Season 7: Let the flirting begin...

[madam magpie]

I finally got back to my rewatch and I've been all out of order, but I just saw All Things and...whew. I remember liking this episode a lot when I was young, but all I could think as I watched this time was, "Oh good lord. No you can't cure cancer with meditation. The crazy anti-vaccine people must love this."

I also don't see the controversy about whether or not Mulder and Scully did the deed. The implication seems clear. Plus she basically said there was only one choice leading to this moment. There was no waffling. Just because she dozed off doesn't mean she didn't wake up later, get naked, and climb into Mulder's bed. I mean...right? Or did I miss something?

Edited April 23, 2016 by madam magpie

[eleanorofaquitaine]

I also don't see the controversy about whether or not Mulder and Scully did the deed. The implication seems clear. Plus she basically said there was only one choice leading to this moment. There was no waffling. Just because she dozed off doesn't mean she didn't wake up later, get naked, and climb into Mulder's bed. I mean...right? Or did I miss something?

 

I never had any question from the moment I saw that episode because, otherwise, what's the point of including that scene?  So, like you, I never really understood what the controversy was around it. Scully is getting dressed in Mulder's bathroom while he is sleeping naked in the bed. Short of her getting out of the bed while he's there sleeping, I don't know what more they could have shown to make it clear that they had sex the previous evening (I mean, beyond the obvious sex scene).  But for those who really didn't want the show to go in the direction it was clearly going, I guess it allowed for some ambiguity?  I don't know because to me, there wasn't that much ambiguity to that scene.

[Bastet]

I mostly remember discussion of whether that was their first time or not (I'm in the latter camp), rather than debate over whether or not they had sex at all.  I probably just skim over the latter, though.

 

I was watching quite sporadically by season seven, and I think I'd missed many episodes in a row prior to all things, but made sure to tune back in for that one.  I couldn't stand the attitude towards Daniel's illness, so I don't particularly care for the episode, but I like that it confirmed to me they were, in fact, sleeping together, because the lack of acknowledgment had been bugging me some.

[eleanorofaquitaine]

Yes, I was going to say something similar, about the debate as to whether or not this was supposed to be the first time. I'm with you in believing that they had started sleeping together prior to all things, and in fact, I read recently that Shiban/Spotnitz (or one of the other producers, I can't remember which) had asked Gillian Anderson to include the scene as a way of confirming to the audience that they were, in fact, sleeping together.  It seems like they had been intending to include that scene at some point in season 7 (probably to pave the way for the revelation at the end of the season), and they thought it would make sense for that episode. But that says to me that the producers weren't necessarily intending the audience to believe it was the first time, rather just to signal to the audience that this was an ongoing thing.

[baileythedog]

Yes, I was going to say something similar, about the debate as to whether or not this was supposed to be the first time. I'm with you in believing that they had started sleeping together prior to all things, and in fact, I read recently that Shiban/Spotnitz (or one of the other producers, I can't remember which) had asked Gillian Anderson to include the scene as a way of confirming to the audience that they were, in fact, sleeping together.  It seems like they had been intending to include that scene at some point in season 7 (probably to pave the way for the revelation at the end of the season), and they thought it would make sense for that episode. But that says to me that the producers weren't necessarily intending the audience to believe it was the first time, rather just to signal to the audience that this was an ongoing thing.

 

It kind of begs the question of what "all things" would really be about had the producers not tagged that scene onto Gillian's story.  My guess is that it would have been an unmitigated mess.

 

It's kind of a mess of an episode anyway, although it does attempt to reveal a few interesting things about Scully and her personal history.  But absent Scully's revelation about Mulder I'm not sure the episode has all that much to recommend it.  And would there be any other revelation other than the fact they've been sleeping together? 

[eleanorofaquitaine]

It kind of begs the question of what "all things" would really be about had the producers not tagged that scene onto Gillian's story.  My guess is that it would have been an unmitigated mess.

 

It's kind of a mess of an episode anyway, although it does attempt to reveal a few interesting things about Scully and her personal history.  But absent Scully's revelation about Mulder I'm not sure the episode has all that much to recommend it.  And would there be any other revelation other than the fact they've been sleeping together? 

