Requiem
Scully and Mulder return to Bellefleur, Oregon -
the site of their first case together - to investigate a UFO crash.
I don't make judgements like this lightly, but I think this could be my favourite season finale. Even the title was beautiful. Requiem. Evocative. Haunting. Tragic.
As I sit here trying to review this episode, there's a song going through my head, or rather a line from a song: "I'm never gonna tell you everything I gotta tell you but I know I gotta give it a try." I always knew there was a Jim Steinman quote for every occasion. I had so many thoughts on Requiem that I don't know if I'll get them all down here, but here goes anyway.
It didn't have the frenetic pace of many of the mythology episodes, nor did it have the same menagerie of confusing plot elements that so often accompany that type of episode. Instead it was slower-paced, more reflective, with a pleasing sense of circularity, but still with plenty of action and some beautiful character moments. The familiar setting really emphasised how far Mulder and Scully have come over the last seven years. Seven years. That is quite a long time, and the passage of this time was nicely and subtly reinforced by Billy Miles - he'd become a cop, got married and then divorced. Seven years. I can feel a wave of nostalgia about to sweep over me, prompted not least by the sight of Mulder's orange X on the road. I just found it really sweet that it was still there.
I liked seeing Mulder and Scully being evaluated by the auditor. It was a nice touch of realism to have them in trouble for spending too much FBI money, which would seem like a legitimate reason for stopping their work. The auditor's description of the conspiracy sounded ridiculous, as it does when almost anyone other than Mulder, Scully or a member of the Syndicate talks about it. I don't condone violence in any way, shape or form, but I fully understood why Mulder would want to hit the man, and I loved the fact that we weren't actually shown it so we could laugh when Mulder revealed it to Scully. She apparently felt much the same about the auditor - her first reaction was to smile, it was only after that that she asked if Mulder hurt him.
That scene with Scully and the baby was hardly what you'd call subtle, but I could just about live with that. What I really didn't like was the blatantly heavy-handed shot of Mulder looking at her. We get it! Anyone who didn't know, or had forgotten, that Scully can't have children was reminded she was "barren" (I hate that word for infertile, I don't know why) when she spoke to the auditor. And even if we didn't get the poignant connection between that and the baby, Mulder explained it in the next scene. Please, Mr. Carter, give your viewers credit for having a few brain cells between them.
Big non-shipper though I am, I really liked the scene in Mulder's motel room. I liked the fact that Scully didn't seem to have a clear reason for going there - she could just have easily got warm in her own room - but must have been frightened, perhaps afraid (sub-)consciously that something serious and extra-terrestrial was happening to her, and she needed security and reassurance, which Mulder gave her. The way Mulder wrapped Scully up in his blanket was sweet, although I wasn't sure he needed to cuddle up to her like that. Sorry, but we non-shippers have to draw the line somewhere. I liked the way Scully's voice trembled during this intense scene, and the way you couldn't be sure whether it was because of her illness or because she was close to crying. And I found Mulder's protectiveness very sweet, all the more so because it was undoubtedly tinged with guilt and a feeling of responsibility for everything Scully has lost. It does seem to me that Scully is the one who has suffered the most during the course of their investigations. She was abducted, an event which still has repercussions and about which she cannot be sure her memories are reliable. It also placed her life in grave danger and resulted in her contracting terminal cancer, the treatment for which, if I remember rightly, would make her "feel like dying" according to her doctor (Memento Mori - another beautiful title - I must have a thing for Latin). Her sister was shot in an attempt on Scully's own life, which made the grief all the more unbearable because of the guilt she felt over Melissa taking the bullet which was meant for her. Scully then had to deal with finding out that, although she was unable to conceive a child, she had a daughter, only for the little girl to die. It's been a tough seven years for Scully.
