Season 3: Queequeg, Cockroaches and Cerulean Blue

[JanetMacklin]

The power of suggestion compels you to discuss Season 3 here.

[ElleryAnne]

This is one of my favorite seasons.  So many good episodes, with Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose, Jose Chung's "From Outer Space",  Wetwired, Quagmire.  The mytharc episodes were good this season, too.  Piper Maru/Apocrypha, of course (yay Krycek!), but also Nisei/731, which I rarely hear people mention among the best episodes, but I've always liked it.

Also, the most understated, gut-wrenching moment of the entire series for me is near the end of Paper Clip, when Mulder walks into the hospital room and Scully is sitting there alone.  GA manages to take my heart and crush it into little tiny pieces.

[Bastet]

Season three really fires on all cylinders for me.  I really enjoy most of the MOTW episodes, and am also actually interested in the mytharc at this point in the series.

I usually skip over The Blessing Way and go right from Anasazi to Paper Clip (and could not love the three-way standoff in Mulder's apartment more than I do) and I don't like The Oubliette, Teso dos Bichos, Avatar or Hell Money, but otherwise I really dig this season's episodes.  I even like The List for reasons I cannot explain.  "I only get five?"

I recently babbled on at TWoP about my foray into Mrs. Scully's head when she gets the call her daughter has been shot, arrives at the hospital to find it's the other daughter, etc. as it's such a surreal space.  And poor Scully.  That shot of her alone in the empty room packs a punch.  As I posted during said babbling, if Melissa had been killed in a car accident or something, Scully would be handling the mess of paperwork they have to complete before leaving the hospital, telling her mom "You call Bill, I'll call Charlie" and otherwise going through things with Mrs. Scully.  Instead, Scully is alone in that room with her grief and guilt, and Mrs. Scully is alone in some administrator's office trying to process the fact one daughter is dead because of the other.

[queequeg]

Season 3 has some really GREAT episodes so far. Loved Paper Clip, Clyde Bruckman, War of the Coprophages, Syzygy, and Pusher. 2Shy was just creepy as hell. And poor Skinner, what a crap season he's having.

Next up on my watch list is Teso Dos Bichos.

One question I had on Syzygy, I originally was all holy reaction on Scully's part, but then the astrologist had made a comment about the planetary alignment and strained relationships, so maybe I shouldn't read so much into Scully and Mulder in this episode? Maybe they were just playing off the planetary alignment impacting them as well?

Oh, and baby face Ryan Reynolds!!

[Taryn74]

Instead, Scully is alone in that room with her grief and guilt, and Mrs. Scully is alone in some administrator's office trying to process the fact one daughter is dead because of the other.

 

 

Gah.  That still gets to me.

 

...maybe I shouldn't read so much into Scully and Mulder in [syzygy]? Maybe they were just playing off the planetary alignment impacting them as well?

 

 

I think that's the way we're supposed to see it, yeah.  I like to think that the planetary thing finds the tiniest spark of something in someone and amps it up a million degrees, rather than bringing out something that's simmering right under the surface anyway.

[Bastet]

I love Mulder and Scully under the influence of the cosmic G spot; Scully gets great lines (I still use "Sure. Fine. Whatever." whenever possible), and I love the way she asks Mulder what he's doing as he's sniffing her perfume.  Gillian is particularly delightful when Scully is frustrated with Mulder, and here we get a whole episode worth. 

Next up on my watch list is Teso Dos Bichos.

 

I'm sorry.

[Taryn74]

Next up on my watch list is Teso Dos Bichos.

 

 

I'm sorry.

 

*cackle*

[smrou]

I love the way she asks Mulder what he's doing as he's sniffing her perfume.

Oh man, I find the perfume sniffing and Scully's reaction to it just hysterical.  Funniest moment of an episode with a number of very funny moments.  

[Taryn74]

The perfume sniffing really is hysterical.  GA's delivery of that line kills me.

[Bastet]

In Bringing Up Baby, when David has accidentally ripped the back panel off Susan's dress, leaving her exposed, he keeps trying to use his top hat to cover her up.  Unaware of her wardrobe malfunction, Susan is obviously bewildered and annoyed by his actions.  The way Katharine Hepburn asks, "What is the matter with you?" is perfection, and I use her inflection whenever asking that question.  Gillian's delivery of "What are you doing?" in the perfume-sniffing scene has always reminded me of that.  A seemingly little thing, and impossible to convey on the page, it's just sublime. 

