"You're just making this up."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because you work on the X-Files and you just want to write off 
your motel."

Well, this was writer Frank Spotnitz's version of writing off 
his motel. There was an X-File in there - even with a moral 
"man vs. nature" theme thrown in, but it certainly was not 
the appeal of the episode. I've got to share something with 
you folks. I'm worried about Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz. 
Though I am absolutely positive that Chris Carter wrote "Redux",
ever since then I've had this odd feeling that perhaps Vince 
Gilligan has taken over the writing staff and killed off the 
other writers or shoved them under the bed strapped to a board 
or something. If it weren't for all the running in "Detour" I 
swear I'd be putting an APB out on Spotnitz. Maybe there was 
just some sort of Gilligan teamwork seminar this summer that 
was held where they discussed building a script on characters 
rather than bodies and explosions. Whatever it is, I'm 
thankful - and to be honest - without the wonderful character 
interplay this episode would be a rather silly monster of the 
week. Thank God for the Mulder/Scully "Outward Bound" program 
because the red-eyed moth/mud/tree boys of Ponce de Leon who 
seemed like a cross between "Predator" and the XF novel "Goblins" 
didn't do a whole lot for me. I'm glad to see the monster of 
the week back. I'll be even more glad when there is at least a 
scary monster instead of a necessary evil.

Every single time I get a glimpse at other agents on the show 
I am again glad that the X-Files is about Mulder and Scully. 
This time we get a snapshot of another male/female team. The 
enthusiastic car pool partners on their way to their yearly 
adventure of office furniture at another exciting "FBI Creative
Team Seminar" had me feeling for Mulder. Personally I have no 
idea why Mulder and Scully were going to that seminar anyway. 
Even though, as Scully notes, Mulder could stand to work a 
little on his spoken communication skills, I tend to agree 
with him on this one about their unspoken communication. Team
work isn't exactly something that has been a huge problem for 
these two when the chips are down. The dichotomy of them 
building a tower out of bodies later on versus the other 
partners bonding over their pencil sharpener triumph had me 
laughing out loud.

However, it is apparent that there were still some communication 
issues. While Scully thought they'd blown off the seminar to 
have their own little wine and cheese "par-tay" by breaking 
those "consorting" policies, Mulder isn't going to be distracted 
from surfing www.predators.com with his amazingly high speed 
modem just to talk about the twelfth grade love of his life. 
He'll just ditch her with a smile. All the more wine for her.

So, OK, let's talk about the sure to be soon dubbed "conversation 
in the forest" scene. For me, unabashed character junkie that I 
am, this was the highlight of the episode. Not only did we get 
the traditional short-throw-away-post-really-dramatic-mythology 
reference in the Scully cancer musing, but there was UST so thick 
you could cut it with a knife. I'm sure there are plenty out there 
that wish it were raining sleeping bags that night. Scully seems 
more comfortable than ever with Mulder throughout this episode. 
She's there with him stride for stride, innuendo for innuendo. 
She's given up hiding reactions to his jokes and actually smirks 
if not smiles at his humor. She plays his Flintstone games and 
humors him. Losing that tumor sure has lightened the two of them 
up. I loved Mulder's "I don't want to wrestle" line as Scully 
decides to keep him warm without the luxury of the sleeping bag 
method. Her care for him, complete with the soft "sorry" when
she accidentally hurts him while attempting to stroke him is a 
big warm fuzzy. However, when "can't carry a tune" Scully relents 
to sing to Mulder much to his and our shock, that, more than 
anything, showed how much she really cares.

The monster was, as I mentioned earlier, weak. Why they were 
attacking people at all and especially in their homes, was too 
pat. The Blockbuster Video encroachment answer or that if you 
came to the forest they will track you down at your home or 
motel was hard to swallow. Plus, as eerie as the hole that 
Scully fell down was - why were the people kept alive to die? 
What was the point there? A warning as Mulder mentions? If you 
want to warn people I don't think hiding the bodies is the 
smartest route. Here's hoping our next monster has as much 
depth as the characters.
 
