Dæmonicus
Episode 9 X 03
November 18, 2001

Coming Soon to a Web Page near you.

4D
Episode 9 X 05
November 25, 2001

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Lord of the Flies
Episode 9 X 06
December 16, 2001

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Trust No 1
Episode 9 X 08
January 06, 2002

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John Doe
Episode 9 X 07
January 13, 2002

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Hellbound
Episode 9 X 04
Januaryl 27, 2002

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Provenance
Episode 9 X 10
March 03, 2002

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Providence
Episode 9 X 11
March 10, 2002

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Audrey Pauley
Episode 9 X 13
March 17, 2002

I liked it more than I expected -- I had it on more out of duty, and I had a book open on my lap, but I found myself paying attention.

I hardly recognized that Lucy Householder (Ed. note: from Oubliette 3x08.) She's a good actress. And so craggy. She and WBD could have a crag-off.

I did think the empty hospital, gobbledygook writing, etc., was kinda creepy and nifty. And I thought Scully looked reeeeal purty. Her hair was great.

And now, on to the complaining! :D

First off, I was annoyed that after listening for years to their whining about how soap-opera it would be to have Mulder and Scully fall in love, after what, a year and a half? we're presented with the tentative yet heartfelt lurve of Johnny and Monny. Glar. I know, different characters, different situation, but still, it made me pout a bit with jealous crankiness. There better be some damn M/S schmoop when M gets back. I freaking deserve it after having watched for so long. Also, I thought Doggett was in love with Scully? What the hell happened to that? I guess it was resolved offscreen. ::EYEROLL::. Not that I wanted to see any more of that plot, but geez.

Second, my heart sank when it turned out that there was an Evil Doctor involved. Come on. Can't we get through one episode without having some evil scapegoat? Sometimes, bad things just happen. Monica's in a coma, Doggett's all upset and sad and casting about for someone to blame. He gets all suspicious of the doctor. Scully, who's been there, eight or nine times, and in fact is sort of "there" right now, just shakes her head sadly. Only, the doctor DOES turn out to be evil. That's how that storyline should play out, all right. In a Steven Seagall movie.

I found myself constantly comparing this episode to One Breath, my favorite episode of all time. In that one, Mulder, too, is so angry and grief-stricken he can hardly stand it, and he tears around after shadowy bad guys and yells at doctors and then, when Mr. X offers him the opportunity to give in to this rage he feels by plugging some guys that may or may not have anything to do with what happened to Scully, he's all ready to do it -- until Melissa comes by and convinces him to let it go, that his need for "revenge" is selfish, that if he really wants to help Scully he should go and be with her, just on the off chance that she might know he's there and it might help her -- and because if he doesn't say goodbye, he'll be sorry later. So he does. It's not easy for him, but he lets go of his rage and does.

But in this episode, Doggett's impotent raging turns out to be right on the money. And there's a handy evil guy to righteously blame, instead of the much more poignant conclusion that there IS no one to blame.

I was also uncomfortable with how everybody who wanted to take Monica's organs was mean and bad, and the big time crunch was that we had to stop them. That's great. I hope that deters several thousand people from donating their organs. Because that's a good idea, because you definitely shouldn't try to help others after you're gone, because you never know when some evil doctor is going to try to CUT YOU UP WHILE YOU MIGHT STILL BE ALIVE. Yeah. Just like you should make sure not to be cremated in case you are really just in an alien-induced coma and you might come back to life. DAMN those organ-hoarding bastards, anyway! DAMN THEM!

I mean, it was moving that Doggett didn't want to cut Monica up. I just wished that (a) the organ thing hadn't been such a big deal (in One Breath, it was that Scully wanted life support turned off at a certain point, not that they wanted to STEAL HER ORGANS, which was totally how it was portrayed even though it was Monica's wish), and (b) there hadn't been the idea that Monica's condition was entirely or mostly the fault of the mean doctor.

So, that irked me. And I didn't understand, really, how Audrey built the fake hospital, and it seems a bit random to me that it would be incorporated into the afterlife (is God just like, "Hey, a tiny pretend hospital, I guess I can dump some people there while they're between worlds. This pond over here was getting a little crowded with rowboats anyway"). But maybe I just wasn't paying close enough attention to that whole thing. Didn't she say "I know who told me to build it" at the end? Um, who? God? Aliens? The One? CSM? George W. Bush? The Axis of Evil? Mulder? William? <Sigh>

I can't help comparing again to One Breath, which did this so much better. I MUCH prefer the image of Scully in the boat, silent, motionless, staring directly at Mulder as he bitched that there was no way she could tell they were there. That gave me chills; it still does just to think about it. (I also felt it made sense that Scully would see herself in a boat, what with her father and the whole sailor thing. The reasons for Monica ending up in the abandoned hospital had nothing to do with Monica and everything to do with the MOTW.) And I preferred the way Scully woke up from her coma -- the meadow fading slowly into the hospital room, and the blinking, because you DON'T just wake up from a coma and go, "John?" Do you? Maybe you do. That's a nitpick. No big deal.

