipping, or fan service.

 

And I sure as hell am not looking for "Hey, Ho." (glad I switched off early so I didn't have to see that, at least.)

 

I just want a good story.

 

I'll watch next week's episode in the inevitably futile hope that they can salvage at least one solid, serious episode out of the mess they've made of this series.

 

It probably won't happen, but I want to believe.

 

Fuck you, Chris Carter.   You never could write.

[wayne67]

I think I'm done. Part of me tells me I should finish off the last episode but honestly these last couple of episodes have been seriously underwhelming and I wasn't even a huge fan of the show so it's not like I had high expectations or anything.

 

On a shallow note Robbie Amell looks good in a suit and tie combo. Almost makes me forgot how much of a pill his character was on the Tomorrow People. Almost.

[joelene]

I was bored to tears as well. The first real clunker for me. Didn't respond to the new agents at all (despite Lauren Ambrose, whom I love), went to the bathroom without pausing, took a smoke break. It just didn't feel like an x-file. I didn't think it was funny (a couple of lines notwithstanding) and it certainly wasn't exciting. I felt deflated throughout.

Oh well, at least I've mostly liked the rest of the season, but with the last stand-alone episode now behind us, I'm pretty bummed we didn't get a "normal" and serious MotW that didn't include 50% sad distractions.

[millennium]

I read about unexplained sounds being heard all over the world back in 2014; reading articles about it and watching videos of the phenomenon really creeped me out at the time.  When mentioned in the show, I wasn't reminded of the Kevin Smith movie Red State; instead, I was reminded of reports such as these.

 

For fun, Google "earth hum".  But don't do it before bed.

 

Thank you for the links.   Fascinating stuff.  The British Columbia video especially.   If I heard that, I'd be seriously looking for Godzilla to appear above the treetops.

Regardless, I like Lauren Ambrose a lot, and I think she was given the wrong direction. She was playing it "asshole" when she should have been "skeptic." She was really off putting. I guess we'll see what she does with the next episode.

 

She was an asshole as Clare Fisher too.  

Edited February 17, 2016 by millennium

[Jac]

I was bored to tears as well. The first real clunker for me. Didn't respond to the new agents at all (despite Lauren Ambrose, whom I love), went to the bathroom without pausing, took a smoke break. It just didn't feel like an x-file. I didn't think it was funny (a couple of lines notwithstanding) and it certainly wasn't exciting. I felt deflated throughout.

Oh well, at least I've mostly liked the rest of the season, but with the last stand-alone episode now behind us, I'm pretty bummed we didn't get a "normal" and serious MotW that didn't include 50% sad distractions.

I completely agree with the sentiment about not getting a serious 'pure' MOTW. Having a several good dark, creepy or serious MOTW in a season is very much a part of The X-Files DNA and something I have found myself really missing with his reboot. I don't really understand why the writers opulent or didn't do a straight serious MOTW.

Edited February 17, 2016 by Jac

[HalcyonDays]

I was bored to tears as well. The first real clunker for me. Didn't respond to the new agents at all (despite Lauren Ambrose, whom I love), went to the bathroom without pausing, took a smoke break. It just didn't feel like an x-file. I didn't think it was funny (a couple of lines notwithstanding) and it certainly wasn't exciting. I felt deflated throughout.

 

I wasn't bored, per-se, just looking at the TV during Mulder's "trip", thinking 'what the hell is this?'.   But yes, it did not feel like an X-Files at all.

 

Having a several good dark, creepy or serious MOTW in a season is very much a part of The X-Files DNA and something I have found myself really missing with his reboot. I don't really understand why the writers opulent or didn't do a straight serious MOTW.

 

That's what I'm missing too - the dark, creepy, serious X-Files episode, or ones where they use a little humour, but it's still serious and scary. Some of it seems like how SNL or another comedy show would parady TXF. It's heavy on the humour, meta and easter eggs, light on substance. And it seems to have be getting worse as the season goes on.

[Jael]

I feel like I've been punched in the face for an hour by obvious and painful music cues. GEEZ.

