I really liked Wetwired, partly because of paranoid Scully and partly because of the interesting spin it put on the controversial subject of whether or not there is a link between violence on television and violence in the real world. I tend to side with Scully in issues like this, but for once I found myself agreeing with Mulder. His comment "Those studies are based on the assumption that Americans are just empty vessels ready to be filled with any idea or image that's fed to them, like a bunch of Pavlov's dogs, and go out and act on it" was great to hear (at least for me) because it really, really annoys me when people claim that violent acts are prompted by images on TV. But then I'm so anti-censorship that my opinion is going to be more biased than the Eurovision Song Contest voting, and since this isn't really the place to discuss it, I won't. I did think it was quite hypocritical of Mulder to criticise Scully for talking about "pseudo-science" though!

The teaser was quite creepy as the same man appeared over and over again. The "TV interference" effect was quite good and established that something weird was going on, but was possibly used too much in the episode as a whole to explain what was happening in case we hadn't got it yet. Patnik's anguish when he realised his victim was his own wife was a nice way to emphasise that he was not acting of his own volition.

Two random comments about Scully: would she really say that somebody "went all wiggy?" Not a very scientific term. And shouldn't she have closed that ice chest? OK, I'll let her off that one because she was descending into paranoia by then. Which brings me to:

I liked Scully's gradual decline into irrationality. Well, "liked" is probably the wrong word as it was almost painful to watch a normally sane and rational woman behave so erratically, but I thought it was well done. The image of Mulder and the Cigarette Smoking Man together in the car was shocking, and Scully's reaction was understandable. I liked the way she didn't seem sure how to handle it and wouldn't confront Mulder but instead asked him questions to find out as much as she could - she didn't seem to quite believe it, which again was understandable. Scully's questions to Mulder about the analysis of the device were so blatantly out of character that I thought it took Mulder too long to realise something was wrong, but his concern when he did was nice and I liked the way he told her he'd be right there and not to go anywhere. And Scully's frantic hunt for a bug was hardly original, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Mulder's complaint that the hunt for Scully was being conducted like a hunt for an escaped convict was touching, and I agreed with him that it was degrading for Scully and that she was not responsible for her actions. However, I had to agree with Skinner that, since she was armed and dangerous, that type of operation was really necessary. If the escapee had been anyone but Scully, I (and probably Mulder as well) wouldn't have batted an eyelid at the criminal style of the manhunt. It was only because of the personal interest in the operation that it seemed a bit brutal, and this was one of the reasons why seeing Scully go off the rails was so unpleasant.

I have to admit to being shocked when Mulder was called to identify Scully's body. I don't really know why, because it was pretty obvious that they wouldn't kill either of the lead characters, maybe it was because Mulder didn't know that. Obviously, since he's not real, but doesn't know it. If you get what I mean. Anyway, the fact that the body, from the little they showed of it, did actually look a little like Scully added to the dramatic effect. And Mulder's reactions were believable and touching, the way he composed himself in the car and before opening the blinds, and his anger at the informant who had led him to the case. At the risk of spouting psycho-babble, I'm going to suggest that maybe he was directing his anger at himself outwards, I think there was some self-blame in there too. We've already seen, in episodes such as One Breath, that Mulder feels guilty when anything happens to Scully, and to be honest I can see why he would. It's because of him that she is assigned to the X Files, and while she is still responsible for her own decisions and actions (most of the time), that fundamental fact would cause Mulder guilt. Not, in my opinion, justifiable guilt, but human emotions are rarely rational. Anyway, sorry, that was a bit off-topic.

I really liked the climactic scene where Scully pulled her gun on Mulder. I thought Gillian Anderson was very good, although I wasn't quite as convinced by Sheila Larken as Mrs. Scully. At least, that was my instant reaction, but now I realise she was just delivering her lines in an understated way which didn't quite work for me, but may have done for other people. I really loved the way Mrs. Scully stepped between Scully and Mulder, and Scully's tortured reaction. She knew her mother could be trusted, but she was convinced that Mulder was a traitor, and to have her mother tell her otherwise pulled her in two different directions - either they were both lying or they were both her allies. Scully crying in her mother's arms was very emotional and my heart went out (I hate that phrase, it's so cheesy, but I can't think how else to put it) to poor Scully. But then I'm a Scully fan, so it would.

The way Mulder put up his hands as he entered Scully's hospital room at first struck me as really tasteless, but then I thought that maybe that was his way of telling her not to worry about it and that it wouldn't be a taboo subject. Which was nice, but maybe she wasn't ready to talk about it and didn't want to be reminded. I liked their conversation in this scene though, the way Scully proved that her faith in Mulder really was restored by confiding everything in him, and his gentle reactions.

I described the gun scene as "climactic," which I think is a fair description, but the climax really ought to come much closer to the end. Although uncovering the conspiracy behind the device was an interesting plot element, it took far too long. But I forgave most of that for the final scene in which X was revealed as working for the Cigarette Smoking Man. This was a good development and explained why X can only offer Mulder limited help - he is trying to betray Cancer Man but is not willing to compromise himself, and seems to be afraid of the man who appears to be his master. Definitely an interesting development.

Just one more thing that didn't fit in anywhere else: Mulder's red-green colour-blindness is far too convenient. There has never been any reference to it before, which in many TV shows you wouldn't expect since it's such a little thing about a person and by no means defines their character. But in The X Files, there have been occasions where telling the difference between red and green has been important, like green alien blood compared to red human blood. So it just seemed like a convenient writing device to avoid having Mulder affected by the television. Although I did like the way Mulder held up his tie as proof that he was colour-blind. Apart from that, and the long time the episode took to wind down, Wetwired worked well as a stand-alone episode with conspiratorial overtones.

Mulder: Television does not make a previously sane man go out and kill five people thinking they're all the same guy. Not even must-see TV could do that to you.

Mulder: Television does not equal violence, I don't care what anybody says. Unless you consider bad taste an act of violence.

Byers: You know the way a television works?

Mulder: Yeah, you click it on, you get a picture…

Mulder: Mind control?

Langly: 57 channels of it.

Scully: You're in on it. You're one of them. You're one of the people who abducted me. You put that thing in my neck. You killed my sister!

Scully: I saw things and I heard things and it was just like the world was turned upside down. Everybody was out to get me.

Mulder: Now you know how I feel most of the time.

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