 

I haven't gotten to season 7 in my rewatch, so it will be interesting for me to see if the episode is as much as a mess as it remember it being. That being said, you do bring up a good point - if the point of the episode is Scully accepting her life, and the choices she has made, would that have any meaning whatsoever if there wasn't this explicit reference to the nature of their relationship?  Because I mean, they could have just gone with, "well, Scully accepts that she's in this life with Mulder" but it's not like that would have been some new revelation. I mean, going back to Paper Clip and through Never Again to Momento Mori, etc., we've seen various permutations of "Scully questions her life, but ultimately accepts that she will continue to be tied to Mulder."  To some extent, the only reason why all things has any resonance is because the actual tangible evidence that yes, Mulder and Scully are sleeping together, is kind of a large plot point for the show to concede.

[baileythedog]

I haven't gotten to season 7 in my rewatch, so it will be interesting for me to see if the episode is as much as a mess as it remember it being. That being said, you do bring up a good point - if the point of the episode is Scully accepting her life, and the choices she has made, would that have any meaning whatsoever if there wasn't this explicit reference to the nature of their relationship?  Because I mean, they could have just gone with, "well, Scully accepts that she's in this life with Mulder" but it's not like that would have been some new revelation. I mean, going back to Paper Clip and through Never Again to Momento Mori, etc., we've seen various permutations of "Scully questions her life, but ultimately accepts that she will continue to be tied to Mulder."  To some extent, the only reason why all things has any resonance is because the actual tangible evidence that yes, Mulder and Scully are sleeping together, is kind of a large plot point for the show to concede.

 

I gather from various interviews that Gillian had some difficulty structuring the story---and originally it was much longer.  While I think she definitely has great ideas about who Scully is and what she's about, I don't think Gillian is a natural writer which somewhat accounts for "all things" being such a mish-mash.  But I have read various places that what got trimmed from her outline was the idea that Scully left Daniel without actually having slept with him. She walked out just on the idea that if she slept with him things would be bad.  I'm really glad that they trimmed this down and left the audience with the notion that Scully actually did have a physical affair with her instructor. In my mind, this makes Scully a far more complicated character and it certainly adds a little plausibility to the daughter's complete overreaction.  If Scully had left Daniel without actually sleeping with him, I think that would have unnecessarily contributed to that "St. Scully" syndrome of the show.  It's actually a little odd to me that the actress herself would have contemplated this dynamic for her character.

[eleanorofaquitaine]

Made it through Sein und Zeit, Closure and X-Cops in the last few days.  Some of these season 7 episodes, I just don't remember seeing because I was becoming a bit disenchanted by the end of season 6.  For instance, I don't remember if I watched The Sixth Extinction 1 or 2.  That being said, I ended up enjoying Amor Fati this time around.  The Last Temptation of Mulder does work for me because - for me - the part of Christ's story that has always resonated with me is the human story. The man who was called to do extraordinary things for humanity, to suffer and endure tremendous amounts of pain for humanity.  I get why many people wouldn't like it, but for me, it worked.

I do remember watching Sein und Zeit and Closure the first time around, and I think maybe I was vaguely disappointed by the end of it like everyone else. But now, I do find it moving. It is sad to think of the pain that Samantha endured, and realistically, that is probably the thing that Mulder has always run away from. He must have known subconsciously that whatever happened to her - aliens performing tests on her, humans performing tests on her, John Lee Roche, Ed Truelove - she suffered in a way that she should not have. He knew that all of the options were bad, and given his capacity for empathy, he must have spent years suffering along with her in his head.  To have that moment where he could see that she was not suffering anymore, it was itself a gift to him. Neither Samantha nor Mulder deserved the life that was imposed upon them by CSM and by the Mulders.  So I think that ultimately, Closure feels emotionally correct, even if I find the whole concept of "walk ins" just a way to say that Samantha was taken by angels without saying she was taken by angels.

[Taryn74]

4 hours ago, eleanorofaquitaine said:

To have that moment where he could see that she was not suffering anymore, it was itself a gift to him. Neither Samantha nor Mulder deserved the life that was imposed upon them by CSM and by the Mulders.  So I think that ultimately, Closure feels emotionally correct, even if I find the whole concept of "walk ins" just a way to say that Samantha was taken by angels without saying she was taken by angels.