[lumberjackdexter]

Another piece of shit.   Apparently the X-Files "revival" is more of an X-Files parody.   Or the David Duchovny Comedy Hour.

 

I shut it off at the 18:30 mark.   

 

This is not the X-Files I loved for nine years.  

 

I'm not looking for laughs, or shipping, or fan service.

 

And I sure as hell am not looking for "Hey, Ho." (glad I switched off early so I didn't have to see that, at least.)

 

I just want a good story.

 

I'll watch next week's episode in the inevitably futile hope that they can salvage at least one solid, serious episode out of the mess they've made of this series.

 

It probably won't happen, but I want to believe.

 

Fuck you, Chris Carter.   You never could write.

 

"This is not the X-Files I loved for eight, no, seven years. OK, maybe six."

 

FTFY

Edited February 18, 2016 by lumberjackdexter

[uoflfan]

I was so into line dancing, happy tripping Mulder that I totally failed to recognize the Lone Gunmen. I'll have to rewatch. Loved the ending. Please give us more seasons, Chris, David and Gillian. The Sculder shipper in me loves this show so much.

[Jac]

I feel like I've been punched in the face for an hour by obvious and painful music cues. GEEZ.

100% agreed. The X-Files is never being a show that has used a lot of songs and it felt super obvious and out of place.

Edited February 18, 2016 by Jac

[Baby Button Eyes]

I just wish they didn't use that horrible Achy Breaky Heart song. I don't want to think about or hear anything related to Billy Rae Cyrus and in turn makes me think about his little demon spawn during my precious X-Files nostalgia trip.

[SnideAsides]

Achy Breaky Heart was released two weeks after the timestamp in the pilot. I feel old.

[HalcyonDays]

I just wish they didn't use that horrible Achy Breaky Heart song. I don't want to think about or hear anything related to Billy Rae Cyrus and in turn makes me think about his little demon spawn during my precious X-Files nostalgia trip.

 

I like the song Hey Ho by the Lumineers. I hate the song Achy Breaky Heart by Billy Ray Cyrus. Guess which song decided to lodge itself into my brain without respite?

 

Thanks a lot, show.

[Bastet]

And every time I read a post referring to it, it gets stuck in my head again for a good 5 minutes.  Which doesn’t seem terribly long, except I know precisely two lines of the song, and that’s a long time to hear the same two lines over and over in your head.  Especially two lines that stupid.

[HalcyonDays]

Immediately Official Executive Order  - no one is allowed to write the name of that song, nor the name of that artist, in this thread to save our sanity!

 

(I'm kidding....but really I'm not...). *TriesToKeepAnotherSongInHead*

[DaynaPhile]

ABH came out when I was in college. College in a little hick town where lots of people thought line dancing was just the coolest thing ever. Soon to be Mr. Phile and I would leave dances when the line dancing music started. Not very many people could actually look good dancing to that ridiculous song. Or any other song.

Too off topic? Sorry. Umm...DD and his abs. Nice to see you.

Edited February 18, 2016 by DaynaPhile

[GreenScreenFX]

I am a home grown Texan, I do own cowboy boots but have not worn them since 1995. I have no idea how to line dance nor do I know why that dance move is so popular. No airport would have a sign on the outside saying "Welcome to Texas" at the entrance. The Exit sign might say "Welcome to Dallas" but "Welcome to Texas" infers that there is no interstate travel. I.e. Flying from Dallas to Houston. Why would there be a sign saying "welcome to tx " when you never left the state? Further, hooters waitresses aside, the implication that Any girl dresses like Daisy Duke is insulting.

[festivus]

Ho Hay got stuck in my head. Had to go listen to it a few times. So here's my UO, I thought it was a great song for Mulder to be listening to and I thought it was a good choice to be playing over the last scene.

[Jac]

My UO is that Achy Breaky Heart is the only song I like the use of in the context of the episode. I hate the song with a blinding passion but it worked In the context of the scene. I found the other songs pulled me out of the moment.

