X-Files 1/6/02 (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

Just thought I'd get this week's new episode of the X-Files started. Loved the opening ode to her son by Scully. It was really strange seeing Mulder back in photos.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Okay, sometime reality (that Duchovny is off the show for good) gets in the way of stories are constructed for TV shows. This was one of those episodes.

Tonight's episode was quite a wild goose chase. But a little bit of the super-soldier storyline has been resurrected, with both Mulder and William as crucial figures in the story. Every viewer knew there was no way Mulder and Scully were going to be re-united, and thus there was no true tension in the moment at the train station.

Was it the magnetic flux around that place that sucked in that super-soldier dude? That was bizarre (bad science in the "Evolution"-the-movie sense).

But it was good to Scully after a month off (I'm digging the longer hair look on her, even the pony tail).

Next week: Doggett loses his memory and he's in unfriendly territory
.

 

[Steven K]

Tonight's episode was a real snoozer

BTW: did the "super soldier" look a little similar to SAC Darius Mishow from The X-Files movie??? Gonna check to see if its the same actor...

 

[Dave Scarpa]

It was the same actor who played in the movie. And your absolutely right, I started head bobbing a bit during tonights episode. The story line here is so convoluted and confusing now I really wish they'd pull the plug. What's next the guys whowere peeping in on Mulder and Scully's Little Sex romp gonna start selling copies over the net? That would be more interesting. I also agree it cheates the audience to have these stories revolve around a character that is no way no how coming back. It makes the already lack of suspense even worse. Please, Please Chris Carter do the resonable thing and make this season the last.

 

[Mike St.Louis]

I made the right decision.

 

[Jay W]

I agree with Dave, having watched the show from the pilot onward, it's sad to see it becoming a mess like this imo. I vowed I wouldn't watch this season, but curiosity got the better of me, now it seems they are just pulling stuff as they go along. :frowning:

 

[MickeS]

This was a HORRIBLE episode, the worst X-Files episode I've ever seen, I think.
No excitement at all over the "Mulder coming back" plot, since we KNOW he's out of the show for good, or at least for this season. GIVE IT UP.
Yes, why the HELL did they have the same actor play the Super Soldier? I thought it was the same character, that mysteriously was doing this thing now. Can you blame me, the writers are just pulling stories out of their ass right now. Anything goes, it seems, they just invent things that make no sense whatsoever.
Oh, and he DISAPPEARED afteer the train ran him over? GEE, I NEVER SUSPECTED THAT! :rolleyes
And the end? Uh... yeah, so the mountain was a big frickin' magnet or something? Ridiculous.
Get back to the MOTW episodes, get Scully the hell out of the show, and start a new main arc, involving something else. Please. This is torture.
/Mike

 

[Matt Wooten]

granted this was a bad episode. since david left the show the ONLY reason i watch the show (and still sometimes at that) is Gillian. my thing with this episode tho is they had to do something like this. they had to bring mulder into something even tho david isn't on the show. i know you have all heard talks of the second film eventually going to be made. david has said he has no problem with the films. so seeing as how he is going to be in the movies they have to come back to his character sometimes during the season (which will proly be the last). so i don't have a problem with them mentioning him and all like they did.. but using the same actor is the dumbest thing i have ever heard of carter doing. i can't believe he let that slip. and he obviously knew it was gonna have fans wondering what the hell? and for the "regular joe" fliping through is gonna be like.. "so dat dood from da movie didn't blow up i guess..?" carter... drop the show and move on to the movies.. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!!
:alien:

 

[Michael Reuben]

It's not the first time X-Files has used the same actor in different roles. Before he was cast as Krycek, Nicolas Lea played a completely different character in season 1's "Gender Bender".

I've always said the show will keep going as long as people tune in. Well, the ratings are way down this season, and if they don't recover, I think this is it.

my thing with this episode tho is they had to do something like this. they had to bring mulder into something even tho david isn't on the show.

Exactly. Some of the very same people complaining about this evening's show were bitching earlier in the season about how poorly Mulder's absence was explained. The purpose of this evening's episode wasn't to dangle the possibility of Mulder's return but to start delving into what prompted him to leave.

M.

 

[Frank Anderson]

After about 10 minutes of watching I watched the rest in fast foward mode. I really have no idea why I am still recording this show. I guess I am hoping a series I really use to love will make a comeback.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Geez Louise, it wasn't that bad. Knowing that Duchovny was not appearing actually made the episode more interesting because you wondered what the sequence of events would be that would keep it from happening. If he was coming back, we would all know because Fox would hype it and by the same logic as above there would be no mystery about it either.
There were certainly some bad things about this episode including the hinky metallic DNA "science" which is now going to be a plot point in continuity episodes :rolleyes. I also had to fight off a case of the giggles every time Robert Patrick said "Supa Sojuhs". I'm not sure if it was the way he said it or the frequency with which it appeared in his dialog that struck me as funny.
They must have decided to save some money on hairstyling by having Scully and Reyes going to the same Bo Rics. I do agree that the show would be better served to focus on plots involving the characters that will actually appear, but if they have one or two episodes where an unseen Mulder plays a part in the events that take place, it's probably better than pretending he never existed.
Regards,

 

[MickeS]

I don't mind that Mulder is still mentioned in the show, but to have storylines where he's supposed to come back and be IN the show is ridiculous, since we know it won't happen.
I too thought the constant mentions of the "Supa Soljuhs" was pretty funny for some reason... and someone should tell Doggett that Mulder isn't spelled "Molder".
/Mike

 

[Patrick Sun]

I must say, listening in on Scully's thoughts and email to Mulder just about makes me want to cry. Gillian was able to inbue enough pathos and yearning her her voice to convince me that she is a woman deeply in love with a man she may never see again due to the circumstances. It's one thing to be dead and separated in that fashion, it's another to be alive and separated, never being able to get on with her life and finding comfort with another man knowing Mulder might return at any given moment in time. It's damn tragic.