 

Yes, yes, yes.  That's precisely why I've always loved Closure and why the end to Samantha's arc was very emotionally satisfying to me.  To me it was perfect.  I believe when Mulder looked up at the heavens and said "I'm fine.....I'm free" he meant it.

Plus just the fact that for all their posturing and all their planning and all their BS, the Consortium couldn't stop Samantha from being "rescued" just fills me with glee.  The walk-ins quite literally came and snatched her out from under them and they couldn't do a damn thing to stop it.  I love that.

[baileythedog]

9 minutes ago, Taryn74 said:

 

Yes, yes, yes.  That's precisely why I've always loved Closure and why the end to Samantha's arc was very emotionally satisfying to me.  To me it was perfect.  I believe when Mulder looked up at the heavens and said "I'm fine.....I'm free" he meant it.

Plus just the fact that for all their posturing and all their planning and all their BS, the Consortium couldn't stop Samantha from being "rescued" just fills me with glee.  The walk-ins quite literally came and snatched her out from under them and they couldn't do a damn thing to stop it.  I love that.

Agreed. I've never understood the backlash against "Closure." I've loved it since it aired. It was an elegant answer that instantly rendered everything before it true but also did not subject Samantha to a lifetime of suffering. And the fact that she'd be dead longer than Mulder had been looking was poetic in its sadness.   The beautiful cinematography and the shot where Mulder sees Samantha just running straight toward him makes me gasp every time. 

[Taryn74]

5 hours ago, baileythedog said:

The beautiful cinematography and the shot where Mulder sees Samantha just running straight toward him makes me gasp every time. 

 

I know.  She knew exactly who he was, no hesitation whatsoever.  It was absolutely beautiful, and in fact has tears in my eyes right now just thinking about it.

I like to think that she knew the entire time he was looking for her.  She knew he never gave up.  

[eleanorofaquitaine]

On 5/21/2016 at 3:38 PM, baileythedog said:

Agreed. I've never understood the backlash against "Closure." I've loved it since it aired. It was an elegant answer that instantly rendered everything before it true but also did not subject Samantha to a lifetime of suffering. And the fact that she'd be dead longer than Mulder had been looking was poetic in its sadness.   The beautiful cinematography and the shot where Mulder sees Samantha just running straight toward him makes me gasp every time. 

I suspect that the backlash comes from people forgetting that the emotional heart of the show was always about loss and making sense of loss.  To be fair, also, the show had positioned this epic mythology, and Samantha was supposed to be central to that epic mythology, so for the resolution to her story to really be this personal, intimate look at Mulder was disappointing.  That being said, while I remember being slightly disappointed, I don't remember having the same overwhelming sense of anger that others had about the resolution of that story.

I feel like the success of The X-Files was always grounded in the notion that no matter how big the central conspiracy was, we were able to see its impact on individual people - the Mulder family, Scully (through her own abduction and her sister's murder), Cassandra and Jeffrey Spender, etc. And really, at the heart of that is Mulder and the fact that he basically suffered for most of his life because of this incident that wasn't his fault and over which he had no control.  Closure is not only "closure" because we finally found out what happens to Samantha, but because we can see Mulder finally being free.  Had the show ended in season 7, it really would have been a nice note to leave it. Of course, we saw even in the revival that Samantha's abduction and murder has never left Mulder, as that was the denouement of his William fantasy.

ETA: Watched First Person Shooter last night. Okay, it is definitely not a good episode - I mean, really, it is bad. But I am still not sure it is worse than Alpha. At least the basic story line is easy to understand and they don't attempt to create some stupid emotional connection between Mulder and Jade Blue Afterglow.  So I still think Alpha rates as the worst, for me, with FPS slightly ahead of it (but only slightly).

Edited May 22, 2016 by eleanorofaquitaine

[GreenScreenFX]

Alpha as as concept was ok.. It was just poorly directed. "First Person Shooter" should never have made it past the writers room, much less filmed. It was a piece of shit from the start. I am guessing it was a network executive that thought he was being "innovative" and forced a writer into the concept. There is no excuse for that .