[AntiBeeSpray]

I hate ABH with a passion. But I have to admit the song afterwords I hate even worse! XD Chris managed to take the former one out of my most hated song slot.

[Grace284]

 

"This is not the X-Files I loved for eight, no, seven years. OK, maybe six."

 

FTFY

 

Well, about four and a half if we're talking "love". Longer if we include "really like" and "mostly tolerate".

[ksb]

Just like last time, I liked parts of the episode a lot and didn't care for others:

 

Firstly, I really don't need to see the new agents ever again. Whenever they were on screen without Mulder or Scully, it felt like a waste of precious screentime. Agent Miller seemed nice enough and reminded me both of Tom Cruise's Top Gun character and Krycek at the same time, whereas Agent Einstein didn't work for me at all.

 

CC's clunky writing felt very familiar and reeked a bit of desperation to present a special and extra meaningful story.

I thought the ideas behind the story were interesting, and in more capable and less melodramatic hands the whole thing could have probably worked much better. Nonetheless, I expected it to be much worse to be honest, so I was happy enough with the outcome.

 

Mulder's trip seemed over the top, but made sense in the context of his behaviour throughout the episode. Right from the beginning he gave off a psyched and fully re-energised vibe; there was no sign of beaten-down weariness any more. So again kudos to DD for this piece of character continuity and development within the 6-episode-frame by slowly leading Mulder from the darkness of depression back into the light(heartedness) and playfulness that's always been a part of his character. 

 

For me, one of the overall concepts of season 10 is that as much pain and loss as working on the X Files have caused both Mulder and Scully over the years, it's also the one thing they need to work on to be happy as individuals and together. Both have come to the realisation that it's where they belong in the world (to fulfill their destiny).

 

[Sandman87]

Interesting that there was a news item about a annoying mysterious noise covering a large area in an Oregon town so soon after this episode aired (and the ensuing Earth Hum discussion.)

 

 

Immediately Official Executive Order  - no one is allowed to write the name of that song, nor the name of that artist, in this thread to save our sanity!

 

(I'm kidding....but really I'm not...). *TriesToKeepAnotherSongInHead*

Sometimes you just have to fight fire with fire. Maybe you can get this one stuck in your head instead.

[Taryn74]

Well, crap.  I'm beginning to wonder why I'm so out-of-touch now as a 'Phile.  I intensely disliked the were-monster episode but really, really liked this one.  A lot.  Bordering on 'loved it' but I'll have to watch it again to know for sure.

 

Sigh.

[AllyinthekeyofX]

If its any comfort I adored it. ;)

[eleanorofaquitaine]

Well, the beauty of The X-Files is that there is something for everyone to love. :)

[AllyinthekeyofX]

Well, the beauty of The X-Files is that there is something for everyone to love. :)

Absolutely. I'm pretty forgiving at the moment though ;)

[Taryn74]

Well, the beauty of The X-Files is that there is something for everyone to love. :)

Oh, I know.  I was just in a bit of a funky mood last night, tired of always feeling like the "lone wolf" so to speak.  And then I got on here after finally getting to watch the latest ep to read the posts about the one thing I know I have in common with a lot of people and saw that I was almost alone in liking this ep!  LOL.  It was just too much at the time.

[AntiBeeSpray]

Oh, I know.  I was just in a bit of a funky mood last night, tired of always feeling like the "lone wolf" so to speak.  And then I got on here after finally getting to watch the latest ep to read the posts about the one thing I know I have in common with a lot of people and saw that I was almost alone in liking this ep!  LOL.  It was just too much at the time.

 

I liked it ok too. Any issues with it aside. 

[AllyinthekeyofX]

Oh, I know. I was just in a bit of a funky mood last night, tired of always feeling like the "lone wolf" so to speak. And then I got on here after finally getting to watch the latest ep to read the posts about the one thing I know I have in common with a lot of people and saw that I was almost alone in liking this ep! LOL. It was just too much at the time.

