"What are you saying you believe now?"
"I don't know. I don't know what happened. I don't know what 
to believe. I just know I have to find out now."

I used to think, not all that long ago, that the mythology 
arc episodes were the heart and soul of The X-Files - I looked 
forward to these with great anticipation. However, as the 
mythology has progressed it has started to become a baffling, 
sometimes exciting, jumble of information - some critical, some 
not - that takes great pains to not tell us too much. So, 
instead, I now turn to the best "monster of the week" episodes 
for the great character insights and life of the show. Thankfully, 
when Vince Gilligan is the writer of one of these episodes I am 
never disappointed. If only they'd let him get his hands on the 
mythology, which he does to some extent here, I think it would 
be gang busters.

What makes a great monster of the week episode? For me it has 
always boiled down to one thing - involving Our Heroes personally - 
this little secret is something Vince Gilligan has always known 
(even "Soft Light" had some interesting character moments for 
Scully). When he writes an episode it is never "just a case" - 
there are always emotional underpinnings. I just wish that he'd 
share this revelation with the rest of the writing staff. While 
I'm singing the praises of Mr. Gilligan I have to say something 
about his commitment to continuity (esp. in light of some of the 
awkward moments this season). Vince was obviously a big fan of 
the show before he joined the writing staff and his attention to 
details we learned in earlier episodes is admirable. This episode 
is chock full of such tie-ins: references to Mulder's earlier 
profiling days, his old mentor Reggie Purdue, the ankle holster, 
finally an acknowledgment of Mrs. Noname Mulder's stroke, and my 
personal favorite - having Scully remember his line about dreams 
from "Aubrey". Instead of leaving us thinking that this episode 
was sort of like "Aubrey" in ways, he references the earlier case 
and uses it to help bring home the episode's theme of dreams and 
nightmares.

"A dream is an answer to a question we haven't learned how to 
ask." The dream theme was pervasive throughout the show - we 
open the teaser with one and end with Mulder afraid to sleep. 
What's Mulder's biggest dream? Finding his sister, and in a way 
that is also his biggest nightmare because if he finds her body 
he loses hope. As Mr. Sparks points out: dead is worse than 
missing no matter how hard it is not knowing what happened. The 
dream revisit to the "Little Green Men" abduction scene was a 
definite highlight as Mulder dutifully recited the words and 
actions as if he were trapped in a play that he had to see end. 
I'm sure that the whole idea that the scenario examined here 
may have been really what happened to Samantha has crossed 
everyone's mind before (and is no doubt close to what Scully 
actually believes happened). What a great juxtaposition between 
the two possibilities made realistic by one of the creepiest 
perps we've had on the show in a long time. Sometimes real 
people are much much scarier than "monsters".

Of course another wonderful thing about a Vince Gilligan story 
is the way he writes Mulder and Scully and their interaction 
with each other - and you can tell Anderson and Duchovny like 
this aspect of his writing too by the way they sink their teeth 
into his scripts. Even when the characters argue or debate it is 
done with such a familiarity that it never makes them really feel 
at odds with each other. There is a comfortable affection and 
ease of interaction that surrounds Mulder and Scully here with 
great work by both our leads on the acting front. While clearly 
another Mulder showcase, Anderson isn't just left with Scully 
twisting in the wind. Her empathy and protectiveness shining so 
brightly mirrors the audience's as Duchovny puts Mulder's heart 
on his sleeve and shows us so much honesty through his eyes.

Scully is tuned into the big ramifications of this case from 
the beginning and she approaches this very cautiously to avoid 
the missteps she has made before in episodes like "Conduit" or 
"Oubliette". Instead she gently prods "Are you up for that?" 
She doesn't answer the "big abduction question" with words, but 
we (and Mulder) really already knew the answer to that one. What 
matters is not whether or not she believes aliens took Mulder's 
sister, but the fact that she stands by him always. The interview 
scenes drive this home as she gages Mulder's reactions and gets 
that pursed lip cranky face she makes when she really hates a 
perp. The whispered "Oh God" as she ends the last interview 
fearing for Mulder was really wonderful. Director Bowman, who 
always fills his episodes with interesting shots, uses the 
window and Mulder's  reflection to great effect in the scene 
that follows as we see the impact of the interview on all 
three players. 

Mitch Pileggi goes way hard nosed with Skinner this week (and 
rightfully so) to the point of basically ordering Scully to 
keep Mulder on a leash (obviously not something she relishes), 
chastising her for not reporting on Mulder (even though Mulder 
seems to think at first that she "told on" him), and later in 
a great Scully/Skinner scene nipping her angry and protective 
proclamation about the uniqueness of the situation in the bud 
with "you let me down".

The ending leaves us questioning, and I mean that in the best 
way. It wasn't frustrating though. It was odd to actually want 
Samantha to have been abducted by aliens. What was the truth? 
How did Roche know all those things down to the vacuum cleaner 
type and yet fail Mulder's last test? Was there really a "nexus" 
or did he possess some sort of mind control the likes of which 
we have seen in "Pusher" or "Sleepless"? Or was Scully's 
hypothesis correct in that he found the information out some 
other way? These are questions I don't mind being left with. 
There is still hope at the end when Scully at her most caring 
(using that look and her whisper voice) tells Mulder "I do know 
you". However, I'd have to say the best "relationship/character" 
type moment in this episode was not the tender moment at the end, 
but that moment in which Scully overcomes her own arguments as 
Mulder pleads "Help me Scully" and joins his desperate dig in the 
dirt for the truth.

Mr. Gilligan get to work. I for one can't wait until your next 
script.

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

-I thought that Mark Snow's score for this episode was 
wonderful - he always seems to be inspired by the really 
good episodes. The playful "red light" theme with its tinkles, 
plucking, and percussion that turned ominous was great.

-Actually, the whole red light effect was really cool with 
the slip into words - simple yet very effective - it had a 
very interesting way of drawing you into the teaser.

-Fashion spotlight: While I certainly did not care for that 
odd zippered suit jacket that Scully was sporting they made 
up for it with the form fitting wine suit. Plus, we got Mulder 
in a T-shirt and jeans - and more importantly his glasses.

-Remind me to never let Mulder examine my car for evidence - 
I can do without his style of "detailing".

-So David Duchovny finally got his wish to have Mulder do a 
little basketball shooting. This was actually a nice moment 
with the great shot and then the sneering reply: "Trust a 
child molester?"

-Mulder's violent streak continues. Bad Mulder. Boy, oh boy 
though Agent Scully was not happy with him when she pretty 
much spits out "I did".

-In the on again, off again world of Skinner's wedding ring 
it is on again this week.

-At first I thought there was something alien in Mulder's 
fish tank - imagine the surprise to realize that there were 
actually FISH in it for the first time I can remember since 
Scully forgot to feed them in "Little Green Men".

-So, is this like a really weepy season so far or what? Could 
be called "The Season Where I Cried" at this point. We've had 
Mulder all teary in "Herrenvolk", "The Field Where I Died", and 
now this - plus Scully teary eyed in "Unruhe". Looks like a 
rough year for our friends.

-So do you think that Mulder will ever learn that NOTHING GOOD 
HAPPENS WHEN I DITCH SCULLY? Probably not. Boy, it was a real 
smart idea to take a serial murderer into custody alone when 
emotionally vulnerable, wasn't it? Pretty brutal too the way 
Skinner blamed Scully for letting him ditch her. Geez, does the 
girl need to hook QueeQueg's old leash to his tie?

-There was not one but two references to UFOs in Colorado on 
Mulder's wall - makes me think I need to be spending more time 
watching the skies.

Autumn
"It was nothing but a dream."