"Matter and gas."

As with all the cliffhangers (especially those over the summer) 
the audience is left to wonder what really mattered and what was 
merely 1013 gas. As opposed to most of the mythology episodes 
served up by the X-Files lately, "Biogenesis" was actually a 
fairly clean script with a minimum of foolishness, but when it 
was foolish it went for it with a gusto. I found myself captivated 
by the episode and liked the feeling of trying to puzzle out 
exactly what the impact of all of this would be - something that 
hasn't been that much fun in a while. Perhaps it was the more 
spiritual bent "Biogenesis" took - hitting at the very heart of
why do we exist. Perhaps it was because it involved Scully by 
spearing her own personal crux between faith and science. Perhaps 
it was because we finally got to see Mulder screaming in the 
loony bin - something that's been a long time in coming. Or, 
perhaps it was I was just thankful for the complete and total 
lack of those idiotic bees. Whatever the reason, I found myself 
fascinated by what "Biogenesis" could mean for the series. That 
is, of course, if 1013 decides to make it matter next year 
instead of just dissolving it into so much mythology gas leaving 
nothing but a bad smell.

While we are all no doubt interested in Scully's internal musings, 
the teaser was not that. It was instead "Dr. Dana Scully Explains 
it all to you" from the start of time to now in four easy minutes. 
Sometimes I really pity the actors on this show being tasked with 
trying to make stuff like that interesting. Luckily, the second 
voice over was a little more personal and less like a history 
lesson. I'd much rather watch characters interacting or 
Paranoid!Scully searching the office for bugs than hear Scully 
explain how bugs actually evolved over time.

Good work by both Duchovny and Anderson to cap off the season. I 
did enjoy some of the little digs they managed like Mulder's 
stressing "science journal" in the meeting with Skinner or the 
small victory he had over Scully saying "it was from outer space". 
It was however annoying to see the writing backtrack on Scully - 
turning her into that always trying to wrap things up "what more 
could you possibly hope to find" version of herself - just so we 
could have a gratuitous Samantha reference. Duchovny certainly 
has that man pain look down as the voices in his head started 
talking to him. (I do think all that hair on his head could be 
increasing the pressure as well and perhaps at least one of the 
things he might have been hearing was "get a haircut"). I did 
also get a perverse pleasure out of his screaming nut moments. 
I'm only human. Anderson had a few of those patented little 
moments I especially liked like that subtle squint when Fowley 
answered the phone at Mulder's or the look that crossed her face 
at "he was asking for you last night". My favorite moment was 
how she played Scully's reluctance to enter the Navajo ceremony 
out of respect for their beliefs. Moments like that define Scully 
for me. There was a lot of confusion and soul searching going on 
with Scully in this episode and the capable Anderson got to run 
the gamut of concern, suspicion, paranoia, anger and awe. The last 
scene at the hospital as she sees past all that Dana/hand holding 
BS and her suspicions set in is a wonderfully righteous moment that 
I'm sure A.D. "oopsie did I mention a report I shouldn't have" 
Skinner will not soon be forgetting.

I have to say I was disappointed in once again Carter insisting 
on playing the Fowley card in a mythology episode. First, she 
appears out of nowhere with no good explanation. Second, she makes 
Mulder look like a total idiot whenever she is with him. Third, 
she's always thrown in because the boys at 1013 seem to think it 
is cool to make Scully appear jealous of her. Thankfully Gillian 
Anderson manages to still infuse Scully with dignity while all 
this foolishness is going on and the hissing is kept to a minimum. 
However, hands down the most annoying thing was of course having 
Fowley began to disrobe in Mulder's apartment because the only 
logical purpose it served was for the writers to tweak the audience. 
It's pure self indulgence on the part of Carter and Spotnitz and 
serves to take everyone away from the story while they have their 
little chuckle at how they imagine the audience will react to their 
veiled assertion that their most ridiculous creation is going to 
try to seduce an ill man. Whatever.