Finally, the last thing that made me uncomfortable was that everybody was in horrible pain (from Monica's POV) at the moment of death. Why?? Just because the EVIL doctor dispatched them in an EVIL way? Because they were victims of EVIL? So, maybe they were going to hell to be tormented for all eternity because the doctor was so EVIL that his EVIL drug sent them there? I just feel like they could have slipped away quietly (they WERE already in comas), and it could still have been upsetting to Monica to watch them, without the moaning in pain, and the point that the doctor was EVILLY killing people would still be gotten across just fine. I just didn't like that. I don't really know why. Like, it wasn't enough suspense that Monica might DIE, it had to be that she might die WRITHING IN PAIN? Whatever.

Then, the last scene. After all that angst, Doggett's still a coward. Heh. I actually found that realistic and kind of cool. Poor Doggett. He DOESN'T know HOW to LOVE!! It yanked from under you at the last minute the (faintly sappy) conclusion you were expecting. And it's all too true -- crisis strikes and all the things you should have done differently crystallize instantly, and you feel that if ONLY you had the precious time to do them you would -- but then if you're given a second chance, the status quo is back and it's frighteningly easy to slip into your old behavior and not change after all.

So, overall: Thought it was a good episode, for the most part. Above average at least. Unfortunately suffered in comparison to One Breath, but that can't really be helped, because One Breath was such a fantastic episode. It kept my interest. Liked Audrey even if I didn't really get what her entire deal was. Thought little Robert Patrick gave a fine performance. Wondered how the hell Monica was so immaculately clean when she was brought into the hospital after her horrible car accident. Hated the evil doctor and wished they had managed to get it done without that cop-out. Adored Scully's hair. The end.

Next time: Um, I totally forget. Some guy killing people, right? Maybe with a beard? Appearing and disappearing or something? OK.

BTW, hi, everyone. :) I'm still here. Just quiet. Haven't missed an episode yet. Well, except for that one with the flies. No great loss.

Underneath
Episode 9 X 09
March 31, 2002

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Improbable
Episode 9 X 14
April 07, 2002

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Scary Monsters
Episode 9 X 12
April 14, 2002

The Good:

Scully drives. Scully rescues (well, not really, but she would have). Scully says "I'm a medical doctor." Scully has nice hair. Scully eats a sandwich (almost). Scully has Mulder's badge (out on her coffee table where any random visitor can pick it up and exclaim over it, apparently). Scully acknowledges that she has a baby and demonstrates token concern for his welfare. Scully autopsies a kitty cat and assembles an adorable array of household objects for the purpose.

The Non-Scully-Related Good: It was pretty scary. The kid, while not the greatest actor, was at least creepy-looking, in the best XF tradition of kids who can't act but are creepy-looking. (Thank GOD that voiceover from the preview that aired right before the ep wasn't actually in it, because whoever did that REALLY, REALLY couldn't act.) I didn't know what was going to happen and was actually interested to find out. Leyla is cute, if repetitive and overly wide-eyed. Watching Scully deal with Leyla's randomly appearing beau was fun.

The Not So Good:

They effectively squashed all the good will I had built up for this episode when it turned out that the moral was, again, that Doggett And Reyes Are Awesome. Everyone agrees! Leyla, the one who loves Mulder and Scully and won't ever, ever shut up about them! Scully, the original cast member herself, was nodding along in agreement! We all love them! Love them! LOVE THEM!!! Jeez, I like them fine these days (though not as much as I like Mulder and Scully, obviously, and yes, Spotnitz, it's obvious to everyone but you, and if you just noticed a month ago when you were doing the Memento Mori DVD that David and Gillian have chemistry, well, better nine years in than never, I guess), and having that shoved down our throats, AGAIN, brings back memories of cranky resentment and makes me feel all unfriendly towards them once more. Thanks for reminding me, losers!

BTW, I love how Carter and Spotnitz are now going on in the press about how wrong and disrespectful of history it would be to give Scully a partner other than Mulder. Gee, what made you decide that? Particularly when you had the complete opposite view last year? The gigabytes of negative feedback that you "take with a grain of salt" because it's from Freaks On The Internet (as opposed to, like, actual, human viewers, who we all know live in caves with only their TVs, and maybe a good old red-blooded telephone, to keep them connected to the world)? The hordes of people who "just didn't show up" for the premiere this year for some mysterious reason that probably has to do with the nation's changing priorities or the price of tea in China and not at all with the fact that, oh, THE SHOW SUCKS BABOON ASS NOW?