Edited May 15, 2014 by Bastet

[queequeg]

OK, so Teso Dos Bichos wasn't too bad, although I'm now side eyeing my cats.  I did not particularly enjoy Hell Money... too possible to make it pretty disturbing?

But holy Jose Chung... what a bleeping awesome episode! My brain is still processing the bleeping cluster that was Jose Chung, so more on it once I've processed, but I haven't laughed so much...  Scully an unconvincing woman, Mulder screaming at the sight of the alien, the alien autopsy video and Scully's mortification over the video... so.many.moments.

[Taryn74]

OMG, I just noticed you actually have Queequeg as your avatar.  And now I can't stop laughing.

[queequeg]

Poor Queequeg is new.  :)

[Bastet]

I did not particularly enjoy Hell Money... too possible to make it pretty disturbing?

 

My issue is I'm too bored to care.  In both the writing and the acting, there is something dreadfully dull about that episode.

[queequeg]

Did anyone else feel bad for Agent Pendrell watching seasons 3 and 4? He clearly likes Scully, even Mulder recognizes this, but she doesn't even notice him. He seems like a nice guy. Obviously he's no Mulder, but I bet he's way less high maintenance with a lot less baggage.

[ElleryAnne]

I always liked Pendrell and would've liked seeing Scully go out with him once or twice.  I'm not a M/S shipper myself, but it would have been nice to see Scully with a guy who liked her, and it could've been fun to see a jealous Mulder.  

[Bastet]

I like the doof, but the way that we saw him; stammering through a pity date would have been painful for him, Scully and me.  Although maybe he just needs some liquid courage, because the Pendrell of Tempus Fugit is far more dateable.  Poor Pendrell, but that's for the S4 thread.

 

Jealousy is something I just cannot abide in real life, so I have a hard time with it in fiction.  Jealous!Mulder tends to entertain me in fanfic, though, so maybe it would have been okay here.  Funny, at any rate.

 

But I just really like Scully being so unaffected by Pendrell's crush.  She's not haughty or awkward or giggly or any of the things women on television are too often made to be by the attentions of a man, any man, she's just initially oblivious because she's thinking about work and then very matter-of-fact without being condescending or pitying.  Love her.

[queequeg]

Bastet, do you feel Mulder was jealous? I didn't. I loved Mulder teasing Pendrell about Scully's "date," (season 4) and then telling Pendrell to breathe, that she's performing an autopsy

[Bastet]

No, I was responding to ElleryAnne's musing that it could have been fun to see a jealous Mulder (had Scully dated Pendrell).

Edited May 20, 2014 by Bastet

[queequeg]

Ah, ok. I was so confused and hadn't connected it to ElleryAnne's comment.

[ElleryAnne]

Jealousy is something I just cannot abide in real life, so I have a hard time with it in fiction.

 

 

Understandable.  I feel that way about infidelity.  But jealousy doesn't bother me in fic.  

 

I'd also have been okay with Scully and Pendrell dating and Mulder NOT being jealous, since I don't ship them.  But oftentimes I think Mulder needs more of a personality than he actually has, and a little jealous interest in Scully would be one way to get there.

[Taryn74]

But I just really like Scully being so unaffected by Pendrell's crush.  She's not haughty or awkward or giggly or any of the things women on television are too often made to be by the attentions of a man, any man, she's just initially oblivious because she's thinking about work and then very matter-of-fact without being condescending or pitying.  Love her.

 

 

SO much word.

[mstaken]

We've had a lot of fun doing this for S1, so why not tackle the same challenge for the remaining seasons: What are your five favorite and least favorite episodes of the season...and why?!

[ElleryAnne]

Nope, I still can't do a top five.  This season's too good.   I can do a top ten, though... sort of....?