 

[Chad R]

Whoa, I'm a minority player here. I really enjoyed this episode. Not because of the hinky science (X-Files has always relied on hinky science) nor because I was hoping to see Mulder, but because Gillian's come back from the dead. This was an excellent episode with regards to her character. Finally they dealt with her feelings as a mother in a very real way. Taking in that 'other mother' was a vein of sympathy that mothers have many of us never understand. They've given Scully back her humanity and femininity, something they lost after the 'cancer' storyline a few years back prior to the movie.

The train station sequence worked, for me, not because of some false tension that we'll see Mulder, but the impending tragedy of Scully NOT seeing him although she desperately wanted to.

I'm still a little off put by the extreme level Scully and Mulder's relationship has suddenly been brought to and its impact on any impending movie, but knowing that Carter is working on the script for the new movie now (which means the idea is hatched) means that this season (Anderson's last) is leading up in some way to that end.

 

[Jason Seaver]

And I think that other mother was Allison Smith, who was so much fun on "Spy Games" and "Buddy Faro". Cool guest stars are always a plus.
A few friends and I were joking that Scully's warning flags should have gone off after Chris Carter's Favorite Actor told Scully that "only Mulder can make the connections", though. She should have said something like "First off, I'm smarter than Mulder. I'm pretty sure Monica and Skinner could muddle through, too. And even if Doggett isn't quite as naturally brilliant as Mulder, he'll at least run everything down until it makes sense."
Carter needs to have all word-processing software taken off his computer, though. He can't write. I lost track of what happened to the other baby over the course of this episode - was it kidnapped, staying at grandparents, or are these two just terrible parents? It also seems to take a long time for no progress to be made, but that's sort of a given by now.

 

[Bill Catherall]

I would have mildly enjoyed this episode if not for two major blunders that really stuck out and ruined the whole story for me. Did anybody catch the blunders? If not here they are:
At approximately 6:00 AM Doggett and Reyes show up at Scully's apartment following a man who proceeds to try to pick her lock. They capture him and begin interigation in Scully's apartment. Minutes into the interigation Scully gets a call from "the contact." She says, "So you've been listening in?" To which he replies, "That's all I could do after you closed the curtain." Then...Blunder #1...they cut to a scene showing him watching her from a camera in her apartment. Then he leads her on a wild goose chase to meet him. When she finally arrives at the meeting location...Blunder #2...it's night time. How long was she driving and holding onto that phone waiting for him to say "That's far enough"? Since she started driving just after 6:00 AM she would have had to have been driving for about 12 hours. Then to drive back would have been another 12 hours. Dogget and Reyes would have been babysitting little William for over 24 hours and Scully would have been too tired to teach any class the next morning. Dogget even mentioned the wild goose chase "last night."
Then there's another issue...not so much a blunder...more of "Huh??"...Why did "the contact" make Scully change her clothes before meeting him. Was it a test? A distraction? He just wanted to watch? Was she stinky after 12 hours of driving? Maybe she wet herself because she couldn't stop for any bathroom breaks. :rolleyes

 

[Steven K]

The "same actor" bit really bothered me. I saw him in the commercial and began to think "OK, he didn't really die in the explosion??? But we all saw the expression on his face right before the bomb went off, he knew he was going to die."

But I thought that they might try to pull something on us. Unfortunately, it looks like they just didn't care. This is major, alot more major than Nicholas Lea appearing in "GenderBender" for a few seconds.

Shame on you, Chris Carter. Having a bad story is one thing: but to screw up so blatantly and not even care about it is very bad; unless this is all part of the plan. But, I think that Scully would have "remembered" the face of the SAC if it was indeed supposed to be the same character.

 

[Chad R]

I'm not that sure, but I seem to remember that Scully had to go somewhere to pick up the cell phone on which he led her on her chase. There was some unaccounted for time there, and how long the two guys were sitting on the couch before they started blabbing. A few hours could have been shaved off there.

Also, I think he had her change clothes to try and gain her trust. He wanted he to beleive that he was paranoid about listening devices. It was a ruse.

And Chris Carter has been re-using actors for years. This guy was in the movie, on Millenium and on last night. Nicholas Lea was in Gender Bender, the actor who played the sheriff in that green bug episode showed up in the movie briefly after they break into the vending room. I forgive it since TV has a breakneck schedule, just calling up actors you know are easy to work with saves time instead of casting a new actor. In TV, every minute counts.

 

[Michael Reuben]

She says, "So you've been listening in?" To which he replies, "That's all I could do after you closed the curtain." Then...Blunder #1...they cut to a scene showing him watching her from a camera in her apartment.

It's not a blunder. He's lying to her -- again.

M.

 

[Bill Catherall]

You're probably right Michael. I didn't think about it that way. Okay...but there's still the issue of the "very short day."