Anyway. The rest of the Not So Good: Kind of lame FX. The dad looked like the love child of Peter Coyote and Maury Povich, though I don't suppose that's really *bad* per se. The cheesetastic surprise ending where they make a big irony-laden meta statement about the mindlessness of television that hung around in a vacuum for a couple of seconds and then fell harmlessly and ineffectually at our feet. And why did Scully freak out and hold her nose when confronted with a dead cat? She was less rattled by a dead maggotty bunny at the age of four. I know she was startled, and it probably stank, but geez. I would have preferred a lifted eyebrow and a cutting look. And as has been mentioned on the list: isn't it a tad strange that Scully couldn't eat her lunch when Leyla kept showing her the bloody photos when she got hungry for a pizza while doing an autopsy in Bad Blood?

I really kind of liked it up til the end. The double whammy of "We've all learned that Doggett and Reyes are our friends, and if you haven't learned it, you're a Communist, not to mention probably one of those illiterate, critical-thinking-incapable, non-art-appreciating Internet freaks, and we showed you the damn 'I Want to Believe' poster so that should keep your whiny ass happy for a week, now shut your yap and go write some fanfic," followed by the TV thing (which, leaving aside the lameness of the gag, really did have nothing to do with anything else in the episode), was enough to turn me around. Nice job once again, folks. (Isn't it about time to be gearing up the Mulder thing again instead of writing dialogue that dances painstakingly around it and then parading out the press releases about how much better everything is now? Maybe they wrote this before they knew they were canceled? Eh, whatever.)

Oh yeah, not to mention the "I made this" line. The inside jokes get ever hilariouser as time drags on, friends. At least they didn't name any little kidnapped girls after porn stars in this episode, or plug any of their other TV shows. Oh right, that's next week.

So, yeah. Not altogether a bad episode. Probably better than last week's, except last week's made me feel charitable, even toward Carter's Emmy-baiting shenanigans, and this one just made me grumpy. Well... that's debatable, since I happened to have like last week's episode. This one left me flat- except for Scully driving a snow plow- that was great. <g>

Oh well. I watched Small Potatoes on FX the other day. "You think the fall killed him?" HEE.

Jump the Shark
Episode 9 X 15
April 21, 2002

Coming Soon to a Web Page near you.

William
Episode 9 X 17
April 28, 2002

Wow, I don't feel at ALL the way most of you do.

I mean, no, I don't like the idea of William being given up, not in the least. I hate it, in fact. I desperately hope that they reverse that decision, though I'm not holding my breath. <sigh> I'm still weeping

But it was such an all-consuming relief to feel some actual emotion with regard to this show, such a relief to watch an episode that broke through the thick smeary glass that's been between me and the characters all season, that I liked it more than I didn't like it.

The only difference between this episode and the ones that have come before is David Duchovny, so I'm laying most of the credit at his feet, but that's just a guess on my part. I just can't imagine, though, that Spotnitz and Carter have enough humanity in them (really, I can't) to pull this one off. How many times has William been in jeopardy? And how many times has there actually been a palpable sense of fear as he was being attacked? I don't know about any of you, but I yawned through whatever that mytharc two-parter was called when he got kidnapped by the Canadians or whatever. I mean, it was fun when Scully kicked ass, but I didn't feel a whole lot. This time, my heart was, alternately, in my throat and in my stomach. And how many times has Scully been betrayed, hurt, all that? Countless times on this show. But it's been ages, I'm talking multiple seasons, since I've felt the pain, humiliation, anger, helplessness at a betrayal as I did with this one. Spender sitting there in the interrogation room with his head down, mutely nodding, as Scully raged at him, as she murmured, "You never talked to him, did you?" absolutely twisted my gut. Maybe it's because she wants Mulder so badly, and I want Mulder so badly, to save me from the hell of Season 9. Maybe it took Duchovny behind the camera whooping Gillian up into ever-greater heights of Mulder missingness. Except they weren't heights, it wasn't ass-kicking or anger dimples, it was quiet but more deeply felt than anything I've seen on this show in a LONG time.

