#E.B.S.

[deathsbestgirl]

if you think scully was just 'putting up with' mulder, you need to rewatch little green men & the host. like. she loves him. he's her best friend. when he didn't see her in the hallway she was so concerned, she set up a secret meeting with their little signal and she tried so hard to talk him into being himself. she was so relieved when he made a joke, so touched when he said "i learned that from you" but also maybe even more concerned. and in the end when she says "you still have nothing" she's heartbroken. and then !!! he says "i've still got you" she's just as important as "his work" even if they can't say that outright just yet. she's still there on what he cares about, what's important, what he's determined not to lose.

they aren't partners anymore but she makes sure he knows she's there. she will do all the autopsies, she will talk out the cases. they can still have their debates & banter and all is not lost. and he gets the message! he lets her back in. because yes, he needs her but she needs him too. she wasn't going to give up and how could he deny her? they're so pure. they just love each other so much. they care so much about each other and the work and the world.

scully may not believe what he believes, but she knows he's onto something important. and after e.b.e. they are so together on that. they make the people following them run in circles trying to keep up with them, leaving false trails. it's mulder & scully against the world (for the world) and they can only trust each other.

(side note: i truly think scully is a very trusting person. she had a much better childhood & connection to her parents, she learned it was safe to trust. and when she learned those hard lessons, she's the one who doubles down on "trust no one" and even more so when she understands how trusting mulder really is, how it hurts him in the end. so she distrusts for the both of them. she's more skeptical. until he's gone and she has no one to trust, and she trusts skinner, doggett, reyes, the gunmen. but it's still only to an extent. she never tells any of them everything.)

[that--funny--feeling]

You're the only one I trust.

Mulder and Scully show how much they trust each other through the seasons.

The X Files 1x17 // 2x01 // 2x13 // 3x23

Find other parallels here.

[enoughslices]

Mulder, the truth is out there, but so are lies.

Dana Scully, S1E17 E.B.E.

[agent-troi]

“i think it’s remotely plausible that someone might think you’re hot” SGSJDSHGSJDJDBSKDDK

[california-112]

One interesting difference between these 'original airing' DVDs (left) and my streaming source (right) that I noticed right away is that they have different crops- click the screenshots to view this fully- and slightly different colourings.

If you look at the folders on the table in the bottom right, the original airing shows more, but they are more green-blue and beige rather than the purple-blue and pink of the stream, which shows less. Also, the stream is just generally lighter: look at the door and filing cabinet areas.

I wonder what the original crop was when it was filmed, as one of these is not a zoom-in of the other, it literally has new and different information.

The DVD version is also significantly lower quality than the stream, though this doesn't really come across in my already low-quality screenshots :')

[xf-cases-solved]

S1E17: E.B.E.

Case: Bro, I watched and (mostly) paid attention to this episode, took notes on this episode, and read the Wikipedia page about this episode, and I'm still not 100% sure I know what happened in this episode. TL;DR, there might have been a UFO spotted, carrying an E.B.E. (extraterrestrial biological entity), and the shadow government might be trying to hide it. Or maybe the shadow government is trying to make them THINK that they're trying to hide it to distract them from ??? Deep Throat is telling the truth. Unless he's lying. Maybe he's telling half-truths. He lies to protect himself. Or maybe he lies to mislead Mulder. Maybe he's physically incapable of lying. Maybe he has never once been able to tell the truth. Maybe there are two Deep Throats and one only ever lies and the other only ever tells the truth and you have to solve his riddle. Whatever. That's for Mulder and Scully to deal with. The actual main purpose of this episode is—LONE GUNMEN INTRODUCTION!!! 

God, I love those sluts.

(Oh, also, at the beginning of the episode, some government officials are trying to get rid of Mulder and Scully, bc that's usually what happens, and instead of trying to be circuitous and Political™️, the guy just sighs, sounding super over it, and says, "Just go away." That's not relevant to the case or anything, I just thought it was really funny.)  

Does someone die in the cold open: Unclear. It's possible an alien was kerploded, but really, who's to say?

Does Mulder present a slideshow: No

Does the evidence survive the investigation: Homie, idek if there was evidence to begin with. I don't even know if there was an actual CASE, or if this was just Mulder dragging Scully along for a fun extracurricular activity. 

Whodunit: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Convictions: lol

Did they solve it: No. They don't even get experience points. Fuck you.