I've got to talk about the cliffhanger for this one, because 
behavior like this from the writing staff is to be encouraged. 
First of all, no one "appears" to be dead. For that alone we 
should thank our lucky stars. How old was that little "shocking 
twist" getting? Also, in the biggest and most refreshing surprise, 
they actually end the season on a big Scully revelation for a 
change - one key to her beliefs. Plus, Mulder is halfway around 
the world pulling the legs off the bugs in his special room at 
the time wearing that fetching little dress. Finally a finale 
that leaves BOTH our Heroes in an interesting and challenging 
position, and sets up for a hell of a season opener. Thank you.

So, now that Scully has been abducted, experimented on, had a 
horde of little aliens run by her in the dark, seen shape-shifters 
and dissolving clones, had a daughter die from the heebie greenies, 
seen someone sucked into a spaceship while her implant called her 
to a dam, was stung by an evil alien minion bee, has been shoved 
in an alien pod naked in green goo, chased through a spaceship by 
a lizard alien, fallen off a giant spaceship while it took off, 
and now stood on another one, all I ask is that they not turn this 
into another game called "I had a farce in Africa" and have her 
blow off the whole damn thing. Meanwhile, Mulder surely will not 
be able to keep this new Gibson Praisesque power (and kudos to the 
little boy for handling his gift a lot better than Mulder - perhaps 
Mulder should stop screaming and start watching the cartoon network 
to calm his nerves). If you thought Mulder's leaps of logic were 
incredible before, he could have every case wrapped up in the teaser 
in season seven with his new Spooky sense. Someone get him a cape 
for his hospital smock. So, we can also look forward to figuring a 
way out of that predicament. Meanwhile, in our brief time with 
CancerMan we see he is attending a meeting with the new Junior 
Consortium and they are all worried about annihilation. Plus, for 
the Skinner fans, they get to spend the summer fretting about 
Skinner being turned into a traitorous liar and Krycek lackey. We 
also are left to ponder whether or not we are the byproduct of 
aliens and their own little take on the whole Genesis 1:28 be 
fruitful and multiply idea - something that has been hinted at for 
a while. All in all, lots to keep fans minds pondering in the long 
summer, and a lot more interesting pondering than the eternal 
alt.tv.x-files question "IS MOULDER DED?"

Technically there were a few really odd moments in this episode. 
I cannot for the life of me figure out why director Bowman and 
Director of Photography Bill Roe appeared to go to videotape rather 
than film stock when Scully first enters the hospital in New Mexico. 
The whole sequence before she got to Albert's room was oddly lit 
and shot. Then there was that really weird close-up of Scully's 
ear as she was tracking down Sandoz where I half expected to hear 
that "Bionic Woman" hearing noise. I guess we were supposed to 
realize Scully was hearing the stair alarm going off, but it was 
just odd. Let's not forget the super ridiculous Skinner spying on 
them scene as he peers out the door Mulder just slammed just in 
time for Mulder telling Scully about the spying. How more obvious 
could that have been? Also, as much as I liked the ending, and 
believe me, I really liked the ending, I do have a complaint. It 
really destroyed the impact of a breathtaking moment of discovery 
to leave the audience thinking that Scully and all the fishermen 
were too stupid to be able to see this big honking UFO with huge 
pieces of it sticking dramatically out of the water because they 
were distracted by a little piece of metal in the sand a few feet 
away.

Thus ends another season. 

Random Musings
--------------

-Here's a fun way to spend the summer: Figure out how Chris 
Carter will try to weasel out of Scully realizing she's 
standing on the big honking UFO. My guess is that he will 
start doing interviews in a month and between his "beware 
Diana Fowley" cackles he will start talking about how 
jetlagged Scully was, thus making her "woozy". Perhaps 
they'll even do an article in the official magazine about 
how long plane flights can alter your perception via jetlag.

-Mark Snow certainly has had an easier year since he wrote 
the movie score. He samples heavily from it here as well as 
from (and please do not ask how I recognized this - I'll 
almost embarrassed to admit it) "Teliko".

-Not only do they sample from the movie's score, they also 
managed to sample from the movie itself. During that 
Discovery channel special masquerading as a teaser we even 
saw the cavemen from the film. 