[Taryn74]

On 5/21/2016 at 8:30 PM, eleanorofaquitaine said:

Watched First Person Shooter last night. Okay, it is definitely not a good episode - I mean, really, it is bad. But I am still not sure it is worse than Alpha. At least the basic story line is easy to understand and they don't attempt to create some stupid emotional connection between Mulder and Jade Blue Afterglow.  So I still think Alpha rates as the worst, for me, with FPS slightly ahead of it (but only slightly).

 

Mulder's "connection" with Karin in Alpha really doesn't bother me that much.  He's always been one to feel drawn to the (forgive me) underdog, so it doesn't surprise me that he'd feel drawn to Karin.

[eleanorofaquitaine]

2 hours ago, Taryn74 said:

 

Mulder's "connection" with Karin in Alpha really doesn't bother me that much.  He's always been one to feel drawn to the (forgive me) underdog, so it doesn't surprise me that he'd feel drawn to Karin.

I have no issues with the concept of Mulder's "connection" to Karin because that is an established character trait. But in execution, the connection between them felt pretty unearned and it turned Scully into a jealous raging harpy, and that cannot be justified, IMO. I still like it the least of all the episodes I have watched (and that includes Fight Club, which I just watched last night. And yes, I agree Fight Club is terrible. Alpha, IMO, is marginally worse - at least FC has that cute scene between Mulder and Scully at the beginning).

Quote

Alpha as as concept was ok.. It was just poorly directed.

I disagree that the direction was the problem with Alpha. The writing and characterization are just terrible.

I mean, I don't mean to imply that FPS or FC are good episodes. They aren't. They are terrible. But Alpha is just as bad as they are.  To be honest, the concept behind FPS was fine, in my view (yes, even including the gender politics), it was again the execution. But I would find it easier to correct FPS than Alpha. The only thing that saves FC, for me, is that the characterization of M&S is generally fine, even if the rest of the episode is atrocious.

Edited May 26, 2016 by eleanorofaquitaine

[Bastet]

Did I just watch The X-Files or The 700 Club?  After Sixth Extinction/Amor Fati, I feel like I just got beaten with a bible.  Scully is fucking hot in that tank top and wielding a machete, and the "you are my touchstone" and face fondling scene at the end is beautiful in its intimacy.  But otherwise?  Awful.  Between Mulder's visions of his alternate life and all the Jesus imagery, this should have received some sort of award for ham-fisted writing.  At least Fowley and her crooked face are gone.

Hungry was a surprisingly good episode for one that barely has Mulder and Scully in it.  I would not have thought following a random monster though his life for 44 minutes would be enjoyable, but it was; I vaguely remember being somewhat annoyed with this episode, so I may have been having Moonlighting flashbacks and resenting the lack of the main characters (especially after waiting a summer and getting a two-part pile of shit for a premiere), but after all this time and watching several episodes per night, I liked it.  And when M&S do show up, we get the gem that is, "I'm sorry, this is like good cop/insane cop."  It's kind of funny, though, that Vince Gilligan didn't even bother coming up with a story for what kind of monster Rob is or how he came to be -- there's no sharing a folklore about a similar monster, no comparison to some rare animal that kills its prey in the same way, etc.  Nope, he's just a seriously carnivorous dude with no ears and a tooth-tipped proboscis that shoots out of his mouth.

Edited November 24, 2017 by Bastet

[Bastet]

Bless Gillian and David for combating their six years of saying the same thing ennui, and expressing their happiness this would be the last season (so they thought), by saying to hell with CC's issues and playing M&S as if they are sleeping together by now, which, of course, in the real world they would be.  Because the flirtatious yet completely relaxed vibe between them is delightful.  I find The Goldberg Variation to be the most "yep, so doin' it" of the early third of the season (the vibe is strong in Rush and The Amazing Maleeni, too), which occurs after Millennium, so you could put that New Year's Eve kiss as their first kiss and assume the sexy times started after that, but TGV was filmed before Millennium - in fact, Hungry and TGV were filmed before the dreadful two-part season premiere - so it amuses the hell out of me that the actors didn't even wait for the kiss to change sexual tension to sexual energy.