Random Musings
------------------------

-Retread Alerts: Lots of them here. One of the surveyors in 
the beginning was the young version of Johannsen in "Piper 
Maru". The hunting father has been seen as Scully's hypnotist 
in "Blessing Way" and a NASA guy in "Space". The mother was 
seen in the "Young at Heart" courtroom.

-Love the way Mulder escapes from the rent car from hell with 
a "Thank you Jesus" - maybe Scully's faith has rubbed off a bit.

-Frank's Fashion Spot: Why in the world did Mulder bring a 
parka to Florida for a business trip to a hotel based seminar? 
It looked pretty funny with him in that jacket and Scully in a 
light coat. Sorry, but that part of the south just doesn't get 
that cold too often - even if it was in the forests near
Tallahassee. Also, while I like the black jeans on Scully I'm 
starting to wonder if she has any actual blue jeans in her 
closet anymore.

-We had two first timers behind the scenes for this episode. 
Another new editor (seems like there has been a bit of turnover 
in that part of the staff) in Casey O Rohrs and a first time 
X-Files directing stint for Brett Dowler.

-Mulderism I could have done without: "Who cut the cheese?"

-The ending may be classified by some as a bit of a Scully 
ditch of all things, but as she is going back to the motel 
and actually *packs* for Mulder I just can't count it as such. 
My God, do these two have no secrets? They pack each other's 
bags now as well?

-Where do they find these motels? High speed internet lines, 
mini bars with wine and cheese, and velvet matador paintings. 
I've got to find this place in my travels...

-Our Little Sailor: Swearing!Scully was busy this episode. 
"So it's not man and it's not animal - what the hell is it." 
"What the hell's happening here?"
"What the hell is it Mulder?" 
Just gearing up for the movie I guess.

-For a change this time Scully loses her gun. Not that it 
would do her much good at this point as she'd pretty much 
shot or pulled apart all her bullets.

-The first gratuitous reference to the FOX network during the 
alien autopsy thing was funny. This, despite the Walt Whitman 
crack, was a little too self-referential.

-All that Spotnitz running managed to wind dry Mulder's hair. 
When Michelle disappears and Scully calls him we see him running 
towards her with the wet look, but by the time he arrives seconds
later he's blown dry.

-I didn't know experienced forest guides had given up the compass 
in favor of the Hansel and Gretel method of finding your way home.

-The X-Files writing staff needs to stop falling back on the 
"cell phone doesn't work here" plot device. Sorry, but in this 
day it works almost everywhere, and that near to Tallahassee it 
is highly unlikely the phone would not work. I've called out 
from the middle of forests plenty of times - in fact there is
a huge problem with 911 calls coming in now from stranded hikers 
in the wilderness. Time to figure out a new way of cutting them 
off from their favorite communication devices.

-Anyone else have a bit of a problem imagining Mulder and his 
Dad as "Indian guides"? 

-Speaking of which, if these two are going to go to a seminar 
why the hell don't they go to an outdoor survival one? For all 
the time they spend in the woods with nothing good ever happening 
it would be nice if between the two of them they could start a 
fire. Not that Scully's little bullet plan wasn't amusing and for 
a brief second a flash of entertainment.

-Anyone else get a kick out of Scully, her hair mussed, chomping 
down on forest berries? 

-"Joy to the World" is an interesting choice as Scully's singing 
debut. Not only do the lyrics she sings have an odd Mulder/Scully 
meaning - (i.e. "was a good friend of mine, never understood a 
single word he said"), but I feel sorely cheated that we missed 
Scully singing the second verse to Mulder: "If I were the King of 
the world, Tell you what I'd do, I'd throw away the cars and the 
bars and the wars, And make sweet love to you". You can't tell me 
that would have gone without comment...

Autumn
"There has to be a scientific explanation for this."