 

Paper Clip  (my heart in little pieces on the floor at the end of this episode)

Piper Maru
Apocrypha

Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose

Nisei

731

Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'

Quagmire

Wetwired

Talitha Cumi

(Honorable mention to Syzygy)

 

 

Least favorites:

 

War of the Coprophages (eww, roaches! otherwise I'd love this episode)

Pusher (creeped me the hell out way back when, but actually a good episode)

Hell Money

2Shy

Teso dos Bichos

Edited August 7, 2014 by ElleryAnne

[smrou]

Once again I simply cannot limit myself to five favorites:

Paper Clip (+ the final scene of The Blessing Way)
DPO
Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose
War of the Coprophages
Syzygy
Pusher (BEST EPISODE EVER)
Jose Chung
Quagmire
Wetwired

 

 

Least favorites:

 

Teso dos Bichos

Hell Money

Avatar

 

That's only three, but the first two are bad enough that they should count double.  Most of the others I haven't listed are Mytharc episodes that I'm pretty neutral on and/or can't remember the distinguishing details well enough to judge.

[janestclair]

Favorites: 

 

Clyde Bruckman: Peter Boyle is awesome in this.  The whole episode is pure gold. 

War of the Coprophages: I just always loved this one. "Are you sure it wasn't a girly scream?"

Wetwired: I love Scully's freak out in this.

Pusher: Russian roulette scene.  

And I'm going to cheat for the 5th one and say all the mytharc eps.  This is before the mythology starts to eat itself alive. And you could still follow the plot and feel like you knew what was going on. 

 

Least:
Hell Money: Tied with Space for most boring episode ever

The List: Boring and not even the super gross maggots could save it.

The Walk: Also boring

Grotesque: Just too dark. Not the tone. The actual lighting.  I never knew what the hell was going on. 

And of course, Teso Dos Bichos, for the killer kitties of doom.

Edited August 7, 2014 by janestclair

[Bastet]

Favorites:

 

Paper Clip - If for no other reason than the three-way standoff in Mulder's apartment, but I happen to love to rest of it just as much.

 

Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose - Peter Boyle hits just the right tone, so throw in The Stupendous Yappi and Scully's "I can't take you anywhere" and I'm sold.

 

Pusher - So. Fucking. Good.

 

War of the Coprophages - "Her name is Bambi?"  There is nothing about this episode I don't love, especially Scully.  "No, this is no place for an entomologist."

 

Syzygy - The funny ones always make my list.  And my mother and I still walk around saying, "Hate him, wouldn't want to date him."

 

Okay, I can't stop at five for this season: Quagmire, Wetwired and Jose Chung's From Outer Space all have to be on here as well.

 

Least Favorites:

 

The Blessing Way - As much as I love The Anasazi and Paper Clip, I skip over this part of the trilogy.

 

The Oubliette - Lucy drives me nuts, so I cannot get invested in her plight.

 

Avatar - I like Skinner, but not this much.

 

Hell Money - Everything about this is flat to me - writing, acting, directing.  It's just boring.

 

Teso Dos Bichos - Sewer rats, killer cats, and Yaje.  Oh my.

[queequeg]

Favs:

Paper Clip

War of the Coprophages

Pusher

Jose Chung's From Outer Space

Quagmire

Least:

The List

2Shy (this ep really grossed me the eff out)

The Walk

Oubliette

Grotesque (the name says it all)

Disclaimer: The exclusion of Teso Dos Bichos and Hell Money do not indicate my endorsement of them. They were bad, I only hated other eps more.

[janestclair]

I still use, "Sure. Fine. Whatever."

Syzygy - The funny ones always make my list.  And my mother and I still walk around saying, "Hate him, wouldn't want to date him."

 

Least Favorites:

 

The Blessing Way - As much as I love The Anasazi and Paper Clip, I skip over this part of the trilogy.

 

You know what? I do too.  Anasazi, right to Paper Clip.  Every time. 

[Bastet]

While my favorites list would have to get fairly long before they'd make the cut, I like both The List and 2Shy.  The List is ... shall we say not good ... but I have an odd soft spot for it.  I love "I only get five?"  And Scully's equally droll observation upon realizing Neech's wife is cheating on him:  "A woman gets lonely.  Sometimes she can't wait around for her man to be reincarnated."  And I laugh my ass off when Neech comes back as a fly. 

 

2Shy I like for "Harlan" from Thelma & Louise and the fantastic way Scully schools the sexist detective.

[janestclair]

2Shy is gross but I like it. It could only work in the 90s though, when everyone was like, "OMG, don't meet anyone from the internet, they're all axe murders." 

 

I don't get why Jose Chung makes so many favorites lists. It's a good episode, but I have no idea what in the hell happened. Which I guess is the point, but it's just frustrating. 