With the glaring exception of Orison, the MOTWs are solid as this season gets going.  (In fact, causing me to wonder why this was the season I quit watching the show entirely at some point [after starting to lose interest in season five and slowly drifting away as season six went on], but then I saw that the next disc contains the starlight bullshit and Signs & Wonders, which I remember also disliking for some reason [reading how many times "Bible" and "church" appear in the episode summary, I have a hunch], and a glance at the rest of the season included First Person Shooter and Fight Club.)  The mass hypnosis aspect of Orison could have made for a decent case file on its own, but bringing back Donnie Pfaster was a mistake, and turning him into something supernatural rather than the sick fuck (no pun intended) he is was a bigger one, doing a major disservice to Irresistible, since that plain ol' human "monster" thing was the whole point of how scary he is!

I think TGV is the best of the lot, and it's one of only two or three episodes from this season I've ever re-watched prior to this, but Rush and Maleeni are enjoyable ways to spend 44 minutes.  And that's impressive in the case of Maleeni, as I am not at all into magic tricks (I've even been to The Magic Castle, and I know I should have appreciated much more having access to a club not everyone can get into and featuring some of the best in the business, but it's just not my form of entertainment) and it spends a fair bit of time giving Ricky Jay and Jonathan Levit a spotlight.  Millennium is better than I remembered; maybe my impression of it was influenced by the series it spawned, which I couldn't get through more than an episode or two of.

[Bastet]

I have finally seen the infamous Samantha is starlight episodes; after all these years reading disgruntled commentary and saying, "yep, sounds stupid," I can now officially say, yep, it's stupid.  Now, the whole walk-ins/starlight thing is not any more stupid than the various stories people have been telling themselves for eons.  The reality of death is a hard thing to cope with, and I understand wishing there was some peaceful place where "life" carried on in some fashion.  It's deluding oneself into believing that fantasy is reality where I'm not going to go along.  So, while I'd roll my eyes just as hard had these parents and Mulder swallowed a more traditional story, Closure is indeed crap.  SUZ isn't bad, but Closure felt like it took three hours to get through. 

Mulder reading the diary was a very touching scene, though, because at least that part - her not being killed right away, but having been held and subjected to tests, and keeping a diary during that time - could conceivably have been real, so I can get into the emotions of it.  (Whereas I can't possibly get emotional about Mulder hugging Samantha at the end, because it's not real.)  And, whatever lies he had to tell himself to do it, Mulder finally accepting that Samantha is dead and moving on with his life is a good thing.  To see him let go of what has ruled his life for all these years is what's ultimately important.

X-Cops is another Triangle or Arcadia for me, in that I have no idea why so many people get so excited about it.  It's fine.  A refreshing little change of pace after six-plus years.  Scully dealing with the cameras is hilarious (my favorite is hiding behind the ambulance door).  But it's not a top 20, or even top 50, episode to me.  And, goddammit, we finally get Scully telling Mulder what she's going to do, rather than being told by him what to do, and it's immediately ruined by him telling her to be quick about it and to gas up the car on her way back. 

It hasn't even been 12 hours since I watched Signs & Wonders, and I can't even remember specifics to mention.  A bunch of snakes and crazy preachers, that's all I've got.  Ho-hum episode.

The next disc starts with First Person Shooter, so I better get good and drunk tonight.

[Taryn74]

Well I'm on the complete opposite side for both SUZ/Closure and X-Cops, but totally with you on S&W and FPS.

[Bastet]

After watching the series in such a compressed time frame, and thus hearing as many "No, really, this is what happened to Samantha" stories as I did "Wait, I was wrong before - this is the key to everything" tales in short order, when Mulder said, "I'm free," I actually talked back to the TV and said, "Yes!  Me too, then." 

[Taryn74]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

"Wait, I was wrong before - this is the key to everything"

I remember making the remark one time that were we really supposed to think Gibson Praise was all that important, when he was just another key on the gigantic key ring of everything?  Heh.

I've taken to viewing all the Samantha stories before as Mulder attempting to make sense of what happened (and we all know he jumps to about a million conclusions before he stumbles upon the right one, that's just his M.O.) combined with CSM's lies, leaving us the viewer not knowing what really happened to her until Closure either.  I remember one fan speculated that CSM was as confused and angry when she disappeared from his "care" at 14 as everybody else, so he replaced her with a clone and lied about it from there on out.  The clone being who Mulder met in the diner in Redux II.  That makes as much sense as anything else, honestly.

