I don't think there will ever be a day when that line of Scully's fails to make me laugh. Unfortunately, I doubt it was supposed to, but ah well. One of the things I usually like about this show is its ability >to affect me-- to make me feel the frustration of its heroes that results from it's constant one-step-forward-two-steps-back. But one must be ever so careful when playing with this and walk the line between to much and too little just right. This was too little. But I enjoyed this episode quite a bit, especially after "Gethesmane", during which my frustration did not exactly stem from the pain of Our Heroes. While I did not enjoy this episode as much as Redux II (hey, it's a Retro!Review-- I get to say things like that) I was involved in the quest at least.
I think I was less frustrated with this episode
simply because I *knew* I was going to have to wait another week for resolution.
You don't watch "The Empire Strikes Back" expecting Han and Leia
to get together and Luke to defeat Vadar. Still, this was clearly dragged
out more than it needed to be. The pay-off in "Redux II" was
worth it, but this show is capable of better story telling than that. Resorting
to having Scully swoon (which irks me for a myriad reasons) just before
she can reveal who she thinks sold her out struck me as a cheap way to force
a "to be continued." And then there was the exposition; I was
a brand new viewer when I first saw this and found the retelling to be quite
helpful, which makes me wonder if Carter was trying to hook new viewers
(it worked
The constant narration slowed down the pace of the episode too much for all the huge events going on to completely capture me. That said, however, there was a rather nice poetic quality to them. In Paula Grave's review, she posits Mulder and Scully as epic story-tellers singing their tale. I though this was a rather wonderful theory, and not without basis. I just wish I had that much faith in the writers. If this was their intention, it did not come across to me. However, all that said, I did love the way Mulder's voice covered Scully's actions and vise versa. That was quite effective. I especially loved the irony of Mulder and Scully proving one another's theories.
If the voiceovers were somewhat distracting to me, Carter's writing was even more so. I'm sorry, people don't talk like that, not even Spooky and the Brain. It was just stilted. He has a way of sounding like he's saying something without actually doing so that wears thin quickly.
On one (or two) more writing notes, Kritsgau improved for me a bit from "Gethemane." I found myself rather touched by his story about his son. I still want to know what he is *doing* there, other than being yet another plot device to throw the validity of the entire series in doubt (again). Are we supposed to believe him? Or is he giving another layer of lies? And do I really care? But I was touched and glad he was becoming moderately personal. And we got one or two flashes of something perhaps resembling regret or compassion from CancerMan.
There were actual character revelations to be had here, or character moments, anyway. Mulder seemed to have found a new balance, a new sense of purpose (especially since he was supposedly contemplating suicide hours before but he really wasn't because he and Scully were plotting together-- make up your mind, boys! You're ruining a perfectly lovely, tear-jerking MulderGuilt scene) I loved his new sense of purpose that lead us to his renewal of faith in Redux II and his wonderful focus on Scully did my heart good. Scully has clearly replaced Samantha as What is Most Important to Mulder. As he says, "I will not allow this treason to prosper. Not if they've done this to you." And when Kristgau asks what he wants most, Mulder does not hesitate in responding "A cure for Scully's cancer." Duchovny did quite a nice job with these scenes.
Scully's participation and how that should have been played out has been the subject of much debate. I was not at all surprised that, yes, she did lie for him. She's done so before. Anderson did a lovely job with that scene; to bad she was given the wrong direction. But it was nice to see Scully actively going after the EGC. Mayve she is becoming a player after all. The Elder seemed to think so: "Without his partner, I think you underestimate his fragility." Even if CSM didn't agree (last time I call you sexy, PUNK!) And her struggle with faith and her trust in science were highlighted, sewing some more seeds for the conclusion.
I still fail to understand why some viewers take Scully's calling Mulder's beliefs a lie as a betrayal. He called them a lie himself, chastising himself for his "arrogance." And while she did think he was wrong, her anger at how he had been systimatically victimized rang through loud and clear to me. A wonderful job by Anderson. The loyalty and unity between Mulder and Scully also came across here nicely, espeically when she says "I now share my partner's desperation." She and Pleggi also did a first-rate job with their confrontation in the hallway of the hosptial. Her eyes crackled; I didn't know eyes could really do that.
"Redux" was not a bad set-up for "Redux II" and was most welcome after "Gethesmane" even if parts were confusing or slow or just too much to process. I'll give it 8 tic tacs out of ten.
SWILS Note: It's cheesy but it's true: She's magnificent when she's mad!
MulderDrooling: That crying scene just always gets me....