[smrou]

I like 2Shy and The List also.  They're not standouts for me, so I didn't list them, but I like them.  I only listed three episodes for this season that I dislike because I think I only genuinely dislike those three.  All the others I'd be happy to pop in and watch. 

 

I don't get why Jose Chung makes so many favorites lists. It's a good episode, but I have no idea what in the hell happened. Which I guess is the point, but it's just frustrating.

Heh.  Yeah, that's pretty much the point.  But it's also a really fun (and funny) episode, in my opinion.  

Edited August 7, 2014 by smrou

[Bastet]

That's one of the many things I love about it.  "Just so long as you're attempting to record the truth."  "Dear god, no - how could I possibly do that?"

 

But mostly for Detective Manners ("Oh, you bet your blankety-blank bleep I am"), "Roswell!  Roswell!" (and just about everything from that kid, like "You mean it's just a dead human being?" and his Dungeons & Dragons line), Alex Trebek, "This is not happening," the pie, the interrogations, "This is so embarassing," the ticking timebomb of insanity, "Did you check everywhere?"  ... just about everything about it, really.

[smrou]

his Dungeons & Dragons line

Oh man, I love that so much!  "I didn't spend all those years playing Dungeons and Dragons and not learn a little something about courage."  Great.  

 

... just about everything about it, really.

Yeah, I was going to start picking out favorite lines, but the whole episode is basically filled with favorite lines almost beginning to end.  

[janestclair]

Detective Manners was pure gold.  "I am familiar with Detective Manners' colorful phraseology." And there are some great funny lines in it.  It's not a bad episode.  I just kind of hate the two stupid kids, especially the girl. And somehow that kills it for me.  It's still closer to the top than the bottom.  

[queequeg]

Jose Chung's is just full of so many great lines.

Oh, and Mulder's girly scream!

[mstaken]

Syzygy

 

Even though I'm generally opposed to picking episodes with titles I'm too dumb to pronounce, I absolutely adore this episode as well. It's top five for sure...along with, like, 10 or 11 others ;) 

 

War of the Coprophages

 

I love the Mulder/Scully phone calls in this one beyond the telling of it. They're so cozily couple-y there...despite not being an actual couple. And despite Bambi :)  

[AltLivia]

Favorites:

Oubliette: One of my favorites of all time. Mulder is so invested, Scully is so fearful (for him) and frustrated (by him). I felt for all the characters and for the first time, really understood Mulder.

Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose - "How do I die?" "...You don't." Mulder antagonizing Yappi. The quick witted Clyde, who was a really multifaceted character in his own right, etc.

Jose Chungs' From Outer Space - Brilliant. Hilarious. But as others have said, the kids themselves irritated me. I loved how much of a weird caricature Mulder was, and how take charge Scully was in the fictionalized account. And the jump cuts of Mulder asking questions as he polished off more pie.

Wetwired - "You shot my sister!" Is it terrible that I find myself amazed it took subliminal messaging to make Scully paranoid? Mulder's often (justifiably) so paranoid that I figure it would have simply rubbed off on her.

Pusher - "Scully...run." A handhold. "G-Woman." And an excellent protagonist.

 

Least Favorite:

Teso Dos Bichos - It doesn't even work as a comedic episode. 

The List - I could barely figure out what was going on and I didn't care.

Hell Money

2Shy

Grotesque - It was fairly intense, I know that much. But I can never remember it, nothing stands out.

 

Mulder said something incredibly offensive in Quagmire, and sadly it misses my favorites list for that reason.

Edited August 7, 2014 by ScullyInApt42

[janestclair]

Mulder said something incredibly offensive in Quagmire, and sadly it misses my favorites list for that reason.

 

Was it the whole bit about how he'd be happier if he had a peg leg because then no one would expect anything of him?  Because if so, that irked me too. 

[AltLivia]

 

the whole bit about how he'd be happier if he had a peg leg because then no one would expect anything of him?

Absolutely. I wonder if there was any backlash at the time? As a disabled woman myself, I was stunned by that, but anyone would be.

Edited August 8, 2014 by ScullyInApt42

[janestclair]

Absolutely. I wonder if there was any backlash at the time? As a disabled woman myself, I was stunned by that, but anyone would be.