Scully hasn't been a person, as far as I'm concerned, for the vast majority of this season or last. She's almost never as much a person as she is in DD's episodes, and when I heard this was a big Scully ep, my fondest hope was that he'd give us some of her humanity back. And it was there in spades. The little moments, Scully singing Joy to the World in her off-key growl, :whimper: Scully adjusting her pant leg (this is equivalent to the tiny, throwaway references, to her pregnancy or her search for Mulder, that we never got one of, ever, for one instant, easy and satisfying as it would have been, during the first part of Season 8) -- but not just these "cute" ones, which called to mind the way he made her stand on a GIGANTIC box in The Unnatural or giggle in Hollywood A.D. (and in The Unnatural, come to think of it). This is literally the first episode, despite all the setup about how badly she wanted it, in which I really believed how deeply and ferociously she loved that baby. I give Gillian Anderson the lion's share of the credit for that, because it was her acting, of course, but there had to have been something that motivated her, so whether it was the script or the direction or just the imminent end of the series, something flipped a switch in her and she pulled it all out as I haven't seen her do in I don't know how long. Even I, a <cough> great admirer of Gillian's face acting, have been getting bored with the constant angst this season. William's in trouble, tear up. William's abnormal, tear up. William's been kidnapped by a cult, tear up. Mulder might be dead again, tear up. I mean, there's only so many ways you can do "Scully tears up," and I felt that she'd pretty much exhausted all of them. Not in this episode. I didn't get bored for one second watching her, and I felt every bit of what she was feeling. And whatever credit DD does or doesn't get for that, he at least gets credit for much of the tone, for the awkward and anticlimactic shifting and glance-exchanging after the stranger was "proved" to be Mulder, for the weirdly horrifying tension as Scully examined her maybe-Mulder this was phenomenal, and for the beautiful quiet bit with Monica moving and shifting in her chair and Scully staying stock still for what must have been hours. And crying - we saw that when she spoke to the Doctor- her eyes rubbed raw.

DD loves Scully (or if he doesn't, he does a hell of a job of faking it). It's nice to finally see an episode from somebody who does.

And Duchovny (or whoever, but come on, Carter and Spotnitz don't have the brains or the subtlety) turned one of those lighter moments, later, into a killer. The angelic harmonious singing as the perfect farm people put William to bed, contrasted with the memory of Scully, alone in the dark, doing her damndest to warble a lullaby to her baby, was what moved me the most deeply. :SOB: If this show were honest in its setups and payoffs, I would take that as a clear indication that this situation isn't as ideal as it seems and William will be back in his imperfect human mother's arms before long. I don't, however, trust anybody in charge of this show, so I have no confidence that we'll see that play out. But regardless, the moment itself was painful in a brutally honest way that none of the craptastic "scary stories" we've been subjected to have pulled off in ages.

I've probably mentioned here that one problem I have being emotionally involved in the show lately is that I have a hard time seeing the characters anymore -- all I see is the writers, the actors, the mechanics. In this episode, sure, I was thinking about those aspects, more than usual probably, even, because I was actually paying attention to who the director was. But despite that, my involvement in what was actually happening on screen was more deeply felt than it has been maybe since Memento Mori. For the rest of the evening I'd think of the nice farm people and William happy in his crib (and how much that hurt, to see him smile and be contented, but it was an honest hurt, because it would be true) and feel a pain in my stomach. Not because it sucked, not because I wished so hard that Carter would fall on a dancing alien and break his arm again I do!, but because it hurt so much that Scully had to give William up. I can tell you, I sure as heck didn't feel that way about the Lone Gunmen dying last week. I thought, "Oh, that was lame. They should have figured out something better. And what is with this ending, it's really stilted. Ugh, this show sucks." This episode actually brought me back into the story. How about that.

There was some real basic stuff here. Stuff like, giving us some actual affectionate shots of William, instead of the Horrified Fascination lens they've had on him all year. I just, I can't even explain it, but there were feelings in this episode, I could actually feel what was happening instead of having to remind myself that this was bad ("Uh-oh, William got kidnapped. I guess Scully's upset now. Yeah. Sigh"). The hurt, the outrage of Spender pretending to be Mulder to prey on Scully's emotions, the pain of absolute certainty that William would be persecuted for the rest of his life and there was nothing Scully could do to keep him safe (although, not leaving him sleeping alone with creepy strangers wandering freely in the house would really be a good start). I was just so glad to be feeling something, for once.

