X-Files 6.16 "Alpha"

Red Glowing eyes?

Sorry for being so late, but I've been busy. Now, I've been busy in the
past, and yet managed to write my reviews, so obviously, my enthusiasm is
waning. Most of my shows are letting my down this year, and I'm taking
solace in the promise of a Star Wars sequel, and a new Thomas Harris book
all in the same summer.

I liked the rental car Mulder and Scully drove in this episode, it was
nifty. It was nice to see mulder jazzed for an x-file, and it was REALLY
nice to be watching an episode that actually WAS an X-file, and one that
wasn't played for laughs. But the Mulder-Scully banter seemed forced and
by-the-numbers.

Worse, I feel that the show ISN'T working at a very fundamental level.
They've gotten rid of the conspiracy: so now what? WHy is Mulder still
investigating killer dogs? WHat access does this get him? WHy is he
still dealing with the feds instead of just looking for his sister full time?
In the beginning, the quest for bizarre truth strengthend his resolve to
find Samantha. Every time the impossible proved possible, Mulder's faith that
he would reunite with his sister grew more powerful. It was intoxicating to
see him defy anything and everyone to chase these windmills, his
reputation be damned. I don't feel that they are the FBI jokes anymore. How is it
they got reassigned anyway? How does it benefit the Bureau? In the
past, Cancerman pulled the strings that got BOTH Mulder and Scully down in the
basement. He's underground--why would Kersh put them back on these
cases?

Scully is even more baffling. They've finally, in my mind, expended her
credibilty. Scully doesn't HAVE to be on the X-files anymore!!! In the
movie, she's ready to quit the Bureau, rather than be assigned apart from
Mulder. It seems clear that The X-Files are her misssion too. Yet now,
with all the momentum of the film diffused with the elimination of the
shadow conspiracy, Scully is back to her scoffing sceptical self, rolling
her eyes, as though she's annoyed to be doing the very thing we've seen
her fight to do all year, which is BE ON THE X-FILES! And her doubts don't
hold the same weight as they once did. She has seen so much. A Really
really really smart dog isn't out of the realm of possibility: It's
certainly not as weird as things she HAS experienced. Yet here she is,
playing it like this is first season.

Back to the episode, Whenever some animal person says something about
"murder is a human characteristic," I wonder if that means if we hunted
one another for food, if that would be OK. i also think about those National
Geographic articles with Jane Goodall and the Chimpanzees? I loved them
as a kid, but they scared me too. There were these three Chimps in the
community who stole babies from other chimps and killed them and ate
them: MURDER. They were ostracized from the community by the other chimps, and
they lived in the jungle but would sneak in peroidically to try to steal
more children. Human characteristic my butt. Animals murder but they
don't have lawyers.

Now, I feel that i am an intelligent viewer: I am obviously very
analytical. I take notes, for crying out loud!!! SO, when Scully told
Mulder that this woman had feelings for him, I was thrown for a complete
loop. Did ANYONE feel that AT ALL?? I mean, I thought wolf woman was an
odd-ball, and rather interesting, but all I saw was Mulder touching HER.
Her reaction didn't say "hubba hubba" to me: Nothing about her behavior
did. I felt like I had missed the first past of the story: The part
where we "get" why this woman likes Mulder, and why she's important to
us. Instead, we got dialouge that explained to us what we weren't seeing on
screen. I'm also sad to note that Scully's interest in protecting
Mulder didn't seem jealous, but merely...(gulp)...sisterly concern. Ouch, that
hurt.

Little thing that bugged me: the id's, you know, where they tell us
where they are? When they are in "Omaha" or "Chicago", I don't recall them
bouncing from suburb to suburb to tell us, but they enjoyed taking us
from Belleflower to Torrance to San Pedro, which only makes sense if you're
from here or have lived here. If I wasn't familiar with those cities, I might
imagine them travelling between Sacramento and Oakland, or Dallas and
Houston or whatever. And why did they do this? Becasue Chris Carter is
FROM belleflower and he went to High School in Torrance. Isn't that
cute? (The Pilot is set in Belle Fluer, Oregan--in other words, they've already
paid tribute).

The "plot point" (those are sarcastic quotation marks) about wolf woman
having (GET THIS!!!!) Lupus, you know the wolf disease? That was just a
sick pun. It wasn't explored or developed or explained, it was just
thrown out there "I lived among wolves, and I got Lupus, which derieves from the
Latin for wolf...isn't it ironic? Don't you think?" And that's it. I
liked Scully at the end, checking up on Mulder. It was sweet and
believable and genuine. BUT, again, he's stewing over this woman and
what she meant to him, and It felt like all those awful first season mulder
angst BS, when the writers weren't sure if giving him a sister abducted
by aliens was enough so they killed his old partner, and it was partly his
fault, they killed his old mentor and it was because of him, they gave
him a fear of fire and a broken heart from an old flame: One episode
angstfests never to be referenced again. The Poster is the same deal. The (by now
relentless) music swells, as mulder tacks up the poster, like somehow
this woman gave him his quest back, or YET ONE MORE reason to seek the
truth--but we're never going to think of this woman again and neither are
the writers and certainly not Mulder.

Next week actually looks creepy, and I really hope that it is. I'm of
the opinion that next year, Mulder and Scully should just be on the lam,
fugitives pursued by the government and the government within the
government and ratboy and the whole gang. Maybe Scully's blacksheep
brother Charley can help them! (Please...just go with me on this....).
I hope I'm wrong, but I honestly fear that there just aren't anymore fresh
ideas that involve them in those suits, poking around and arguing about
whether "IT" is a monster or a ghost or a demon. Time to shake the whole
thing up and go out with a bang (and yes, I think they should pursue a
romantic relationship in the final season.)
Thanks for "listening", I'd love to hear what you all think and what
suggestions YOU have.

Have a great week, Christine :D