[how do i determine if a case is solved? check the scale here: x]

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY: The Lone Gunmen periodical—your monthly top news source for all things conspiracy. Who killed JFK? What's the government REALLY doing with all those AI devices? Have you checked your twenty dollar bills for any tracking devices lately?

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***

General Total Stats:

(green means stat has changed since last ep; red means new stat added to list)

Total Cases *Definitively* Solved So Far: 8 (streak ended)

Total Number of "Mulder/Scully, It's Me" phone calls: 1

Total Number of Times Scully Has Conveniently Not Seen Something Crucial: 5 (i'll say that her not running after Mulder and ergo missing the entire scene with Deep Throat counts)

Total Number of Times Mulder Has Been in Mortal Danger: 5

Total Number of Times Scully Has Been in Mortal Danger: 6 

Total Number of Sexually Charged, Uncomfortably Intimate, and/or Flirty Moments Between Friendly Coworkers: 10 ("i think it's remotely plausible someone might think you're hot." excuse me, sir?? 😳😏 also, "you're the only one that i trust." like damn, use your inside voice. every time these two talk about trust, i feel like i'm watching their amateur porn)

Total Number of Autopsies Scully Has Performed On Screen: 1

Total Number of Times Scully Plays Doctor: 2

Total Number of Times Mulder Talks to an Informant: 10 (there was a lot of deep throating in this episode, and no i will never be mature about that name so don't even ask)

Total Number of Times People Making Out in a Car Are Hurt or Killed: 2

Total Number of Nosebleeds: 4

Total Number of Times Mulder Has Tasted/Sniffed/Touched Something Questionable Without Following Proper Safety Procedures: 2 

Total Number of Times Someone Says "Trust No One": 1 

Total Number of Times Someone Says "I Want to Believe": 2

Total Number of Times Someone Says "The Truth is Out There": 1 (i might have missed some before this, bc i thought i was tracking this stat already, but apparently i wasn't. we're just gonna pretend otherwise tho, mk?)

Total Number of Cigarettes Cigarette Smoking Man Has Smoked: 2

Total Number of Maggie Scully Sightings: 1 

Total Number of Lone Gunmen Sightings: 1!!!

Total Number of Alex Krycek Sightings: 0 :(

Total Number of Times I Had to Look Up What State the Episode Takes Place in Even Though I Literally Just Watched It: 5½ (whatever. i know part of it took place in i think mb iraq? and then they were at the lone gunmen's house and the hoover building so they had to have been in DC too. so leave me alone 😔)

Total Number of Times I Had to Look at an Episode's Wikipedia Page to Fill This Out Because It Was Fucking Confusing and/or Too Boring for Me to Pay Attention: 4 (at the end of my notes on this episode, i literally wrote down "i have no idea what happened in that episode." and it was tru 😌)

[randomfoggytiger]

Mulder's Dichotomy in Three Words

Mulder spends Three Words trying to hide his trauma from Scully, scraping together the only smiles he can manage for her benefit.

It's after the Doggett mention that Mulder springs from adrift to vehemently territorial, catching Scully accidentally in the crossfire (her "Mulder will you listen?" and his "No!" from E.B.E. serving as a definite precursor for this episode.)

Mulder's actions leading up to the finale become a blend of both emotions; but he still whips out a smile or soft glance for his Alien Baby Baby Mama (and his Three Stooges.)

There was even an almost light-hearted, bantery moment about his and Scully's baby (a shade of Empedocles to come):

...until Mulder divined that his old friends wanted to side with Scully's caution over his need to know the Truth (a backslide into his behavior in One Son.) It's only then that he directs some of that anger her way.

When Scully walks back in her apartment later, Mulder knows something is wrong immediately (because he is still paying attention), getting up ASAP when she doesn't respond.

The second and last time Mulder gets sharp with his partner is when she admits to wanting to withhold some information from him (his scolding an ode to Elegy's "Why can't you be honest with me?")

There is no onscreen resolution between himself and Scully that bridges into Empedocles; but we do see Mulder nearly tear up (and duck his head to hide it) as he defends his actions to a roundly chastising Doggett.

It's safe to conclude that after this debacle Mulder had time to reflect and confront what he'd been unable to fight (his PTSD), prompting him to open up and reconnect with Scully.

His PTSD doesn't go away (...right?) but Mulder does attach himself firmly to Scully's side again. And, really, isn't that what it's all about?

Thank you for reading this Bernie Knopp's slideshow~

Enjoy!