I guess part of the reason I'm not as upset as some by this episode is that I feel the conclusion was reached organically instead of artificially. When they sent Mulder away and we got, like, a fourth-hand explanation from Kersh, it was stupid and I didn't buy it. Mulder's brain disease, explained from medical records by Skinner or somebody -- didn't buy that. Even Scully's in vitro deal, not really -- I feel that Scully's wish for a child and a normal life had been laid out in the series, but the flashback cop-out stuff really turned me off. But this time, though I don't agree with the decision, I felt it was laid out honestly. Scully loves William. She loves him with all her heart and wants more than anything in the world for him to be safe. She has come to believe (and we were allowed to come along on the journey, for once) that, with her, that's impossible. Maybe she's even feeling guilt that she decided to bring a baby into her vida loca ("He didn't have the choice to come into this world"). Men, or something like men, keep trying to kill him or worship him. She's only human -- maybe the toughest one of all to swallow -- and she can't guarantee that she can keep him safe. Maybe it's not a good decision, but I can see why she made it. And at least we got to see how much making it devastated her. Onscreen this time.

I hope they reverse it and bring him back. I will be very upset if they don't. It hurts to see William taken from Scully. But it hurts the way it used to hurt, like the angst of old. I care again, for the moment at least, and I'm grateful for that.

All MHO, of course. :)

Cathy B.

ADDENDUM...

Holy crap, you guys were right (Wm. spoilers)

It IS a white buffalo. I didn't even notice that the first time. I thought it was sheep. It's even on the flag above their farm, for heaven's (?) sake. OK, that's GOT to mean something. Well, let me rephrase that. It's got to have been put in on purpose. It meant something when they put it in. Whether it bears any fruit is another matter. But, if we pretend for a moment that XF is a normal show, it's got to mean that this William thread isn't over. Albert Hosteen mentions it as a sign of hope in Paper Clip I believe.

I just watched again (which I'm sure is obvious from the above paragraph), and there were a couple more things I noticed. First, the bathysphere in the fishtank, or whatever it is, bobbing up and down brought to mind VERY strongly the end of all things. Can't imagine that wasn't on purpose, not that I suppose that means anything except maybe a reaffirmation of the Mulder/Scully connection (and also an indication that the freaky dude wasn't Mulder, as he walked right by it, but we know that now, obviously). Also, I hadn't noticed the dissolve from William's star mobile (I have always loved that he has a star mobile, the sweet little nod to Mulder by having his baby looking up at stars as he goes to sleep) (or moving them with his mind, I know, but let's not think about that right now) to the actual stars over the farm. That was nice, in addition to reminding me of The Unnatural. And, the cloud wallpaper in William's new room -- from night to day, stars to earth. That brought the lump to my throat similar to the one that showed up when I heard the far superior lullaby being played in the new house, and further underscored for me the whole "this family is PERFECT, PERFECT I say" thing that I can't help thinking is going to have to be dismantled for this to resolve properly. Again, though, I don't think CC & Co. have any clue of how to resolve anything properly. But I can hope. (And don't ask me what it meant that he was wearing space pajamas at his new house. Cause I don't know.)

So, those were my favorite things this time. Along with my observation that that kid is freaking adorable. I haven't seen expressions like that on a baby since Willow (starring the most expressive baby ever shot on film). His normality is almost comical in the face of all the legends being built around him. He babbles, he looks goofy, he smacks his hands, he wears a bunny hat, he reaches for Scully, he stares at the boom mike (or something). Love that kid. Kids. I know.

Still processing,

Cathy B.

I respect everything you say- and IF I could just get past the fact that William is not safe where he is, I could go gently into that good night. I would think it horrible that my Scully had to give up the one thing she's wanted for so very long, yet courageous enough to make that difficult decision, but... I remember Christmas Carol / Emily and how she was able to hack into sealed adoption records (with the Boys help) so I find it implausible that Dana wouldn't take that fact into consideration. Couldn't whomever was stalking her have the means to do the same?

Being mostly unspoiled for this season I too hope that 1013 can come back to this thread before the series wraps- but I doubt that- mainly because I believe that Chris Carter is trying to write himself out of the hole he dug himself into at the end of season 7. Having a movie franchise with Mulder and Scully and baby makes three just isn't going to fly- so he needs to remove that plot element, which he introduced without really thinking about the consequences (15 months pregnant and Scully still doesn't show... riiiight)

Of course, as been pointed out on another list I'm on; the word adoption was never spoken by the Social worker- so perhaps William is only in foster care with the understanding that the farm couple could be given the right to adopt him if the legalities are ironed out.

Perhaps in time I can watch this one again, but right now it hurts too much. I have no hope left. And hope was the one thing I could always count on from this show.

<sigh>

Release
Episode 9 X 16
May 05, 2002

Coming Soon to a Web Page near you.

Sunshine Day
Episode 9 X 18
May 12, 2002

Coming Soon to a Web Page near you.

The Truth
Episode 9 X 19
May 19, 2002

Coming Soon to a Web Page near you.