There were actually a lot of things I liked about
Patient X, so I will start with those aspects before I whine >g> about
what annoyed me. I found this episode to be a collection of good parts that
somehow did not add to a whole that was a good as it could have been. I
don't say it
was a bad ep; it could have been better.
I found myself loving the scenes with Krychek and Marita (who would guess,
since I don't like either of them individually). The idea of two villians
playing eachother was appealing. I also found it interesting that they both
seemed to believe that they were in the superior moral position. I found
Krycek's scenes with the young Russian boy especially chilling; he is offically
Not a Nice Guy. I shivered when he dribbled the water into the boy's mouth.
I also shivered when he told the boy he would take good care of him; if
I were that boy, I would have wanted desperately to believe him. We, the
audience, (most of us anyway :)) knew better. Ah. dramatic irony.
I also liked the role reveral between Mulder and Scully. It gave some delicious
ironies. Is Scully's work there done not hardly. When Mulder finally outwardly
denounces his previous beliefs, he STILL is not believed. And, most ironcially
of all, he denoucnes them just when Scully need "the strength of his
beliefs" the most. It could hav been done more effectively, but it
got by me for the most part. What I would have liked to see what each of
our agents given more of a clear reason for the reversal. Or maybe what
I wanted was to see them talk about it...flesh it out more. Scully was obviously
trying to connnect with her Partner here, and he was just as obviously more
concerned aobut finding the Truth than about what she was going through.
She was reliving the horror of her abduction. I wanted to see some concern,
like he's is perfectly capable of showing when he decides to (I'd get some
new writers if I were him <g>...you listening, MFAC: think Vince).
I so give him credit for wanting the Truth for at least some unselfish reasons,
most of them related to Her. Redux II, from what I understand, showed us
clearly that she has all but replaced Samantha as his reason for fighting.
He gets marks from me for that...but hell, it didn't take much to see how
upset she was. And she tried to tell him! Made me wish St. Vince had written
it.
I was glad for the role reveral for another reason as well. I tend to get
annoyed with the charaterization when Mudler and Scully get to stuck in
their "believer/skeptic" roles. The are humans (so we are to believe)
not roles. I think tinkering with taht set-up makes them more
three-dementional. How long can Mulder ignore the evidence (such as it is)
and still be so brilliant it is Spooky? How long can Scully ignore what
she has seen and still be...er... Mrs. Spooky :)?
That said, there was one nice sceen with Mulder and Scully looking at the
X-rays that gave off, to me, some small vibes of intimacy. There heads were
closed together and that was the only scene where he seemed to be doing
what he was doing for her...even then he was still more
concered about solving than listening. The scene where they were viewing
the charred bodies comes to mind, also. She wanted to share her fear with
him. He just was not connecting. I can appreicate that he was trying to
protect her from the mistakes he's made...but all it would
have taken was a smile or a look. GA and DD can do wonders with that when
they are given the script.
On to characterization: We got pleanty of Mulder's bitterness at having
been decieved and self-loathing. Duchovny was appropriately cold and edgy
in his performance. One thing that always makes me go a little easy on him
is that he seems to beat himself up before I get the chance (takes al the
fun out of it <g>). But I needed to see more of what Scully was going
through. Anderson did a great job, but she was only given so much to work
with. I loved her line, "I think I understand" to Cassandra's
son when he said he wanted to make repuatation, be given one. It spoke to
how just she has really lost to this quest that is no longer hers or Mulder's...but
theirs. I loved that scene were she stares out at the stars and her talks
with Cassandra (and as an English teacher, I appreciated the reference to
the classiscal Prophetess that no one belived since that was obviously how
she saw herself.) On a side note, she looked beautiful bathed in moonlight.
Again, that talk with Mulder was missing. This is IT; this is the Myth-Arc.
If this dosen't bring out the desperation and passion and the conncection
between Our Heroes, (I promise I don't mean that in a shippy way), what
will? But, I am willing to wait. This was only Part I, after all. Maybe
I wanted another One Breath.
Naturally, since this is the X-files, few questions are answered. But I
will wait until next week until I blast them for that. Here are a few of
the things I want know. Yes, they have been building up to Mulder ditching
<g> his theories, but it seemed to come out of nowhere to me. There
is a difference between "I am not sure I believe" and "I
had my head up me *ahem* rear." Scully's right, though, he has come
a long way (thanks to her). But I wished they were more clear on his motives,
on what exactly the evidence is. I wish what was done in the last myth-acr...would
not be constantly undone. The X-files, at its best, walks an errie, addtive
line between giving us just enough but no more. I felt given too little.
But I will wait. And I did not think Scully had enough of a reason for suddenly
Believing. She has kept her cool skepticism in the face of personal pain
before; perhaps I was supposed to believe she was drawn by a Power Greater
Than Herself. Mudler's monolouge and the chilling, visually stunning group
abduction scene at the end suggest this. Again, I guess we wait.
Main