Season 4: I'm Sorry, But You've Got Something I Need...

[eleanorofaquitaine]

On 4/16/2018 at 6:57 PM, Taryn74 said:

I remember the summer after Gethsemane aired, LEGIT believing that Mulder had killed himself, and the commercials I was seeing for XF reruns beginning on FX (they had the tagline along the lines of "see it all from the beginning again" or something) meant that the next season of XF was going to be retelling all of the cases from Scully's viewpoint instead of Mulder's.  I was SO dreading Season 5!  LOL

I remember that summer really well, too.  I knew that the show was coming back and so was Mulder, but I remember being impressed that they had written a story where you could conceivably believe that Mulder had killed himself.  Even at the time (I was in my 20s), I knew that it was unusual to present a male character who could be that vulnerable and yet still be a hero. 

[MissL]

On 2/26/2018 at 4:50 PM, Sharna Pax said:

I've realized I don't know Season 4 very well at all, and watching Leonard Betts and Memento Mori got me interested in it, so I think I'm going to rewatch the season from the beginning. I've seen a few comments here and there about Mulder getting less likable/ turning into a jerk as the show goes on, and I was just watching some Season 1, so I'll be keeping an eye out for any changes in his personality. I hope nobody minds if I pop in here fairly often to comment on the episodes as I watch them.

Starting with Herrenvolk: I rarely watch mytharc, so I didn't remember this one at all. Peacing out on a boat with Jeremiah Smith and leaving Scully with the not-dead ABH - and then not answering her calls - is not Mulder's best hour, but I can't find it in my heart to criticize him. I can retroactively forgive Mulder for anything he did in the last few episodes, and preemptively forgive him for anything he does in the next few, just for the sake of the scene where tells Marita, "I've suffered some very personal losses recently," and has to stop halfway through the sentence and start again because his voice isn't working. And the scene where he comes back to the hospital and Scully runs to meet him and he just says, "I can't...there's nothing," and kind of blunders toward the wrong door and Scully has to steer him to his mother's room. Poor sad puppy. I just want to give him a hug.

The ABH magically healing Mulder's mom would be really silly, except for how clear they make it that the CSM's motives here are entirely personal. I'm guessing the Alien Bounty Hunter figures that one out, too, because he straight-up rolls his eyes before he heals her. I watched it twice just to make sure.

Agent Pendrell is so cute here with his crush on Scully. Poor guy.

Ok! So I started season 4 in my rewatch!  I completely forgot about the Herrenvolk ditch and actually said "come on Mulder." When Scully saw him leave in that boat with Jeremiah. I was so mad but then realized to be fair he thought he had successfully killed the bounty hunter and I have no doubt if he thought she was in danger he never would have left her.  So the "I need you to know I'm ok" later is his acknowledgment it was a shit thing to leave her behind.

And yeah by the end I forgive the poor woobie anything. I have rewatched that "he's in shock. Your in shock" scene so many times. I love how Skinner just recognizes that they need a minute and backs out of the room and closes the door. Such a sweetheart. 

Man I remember getting my back up when Marita showed up. I was such a shipper from the beginning that I didn't like the mysterious lady looking too long at Mulder. Now I realize I should have been happy with a woman being an informant and actively trying to help the cause. But it's so much easier to like her in retrospect after knowing she's no threat and living through Diana. 

[Sharna Pax]

On 5/10/2018 at 7:07 AM, MissL said:

And yeah by the end I forgive the poor woobie anything. I have rewatched that "he's in shock. Your in shock" scene so many times. I love how Skinner just recognizes that they need a minute and backs out of the room and closes the door. Such a sweetheart. 

Between this episode, Demons, and Detour, I'm starting to think that Scully diagnoses Mulder with shock whenever she wants an excuse to put her arms around him.