[AllyinthekeyofX]

To be perfectly honest I came to this season (because I'm damned if I will call it an 'event') determined to like it even though I suspected it might be a shadow of its former self. It was something I always harboured a secret hope that would happen, but as the years passed my hope waned until really, it disappeared altogether.

When I heard of the reboot I was astounded, I wondered if it could possibly work. Fifteen years is a long time in TV land. There have been other reboots which have been successful - I'm in the UK and probably the most notable one is the Dr Who franchise. It came back with a bang after more than a decade and still smashes the ratings today.

But that was slightly different - the nature of the show made it possible to bring in a whole new cast. No one batted an eyelid.

But with XF I couldn't help wondering if a 15 year break was just too long for even the most die-hard 'philes to reopen themselves to the characters.

The first ep was a little 'off' for me as I struggled to adjust to these two characters who had, until then, been frozen in time. The years have been kind to them but there us no mistaking that time , considerable time, has passed. We have seen both actors in different roles. High profile roles. They were no longer exclusively Milder and Scully. A period of readjustment was required, for me at least. I watched ep 3 4 and 5 back to back after eventually figuring out how to fool Hulu in to thinking my laptop lives in America. And by the time I'd got to Babylon, I was right back in the groove. I loved the ep. It gave me everything I needed from an XF. Maybe not the finest ever, but a good hours viewing with the bonus of a couple of standalone moments. I think I approached the reboot cautiously, with fairly low expectations. For the most part I have been pleasantly surprised on how easy its been to fall in to it again.

[madam magpie]

To be perfectly honest I came to this season (because I'm damned if I will call it an 'event') determined to like it even though I suspected it might be a shadow of its former self. It was something I always harboured a secret hope that would happen, but as the years passed my hope waned until really, it disappeared altogether.

When I heard of the reboot I was astounded, I wondered if it could possibly work. Fifteen years is a long time in TV land. There have been other reboots which have been successful - I'm in the UK and probably the most notable one is the Dr Who franchise. It came back with a bang after more than a decade and still smashes the ratings today.

But that was slightly different - the nature of the show made it possible to bring in a whole new cast. No one batted an eyelid.

But with XF I couldn't help wondering if a 15 year break was just too long for even the most die-hard 'philes to reopen themselves to the characters.

The first ep was a little 'off' for me as I struggled to adjust to these two characters who had, until then, been frozen in time. The years have been kind to them but there us no mistaking that time , considerable time, has passed. We have seen both actors in different roles. High profile roles. They were no longer exclusively Milder and Scully. A period of readjustment was required, for me at least. I watched ep 3 4 and 5 back to back after eventually figuring out how to fool Hulu in to thinking my laptop lives in America. And by the time I'd got to Babylon, I was right back in the groove. I loved the ep. It gave me everything I needed from an XF. Maybe not the finest ever, but a good hours viewing with the bonus of a couple of standalone moments. I think I approached the reboot cautiously, with fairly low expectations. For the most part I have been pleasantly surprised on how easy its been to fall in to it again.

I totally agree with this. This episode is the first of the reboot that I had trouble with story-wise, but I've enjoyed it all. I've also begun rewatching the whole series, and tonally, all of these episodes have felt the same to me. The style, personality, and world feel consistent.

[LaChavalina]

So is this another show in which someone pays lip service to the fact most Muslims are not terrorists, but you walk away thinking the writer believes most Muslims are terrorists?  I truly give CC the benefit of the doubt here, but I'm sort of worn down by media representation (in which the overwhelming majority of Muslim characters are getting ready to blow some shit up) and this is either the first group or among only a few Muslim characters on XF, and all but the mother wanted to, you know, blow some shit up.  

You know, I only watched this episode last night after seeing all the outrage about stereotyping on the Internet, and I have to wonder if the folks making this argument turned the episode off halfway through. The reveal that the "bomber" refused to set off his suicide vest, and that he reached out to Mulder from beyond the grave to prevent another attack, seemed redeeming to me. Not to mention that the mother was also portrayed as a victim, while a lot of the white people came off as assholes. The dichotomy was not as neat as it first appeared. (And, yes, I have met the "plot by the United Nations" crowd IRL.) 