-If Scully is going to start doing voiceovers for the Discovery 
channel could she at least host "Shark Week" next year? 

-Not only does the amazing, spinning, flying artifact imbed 
itself in the Bible highlighting an important passage, but it 
also manages to rearrange the whole bookshelf around it. 
Between the time it lands in the Bible and when Dr. Merkallen 
retrieves it, several of the books that were standing 
vertically to the right of it are now horizontal to the left.

-Frank's Fashion Spot: Sigh. Finally. It was not black. What 
a lovely choice for the professional gal searching the Ivory 
Coast for truth. And most importantly it was not black. Perhaps 
a little long for barefoot traipsing in the sand, but it was 
not black.

-Frank's Fashion Spot 2: Let's call it the Anti-Frank Fashion 
Spot shall we? Perhaps Fowley was merely trying to change out 
of that hideous green little shell and that explains it. Well, 
whatever the reason, at least we can rest assured that seeing 
Fowley and her twin torpedoes of 18 hour cross your heart 
deceit was enough to send Mulder to the rubber room screaming 
for Scully all night. Don't worry Mulder, it scared everyone.

-Anyone else think the magic squares thing was just tossed in 
there for absolutely no reason except for sort of sounding 
cool and occultish?

-Great work by production designer Corey Kaplan and team on the 
scenes at the Universite' Cote D'Ivoire. I loved the feel of 
that room. It really took you to another place.

-I do have to quibble however with the idea that the professor 
was having to call out on a rotary phone. Surely they'd have 
touch tone capability there, wouldn't they?

-Sort of a fun "death amongst the monkey cages" tie in to that 
first stunning finale "The Erlenmeyer Flask."

-Speaking of the monkeys, they also seemed to have quite an 
intense reaction to the artifact. What does it say that only 
Mulder and monkeys are bothered by this thing?

-The writers manage another dig at the fans who believe that 
after 6 years Scully also has a place in the downstairs office 
with Mulder's "I'm sorry, I thought this was my office" line.

-Even though it is not her office at least Scully knows where 
the missing screen was for the projector. 

-Once again in the everyone gets to call him "Fox" but Scully 
category we have Chuck referring to him as that. 

-While we are on Chuck, I was glad to see him again. It's a 
fun little character and I did like the idea of Scully being 
the one to call him in for something right up his "twisted 
little alley". Plus he gets one of the best lines in the show: 
"been there, debunked that."

-It seems Mulder has wasted no time in getting his pencils in 
the ceiling collection back. Had to make it home again I guess.

-I always think it is funny how Mulder and Scully make cops 
that have already searched crime scenes look immediately stupid 
by just waltzing up to the garbage and finding a big smelly clue.

-Was anyone else a little frightened thinking of that bow tied 
little nerd of a Doctor wearing the cowboy hat draped over his 
bedpost? I don't even want to go there.

-Also you have to love the CLUE photo: Here's me, my artifact 
and Albert! Say Scully is that Albert the World War II Navajo 
code talker for those just joining us? Why yes it is!

-Most distressing moment for me in the finale was when Scully 
answered "no" when asked if she was packing any latex by Mulder. 
MY GOD what is the world coming to? I thought those gloves just 
grew in her pockets or multiplied like bunnies in there. Or 
that every morning she put on her watch and shoved gloves in 
her suit pocket. I'm sadly disillusioned.

-Can someone who knows these things please explain why in the 
world your arms would have more radiation in them than the rest 
of the body? Or is that just with "cosmic galactic radiation", 
which is, by the way, one of the silliest names for radiation 
I've ever heard. I think they should have made it even more 
impressive and called it "super kaduper cosmic galactic 
universal radiation".

-I really enjoyed the moment where Scully smacked her hand down 
on the spinning artifact as if by doing that it would negate 
what had just happened. What they really ought to do is take 
the thing on Letterman for a version of "Stupid Artifact Tricks".

-I found it very amusing the way Sandoz tells Scully not to tell 
anyone where he is after he listens to her do that very thing on 
the phone. Duh!

Autumn Tysko
"You're both liars."