The further we move from the events of the season opener the easier
it becomes to slip into the familiar confines of the X-Files everyday
cases (if astral projection can be thought of as a familiar confine). 
Sure, some of us miss the excitement around the conspiracy related 
episodes, but those will be back soon enough. In the meantime if we 
consider episodes such as "The Walk" on their own merits we find a 
good X-File well told.

I know that I have mentioned this before (that never stops me from
mentioning it again <G>), but if there is one great theme that has
prevailed this season it has nothing to do with CancerMan - it has
to do with the writers finally really understanding how to best use
Gillian Anderson's talents. After the strong and polished Scully we 
have seen this season I will be sorely disappointed if they ever lapse 
into making her a simple tag-along again forever asking "What do 
you think Mulder?" The show now truly has two leads and Gillian 
has taken the ball and ran with it.

For those Scully naysayers who insist on whining the tired old
refrains of "why is she always so skeptical?" or "she never 
changes" this episode highlights the subtle shift we have seen in
her character. The old Dana Scully was concerned about putting
off local authorities - the new Scully has barely concealed disdain 
for the military at this point (despite being raised in a military family 
herself) to the point of actually saying "whatever" to a captain. 
The old Scully would argue with Mulder over his conspiracy 
theories - the new Scully offers up her own about the government's 
use of biological weapons in the gulf war. This shift in approach 
highlights the change/growth in her character.

If I have a complaint about this episode it would probably be that
it seemed to run out of steam a bit at the end (despite all the
steam on the screen). I even felt like they were stretching shots
to fill the episode time when the time could have been better
spent (for instance giving us a few more clues on just what Mulder
was doing with all his little dental X-rays).

The Mulder/Scully interaction has always been one of my personal
favorite things about the show, and I couldn't help but laugh that
now they're passing notes to each other. (Apparently they haven't
yet perfected the raised eyebrow combination that means "post
traumatic stress syndrome" in their silent communication repertoire).
They even have shorthand versions of their arguments now (which
they do have down to looks for the most part). Now Scully only
needs to whisper "Mulder" and we hear her whole speech
resounding in the room between them.

The Comments Grab Bag
-----------------------------------

-Fun time for the makeup folks. What a way to try to kill yourself -
boiling. That was a tactical error.

-Thank God they worked the bugs in. This is apparently the new theme
for the X-Files in season 3. I guess season 2's amphibians/reptile
theme is now passe'.

-I thought the glowing flag behind the general was a really cool 
visual effect.

-The black actor in the beginning was a "Shadows" retread.

Autumn
"Not as worked up as I'm gonna be"