I know Mulder has been put through the wringer more than a few times, but to me it does seem like he has suffered less, perhaps because I relate more to Scully. Obviously Mulder had to deal with the "abduction" of his sister, but that was not a result of his involvement with the X Files, it was what got him started on them in the first place. All subsequent episodes which explored what may have happened to her were of course painful for him, thinking he had found Samantha only to discover she was an alien clone, being told by a child killer that Samantha was one of his victims, and the heartbreak of Sein und Zeit and Closure - but these two did at least seem to finally clarify what really happened to his sister. And his father, who he discovered was part of the conspiracy he was so desperate to uncover, was shot by Krycek. His mother, though, killed herself because of her illness and, presumably, her guilt over what had happened to her children, not because of the Syndicate or the conspiracy. But at least the X Files are Mulder's own quest. Scully was not assigned to them through her own choice, although the high powers at the FBI didn't expect her to work on them for this long as she was supposed to debunk them in a matter of months. Technically, Scully can still walk away from the X Files at any time - but I don't think she could. Not without knowing for certain what happened to her, what they did to her. And not while they can still do the same to other people. And I think this is why Mulder feels responsible for Scully - it's because of him that she's in this situation. I'm not saying it's Mulder's fault. It's the Conspiracy's fault, they're the ones doing the experiments and the tests and churning out all the lies. And Scully doesn't have to be there - she could have debunked Mulder's work as she was instructed to. I guess integrity and honesty can be double-edged swords as it was these that stopped her doing just that.
Are you still with me after that long meander off topic? Good. It was good to see both Marita and Krycek back again, although I know some people were disappointed to only see Krycek's head as he took a shower (wink to Eleanor J ). And it shouldn't have been distressing to see the Cigarette Smoking Man so ill, but it was. He did deserve what he got at the end, but I have to admit to being sorry to see the back of him after seven years. Last time he "died" he turned out to have survived, but that's looking much less likely this time. The fall might not have killed a healthy person, but he was weak and dying and even if he did survive, his cancer is killing him. But if there's one thing I've learnt in the last seven years, it's to never say never where the X Files are concerned.
The weird "spasming body" effect (that's the best way I can describe it, but you know what I mean) as people entered the cloaked UFO was probably very clever, but I actually thought it almost looked comical. I think it was just too much, but Mulder's jumping hand was better than the whole bodies. I liked Scully's reaction to it happening to her, though. Even though she didn't know what had happened, her fear was obvious and the way she asked "Why is this happening to me?" made her seem completely vulnerable and unprotected - a situation which Mulder seemed to want to remedy, if the protective way he cradled her and stroked her hair was anything to go by.
I really felt for Billy when he pulled his gun on his "father." He was convinced that "Detective Miles" was an imposter, but the alien shape-shifter was very convincing to the contrary. Self-doubt would be an obvious reaction in anybody, but poor Billy's mental history must have increased that for him - I know he wasn't mentally ill as in deluded, but I would have thought that he would worry about whether he could trust his own mind.
The exchange between Mulder and Skinner in the former's office was nice. It seemed friendly, open and honest, which I liked. I also liked Mulder's genuine apology to Skinner, "If they're coming down on you for that, I'm sorry." It seemed to me that Mulder had been evaluating his work and realising how other people have helped him over the years and how much they have endangered themselves, and it was nice to see him acknowledge all the trouble he has caused Skinner. Krycek and Marita coming in behind the AD was very dramatic, Skinner appeared for just a moment to be a traitor. And it was really great to have Mulder, Scully, Skinner, the Lone Gunmen, Marita and Krycek all in the same room - an unlikely alliance if ever there was one.
I thought Mulder was too bossy when he more or less ordered Scully "You're not going back out there. I'm not going to let you go back out there." But of course I could see his point and agreed with him that neither he nor Scully herself should put her life in danger, and I understand that he was probably so authoritative because he didn't have time to argue or even to let her entertain the thought, it was absolutely imperative that she mustn't go. I think it was actually the delivery of the lines, rather than the lines themselves, which struck me as overly authoritative. Sorry Mr. Duchovny. Mulder's line "I'm not going to risk losing you" seemed to me to be an admission that it was as much for his own sake as for hers, which was a nice touch. The hug was sweet and I was so glad they resisted the urge to make it into anything more, like a kiss. A hug was just right, there was no need for anything else. For a moment I thought Scully was going to ignore his advice and go with him, but I was glad that common sense prevailed and that what she meant by "I won't let you go alone" was that she'd make sure someone else, i.e. Skinner, was with him.
More evidence of Mulder assessing his priorities: when Skinner informed him that "my ass is on the line here too" Mulder seemed genuinely grateful. He seems to be less consumed now by his quest as he believes he has solved the mystery of what happened to his sister. I think he realises that the X Files are his obsession, not everybody else's, and he appreciates rather than expects help from others. I like this character development, it's a good direction for Mulder to go in.
