"I thought that you'd be pleased that I'd opened myself to extreme
possibilities".

Pleased is an huge understatement. I'm sure it will come as no
surprise that this is one of my favorite episodes of the X-Files.
It is a shining early example of how spectacularly good the X-Files
could be when everything and everyone clicks together. It is also
an early indication of just how great an actress Gillian Anderson
is. When Scully was given center stage for the first time on the
show she stepped up and hit this one clear out of the ballpark. I
marvel at her performance more and more with repeated viewing. With
the death of her father and undercurrents of family and loss
throughout, Anderson play's Scully's emotions uncharacteristically
close to the surface. We always see them there flitting underneath.
There is a certain childlike feel to Scully in this episode from
when we first see her looking almost impossibly young, the dutiful
daughter, to her covering her ears as a little girl would and yelling
"No I do not believe you" through her last "He was my father". Is it
any wonder that Boggs chooses a childhood memory of sneaking cigarettes
to convince her?

If there is one scene that makes this episode for me it is the
breathtaking delivery Anderson gives as Scully confronts Boggs
after Mulder is shot. Watching her move from barely restrained
anger to a red faced yell of rage I find it impossible not to let
out a whoop of my own. Moments of such perfection in acting are a
rare and wonderful thing. The journey of Scully's beliefs is
fascinating to watch - her stunned look at the news of her father's
death after the vision (our first glimpse at Psychic!Scully), her
internal tug of war about looking at the X-File on encounters with
the dead, our skeptical Scully sitting resolutely in her hotel room
attempting to conjure up the vision of her father, and her beliefs
and fears echoing throughout her encounters with Boggs.

For we character junkies this episode holds a rare looks into the
Scully family dynamic and what makes Dana Scully the woman she is
today. While, by all appearances, she shares a warm relationship
with her family (esp. when compared to Mulder's) the first scene
in this episode is one of my favorites of the series for all the
things it doesn't say. Mrs. Scully egging Capt. Scully on to ask
about Dana's work and her settling for "Yup, it's good" when you
can see from the subtle uncertainty that plays across her face that
she wants to say so much more. At the funeral while her family grieves
around her she selfishly only focuses on one thing - was her father
proud of her - as if only through this knowledge will she gain the
closure she needs to grieve his loss. The thought that he did not
approve of the job she so loves gnaws at her.

This is also one of our very first glimpses of Denial!Scully. She
surprisingly opens with a joke and a false front of calm when she
first sees Mulder - her way of saying "I'm fine" right from the
start. Of course she actually does utter what would become the
Scully trademark denial phrase soon afterwards when Mulder asks
"How are you Dana?", but then she immediately changes the subject
back to work. As we've seen since Scully buries herself in work
when she is suffering - even she says "I need to work".
There is an interesting balance between Scully and Boggs (the
wonderful Brad Dourif). While we witness the pain Scully is
suffering in her face she does not cry. Her tears are continually
choked back and denied. Boggs, on the other hand, spends almost the
entire episode in tears. Every speech he gives is punctuated with
tears spilling down his face as he emotes his own fears and channels
others. Dourif's performance is out there and risky, and we are
rewarded as he captures this man in a stunning portrayal. His face
contorts in such a manner that we can actually see the full cheeked
blush of Don Davis when Boggs channels Scully's father.

If I have a problem with this otherwise stellar episode it lies in
the confusing way that Mulder is written. I have always enjoyed the
episodes where Scully believes, but I also find Mulder's sudden
about face puzzling. He has lines like "Dana, open yourself up to
extreme possibilities only when they are the truth" - uh, gee thanks
for that tip Mulder. It is interesting to note that at these times
in the series that Mulder does not believe - he is always wrong. The
confusion stems from the flip flopping Mulder does on the topic. He
spends most of the episode alternating between being Mulder at his
most sensitive (wonderfully and affectionately played by Duchovny)
and berating the weakened Scully for believing. However, at the
episode's end he has now apparently changed his mind and is after
Scully with "Dana, after all you've seen, after all the evidence,
why can't you believe?" Why after spending the whole episode telling
her not to believe this does Mulder suddenly gets after her for NOT
believing Boggs? It's only when ultra rational Scully kicks back in
and offers up her SRE (Scully Rational Explanation) about how Boggs
could have known about her father that he changes his tune. Make up
your mind pal.

Random Musings
------------------------
-No one can accuse Scully of not being in the Christmas spirit -
her apartment has more decorations than Macy's at Thanksgiving.

-Another reason to be thankful for this episode - the first
appearance of the talented Sheila Larken as Mrs. Scully. 

-What a frightening Ron Popeil infomercial. For $39.92 you too
can buy enough spray paint to cover your bald spot for a month.
Something tells me this treatment would run Skinner slightly more
as "Time may vary depending on the frequency of use or size of
area to be covered".

-This is one of those episodes that adds to the great mystery of
Scully's apartment. Although the layout has remained basically the
same, over the years weird things make it difficult to get a handle
on. For instance, in this episode, Apt. 35 has what looks like not
one, but two outside doors across from each other off her kitchen
and yet in later seasons we always see Scully entering through an
inside hallway door off her living room. If she has changed apartments
then the windows and fireplace are exactly the same - maybe that's
what she looks for in an apartment.

-Mulder's filing system must be screwy if the "V" files for "Visionary
Encounters w/ the Dead" is in the first top drawer. Still Scully finds
the file right away.

-It appears as if the whole family sans Melissa is at the funeral.
That little blond headed nephew of Scully's gives her the evil eye
in this scene - I bet he's the one that makes her watch Babe ad
nauseum.

-The Carolinian newspaper article entitled "Gas chamber tested for
Boggs' execution" is written by a "G. Morgan".

-This is actually one of the few episodes where you can see the small
of back holster Scully prefers when she attends to Liz as Mulder is
shot.

-Dana, Dana, Dana. It seems it takes some big trauma for Mulder to
drag out Scully's first name. Her surprise at hearing it mirrors
ours - it just sounds odd after "Scully" all this time.

-Surely Boggs can come up with a better meal than fried chicken,
peas, potatoes, pie and beer for his last. He orders it twice. Boy
must love his chicken.

-I think those twin leopard bloused old ladies in the hall that
Boggs walks down are one of the scariest things in this episode.

-This episode features one of the now famous Scully shoulder shots.
If she doesn't kill you she's sure to make your shoulder sore.

-I'm sure that other agent in the raid appreciated Scully yelling
"go" to warn Lucas enough to smack him with a bucket.

-For those of you tracking porno and Mulder references this episode
gives us Scully referencing Mulder's penchant for "Adult Video News".

Autumn
"I'm afraid. I'm afraid to believe."