 

I was surprised to find that the actress who played "Agent Einstein" is evidently known, because I thought she was the worst part of the episode. Wooden and overacted. I do wish they had gone a bit less "in-your-face" with the next-generation Mulder and Scully. Maybe a handsome, ginger male to play the scientist?

 

Anyway, I was a fan of the original series and I've enjoyed this reboot overall. My only complaint is that we've taken such a long detour from the plot of this story arc. Hoping they can sum it all up next week, or give us a setup for s11.

[ganesh]

I was unspoiled on the entire series revival. In general I know DD and GA always have said they enjoy M&S and never really said "we're done with them." Since they don't need to come back to the show, and have been doing well enough on their own, clearly to me, they wouldn't becoming back to the show to do "late 90s X Files." I assumed this would be a different incarnation of the show. And it should be. I wouldn't want to see that again either.

 

I've been over the alien crap since S5, so I'd rather the show try to take on Bigger Questions. Even if it's a bit of a miss, this was still a good episode. I would have liked more of the LG in the trip though. 

[LilaFowler]

I hate Einstein.  Never want to see that woman again.  Horrible acting.

Edited February 21, 2016 by LilaFowler

[myril]

I hate Einstein.  Never want to see that woman again.  Horrible acting.

 

I'm not sure about if it was horrible acting. I didn't find Agent Einstein likeable or interesting enough to wish to get to know her better, but think the character was meant to be that overacted, Lauren Ambrose was translating to the screen how the character was written. Can question if that was the right way to go with the character, but that doesn't mean to me that it was bad acting.

The episode reminded me of Theatre of the Absurd, nonsensical, disjointed, irrational, the characters aside of Scully and Mulder rather stereotypical, plenty of cliches and nonsense dialogue, and a plot making little to no sense. Not just talking of Mulder's magic mushrooms mystery tour. In the end it felt like the episode went nowhere while nevertheless trying to touch questions of faith, meaning, human interaction. It would make even some sense seeing that the episode was called Babylon and that at the end the Tower of Babel came up, break down of communication is a theme of Theatre of the Absurd, showing what happens when there is no meaning. Not saying it was all well done, neither do I know if it was all intentional in that sense, and I can see why a lot of people disliked the episode, particular when watching it in a literal way, but seeing it as absurd it gets a different layer and becomes interesting. That made me enjoy it.

Edited February 21, 2016 by myril

[Taryn74]

 I would have liked more of the LG in the trip though. 

 

Me too.  I had seen pics of them floating around so I knew they would make an appearance but didn't know in what capacity.  When Mulder started talking about the magic mushrooms I figured they would just be part of his hallucinations, and was a tad disappointed (I was hoping they would at least appear to him the same way they did in The Truth) but then they were onscreen for like a half a second and none of them even spoke!  Seriously, if I hadn't have known they were supposed to be in the "cowboy" scene I might not have even realized it was them.  That made me very sad.

[festivus]

Yeah, me too. I'm holding out hope that we'll get more than that. 

[ganesh]

I thought they were dead?

[AntiBeeSpray]

I thought they were dead?

 

They are. And still are. They were just a part of Mulder's hallucination.

[Prevailing Wind]

No. Morris Fletcher *said* they were dead.  Would you believe Morris Fletcher?

[ganesh]

I'm not a re watcher. I thought they died on their own show. Is that show considered canon?

[Taryn74]

I'm not a re watcher. I thought they died on their own show. Is that show considered canon?

 

No, they died (supposedly) in a S9 episode of XF.  And then their ghosts appeared to Mulder in the last episode of that season.

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

The reveal that the "bomber" refused to set off his suicide vest, and that he reached out to Mulder from beyond the grave to prevent another attack, seemed redeeming to me. Not to mention that the mother was also portrayed as a victim, while a lot of the white people came off as assholes.