[Bastet]

I've now seen First Person Shooter for the first time in its entirety.  Lucky me.  But, I have to say, if you put a gun to my head and tell me I have to watch either FPS or Alpha again, I'm going with FPS, because Scully's reactions to the nonsense emanating from all the men around her are good.  Plus, like with the vastly superior Kill Switch, it's her and another woman understanding each other and teaming up to save the day.  Watching Mulder have to keep diving for the ground while Scully saves them is worth a smile.  But everything else is pure crap.  Mulder's VO at the end gives lip service to questioning these games, but the episode is one big endorsement of them -- and of sexist behavior.

I had never seen Theef.  It's fine, but filled with so many horror movie tropes I truly expected the killer's eyes to pop open in the final shot.  At least Scully is the one who shot him, rather than Mulder busting in to save the day while she crawled around on the floor, blind.

I can't get into En Ami for the same reason I can't get into Musings of a Cigarette-Smoking Man; not a single thing we learn about CSM can be trusted, so how can I get invested in 44 minutes of what he says and does when it's ultimately meaningless?  The only thing interesting about it is the look it gives us into William B. Davis's mind, and what it tells us is that when given a chance to write an episode, he promptly sat down and came up with several excuses to show Scully's cleavage.

This section of the season is a long slog; once we leave The Goldberg Variation behind, we have to go all the way to Je Souhaite to get to another one I really like -- everything in between is either good, okay, or no thanks/haven't seen it.  And so far there's not a single episode in this season I love; my favorites only rise to the "really like" level, whereas each previous season has had at least one I truly adore and re-watch.  But I am determined to make it through.  Even though that means I have to watch Fight Club.  Two Kathy Griffins? 

[Taryn74]

2 hours ago, Bastet said:

Even though that means I have to watch Fight Club.  Two Kathy Griffins? 

Don't do that to yourself.  We'll never tell.

[baileythedog]

10 hours ago, Bastet said:

Even though that means I have to watch Fight Club.  Two Kathy Griffins? 

I disagree you with you about the bulk of these later original seasons, however, the presence of two Kathy Griffins is literally one of the worst things I've been forced to endure. I agree with you there.

Similarly, there are no words in the English language to express my resentment at her turn in the political cycle this year (stupid beheading photo) and that I'd somehow have to be forced to defend her. 

[Bastet]

My stars, the rest of this season took forever to get through.  But I did it, even Fight Club, so I have now finally seen season seven in its entirety.

Fight Club is every bit as stupid as people said.  Even the music is bad; it's like the bad writing infected everything.  And I don't know why I try to make sense of something stupid, but: Why doesn't anything happen when one of the Kathy Griffins comes to the wrestler dude's apartment when the other one is there, in the bathroom?  Every other time they were that close to each other, chaos ensued.  Mulder and Scully's first scene in the office, when she correctly predicts what his theory is going to be and he tells her not to expect him to start doing the autopsies is cute, though.

Chimera isn't bad the way I'd expect a Scully-lite episode to be, because her stakeout scenes are funny, but it's definitely not good.  So Ellen Adderly finds out her husband is cheating on her - with two women, mind you, one of whom is her supposed best friend - and instead of just tossing his ass to the curb, she suppresses her anger, which builds up and turns her into some sort of clawing monster?  Pass.  And the comparison of Mulder and Scully's "not in the conventionally-understood definition of the word" relationship with one in which a Stepford Wife does nothing more than bears children and dotes?  Please.

all things and Hollywood A.D. -- gods, please just stick with acting, you two.  Self-indulgent crap with bits of interesting characterization.  all things is the Scully version of Mulder's Closure, I guess -- a fairly bad episode, but one that brings the character an important moment of acceptance about their lives; Mulder finally accepts Samantha is gone, and Scully finally accepts her professional choices worked out for the best.  And I love that M&S walk off holding hands in Hollywood A.D.  But otherwise, I just roll my eyes a lot.  (Or in the case of the skeleton trying to put itself back together, ask my cat, "What the actual fuck is happening right now?")

