Look at this shot of Mulder and Scully. Classic X-Files! My heart swells with happiness.
Okay, so this was a Monster of the Week episode, but what it really was about was William. I liked how they approached the subject of the kid. All the fear and angst these two have over what could have been, what should have been, how they have dealt with the spectre of their decision regarding their son. It’s very sad, and I thought, quite moving. And gave us fans who adore Mulder and Scully as a couple, another little nugget.
Awwwwww. They love each other so much!
Another thing I noticed as I watched this episode, other than the continued ability to creep us out, is how tired these two seem. Some people have taken this as lazy acting, that Duchovny and Anderson are just “phoning it in” for the paycheck, but to me, it seems as these are two people who are weary of the world and their place in it. They have both tried to move on, tried to make their lives mean something, yet find themselves pulled back, not only together, but into a seemingly endless pile of crap.
You’d be tired too.
Add in eugenics, which is always creepy and awful, and the ghost of the decision they made about their child, and the fact that these two are upright, let alone willing to work, is amazing.
But! There was certainly a twinkle in an eye here and there. I don’t know if this is the natural chemistry between the two actors breaking through, or if this is character choices, but as the case moves on, and Mulder and Scully start putting the pieces together, you can see, somewhere deep inside, they both have moments of enjoyment.
Aren’t these images sweet?
Both Dana and Fox having daydreams about what it might be like to have been there to raise their son. Very sweet, mommy and daddy moments. But then those moments go dark, with Dana worrying that her child might be the result of some mutation experiment, Fox terrified that his child would have been abducted just like his sister. They both can’t help to veer into what horrifying thing might have happened to William if he had stayed with them. I’m not a parent, but I can guess that it is not uncommon for parents to worry about what might go wrong with their kids, Of course, I’m also pretty sure most parents don’t have the nightmare scenarios that these two have rolling around in their brains. There was a part of me that thought these two might have ended up being the worst helicopter parents ever, after seeing what awful things they cooked up in their heads for the kid.
And now I wonder if this is the only talk of William we will have. If I know Chris Carter, I am guessing this is it. That’s fine. It’s good to know that Dana Scully and Fox Mulder aren’t sociopaths, and that they do have sorrow over the choices they’ve had to make.
And now this:
I was suprized to see Mulder’s office set up so quickly, complete with crazy stuff pinned up on all the walls. Word has come out that Carter rearranged the order of the episodes, which makes this set up a little more understandable. But I am wondering, as are several others around the interwebs, why doesn’t Scully have a desk? After all these years, she still doesn’t get a desk? I blame Skinner.
Also, one other thing, the actor who played Sister Mary at the creepy eugenics hospital was none other than Christine Willes, an awesome character actor who has been around forever, played beloved characters on Dead Like Me and Reaper, and was a recurring character in the early days of The X-Files! I wonder if we’ll have any other little casting gems like that. I hope so.
I think episode 3 is a funny one. WooHoo!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGxADjSoGp0