"It's just that what you say happened doesn't make sense. 
There's got to be more to it."

The thing about the X-Files is that if they make a half 
hearted stab at explaining how or why something happens on 
the show, I'm willing to suspend disbelief and cut them some 
slack. It's what allows us to believe in liver eating mutants 
and necromancer raised zombies for the sake of the show. While 
sophomore writer David Amman certainly has improved in his 
ability to craft an episode of The X-Files (then again there 
wasn't much direction to go but up after "Terms of Endearment" 
and "Agua Mala"), there is still something to be desired in the 
what, why and how categories. We're never quite sure just what 
made Max turn bad. Just why stepping in that little pool of 
light where the ground was a bit odd made you a rush junkie. 
Or just how Mulder and Scully were really able to put this one 
together without both of them making huge leaps. About the time 
Scully, who for some reason is on the bandwagon without having 
been given the level of evidence she usually needs, decides the 
power came from the woods it was obvious the characters were 
just saying what needed to be said to get from point A to point 
B in the story. In the end, the answers to all the questions 
this plot stirs up are brushed off with a quick "we'll never 
know" wrap up and a cave pumped full of concrete. It makes me 
think when this happens that the writer too did not know the 
answers.

I ended up liking "Rush" despite of all this. Perhaps because 
there was enough cool stuff going on most of the time that you 
forgot about the inconsistencies. Amann infuses the episode a 
time/age theme which made for some interesting banter. There 
are plenty of references to being "old and stupid", Scully 
being Betty Page pin-up caliber "back in the day", or even 
the theory that the Agents are "too old" to be effected by 
the thing in the cave (which does get a cute little pout from 
Scully). 

Duchovny and Anderson gave Mulder and Scully a playful edge 
to them that we don't get to see often enough. It starts the 
first time we see them when she swats him as he's trying to 
call her and continues throughout the episode. We get Scully 
giving Mulder an obviously telling look in response to his 
turning back to Chastity ("what?") and her literally working 
her plea to start questioning Tony's friends "please, just 
for me." There is such a nice comfort to their working method 
this season even when disagreeing instead of the ugly edge that 
had occasionally appeared in the past. Also, Scully seems 
content to continue her soft pedal on the skeptical side as 
she is pretty quick to switch gears with little motivation.

I thought that Rodney Scott did good work as Tony, showing us 
a lot of the struggle the youth was going through. I had a 
harder time buying Scott Cooper as the trademark "Sheriff son 
gone bad" Max mostly because he was a good looking kid with a 
winning smile and never a real reason for his behavior despite 
his little dig at his dad. Ann Dowd as Tony's mom was trying 
to do her best to work her limited screen time, and I think 
went a little too far as the overworked mom trying to make 
a life. If I had one complaint about the guest actors it was 
that about half of them decided to go for accents and none of 
them were the same. I wish that first time X-Files director 
Robert Lieberman would have reigned that in when it was obvious 
they were all over the place with it.

Lieberman did do a nice job with the special effects, which 
I must give a nod to. Even the simple ones were effective with 
the slight blur motion given to the camera angle. The vortex 
jitterbug Tony does was cool to watch (and no wonder those 
kids were getting concussions, slam dancing has nothing on 
this), and the whole science teacher cafeteria gruesome death 
was well done. I especially thought they did an incredible job 
with how it looked in the end with that chair splattered into 
the wall. However, the ending was simply amazing with the slow 
motion bullet effect. Kudos to everyone involved in pulling all 
this off.

All in all "Rush" was one of those episodes that was saved 
from its weaker plot points by enough gee whiz effects and 
entertaining moments to let it slide into the middle of the 
pack.

Random Musings
-----------------------
-Time stamp: As predicted the time vortex on the X-Files has 
begun. While this episode was actually shot after "Millennium" 
the date on Max's midterm test was 11/12/99 which means the 
episode takes place from 11/11/99 to 11/14/99.

-Props folks? If you're going to linger the camera on something 
you better make sure it makes sense. We've got Mulder spouting 
off about how Max had truant issues the last few months and the 
papers he flips through are dated "8-29-96" and "2-29-96", plus 
his "recent" grade transcript has "97/98" at the top making it 
also two years old.

-Speaking of the vortex, did you wonder what the heck Mulder 
was talking about when in amongst his multitude of theories 
he mentioned the "Oregon Vortex?" Check out 
http:www.oregonvortex.com and try to figure out how he thought 
someone standing so they pointed north had anything to do with 
this.

-Anyone think that perhaps if that "No Trespassing" sign had 
been facing the other direction people might have actually 
noticed it? As it was it always looked like everyone was 
walking off the property rather than on to it.

-I did enjoy Mark Snow's score this time around. Not only 
did he give up sampling for the week (though at times it did 
sound a little like he was borrowing from those bionic man 
noises), but it had a nice through theme and fit the episode 
quite well.

-OK, I have to say having the eyeglasses coming clear out the 
other side of the guy's head was a pretty good indicator that 
whoever hit the deputy with the light had one hell of a swing. 
Of course Scully does her best on the Scully Rational Explanation 
(SRE) front with adrenaline being the cause while Mulder is 
postulating poltergeists. 

-Speaking of, while Mulder does make all the required leaps 
in this episode he also tosses out every paranormal theory he 
can just to see what sticks, hurting his hit and miss ratio 
considerably this time around.

-Mulder tosses a compliment Scully's way when after Chastity 
has just left the interrogation room he introduces Scully by 
telling Tony it is his "lucky day for visitors." She certainly 
had her blouse unbuttoned far enough for Tony to view it as 
that as well. 

-A minor miracle appears to have happened. Scully wore her 
dread white shirt and managed not to get her blood all over 
the thing. Perhaps it is the start of a nice new trend for 
her and the formerly cursed shirt.

-Frank's Fashion Spot: First off does Tony ever button his 
shirt? I got really tired of having to look at his Hanes 
V-neck T-shirt the whole episode. At least his underwear 
weren't hanging out above his pants as well. As for Scully, 
the wardrobe folks seem to have figured out that she looks 
damned good in those mock turtlenecks and the camel coat was 
a fabulous addition.

-The Mulder's amazing leaps category this week has our hero 
able to zero in on one frame blur that takes 1/30 of a second 
to pass by while perusing God knows how long a timeframe of 
tape at fast forward or rewind speeds. Guess he ate his Wheaties 
too.

-I always enjoy seeing master of the paranormal Chuck back 
for a little photographic insight. Thankfully he was able to 
supply the SCAG colors allowing Mulder his next leap.

-The Sheriff is telling Mulder and Scully his son "just needs 
discipline?" And whose responsibility does he think that is?

-So what is the deal with all the shoes? Is Max running so 
fast he's melting the bottom of them all so he dashes into 
the shoe store and whips out with 20 pair each time?

-While the Sheriff is being wheeled around in the hospital 
it looks like they accidentally left David and Gillian's 
marks on tape on the floor. They certainly hit them right.

-And finally, we could have done without the last clock close 
up. No one is scared Tony is going to turn into a bad rush boy 
like Max. Really. At least their little "ooo it might be still 
out there" tag was limited to two seconds. We can be thankful 
for that.

Autumn
"I'd say Tony eats his Wheaties."