Scully's realisation that it was Mulder, not her, who was in danger would have a been a wonderfully dramatic twist - if that clip hadn't been shown in the trailer at the end of last week's episode! (I'm reviewing this after seeing it on Sky, by the way. I don't suppose for a minute that the BBC will make much effort to run trailers.) There's a fine line between arousing people's interest and giving away the plot.
The laser beams in the wood looked very eerie. Instead of staring at his hand as it did the wiggly thing, Mulder should have pulled it straight back out, and he certainly shouldn't have gone into the ship. To be fair, he may have been pulled in against his will, I certainly hope so as he was unbelievably stupid otherwise. The scenes of Mulder inside the ship with the abductees were beautiful though. The music and the lighting were very effective, making the scenes seem spiritual, almost heavenly. I think there was a religious metaphor running through some scenes in this episode, with those being some of them. Krycek made several references to the CSM as the Devil, including "I want to damn the soul of that cigarette-smoking son of a bitch" and "[I'm] sending the Devil back to Hell." The CSM himself, however, claims that "As you do to me and Mulder, you do to all of mankind" - a line which, I think, recalls a sentence attributed to Christ in the Bible. I don't think this was an attempt to imply that he was in any way holy, just that he was, or thought he was, the saviour of mankind due to his knowledge of and actions related to the conspiracy - especially as he also claimed that there is no God, but that what people call God is a superior alien intelligence. OK, so aliens created life on earth, who or what created the aliens? I'm not a religious person, but I don't think the "fact" that life on this planet was started by aliens precludes the existence of a god.
As the spaceship left, I felt a real sense of wonder and almost of loss. Loss? That is pretty stupid when you think about it - it's only television. But I think that shows how well it's done, that you do get attached to the characters and you do feel for them.
The last scene between Scully and Skinner was beautiful. It was good to see some Skinner angst as he struggled to bring himself to tell Scully what had happened to Mulder, and Scully's tearful admission that she already knew. Skinner's remark that "I lost him" made it fairly obvious that he blamed himself, but I was glad that Scully didn't jump in with "It's not your fault" or "You mustn't blame yourself" or some such reassuring line. That would have been far too cliched, the kind of thing people say in soap operas. I don't think the fact that she didn't means that she blames him as well, I just thought she was too wrapped up in her own pain and confusion to try to deal with Skinner's as well. It was good to hear Skinner promise her his support: "What I saw, I can't deny. I won't." It would seem that his fence-sitting days are over and he's now their, or at least her, ally.
So. The cliffhanger ending. Who would have thought that two little words ("I'm pregnant") could raise so many questions? The most obvious ones being, how? Who or what is the father? Is it an alien baby? Is it Mulder's (I'd have to take back the comments I made in reviewing all things)? Will it survive? Was that the only reason for Scully's dizziness and chills, or is there something else going on as well? How will Scully deal with it?
Normally I try to only use my own personal opinions in these reviews, but we discussed this at some length on the message board and some good points were raised which I'm going to include. So I'm not taking the credit for all of these ideas, but here are some possible explanations for Scully's pregnancy.
Personally, I doubt that there's going to be a normal healthy baby in nine months' time. I don't think that the show should really go down the road of giving one of its leading characters a child, unless it was a reason to write out the character, which I'm sure it isn't. Whatever happens, Requiem seems to have set up a perfect opportunity for Gillian Anderson to shine next season.
I think that's it. I did warn you that I had a lot to say. Did I mention that I loved this episode?
Best Lines
Mulder: I think I'm in big trouble.
Scully: Come on Mulder, how many times have they tried to shut us down?
Mulder: Yeah, but I never actually assaulted an auditor before.
Scully: I don’t know how we could possibly justify the expense.
Mulder: We'd probably turn up nothing.
Scully: Let's go waste some money.
Mulder: There's so much more you need to do with your life. There's so much more than this. There has to be an end, Scully.
CSM: To possess it is to possess the answer to all things. Every possible imaginable question.
Mulder: Stick to a budget and they say you're making a contribution but push the limits of your profession and they say you're out of control.
Skinner: You could bring home a flying saucer and have an alien shake hands with the President, what it comes down to, Agent Mulder, is - they don’t like you.
Scully: There was something out there in that field. It knocked me back - because it didn't want me. Mulder thinks it's me that's in danger of being taken.
Frohike: When it's Mulder who's in danger.
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