"Small Potatoes" offers so much to the viewer that it is hard to know where to begin. It offers character revelations about both Dana Scully and Fox Mulder (the revelations about Scully were admittedly harder to find, but they were there). It offers humor that is both slapstick and tearfully bittersweet. It offers penetrating insight in to the MulderScully a.romance b. relationship c. dynamic d. all of the above. And the performances from both the leads were flawless; Duchovny especially has never been better. And the ironic themes of identity and the importance of self-worth that ran thoughout this tightly written, coherent script were, to me, poignant and bittersweet and deeply moving for the sake of both characters.
This episode was filled with moments of unexpected humor, from Duchovny's physical comedy falling out of Mulder's chair, Scully answering "What?" when Mulder assured her he was fine, or that silly hat Eddie was force to wear. The best Scullyism of the night in my opinion was "Did he have a lightsaber?". And I laughed out loud at the doctors' groan, "Not another one" in the teaser.
"Small Potatoes" also gaves us a veritable feast of character revelations and insights. Most of them pertained to Mulder, but there were some insights into Scully and how she views him and her relationship with this confusing, brillant "damn handsome" man as well. I don't think any other single line in this series serves to explain the walking, breathing contradiction that is Mulder than that he is a "loser by choice." He has all the trappings of a womanizer: the brooding, dark good looks, an exciting job, dry humor, expensive suits. This one line nails Mulder gently, yet with a merciless accuracy that he seems to feel. Eddie's advice to Mulder is to treat himself (presumably with Scully). But the bittersweet irony is that he will not ever do that (until the movie, anyway). He simply does not have the ability to risk being rejected by this woman who is the only one he Trusts. She is in a very sad way his only friend. For the man who has turned not trusting anyone into an art form, that is an amazing revelation into his opinion of and feelings for Scully. She has given him more faith and loyalty and love (even platonically) than he probably ever knew could he had. And my guess is he certainly did not think "the FBI's most unwanted" would be one the receieving end of such complete, exclusive trust and loyalty. His combination of self-centeredness and self-hatred render him unable to understand or accpet her faith, even as he claims to trust her. He has surely convinced himself she would not want to "really talk" to him if he did try, she always argues anyway, so what is the point? He wants to, in my admittedly romantic opinion, show her how he feels but convinced himself it will not work so he won't have to try and risk failure. I found this powerful because who has not done that at some time?
The irony deepens even more when one considers Scully's reaction to EddieMulder when he shows up at her apartment. Eddie, who has obviously done his homework, tells Scully they never talk. Perhaps it was just me, but she certainly did not sound happy about it when she said, "No, Mulder, no we don't." She sounded to me like she could imagine what the hell took him so long to figure that out (bravo, Gillian!".) She *does* want to talk to him. A bottle of wine later, and presto! we have the SMAK, until, of course the real Mulder bursts in and Eddie's party is over. Eddie asks to see Mulder-- to undo the damage? to see Scully?;)-- and they speak. Mulder is brief and cold.
He walks out to Scully and she assures him that he is not a loser in her eyes. (If you would freakin' pay attention to her when she says things like this, hon, you'd be a much happier man). His response is very telling: he is able to see that Eddie did something with Scully he has not been able to (it's called *listening* to her, love). Opening up has never been easy for him, or for her, and I was saddened by the fact that I can see him using this as another excuse to shut himself off: "she wanted Eddie anyway." The ironic poignancy of it broke my heart.
The ramifications of this for Scully are staggering as well. How the hell she went into work Monday morning is beyond me; I can only say she is a stonger woman than I. Scully was at her dry, logical, competent, calm best here, asking Mulder why he can't "go for the simply answer" and struggling not to laugh out loud at Mrs. Skywalker. I found myself puzzled by this and not satisfied with it. Given so much insight and emotion from Duchovny/Mulder, I wanted more from her. And then it hit me (my "therory"). What if this was, in a way, Scully from Mulder's point of view? "Boring" Scully, perhaps? The Scully who writes reports after visting Quantico on a Friday night. I do not for a second believe that Mulder thinks she is boring; Mr. Social Grace himself just doesn't know at all how to talk to her. But I could see Scully think that that is Mulder's opinion, just as I could see Mulder believing that Scully honestly thinks he is just another nutcase.
In another touch of brillance on UberVince's part, Eddie, who was nodding attentively and repeating what she said, as she told him about the "twelfth grade love of her life" is a perfect foil. He knows exactly what to say. This is the kind of attention she most wants-- from Mulder. I also found it interesting that Scully asks him what is wrong as she pours their wine.
