"Sometimes I think some work on your communication skills wouldn't be such a bad idea"
~Dana Scully to Fox Mulder


"St." Frank may be pushing it (by a lot), but darn if "Detour" was not an episode that featured solid, focused characterization and quite a bit of insight into Mulder and Scully's complex partnership. In fact, they were the highlight of this hour for me, the only thing that saved an
episode with a rather weak story.

Let's get what I didn't like out of the way first. We were shown all of the monster this week and he just looked really stupid. (I'll admit here that he managed to scare me a bit nonetheless, but I'll get to that later). The idea behind him just was not thought out; Mulder's explanation about Ponce de Leon and perfect adaptation to an environment was an afterthought, it seemed (though the history lesson warmed my teacher's heart). The fountain of youth was the best Spooky could do? I could have used some more building up to what his final theory was going to be, as well as Scully's SRE (Scully Rational Explanation). It was just tacked on to the end, as if they felt they had to offer one but ran out of time or energy or just decided that was not the point of the episode anyway. Also, we were left with no doubt that this monster really did exist. That just never works as well for me as they episodes which tantalize (not frustrate) the viewer with delicious doubt as to, in the immortal words of Scully, what the hell is going on. I knew and
I didn't buy it.

I will say, though, that this episode has always seemed well directed to me in spite of that. Something about the fast pacing and tricky editing really did send some chills down my spine if I
didn't think too hard. Some of those scenes with the Dynamic Duo running through the forest chasing something they could not see were quite tense, too.

But enough of that. There was so much *right* with this episode that, for me, it was one of the highlights in a season that had seemingly more that its share of disappointments. For one thing, the supporting characters were well used. Could it be that in Michelle, the guide who took Mulder and Scully through the forest, we have a tough, confident, professional woman who does not get mooshie over Mulder or get catty with Scully? Thank you, Frank! I especially appreciated this because it was a role that just as easily could have been played by a man but
was not. And of course, who could watch this episode and not sympathize with Mulder's sheer irritation with the other two agents traveling with our heroes to the Communication Seminar. My, they did a good job at annoying me! "Kill me now!" I had to laugh at Mulder's snide comments
and even more at the fact that, after five years of partnership, Scully no longer even tries to hide a smile, much less stop him.

But they were not there for just entertainment value. Other reviewers pointed out that they are clearly a foil for Mulder and Scully and I concur completely. These two obviously don't have half of what Mulder and Scully have together on just a professional level; that only comes
from willed, chosen loyalty and sharing one another's sorrows, I don't care how many towers of furniture they build (though I did think having Mulder and Scully try to build a tower of bodies to get out of the hole they were in was a clever touch.) Showing us a Mulder and Scully who simply do their job well together, who function well as a team, will always get extra tic tacs from me. The difference between the two pairs of agents was well highlighted by the bickering of the other two when no one else was around to hear them.

That spineless little blonde man with his nose in his computer was a nice foil for our fearless agents who knew how to handle themselves without an instruction manuel, too. This echoed the theme of "by the book" verses doing what needs to be done that this show plays with so often. It was nice to see Scully not going by the book; she's changed a lot due to her work with Mulder. I hate to say it, but the kid deserved to die. Let that be a lesson to ya. I also loved, loved, loved the Scully we were given this week. I think why boiled down to one reason: she was happy. Well, her angsty version of happy. Anderson gives us a woman every inch someone determined to take her life back after nearly having it taken from her. As I've read in other reviews, too, life gave her a chance to relax, to (theme alert!) take a detour from hiding and denial, from constantly ignoring her pain and her feelings for the sake of her work. And she did. She >was funny and fun-loving and sexy and smart. She was compassionate and tender with Mulder when he was badly wounded and resourceful when they had to survive alone out in the woods. She was open with him and confident enough to not only initiate another Small Potatoes-esque
"real talk" over wine and cheese but to not sulk or retreat when he left to pursue the case he'd found. In point of fact, she opens up to him in the forest AFTER the would-be consorting <g>. I also always love a Scully who can give as good as she gets in the innuendo game, which she
>surely did here. May we see more of this as we head into the post-Kiss Season six, allowing them to at least deal with the fact that it happened. And this episode abounded with Scullyisms, including two staple favorites. I always love hearing her say, "What the hell is it, Mulder?" It's just fun. And you have to love our steadfast skeptic insisting "There has got to be an scientific explanation for this" as she looks right at the monster for which there is no readily apparent explanation.