Brand X is another "Eh, it's fine" MOTW, but holy cow is it crawling (heh) with "Hey, it's that guy!" guest stars.  The Morley scientist is Dennis Boutsikaris, who has been in just about everything, the Morley bad guy has, too (he'll always be the gigolo author from Remington Steele to me), the creepy guy has been the creepy guy in a bunch of other stuff (and the guy Kramer and Newman scheme to sell the old man's records to in Seinfeld), and there's another guy I just saw on ER.

Je Souhaite is such a fun episode; it's so nice to see Scully happy!  Her increasing giddiness as she dusts the invisible corpse is downright adorable.  And, yeah, in many ways it's just the typical genie tale, where people make wishes that go wrong, but it has that Vince Gilligan heart to it that elevates it.  It's just a purely enjoyable way to spend 44 minutes.

Requiem is better than I remembered it, but I still mostly just like the conversation they have while he's curled around her.  Even if they'd left out the "I'm pregnant" had that wound up being the series finale, that would have been one whopper of a cliffhanger to end the show on, with Mulder having gotten himself abducted as part of a group of people who were being abducted and not returned. 

But if the whole deal was taking everyone who could talk about the project they were going to re-start, why on earth would they have rejected Scully and only wanted Mulder?  They'd have wanted both of them.  But, noooo - it's always Mulder, Mulder, Mulder.  And why didn't Scully call Mulder (and Skinner) once she realized the force field that had just shook her around and dropped her was going to zap him in?  And if she did, and we just didn't see it, then Mulder knew what was going to happen when he stuck his hand in there, and thus got abducted on purpose.  The ultimate ditch.  But I guess there just wasn't time - she passed out right after voicing that realization, and if the Gunmen were all focused on getting her to the hospital rather than one of them making an "Oh, by the way dude, stay away from the energy field; it wants you, not her" call, then no one would have called Oregon until it was too late.

Nice scene between Scully and Skinner when he has to tell her he lost Mulder, though; he's so emotional, but she already knows, so her first response is to comfort him.

Edited November 30, 2017 by Bastet

[Taryn74]

11 minutes ago, Bastet said:

(Or in the case of the skeleton trying to put itself back together, ask my cat, "What the actual fuck is happening right now?")

OMG, I just hurt myself laughing.  I had forgotten about that scene (actually I think I blocked it from my memory).  SO STUPID.  So, so stupid.  

I does, however, remind me of the old cartoon where the frog grabs a hat and cane and dances for a guy until someone else is watching, so there is that.

I think the Sister Spooky story is cute, though, mostly for the way Scully tells it.

The only - and I do mean only  - good thing about Fight Club IMO is "WHAT'S SO SPECIAL ABOUT YOU?!?"

[eleanorofaquitaine]

On 11/26/2017 at 1:26 PM, Bastet said:

I've now seen First Person Shooter for the first time in its entirety.  Lucky me.  But, I have to say, if you put a gun to my head and tell me I have to watch either FPS or Alpha again, I'm going with FPS, because Scully's reactions to the nonsense emanating from all the men around her are good.  Plus, like with the vastly superior Kill Switch, it's her and another woman understanding each other and teaming up to save the day.  Watching Mulder have to keep diving for the ground while Scully saves them is worth a smile.  But everything else is pure crap.  Mulder's VO at the end gives lip service to questioning these games, but the episode is one big endorsement of them -- and of sexist behavior.

 

Thank you, yes. I said something similar above about Alpha vs. FPS.

However, I do totally disagree with you about SUZ/Closure - IMO, where The X-Files always worked for me as a genre show that was a meditation on loss and the ways we process it, and try to create meaning in our lives when we lose someone.  The resolution of Samantha Mulder's life and death - and the way that we see Mulder come to accept her loss - was, to me, a really wonderful, intimate metaphor for processing grief. 

[Taryn74]

26 minutes ago, eleanorofaquitaine said:

The resolution of Samantha Mulder's life and death - and the way that we see Mulder come to accept her loss - was, to me, a really wonderful, intimate metaphor for processing grief. 

Oh, yes.  Seeing Fox Mulder at peace?  Worth every False Samantha we were given for seven years, and then some.

