X-Files 5.13 "Patient X"

Uh, well, if anyone thought the show was getting too light, I think the
show made up for every single joke they've ever made in this joyless affair.

I liked most of it, although I can't say I understood all of it.
Mulder's little opening speech was like the one he gives in "Little Green Men",
the second season opener, except there he was lamenting how everyone used
to beopen to UFO's and now their not, and now he's complaining about how
gullible and fickle everyone is. I do feel I need to inject that Mulder's
timetable doesn't really hold up, and Monotheism has been around since,
well, the beginning. Not just with Jews but with pagans too, you
Anyway, Ol' Blondie finally turns up, scowling as usual, and
there's good ol' Krycek, presumably an arm short, I didn't notice.
This was a bad-guy reunion! I was ready for cancer man to show up! It was
also a two-parter that visited two parter's past--we visit the Skyland Mnt.
of "Duane Barry-Ascension" and the Tunguska of "Tunguska-Terma." In the
Star Wars dept., I thought Marita's "mercy mission" speech, and Krycek's
disbelief was reminiscent of the exchange between Vader and Leia at the
top of Star Wars. Like Vader, Krycek also tortures somebody later,
although Krycek's more like...Greedo: a petty, ineffectual thug. Who gets
killed by Solo, who is Scully in this cross-over, so keep that gun loaded and at
your side, Dana. Kill that sadistic creep. I enjoyed how even the UFO nuts
mock Mulder now for his new government conspiracy thoery, and how, with
Cassandra, we see that the burden of credibility is much heavier on his
soul that all the mocking disbelief he's faced in the past. I found
myself seriously missing Scully 20 minutes into the show... I also felt much
of the show was over-written, a lot of the dialogue seemed too preachy
speechy, especially between Mulder and the doctor. I also expected a big THANK
YOU STEVEN SPIELBERG FOR ALL THE COOL STUFF WE BORROWED FROM CLOSE
ENCOUNTERS
billboard to run along with the mature content ones, but, ok, maybe He
borrowed from the literature of abduction accounts. Scully didn't play
with her food, but, still...Did anyone else feel Scully fell for Spender's
line about not wanting to be labled in the bureau the same way Mulder
fell for Krycek's "I want to believe" line in "Sleepless?" I don't want to
add any fuel to the "Duchovny's leaving the show" fire, but Spender could
be the Scully in a scenario where Dana becomes the believer in the wake of
Mulder' disappearance, whatever. However, it would be unfair that you
men would still have Dana and we'd have this dork. I'm just worse-casing
it, but this was going to be their last year, so anything beyond is bonus.
I really do think David will stick around and it'll be OK. It occured to
be that Marita and Alex stand out among this group of old white men who
run the show. How'd they get this gig, did they go to the wrong booth at
the college job-fair? And how jerky is Mulder in this episode? He whines
to Scully that he had his head up his ass for five years. Well, Mulder,
you still do if you can't notice Scully's obvious inner-torment! I love
how they're roles have shifted and it's almost physically painful. Mulder
wants to believe and can't, Scully doesn't want to believe, but the
girl can't help it. Cassandra seems to recognize Scully--if it's from the
"testing place" than she must've really made an impression cuz' there
seem to be thousands of abductees and they all remember Dana. Isn't Gillian
terrific? The way she holds it all in, yet still shows it to us? The
way her emotions teeter on the brink of escape the same way her tears just
cling to her eyeballs, refusing to fall? You may have been touched,
but Mulder can't be bothered with her distress, with Cassandra's pain, with
the horrific murders of hundreds of innocents. He's too busy having a
pity party for himself! "What am I supposed to do? I can't help you" He
whines to anyone who'll listen. His mocking "prophet" jibe towards cassandra
was REALLY low, but who cares, It's all about him. Spooky. As Diana
would say, he's dizzy from being the center...I loved how Scully won't, at
first, tip her hand to Mulder. She feels him out about his thoery and when
she realizes it ain't as weird as hers, she withholds. She's a pleaser,
and is, unlike Mulder, unwilling to be thought of a fool. Mulder WAS much
better at that. Braver. His belief in the truth, and in himself were
enough for him but Scully's a pleaser. She' s too embarrassed to admit
believing in what she can't prove, be it her Catholic faith that she
occassionally acknowledges during times of great personal stress, or
her present alien/salmon spawn instinct. Notice how both Krycek and Mulder
were distracted by Marita, and both lost someone important?? Remember
that guys, don't trust those blonds (Sorry Diana, but you're more of an
ash-blonde, and thus, not evil. That's how it works, trust me.

Anyway, Scully painfully, almost violently lets Mulder know she might, maybe, i
don't know, think this was uh paranormal, Ok? And Mulder won't even
follow for her sake, the way she's been backing him up for the last five
years, out of duty and respect and love [the reader may interpret if this
refers to romantic or brotherly love] and just guard her soul, the way she
did his, when she'd she him fall under the spell of some shyster! Maybe
she'sbeing duped by the government mister Educated-at Oxford jerk! She's
depressed and vulnerable and all you see is some kind of betrayal,
like, "how dare you believe in anything now that I've stopped since I think
my sister's alive and all I cared about all along was my own personal
quest and now that that's seemingly obsolete I'm going to pout and whine
and...Scully? Scully? So as usual, he ditched her. I realize she
walked out on him, but only because she was Emotionally Ditched, ya see?
Pretty cool cliff-hanger, Scully's a sheeplike believer AND in mortal
danger...tune in next week. Mulder needs to do a lot of running and
screaming and crying to make up for his behavior this week. Let's hope
he does right by Dana, it'd be a real nice thing to do, and a nice
birthday present for me as well. I know, pretty shameless, but hard to resist
when I've got you all here...Oh, was that Cassiopia , the constellation they
were following and is that significant of anything? Help me out with
the mythology: all I'm getting is a random Battlestar Gallactica reference,
as that was the name of Starbuck's girlfriend, and Starbuck is what Dana's
Dad called her...well, I'm sure you can do better that THAT!!! I have a
vague memory that Cassandra was a prophet whom no one believed--was Mulder trying to show off when he made that snide remark? Probably. Anyway, I
anxiosly await his redemption.

I'll talk to you all next week, March 8, a very
special day in the life of someone you all have in common. ;)

Christine