[wilsonthemoose]

[keepingtrackoflosttime]

February 18, 1994

[the-juicywizard]

Deadwood S1.E2. - Deep Water

[letmesleepy]

Artfight attack for @valeechtine

[deathsbestgirl]

okay i’m watching ebe & i can’t wait to write about it (literally some of my FAVORITE scenes) but at this moment my brain is running because i think we learn a lot about scully in this episode. like with the lone gunmen, she’s almost laughing at how paranoid they are when she finds the little listening device in her pen and she literally goes silent (because they’re being spied on AND it just leaves her speechless). and later at her apartment, she talks about respecting & admiring mulder’s dedication to his belief and i just. we already know she’s afraid to believe but she believes in god. i think scully is simultaneously afraid to believe, and afraid not to. i think mulder’s ~dedication to belief~ is a huge attraction for her because it’s something she so deeply struggles with. and since working on the x files, it’s not just her belief in god or the paranormal, but also her government which is one thing i don’t think she struggled to believe in because of her father. and even science because their cases move beyond the realm of what’s known & proven.

[all-eyes-lead-to-the-truth]

All Eyes Lead to the Truth | E.B.E. (1X17)

She’s hot.

He didn’t feel bad for saying it, because it was true. 

But after Agent Dana Scully left the gunmen’s headquarters, Melvin Frohike realized what he’d meant as a compliment had probably come across as reductive. Over the course of her visit, his initial summation of her physical appearance had only been enhanced exponentially by her wit and intelligence. 

In reality, she wasn’t just “hot.” In reality, she was the perfect woman.

Read the rest on Ao3 | @admiralty-xfd

[agent-troi]

scully finding a bug in her pen while talking about how the lone gunmen are paranoid for thinking people are spying on them is so 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

[medicaldoctordana]

I do love Glen Morgan and James Wong's team writing. Their last episode was Never again before their return in season 10...

Not me typing this post and wanting to fact check myself and listing all of their episodes that the two of them wrote and finding they are actually some of the most fucked up and absolute wild x-files episodes that exist. Yes a couple are hits but holy heck these two guys wrote all THOSE episodes!!!!!

Never Again

TFWID

Home

Die Hand Die Verletzt

One Breath

Little Green Men

Tooms

E.B.E.

Beyond the Sea

Ice

Shadows

Squeeze

Blood

3

Musings of CSM

Home Again

This

Founder's Mutation

Ghouli

(Nothing Lasts Forever)

[randomfoggytiger]

Mulder's Love Story, S1 (Part 3): From "You'll Have to Trust Me" to "A Change Is Coming for You and Me"

My meta thoughts below~.

E.B.E.: This is the episode wherein we learn that, while Mulder is the "only one I trust" for Scully, he hadn't yet quite learned to return that sentiment. Scully's possessive quality is exclusionary (icing out Krycek, fuming at Detective White, sneering about Bambi Berenbaum, throwing daggers at Diana Fowley, etc.) while Mulder's obsessive quality is inclusionary (Max Fenig, TLG, Chuck Burks, Krycek, and anyone willing to listen and believe in him)-- credit to @perpetually-weirdening's post. Deep Throat's betrayal prompts Mulder to firmly close the loop of his trust: he and Scully share the inner circle; and others are only allowed in the outer circles.

Miracle Man: A strange peek into Mulder's psyche (and Scully's by religious proxy, as she was still a lapsed Catholic, possibly agnostic.) He is, at first, unwilling to share more of his trauma with Scully-- painful truths are more easily confessed in the dark-- but she draws it out of him; and his building confidence in his partner increases with the care and compassion she shows while deftly handling his disclosures.

Darkness Falls: As I stated here, this episode is the flip-switch for Scully (from deep friendship to conscious love); but not for Mulder. Instead, their adventure in the woods brings Mulder's attention full force to the fact that his actions could have cost Scully her life; and that ugly realization carries into Tooms and the rest of the series.

Tooms: Here is where, I believe, Mulder begins to unconsciously love Scully-- though his awareness doesn't click into place until One Breath-- because of her steely determination and feckless loyalty. Friendship switches to deep affection in the car; but he doesn't put the two and two of his conflicting emotions together until months of separation and abduction add up to four. He confirms Scully's loyalty twice (and once accidentally with the iced tea pun): Mulder's "you'll get the next mutant" and "a change for us" ringing out as his own "til death to us part." In essence: Mulder bound himself to Scully when she tied herself to his mast, both of them vowing to succeed or perish together (he doesn't say this out loud, of course, until FTF.)

Thank you for reading~

Enjoy!