Just my opinion, of course.  ;)

[Sharna Pax]

In memory of Ricky Jay, I wanted to post about how much I like The Amazing Maleeni. I think it was the first X-Files episode I saw, and it gave me a totally skewed idea of what the show was like. So happy! So sunny! So inconsequential! Nobody gets murdered or even dies in the course of the episode; the only dead body we see turns out to have died of natural causes. There isn't any major crime, just an attempted theft that never comes off. You don't even have to dislike the bad guys. It's like X-Files Lite, but that makes sense for an episode where everything's illusion and trickery. And Mulder and Scully are having so much fun; there isn't so much of the outright flirting that you see in Rush and The Goldberg Variation, but they just seem happy and at ease and like they're having a lovely holiday together in the sun. Although it will always annoy me that the show never openly acknowledges the Mulder-Scully relationship that clearly exists in Season 7, I do love how happy and functional that relationship seems to be. So I can see how an episode like The Amazing Maleeni could come off as boring or pointless, depending on what you're looking for in The X-Files, but to me it's just pure comfort food.

A minor detail I like: After Mulder busts out his whole theory about how Ricky Jay's character swapped places with his twin brother, and Ricky Jay responds by rolling his wheelchair back from the desk and showing Mulder the stumps of his legs, there's a tiny scene where Mulder and Scully are leaving the office and Mulder is face-palming in total humiliation, and it consistently cracks me up. I think because Mulder almost never gets embarrassed, no matter how stupid his theories sound.

[Taryn74]

1 hour ago, Sharna Pax said:

I think because Mulder almost never gets embarrassed, no matter how stupid his theories sound.

Heh, that's one reason "Sounds like crap when you say it" holds an endearing little place in my heart.  I adore when Mulder is willing to admit his theories do, in fact, sound like crap much of the time.

[Sharna Pax]

Just popping in here to say that in my ideal version of the X-Files mythology (which I know is not the official version of the story, but sorry, Chris Carter, I've got my fingers in my ears and I can't hear you) the explanation for Scully suddenly being able to get pregnant is that when you free a genie, she grants you your heart's desire, and what Mulder wants most is for Scully to be healthy. It's cheesy, but it has the advantage of not involving the Cigarette Smoking Man in any way.

I'm not actually as big a fan of "Je Souhaite" as most people are - I find the humor sort of unpleasant, and I hate seeing poor Scully get so excited about the invisible corpse and then be embarrassed in front of her colleagues. But I love Mulder and Scully drinking beer and watching a movie together at the end.

And once a few years ago I was traveling by myself and found myself in a small city in France, during a festival. I went to a cafe for dinner, and was sitting by the window with my glass of wine and my book, just sort of watching the crowds go by, and I was feeling a little left out because everyone else seemed to be in a huge pack of friends, having a wonderful time. And then I remembered that I was living the best life of the genie from "Je Souhaite," and I felt much better. So I guess I like "Je Souhaite" better than I think I do.

[Sharna Pax]

I still seem to be on a random out-of-order Season 7 kick, so: Theef! I watched this as a kid and was so horrified by the microwave scene that I stopped watching immediately. I totally missed the best thing about Theef, which is that Mulder spends the whole episode kind of joyfully marveling over how awesome and amazing Scully is. I mean, obviously Mulder loves Scully, and we've known that at least since One Breath, but here he actually seems to have figured out that he's In Love with her, and he's stoked about it.

Scully, for her part, acts totally professional, so it's an interesting reversal of the dynamic we usually see, where Scully seems to be the one pining after Mulder. It's not that Scully is distant - she's even slightly flirty in the usual Season 7 way - but he's the one purring requests for autopsy results at her and gazing after her as she leaves rooms and murmuring to himself about how she really does keep him guessing. Scully is chill, and Mulder is not, and I love it.

Everyone, please do yourselves a favor and go to the ten-minute mark in this episode, and listen to the way Mulder says, "Go ahead, Scully, keep me guessing." I would try to describe his tone of voice, but I'd just sound like I was writing fanfic. Let's just say it is not the tone you would normally use to ask for autopsy results.

Edited January 10, 2019 by Sharna Pax

[Taryn74]

I adore Theef.  Not only is it a good solid X-File, with a somewhat sympathetic (IMO) villain, but the M/S stuff is, as you noted, quite stellar.

I've said before Season 7 is one of my top seasons overall, right?  Heh.  So much to love.