I'm also mildly disabled, so maybe that's why we picked up  on it.  I actually had a doctor once express surprise that I had a fairly demanding career and a driver's license.  I think he thought it was a compliment, but yeah, no.  Try again. 

[Bastet]

I remember commenting on it, saying in particular that "flippant" is a pretty anemic word for Scully to use in objection (I know she took it from him, but still), but I don't remember a lot of chatter about it.  It seems The Conversation on the Rock is so well loved (and I do like the rest of it) that it's largely glossed over.

 

I still love the episode, but I don't like Mulder much in that moment.  Or when he's all "Sorry about your dog, now back to my lake monster pictures." 

[mstaken]

I remember commenting on it, saying in particular that "flippant" is a pretty anemic word for Scully to use in objection (I know she took it from him, but still), but I don't remember a lot of chatter about it.  It seems The Conversation on the Rock is so well loved (and I do like the rest of it) that it's largely glossed over.

I still love the episode, but I don't like Mulder much in that moment.  Or when he's all "Sorry about your dog, now back to my lake monster pictures."

 

Yeah, Mulder has me cringing in that episode. As much as I love S3 and think it has some of the series' best episodes, I think in retrospect S3 is when I started to fall a bit out of love with Mulder.  

[kilted]

Hmm I can't recall any previous criticism of the peg leg dialogue. The conversation on the rock is regarded with a lot of affection but I can see why someone might take offence. Mulder back then could be really insensitive and myopic. He didn't get a whole lot better actually. Maybe Scully should have called him on his remarks better but then that would have dampened the banter.

 

While season 3 does have some really memorable episodes, a lot of fans missed the tone of season 2. There were some real prizes like Clyde Bruckman's and Jose Chung's, but by comparison, season 3 was more back-to-business with a collection of light-hearted non-Xfiles and some fun fluff thrown in.  Shippers at the time clung on to occasions like the conversation on the rock just to keep them breathing. If it wasn't for Pusher it might have gotten itself into trouble.

 

Was season 3 the season of the most Scully ditches by Mulder? Does anyone have a tally??

 

Yeah I can relate with falling out of love with Mulder in S3. After he ditched Scully in Talitha Cumi/Herrenvolk, I checked out on Mulder. It took a lot for me to defrost on that one. I think it took the Hallway scene.

[smrou]

Was season 3 the season of the most Scully ditches by Mulder? Does anyone have a tally??

The XF In-Jokes List has season 6 as the winner for Mulder ditches, but I think they're missing some.

[Taryn74]

Maybe Scully should have called him...

 

 

This is where reading too fast gets me into trouble sometimes.  I totally read that as "Maybe Scully should have killed him..."  Well, that would certainly put a twist on things, heh.

 

So I have laundry waiting to go into the dryer, a sink full of dishes to go into the dishwasher, and it's almost midnight.  Perfect time to work on my fave/least fave lists, right?  Right.

 

Favorite:

 

Pusher - this episode has no competition, as far as I am concerned.  Fantastic, beginning to end.

 

CBFR - so many awesome moments.  "Mister, you really need to work on your closing."  HA HA HA!

 

Wetwired - so good, so intense.  Mulder bracing himself before he goes to identify (or, thankfully, NOT) Scully's body is just heart-wrenching.  As is "You killed my sister!"  Gah.

 

Syzygy - on paper, this episode probably shouldn't work at all, but something about it is just great.

 

Oubliette - I'm the odd man out for loving this episode, but I really do.  I think I'm just a sucker for the times that Mulder tries so hard to save someone and it just doesn't work out.

 

Least:

 

2SHY - GROSS

 

The Walk - borrrrrrrring

 

Teso Dos Bichos - Toonces on acid.  That is all.

 

Hell Money - eh.  I don't hate it, but there's not much to like either.

 

Avatar - I wish I liked the Skinner-centric eps more, I just can't.

[mstaken]

Anyone want to guess which episode this pic is from?! I'm feeling another rewatch coming on :)

 

[Bastet]

WotC, one of my favorites.

 

"Smart is sexy."

 

I rave about this all the time, but I haven't yet done it here, so ... I love that Gillian just keeps going when the cars crash into each other behind her (at the convenience store).  That crash wasn't supposed to happen, but she just looks back, makes sure no one is dead, and carries on.

[smrou]

I never thought I'd say this, Scully, but you smell bad.

[queequeg]

Who's this handsome guy?!