X-Files 5.14 "The Red and the Black"

Boy, that sure wasn't the kiss I was expecting! I think Krycek really
meant it, too. After Marita's betrayal, he's sworn off women for good,
although if he's looking to avoid being treated badly, Mulder's a poor
choice. He did SOME running, looked a little relieved that Scully was
alive, but remained a self-involved jerk until the end, when he saw
something, experienced something, and it was all about him again, so
then he could believe again. Ok, I'm getting ahead of myself. My reception
was like, the best reception I've ever had ever! It was like I had digital
Tv or something. The letter had a twin reference, and that was fitting,
since my twin and I turned 27 today. Is Mulder a twin? Is Spender aware of
this fact? We're watching a soap opera, I'm telling ya! Just a thought:
Could all these "Duchovny's leaving" rumors be disinformation by Fox to make
us question whether Mulder will survive the film? Just thinking. Scully
was so scared in the hospital--I hope the FBI has a damned good insurance
plan, cuz sheesh! She may as well have stuck it out as a doctor, she's in
the hospital so much. I loved him stroking her hair and his glee at her
survival, at her existance, at her just being her. I didn't like how
he remained petulant and detached, as if her pain was somehow an
inconvenience for him. Just me, or did Mulder seem to shave on his way out the door.
He seemed less grizzled when he spoke to Spender... I dig this John
Neville guy, he's cool. "Well-Manicured Man," that's his official designation,
but I hate that, so I'm going to call him Jeeves. Jeeves has a heart. Is
Marita his lover? His daughter? He clearly cares for her a great deal.
And he warned Scully about the threat against her life. Melissa wound
up dead anyway, but that was only because scully was so eager to believe
that Skinner was going to betray and kill her--sound familiar? Poor
Skinner. He constantly puts his job on the line, he takes a bullet even, and
Scully still treats him like Mulder treats her, in other words, like crap. I
think it's all the unresolved sexual tension. I like how Scully was
annoyed at Mulder's expecting her to just accept his new road, and
follow him down it. You're going to have to prove your skepticism, the way
you did your belief, she says. She needs him to believe, and he needs her
to be rational. His faith, and her doubt, are their strentghts, and you
can feel both of their characters, as well as their partnership, being
weakened without them. Because they can't do the other's role with any
integrity--both are acting from positions of fear. His doubt is this
defeated petty pity party, and her belief is a defeated frightened
child who's sure there is a monster under the bed, but is too afraid to tell
her parents, beacuse they won't believe her. Mulder's belief and Scully's
doubt were crackling powerful weapons of avengence! They reacted
(usually) with compassion towards those they encountered. Mulder's now mean, and
Scully, defensive. Her regression session was great, because those
defenses came down. Loved Scully looking to him the way a child looks
at a parent when they're going to get a shot at the doctor's office. Loved
Mulder holding her hand, hated how he walked out in a huff when she
could have used his support--surprise!. Liked the spiritual imagry of
Scully's recollection of Cassandra's abduction, as they raise their hands in
ecstatic wonder as she goes into the light. Hated Mulder as he showed
off his psychological interpretation of Scully's memories and lumped them
in with those of hundred's of strangers' memories. Glad Mulder got beaten
up, even by that sicko Krycek. Knock some sense into that boy, alex! It
seems to work. He reluctantly goes back to believing in the possibility of
something supernatural, since he needs to believe in something or else
whither away, and classifies Cassandra's disappearance as an X-File.
Scully timidly reverts to being a skeptic, mainly because Spender
play's the "You're being taken for a fool" card, and she's too afraid of being
a sucker, of being stupid, of being wrong, to fight to embrace a truth
she doesn't want to believe anyway. The scene where Scully recognizes the
guyin the truck from the bridge was similar to "Red Museum" when she sees
the Bounty Hunter who killed Deep Throat driving by. Scully getting
detained by army men while Mulder runs off happened in "E.B.E., " and "Fallen
Angel." Ditched again. The set up with Cancer man being Spender's father
sets up the possibility of his being perhaps Mulder's OR Samantha's
twin, or sibling, at any rate. Here's a theory for you to chew on: In Season
One's "Gender Bender" our heroes deal with a group of cultists who can
change gender at will, and who disappear by, maybe, spacecraft. So
what if Spender...is really...SAMANTHA!!!!!! Ok, you might want to spit that
out. In the end, all that matters is that Scully takes Mulder by the hand in
the patrol car, and agrees to go down that road with him: Regardless of
what side they're now on, how blurry those once clear lines between them
have become, they are destined to seek the truth together, and
wherever those answers lie, I will follow.

Christine :)