She assumes still that he is there to some other reason than to just be with her (this would probably be true of the real Mulder). This is reinforced by her answer when EddieMulder asks if she has gotten what she wanted from life. Her first response is, "You mean, career wise?"
In addition to insight about Mulder and Scully, we get, of course, incredible insights into their complex relationship.The scene where Mulder tries to engage Scully in some "real talk" by asking her who she would want to be is a great example: she gives the ultimate correct answer--"herself." But he does not want her to impress him; he wants her to talk to him. But after having tried to express her feelings (whatever they may be) in cases gone by ("I wouldn't put myself on the line for anyone but you" comes to mind, as he shut her down by turing into a joke to make the situation safer), and seeing him not return the favor, how can she be expected to know that is what he wants?
If I were her, his anwer of "boring" would just reconfirm that for me. No wonder she is so confused when he moves in for the SMAK. She does not feel he understands her and with good reason. I find this touching because they both seem to want to connect; they just never quite know how to. Consider, for example, the way Mulder lit up when she told him what his theory was; he was thrilled to me known so well, which also results in what I personally think is an adorable Mulderism: "Scully, should we be picking out china patterns or what?" Maybe they should, considering they were mistakenfor husband and wife at one point.;) Interestingly, at one point, Scully demontrates that he need not worry about her not knowing him well, though, when she assures him that he is "not a loser." Even though she said she didn't "imagine you need to be told this", he did need that, and she was aware of it. I also could not help but think that it is significant that Eddie chose Mulder to get to Scully. As I said, he's done his homework.
The performances were stunning. I have read nothing but praise for David Duchovny's Mulder here, and for his EddieMulder. I will add mine briefly: he was perfect, down to the most sublte physical detail. I loved the eye roll when Mulder first discovered Eddie with the tail stump and Eddie takes off. I could almost hear him thinking "Dammit, now I have to chase him! I am sick of chasing!" I also loved the scene where EddieMulder went to visit Amanda (Luke's woman) in the hospital. His expressions as Eddie listened to his former girlfriend explain why he was a loser where heartbreaking. I also enjoyed the interview with Skinner, especially the expression when Skinner asked if Eddie was a rapist. EddieMudler's "All clear" in that poor couple's bathroom was flawless, as well. And (kudos to Mr. Gilligan again) I loved Mulder's line: "I was just here...where did I go?" I consider this an example of his best work (and, not to sound like a DDEBer here, but could that puppy dog face as he inched closer to Dana been any cuter?).
While I wish Gillian Anderson had had more to work with, her performance, as always, deserves praise too. Her expressions interveiwing Amanda were priceless. And I loved her delivery of the line about this not having anything to do with consensual sex. (Amen, by the way, St. Scully!). I also appreicated her confusion when Mulder said there was "nothing here but small potatoes" as if Scully suspected that this was not Mulder (he would never walk away from a case like this.) I also loved the way she moved away from Mulder when finished talking to Eddie, as if she were remembering things all to clearly. It is truly the little things that count. And she was brilliant in the SMAK, moving from fear and shock to closing the eyes and letting her lips part in what distinctly seemed like anticipation. I loved her little shudder, too, as she realizes who she almost just kissed.
Darian Morgan certainly deserves a mention; he was very touching as an endearing loser. A villain, maybe, but Morgan made me like him. His character added yet more layered irony to this amazing script as we see that Eddie, not as handsome, is still the one who got the girl.
And finally, from a pure writing standpoint, the script was amazing. Every line had so many meanings I would half to write for hours to cover them all. This also serves as a way to make both shipper and nonshippers happy. While the shippy interperation was, I feel, what Gilligan intended, the script is written cleverly enough that it does not have to be interpreted that way. To me, that is the test of a great episode: having something for everyone in a way that feels nature to the story, and not contrived. Gilligan pulled this off in spades. The themes were clear and coherent with a feeling of subtely. And they were woven into the dialogue with grace.
While I would not want an episode like this every week (I don't think), this stands out to me as the best the X-files is capable of. Bravo to all! Ten tic tacs out of ten, with Duchovny's choice of flavor.
SWILS Note: loved her face bathed in the firelight.
Mulder Drooling: Heck , this whole hour was a drool-fest. I'm supposed to choose? Sure. Fine. Whatever.