This brings me to, yes, the ship. I saw a Scully here who wanted Mulder bad; if that's not to your liking, here's an alternate interpretation: we also could just be seeing a woman who now wants to live every moment to the fullest after surviving cancer. She wants to open up to
someone, and what the hell, Mulder's here and he is, after all, a dear friend. But I think it is very significant that Spotnitz chose to in a way recreate the set up Gilligan gave us in "Small Potatoes." Girlfriend is determined to get her Talk with the real Mulder! For the record, I should state that I don't think he was rejecting her. I think Special Agent CLUELESS just didn't get it...or perhaps he got her message loud and clear and she scared him. With Mulder, either is possible but
based on other things he's said and done for her in other episodes, I think he'd like to have that real talk as much as she would.

In fact, in the Conversation in the Woods, that's just want Mulder and Scully do! Hoo-BOY! Everything about this scene worked for me (which I'm sure comes as a shock <g>). They were cuddly and physically close, which always warms my heart since they so rarely get that with anyone. I loved Mulder's adorable little protest, "I don't wanna wrestle!" and his other humorous little Mulderisms (he identifies with Betty's bustline? I don't even want to know.) But mixed in with the refreshingly lighthearted humor was some serious discussion about life and death and
making meaning out of tragedy. It's a real testament to the, as Mulder termed it, "unspoken communication" between them that she feels she can talk about something so serious and personal while he's teasing her a bit. He's the one who shared that terrible experience with her; she deems it his experience, too as she said in her journal entries to him in "Memento Mori". Yet a viewer with an untrained ear <g> might read from just his words that he was not listening or didn't care. Based on his actions, though, Scully knows that's not true and she knows his
actions speak louder than his fumbling words. Indeed, sometimes the unspoken communication is *all* they have! It was an effective choice on Spotnitz's part to highlight this. I also loved, again, the light sexual teasing and that Scully initiates it. She's living a little and it's about time! That she sang for him at his request also touched me. It showed a real vulnerability to Mulder that he asked in the first place. And I seriously doubt she would have done that for anyone but him.

But there were some non-shippy reasons to love this scene. I guess we can call Spotsy a Lesser Deity of Continuity for allowing Scully to actually refer to something that happened in her past and process it, instead of just months of ignoring it. This happens all to often-- did we ever hear the word Emily between "Emily" and "All Souls"? I didn't think so either. Yet this continuity powerfully brings Mulder and Scully to life in the context of whatever case they are solving, making that story all the more powerful. I wish they'd do it more often. And Scully had a wonderful line that I've never heard dissected or quoted or called a Scullyism but which seems *very* revealing of her frame of mind to me. Talking about how short life is and how
inevitable death is, she says, "I guess it's like living in Vegas. The house always wins." Sounds awfully cynical for Scully, to me, yet I'm sure there is that side to her. There would have to be after all she's been through. And one more reason to love this scene-- Anderson's bad
singing was hysterical. I cringed.

Lighthearted, revealing episodes like this are a nice, well, detour from the usual teary, chilling angst (that I admit I love). I love this Scully, I enjoyed this Mulder and we even had a theme! Joy to the world indeed! A probably harsh 8.5 tic tacs out of ten, (maybe nine).

SWILS Note: There is just something inherently right about Scully, in casual clothes, running through the forest with a gun and that Clint Eastwood expression. She just look to bleepin' cool!

MulderDrooling: Tie loose, shirt rumpled, hair mussed, putting on his jacket with a boyish grin lighting up his face. I couldn't have stayed mad for long either....

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