 

I agree that the episode attempted to mitigate the negative portrayal, as you say, but I don't believe it did so very effectively. For one thing, backing out at the last minute doesn't retroactively let one off the hook for freely volunteering to participate in bombing a public venue in the first place. That still leave the character looking like a murderous militant extremist; just one lacking in commitment. The mother was indeed a sympathetic character, but wasn't she was the only Muslim character in the episode who wasn't a member of the terrorist cell? The strongest mitigation of the portrayal of Muslims as terrorists came in Mulder's ruminations at the end, which is relatively weak in comparison to the visual image of bearded guys running around with bombs. 

 

And by the way, I am not so much objecting to this as an expression of racism as I am disappointed with one of my favorite old shows resorting to such a tired cliche. 

[eleanorofaquitaine]

I agree that the episode attempted to mitigate the negative portrayal, as you say, but I don't believe it did so very effectively. For one thing, backing out at the last minute doesn't retroactively let one off the hook for freely volunteering to participate in bombing a public venue in the first place. That still leave the character looking like a murderous militant extremist; just one lacking in commitment. The mother was indeed a sympathetic character, but wasn't she was the only Muslim character in the episode who wasn't a member of the terrorist cell? The strongest mitigation of the portrayal of Muslims as terrorists came in Mulder's ruminations at the end, which is relatively weak in comparison to the visual image of bearded guys running around with bombs. 

 

And by the way, I am not so much objecting to this as an expression of racism as I am disappointed with one of my favorite old shows resorting to such a tired cliche. 

 

The problem is that I don't fair to call it either an expression of racism or a tired cliche. There are extremists who are inspired by Islamism who kill people through suicide vests - those are real and true events, and they happen to be real and true events that are on the minds of a lot of Americans.  What is fair to say is that the vast, vast majority of Muslims are not only not extremists, the vast majority of them do not support such actions.  Portrayals of terrorism are always complicated because they are rooted in real life, but can easily recycle stereotypes.

 

I think that Carter was trying to offer a balanced portrait (with the mother, with the fact that Shiraz backed out in the first place, and ultimately did help Mulder, etc.) but didn't quite succeed, especially with the final sequence with the terror cell. But to be fair to Carter, I think he was interested in exploring what motivates someone to strap on a suicide vest, and I just don't know how you explore that question without directly addressing the reality that most people who do so are inspired by Islamic extremism. (Note, I did not say inspired by Islam).  The episode did not succeed for me for a lot of reasons, and I had issues with the depiction, but I also think there were more nuances than people may be giving Carter credit for. 

[ahisma]

My problem with Carter's portrayal is that not only did he not show "good" Muslms other than the mother, he got the proportion of "bad" Muslims wildly off, too. The show ended up having the bigoted nurse be kind of right—there was a very large cell in the small Texas community. In actuality, most terror attacks in the US are by one or two people radicalized by the Twitter of someone on the other side of the world. (And in the US they use guns, not bomb vests.) Showing the Homeland Security bust at the end of the episode will just make viewers who think like the nurse more sure that there's lots of "them" all over the place, despite the relative rarity of actual US attacks.

[madam magpie]

I don't think there's much anyone can do about "people who think like the nurse." One moment in an episode of a genre TV show isn't going to make or break the thinking of bigots. I see nothing wrong with this episode as far as the terrorism angle goes: it's timely, it happens, lots of people are worried about it, it shows up in our entertainment. We live in a global world, so an attack in Paris, for example, feels much more personal today than it would have a few decades ago. It matters little that we aren't going around uncovering scary cells of terrorists in the U.S. I also don't think the show has a responsibility to take on politics or make sure that it's politically correct in every detail so as to try to affect the thinking of every bigot out there. The show has the responsibility to tell a good story. I think it faltered some this week, but not because it wasn't sensitive enough. I mean, a couple of weeks ago, the brown guy was a serial killer and the white guy was an innocent lizard man. If people want to read racism into a story's themes, it can always be done. But that oversensitivity numbs us to actual bigoted portrayals, and in some ways has done a lot more harm than good over the years.

Edited February 22, 2016 by madam magpie